The national and Hong Kong SAR flags flutter outside the Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station. [Photo provided to China Daily] HONG KONG - It is a constitutional obligation for China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to safeguard national security in successfully implementing the principle of one country, two systems, officials have said at a symposium here. The successful implementation of 'one country, two systems' is impossible without national security. Here in Hong Kong, we must always keep the special administrative region's constitutional obligation close at heart, Wang Zhimin, director of the central government's liaison office in HKSAR, said at the symposium on Monday to mark China's fourth National Security Education Day. Also speaking at the symposium, HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said that national security is the corner stone of a country's stability and the best guarantee for its people's well-being, and Hong Kong, as an integral part of China, has the responsibility to safeguard China's national security. In the new era of China's reform and opening up, Hong Kong needs to take a more active part in the country's national governance, and make efforts to improve its citizens' national security awareness, Lam said. The HKSAR government bears the constitutional responsibility for local legislation on national security in accordance to the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23, Lam said, adding that her government will continue its efforts for a favorable social environment for the legislation. Before the completion of the local legislation, the HKSAR government will not turn a blind eye to any deed violating the national constitution and the Basic Law and jeopardizing national security, she stressed. customized rubber braceletscustomized braceletssilicone wristbands onlinesilicone wristbands vancouverwhere to buy colored wristbands
Zhang Zhigang and his wife dry soybeans in Jieshou, Anhui province. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily] For many decades, Zhang Zhigang labored on 0.2 hectares of land, growing wheat and corn to feed his family of four. However, five years ago, he stopped working on the farm, when, along with many of his neighbors, he leased his plot to a horticultural company. Having acquired a large area of land from residents of Sanhe, a village in Jieshou city, Anhui province, the company planted ginko saplings because the tree is a popular species for landscaping, while its fruit and leaves are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The company pays Zhang 3,000 yuan ($437) a year for the use of his land, which is much more than he made by farming, and he earns an extra 40 yuan a day doing odd jobs for the company, such as spraying pesticide. Life is definitely better now I lease out my land, because I get a fixed income without the risk of droughts or floods, the 70-year-old said. A growing number of farmers across China have abandoned agriculture and leased their land to commercial enterprises, which has freed them to do other work and raised their living standards. By the end of September, 29,000 hectares of farmland in Jieshou was available for contracted use by individuals or businesses. The figure accounts for more than 75 percent of the city's farmland - higher than any other city in Anhui - according to the local agricultural commission. The circulation of farmland, which resulted in small plots of land scattered among individual households being brought together under unified ownership, has greatly boosted economies of scale in agricultural production. In turn, that has generated more profits for the rural economy and contributed to the development of modern agriculture in the city, the commission said. In early December, Zhang Hongyu, an official for the rural economy at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said 37 percent of all farmland in China is now in circulation and is available for leasing.
