Cooperation Pledge

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visits the exhibition hall of the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning， Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， on September 3.

The expo attracted more than 2，300 companies from China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations （ASEAN）.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of ChinaASEAN strategic partnership. It has been described as a “golden decade，”in which both China and ASEAN nations experienced enormous gains as a result of their cooperation.

Speaking at the opening of the expo， Li said that China and ASEAN nations have the ability to build a“diamond decade.”

Discipline Online

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection （CCDI） of the Communist Party of China and the Ministry of Supervision jointly launched an official website on September 1. Tip-offs about corruption cases can be submitted to the website， which will publish the latest information from important meetings， campaigns and graft investigations. The public can access a database of Party regulations and laws against corruption through it. As a major move to improve anti-corruption efforts， the website will be a bridge between the public and anti-corruption agencies， said Wang Qishan， head of the CCDI， when inspecting the operation ozWPwvZygJL4ahhEBF+57ow==f the website on September 3.

Higher Thresholds

Ten provincial-level regions nationwide have been put under a pilot reform program that raises the threshold of becoming a teacher， the Ministry of Education said on September 3.

Under the program， all teachers could be subject to taking a unified national exam and graduates from teachers’ training schools or colleges will no longer be acknowledged straight away as qualified for teaching after graduation.

In addition， life tenure will be scrapped in order to get rid of the safety net allowing under-performing teachers to stay in the education system， and all teachers have to register to stay active educational practitioners every five years.

Initiated in 2011， the program will be expanded to all 31 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland by 2015， according to the ministry.

China had about 25 million registered teachers at the end of 2012.

Trademark Law

China’s top legislature on August 30 passed a new intellectual property law to crack down on copyright infringements and ensure a fair market for trademark holders.

After three readings over the past two years， the revised law was passed at the bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

The new law， which will go into effect on May 1， 2014， raises the compensation ceiling for trademark infringement to 3 million yuan（$500，000）， six times the previous limit.

It also mitigates the responsibil- ity of trademark holders in providing proof of infringement， saying the alleged offenders shall provide their accounting books or other materials for investigation. Otherwise， compensation could be determined according to the amounts proposed by trademark holders.

Trademark agencies are forbidden from accepting entrustment if they know or should know that their clients are conducting malicious registration or infringing on the trademark rights of others.

Agencies violating the law will face fines and credit score penalties. Those involved in serious cases will have their businesses suspended.

The new law offers protection for well-known trademarks， giving owners the right to ban others from registering their trademarks or using similar ones—even if similar brand names are available.

China adopted its Trademark Law in 1982 and made amendments in 1993 and 2001.

Tibetan Afforestation

Tibet Autonomous Region is planning to invest 30 billion yuan （$4.9 billion） in an afforestation project along six major rivers in the region， a forestry official announced on August 29.

The project will focus on lands suitable for afforestation along Yarlung Zangbo， Ngulchu， Lhasa， Nyangchu， Nyakchu and Sengye Khabap rivers， said Lei Guilong， head of Tibet’s Forestry Department.

The project will start from 2014 and is expected to be completed by 2030. It will help conserve soil and water resources， as well as prevent sandstorms in these areas， Lei said.

Translation Contest

A translation contest of contemporary works in the Chinese language was launched on September 2.

Organizers of the China International Translation Contest 2013 have chosen 30 award-winning pieces of contemporary Chinese short stories from renowned writers including Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan. Participants are required to choose one of the 30 stories to translate into English， French， Russian， Spanish or Arabic and submit their works before February 28， 2014.

Organizers said both individual translators and group efforts are welcome to take part.

The top prize for each language will be $5，000.

Patient Database

The National Health and Family Planning Commission issued on August 29 a document on managing patients suffering illnesses such as schizophrenia， schizoaffective disorder， persistent delusional disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. They are among the six categories of severe mental disturbance in the country’s first Mental Health Law that took effect in May.

Patients and those who harm others should be recorded in the national mental illness information administration system， the document said.

The hospital should record the patient in the national system， or submit a written report to a countylevel mental illness prevention and treatment agency， within 10 days after the patient is discharged from hospital， it said.

China had more than 100 million people with some form of mental disorder in 2009， including 16 million suffering severe mental illnesses， according to latest figures from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Safe Water

China will ensure the safety of drinking water by the year 2015 in rural areas， where it still remains inaccessible to more than 100 million people， a senior official said on August 29.

By the end of tdK4eIuJmyYNvxoy0cnnQ/w==his year， 63 percent of rural residents will have access to safe drinking water， said Li Guoying， Vice Minister of Water Resources.

The government had allocated more than 179 billion yuan （$29.25 billion） for safe drinking water projects from 2005 to 2012， Li said.

Car Control

Beijing’s first reversible lane is located on Chaoyang Road and was put into use on September 5 as part of efforts to ease worsening gridlock.

