China wants to raise the moral standards of its 367 million youth.

A plan, released Monday by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the State Council, includes publicity campaigns, educational reforms and investment in projects for people under 18.

The government plans to launch publicity campaigns to teach primary and middle school students to value life, say no to drugs, advocate science and civilization and oppose superstition. It promises efforts to correct and help minors with poor records of conduct.

At the same time, resolute measures will be taken to reform curriculum, textbooks and teaching methods to reduce the academic burden on primary and middle school students, while putting more emphasis on their ideological and moral make-up, their spirit of innovation and capacity to practice.

The plan also calls for greater efforts to ensure the right to education of the children of the country's 100 million migrant workers.

Large cities will be expected gradually to set up public venues for young people at the city, district and community levels. Medium and small cities will be required to concentrate their efforts on building city-level public venues for them.

Every county should have a comprehensive and multifunctional public venue for young people in three to five years, according to the plan. The central government will offer financial subsidies to central, western and other poor areas for construction of these venues. It will also develop policies to encourage private investment in them.

The government will also increase support for the production and screening of China-made animated films. Internet portals are urged to develop a better understanding of their social responsibility.

The document calls for tougher measures to censor game software aimed at young people, checking for those with content that may induce young people to violate the law.

Regulations that forbid youth under the age of 18 to enter commercial Internet bars and that require terminals at those bars have filtering software barring pornographic and other unhealthy information will be implemented to the letter.

The plan also calls for improvement in the administration of public entertainment venues, electronic gaming halls and other social and cultural venues. Areas within 200 meters of primary and middle schools are to be free of commercial Internet bars and electronic gaming venues.

(China Daily March 23, 2004)