Reform Plan

High school graduates in Nanjing， Jiangsu Province take picture together with teachers after the college entrance exam on June 9.

A meeting of the central leading group for comprehensive deepening of the reform headed by President Xi Jinping on August 18 reviewed the reform of the national examination and enrollment system to enhance the fairness and supervision ， and connect all levels and kinds of education.

At the same meeting， Xi said that China will build several new-type media groups that are strong， influential and credible.

The meeting also reviewed a plan for the reform of the payment system for executives of major state-owned enterprises（SOEs） directly controlled by the Central Government. It was decided that the plan has to be further amended.

Xi stressed that apart from necessary expenses certified by financial and fiscal regulations， SOE executives will enjoy no other perks in the name of “entitled consumption.”

Anniversary of Victory

The Chinese Government will hold commemorative activities as the 69th anniversary of winning the War Against Japanese Aggression （1937-45） approaches， the Foreign Ministry said on August 15.

“Relevant preparation is underway，”said ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.

The Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress， Chinas top legislature， in February designated September 3 as the victory day of the war and December 13 as the memorial day to commemorate the more than 300，000 Chinese killed by Japanese aggressors during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.

Japan officially surrendered on September 2， 1945， ending the eight years of resistance by the Chinese people.

Chinas State Archives Administration（SAA） on August 15 began releasing documents and videos showing Japans aggression during the 1930s and 1940s. A 24-part video series， called The Great Victory， will be released on the SAA website， one episode per day.

Cult Crackdown

Chinese police have arrested nearly 1，000 suspected members of the illegal Quannengshen （Almighty God） cult， according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The suspects， all seized since June， are allegedly involved in more than 500 cases.

“Quannengshen cheats people， takes their money and violates the law under the guise of a religion. A series of acts by its members have harmed peoples lives and property and disrupted social stability，” the ministry said.endprint

Five members of the cult stood trial in Yantai， east Chinas Shandong Province， on August 21 for the killing of a woman at a McDonalds outlet in the provinces Zhaoyuan County in May， when the deceased refused to give her telephone number to them， as they allegedly tried to recruit new members for the organization.

Founded in the 1990s in central Chinas Henan Province， Quannengshen claims that Jesus has been resurrected as Yang Xiangbin， wife of the groups founder Zhao Weishan. The couple fled to the United States in September 2000.

HIV Reduction

A total of 436，800 people were living with HIV or AIDS in China at the end of 2013， while 136，300 had died from the disease， according to figures from health authorities.

Mortality for the disease dropped to 6.6 percent last year from 17.9 percent in 2005， Wu Zunyou， head of the HIV/ AIDS Division of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention， said on August 14.

The decline in mortality was attributed to policies such as free HIV tests nationwide and free treatment for rural and poor urban citizens， according to Wu.

Wu said that 95 percent of confirmed HIV/AIDS patients are under follow-up care.

Nearly 91 percent of the newly reported HIV/AIDS patients in China in 2013 were infected through sexual contact. About 21.4 percent of new cases resulted from same-sex intercourse， compared with 2.5 percent in 2006， Wu noted.

Office for Taiwan

The State Council Taiwan Affairs Office（SCTAO） on August 14 officially opened a special office to handle public petitions related to affairs on the island province.

Petitioning， also known as the“letters and calls system，” is the administrative method for soliciting public complaints and grievances.

The office will keenly listen to the complaints and requests of Taiwanese compatriots and Taiwanese spouses on the mainland and try to solve their problems， said SCTAO Vice Minister Gong Qinggai.

Wildlife Protection

The Chinese Embassy on August 14 donated anti-poaching equipment worth$20，000 to strengthen the fight against wildlife crimes in Kenya.

Chinese Ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa said that the donation is part of the long-term commitment from China to revitalize the war against poaching in Kenya.

During his visit to Kenya in May， Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that a China-Africa joint research center will be established in Nairobi to strengthen war against poaching.endprint

The Chinese embassy has partnered with Kenyan state organs to strengthen the fight against wildlife crimes in the east African nation.

Art for the World

Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television announced the launch of its new venture， Phoenix Art， at its Free-Thinking Innovation event and panel discussion in Beijing on August 19. Phoenix Art， which includes the new website， Art. ifeng.com， will provide exclusive content centered on education and innovation in the fine arts， both in China and around the world. Many distinguished guests—including Richard Saul Wurman， designer and co-founder of TED talks； Phoenix TV news anchor Sally Wu； professor of the arts Victoria Lu； contemporary artists Cai Guoqiang， Xu Bing and Qiu Zhijie； and many more—spoke on topics ranging from technologys impact on the traditional arts to how innovation and creativity are sparked in the 21st century. More than 150 guests were present for the FreeThinking Innovation event.

“Creativity comes from your distance from reality. If you only view the world inside a small area， you wont be inspired to have new thoughts，” said Xu Bing， speaking during the discussion on fostering creation in art and seeking out new inspiration. In collaboration with Phoenix Art， internationally renowned painters， innovators， academics， photographers， calligraphers as well as other artists will bring their work to the Chinese population to provide that inspiration.

