Anchors Aweigh

Research vessel Dayang Yihao departs from Sanya on south Chinas island province of Hainan on December 2， making the countrys 30th oceanic exploration mission.

The voyage， which will last 180 days and cover 19，000 nautical miles， will take the vessel across the Indian Ocean. A total of 339 people are on board， including 254 scientists and engineers.

Among the experiments， scientists will test a remotely operated underwater vehicle on a series of oceanic surveys mainly on polymetallic sulphide and bioresources.

City Categories

In a plan released on December 3， the Chinese Government has identified 262 cities as being dependent on natural resources， in a bid to roll out targeted measures to boost their development.

The plan， which is the first national framework on sustainable development for resourcedependent cities， puts the regions into four categories based on their resource sustainability： growing， mature， declining or regenerative.

Yunnan， Liaoning and Henan are the three provinces with the highest concentration of such cities.

Central authorities will extend fiscal and policy support to facilitate restructuring and upgrading efforts， including accelerating shanty town renovation and boosting employment， according to the plan.

Outstanding Students

Shanghai was ranked first in mathematics， science and reading in a report on global education released every three years.

Sixty-five countries and regions took part in the tests for the Parisbased Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its PISA report （Program for International Student Assessment） is the single largest study of global schooling.

The study is highly influential， with participating countries and regions representing more than 80 percent of the global economy and often adapting policy in response to the findings.

The first PISA survey was carried out in 2000， with Shanghai joining the rankings in 2009 and coming first in the same three categories that year as well as first overall.

Around 6，400 students from 155 schools in Shanghai took part in the latest assessment in April last year. Globally， around half a million 15-year-olds took part. The tests are based on a 1，000-point scale.

Zhang Minxuan， leader of the Shanghai PISA program and President of Shanghai Normal University， attributed Shanghais students performance in mathematics to more chances to learn the subject， ability and family backgrounds.

The FAO has provided technical support to projects in China and a new five-year China-FAO cooperation plan is being discussed.

4G Arrives

Visitors observe the fourth generation （4G） telecom booth at the Ninth China （Nanjing） International Software Product and Information Service Expo， held in Nanjing， capital of east Chinas Jiangsu Province.

Chinas Ministry of Industry and Information Technology（MIIT） issued 4G licenses to three Chinese telecom operators on December 4， marking the beginning of a new era in Chinas high-speed mobile network.

China Mobile， China Telecom and China Unicom received permits to offer 4G mobile network services employing homegrown technology—TD-LTE， or Time-Division Long-Term Evolution.

Trade Dispute

China on December 3 filed a complaint under the WTOs dispute settlement mechanism over antidumping measures by the United States against 13 types of Chinese products.

China has officially launched the WTO dispute settlement procedure and called for consultations with the United States under the mechanism， the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM） said in a statement.

“In its anti-dumping investigations and reviews， the United States has inappropriately applied targeted dumping methodology and denied companies separate tax rates，” MOFCOM spokesman Shen Danyang said in a statement.

These practices， which do not comply with WTO rules， have resulted in Chinese products mistakenly deemed as having been dumped， and have severely magnified dumping margins， Shen added.

The spokesman said antidumping measures launched by the United States for 13 types of Chinese products， including oil well pipelines， involved a total export value of $8.4 billion.

He said that China is resolutely against the misuse of trade remedy rules and protectionism. “China will also determinedly maintain its rights as a WTO member and safeguard the interests of domestic industries，” he said.

Prior to this， China filed 12 complaints under the WTOs dispute settlement mechanism and won 11 of them.

VAT Reform Expanded

China will continue to expand the scope of its pilot program to replace turnover tax with value-added tax（VAT） by including two new sectors under the reform， an official document revealed on December 4.

The country will incorporate the railway transportation and postal service sectors into ongoing VAT reform starting on January 1， 2014， according to a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council， Chinas cabinet.

VAT is tax levied on the difference between the cost of production and the price of a commodity on the market. It is favored partly because it can reduce double taxation.

Following regional experiments since the beginning of 2012， VAT reform was rolled out throughout the country on August 1， reducing taxes on businesses by 94 billion yuan （$15 billion） in the first 10 months of this year.

At present， the reform only focuses on certain service sectors， such as transportation on roads， waterways， air and pipelines， as well as some modern service areas such as information technology， cultural innovation and consulting services. After the expansion， the entire transportation industry will be covered by the VAT trials.

PMI Figures

Chinas purchasing managersindex （PMI） for the manufacturing sector remained flat at 51.4 percent in November， according to data released on November 30.

The figure was the same as October， data from the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing （CFLP） showed. Manufacturing PMI has stabilized after rising for four consecutive months， showing a steady upward trend in manufacturing. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion， while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction.

Zhao Qinghe， a senior NBS statistician， attributed the strong PMI to expanding production， and confidence boosted by government measures to stabilize growth and restructure the economy， as well as large-scale enterprises active performance.

The PMI for Chinas nonmanufacturing sector stood at 56 percent in November， down from 56.3 percent for October， according to the NBS and CFLP.

The non-manufacturing PMI tracks service， construction， software， aviation， railway transport and real estate among other sectors.

CFLP Vice Chairman Cai Jin said construction and information services are becoming increasingly active， and the nonmanufacturing sector is absorbing more labor.

Disneys JV

The Walt Disney Co. （TWDC） and Shanghai-based BesTV New Media Co. Ltd. on December 4 announced plans to set up a joint venture in China to tap into the countrys fast-developing digital industry and market.

The new venture will use the technical expertise， professional skills， experience and marketing strategies of Disney and BesTV together. It will operate a digital technology consulting business focusing on BesTV and Disney-related services， products and content on Chinas mainland， BesTV said in a statement.

BesTV will own 51 percent of the joint venture， while the remainder will be owned by TWDC Shanghai Ltd.， a wholly owned subsidiary of TWDC.

Shanghai-listed BesTV， a subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group， has 18 million IPTV subscribers with its businesses in China， southeast Asia and eastern Europe.

Duty-Free Shopping

Kashgar， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， will start providing dutyfree shopping from 2015 as the city tries to build itself up as a trade hub in Central Asia. Duty-free shops will open in a plaza covering 100，000 square meters， local authorities said on November 30.

Visitors to Kashgar will be allowed to buy duty-free goods with valid plane tickets and travel agreements， according to the administration of Kashgar Economic Development Zone.

In a policy package released in 2011， the State Council said it supported Kashgar to set up a special customs regulation zone.

Soilless Cultivation

A worker examines vegetables in a soilless vegetable greenhouse at Yangzizhou Township of Nanchang， Jiangxi Province.

By utilizing soilless cultivation technologies， Yangzizhou has become the largest vegetable production base in Nanchang， with an annual production capacity of 70，000 tons.