Anniversary in Tibet

Some 3，000 people gather at Potala Palace Square in Lhasa， capital city of southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region， on March 28 to watch a national flag raising ceremony.

In 2009， the regional legislature established March 28 as a day to commemorate Tibetan Serf Emancipation Day， which marked an end to the feudal serf system in 1959， freeing 1 million serfs； 90 percent of the regions population at that time.

Rural Resources

On April 1， Chinas central authorities rolled out plans to support rural teachers， to overhaul public hospitals and to improve a peoples juror system， in a latest effort to comprehensively deepen reform.

The plans were adopted at the 11th meeting of the central leading group for deepening overall reform on April 1. The meeting approved a plan to support rural teachers over the next five years and set guidelines on reforming urban public hospitals.

The meeting also saw the adoption of a pilot plan on overhauling the peoples juror system， under which supervisors are selected and employed by courts to help scrutinize judges decisions.

The system， a vital part of Chinas socialist democracy， should be reformed in a bid to promote judicial democracy and fairness， the statement said， explaining that reform will focus on enhancing independence in juror selection and expanding their participation in trials.

Ex-CPC Official Charged

Zhou Yongkang， the highest-ranking official to be investigated in Chinas anti-graft campaign since 2012， has been charged with bribery， abuse of power and intentional disclosure of state secrets， the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate （SPP） announced on April 3.

Zhou， 73， was a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） from 2007-12 before retirement. He had also held leading positions at a number of Party and government departments over the past three decades.

The Tianjin Municipal Peoples Procuratorate No. 1 Branch presented the prosecutions case according to the law to the Tianjin Municipal No. 1 Intermediate Peoples Court after the SPP completed its investigation into Zhous case， said an SPP statement.

The indictment accuses Zhou of taking advantage of his posts to offer benefits to others and accepting large quantities of money and property illegally.

Food Complaints

A total of 562，402 complaints and tip-offs about food， pharmaceuticals， dietary supplements， cosmetics and medical equipment were received last year， double the figure in 2013， an official with the State Food and Drug Administration （SFDA）， said on March 31.

Most complaints were about sales of fake products， false advertising， unlicensed production and adverse reactions， said Liu Pei， Director of the complaint center of the SFDA.

Around 74 percent of the complaints were about food， and 12.9 percent were related to pharmaceuticals， while some 6.3 percent on dietary supplements.

Nearly 78 percent of complaints were collected via the organizations hotline， while the rest were received online， letters and personal visits， according to Liu.

Liu said the complaints and tip-offs have become important sources for the food and drug watchdog to deal with crime. They led to 57 percent of major food and drug cases last year.

Hospital Beds

China has for the first time set a goal for hospital beds per 1，000 citizens， a key indicator measuring a countrys medical service level.

According to a healthcare service plan （2015-20） published by Chinas cabinet on March 30， the country will aim to provide six hospital beds per 1，000 of its citizens by 2020. An increase of a third over the 4.55 recorded in 2013.

The goal has taken into account several factors， including an aging population and the capabilities of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Pledging more support for hospitals funded by private and foreign investment， the plan said the ratio of hospital beds available in private and foreign hospitals should be no fewer than 1.5 by 2020. Foreign ownership of hospitals will be loosened， it added.

The plan also considers training more doctors and nurses and aims to increase the ratio of medical workers per 1，000 citizens to 1.25 by 2020.

Water Funding

China plans to build 27 major water conservation projects in 2015， and would prefer them to be built and operated with private funding， senior officials announced on March 31.

The amount of investment in major water conservation will be increased from last years 488 billion yuan （$79.74 billion）， Jiao added.

Private capitals involvement will be prioritized， according to a document jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission， Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Water Resources on March 31.

The ministries opened the threshold of these projects to all kinds of qualified bodies， including state-owned enterprises， private and foreign enterprises.

Currently， 57 water projects are under construction in China.

Relocate the Endangered

A project began on March 27 to relocate the Yangtze Rivers finless porpoises， as the critically endangered species natu- ral habitat is threatened by pollution， overfishing and river traffic.

There are only around 1，000 finless porpoises—a dolphin-like freshwater mammal with an iconically goofy smile—in the Yangtze River and two lakes that are linked to the busy waterway.

On March 27， eight porpoises from Poyang Lake in Jiangxi Province were placed in metal containers filled with water and transported to two reserves in Hubei Province.

The relocation project was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture， Ministry of Environmental Protection， the Chinese Academy of Sciences and three provincial governments.

Yu Kangzhen， Vice Agriculture Minister， said the country was determined to step up efforts to protect the endangered species， since its population had shrunk by an average of 13.7 percent every year despite preservation measures.

There are plans for more reserves to be established in the rivers middle and lower reaches， said Yu.

Road to Macao

Photos taken on March 31 show giant pandas Yalin （left） and Shurong at the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base. Yalin and Shurong will be flown to Macao at the beginning of May.

Solar Plane

The Solar Impulse 2， the worlds biggest solar-powered plane， lands at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing， southwest China， on March 31.

The plane made its debut in China on March 31， after completing the fifth leg of its round-the-world journey to raise awareness of renewable energy and environmental protection when it took a 19-hour flight from Myanmar before landing in Chongqing.

PMI Rebound

Chinese manufacturing bounced back into expansion territory in March after two months of bad news.

