Joint Efforts

Chinese and French volunteers select reusable bricks before they began to renovate a centennial house in Yunshantun Village Fortress in Anshun， Guizhou Province， on July 15.

Yunshantun was first built in 1381 during the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）. The 15-day renovation program， coinitiated by several heritage protection groups in China and France， drew 15 Chinese and five French participants.

More Newborns

Chinas newborn population grew to 16.87 million last year， thanks partly to the countrys relaxation of the family planning policy， a health official said at a press conference on July 10.

There were almost 1 million more newborns in 2014， compared to 15.92 million in 2010， said Yang Wenzhuang， an official with the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Yang said that the increase was prompted by a bigger population of women at primary child-bearing age， as well as an easing of birth restrictions.

China first introduced the family planning policy in the late 1970s to rein in a population surge， limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two if the first child was a girl.

A major policy change was adopted at the end of 2013， stipulating that couples nationwide may now have a second child if either parent is an only child.

Yang also revealed that China saw a decreasing number of first children born but an increase of second children， without specifying the margins.

According to the latest population structure revealed by Yang， Chinas working age population， those between 15 and 59， fell to 930 million in 2014 from its peak of 940 million in 2011.

Chinas total population reached 1.368 billion at the end of 2014.

Laws in Effect

China had 242 laws， plus the Constitution， at the end of 2014， according to a report by the China Law Society published on July 15.

The report said that the National Peoples Congress （NPC）， the countrys top legislature， and its Standing Committee passed 24 laws， legal inter- pretations and other legal decisions last year.

In 2014， China revised laws on environmental protection， budget， administrative procedures， and work safety among others. The NPC Standing Committee made laws on subjects including waterways and counterespionage.

The NPC Standing Committee in 2014 also passed eight legal interpretations on food safety， advertisement， air pollution reduction and prevention， anti-terrorism， national security， and others.

The report also revealed that as of the end of 2014， China had 739 administrative regulations.

ID System

Ruijie Xunzi， Chinas first platform devoted to constructing a system for finding missing children， kick-started its crowdfunding on July 14. Supporters hope to raise at least 1 million yuan（$161，100） from the public during its initial stage.

Founder Li Jie said that the platform will draw from U.S. practices， especially those of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children， Code Adam and AMBER Alert. In the United States， 97.7 percent of missing children are returned home， but the rate is far lower in China.

A national information database for missing children as well as a biological information equivalent for Chinese children will be set up， Li noted， adding that they will contain basic information regarding facial characteristics， voiceprints， fingerprints， as well as pupil and DNA information.

In future， social networking platforms publishing information regarding missing children will be integrated into the system. When a child is returned home， all information will be immediately and permanently deleted.

The platform will make use of facial recognition technology to provide a fast check of photos uploaded by Web users， comparing them to those stored in the database to provide more clues.

Big-data analysis will also be used to help dig for information about lost children and target suspects.

War Casualties

Chinese scholars on July 14 unveiled figures on Chinas great loss of life and property in the war against Japanese aggression from 1931 to 1945.

Over the course of 14 years of war， China suffered a total of over 35 million military and non-military casualties， with military casualties reaching more than 3.8 million， which accounted for a third of the total casualties of all the countries in World War II， said Wang Jianlang， Director of the Institute of Modern History， the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， at a press conference.

The official property loss suffered by the Chinese people was valued at more than $100 billion， using the exchange rate of 1937， he said， adding the indirect economic losses reached “as high as $500 billion.”

Powerful Supercomputers

Chinas Tianhe-2 supercomputer was named the worlds fastest supercomputer at the International Supercomputing Conference in Frankfurt， Germany， on July 13.

It was the fifth time in a row that Tianhe-2 has topped the worlds fastest supercomputer list since it was unveiled in June 2013. The supercomputer was designed and made by the Changsha-based National University of Defense Technology in central Chinas Hunan Province.

In November 2013， Tianhe-2 was relocated to the national supercomputing center in Guangzhou， capital of south Chinas Guangdong Province.

