Playing Dress-Up

Teachers and students from Tianma School in Zhuji， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， put clothes and other accessories on the scarecrows they have been making over the previous week on November 18.

Students have made full use of their imaginations and felt the pleasure of making things using their own hands during the process. The scarecrows have been modeled on the characters of the 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by American author L. Frank Baum.

Aid in Need

With health and education at the core of its efforts， the government will provide assistance to children from rural impoverished families starting from their birth until they finish compulsory education， a statement released by the State Council， Chinas cabinet， revealed on November 19.

A national plan to promote the development of children in povertystricken areas was approved at a State Council meeting that day， which emphasized on the accessibility of free neonatal screening services for newborns.

With higher medical insurance compensation， pregnant women in rural areas will be encouraged to seek out prenatal checkups and diagnosis as well as hospital delivery care， according to the plan.

Rural children from impoverished areas with serious diseases such as leukemia will receive more compensation from the national medical insurance program. The government will also pilot nutrition improvement education for infants and children in poverty， the document added.

Legality in Space

China will always abide by international space law and is making great efforts to introduce its own laws in 2020， the China National Space Administration（CNSA） said on November 17.

Xu Dazhe， Director of the CNSA， told the 2014 Workshop on Space Law in Beijing that the country has already made policies and regulations in the administration of civil space launches， registration of satellites and reduction and prevention of space debris.

“A space law has been listed in the national legislation plan， and the CNSA is drafting the law，” said Tian Yulong， Secretary General of the CNSA.

China has made rapid development in space exploration and now is rushing to establish basic infrastructure in outer space， including remote sensing， communication and navigation.

International Manhunt

The Ministry of Public Security announced on November 17 that 288 suspects have been seized in an international manhunt targeting corrupt officials and economic criminals that have fled the country. Overall， 126 suspects have turned themselves in.

Ministry sources revealed that 21 of the suspects have been at large for more than 10 years.

A total of 84 suspects were seized from developed countries such as the United States， Canada， Japan and Belgium.

The Fox Hunt 2014 operation was launched in July to “block the last route of retreat” for corrupt officials after the countrys crackdown narrowed the space for abuse of power.

Expectant Births

The number of couples applying to give birth to a second child since the onlychild policy was relaxed reached nearly 800，000 at the end of September， said a family planning official on November 18.

The number falls within expectations， said Song Shuli， a spokeswoman for the National Health and Family Planning Commission， at a press conference.

The new policy， which has been in effect since March in most localities， allowed couples to have a second offspring if at least one parent is an only child.

The relaxation came as the worlds second largest economy strives to address the issues of labor force and an aging population.

The one-child policy had limited most couples to only one child in order to control population growth.

Champion Computer

Tianhe-2， the super computer developed by Chinas National University of Defense Technology， has retained the top spot as the worlds fastest supercomputer for the fourth year running， according to a biannual Top 500 list of supercomputers released on November 17.

The updated list came on the heels of an announcement on November 14 by the U.S. Department of Energy that it will spend $325 million building two supercomputers， which will be three to five times faster than Tianhe-2.

However， Jack Dongarra， a professor at the University of Tennessee and the compiler and editor of the list， said that before the U.S. systems are put into operation in 2018， there will be no machine that will possibly dethrone the Chinese supercomputer.

Tianhe-2， which means Milky Way-2 in Chinese， can operate at 33.86 PFLOPS， the equivalent of 33，860 quadrillion floating point calculations per second.

The National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou in south Chinas Guangdong Province， where Tianhe-2 is installed， is reportedly making an update to increase the systems speed to more than 100 PFLOPS.

Lake Protection

Central authorities have vowed to avoid the previous “treatment-after-pollution”approach in an action plan to protect Chinas lakes from pollution.

The document， published on November 18， mapped out measures to be taken between 2013 and 2020 to protect 365 lakes across the country that have relatively good water quality.

The protection will be carried out in five major areas including northeast China， east China， the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau， the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Inner Mongolia-Xinjiang regions.

Lakes that are major drinking water sources or possess important ecological functions will be a priority.

A report released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection earlier this year revealed 17 out of Chinas 31 major freshwater lakes are suffering from pollution at “slight” or “moderate”levels. Pollution in the Dianchi Lake in southwest Chinas Yunnan Province was rated as “severe.”

Personal Touch

Visitors try wearable electronic devices at the 16th China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， on November 18.

Opening on November 16， the six-day event focused on scientific innovation and low-carbon lifestyles. More than 3，000 exhibitors from over 50 countries and regions participated.

Cross-Straits Tourism

Tourists from the Chinese mainland line up for the chance to pose for pictures at the Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan.

More than 1 million personal trips had been made to Taiwan by Chinese mainland visitors this year， according to official data released on November 16.

The Taiwan Straits Tourism Association estimated that the number of trips from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan will surpass 3 million by the end of the year.

Total trips by mainlanders to Taiwan since 2008 exceeded 10 million in early November， including 8.3 million group trips and 1.7 personal trips.

Transient Dwellers

Chinas migrant population reached 245 million at the end of 2013， composing more than one sixth of the nations total population， a government report said on November 18.

The trend of people moving into big cities has not changed， and the aver- age age of the migrant population is rising， according to the report released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

At the end of 2012， the migrant population， those who have left their birthplaces to live and work elsewhere， amounted to 236 million. Many of the group are former farmers who go to cities to open small businesses or provide cheap labor in hopes of higher pay and a better life.

Over 62 percent of the migrant couples children aged 6 to 15 have moved along with their parents， the report said.

Home Price Decline

Home prices in most Chinese cities continued to drop in October despite easing restrictions， official data showed on November 18.

New housing prices in 69 of 70 major cities showed month-on-month drops in October， the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） said.

