Move for Cranes

Red-crowned cranes in Zhalong National Nature Reserve in Heilongjiang Province are fed on August 17.

More than 5，000 people are to be relocated from the nature reserve to protect a colony of these cranes， a species with a population of only 2，000.

The red-crowned crane is an important symbol in Chinese mythology， representing longevity and immortality. Zhalong， covering 210，000 hectares， is Chinas largest artificial breeding center for the cranes and home to about 20 percent of the world population.

Against Corruption

Chinas top prosecuting body on August 26 announced new measures to stem judicial corruption in granting parole or commutation of prison terms.

Under the regulation released by the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate， prosecutors will launch “full-scale investigation and verification” over a criminals qualifications if their sentence is reduced by a significant margin or they are placed on long-term parole.

Prosecutors will particularly target those found guilty of corruption and mafia-style or terrorist crimes， among other serious criminal offences. People who have committed serious economic crimes such as fraud， or other crimes with “severe social impacts” are also subject to the examination.

Prosecutors will also focus on suspicious sentence commutations. They will check carefully if a prisoner only serves a short prison term before getting a commutation， or if they are given frequent commutations or parole.

New Desktop Version

Chinas homegrown operating system（OS） is expected to release a desktop version in October， according to a senior IT scientist on August 24.

Ni Guangnan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering said that the OS will be first seen on desktop devices and later expanded to smartphones and other mobile devices.

Ni heads an OS development alliance established in March. There are still problems in the program， including a lack of research funds and too many developers pulling in different directions.

“China has more than a dozen mobile OS developers with no independent intellectual property rights because their research is based on Android，” said Ni， adding future development should be led by the government.

He said the end of Windows XP and the government ban on the procurement of Windows 8 have opened the door to domestic OS developers.

Permits Tradingendprint

Chinas State Council has published a guideline to promote the purchase and trading of emissions permits in regions piloting the scheme.

The pilot regions must establish mechanisms for the purchase and trading of emissions rights by 2017 to lay a foundation for the scheme to be rolled out nationwide， said a statement posted on the governments website on August 25.

The pilots began in 2007 in 11 regions including Tianjin， Hebei and Inner Mongolia.

The regions can apply the permits to the pollutants that affect them the most， and revenues from authorizing emissions rights should be turned in to local governments to fight pollution.

Trading of emissions rights must be done in a voluntary， fair and environment-oriented way and trading prices will be decided by the buyer and the seller， the statement said.

Emissions rights， or permits， represent the right to emit a specific volume of the specified pollutant. Firms that need to discharge more must buy permits from those which need fewer permits. In effect， the buyer is paying for polluting more than permitted， while the seller is being rewarded for fewer emissions.

Unsafe Imported Food

Chinese authorities found 424 batches of substandard food imports in July， the countrys top quality supervisor announced on August 27.

Poor quality， excessive additives and microbial contamination were the main problems discovered in these imports， which came from 35 countries and regions， according to the General Administration of Quality Supervision， Inspection and Quarantine （AQSIQ）.

The rejected food products fell under 19 categories， with most classified as biscuits and candies， beverages and seasonings， said AQSIQ spokeswoman Li Jing.

Besides food， the AQSIQ also found four shipments of substandard cosmetic products imported from three countries and regions.

All substandard products were either sent back or destroyed， Li said.

Specific Support

Chinas Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Finance will join forces to develop specific areas of the nations cultural industry.

China should strengthen efforts in financial support， establishing projects and attracting a broader audience of overseas visitors to help promote key historic and cultural spots in China， a guideline issued by both ministries said on August 26.

Qi Shuyu， a scholar with the Chinese Academy of Governance， said the country has 4，295 cultural relics under protection， 47 UNESCO World Heritage Sites， and 1，219 national heritage sites.endprint

Research Progress

Chinese scientists have made progress in brain-computer interface research after a successful experiment on an epilepsy patient.

