White Paradise

Swans enjoy the winter wonderland of the Ili Valley in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region following a snowfall on January 21.

Officials Punished

Eleven officials in Shanghai were punished over the New Years Eve stampede that left 36 people dead and 49 injured.

Four officials—Zhou Wei， Party chief of Huangpu District， his deputy Peng Song， also district governor， Zhou Zheng， deputy district governor and Huangpus public security chief and Chen Qi， deputy police chief of the district， were removed from their posts， according to the decision of Shanghai municipal authorities.

Seven other officials received disciplinary punishments， authorities announced on January 21 at a press conference.

At the press conference， Zhou Bo， Vice Mayor of Shanghai， expressed deep condolences for those affected by the incident and apologized to stampede victims and their families on behalf of the municipal committee of the Communist Party of China and the government.

“We feel extremely heart-stricken， guilty and very remorseful，” said the vice mayor.

The deadly stampede happened at 11：35 p.m. on December 31， 2014， when people assembled on Shanghais historic riverfront walk， the Bund， to usher in the new year.

Wealth Gap Narrows

The Gini coefficient， an index reflecting income disparity， dropped for the sixth consecutive year in China since a peak recorded in 2008， new data showed on January 20.

The index stood at 0.469 in 2014， dropping for six years in a row since the index hit its 0.491 high in 2008， the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

In 2014， the average disposable income of Chinese residents rose 8 percent in real terms to 20，167 yuan（$3，294）， faster than a 7.4 percent economic growth， the bureau said.

The disposable income of rural residents increased 9.2 percent year on year， while that for urban residents rose 6.8 percent.

Football Schools

China will kick off its next-wave football talent development with the Ministry of Education （MOE） planning 20，000 primary or middle schools with a football specialty by 2017.

The MOE will also choose 30 counties to build as trial areas for school football， saying that the move is aimed to improve the popularity of football in Chinese schools， and lay the foundation for more talented football players.

One tenth of those schools will be senior schools， three tenth junior schools and three fifths primary schools. Vocational schools will also be considered， the MOE said.

The ministry said schools with football as specialties will enjoy policy support in teaching， training， competitions， enrollment， funds and other fields. The performance of those schools and counties will also be used to evaluate the performance of local government in education.

The MOE said the move will also promote the construction of PE courses and facilities， and ensure that students have at least one hour for sports in schools each day.

The move came in response to the bad performance by Chinas national football team in the world arena during recent years.

H7N9 Symptoms

Chinese scientists have used a targeted antibody to significantly reduce H7N9 symptoms in monkeys.

The study， published in British medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases， demonstrates patients infected with H7N9 virus often end up dead after severe pneumonia and systemic inflammation caused by acute lung infection（ALI）.

Part of the high death rate from of H7N9 is due to very limited effective treatment options.

African green monkeys were inoculated with the H7N9 virus and treated intravenously with an antibody. The treatment markedly reduced ALI and systemic inflammation， according to the study.

The results have shown promising progress in helping treat the virus in humans.

The study was led by Sun Shihui from the Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology and Zhao Guangyu from the Academy of Military Medical Science.

Since H7N9 avian flu killed three people in China in March 2013， the flu has repeatedly cropped up in winter and spring seasons.

Patent Applications

China accepted about 928，000 invention patent applications in 2014， some 103，000 more than in 2013， the State Intellectual Property Office （SIPO） said on January 15.

SIPO director Shen Changyu said invention patent applications accounted for 39.3 percent of all patent applications in 2014， compared with a 34.7 percent in 2013. Invention patent application growth slowed from 26.3 percent in 2013 to 12.5 percent in 2014.

China grants patents for three major categories： invention， utility model and design.

Subway Books

A passenger checks the latest contents on M Subway-Library on a train of subway Line 4 in Beijing on January 19.

Subway Line 4 passengers can read e-books by scanning a QR code with cellphones in the cars. As Beijings first underground library， the M Subway-Library is a non-profit project sponsored by Beijing MTR Corp. and the National Library to select and recommend 10 books for free online reading yearly.

Employment Market

College graduates attend a job fair in Hangzhou， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on November 29， 2014.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that a total of 13.22 million new jobs were created in China in 2014， beating the full-year target.

Urban employment increased slightly from 13.1 million recorded in 2013. Some 773 million people had been employed nationwide with 393 million in urban areas by the end of 2014， the NBS data showed.

Database on Cancer

China has established its first database on prostate cancer， a disease of rising frequency amongst the nations aging population.

Initiated by Wu Jieping Medical Foundation， the Chinese Prostate Cancer Database （C-CaP） opened on January 19 in Zhejiang Cancer Hospital in Hangzhou， east Chinas Zhejiang Province. The database will collect information on diagnosis and treatment to track its incidence and development.

The second most common cancer in men globally， prostate cancer is on the increase in China. Data from the Chinese Anti-Cancer Association show the cancers incidence in China increased more than tenfold in the past two decades.

Health experts believe Chinas aging population and the use of more advanced detection methods have contributed to the increasing incidence.

Lower Threshold

A new foreign investment law will ease restrictions on foreign investors and grant them easier access to the Chinese market， the Ministry of Commerce said on January 19.

Overseas companies will receive pre-establishment national treatment and the current troublesome case-bycase approval system be replaced by negative list management， if the new law is passed.

Only foreign investment on the negative list will have to apply for permission， but all investors must report to the government no matter whether they are on the list or not.

The negative list for foreign investment was introduced in the China（Shanghai） Pilot Free Trade Zone in September 2013. Since then， authorities elsewhere have been eager to replicate the system.

