Lake Expansion

The area of Qinghai Lake， Chinas largest salt lake located in Qinghai Province， has expanded by 124 square km in the past four years， according to the latest survey.

The area of the lake was 4，373 square km during the dry season in a satellite survey carried out between the end of May and early June.

The lake is approaching its record size of 4477.53 square km recorded in 1974. Since 2005， It has fluctuated in size but kept increasing.

IP Protection

Chinas State Intellectual Property Office （SIPO） on July 29 announced that it has issued a guideline to boost intellectual property protection.

The guideline on deepening implementation of the state intellectual property strategy and strengthening and improving management on intellectual property lays out the road to set up an efficient administrative management system on intellectual property by 2020.

It requires stepping up law enforcement to safeguard market order. Service innovations are encouraged to provide better intellectual property services to the public.

The guideline was jointly issued by the SIPO and seven other organizations， including the Ministry of Education， the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

No GM Rice

Chinese authorities have vowed to take a zero-tolerance stance on the illegal selling and growing of genetically modified （GM） crops days after the media exposure of GM rice on sale at a supermarket in central China.

“The ministry will punish any companies or individuals who illegally grow or sell GM grains，” said a statement sent to Xinhua News Agency on July 29 by the office in charge of GM food safety with the Ministry of Agriculture （MOA）.

The ministry has ordered all provincial agricultural authorities to strengthen oversight and fight illegal production and sale of seeds for GM crops， according to the statement.

Chen Xiaohua， Vice Minister of the MOA， said earlier this year that China would continue to take an “active and cautious” policy toward GM crops and had set no timetable on the commercial production of GM products.

Official Auditing

Chinese authorities will focus on environmental protection， science and technology innovation and improvement of peoples livelihood when evaluating the performance of officials， a circular published on July 27 said.endprint

According to the document， which was jointly issued by the countrys auditing， state-owned asset， and human resources and social security authorities and the Communist Party of Chinas disciplinary inspection and organization departments， economic responsibility audits of Chinese officials will put the quality and sustainability of economic and social development under the spotlight.

It will also focus on the social， economic and environmental benefits of officials decision-making and administrative activities， it said.

The audit， first launched in 1999 in China， covers government and Party officials and legal representatives of state-owned enterprises. The results of the auditing will be used as references in performance evaluation， promotion， and the rewarding and punishment of officials.

University Transparency

The Ministry of Education （MOE） on July 29 released a circular calling for timely information disclosure following a series of scandals in college admissions and other areas.

The circular designated 50 areas where 75 MOE-affiliated universities must give transparent information to the public， such as admission of recommended candidates for college admission， public bidding for infrastructure construction and university leadersoff-campus posts.

All the universities affiliated to the MOE are required to post the specified information on university websites within 20 days of any event taking place.

The circular comes after a series of scandals， including bribe-taking in college admissions， that have made the public doubt the ethics of highereducation institutions.

Hukou Reform

China plans to help an estimated 100 million people without urban ID records settle in towns and cities by 2020， the State Council， Chinas cabinet， said on July 30.

It issued a circular aimed at accelerating reform of the nations household registration， or hukou system.

The document said the government will remove the limits on hukou registration in townships and small cities， relax restrictions in mediumsized cities， and set qualifications for registration in big cities.

At a press conference on that day， Vice Public Security Minister Huang Ming said differentiated approaches will be applied in the hukou system， based on the size and population of a city.

Medium-sized cities with a population between 1 million-3 million will have a low threshold， while megacities with more than 5 million residents will try to strictly control the influx of new citizens.endprint

People wishing to settle in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai will have to qualify through a “points system”based on their seniority in employment， their accommodation and social security， according to Huang.

Court Defaulters

More than 20 percent of people who had defaulted on court fines fulfilled their obligations after punitive measures were introduced， according to the Supreme Peoples Court （SPC） on July 25.

Defaulters have faced travel， financial and employment restrictions after an online database that debuted last October enabled the public to check their names， according to an SPC statement released after a national meeting on court orders held in southeast Chinas Fujian Province.

Defaulters will be banned from flying and traveling in upper-class sleeper train compartments as well as from taking positions as legal representatives， board members， board of supervisors members and senior executives of a company.

SPC figures showed that 203，000 defaulters were submitted to the list by courts across the country by July 23， and the online database has been visited more than 10 million times since it was launched on October 24.

The database is currently shared with more than 20 financial institutions， including state-owned banks， so they can punish parties in lawsuits who fail to pay damages by freezing bank account funds or declining loan or credit card requests.

Festivals End

Muslims perform the Eid al-Fitr prayer in Yinchuan， Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region， on July 29. Muslims across the country celebrated Eid al-Fitr on the day， marking the end of the month of Ramadan.

Thirsty Land

A farmer in Henan Province sits beside farmland that cannot be sown with crop seeds due to a shortage of water on July 23.

Persistent drought in north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and central Chinas Henan Province has scorched rivers and reservoirs， causing power and water shut-offs and drinking water shortages.

Some 150，000 hectares of farmland and 16.4 million hectares of pastures have been affected in the worst drought to hit the area in three years. About 1.34 million heads of cattle also lack drinking water and the drought has caused direct economic losses of 229 million yuan （$37 million）.

Banking Liberalization

The establishment of three private banks， including Webank by Internet giant Tencent， has been approved by regulatory authorities as it steps up financial reforms and opens up the banking sector.endprint

Shang Fulin， Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission（CBRC）， announced the move on July 25 and said that the purpose of the reform is “to provide efficient and diversified financial services to the real economy.”

