Starting in March of next year, smoking will not be permitted in the any of the city’s indoor public venues, workplaces and public transport sites. The indoor smoking ban includes all Shanghai hotels, restaurants, offices, airports and railway stations, and entertainment venues.

The amendment to Shanghai’s 2009 smoking control regulation will shut down all designated smoking areas and rooms permitted under the current law in Shanghai hotels and restaurants.

Smoking rooms have already been removed from Shanghai’s airports and railway stations, which became smoke-free last month.

Additionally, the new law will extend the smoking ban to outdoor areas where children are likely to be present. Smoking will be banned in outdoor areas belonging to primary schools, kindergartens, children’s hospitals, historic venues, sports arenas, and public transport waiting areas.

However, for smokers who simply cannot quit, designated outdoor smoking areas will be arranged near public venues, workplaces and transportation facilities.

Fines for violators remain unchanged from before. Individuals caught breaking the ban will be given a fine of 50-200 yuan ($7.34-$29.4) while companies may be hit with a 30,000 yuan penalty.

The arrival of Shanghai’s indoor smoking ban has been long-rumored, with Beijing and Guangzhou having already implemented full smoking bans of their own.

Last year, a survey of over 25,500 people conducted by the Shanghai Health Enhancement Commission found that 93 percent of Shanghai residents favored a smoking ban in indoor public areas. However, a poll from last year suggested that 47 percent of Shanghai workers still smoke on the job.

China has 316 million smokers, exposing some 740 million people to second-hand smoke. In 2015, about 733,000 Chinese were diagnosed with smoking-related illnesses including lung cancer.

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According to the law, Chinese citizens or companies are prohibited from co-producing films with overseas organizations or individuals engaged in activities that damage China’s national dignity, honor and interests, sabotage the social stability, and harm the Chinese people’s feelings.

Any person involved in the preceding activities will be banned from film production in China.

Chinese films are already subject to a number of regulations that prohibits the depiction of smoking and time travel, while state television and internet videos are banned from depicting “uncommon sexual relationships and sexual behaviors” such as gay dating.

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A specific timeline has not yet been established, but the revision clearly means that all for-profit private schools in China are prohibited from teaching students between grades 1 through 9. As expected, the revised law was adopted Monday on a third readying by the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

Private schools will become exempt from the proposed ban if they registered as non-profit schools, but doing so would require government approval on the setting of tuition fees.

Private education in China was previously a booming industry that attracted huge investments. With relaxed restrictions now at an end, the government is now seeking tighter control by ending the ability of schools to set the curriculum as well.

The spread of “Western values” at Chinese schools has been a constant concern in China. Earlier last month, Shanghai authorities told 21 international schools to adopt state-sanctioned educational subjects as part of their curriculum. In January 2015, Education Minister Yuan Guiren said that Chinese universities should never “let textbooks promoting Western values appear in our classes.”

At the same time, the tightening of government control over education follows greater central oversight over a number of sectors including information dissemination, news and the internet and comes when the Communist Party of China has rallied behind Chinese President Xi Jinping as the “core leader”.

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Complete with a red horizontal banner that said “Campus Confiscation Activity for Prohibited Items”, the school held the event last Wednesday. Items confiscated from student dorms such as hair dryers, electric water kettles, and rice cookers were put into a pile on the school’s athletic grounds, where they were destroyed at the scene with an ax.

We get it, lesson learned: prohibited items are prohibited. And yet, a number of Chinese pexpel are upset that the ones not following the rules are the school leaders themselves.

Public demonstrations by local authorities are not uncommon in China, where the public is told to comply with whatever the red banner says. And yet, the event held by the Chengdu school has received public criticism for violating a fundamental right of its students – the right of possession.

As Caixin reported, a number of students have spoken out against the school. Even though they agree the school can confiscate items from students, they think the school has no right to destroy them since they belong to students.

Netizens online agree, with one person saying, “A clear example of the infringement of rights. Such ignorance of the law!”

