Wading Through the Wetlands

A child observes birds at Minjiang River Estuary National Wetland Park in Fuzhou， southeast Chinas Fujian Province， on February 2， World Wetland Day.

Rural Medical Insurance

Medical insurance subsidies for Chinas rural residents will increase this year， the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a circular on January 30.

Under the new rural cooperative medical program， the annual government grant for each rural resident will rise from 320 yuan （$51） to 380 yuan （$61） this year， according to the document.

Rural residents will each pay a 120-yuan （$19） premium in 2015， 30 yuan（$4.78） more than they did previously， bringing the total financing for each person to 500 yuan （$80）.

The government will also take measures to make sure the programs reimbursement rate for outpatient and hospitalization expenses stay at around 50 and 75 percent， respectively.

China launched the rural insurance scheme in 2003 in a bid to ensure that the countrys vast number of rural resi- dents have access to affordable medical treatment and to reduce illness-induced poverty.

More than 800 million people have joined the new rural cooperative medical program， official figures show.

To reduce risks and ensure fairness， the government will use the fund to buy insurance for those with serious diseases and penalize those who abuse the fund.

Cordially Invited

Journalists from China and abroad are being invited to cover the countrys two major political meetings in Beijing in March.

The Third Session of the 12th National Peoples Congress （NPC）， the countrys top legislature， will open on March 5.

The Third Session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC）， the top political advisory body， will open on March 3. The general offices of the NPC Standing Committee and the CPPCC National Committee announced on February 1 that a media center for the two meetings will open from February 27 at the Media Center Hotel in Beijing.

Radio Coverage Expands

The Guangzhou Coast Radio Station in south Chinas Guangdong Province on February 1 launched a maritime information service on a trial basis， covering the Xisha， Zhongsha and Huangyan islands in the South China Sea.

According to the Navigation Guarantee Center of the South China Sea， which is affiliated with the Ministry of Transport， the station will broadcast navigational and meteorological warnings and forecasts in English six times a day， with a radio coverage of around 500 sea miles.

As one of the five Navtex（Navigational Telex） radio stations in China， the Guangzhou facility is in charge of broadcasting maritime safety information to waters that include areas south of the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea.

Navtex is an international automated system for distributing navigational warnings， weather forecasts and rescue notices to ships. It is also a component of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System.

Senior Care

Beijing has passed Chinas first local legislation on home-based care for the elderly， stipulating that children are obliged to support their aged parents.

The bill was passed at the annual full session of the Beijing Municipal Peoples Congress on January 29 and is scheduled to take effect on May 1.

Under the regulation， children and other caregivers should offer economic and practical support as well as “spiritual consolation” to the elderly.

It also stipulates that the government should offer subsidies and oldage service facilities for the elderly with special difficulties， such as those living on a low income， suffering from disabilities or who have lost their only child.

The legislation defines the scope of responsibilities for the family and the government. It also includes provisions concerning such areas as construction of old-age service facilities in communities and medical and health services.

About 96 percent of elderly people in Beijing rely on home-based care， and the rest live in nursing institutions.

China now has about 200 million people aged 60 and over. The number accounts for some 14 percent of the total population， and is expected to surge to 400 million in 2050. Over 90 percent of the aged people choose homebased pension support nationwide.

Circuit Courts

The Supreme Peoples Court （SPC）， Chinas highest judicial body， has inaugurated two circuit courts in its latest efforts to reform and branch out so as to bring justice to the doorsteps of ordinary people.

The first Circuit Court of the SPC， covering the provinces of Guangdong and Hainan， and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， was inaugurated in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， on January 28. It was followed by the inauguration of the second one based in Shenyang， capital city of Liaoning Province， on January 31， which has jurisdiction over the three northeastern provinces of Liaoning， Jilin and Heilongjiang.

The circuit courts primarily handle major administrative， civil and commercial cases in their regions of jurisdiction that will be heard by the SPC. Both courts began taking cases from February 1.

The establishment of circuit courts of the SPC according to a legal reform package adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee in late October 2014 is part of a reorganization designed to better allocate workloads across the countrys court system.

New Bio Lab

Researchers take part in a drill at a newly completed high-level biosafety laboratory in Wuhan， central Chinas Hubei Province， on January 30.

The lab， the first in China， will be used to study Class-IV pathogens， the most virulent viruses that pose a high risk of personto-person infections through the air.

Ethnic Stars

Actress Soinam Zholgar and actor Lhawang Norbu pose in front of a poster of film Tibet Sky （or Phurbu & Tenzin）， Chinas first film with dialogue in the Tibetan language， before its screening in Tibet on January 31.

Subsistence Allowances

Nearly 71 million poor people， or 5.3 percent of Chinas 1.3 billion population， enjoyed government subsistence allowances in 2014， Dou Yupei， Vice Minister of Civil Affairs， announced on January 30.

The number includes 52.09 million people who enjoyed rural subsistence allowances and 18.8 million who benefited from urban subsistence allowances.

The government allocated nearly 154 billion yuan （$24.56 billion） for these purposes last year.

To ensure fairness， Dou said the ministry would establish a system to verify the financial status of households and hold accountable those who abuse the fund.

Agricultural Modernization

China will step up reforms and innovation to speed up agricultural modernization in 2015， according to a key policy document released on February 1.

As the Chinese economy， under the“new normal，” shifts from high-speed to medium-to-high-speed growth， continuing to consolidate the position of agriculture as the foundation of the economy and further increasing farmers income have become priorities， said the document.

