A total of 62 overseas NGOs have registered with public security authorities and set up representative offices on the Chinese mainland after a new law regulating overseas NGOs took effect Jan. 1.

Among the 62 NGOs, which include those in fields such as the economy, education and environmental protection, 27 are from the United States, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the US-China Business Council.

The other 35 come from 14 regions and countries, including the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Britain, Germany and Switzerland.

“With simplified procedures and less time spent, the registration went smoothly under the new law,” said Jacob Parker, vice president of China Operations of the US-China Business Council, an organization of American companies in business with China.

The new law, which was adopted last year, requires all overseas NGOs to secure approval from Chinese authorities before they operate on the Chinese mainland.

The Ministry of Public Security and provincial police departments are responsible for registration and regulation, according to the law.

To facilitate the process, public security authorities have interviewed a number of overseas NGOs about their problems during registration and responded to over 12,000 questions from more than 780 overseas NGOs.

Besides the registered NGOs, there are now more than 170 others going through the registration procedure.

China has issued more than 98 million e-chip passports, which contain the personal information of the bearer, the Ministry of Public Security said Saturday.

Since chipped passports were launched in March 2012, 6.6 million were issued that year alone and the annual average rate of issuing new passports grew by 20 percent.

The ministry estimates that it will have issued in excess of 100 million e-chip passports by the end of April.

At present, smart cards have replaced the paper permits issued to Hong Kong and Macao residents commuting between the Chinese mainland and the two regions, said the ministry.

The ministry has simplified procedures and delegated power to local administrations aiming to provide convenience to people who made such application.

In 2016, 79 million residents of the Chinese mainland held chipped passports for exit or entry, 30.6 percent of the residents who travelled outside the mainland.

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Chancellor’s message in Delhi and Mumbai this week is that the UK is perfectly placed to finance manufacturing growth in India.

Diane
Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, responding to reports of a
brutal attack on a 17 year old asylum seeker yesterday evening, said:

“Sadly this is not an isolated incident,  but part of a
sustained increase in hate crimes that this Tory government is yet to offer any
effective response to.

 “With right-wing politicians across the world scapegoating
migrants, refugees and others for their economic problems, we are seeing a deeply
worrying rise in the politics of hate.

 “We must make clear that there is no place for anti-foreigner
myths, racism and hate in our society.”

Seven people died and another was critically injured in a series of car crashes in central China’s Henan Province, police with Xinyang City said Saturday.

The accident occurred early Saturday at an expressway section in Xixian County of Xinyang. More than 40 vehicles were involved in the crashes, which happened within a two-km-long area. Eight people were trapped in six separate vehicles, the police said.

Three fire engines and 17 fire fighters were sent to rescue the people. Seven died at the site and one person was gravely injured and sent to the hospital.

Fog and low visibility are suspected to be the cause of the accident. Further investigation is under way.