Conveying on the Ocean

Sailors on the Chinese amphibious dock landing ship Changbaishan work during an abeam replenishment from the supply ship Chaohu in the Gulf of Aden on October 14.

The Changbaishan is part of the 18th convoy fleet sent by the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy for escort missions in the Gulf of Aden.

Food Waste

Senior officials have warned of the toll excessive food consumption is taking on the nations scarce water and farm resources as they reveal almost 200 billion yuan （$32.6 billion） worth of food is discarded from Chinese dining tables every year.

The wasted food could potentially feed more than 200 million people， said Wu Zidan， Deputy Director of the State Administration of Grain， citing industry expert estimates.

In addition to the wasted food， roughly 35 billion kg of grain is wasted each year during storage， transportation and processing， Wu revealed on October 13 at a ceremony kicking off a one-week educational event aimed at raising peoples awareness for saving food.

Food security is a major issue in China， one of the worlds most heavily farmed countries， where problems including limited land and water resources as well as rising pollution put a strain on agriculture.

Civil Servant Exam

Chinas national-level government agencies， their affiliated public institutions and local branches will recruit over 22，000 civil servants in 2015， up from the more than 19，000 in 2014.

The 2015 public service exam for national-level governments will open to applications from October 15 to 24， the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee， the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the State Administration of Civil Service announced on October 13.

According to authorities， the 2015 public service selection will continue to favor candidates who have worked at grassroots levels.

Most positions in government agencies above provincial level require two years of community-level working experience. About 10 percent of all vacancies will be set aside for college graduates.

Water Plant

A water plant in Beijing announced that it is ready for water diverted from the countrys south in a move to combat water scarcity in the capital.

The water plant， located in south Beijing， is the first major water plant built by the city in the downtown area for the project since 2000.

It is expected to provide 500，000 cubic meters of water a day to meet the demand of nearly 5 million residents in the capital， Zhang said.

Beijing has arranged five water plants to serve the water diversion project. Its water supply capacity has also increased to 3.72 million cubic meters a day.

The middle route of Chinas southto-north water diversion project will see a massive 9.5 billion cubic meters of water per year pumped through canals and pipes from the Danjiangkou reservoir in central Hubei Province to the northern provinces of Henan and Hebei and to Beijing.

Ocean Science Index

China published its first ocean science and technology innovation index on October 15， which evaluates the ocean-related science and technology development level of Chinese cities.

The index was launched at the Qingdao International Ocean Summit Forum in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， on October 15.

According to the first evaluation， Qingdao， Shanghai， Guangzhou， Tianjin and Dalian topped the indexs ranking. Organizers said the ranking was based on data of innovation investments， output， application and the environment.

The index also provides detailed readings on ocean industry distribution in the cities， pointing out advantages and weakness.

The index is aimed at making scientific evaluation of the ocean science innovation ability and the standard of materializing the technology to spur the marine economy and surveillance and provide reference to policymakers.

Air Quality Inspections

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has announced that it will run a campaign of unannounced and drone-based inspections of air quality from October to next March.

Unlike regular checks， in which companies and authorities targeted are usually notified beforehand， the upcoming inspections will be conducted at random， and violators will be immediately named and shamed， according to a ministry statement made on October 15.

The inspections will look at a wide range of issues including emissions of key polluting companies， automobiles， emergency responses in periods of severe smog， small companies that havent met state standards and the enforcement of various environmental rules in government departments and service industries.

Drone inspections in Tianjin Municipality and the provinces of Hebei， Shanxi， Shandong and Henan—regions plagued by relatively severe air pollution， are already under way.

Local governments will be informed of violations of environmental law within their jurisdictions and will be responsible for punishing violators and ensuring the matter is rectified， the statement said.

Cancer-Killing Virus

Chinese scientists have extracted a virus known as M1 that could kill cancer cells without harming normal cells， giving hope for the future research and development of cancer therapies.

A research team led by Yan Guangmei， a professor from the Zhongshan School of Medicine under the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province， found the virus. They extracted it from a certain kind of mosquito in the tropical Hainan Province.

The discovery was published in the October edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

Animal tests found that the M1 virus worked well on cancer cells of the liver， bladder， colon and rectum.

Cancer is a growing threat to health in China due to unhealthy lifestyles and a deteriorating environment. China reports 3.5 million new cases of cancer each year and that 2.5 million people， nearly the population of Kuwait， die of cancers each year in China.

Ready for the Wild

A 55.8-kg female panda， Xue Xue， is released into the wild on October 14 and has become the fourth giant panda to be bred in captivity and released into the wild in China.

Xue Xue had been trained in a wild training base in southwest Chinas Sichuan Province for two years before her release.

China first started sending captive-bred pandas into the wild in 2006 when a five-year-old male， Xiang Xiang， was released. Giant pandas are one of the worlds most endangered species. Only an estimated 1，600 of the animals live in the wild， mostly in the mountains of Sichuan， while more than 300 live in captivity.

Field Class

On October 14， pupils from Wanzai County of Jiangxi Province work in farmland to learn about growing grain to commemorate World Food Day， which fell on October 16.

Trade Rebound

Chinas foreign trade saw a strongerthan-expected rebound in September， indicating improved external demand and stabilization of the sharp growth deceleration in previous months， customs data showed on October 13.

