Father in Mind

Students in a fine art school in Xiangyang， central Chinas Hubei Province， draw portraits of their fathers on June 21， Fathers Day.

Parade Plans

China on June 23 announced plans to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II， including inviting foreign militaries to participate in a parade on September 3 in Beijing.

President Xi Jinping， General Secretary of the Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee， will speak at the event. Representatives of veterans， civilians who supported the army during the war and relatives of the fallen will take part in the parade.

The parade will be the first time China has marked the anniversary of the victory in the Chinese Peoples War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression， and the victory of WWII.

Drug Abuse

China had 2.95 million registered drug addicts at the end of 2014， but the real number who have used narcotics is believed to exceed 14 million， the Ministry of Public Security said on June 24. That means one out of 100 Chinese may have used drugs， said Liu Yuejin， Assistant Minister of Public Security.

Although the spread of traditional drugs such as heroin has been largely curbed， the number of identified synthetic drug addicts has risen sharply to 1.46 million， six times the number in 2008.

Drug users are getting younger and younger， according to the ministry. Among the 480，000 newly identified drug users in 2014， 29，000 were under the age of 18 and around three quarters were under the age of 35.

Drug abuse is doing more harm to society. Around 49，000 of the registered drug users in China died in 2014. HIV has infected 3.5 percent of heroin users and 1.4 percent of synthetic drug users， according to the data released by the national drug abuse monitoring center.

Soil Monitoring

The Environmental Protection Bureau of Beijing is planning to set up soil monitoring sites to help tackle the citys soil pollution problem.

Most of the monitoring pilots will be established on cultivated land， near water sources and on polluted land in Beijing.

Environmentalist Peng Yingdeng explained that this arrangement was made because Beijing has more farmland than developed land due to removal of industrial enterprises.

“The collected data will be used to analyze the changing trend of the citys soil，” a local official said， adding that the number of monitoring sites and the period of research are yet to be determined.

According to a report in The Beijing News， China is expected to announce 10 new regulations on soil protection in the near future.

Quick MERS Test

A diagnostic reagent that can complete a test for MERS in just 15 minutes has been developed in China. Research on the reagent began in late 2014. The reagent was put together by the University of Hong Kong and Xiamen University and will be used in virus screening if the disease ever breaks out in China.

The reagent employs antigen diagnostics， which are easier to use than traditional nucleic acid diagnostics.

The new reagent is efficient and can be used for a large number of tests. A single technician can process over 1，000 samples a day.

First identified in 2012， MERS has recently reappeared in South Korea. At least 24 people have died and 166 infections have been detected there as of Friday.

Cultural Restoration

A protection project will be launched this year to restore the natural environ-ment along the key sections of the oldest Great Wall of Qi in east Chinas Shandong Province， said a provincial heritage official.

The Shandong Cultural Heritage Administration is drawing up a construction plan for the cultural and natural scenic area of the Great Wall of Qi， said Xie Zhixiu， head of the administration.

The protection plan includes the protection of the walls and relevant military relics， and the treatment and restoration of the natural environment along the route， he said.

Built between 770 B.C. and 476 B.C. in the ancient state of Qi， part of Todays Shandong， the Great Wall of Qi is the oldest Great Wall in China. It started at a small village in what is now Changqing County， with passes， gates， castles and beacon towers along a total length of 620 km until it met the sea near the settlement of what is now the city of Qingdao.

Housing Renovation

The Central Government has allocated 185.9 billion yuan （$30.5 billion） to the renovation of run-down areas and dilapidated rural houses so far this year， the Ministry of Housing and UrbanRural Development disclosed on June 19.

The government is pushing to improve housing conditions amid rapid urbanization.

The State Council， Chinas cabinet， announced a plan on June 24 to build 18 million apartments in urban areas and renovate 10.6 million rural houses between 2015 and 2017.

From 2008 to 2014， the Central Government allocated 450.6 billion yuan （$73.87 billion） in this program.

Maritime Rescue Rehearsal

A maritime rescue drill is held off Qinhuangdao in north Chinas Hebei Province on June 25. The drill was jointly organized by several institutions including the Hebei Maritime Safety Administration， the provincial maritime rescue center and a maritime emergency reaction headquarters in order to hone the skills of local organizations in handling cases of emergency.

Panda Twins

This combination photo taken on June 23 shows the twin panda cubs born in Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Chengdu， capital city of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province.

Giant panda Kelin gave birth to the first twin cubs of the year at 5：10 a.m. on June 22 in Chengdu. The female twins are the worlds first set of panda twins born in this year.

Sharper Space Eye

Chinese space experts have developed the worlds most sensitive “eye” that enables the autonomous rendezvous and docking of two spacecraft—flying eight times faster than bullets—more efficiently and safely.

The “eye” is Chinas newly devel- oped third-generation rendezvous and docking CCD optical imaging sensor. It will be used on Chinas second orbiting space lab， Tiangong-2， the Change-5 lunar probe and the permanent manned space station， according to the China Academy of Space Technology（CAST）.

China plans to launch Tiangong-2 in 2016， and send Change-5 to collect samples from the moon and return to Earth around 2017. It also aims to put a permanent manned space station into service around 2022.

E-Commerce Opened Up

China has decided to give foreign investors greater freedom in the booming ecommerce industry by allowing them to fully own e-commerce companies in the country， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT） announced on June 19.

The MIIT said in a brief statement that it would open up the online data processing and transaction processing businesses to foreign investors.