After implanting an electrode connected to a robotic hand into the brain of a 28-year-old woman， the hand performed the three actions of the “rock-paper-scissors” game immediately.

This shows Chinas progress in creating a brain-machine interface， bringing new hope to patients who suffer from limb motor dysfunction， said Zhang Jianmin， head of the Neurology Department at the Second Hospital Affiliated to Zhejiang University.

The Chinese team began their research in 2006 and in 2012 achieved actions such as grasping and pinching with a robotic limb in an experiment on a monkey.

Researchers will work to improve the accuracy of the action of robotic limbs， said Zhang.

Stage for an Ancient Art

An art festival of Shaanxi Opera kicks off in Yinchuan， Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region， on August 25. Eleven Shaanxi Opera troupes from five provinces took part in the festival.

Bidding Farewell

Volunteers for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games pose for a photo together on August 25.

The Games closed on August 28. More than 3，700 athletes from 204 countries and regions took part in the Games.

Nanjing 2014 was just the second summer Youth Olympic Games， following the inaugural event in Singapore in 2010.

Joint Green Efforts

Beijing and neighboring Hebei Province will jointly plant 100，000 mu （66.7 square km） of forest in 2015， in a step to guarantee the capital citys water security and improve local eco-systems， authorities said on August 25.

According to the program， the forests will cover areas along Beijings Miyun Reservoir， the citys major source of drinking water， and the upper reaches of Guanting Reservoir on the BeijingHebei border.

The project， initiated in 2009， will also cover eight counties under Hebeis cities of Zhangjiakou and Chengde， Beijings main barrier against sandstorms from northwest China and an important water source， said Yuan Shibao， an official with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry.

The joint project is expected to produce 500，000 mu of forests by the end of 2014， with further plans to reach 1 million mu.

Foreign Hospitals

Private hospitals solely owned by foreign investors will be allowed to open in seven cities and provinces， the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM） announced on August 27.endprint

Wholly foreign-owned hospitals will be permitted in the cities of Beijing， Tianjin， Shanghai and Jiangsu， Fujian， Guangdong and Hainan provinces. Foreign investors will be either able to set up a new hospital independently or take part via mergers and acquisitions.

However， the MOFCOM specified that only investors from Hong Kong， Macao and Taiwan may set up hospitals featuring traditional Chinese medicine.

Administrative approval procedures will be handled by provincial-level authorities.

The Chinese Government has stressed reform in its healthcare sector following public demand for more and better healthcare services. A State Council statement in May pledged price reforms in public hospitals and that more private hospitals would be established.

There were about 5，400 private hospitals on Chinas mainland in 2008， with that number rising to 10，877 by the end of October 2013， according to official figures. Public hospitals， which provide 90 percent of Chinas medical services， totaled 13，440 by the end of October.

Shoring Up Farming

Chinas central bank has set aside another 20 billion yuan （$3.24 billion） for a scheme designed to funnel credit into agriculture， it announced on August 27.

The money has been allocated to a re-lending program， under which the central bank extends loans to commercial banks on the condition that they in turn lend to businesses in required sectors.

The move follows a State Council meeting in July that saw pledges to boost agriculture by increasing the scale of re-lending and also re-discount programs， which allow the central bank to pump funds into commercial banks by purchasing their bills.

On August 8， the central bank added 12 billion yuan （$1.95 billion） to the re-discount quota.

Authorities hope the policies will help support growth in agriculture while stemming credit flow to undesired sectors.

Bound for Africa

A streetcar sails into the platform at an off-line ceremony in the passenger car manufacturing center of CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. Ltd. on August 26. The batch of streetcars will be exported to Ethiopia. For the first time， Chinese-produced streetcars will make their way to the horn of Africa.

Private Telecom Firms

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT） on August 25 licensed six more private enterprises to pilot the resale of certain mobile services， in its latest move to open the largely monopolized sector.endprint

The six are the third such batch of companies to be given the licenses， which allow them to partner and compete with Chinas “backbone” telecom operators through the resale of mobile services.