The No.1 Central Document refers to the first major policy document of each year released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council.

The document listed five aspects and 32 points for detailed government work on reforms and tasks related to the “three rural issues，” agriculture， rural areas and farmers.

The document highlighted the challenges facing Chinas agricultural sector， including surging production costs， shortage of agricultural resources， excessive exploitation and worsening pollution.

According to the document， China will strive to transform the development model of agriculture， boost policies that benefit farmers， push forward the building of a new socialist countryside， deepen rural reforms and strengthen the rule of law regarding rural issues.

This years document put more emphasis on “strengthening reform and innovation，” compared to the 2014 one， Zhu Lizhi， a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences told Xinhua News Agency.

Falling PMI

Chinese manufacturing activity continued to wane in January as a key index dropped below the 50-point mark for the first time since October 2012， marking increasing downward pressures on the economy， official data showed on February 1.

The manufacturing purchasing managers index （PMI）， a key measure of factory activity in China， posted at 49.8 in January， down 0.3 percentage points from December 2014， according to the data jointly released by the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion， while a reading below 50 represents contraction.

The reading， falling for four consecutive months， surprised the market as many institutions had forecast the PMI would rebound slightly.

In addition， Chinas service sector activity also dropped in January. The PMI for the non-manufacturing sector retreated to 53.7 in January from 54.1 in December， according to statistics from the NBS.

5G Technology

China Mobile， the countrys largest 4G mobile network operator， has begun development on the next generation of mobile Internet following the success of 4G， a senior executive of the company said on January 31.

The move suggested the company is trying to maintain its leading position in an increasingly heated competition among the countrys sole three telecom service providers.

China Mobile outperformed its two rivals， China Unicom and China Telecom， in the 4G race after getting official approval to launch services based on TDLTE standard by the end of 2013， nearly half a year ahead of the latter two.

China Mobile had 90 million 4G subscribers last year with 240 million cell phones sold and 700，000 base stations built， data from the company showed.

The other two operators did not release relevant data but media reports said even their combined figure cannot compete with China Mobile.

Energy Transport Corridor

A train runs across the Yellow River bridge along the Huangling-Hancheng-Houma Railway in Yuncheng， north Chinas Shanxi Province.

A section of this railway， starting from Yumenkou of Shanxi Province to Xiayukou， northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province， came into service on February 2.

Banking Deal

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China （ICBC） announced on February 2 the acquisition of a 60-percent stake in Standard Bank Plc.

Based in London， Standard Bank Plc is the international commodities and foreign exchange arm of Standard Bank Group （SBG）， the largest African banking group by assets.

ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing noted that the liberalization of Chinas capital market and the development of offshore yuan business， as well as the acceleration of overseas investment， have combined to drive demand for global business.

“The acquisition of Standard Bank Plc is important for ICBC to proactively deal with this demand，” Jiang said in an official statement.

By leveraging the two global networks and resources， the joint venture could become a global market platform that satisfies the strategic goals of both.

ICBC is Chinas largest commercial bank in terms of assets. It purchased a 20-percent stake in SBG in 2008 and an 80-percent stake in Standard Bank Argentina in 2012.

Pot Culture Economy

A farmer takes care of celery in a greenhouse in Jimo， east Chinas Shandong Province.

Approaching the Lunar New Year（falling on February 19 this year）， the potted lettuce， celery and Chinese chives grown through the soilless culture technique are quite popular in the market.

More Elastic Pricing

China lifted basic freight railway rates by 0.01 yuan per ton each kilometer and allowed an upper floating range of 10 percent at most， the countrys top economic planner announced on January 30.

The adjustment from the previous 0.1451 yuan per ton each kilometer to 0.1551 yuan took effect on February 1 while the new floating range will be implemented on August 1. It is up to the railway cargo enterprises to set the specific price， according to the National Development and Reform Commission（NDRC）.

Preferential freight rates for fertilizers and phosphate ore have also been scraped and the government no longer charges enterprises the comprehensive logistics fee for carrying large commodities.

The rate change aims to make the railway cargo pricing mechanism more flexible and to encourage more social capital inflows into railway construction and will not impact ticket prices， according to the NDRC. （$1=6.12 yuan）

Illegal Trading Punished

Eleven fund management companies were penalized for insider and rat trading， the securities regulator announced on January 30.

Five fund management companies， including China AMC and HFT Investment Management Co. Ltd.， have been prohibited from handling public fund registration for three to six months， while another six firms were asked to rectify their practices by the China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC）.

The securities regulator launched a crackdown， focusing on 15 fund management companies， last December.

Chinas assets management sector saw impressive growth in 2014， with total business scale reaching 10 trillion yuan（$1.63 trillion）， up 101 percent.

The CSRC will continue to conduct regular checks to increase risk awareness and guard investors interests， according to the announcement.

Solar-Powered Ambition

Hanergy Holding Group Ltd.， the worlds largest thin-film solar power company， will launch as many as five models of solar-powered cars in October， its chairman announced on February 2.

Hanergy is cooperating with three overseas and two domestic partners on the vehicles， Li Hejun， Chairman of Hanergy， told a press conference. Hanergy announced in late January that it had acquired Alta Devices， an American competitor， with charging stations for Tesla in Beijing and Shanghai.

The new models will have a range of 80 km to 100 km when fully charged， he said.

“There are currently only 400，000 electric cars in the world， but the market is expected to hit 10 million by 2020，”said Li.