This new platform and website for art education and appreciation also hopes to make the classics， from ancient Greek sculpture to the Dadaist movement， accessible to anyone， anywhere.“There is no more past or future or East or West—were all on the same level now，” Victoria Lu said at the event.

Memory of Days Past

An exhibition for the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps， a semi-military governmental organization shoulders the dual task of production and security in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， kicks off at the National Museum of China in Beijing on August 15.

Multicultural Games

Beijings Ninth Traditional Ethnic Sports Games open on August 19. The sports meeting is held once every four years.

This year， more than 6，000 athletes of 23 ethnic groups participated in 13 competitive events in six days.endprint

Anti-Trust Probe

A total of 12 Japanese auto parts and bearing makers have been fined 1.24 billion yuan （$201 million） owing to their collusion in creating a price monopoly， the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC） confirmed on August 20.

The Japanese auto parts suppliers punished include Hitachi， Denso， Aisan， Mitsubishi Electric， Mitsuba， Yazaki， Furukawa， Sumitomo and bearing makers are Nachi， NSK， JTEKT and NTN.

Hitachi and Nachi were exempted from the punishment as they were the first Japanese companies to report their monopoly agreements and offer important evidence in this regard， the NDRC said.

The fines to 10 other companies varied from 290 million yuan （$47.14 million） to 29.76 million yuan （$4.84 million）， according to the NDRC.

The eight Japanese auto parts suppliers were found to have frequently met bilaterally or multilaterally in Japan from January 2000 to February 2010， negotiating over prices and implementing agreements over quoted prices concerning orders from the Chinese market.

The four bearing makers were also found to have jointly convened meetings in Japan and Shanghai from 2000 to June 2011 to discuss the timing and scope of price hikes for bearing products in the Chinese market and later raised their price according to these negotiations， the NDRC said.

Such moves by the 12 Japanese auto parts and bearing suppliers were in violation of the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law， which prohibits behavior excluding or restraining market competition and thus damaging the rights and interests of downstream manufacturers and consumers， the NDRC said.

Housing Prices Drop

Chinas property sector showed new signs of cooling in July， with more cities reporting month-on-month price drops， official data showed on August 18.

Out of 70 major Chinese cities， 64 saw month-on-month price declines for new homes in July， compared with 55 in June， the National Bureau of Statistics（NBS） said.

Only two cities—Xiamen in southeast Chinas Fujian Province and Dali in southwest Chinas Yunnan Province—saw month-on-month gains in new home prices last month， compared with eight cities in June and 15 cities in May， the NBS data showed.

The growth rates in the 65 cities moderated significantly in July， said Liu Jianwei， a senior statistician at the NBS.

Liu said many home buyers were adopting a wait-and-see attitude due to uncertain market prospects， which had led to month-on-month drops in home prices in more Chinese cities.endprint

The latest data added to fears that Chinas property market is experiencing an obvious downturn after dismal growth in the last few years.

Zhang Dawei， chief analyst at real estate agent Centaline Property， said the latest data suggested that the cooling trend was still evident. Growth of property investment starting in February has decelerated for six months straight.

Rooftop Power Plant

Staff from a local power grid company connect solar panels to the grid in Zibo， east Chinas Shandong Province.

To date， over 130 households in Shandong have installed rooftop solar panels to generate electricity. Besides being used by those families， the extra electricity can be sold to the national grid.

FDI Falters

Foreign direct investment （FDI） into the Chinese mainland fell sharply again in July， slumping 16.95 percent from a year earlier to $7.81 billion， the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM） said on August 18.

The sharp decline was in contrast with a 0.2-percent increase in June， according to the ministry.

For the first seven months， the FDI， which excludes investment in the financial sector， stood at $71.14 billion， down 0.35 percent from the same period last year.

MOFCOM spokesman Shen Danyang said year-on-year fluctuation of inbound FDI data is totally normal.

“It has nothing to do with the recent anti-trust probes. The Chinese Government launched such probes with the aim of creating a fair market for all market participants，” he said.

Meanwhile， the outbound FDI by Chinese non-financial companies soared 84.9 percent from previous year in July， compared with a year-on-year decline of 5 percent in the January-June period.

Investment Firm

The countrys first national-level private investment company， China Minsheng Investment， was established in Shanghai on August 21.

Endorsed by the State Council in April， China Minsheng Investment has a registered capital of 50 billion yuan （$8.1 billion）， funded by the top 59 private Chinese companies.

The 59 shareholders are all large private companies. They are involved in a range of businesses from machinery manufacturing， metallurgy， information technology， assets management， environmental protection， new energy， power generation and e-commerce.

The most shares any single company can own are 2 percent of China Minsheng Investment， and the bottom stake is no less than 0.6 percent.endprint