The new policy will enable more foreign companies to compete with local firms， thereby driving the sector to higher standards， the MIIT said.

The move is an expansion of a pilot scheme launched in January in the Shanghai free trade zone.

Currently， Chinas lucrative ecommerce business is dominated by big homegrown firms. The e-commerce market hit 13.4 trillion yuan （$2.2 trillion） in 2014， and China is aiming to almost double the value of the sector in two years.

More Liquidity

The State Council on June 24 passed a draft amendment to Chinas Banking Law that gives banks more freedom to lend by removing the 75-percent loanto-deposit ratio stipulation.

The ratio will instead be seen as a liquidity-monitoring indicator， according to a statement released after an executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.

The move will enable financial institutions to increase lending to agriculture and small and micro businesses， the statement said.

The draft amendment will be tabled to the countrys top legislature， the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress， for review.

China has kept the 75-percent ratio unchanged for years. Last year， the central bank expanded the definition of what constitutes a banks deposit in a bid to release more lending capital.

The latest decision came as the government is at pains to channel credit to the real economy to support growth.

Earlier data showed Chinas yuandenominated lending reached 900.8 billion yuan （$147.4 billion） in May， picking up from 707.9 billion yuan （$114 billion） in April but 4.3 billion yuan（$692.7 million） less than the same period last year.

Chinas total social financing aggregate， a broad measure of liquidity in the economy， stood at 1.22 trillion yuan（$196.54 billion）， compared with 1.05 trillion yuan （$169.16 billion） a month earlier.

Green Car

The first batch of methyl-alcohol-powered taxies come into service in Guiyang， capital of southwest Chinas Guizhou Province on June 23.

Methyl-alcohol-powered cars can efficiently cut traffic emission， with their emission of PM 2.5 particles 80 percent lower than traditional cars.

Special Financing

The CITIC Group on June 24 announced a total of over 700 billion yuan （$115 billion） in investment and financing support for the Belt and Road Initiative.

China CITIC Bank， CITIC Securities， CITIC Trust and several others are among the companies involved. CITIC Bank alone offered over 400 billion yuan （$64.44 billion）.

In addition， the lender plans a fund for the Belt and Road Initiative with an initial capital of 20 billion yuan （$3.22 billion）.

The hefty financing will be spent in at least 10 countries along the Belt and Road on infrastructure， environmental protection， new energy， agriculture and education.

The Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road proposed by China in 2013 for improved cooperation with countries in Asia， Europe and Africa.

The Chinese Government published an action plan specifying the principles， framework， priorities and mechanisms for the initiative in March. A $40-billion Silk Road fund， designed to finance the Belt and Road region， has also been launched.

Entrepreneur Confidence

Chinese entrepreneurs confidence in the domestic economy dipped in the second quarter amid downward economic pressure， the central bank announced on June 19.

The Entrepreneur Confidence Index stands at 58.3 in the second quarter， down 0.9 points compared with the first quarter and falling 6.6 points year on year， according to a survey released by the Peoples Bank of China， the central bank.

About 43.5 percent of the more than 5，000 entrepreneurs taking the survey thought that the economy is cooling down， while over half of them believed that the economy is going on as normal.

Indices for product sale prices， raw material purchase prices， export orders and import orders all rose compared with that in the first quarter， while indices for capital turnover and reflow of sales income fell compared with that in the first quarter.

Fantastic Fair

Streams of people visit Maker Faire opened in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， on June 19. The weeklong event attracted 210 overseas maker teams and 60 international organizations.

Boosting Aviation

Chinas aviation regulator has unveiled a plan for major investment in aviation projects at home as the countrys latest effort to prop up flagging economic growth and strengthen Asian trade infrastructure.

Around 500 billion yuan （$81.78 billion） will be invested in 193 domestic projects this year， Li Jiaxiang， Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China， said on June 24 during an aviation forum in Beijing.

Li did not explain in detail but said aviation infrastructure construction will be prioritized in west Chinas Xian （capital of Shaanxi Province） and Urumqi（capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region）， southwestern Nanning （capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region） and Kunming （capital of Yunnan Province）， and Xiamen of Fujian Province on the eastern coast in the next five years.

“In the past two years， China built 15 airports and expanded another 28 in provinces along the routes of the Belt and Road Initiative，” Li said.

Chinese airlines will add 83 new international routes this summer and autumn to meet increasing demand for outbound travel， in addition to the current 553 routes to 51 countries， the aviation administration chief added.

China boasts the worlds second largest civil aviation network， with 52 airlines and 202 airports. The country is hoping that infrastructure projects can help bolster growth as the economy slows.

Global Yuan Penetration

Offshore yuan bonds will grow moderately in 2015， though offshore issuance declined year on year in the first quarter on the back of falling onshore interest rates， a Moodys report said on June 23.

Chinas Belt and Road Initiative and the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank further bolstered the use of the yuan in crossborder transactions and investments， said Ivan Chung， a Moodys senior vice president.

The International Monetary Funds upcoming decision whether to include the yuan in the special drawing rights basket could be key to the yuans internationalization and lead to a considerable increase in investors asset allocations to yuan-denominated assets， Chung said.

On the onshore bond market， Moodys report highlights the first public bond default in March 2014 and three recent cases in May and June 2015， which signal the regulators increased tolerance for such defaults， and their willingness to let the market play a more decisive role in restructuring.