Lawmakers Call for Helping Returned Overseas ChineseA number of Chinese lawmakers Wednesday proposed that some helpful and preferential clauses should be added to the draft amendment to the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Returned Overseas Chinese and the Family Members of Overseas Chinese, to help the these people solve real difficulties in their daily life.Members attending the 17th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) deliberated the draft amendment Wednesday morning in Beijing. One lawmaker from the NPC's Overseas Chinese Committee said that "governments at all levels should provide relief to those returned overseas Chinese and family members of overseas Chinese without stable income and help these people get re-employed." China's farms and forestry centers for the settlement of returned overseas Chinese are primarily scattered in south China's Guangdong Province and east China's Fujian Province. As most of those farms and forestry centers are state-owned and plagued by economic problems, lawmaker Lin Botang proposed that the draft amendment should have a new clause which calls for injecting vigor into those farms and forestry centers by transforming their ownership structure. Another lawmaker Zhu Shiming suggested setting up more non-profit elderly homes, so as to deal with the aging population of returned overseas Chinese and family members of overseas Chinese. Statistics show that China has more than 34 million overseas Chinese, scattered in more than 170 countries and regions worldwide, and some 30 million returned overseas Chinese and family members of overseas Chinese. |
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