Only Zhengzhou， capital of central Chinas Henan Province， avoided the trend， with prices remaining flat from the previous month.

This latest data marks the sixth consecutive monthly drop in the residential property market.

On an annual basis， house prices in 67 out of the 70 cities were lower from a year ago.

“The pace of decline was eased following mortgage policy adjustments and efforts to cut housing inventories，”said Liu Jianwei， a senior statistician at the NBS.

“New measures are expected to push sales of inventories in case of a further price slump，” said Kuang Xianming， Director of the Economic Research Center at the China Institute for Reform and Development.

Easing Burdens

With continued pressure on the Chinese economy， Chinas State Council pledged a list of measures to ease financing burdens for companies on November 19.

After a string of moves to tackle this problem was rolled out in July， high financing costs have eased in some regions but still remain a prominent bottleneck for businesses， said a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

The calculation of the loan-todeposit ratio should be granted more flexibility for financial institutions to improve their capability to support small and micro businesses as well as farmers， the statement said.

China will speed up the growth of private banks and encourage financial institutions to provide multi-faceted financial services to companies through community and cellphone banks. The government also encourages Internet finance companies to provide standardized services to smaller businesses， farmers and the rural economy.

Performance assessment for Chinese commercial banks should also be improved to curb the tendency of preferring big projects and high loan interest rates.

China will also lower the threshold for small and innovative firms to get listed on the stock market， scrapping the requirement that only companies that register continuous years of profits are eligible to be listed.

Ticket to Ride

The first freight train to travel from east Chinas Yiwu， the worlds largest wholesale market for small consumer goods， to Madrid， Spain， embarks on November 18. The 13，000-km line passes through six countries apart from China and Spain， including Kazakhstan， Russia， Belarus， Poland， Germany and France. It takes 21 days to travel the entire course of the line， the longest in all China-European cargo railway.

FDI Inflows Rise

Foreign direct investment （FDI） into the Chinese mainland rose 1.3 percent in October year on year to $8.53 billion， the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM） said on November 18.

The rate of growth was lower than the 1.9 percent growth in September， after a 14-percent slump in August.

For the first 10 months， the FDI， which excludes investment in the financial sector， totaled $95.9 billion， down 1.2 percent from the same period last year. The decline is less than the 1.4 percent fall registered in the first nine months and 1.8 percent drop posted for the first eight months.

Among the 10 major investors， FDI from South Korea increased 26.4 percent year on year in the first 10 months while that from Britain expanded 32.4 percent.

In contrast， investment from Japan plunged 42.9 percent and that from the United States 23.8 percent. European Union investment was down 16.2 percent.

MOFCOM spokesman Shen Danyang attributed the declines to restructuring of Chinas manufacturing industry that used to attract the majority of this kind of investment.

FDI into the manufacturing sector in the January-October period declined 15.1 percent year on year to $32.5 billion. The service sector attracted $53.1 billion， up 6.6 percent.

ODI Control Loosened

The Chinese Government has relaxed its grip on outbound direct investment（ODI） as domestic enterprises begin to invest heavily abroad.

On November 18， the State Council released a much shorter list of ODI projects needing government approval to encourage enterprises to enter the international market.

Gu Dawei， an official of the National Development and Reform Commission， estimated that around 99 percent of investment projects included on the previous list are now free from long government procedures， and will only need to go through a registration system.

Chinese enterprises have been keen on investing overseas during the last decade with robust mergers and acquisitions in manufacturing， infrastructure， energy， minerals， agriculture and culture.

China is currently the worlds third largest investor after the United States and Japan. Last years ODI amounted to nearly 40 times that in 2002. ODI by non-financial Chinese firms rose 17.8 percent from a year ago in the first 10 months to $81.9 billion， according to the MOFCOM.

RMB Clearing in Sydney

The Peoples Bank of China （PBC）， Chinas central bank， on November 18 appointed Bank of China， one of the countrys big four lenders， to clear yuan transactions in Sydney， Australia.

The PBC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Reserve Bank of Australia on November 17 in the Australian capital Canberra， authorizing the Sydney branch of Bank of China to clear yuan transactions， according to the PBC website.

Under the agreement， China will also grant Australian banking institutions a 50-billion-yuan （$8.2-billion） quota under the renminbi qualified foreign institutional investors （RQFII） program and increased the maximum amount the Reserve Bank of Australia is allowed to invest in Chinas interbank bond market to 10 billion yuan （$1.63 billion）.

So far this year， China has reached agreements with Germany， Britain， France， Luxembourg， South Korea and Canada to open local yuan trading centers.

China is Australias largest trading partner， export market and source of imports. Two-way trade reached $136.4 billion in 2013， a year-on-year rise of 11.5 percent.

Sustainable Victory

Polycrystalline photovoltaic solar panels soak up the sun at the Guandong Salt Field in Xiangshui County of east Chinas Jiangsu Province.

On November 18， a booster station in Xiangshui， which is a photovoltaic power generation project with the largest single cell capacity in east China， successfully transmitted electricity.

Listed on NYSE

Chinas leading car rentals and services provider eHi Car Services Ltd. listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange on November 18.

The company announced that its initial public offering of 10 million American depositary shares （ADSs）， each representing two Class A common shares of the company， was priced at $12 per ADS， at the low end of its expected price range of $12 to $14.

The companys shares opened trading at $12 a share under the ticker symbol EHIC， but slipped slightly later in trading.

It expects to receive gross proceeds of approximately $120 million from the offering at closing， assuming the underwriters do not exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs.

Headquartered in Shanghai， eHi initially focused on providing car services to corporate clients when it commenced business in 2006， and then expanded to provide car rentals to individual customers two years later.

By the end of June， eHi had directly operated a total of 760 service locations in 90 cities across China， said the company in its prospectus.