You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Restrictions on who can apply for permanent residency in cities are to be relaxed for selected workers, including those from the countryside. The move aims to encourage a new form of urbanization.
The State Council, China's Cabinet, says revisions to the household registration system, known as hukou, would further encourage the integration of migrant workers in cities, as well as drive investment and domestic consumption.
The State Council said it will relax the rules on permanent residency in most cities for university graduates, skilled technicians and those returning after receiving an education overseas, as well as the restrictions on rural workers.
The executive body also called on provincial authorities to fully implement a new residency permit that became available on Jan 1. The permit, which runs alongside the hukou system, entitles holders to free education, healthcare, employment and legal services in the city in which they live.
In addition, the government will provide more policy support for improving shantytown dwellings and dangerous homes, and expand policy coverage to more townships.
The State Council also encouraged the investment of more social capital into constructing city facilities, including underground pipelines, and for urban areas to adopt the national Internet Plus strategy to build smart cities.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Chinese employers have been told to frequently check workers' health in pneumoconiosis-prone fields and ensure treatment for those diagnosed with the condition.
China recorded almost 27,000 new cases in 2014, a 16-percent increase from the previous year.
Pneumoconiosis is a disease of the lungs caused by the inhalation of large amounts of dust or particulate matter. The condition accounted for almost 90 percent of all occupational disease cases reported last year.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission noted in a statement recently that people have been diagnosed with the condition at an increasingly earlier age in recent years. And industries in more central and western regions have become prone to the illness, mainly in jobs related to mining, construction materials and nonferrous metals.
The commission has urged employers to provide health checks for workers, before, during and after jobs in which they are exposed to various kinds of dust. It stresses that funds should be allocated from medical or work insurance to support patients who have difficulty paying for treatment.
The commission also encouraged pneumoconiosis sufferers to apply for aid subsidies from local governments.