So far the supercomputer has provided high-performance computing and cloud computing services for almost 400 clients at home and abroad. It has been used to aid gene analysis， the development of new drugs， aerodynamic numerical calculation of large aircraft and high-speed trains， and others.

Summer Resort

People crowd a beach in Qingdao， Shandong Province， trying to escape the summer heat on July 13.

A heat wave swept over central， east and north China in mid-July as China entered the height of summer. The temperatures in some regions rose to around 40 degrees Celsius.

Expertise Sharing

Ma Leijun from UN Women speaks at a training class on anti-domestic violence at the Hunan Police Academy in Changsha， Hunan Province， on July 15.

The program had participation by police officers from several provinces in south China and local officials in charge of womens affairs.

Loan Service

China has decided to extend the maximum repayment period for student loans to 20 years， according to a circular by the ministries of education and finance and the Peoples Bank of China on July 15.

The longest repayment period of college student loan was previously 14 years. Now all the interest expenses during undergraduate and graduate study will be covered by financial subsidies， said the circular.

It required education departments and universities to establish a payment aid mechanism for the needy students who cannot afford to repay the loans in time due to disability， or being impoverished with a seriously ill family member at home.

The circular also said that studentloan service organs and banks should streamline approval procedures to assist students with financial difficulties.

Economy Unaffected

The recent stock market turbulence will not have a major spillover effect on Chinas real economy， global rating agency Moodys said on July 16.

The equity market turmoil does not warrant a change in the agencys forecast that Chinas real economic growth will reach 6.5 to 7.5 percent this year and 6 to 7 percent in 2016， Moodys Investors Service said in a report.

Chinas stock market has been on a roller coaster ride for the past few weeks. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped more than 30 percent at its lowest point from the peak in June.

“The direct impact from heightened volatility in Chinas equity market on financial sector output growth will be limited， while the indirect effects of market uncertainty on consumer spending， employment and corporate investments will be similarly muted，” said Michael Taylor， a Moodys managing director and chief credit officer for Asia Pacific.

However， the agency expected the governments encouragement for banks to lend to listed companies in order to purchase their own shares will risk increasing the sectors exposure to market volatility and to borrowers with rising financial leverage over time.

With a more volatile stock market， Chinese companies will reduce their access to equity capital， but this accounts for only a fraction of corporate funding， the report said.

Box Office

Chinas box office totaled 20.4 billion yuan （$3.3 billion） in the first half of 2015， up 48 percent year on year， said the State Administration of Press， Publication， Radio， Film and Television on July 14.

Domestic films raked in 9.5 billion yuan （$1.53 billion）， compared to foreign movies which grossed a total of 10.8 billion yuan （$1.74 billion）.

The Man From Macao II featuring Chow Yun Fat took 974 million yuan（$157 million）， ranking first in terms of domestic movies， followed by Dragon Blade starring Jackie Chan at 744 million yuan （$120 million）.

Fast and Furious 7 topped Chinas box office at 2.4 billion yuan （$386.5 million）， followed by Avengers： Age of Ultron and Jurassic World， grossing 1.5 billion yuan （$241.6 million） and 1.3 billion yuan （$209.4 million）， respectively.

Booming Agricultural Trade

Workers make preparations to export vegetables to Russia at an international logistics center in Mudanjiang， northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province， on July 15.

Adjacent to Russia， Mudanjiang has been engaged in establishing export channels for agricultural products. By now， the total area of production bases that target the Russian market has exceeded 200，000 mu （13，333 hectares） in Mudanjiang

Trade Ruling Objected

Chinas Ministry of Commerce（MOFCOM） on July 16 expressed strong discontent at a final U.S. ruling against certain imported tires of passenger vehicles and trucks from China.

The U.S. International Trade Commission dismissed the fact that the U.S. tire industry is in sound condition and made the affirmative determination to impose punitive duties， said the MOFCOM.