Traffic authorities said on September 3 that the city is considering imposing congestion fees for cars in the city center.

Meanwhile， Beijing will restrict the number of new cars on road each year beginning January 2014. By 2017， the number of registered vehicles in the city is expected to be no more than 6 million， but in July of this year， the number had already reached 5.35 million.

Roof Goes Solar

Wang Xiaogang， a resident in Changxing County， Zhejiang Province， and electricians from a local power department check the grid-connected solar power unit installed on Wang’s roof.

The facility consists of 16 solar panels and has an installed capacity of 4 kilowatts. It can generate 15-20 kilowatt-hours（kwh） of electricity on a sunny day.

The National Development and Reform Commission on August 30 issued a 0.42-yuan subsidy for every kwh of electricity produced by distributed solar power generation projects.

Economic Rebound

China’s manufacturing activities posted a strong recovery in August， offering further signs that the world’s second largest economy is emerging from the shadows of a protracted slowdown.

The purchasing managers’ index（PMI） rose to 51.0 percent in August from 50.3 percent in July， marking the second monthly expansion in a row， and the highest reading this year， according to data jointly released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） on September 1. A reading below 50 indicates contraction， while anything above signals expansion.

The 0.7-percentage-point monthly expansion also represents the biggest increase since January. In the months prior to August， the data had swayed back and forth.

Zhao Qinghe， a senior statistician with the NBS， said the figure shows the manufacturing activities have stronger growth impetus， and the economy is firming up in a more evident way.

China’s non-manufacturing PMI fell to 53.9 percent in August from 54.1 percent for July， according to data released on September 3.

China’s Top 500

The 2013 edition of the Top 500 Chinese Enterprises list was unveiled at a press conference in Kunming， capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province on August 31， with China’s oil giant Sinopec Group topping the list. The list was compiled by the China Enterprise Confederation and the China Enterprise Directors Association based on the 2012 revenues of Chinese companies.

Sinopec Group took the lead for a ninth year with a total revenue of 2.83 trillion yuan （$458.6 billion） in 2012.

China National Petroleum Corp.， the parent company of China’s top oil and gas producer， PetroChina， followed closely in second place with revenues reaching 2.68 trillion yuan （$440 billion） in 2012.

The two were joined by eight other state-owned companies to dominate the top 10： State Grid， Industrial and Commercial Bank of China， China Construction Bank， Agricultural Bank of China， Bank of China， China Mobile， China State Construction and China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

A total of 123 companies， including 16 privately owned enterprises， reported revenues of more than 100 billion yuan （$16.34 billion） last year， up from 107 companies a year earlier.

GDP Revised

The National Bureau of Statistics（NBS） on September 2 lowered

China’s growth rate for 2012 to 7.7 percent based on its preliminary verification.

The revised GDP came in at 51.89 trillion yuan （$8.41 trillion）， down 38 billion yuan （$6.21 billion） from the preliminary calculation figure that put the annual rate at 7.8 percent， said the NBS.

Primary industries took up a 10.1-percent share in the GDP structure， while the secondary and tertiary sectors accounted for 45.3 percent and 44.6 percent， respectively， remaining unchanged from the preliminary calculation.

The NBS calculates each year’s GDP three times—a preliminary calculation， a preliminary verification and a final verification that is due several months later.

Cotton Trade Hub

Cotton processors in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are planning to build a trad- ing center in the country’s largest cotton planting area.

The center will be located in the Xinjiang Huijin Logistics Garden in south Xinjiang’s Korla City. It will be jointly supported by 17 cotton purchase and processing enterprises with a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan （$242 million）.

The first phase of the project， with an investment of nearly 300 million yuan （$49 million）， will have a storage capacity of 600，000 tons， while the second-phase project will bring that capacity to 3.6 million tons.

The center will also cooperate with other cotton futures centers in the country to better facilitate cotton logistics， trade and transactions.

Xinjiang is China’s most impor- tant cotton planting area， with its output accounting for more than half of the national total.

Tax Adjustment

China has increased the value-added tax from 4 percent to 5 percent on imports of planes with an empty weight of above 25 metric tons， the Central Government announced on September 2.

Meanwhile， for imported planes with an empty weight between 25 and 45 metric tons， the import tariff rate has been adjusted from the previous 1 percent to 5 percent.

The country has also scrapped its zero-tariff policy on imports of lignite， a form of low-rank coal. Instead， a 3-percent tax has been resumed.

Trend Technologies

Visitors inspect the latest gaming software on display at the ninth China（Nanjing） International Software Product and Information Service Expo held in Nanjing， capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province on September 5-8.

The expo， under the theme Software and Smart Life， attracted more than 1，100 software companies from 30 countries to showcase their latest products.