A job fair for retired soldiers is held in Beijing on Dec 11, 2018. [Photo/IC] BEIJING -- China's Ministry of Veterans Affairs said Wednesday it had carried out multiple measures to help military veterans find jobs and support them in other fields. Local governments provided more than 80,000 former military officers with civilian jobs and helped over 400,000 retired soldiers resettle in 2018, said Wang Zhiming, a spokesman for the ministry at a press conference. The ministry was unveiled in April 2018 to provide better services to veterans. China's 123 centrally-administered state-owned enterprises have mobilized and offered around 15,000 job positions to veterans last year, Wang said, adding that the ministry also granted preferential policies to ex-servicemen who set up businesses, including financial and tax benefits. The ministry has strengthened the education and training for veterans to make them more competitive in the job market and provided additional benefits for job-seekers. The ministry noted that a draft law on veterans' welfare had been sent to departments at the central and provincial governments and the military for consultation. Wang said the draft law would be open for public comment in due time. The draft law includes provisions on the job placement, training, employment, favorable treatment and pensions of ex-serviceman, Wang said. Personnel files would be set up for veterans, and special treatment for retired soldiers with war experience clearly defined in the draft law. Wang said new rules were also added to the draft law to clarify the accountability and responsibilities of officials tasked with arranging veterans. The ministry added that the government was considering building military cemeteries to honor soldiers who had devoted their lives to the country. The move is crucial to strengthening the protection of rights and interests of military personnel and enabling their families to have a stronger sense of honor and pride, Wang said, adding such efforts would make military service an occupation enjoying public respect. The ministry has also relaxed certain restrictions concerning veterans' resettlement and enhanced the support for them before they were employed. With veterans' affairs department set up at various levels of governments, a unified working system to provide services has been established, Wang said. The ministry would put more efforts on improving the supervision and inspection mechanism to protect veterans' rights and interests. bracelet de securite pour personne ageecustom braceletsblank wristbandsfournisseur bracelet siliconecustom poker bracelet
Kuomintang party Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Han Kuo-yu celebrates after winning local elections, in Kaohsiung, November 24, 2018. [Photo/Agencies] The first tour across the Taiwan Straits by the Kaohsiung mayor, Han Kuo-yu, got off to a good start, as trade deals worth more than NT$3.1 billion ($100.7 million) were signed in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions - the first stops on his journey to boost economic ties. The rising star in Taiwan's Kuomintang party arrived in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Friday, heading a delegation of about 30 officials and businessmen from Kaohsiung. Han, who assumed office in December, started a weeklong tour which will include the Macao SAR; Shenzhen, Guangdong province; and Xiamen, Fujian province. Han set foot in Shenzhen on Sunday afternoon, marking his first stop on the Chinese mainland before moving on to Xiamen. He officiated at the opening ceremony of an incubation hub in the Qianhai economic free trade zone in Shenzhen for young entrepreneurs from Taiwan. He will end his trip on Thursday. At a trade promotion event in Hong Kong, Han witnessed the signing of several trade deals covering agricultural and fishery products and processed goods between two Kaohsiung business groups and business associations and firms from Hong Kong and the mainland. The total value of these deals reached NT$2.47 billion. During the event, Han said the main aim of this trip was to make friends, sell products and invite more Hong Kong people to visit and invest in Kaohsiung, a port city in southern Taiwan that he described as a sleeping giant with huge potential. According to Han, agricultural and fishery products from Taiwan made up 3.6 percent of Hong Kong's market. Kaohsiung will take the lead in lifting market share of Taiwan's agricultural and fishery products to at least 10 percent, he said. During his stay in the SAR on Friday, Han held separate meetings with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Wang Zhimin, director of the region's Liaison Office of the Central People's Government. Lam noted that Hong Kong and Taiwan have frequent trade, economic and people-to-people exchanges, and that the two are major trading partners and tourism sources for each other. In welcoming more high-quality imports from Kaohsiung to the city, Lam said she hoped Han's visit would promote further exchanges and cooperation. The mayor arrived in Macao on Saturday via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge - the world's longest sea crossing - which connects the eastern and western sides of the Pearl River Delta. Han described the infrastructure as breathtaking. Han continued his trade-bonding trip in Macao by witnessing the signing of trade deals amounting to 188 million patacas ($23.3 million) between business associations and companies of Macao and Kaohsiung. The mayor also met with Macao Chief Executive Fernando Chui Saion and Fu Ziying, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR.
