Out of Gravity

China successfully launches a new carrier rocket model， Long March-6， from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Chinas Shanxi Province on September 20.

The rocket carried 20 microsatellites into space， which will be used for space tests.

Long March-6， fueled by a liquid propellant made of liquid oxygen and kerosene， is Chinas first carrier rocket that uses fuel free of toxicity and pollution.

It will be mainly used for the launch of microsatellites.

Charitable Giving

China received more than 104 billion yuan （$16.32 billion） in charitable donations in 2014， up 5.3 percent from the previous year， according to a report released on September 20 by the China Charity and Donation Information Center， which is under the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The figure accounts for 0.16 percent of the national GDP.

Popular online charity platforms run by Internet companies such as Sina， Tencent and Alipay gathered 428 million yuan （$67.15 million）， a year-onyear increase of 42.6 percent.

The largest donation last year was a 24.5-billion-yuan （$3.87 billion） fund set up by Jack Ma， Board Chairman of Chinas largest e-commerce business Alibaba Group， and his colleague Joseph Tsai. The fund aims to help edu- cation， environmental protection， health and training in China.

Overseas non-governmental organizations and individuals donated about 2 billion yuan （$317 million） to China， according to the report.

Lawyers Rights

China issued a lawyers rights regulation on September 20.

The regulation was made as a joint effort by the Supreme Peoples Court， the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate， the Ministry of Public Security， the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Justice.

The regulation underlines the need to respect lawyers and protect lawyersrights to a number of activities not limited to knowledge， application， petition， meetings with defendants， file reading， evidence collecting and debate. It stipulates that procuratorates and courts should allow defense counsel to read case files and ensure that case files be read in three working days. The time and frequency of defense counsels in reading case files should not be limited. The regulation also urges judicial organs to establish and improve related facilities to better ease lawyers work.

Overturned Verdicts

A total of 1，603 criminal defendants were declared innocent by Chinese courts from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2014， the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate（SPP） said on September 21.

More than 1，800 cases involving extended detention were handled during the same period， said Sun Qian， SPP Vice President， at a press conference.

“The fundamental reason for miscarriage of justice lies in the lack of faith in human rights protection，” Sun noted.“Illegally obtaining evidence， extracting confessions by torture and other violations have been seen when judicial officials handled criminal cases.”

The SPP has taken measures to avoid wrongful convictions， including implementing an “innocent until proven guilty” stance in many cases， excluding illegally obtained evidence and protecting lawyers right to defend， he added.

Cybercrime Crackdown

Chinese police have made notable progress in fighting cybercrime at home and internationally with authorities abroad， according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Since 2012， the police have worked with foreign counterparts in more than 70 countries and regions to fight cybercrime and have arrested more than 580 suspects， including Chinese and foreign nationals， said the ministry in a press release on September 18.

About 50 suspects of Chinese citizenship have been captured and returned to China from countries such as Thailand， Viet Nam and Cambodia， it said.

China would like to improve cooperation with other countries and contribute to the development of international protocols in this area， the ministry said.

Subsidies for Disabled

Beginning next year， the Chinese Government will spend at least 18.1 billion yuan （$2.8 billion） annually to subsidize disabled people in need， a civil affairs official said on September 18 at a press briefing.

The money will be allocated from both the central treasury and local governments， but Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Zou Ming did not reveal the percentage each will provide.

The subsidies mainly target disabled people living below the poverty line and those with the most serious disabilities， with the specific amounts varying depending on local economic conditions， Zou said.

China has about 80 million people with physical or mental disabilities.

Currently， 20 of the 31 provincial regions on the Chinese mainland issue subsidies for the disabled， with an average monthly allowance of about 100 yuan （$15.69） for one person， according to Zou.

He admitted the current subsidies are small on average， but promised that the amount will gradually increase along with economic development.

City Planning

China will likely complete its five-year city planning guideline in 2016， an official said on September 19.