Another netizen offered a different perspective by saying, “This is not a display of ignorance of the law (by the school). Each year the school makes so much money off tuition that they can afford one or two lawyers. How can they still be ignorant of the law? People, this is willfully breaking the law while being fully cognizant of it. They are pushing around the students who have no money, no position, and no rights.”

Meanwhile, another person mused: “What right to privacy is there in a socialist school?”

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China’s top legislature is debating a revision to the 2002 Law on the Promotion of Non-Public Schools that would limit the country’s private schools to students in kindergarten, grades 10 to 12, and university.

The revision comes after Shanghai authorities told 21 international schools to adopt state-sanctioned educational subjects as part of their curriculum. If the proposed law is passed, about 10,200 private schools and 12 million students in China will be affected.

Private schools would become exempt from the proposed ban if they registered as non-profit schools, but doing so would require government approval on the setting of tuition fees, putting private schools at a disadvantage.

Wu Hua, head of the Research Center of Private Education at Zhejiang University, believes the revision will be passed, thereby limiting options for Chinese parents wanting an alternative to the rote-teaching of public schools.

“The proposed law sends a signal that for-profit schools are unwelcome in China,” said Wu. “Even if they switch to non-profits, they would face challenges in terms of acquiring land and struggle to operate without preferential tax policies.”

In January 2015, Education Minister Yuan Guiren said that Chinese universities should maintain “political integrity” and never “let textbooks promoting Western values appear in our classes.” Without being specific, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech last December that hostile forces were attempting to subvert the Party’s rule and faith in Marxism, Socialism and Communism.

By comparison, some Western schools are becoming more Chinese in their approach to education. This past July, the UK decided to adopt Chinese teaching tactics as part of its schools’ mathematics curricula.

Meanwhile, some Chinese schools are attempting to cater to parents wanting an international education for their children by opening campuses in the USA.

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The Ministry of Environment Protection banned the use of x-ray scanners at the airport earlier this week, announcing that all “makers, sellers and users of x-ray body scanners should acquire official approval to ensure public safety.”

Further use of the scanners at Chinese security checkpoints are unlikely as the ministry also said that “large-scale use of radiation equipment among the public is prohibited.”

Public outcry over the use of x-ray scanners at the airport preceded the ban. Citizens have complained that the airport did not post any signs warning the public about potential health risks.

The West China Metropolis Daily reported Wednesday that x-ray scanners were still in use at the Chengdu East Railway Station. The paper noted that children, pregnant women and elderly passengers were warned by a notice not to go through the scanner, and were instead searched by a security guard.

The manufacturer of the scanner previously claimed its products were the result of joint efforts by scientists at China’s leading research institutes and experts from the Ministry of Public Security.

X-ray machines are commonly used at security checkpoints throughout China, but its use is restricted to checking items and luggage.

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A memo released by the company directly named the new Apple product that recently went on sale in China, telling its employees: “Our company forbids all employees from using or buying the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Whomever is found in violation of that rule will be immediately forced to resign.”

The company memo also called on employees to stop buying products made by US and Japanese companies, instead asking them to support Chinese companies.

The memo asked employees to use the money they would have spent on the new iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus (specifically mentioned as 5,388 yuan and 6,388 yuan) upon more worthy causes.

“If we have some disposable income, and if conditions allow it, let’s use the money to take better care of our parents’ health. Let’s pay more attention to our kids’ growth, to the value of life and to the prosperity of our country,” read the memo as reported by the People’s Daily Online.

First published by HNR.cn, the news was confirmed by Yingxiang Net, which also didn’t release the name of the company.

An employee surnamed Liu confirmed that the CEO of his company had written the memo, but said the order was meant to improve family values. “If a worker were to buy the iPhone 7, they probably won’t get fired,” said Liu.

The memo banning the iPhone was released on September 18 on the 85th anniversary of the Mukden incident, considered in China as the staged event that began the 14-year Japanese invasion of China.

In its report, HNR cited legal experts who said China’s Labor Law wouldn’t allow companies to enforce such a ban upon its employees.

However, it appears that such a ban on iPhones may not be necessary. Despite widespread popularity among Chinese consumers in the past, Apple’s newest iteration of the iPhone is currently met with a lukewarm response in China.

