The Ministry of Education and other 7 departments jointly issued the new version of the Administrative Provisions on Internship of Students from Vocational School, which aims to standardize internship management, ensure the safety of internship and improve the quality of internship.

Jiangsu Province recently issued the Implementation Plan on Optimizing Birth Policies and Promoting Long-Term Balanced Population Development in Jiangsu Province, and adopted a number of specific policies and measures to promote the realization of an appropriate fertility level and long-term balanced development of population.

The Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Special Equipment Accidents regulate the reporting, investigation and handling of special equipment accidents, timely and accurately find out the cause of accidents and clarify the responsibility of accidents.

The General office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has issued the Guidelines on format of Legal Disclosure of Enterprises Environmental Information to further refine the content of legal disclosure of enterprises environmental information, standardize the legal disclosure format of environmental information, guide and assist enterprises to disclose environmental information in accordance with the law and fully demonstrating enterprises' compliance with ecological and environmental laws and regulations and environmental governance.

Updated Minimum Wage Standard of Fujian Province and Chongqing Municipality.

Labour
< Administrative Provisions on Internship of Students from Vocational School >
< Implementation Plan on Optimizing Birth Policies and Promoting Long-Term Balanced Population Development in Jiangsu Province >

Health and Safety
< Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Special Equipment Accidents >

Environment
< Guidelines on format of Legal Disclosure of Enterprises Environmental Information >

Minimum Wage Standard Update
Fujian Province, Chongqing Municipality

Labour

1. < Administrative Provisions on Internship of Students from Vocational School > (2021-12-31)

The Administrative Provisions on Internship of Students from Vocational School (hereinafter referred to as the Provisions) are jointly issued by 8 government departments including the Ministry of Education, and have come into force since 31^st December 2021. The 2016 version was abolished simultaneously.
On the basis of the six chapters of the original general provisions, internship organization, internship management, internship assessment, safety responsibilities and supplementary provisions, the Provisions has added two chapters and 11 articles, a total of 50 articles in eight chapters.
The Provisions further emphasizes that the essence of students' internship is teaching activity, an important step of practical teaching, and an important way to temper their character of will, get familiar with their posts in advance and guide them to integrate into society. It also optimizes the classification of internship and enriches the form of internship.
Focusing on the whole process of internship and key nodes, the Provisions further draws a red line and clarifies the code of conduct for organizing students to work in the "assembly line" of enterprises in the name of internship, earning "capitation fee" and compulsory internship, and further refines the provisions on trans-provincial internship and internship insurance, so as to ensure the safety of internship and improve the quality of internship.
Employers should pay attention to the following major additions or changes:

• In terms of internship classification, previous sub-participation of post exercitation and substituted post exercitation are collectively referred to as post exercitation;
• Internship agreement shall be signed on the basic of model text of the internship agreement issued by relevant departments;
• Students shall be paid appropriate internship remuneration, in principle, which shall not be lower than 80% of the wage standard or the lowest grade of the same position, the payment cycle shall not exceed 1 month, and goods or vouchers shall not be paid instead of currency or forwarded by a third party;
• It is not allowed to only arrange students to engage in simple and repetitive work;
• It is not allowed to arrange high intensity physical work or other internships that are harmful to physical or mental health to students;
• It is not allowed to arrange internship on rest days or legal holidays;
• It is not allowed to charge internship deposit, training fee, commission from internship compensation, administrative fee, internship materials fee, employment service fee or internship fee in other forms from students, or to detain the student’s ID card or other certificates.

2. < Implementation Plan on Optimizing Birth Policies and Promoting Long-Term Balanced Population Development in Jiangsu Province > (2022-02-10)

The General Office of Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee issued the Implementation Plan on Optimizing Birth Policies and Promoting Long-Term Balanced Population Development in Jiangsu Province (hereinafter referred to as the Plan) on 10^th February 2022, so as to actively respond to population aging, promote the realization of appropriate fertility level, optimize population structure, improve population quality and promote long-term balanced development of population.

For employers, the Plan requires strict implementation of maternity leave, paternity leave, breastfeeding leave and other systems to protect the legitimate rights and interests of childbearing women. For couples who are compliant with policies on family planning, the wife is entitled to 60 days of extended maternity leave in addition to enjoying the maternity leave provided by the state provisions, which is up to 158 days, and the husband is entitled to 15 days of paternity leave. Before the child reaches the age of 3, the husband and wife shall be respectively entitled 10 days of parental leave each year. For the social insurance expenses paid by the enterprise during the maternity leave of female employees, 50% subsidy will be given when the female employee has the second child and 80% subsidy will be given when the female employee has the third child.

Health and Safety

1. < Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Special Equipment Accidents > (2022-03-01)

The Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Special Equipment Accidents (hereinafter referred to as the New Regulations) was adopted at the first executive meeting of the State General Administration for Market Regulation on 7^th January 2022. It is hereby promulgated and has come into force as since 1^st March 2022. The Regulations on the Reporting, Investigation and Handling of Special Equipment Accidents (hereinafter referred to as the Original Regulations) promulgated by order No. 115 of the former State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine shall be simultaneously abolished. The relevant amendments to the New Regulations are as follows:

1. The New Regulation clarify the meaning of special equipment accidents. Compared with definition on “unsafe state” of Original Regulations, which cannot distinguish the exceptional case of special equipment accidents, the definition of the New Regulation highlights the ontological causes of special equipment.

2. The competent department for accident reporting, investigation and handling was changed from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine to the State General Administration for Market Regulation.

3. The New Regulations have revised the accident reporting methods, the performance of duties by the accident investigation team, and the review of accident investigation reports.

Environment

1. < Guidelines on format of Legal Disclosure of Enterprises Environmental Information > (2022-02-08)

The Guidelines on format of Legal Disclosure of Enterprises Environmental Information (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines) has been issued by the General office of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on 4^th January 2022 and it has come into force on 8^th February 2022. The main contents are as below:

1. The Guidelines specify the content of legal disclosure of enterprises environmental information and provide the preparation requirement for annual report and temporary report of legal disclosure of environmental information.
2. Framework of annual report
   • Contents and glossary
   • Key environmental information abstract
   • General enterprise information
   • Enterprise environmental management information
   • Information of pollutant generation, governance and discharge
   • Carbon emission information
   • Mandatory cleaner production audit information
   • Ecological and environmental illegal information
   • Information of temporary report for the current year
   • Ecological and environmental information related to investment and financing
3. Content of the temporary report
   • Information of newly acquired, changed and revoked ecological and environmental permission
   • Information of administrative punishment for ecology and environment
   • Information of ecological and environmental judicial decisions received
   • Information of compensation agreements for ecological and environmental damages
   • Information of environmental emergency events
   • Information about changes to disclosed environmental information

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