The document is expected to cover layouts of 108 cities across the country and will be used to direct the construction during 2016 and 2020， said Yu Binyang， an official with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development， at a forum in southwest Chinas Guiyang， Guizhou Province.

Given the slowing economy， China has turned to urbanization， which usually brings about massive construction projects and new workforces to cities， to provide some momentum for growth.

Urban residents account for nearly 55 percent of Chinas total population， and policymakers expect the ratio to surpass 60 percent in 2020.

Eye-Catcher

The book Xi Jinping： The Governance of China， which outlines the political ideas of the Chinese top leadership， is highlighted at the opening ceremony of a month-long event to promote Chinese books at Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington， D.C. on September 17.

The book has been published in Chinese， English， French， Russian， Arabic， Spanish， Portuguese， German and Japanese. Its sales worldwide surpassed 5.2 million copies by the end of August.

ID Update

Young people from Taiwan show their renewed Taibaozheng， a passport-like document that carries the entry permits for Taibao， or Taiwan compatriots， at a port in Xiamen， Fujian Province， on September 21.

The electronic version of Taibaozheng， which is a card instead of the previous paper form， is enabled on the Chinese mainland on the day. It can also serve as a certificate of identity during Taiwan residents stay on the mainland.

Enrollment Decline

Primary and junior high school enrollment numbers in China have dropped in recent decades as a result of a declin- ing birth rate， according to a research report released on September 21.

The report， published on Eol.cn， the countrys largest education website， showed that primary school enrollment had declined from 25 million in 1997 to 16.58 million in 2014.

Likewise， junior high school enrollment numbers decreased from 22.63 million to 14.48 million during the same period of time.

In the 1990s more than 20 million children were born annually， and the number now sits around 16 million. The lowest annual number was 15.8 million in 2006， according to the China Population Association.

China-ASEAN Expo

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli said on September 18 that China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations（ASEAN） members should make joint efforts to finish the negotiations regarding upgrades to the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area （CAFTA） by the end of this year.

He made the remarks while addressing the 12th China-ASEAN Expo， which was held from September 18 to 21 in Nanning， capital of south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Zhang called to boost cooperation in customs， inspection and quarantine， certification， and information collection between China and ASEAN to lower non-tariff barriers. Zhang also suggested making bilateral trade and investment easier.

China aims to elevate bilateral trade with ASEAN to $1 trillion by 2020 and invest over $100 billion in ASEAN between 2013 and 2020， according to the vice premier.

“China is willing to work with ASEAN to accelerate negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and boost regional economic integration，” Zhang added.

China is ASEANs largest trading partner， and ASEAN is Chinas third largest. Bilateral trade increased 8.23 percent year on year to $480 billion in 2014.

Pack and Load

Staff members pack imported goods to be shipped in a warehouse in southwest Chinas Chongqing on September 21. That day， the facility specially built for cross-border trade on Taobao.com， a leading C2C website in China， was put into use in Xiyong Bonded Area in Chongqing.

China-UK Dialogue

China and Britain reached 53 agreements during their Seventh Economic and Financial Dialogue （EFD） held in Beijing on September 21.

This years round of EFD aims to implement the consensus reached by both heads of government last year to pave the way for the meeting between the two countries leaders in October， said Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai.

The steady economic growth in China and Britain is a bright spot in a gloomy global economy， he added.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said that Britain is looking forward to President Xi Jinpings visit in October. Britain has confidence in Chinas economy and would like to be the most open of Chinas trading partners among Western countries， he noted.

Britain supports the internationalization of the Chinese yuan and looks forward to China holding the G20 Presidency in 2016， according to an outcome document.

It revealed that Britain has approved a guarantee worth up to 2 billion pounds （$3.1 billion） for Hinkley Point C， paving the way for China to invest in Britains nuclear industry.

The Peoples Bank of China， the central bank， will issue a yuan-denominated central bank note in London in the near future—the first outside of China， said the document.

