From today onwards, children who do not often visit or greet their elderly parents are considered to be violating the law.

China News Service, July 1 (Wang Yongji) Increasing efforts to crack down on "three illegal" foreigners, not visiting elderly frequently will be illegal, raising the "threshold" for labor dispatch companies... Starting July, a batch of new laws and regulations including the "Exit and Entry Administration Law", the amended "Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly", the "Labor Contract Law", and the "Administrative Measures for Labor Dispatch Licensing" officially come into effect.
China intensifies crackdown on "three illegal" foreigners
The "Exit and Entry Administration Law" officially takes effect today, simultaneously repealing the original "Foreigners' Entry and Exit Administration Law" and "Citizens' Entry and Exit Administration Law".
The "Exit and Entry Administration Law" actively responds to the practical needs of overseas Chinese, stipulating that Chinese citizens settled abroad who wish to return to China for settlement should apply to the Chinese embassy, consulate, or other overseas institutions entrusted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before entry, or they may apply in person or through domestic relatives to the overseas Chinese affairs department of the local people's government at or above the county level in the intended place of residence.
The "Exit and Entry Administration Law" also stipulates that foreigners who meet national regulations as talents, investors, or for humanitarian reasons who need to change from stay to residence can apply for residence permits; it specifies situations for ordinary visas, renewal, and reissuance of stay and residence permits, providing legal authorization to facilitate stay and residence for eligible foreigners.
At the same time, this law further improves China's "green card" system. Foreigners who have made outstanding contributions to China's economic and social development or meet other conditions for permanent residence in China can obtain permanent residence status upon application and approval by the Ministry of Public Security, leaving room for gradually relaxing the "green card" application conditions and helping to promote talent and investment attraction.
The law further improves the management system for foreigners' stay and residence, distinguishing the boundaries between stay and residence. It stipulates that the maximum stay period for foreigners holding visas or stay permits shall not exceed 180 days; the validity period of work-related residence permits and non-work-related residence permits shall be no less than 90 days and 180 days respectively, and no more than 5 years; it regulates the extension of visa stay periods, which shall not cumulatively exceed the original stay period indicated on the visa.
In addition, the law intensifies prevention and crackdown on "three illegal" foreigners (illegal entry, illegal stay, and illegal employment). The law clarifies specific situations of illegal employment by foreigners to address difficulties in identifying illegal employment; it further increases penalties for "three illegal" foreigners and related responsible persons, for example, raising fines for illegal employment by foreigners from below 1,000 yuan to between 5,000 and 20,000 yuan, effectively playing a deterrent and warning role.
Children "frequently visit home" written into law
The newly revised "Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly" officially takes effect today. The new law stipulates that family members should care for the spiritual needs of the elderly and must not neglect or ignore them. Family members living apart from the elderly should frequently visit or greet them. This has been interpreted by the media as "frequent home visits written into law"; not visiting the elderly frequently will be illegal. The law also stipulates that employers should guarantee the rights of caregivers to take family visits and leave according to national regulations.
The law clarifies that the state establishes and improves family eldercare support policies, encourages family members to live together with or near the elderly, provides conditions for the elderly to move with spouses or caregivers, and offers assistance to family members caring for the elderly. Meanwhile, local people's governments at all levels should prioritize eligible elderly people when implementing affordable housing, public rental housing, or renovating dilapidated houses.
In addition, the law proposes that the state establish and improve the welfare system for the elderly, increasing social welfare for the elderly according to economic and social development levels and the actual needs of the elderly.
Additionally, the "Measures for the Establishment Licensing of Elderly Care Institutions" and the "Measures for the Management of Elderly Care Institutions" formulated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs will also take effect today. These two new regulations clearly define the establishment licensing, legal responsibilities, and service content of elderly care institutions.
In response to previous media reports of elderly people in care institutions being deliberately abused, the "Measures for the Management of Elderly Care Institutions" clarify that if elderly care institutions discriminate against, insult, abuse, or abandon the elderly or otherwise infringe on their legal rights and interests, or fail to sign service agreements with the elderly or their agents, or if the agreements do not comply with regulations, the civil affairs department will order corrections; in serious cases, fines up to 30,000 yuan will be imposed, and criminal responsibility will be pursued according to law if a crime is constituted.
