【午间读报】Feb 10th

CHINA DAILY 中国日报 Headline Experts: China should raise retirement age to 65 Summary Top experts on social insurance are urging China to gradually increase the retirement age to 65 over the next two decades. They are proposing a same retirement age for all workers, without occupational or geographic discrimination. China's pension distributor have invited 7 institutions to deliver proposals for its overall reform plan. Currently, the average age of retirement in China is about 53, while life expectancy is 75. GLOBAL TIMES 环球时报英文版 Headline Medical insurance to cover chronic, serious diseases to avoid crippling costs Summary China's State Council is promising to expand a medical insurance program to all the regions in the country in 2014. The program will enable people with serious illnesses to get more compensation from medical insurance schemes. Cases of impoverished patients have been reported across the country in the past years. A man from Hebei was reported in 2013 to have sawed off his own infected leg to avoid expensive medical bills. BEIJING NEWS 新京报 Headline Lucky money a huge source of income during the Spring Festival Summary A Beijing News survey shows the total amount of luck money for 90 random kids here in Beijing almost reached 440-thousand yuan or over 72-thousand US dollars. On average, every kid in the survey gets lucky money of over 48-hundred yuan during the Spring Festival. That's nearly 800 US dollars each. Children of civil servants are found to receive more luck money. SOUTH CHINA METROPOLITAN DAILY 南方都市报 Headline Former Power Grid boss probed Summary A former manager of Guangdong Power Grid is under investigation for alleged serious violations of discipline. The 62-year-old Wu Zhouchun became the general manager of the company in 2003. The company is a subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid, one of China's grid giants. Despite the accusations Wu has received a number of honors for his contributions at work throughout his career. BEIJING MORNING POST 北京晨报 Headline Controversial additive non-existent in Subway China Summary The fast food chain Subway China is denying any use of food additive azo-dicarbon-amide. The controversial additive is put in bread to strengthen and bleach the dough. However, it is also used to increase elasticity in the plastic and rubber industries. The chemical made headlines after a US food blogger launched a campaign earlier this month to stop the US Subway restaurants from using the ingredient. SHANGHAI DAILY 上海日报 Headline Cancer diagnosed in 1 in 60 Shanghai residents, and figures rising Summary New figures suggest almost one in 60 Shanghai residents has been diagnosed with cancer, and numbers are rising rapidly. Local health authorities say the figures place the city among areas with the highest rates of cancer nationwide. On average, the city sees 150 new cancer patients every day, while 100 residents die from the disease. BEIJING TIMES 京华时报 Headline Green-energy vehicles insufficient for applicants Summary Over 17-hundred people here in Beijing are applying for green-energy vehicles. The number has surpassed the quota for car plates in the city. Eligible applicants are expected to join the car plate lottery system which is due to take place later this month. In the meantime, the number of traditional vehicle applicants has dropped by 40-thousand.