Webank， located in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， will have two other main co-founders， Shenzhen Baiyeyuan Investment Co. and Shenzhen Liye Group， according to the commission.

The bank will mainly serve individual customers and small and micro businesses.

The other two banks are located in the eastern city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province and the northern municipality of Tianjin， said the CBRC.

Chint Group and Huafon Group are co-founders of the bank in Wenzhou， which targets local small and micro companies， individual businesses and residents， as well as clients in rural areas.

The bank in Tianjin， with Huabei Group and Maigou （Tianjin） Group as co-founders， will mainly engage in corporate banking services.

Experts said that the authorization will increase competition in the banking sector and improve financial services to the countrys weak links such as agriculture and small businesses.

The CBRC said in March that China will set up five private banks on a trial basis. Each of the banks will be cosponsored by at least two private capital providers.

Continued Surplus

Chinas current account surplus reached$72.2 billion in the second quarter， the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said on July 30.

The goods trade surplus hit $109 billion， but the service trade posted a deficit of $29.6 billion.

A surplus of capital and financial accounts totaled $36.9 billion in the April-June period. Net inflows of direct investment amounted to $40.3 billion.

Due to the surpluses， Chinas international reserve assets increased by $35.3 billion.

Among the assets， foreign exchange reserve assets （excluding the influence of exchange rates and prices） rose by $35.7 billion. Special drawing rights and the reserve position in the International Monetary Fund saw a drop of $300 million.

For the first half year， the current account surplus was $79.3 billion while the capital and financial account stood at $81.5 billion， resulting in an increase of $160.8 billion in international reserve assets.

The country has witnessed quarterly surpluses in both accounts—the current account and the capital and financial account—since the final quarter of 2012. This may add to appreciation pressure on the Chinese currency yuan and incur problems from international speculative capital inflow.endprint

Stimulus in Place

Swathes of high-rise buildings stand over the center of Ningbo， which eased home-buying restrictions on July 30.

Around 20 cities with high inventories have lifted or eased bans on ownership of more than one home， introduced in early 2011 as a tool to cool the property market.

Industrial Plan

China has issued its first development plan for the geographic information industry， according to an announcement from the National Administration of Surveying， Mapping and Geoinformation on July 27.

China sees the geoinformation industry as a new source of economic growth and plans to have established a comprehensive industry system with independent intellectual property rights by 2020.

Focus will be placed on developing remote sensing services as well as manufacturing surveying and mapping equipment and navigation systems， according to the newly released plan.

Chinas independently developed Beidou navigation satellite system achieved positioning accuracy within 1 meter in May and is expected to be applied in sailing， marine exploration and rescue， and maritime monitoring.

The Beidou navigation satellite industry alone will have an output value of 400 billion yuan （$65 billion） by 2020， according to a geo-spatial information expert.

Gold Discovery

Geologists have discovered a large gold deposit worth a potential $6.46 billion in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， local officials said on July 29.

With at least 127 tons of proven reserves， it is the largest gold deposit ever discovered in resource-rich Xinjiang.

It is located in Uqar County， which borders Kyrgyzstan in west Xinjiang， according to the Xinjiang Regional Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration and Development.

“Its expected the total reserves will exceed 200 tons，” said Cui Hongbin， head of the exploration team.

The discovery will not only increase Chinas gold output， which totaled 211 tons in the first half of this year， but will also benefit local revenue and employment， Cui said.

Soaring Ambition

Trial production of the TA600 aircraft， intended to be the worlds largest amphibious aircraft， has started in China following completion of the design process， a company executive said on July 27.

The aircraft， with a maximum takeoff weight of 53.5 tons and a maximum range of more than 5，000 km， is larger than a Boeing 737 and could be used for firefighting and air-sea rescue， said Fu Junxu， General Manager of the China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. Ltd.s Zhuhai branch.endprint

China began developing the aircraft five years ago. Its maiden flight is expected to happen in late 2015， Fu said. “After a period of trial flights， the aircraft will be put onto the market，”he added.

Upon completion， TA600 will replace Japans ShinMaywa US-2 aircraft as the largest amphibious aircraft in the world.

Vintage Architecture

Tourists walk through a winding corridor at the newly opened International Grape Exhibition Garden in Beijings suburban Yanqing County on July 25.

The garden is an important site for the 11th International Conference on Grapevine Breeding and Genetics， which was held in Yanqing from July 29 to August 2.

Anti-Trust Probe

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce （SAIC） has launched an antimonopoly investigation into Microsoft Corp.s business on the Chinese mainland， it confirmed on July 29.

According to a statement made by the SAIC， the investigation involves Microsoft China Co. Ltd.， and three of its branches in Shanghai， Guangzhou in Guangdong Province and Chengdu in Sichuan Province. The administration said that the firm had not fully disclosed anti-competition information about its Windows operating system and Microsoft Office applications as required.

Inspectors are investigating a Microsoft vice president and several senior managers， and have made copies of the firms financial statements and contracts， the SAIC said.

The administration has seized documents， e-mails and other data from Microsofts computers and servers. It has not been able to complete its investigation because key personnel of Microsoft are not in China or cannot be contacted， according to the statement.

In June last year， the SAIC investigated complaints from enterprises that Microsoft had used tie-in sales and verification codes in its Windows operating system and Microsoft Office applications， causing software incompatibility issues.

Microsoft failed to fully disclose information as required by the SAIC about such complaints in its reports submitted to the regulator， and may have breached Chinas Anti-Monopoly Law， the statement said.

Under the law， companies or individuals should not abuse their market dominance to exclude or restrict competition and should be supervised by the public.endprint