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According to Reuters, three Guangzhou hotels confirmed they received notice from police as early as March to refuse guests from Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Afghanistan. “I’m not clear of the reason. We just can’t take them,” one hotel worker said by telephone.

The targeted hotels have an average cost of 150 yuan ($23) a night, leading many to believe only budget hotels have been contacted. Two upscale hotels in the city that were contacted claim they haven’t received any such order.

The South China Morning Post reported the rule was a security measure implemented for a Guangzhou development forum. The ban is also said to be in place for next week’s G20 summit in Hangzhou, a city more than 1,000 km (620 miles) away.

Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said he was not aware that any such order had been issued in Guangzhou.

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The remarks were made at a seminar in Shanghai by Yao Jianlong, director of the School of Criminal Justice at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. “Videos of students being bullied by their schoolmates are easily accessible on the Internet. They are a kind of violent propaganda, which is infectious,” said Yao.

“I suggest the authorities ban these videos spreading on the Internet, so as to prevent underage youths from developing hostile attitudes and getting ideas about hurting people.”

Others echoed the call for a ban.

“Many teenagers, especially those in their rebellious phase, will imitate what they see in videos when they are involved in disputes,” said Wu Yan, a section chief with Shanghai People’s Procuratorate.

Youth bullying videos have been commonly posted on the internet, worrying many netizens.

This past March, a video showing two groups of teenaged high school girls armed with clubs and machetes clashing with each on in a village in Guangxi made it way online. In January, a 15 year-old girl from Hainan was stripped and beaten by her classmates, an incident that eeriely emulated a July 2013 attack in Zhuhai.

But for all the concern youth bullying videos cause online, authorities aren’t willing to crackdown on incidents of youth bullying and violence.

Out of the 510 cases of school violence dealt by the Guangdong prosecutor’s office in the two years ending in 2015, only three defendants were successfully tried and sent to jail. The Guangdong prosecutors’ office believed that “defendants in these cases were ‘not malicious’ and only had ‘pure’ motives”, while cases involving intentional assault and inciting riots were described as mere “trifles”.

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Newly introduced measures will restrict people on the blacklist from taking flights, joining travel groups or taking overseas trips, reported China Daily. As per the new rules, information on the blacklist can also be shared by provincial and national tourism authorities with the public, travel agencies and industry organizations.

Additionally, government agencies responsible for public security, customs, inspection and quarantine, border protection, transportation and finance can also be privy to the Chinese tourist blacklist.

“Punishments can be imposed by travel agencies or other related agencies or organizations based on the record,” says a draft of the proposed regulations.

The China National Tourism Administration (NTA) established the blacklist back in April 2015. Offenders’ names were to be recorded for two years by a two-tiered provincial and national system. At the time, the tourist blacklist gave tourism authorities the right to report such violations to public security, customs and transport authorities as well as the central bank’s individual credit department.

By establishing the blacklist, tourism authorities could “propose correction measures in order to mitigate the negative impact” against Chinese tourists who have “humiliated” their country.

In its 15 months of existence, there have been 19 names added to the China tourist blacklist. But even as the tourist blacklist changes from a record of names to enforceable preventative action, some experts are warning that it will remain ineffective. Liu Simin, vice-president of the tourism branch of the China Society for Futures Studies, said the blacklist may not work as effectively in practice as is in theory.

“It is not that difficult to introduce restrictive measures on flights,” Liu said. “However, if tourism authorities want to restrict blacklisted tourists from traveling overseas, they can only do this through travel agencies. If travelers plan their own trips and skip the agencies, they’re out of reach.”

Although a previous China Daily report described the blacklist as an attempt to “to rescue the image of its citizens as holidaymakers”, a recent report downplayed the impact of misbehaving Chinese tourists as “a few ugly incidents”.

Last month, a Chinese tourist was arrested for assaulting a clerk at a duty-free store at Los Angeles airport. In June, a Chinese tourist was fined by officials at Yellowstone National Park for walking on terrace formations and collecting spring water. This past April, Japanese news cameras captured Chinese tourists abusing trees during the annual cherry blossom season.

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