Exports saw the fastest growth in 19 months， expanding 15.3 percent from a year ago to $213.7 billion in September. The growth rate was the highest monthly reading since March 2013.

Imports increased 7 percent year on year to $182.7 billion in the month， and total foreign trade volume rose 11.3 percent to $396.4 billion， the General Administration of Customs （GAC） said.

Septembers growth rate in imports also marked the best performance since December 2013， according to the GAC.

Trade surplus in September more than doubled from last year to $31 billion， compared with $49.8 billion in August.

Analysts dubbed the latest trade data “the big upside surprise，” saying that the significant rebound in trade will help ease concerns about an economic slowdown in China.

Zheng Yuesheng， GAC spokesman， attributed Septembers strong growth to a string of government measures adopted in May to stabilize foreign trade， as well as rebounding global demand.

“We expect the strong momentum to continue in the fourth quarter，” Zheng said， adding export pressure will lift in the last three months of this year.

Inflation Eases

Growth in Chinas consumer price index （CPI） slowed to 1.6 percent in September， the lowest since January 2010， according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） on October 15.

In August， the CPI registered an increase of 2 percent.

On a monthly basis， the index inflated 0.5 percent in September， faster than the previous months 0.2-percent growth.

The CPI grew 2.1 percent year on year in the first nine months， well below the 3.5-percent full-year control target set by the government.

Chinas producer price index （PPI）， which measures inflation at wholesale level， dropped 1.8 percent year on year in September， the NBS said.

The PPI declined for the 31st straight month and at a faster pace than the previous month， indicating shrinking demand and rising production overcapacity amid slowing economic growth.

In the first nine months， the countrys PPI dropped 1.6 percent year on year， the data showed.

“The PPI rate drop continues to expand， indicating that the task of digesting production overcapacity is huge，” said Wang Jun， a researcher with the China Center for International Economic Exchange， adding that the downward pressure on Chinas economy has not been relieved and the foundation for economic recovery is fragile.

Global Ambition

On October 13， Tmall International， a B2C platform launched by Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba Group for overseas shoppers， announced that it will offer free delivery worldwide for products ordered on November 11， an annual day of online shopping promotions in China.

The move is part of Alibabas overseas business expansion strategy after its New York initial public offering on September 19， which raised $25 billion and made Alibaba the worlds secondlargest Internet company in market value.

The only goods not included in the free delivery deal for the Double 11 Shopping Festival will be very large items.

Tmall International， launched on February 19， has attracted thousands of global brands to set up stores on it.

Online marketplaces Tmall and Taobao， both owned by Alibaba， saw transactions totaling 35 billion yuan（$5.7 billion） during last years Double 11 Shopping Spree， the Chinese equivalent of Cyber Monday.

Electrifying the Market

People take pictures of all-electric taxis produced by Chinese auto manufacturer BYD on October 15 in Brussels， Belgium.

BYD introduced 35 of its all-electric model， the e6， to the taxi market in Brussels two months ago and thus far， they have received a warm welcome.

Investment Fund

China has established an investment fund aiming to boost development of the integrated circuit （IC） industry， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on October 14.

The fund will invest in chip making， boost industrial production and promote mergers and acquisitions in the sector， the ministry said in a statement on its website.

It will also cover chip design， equipment and raw materials， the statement said.

The statement said that the investment fund will operate under a corporate system， but did not provide details on the specific value of the fund.

Government data show sales revenues of Chinas IC industry stood at 251 billion yuan （$41 billion） in 2013. A national guideline for the sector aims to boost revenue to more than 350 billion yuan （$57 billion） in 2015.

Trademark Regulation

China is considering elimination of trademarks that copy the names of well-known brands or figures in a bid to curb copyright infringement.

The courts will uphold the Patent Review Committees decision to nullify trademarks that are the same or similar to well-known places and trademarks already in use， according to a judicial interpretation released on October 15 by the Supreme Peoples Court to solicit public opinion.

The courts will also reject individual applications for a large number of trademarks， said the document， which is also aimed at unifying trial standards for the courts when dealing with trademark disputes.

The behavior of using public figures names as trademarks without their permission cannot be allowed， nor can the behavior of using the names of the dead without getting approval from their inheritors， according to the document.

Trademarks that are the same as， or similar to， the Chinese name of China will also be banned， and those including the nations name will not be approved either if their registration may lead to“abuse of the national name，” it said.

High Performing

A worker from a local grid company checks an electricity transmission line in Huzhou， Zhejiang Province， on October 14.

The line is part of the 1，000-volt power network connecting Zhejiang and neighboring Fujian Province.

RMB Sovereign Bond

On October 9， the British Treasury announced it has begun the process of issuing the worlds first non-Chinese sovereign bond in the Chinese currency， the renminbi （RMB）.

Three major banks， including Bank of China， HSBC and Standard Chartered， have been appointed by the government following a fair and rigorous process to help deliver the planned sale of Britains RMB bond， said the Treasury in a statement. The proceeds of the bond will be used to finance the nations reserves.

British RMB sovereign bond signals the RMBs potential as a future reserve currency， said the Treasury. Currently， Britain only holds reserves in the U.S. dollar， euro， Japanese yen and Canadian dollar.

The announcement represents a“decisive step” toward issuing the first RMBdenominated bond by a Western country， and follows the Chancellors announcement at the recent annual economic summit between Britain and China in London， said the British Treasury.