The two sides also agreed to extend and expand the RMB/Sterling swap line and to carry out a feasibility study on a stock connect between London and Shanghai.

China was Britains sixth largest goods export market in 2014， up from 14th in 2013. Britain attracted nearly $12 billion of Chinese foreign direct investment in 2013， more than France and Germany combined.

Xinjiang Bonded Area

Construction of a bonded zone in Urumqi， capital of northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， began on September 19.

The 2.41-square-km zone is expected be fully operational by July 2016， according to Xue Jihai， head of the zones administrative committee.

The bonded zone enjoys geographic advantages for trade thanks to its proximity to airport， railway and highway facilities. It will provide bonded warehousing， logistics， manufacturing and integrated services， Xue said.

Sun Zhijie， head of Urumqi Customs， said that the bonded area is expected to integrate local and international markets and will help internationalize Xinjiangs enterprises.

Two bonded areas have been set up in Xinjiang in Alataw Pass， the countrys largest land port， and the city of Kashgar that borders five Central Asian countries.

Training Wheels

A worker assembles a childrens bike in a factory in Pingxiang County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on September 21. Pingxiang has become a major production base for childrens bikes， with over 4，000 such companies having sold over 16 million bikes at home and abroad.

Huawei in Africa

On September 21， Chinese technology firm Huawei and the African Telecommunications Union（ATU） signed a Memorandum of Understanding （MOU） in Nairobi， Kenya， aimed at enhancing information and communication technology （ICT） capability and literacy in Africa.

Huawei Technologies Kenya Country Manager Dean Yu told a media briefing that his firm will provide technical support for African states to increase their uptake of ICT.

“We will leverage our resources in order to introduce more innovative solutions to Africa，” Yu said.

Under the document， Huawei will share its vast technical know-how in order to spur ICT development on the continent.

The Chinese technology giant has a presence in most of the 54 African states where it works closely with telecom firms to expand mobile phone coverage.

“Our aim is to ensure that Africa is able to bridge its digital divide，” said Yu， adding that ICT can be used to improve the efficiency of all sectors of the economy.

“There is a positive correlation between levels of ICT use and the level of economic development，” he added.

ATU Secretary General Soumaila Abdoulkarim said that Africa， which has a broadband penetration rate at approximately 10 percent， is the lowest of any region in the world， and Huawei will help African states develop and implement national broadband strategies.

Negative List

China has decided to make the “negative list” approach effective nationwide in 2018 with the aim of streamlining government administration and freeing up the market.

The system， which specifies sectors off-limits to investors， has been in a pilot stage in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone since 2013.

In some regions， most sectors will experience expansive openings for investors between 2015 and 2017， according to an official statement issued on September 21.

To live up to its promise to let the market place a decisive role in allocating resources， the Chinese Government is delegating powers to enterprises and letting them decide how to run their businesses.

Housing Market

Chinas housing market continued to pick up in August， with new home prices in an increasing number of surveyed cities registering month-on-month rises.

Of the 70 large and mediumsized cities surveyed， new home prices climbed month on month in 35， up from 31 in July， with 26 reporting monthon-month price declines， down from Julys 29， according to data released on September 18 by the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）.

Year on year， 62 cities reported new home price drops in August， down from Julys 67， with Shenzhen posting a sharp rise of 31.8 percent.

For existing homes， 16 cities saw price declines in August on a monthly basis， and 11 reported flat prices， while 43 cities posted gains.

According to NBS statistician Liu Jianwei， the number of cities with price increases in both new houses and secondhand houses grew in August on a monthly basis but with a smaller margin due to narrowing rises in firsttier megacities.

Chinas housing market nosedived in 2014 due to weak demand and a surplus of unsold homes. The decline has continued into 2015， with both sales and prices falling and investment slowing.

To help the emerging signs of a rebound in the property sector， the country has eased payment requirements for second home purchases， and some local governments have rolled back their restrictions on home purchases.