According to the new law， enterprises will not be regulated based on their owner- ship but on who is in control. Foreign enterprises on the Chinese mainland that are controlled by overseas investors will be considered foreign， while those controlled by Chinese investors will be regarded as domestic.

High-Yield Fruit

A farmer conducts artificial pollination on peach blossom in a nectarine planting base in Liuxinzhuang Village， Botou， north Chinas Hebei Province on January 21.

Nectarine will be on offer in April， during which each mu of land growing nectarine will net local farmers roughly 50，000 yuan （$8，045）.

QFII Quota Offered

China has agreed to give Switzerland an$8-billion investment quota under its qualified foreign institutional investor（QFII） program.

The agreement is part of a memorandum of understanding signed by the central banks of the two countries on January 21， which also includes a plan—pending regulators approval—to set up the first branch of a Chinese bank in the Swiss financial hub of Zurich for future yuan clearance.

The deal is set to materialize Beijing and Berns pledge for closer financial ties and accelerate the establishment of a Zurich offshore yuan market， which will mark a crucial step in the interna- tionalization of the yuan， especially in Europe.

The signing came after visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang， who met in the ski resort of Davos with President Simonetta Sommaruga of the Swiss Confederation on the sidelines of the 2015 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Existing Fund Activated

The State Council on January 21 announced fiscal policy plans to stabilize economic growth.

The Chinese cabinet said in a notice that Central Government departments and local governments should reallocate any unspent money from the 2012 fiscal year and before that to the new budgets.

The aim is to “activate existing funds” and ensure a more proactive fiscal policy is implemented.

Chinas economy last year posted its weakest annual expansion in 24 years， which may lead to slower growth in national fiscal revenue and higher expenditure.

A pilot scheme， starting this year， will establish a three-year rolling budget in sectors such as compulsory education， healthcare and environmental protection to achieve targets.

It also vowed to intensify crackdowns on violations such as embezzlement of state revenue.

Frontier E-Commerce

IZP Technologies Co. Ltd.， one of the countrys leading cross-border e-commerce and payment system companies， is planning huge investments in Kyrgyzstan to facilitate trade between China and other Eurasian countries.

According to Luo Feng， Chairman of IZP， the company plans to establish a trading center near the international airport in Bishkek， the capital of the landlocked Asian country which borders the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， and use the project as a platform to exhibit products and promote business deals.

The proposed project is part of the companys broader investments in Kyrgyzstan. Tapping into the geographic importance of Bishkek， the company also plans to establish a product trade center， a bonded export processing center and a financial settlement center in Bishkek.

With its edge in cloud computing and data mining technologies， the company will provide technological support for Kyrgyzstans industrial upgrade， Luo said.

Budget Airline Listed

Spring Airlines became Chinas first budget carrier to list after its initial public offering （IPO） of 2.5 billion yuan（$410 million） on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on January 21.

The stock， with up to 100 million shares， rose to the limit on its first day of trading， closing at 26.15 yuan （$4.21） per share from its issue price of 18.16 yuan （$2.92）.

The company said in its IPO pro- spectus that it planned to raise funds to purchase nine new Airbus 320 aircraft as well as three new flight simulators.

Industrial observers said the stock of Spring Airlines is much higher than those of Chinas four listed commercial airlines， including Air China and China Eastern Airlines， indicating the carriers stronger profitability.

The airline reported a net profit of 270 million yuan （$43.48 million） in the first half of 2014 amid a tough year for the civil aviation market. Experts estimated its yearly profits would rise by more than 10 percent in 2014.

Boosting Power Distribution

Workers transform and upgrade the power distribution network in an industrial park in Nanjing， east Chinas Jiangsu Province.

Nanjing Power Supply Co. starts more than 1，300 electric network transformation programs in the city on January 21， in order to cope with rising corporate electricity consumption and strengthen its power supply capacity.

Food Business Diversified

Goubuli， a renowned Chinese restaurant chain known for its steamed stuffed buns， announced it has finalized a deal with Gloria Jeans Coffees to operate the Australian brand in China.

According to the deal reached on December 25， 2014， Tianjin Senyongtai Food and Beverage Co. Ltd.， a subsidiary wholly owned by the Goubuli Group， will hold an 80-percent majority stake in Tianjin Glory， a new joint venture that will operate Gloria Jeans coffee brand in China， said Zhang Yansen， Chairman of Goubuli on January 21.

The Australian firm will hold the remaining 20 percent of shares， he said.

“Our negotiations began at the end of 2012 and lasted for almost two years，” said Zhang.

He said the new deal will increase Gloria Jeans outlets in China to 200 in the coming five years.

Goubuli， established in 1858 and headquartered in the northern port city of Tianjin， reported 1 billion yuan （$16.1 million） in business turnover last year.

Salary Growth Prospects

Companies are likely to invest more in benefits， training and career development to attract and retain the best talent this year， said a latest annual Global Salary Survey from global specialist professional recruitment consultancy firm Robert Walters on January 22.

The survey suggests that job movers received 15-25 percent salary growth on average in 2014 while those who stayed at their current companies received increments ranging between 6-8 percent. These trends will continue in 2015.

The survey also indicates that professionals now view Chinese companies as an attractive employment option due to their promising prospects and competitive remuneration packages， which often include employee stock options.

The salary gap between Chinese cities and cities in other countries is narrowing， according to Zhou Lulu， Associate Director of Robert Walters Beijing. A Chinese chief financial officer with experience of IPOs can earn as much as a foreign professional holding the same position.

“The Chinese market is attracting foreign professionals like a magnet， and such appeal will continue in 2015，” said Zhou.