The companies can repackage the services they buy from the basic telecom operators before selling them to clients using their own brands， including voice， SMS， MMS and data services， according to a statement on the MIITs website.

Before the sales take place， the companies may need to engage in some preparatory work including the establishment of better charging and customer service systems.

The MIIT said it would closely monitor the progress of the pilot program and is ready to offer assistance to companies that face problems in providing the services.

The MIIT granted such licenses to 11 private firms last December and another eight in January.

The developments come after a set of MIIT guidelines last June opened up the telecom sector to private capital， offering participation in eight major areas， including the resale of mobile communication.

Anti-Dumping Waived

MOFCOM said on August 25 it would stop imposing anti-dumping mea-sures on catechol imported from the European Union starting on August 26.

The ministry said it has not received an expiry review request from Chinese industries to extend the antidumping measures， which expire on August 25， and it would not start an expiry review itself.

Catechol is a chemical used in the production of medicines and paints.

In 2009， MOFCOM extended anti-dumping measures on catechol imports from the EU for another five years following a review investigation of five-year anti-dumping duties ranging from 20 percent to 79 percent imposed in 2003.

New Nuclear Plant

A nuclear power plant in east Chinas Shandong Province is expected to go into operation in 2016， the local power company said on August 26.

The conventional islands of the projects first stage， located in Haiyang of Yantai， are currently being installed and expected to be put into use in two years， according to Yantai State Grid Corp. A conventional island contains equipment which changes steam heat into electricity.

The Haiyang Nuclear Station， with a total investment of 80 billion yuan（$13 billion）， will eventually have six reactor units.

The first stage includes two AP1000 reactor units with power capacity of 1.25 million kilowatts each. The plan for the second stage includes another two units of the same capacity.endprint

Brave New World

Guests voice their opinions on the changes and opportunities brought about by the 4G era at the 2014 China Internet Conference opened at the Beijing International Convention Center on August 26.

With the theme of “Create Infinite Chances，” the conference focused on topics including Internet security， Big Data and technology-enabled lifestyles.

Enterprising Firms

A spurt of growth in new Chinese enterprises is the direct result of recent probusiness measures， an official said on August 26.

Zhang Mao， Minister of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce， said over 5.5 million new market entities， including private businesses and farming cooperatives， were registered from March to July.

Among them， about 1.6 million were enterprises， up 64.5 percent from the same period in 2013， Zhang told a press conference. Nearly 95 percent of them are private companies.

“More than 10，000 enterprises were set up each day in the past five months，”he said.

Changes to business registration came into effect on March 1， lifting restrictions on minimum registered capital， payment deadlines， down payment ratio and cash ratio of registered capital. Theoretically， a business can be started with just 1 yuan （$0.16）.

“The reform has helped entrepreneurs and increased the momentum of economic development，” Zhang said.

Along with a lower market threshold， new disclosure rules for corporate information will take effect on October 1 to prevent unqualified companies from flooding the market. Companies will be obliged to release annual public reports on their finances and activities under the supervision of local industrial and commercial authorities.

“Easy access accompanied by strict regulation will help create a fair market for competition，” said Zhang.

Cross-Border Yuan

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. （ICBC） announced that total cross-border yuan transactions handled by the bank amounted to 1.7 trillion yuan （$276 billion） in the first half of 2014， jumping more than 70 percent from a year earlier.

ICBC， Chinas largest lender by market value， said on August 25 it had completed cross-border renminbi settlements worth nearly 6.7 trillion yuan since 2009， when China started trials for cross-border trade settlements using yuan in Hong Kong， Macao， and ASEAN countries as well as a few other select locations.

Institutions at home and abroad have opened 512 accounts with ICBC on cross-border yuan clearing， and the bank is now providing crossborder yuan clearing in 75 countries and regions.

ICBC said it has been expanding cross-border yuan businesses in the last few years， both on the Chinese mainland and in overseas markets.endprint