The manufacturing purchasing managers index （PMI）， a key measure of factory activity， posted at 50.1 in March， up from 49.9 in February， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The index dropped below 50 in January for the first time since October 2012.

The March figure was slightly above market expectations and offers hope that the worlds second largest economy is gaining momentum.

The improvement was due to the return to work following the Spring Festival holiday （February 18-24）， said Zhao Qinghe， a statistician with the NBS.“Recent pro-growth policy had boosted confidence.”

Non-manufacturing PMI， which mainly tracks services and construction， also expanded in March， but at a slower pace.

Services， such as retail， catering and air transport， traditionally surge during the Spring Festival holiday and subsequently wane in March. Sub-indices for activity and new orders in the construction industry both rose 2.4 points to 58.9 and 54.7， respectively， probably due to better weather， Zhao added.

Investments Expanded

The State Council announced on April 1 that it will broaden the investment scope of the nations social security fund in order to disperse risks and increase the funds investment returns.

The fund will be allowed to invest in local government bonds and corporate bonds； meanwhile， the maximum share of investment on these two kinds of bonds will be raised to 20 percent from 10 percent previously， according to a statement released after a State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

The funds direct equity investment will be allowed in not only centrally administered enterprises but also their subsidiaries and creditworthy private firms， the statement said.

Meanwhile， the upper limit of the funds trust loan investment will be raised from 5 percent to 10 percent， with more investment on projects such as affordable housing and municipal infrastructure.

The government will also allow the fund to directly invest in interbank certificates of deposit and manage such investment as bank deposits.

Founded in 2000， the fund is designed to solve Chinas aging problem as well as being a strategic reserve to support future social security expenditure.

Official data showed the fund gained $22.7 billion from investment in 2014， with an 11.4-percent return on investment. The rate of return outperformed the 6.2-percent return rate in 2013.

Merger on Track

The merger of the nations two largest producers of rolling stock， CSR Corp. and CNR Corp.， is edging closer to completion with the announcements of a review by the China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） and details on the management of the new company.

In a statement on March 30， the CSRC said that it has set the merger deal for review on April 3.

Shares of the two companies have been suspended from trading in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Meanwhile， its being reported the current chair and presidents of CSR and CNR will sit on the board of directors of the merged company， which is going to be called the China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. However， the precise role of the four executives has not been revealed.

Most industry observers expect the merger to be completed by June.

Making Good

Visitors observe a desktop 3D printer during the China （Changchun） International Equipment Manufacturing Exposition in Changchun， capital of northeast Chinas Jilin Province，on April 1.

Approximately 500 equipment-manufacturing enterprises from 10 countries and regions took part in the three-day expo which kicked off that same day

The Future Is Now

Paladin Arm， a vehicle-mounted electrically controlled recording system， is unveiled in Beijing on March 31. The product was designed to better capture motion.

Auto JV

The Ministry of Commerce announced that， from April 10， the shareholdings of Chinese parties in joint ventures should be above 50 percent for automobile companies.

The ministry and the National Development and Reform Commission（NDRC） jointly issued a new guideline for joint ventures in China and encouraged foreign investment.

The guideline indicates that each foreign automaker may set up at most two joint ventures for passenger and commercial vehicles or motorcycles. That limit does not cover the situation in which a foreign firm joins with domestic counterparts in mergers.

The guideline has reduced a lot of red tape for foreign companies and is expected to inspire international forays into the environmental protection and energy efficiency sectors.

Nurturing Indian Startups

Chinas e-commerce king Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. will set up a startup incubator for mobile Internet and mobile commerce in the southern Indian city of Bangalore， said local daily Times of India on April 1.

The project will be set up with the Globals， a Bangalore-based mobile and analytics solution company， after a meeting between Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma and Globals founder Suhas Gopinath.

The two companies want to focus on mobile Internet as e-commerce is moving rapidly to mobile.

“It becomes easier to mentor the startups and find the right set of funders if you have a focused incuba- tor，” the report quoted Gopinath as saying.

The project is expected to start by May or June， according to the report.

Cutting Travel Costs

The threshold for fuel surcharges for domestic flights will be raised in an effort to cut passengers travel costs， the NDRC announced on April 1.

The fuel surcharge threshold is linked to fuel purchase costs. Starting on April 1， airlines are entitled to levy the surcharge if the fuel buying costs surpass 5，000 yuan （$800） per ton， a level higher than the previously set 4，140 yuan （$662）. The adjustment is estimated to save passengers 20 yuan（$3.2） for each flight under 800 km， and 30-40 yuan （$4.8-6.4） for longer distances.

Gao Yuee， an analyst with China Communications and Transportation Association， said the move will help stimulate tourism and consumption.

Power Up

Zhejiang Longquan Biomass Power Plant， Chinas first biomass-photovoltaic power generator， began its first-phase operation on April 2.

The company in Zhejiang Province has two biomass power generators， which boast a combined installed capacity of producing 162 million kWh of electricity a year.

To reach the capacity， the generators need to consume 250，000 tons of biomass fuel， mainly sawdust， straw and other agricultural waste.

If recycled， rural waste has the potential to produce the biomass energy equivalent to thermal power generation from 656 million tons of coal a year， or half of Chinas annual coal output.

The plant will install its 1.44-megawatt photovoltaic power generation system later in April. It is expected to go into operation in four months. The solar power generation has the capability to add 1.3 million kWh of electricity a year to the power grid， which is equivalent to the thermal power generation of burning 430 tons of coal.