Raising the "threshold" for labor dispatch companies
According to a survey by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, the number of dispatched workers nationwide reached about 37 million in 2011, accounting for 13.1% of the total domestic workforce. The "Administrative Measures for Labor Dispatch Licensing" formulated by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (hereinafter referred to as the Measures) will take effect today simultaneously with the "Labor Contract Law", providing legal protection for the legitimate rights and interests of many labor dispatch workers.
A relevant official from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security stated that in the past, due to the low market access "threshold" for labor dispatch units set by the Labor Contract Law, the number of units operating labor dispatch business has grown rapidly since the law's implementation. Some labor dispatch units without operational capacity, even "shell" companies, entered the dispatch industry, unable to fulfill the legal obligations of employers, infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of dispatched workers.
In response, the Measures decide to implement administrative licensing for operating labor dispatch business and specify the conditions for obtaining the license, raising the registered capital requirement for companies applying to operate labor dispatch business from 500,000 yuan to 2 million yuan. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security is responsible for supervising and guiding labor dispatch administrative licensing nationwide, and local human resources and social security departments at or above the county level are responsible for implementing labor dispatch administrative licensing within their administrative regions.
To address issues such as "batch approval instead of management" and "approval without supervision", the Measures establish a regular reporting system for labor dispatch units, requiring them to submit an annual report on labor dispatch operations for the previous year to the licensing authority before March 31 each year. The licensing authority shall verify the reports submitted by labor dispatch units, supervise them according to law, and record the verification results and supervision status in the enterprise credit records.
In addition, the implementation measures also clarify that units or individuals who operate labor dispatch business without permission shall be ordered by the human resources and social security administrative department to stop illegal activities, confiscate illegal gains, and be fined from one to five times the amount of illegal gains. Those who alter, resell, rent, lend the "Labor Dispatch Business License", or illegally transfer the license in other forms, conceal the true situation or submit false materials to obtain the labor dispatch administrative license, or obtain the license through deception, bribery, and other improper means, shall be fined up to 10,000 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, the fine shall be between 10,000 and 30,000 yuan.
The policy on subsidies for secondary vocational students is further clarified.
The Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, and other departments previously issued the "Management Measures for Tuition-Free Subsidy Funds for Secondary Vocational Schools" and the "Management Measures for National Student Grants for Secondary Vocational Schools," both of which officially came into effect today, further clarifying the policies related to tuition-free subsidies and national student grants for secondary vocational schools.
The subsidy fund management measures stipulate that the central government finances uniformly calculate an average of 2,000 yuan per student per year and shares a certain proportion with local finances. The specific sharing ratios are: for western regions, regardless of the source of students, the ratio is 8:2; for central regions, if the student's origin is the western region, the ratio is 8:2, otherwise 6:4; for eastern regions, if the student's origin is the western or central region, the ratios are 8:2 and 6:4 respectively, and if the student's origin is the eastern region, the ratio is determined by province.
According to the subsidy fund management measures, the subsidy method for students in private secondary vocational schools is: for first and second-year students who meet the tuition-free conditions, subsidies are given according to the tuition-free standards of local public secondary vocational schools of the same type and major. The portion of tuition exceeding the public school tuition-free standard shall be borne by the student's family; if lower than the public school tuition-free standard, the subsidy is based on the actual tuition of the private school.
The student grant management measures clarify that the national student grant is jointly funded by the central and local governments, mainly supporting the living expenses of the assisted students, with a funding standard of 1,500 yuan per student per year. In subsequent years, the funding standard will be adjusted appropriately based on economic development levels and financial conditions. The funding targets are first and second-year full-time students in secondary vocational schools majoring in agriculture-related fields and economically disadvantaged students in non-agriculture-related majors.
The student grant management measures further emphasize that the national student grant is applied for and evaluated by semester and disbursed monthly. New and second-year students must apply to their schools within one week of the new academic year and submit relevant supporting documents. The national student grant is distributed to the assisted students through the student aid card.