Oct 1
From October 1, the Property Law, the amended Property Management Regulation and some other laws and regulations formally went into effect, which would bring about significant influence to the production and life of the public.

Oct 1
China's National Special Drug Surveillance Information Network was initially formed. The network would enable drug watchdogs at all levels to detect irregularities in the production and distribution of anesthetic and psychotropic drugs to prevent problems at an early stage.

Oct 2
According to the latest data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics, 410 million farmers have joined the new rural cooperative medical care system, accounting for nearly half of China's rural population.

Oct 4
To enable the minors to benefit from the websites and avoid disadvantages, China launched for the first time an exclusive cyberspace for them this year.

Oct 8
Li Yizhong, director general of the State Administration of Safe Production Supervision, said today that China was conducting investigations of nine major infrastructures for hidden dangers, including civil aviation, shipping, road transport, large-scale water conservancies and coal mines, important electric power facilities, oil and gas facilities, and urban infrastructures.

Oct 10
Today is the International Day for Disaster Reduction. China's Ministry of Civil Affairs staged some activities in Beijing to publicized disaster reduction knowledge to pupils. "Disaster reduction starts from schools" is the theme of the Day for two straight years.

Oct 15
The 17th National Congress of the CPC opened in the Great Hall of the People this morning. In the report to the Congress, Hu Jintao, secretary-general of the CPC, mentioned the issue of construction of China's human rights cause for several times. When reviewing the Work of the Past Five Years, he said the cause of China's human rights witnessed sound development. Concerning the development of socialist democracy, he clearly put forward that "We must respect and safeguard human rights, and ensure the equal right of participation and development for all members of the society in accordance with the law". The guarantee of civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights and rights to subsistence and development for all members of the society was fully discussed.

Oct 17
To call for the entire society to participate in eradication of poverty and construction of a harmonious world, the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation launched an activity called "Participating Monthly Donating" today on the International Day for Poverty Eradication.

Oct 17
The European Union is willing to strengthen human rights exchanges and cooperation with China, said Jose Manuel Duarte de Jesus, ambassador with the Foreign Ministry of Portugal, at the ongoing 24th round of China-EU Human Rights Dialogue in Beijing. Portugal is currently holding the EU presidency. During the talks, Wu Hailong, director-general of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences, the Foreign Ministry of China, briefed Jesus on China's improvement in human rights protection, judicial reform and social security system. The two sides also discussed bilateral cooperation in international human rights field and religious freedom, labor rights and racialism, among other topics. The EU side spoke highly of the Chinese government's efforts in improving and protecting human rights. The China-EU Human Rights Dialogue, which began in 1997, is held every half year.

Oct 18
Eleven Tibetan buddhists received the highest degree of the study of Tibetan Buddhism today in Beijing after accomplishing a one-year research course. The degree, equivalent to doctorate, was granted by some eminent Tibetan monks in the Xihuang Temple in Beijing's northern downtown. The graduates were enrolled in the China Advanced Tibetan Buddhism College after taking strict examinations at Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan last year. Finishing courses of Buddhism, politics and culture that combine traditional Tibetan Buddhism education with modern teaching methods in the college, established 20 years ago as a training base for Tibetan buddhists, the 11 monks will return to their hometowns and further spread the religion. They are the third group of graduates from the college since 2004, when China launched the new degree system for the study of Tibetan Buddhism in an effort to improve the education and foster more outstanding monks. Including the 11, there have been 33 graduates getting the doctorate from the college.

Oct 22
Data released today by China's Ministry of Labor and Social Security shows that during the special campaign of renovating illegal employment, there had been 176,000 employing units signed labor contract retroactively with 2.693 million labourers.

Oct. 27
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) jointly launched a women's training center today in Nanning, southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. At the inauguration ceremony, Huang Qingyi, vice-chairperson of China's National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, called on various countries to further promote exchanges between women and help them to improve ability to participate in political affairs and social development. Khamchanh Phomsaengsavanh, vice president of the Lao's Women's Union, said the newly established center is expected to play a great role in promoting equality between men and women in China and the ASEAN.

Oct 28
After three times of review, the Amendment to the Code of Civil Law was approved by the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress on its thirtieth session. The Amendment is to protect civilians' right of sue with every effort.

Oct 31
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao presided over a State Council executive meeting, at which a draft law on food safety was discussed and approved in principle. The draft law proposed a food safety risk supervision and evaluation mechanism to provide a "key basis" for constituting food safety standards and food born disease control measures. The mechanism demanded a "unified, timely, objective and accurate" disclosure of emergency information. The draft law says imported food and additives must meet China's national food safety standards while food products exported from China to other countries and regions should satisfy the compulsory requirements set by importers and pass local entry inspection and quarantine. World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan on Wednesday expressed appreciation on China's efforts to crack down on food safety problems.