Suicide has become the leading cause of death of young Chinese people, aged between 15 and 35, according to a survey carried out by the Chinese Ministry of Health.

Young people taking their own lives is becoming a serious issue in Chinese society, reports Legal Daily.

Causes and solutions of suicide vary between different people. Some of the most common causes of suicide are a history of mental illness in the family, social isolation, relationship and financial problems, says Wu Mingxia, a psychological expert from China’s Southwest University.

In many cases, liability has become a controversial issue, with some families insisting that universities should be held liable when students commit suicide at college. Some even seek compensation for the loss of their loved one.

In interviews carried out by journalists on the subject of suicide, the majority of people seem to agree that educational establishments should bear a large part of the responsibility for campus suicides saying that they have a duty to counsel students, and help maintain their mental and physical health.

However, many feel that parents also need to shoulder partial responsibility, as they ought to be aware of the potential suicide risks of their children.

Beyond the issue of responsibility, suicide prevention and psychological counseling are seen as significant ways to reduce the level of campus suicide, and both schools and parents agree that there is much work to be done on means of preventing suicide among young people.

The Chinese Navy has disclosed a series of exercises and missions carried out this month as part of long-term efforts to hone the operational capabilities of its combat forces.

Details of the exercises and sea patrols were provided in a news release ahead of the 68th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s founding, which was on Sunday.

This month, a group of combat ships led by the CNS Xuzhou, a guided missile frigate, carried out combat exercise in the Western Pacific, J-15 carrier-borne fighter jets conducted tactical training above Bohai Bay, various types of naval aircraft made regular patrols over the East China and South China seas, and new-generation submarines sailed silently through deep oceans.

These were a small part of what the Navy has been doing to improve its combat readiness, the news release said, adding that each year every combat vessel and submarine will spend nearly eight months at sea, carrying out patrols, drills and training.

Every day, dozens of aircraft, more than 100 ships and submarines and thousands of Navy personnel are in operation, it added.

According to military observers, the length of time a ship or submarine can perform at sea is a key indicator of its capability, as only those with good equipment, reliable logistics and a well-trained crew can regularly make long-term voyages.

The news release also said the CNS Liaoning, China’s only aircraft carrier, continues to move toward gaining full operational capability. The Liaoning carrier battle group completed a cross-sea, live-fire exercise at the end of last year, marking a big step in the group’s development.

So far, dozens of J-15 pilots and landing signal officers have become qualified to operate aboard the carrier, the Navy said, adding that construction on the first domestically developed carrier is proceeding well.

It also said the nuclear submarine force has made “great progress” in its efforts to enhance fighting ability, without elaborating.

Rear Admiral Du Benyin, deputy political commissar of the PLA Navy’s South Sea Fleet, said long-distance training, international exercises and escort missions have tested the Navy’s front-line commanders and sailors and improved their capabilities.

“During the process, we also found and solved problems such as inefficient logistical support. Though we have made achievements, we are fully aware that more efforts are needed before we become a strong navy,” he said.

Senior Captain Hua Ming, deputy commander of a submarine flotilla with the East Sea Fleet, said that he remembers when the Chinese Navy began escort missions in the Gulf of Aden, some officers from other units told him their ships were unable to fulfill all of their designated tasks.

“But after these years, the Navy now has a great number of advanced destroyers, frigates, submarines and planes. These new weapons enable us to better safeguard our maritime interests and sovereignty,” Hua said.

Talking about his unit, he added, “In the submarine force, we treat each training mission as if it were a real combat scenario.”

Since 2012, the PLA Navy has taken delivery of several new types of ships, which strongly strengthened its defense and strike capacity, the Navy said.

Last year, the Navy commissioned 18 ships, including a Type-052D guided missile destroyer, three Type-054A guided missile frigates and six Type-056 corvettes.

These ships have a total displacement of 150,000 metric tons, roughly half the overall displacement of the British navy.

Since the start of this year, the PLA Navy has commissioned at least five ships: a destroyer, an electronic reconnaissance ship, a training ship and two corvettes, according to information provided by the Navy.

Monitoring data show that Cao Cao, a 16-year-old giant panda raised in captivity, has mated with a male in the wild－a rare occurrence for the endangered species－according to a panda research center in Sichuan province.

Cao Cao was released in the Liziping Nature Reserve in early February in time for mating season from March to May.

In March, researchers reported seeing several males fight for the right to mate with her and began checking data sent by the GPS tag on her neck－which is fitted with a recording device－every five days.

“When we checked the recording on March 27, we heard her making noises similar to those made by females while mating,” said Zhang Hemin, head of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, where Cao Cao was raised. “It lasted one minute and 30 seconds.”

If the panda is pregnant, she will give birth in July or August, “at which point we will bring her and her cub back to the center”, Zhang said.

Cao Cao arrived at the center when she was 2 years old, after being found in poor health inside the Wolong National Nature Reserve. She has already mothered two cubs: male Tao Tao and female Zhang Xiang. Both are 2 years old and have been released into the wild in the Liziping reserve.

The research center, which was set up in the Wolong reserve in 1983, has released seven captive pandas since 2006 in an effort to boost the wild giant panda population.

There are 471 captive pandas worldwide, 234 of which are from the Wolong center－enough to prevent extinction, experts say.

In the early 1990s, the government banned the capture of wild pandas to mate with captive ones. Captive pandas have mated with few of their captive peers, which hurts biodiversity, researchers say.

The center formulated the plan last year to have captive pandas mate with wild ones. Cao Cao is the first to be chosen.

“She has a close bond with humans, and researchers have helped feed her since she was released,” Zhang said.

Cao Cao is the equivalent of 48 years old in human terms, and she has only one or two years left before she is too old to participate in a breeding program.

“If she fails to get pregnant this year, she will have one last opportunity to mate with a wild panda next spring,” Zhang said.

More captive pandas will be selected to mate wild ones, he said.