In June， the U.S. Department of Commerce adopted multiple unfair and discriminating methods to calculate exorbitant dumping margins and countervailable subsidies， which seriously injured the interests of involved Chinese enterprises， the MOFCOM said.

The MOFCOM urged the United States to strictly comply with international trade rules， prudently use trade remedy measures and adopt responsible attitudes and actions to correct its wrong practices and protect economic relations.

The U.S Department of Commerce said in June that the tire industry was“materially injured” by imports from China and was expected to issue antidumping and countervailing duty orders on August 3.

FTZ Policies

Pingtan in southeast Chinas Fujian Province， one of Chinas free trade zones， was set to attract more business， with new preferential policies announced on July 15.

The local customs office has put forward 22 new measures， including fast clearance for Taiwan merchants doing businesses in Pingtan， preferential clearance for perishable goods and online cargo registration.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision， Inspection and Quarantine also introduced 20 new measures， delegating more power over agricultural imports to its local branch.

Pingtan， an island 126 km from Taiwan， is a bridgehead in cross-Straits cooperation and became a special Chinese customs zone a year ago， featuring tax-free Taiwan products and special rules on the importation of vehicles from Taiwan.

Fairy Land

Cartoon images accent the launch of Shanghai Disney Resort in Shanghai on July 15

5G Research

Telecom solution provider Huawei Technologies and its European partners reached a major milestone on the road toward 5G with the launch of the firstphase projects of the European 5G Public Private Partnership （5G-PPP） in early July， announced the Chinese company on July 14 in a press release.

Huawei is a key contributor to the 5G-PPP initiative and will lead work packages in four of the five projects of the initiative.

“5G will create vast business opportunities while enhancing quality of life on a number of levels. Building fruitful alliances will be key to bringing us closer to transforming our vision of 5G into a global standard，” said Tong Wen， Huawei Wireless CTO.

The 5G-PPP aims at strengthening European 5G research and global cooperation in this field with a view to achieving communications infrastructure capable of coping with future wireless demand by 2020.

This involves providing 1，000 times higher wireless area capacity， saving up to 90 percent of energy per service provided， and creating a secure， reliable and dependable Internet with “zero perceived” downtime.

Huawei has been at the forefront of this collaborative effort since the very beginning， as a board member of the 5G Infrastructure Association， and is now contributing its expertise and global resources to some of the most futureoriented projects being implemented under the Horizon 2020 Framework Program.

Huawei is also conducting a joint 5G research program with the University of Surreys 5G Innovation Center in the UK and plans to have a testbed there by 2018.

Made for U.S.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer ZTE on July 14 unveiled its latest offering Axon in New York， a Hi-Fi audio phone the company called its “first phone made in the United States， for the United States.”

The device， a 5.5-inch unlocked phablet， boasts a “duel lens，” a 13-megaixel and 2-megapixel camera on the rear， which would lead to sharper video capture.

The dual-lens system will allow users to focus before and after taking a shot.

The features of the phone included low-light and fast-image capture and high-quality audio.

It is available for direct order from ZTE， Amazon and Ebay starting on July 14， with shipping beginning on July 27.

ZTE USA， the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer in the United States and the second largest in the non-contract market， has more than 20 million U.S. customers.

Cargo Train Returns

A 41-container cargo train completed its maiden voyage from Hamburg， Germany， to Harbin in northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province， on July 14.

It took one month for the train， which was carrying German products including car parts and beer， to travel the 9，820-km cargo line， which passes through Germany， Poland and Russia before entering China.

The Harbin-Hamburg rail freight services have connected Harbin with Germany， Poland， the Czech Republic， Spain， France and Italy.

According to Heilongjiang Development and Reform Commission， 26 trains to and from Europe will be launched before the end of this year. Freight trains are expected to become more frequent next year.

A number of mainland cities—including Chongqing and Chengdu in southwest China； Wuhan， Zhengzhou and Changsha in central China； and Shenyang in northeast China—all have rail freight services to Europe.