Willingness to Help

A hairdresser serves a local resident at a volunteering event in Beijings Zhongguancun Neighborhood on September 20.

According to statistics released by the Beijing Volunteers Association on October 12， the city has more than 3 million registered volunteers in a variety of social service programs.

Party Meeting

The 18th CPC Central Committee will hold its Fifth Plenary Session from October 26 to 29 in Beijing to discuss a development plan for the next five years， said a statement released after a meeting of the committees Political Bureau on October 12.

While economic development will be the central task， a people-centered approach will be employed in the 2016-20 plan， involving the development of democracy， guarantees of social equity and justice through the rule of law and encouragement for innovation， according to the statement.

The meeting also adopted revised versions of a regulation on clean governance and rules on sanctions of those who break party rules. The former sets high standards for Party members and leading cadres， while the latter marks out the bottom line for Party organizations and members.

The Political Bureaus statement stressed that the revision upholds the principle that Party discipline is stricter than the law and discipline should be put before the law.

Poverty Reduction

Despite various challenges， China is determined to achieve its goal of lifting all people out of poverty by 2020， an official said at a press conference ahead of the 23rd International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on October 17， which also marked Chinas second National Poverty Relief Day.

The country still had 70.17 million people in the countryside living below the countrys poverty line of 2，300 yuan（$376） in annual income at the end of 2014， said Hong Tianyun， Deputy Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development of China.

He announced that the government will come up with a string of more effective and targeted measures to achieve the goal， including launching education campaigns， encouraging financial sup- port and building public platforms to mobilize more people to join the fight. In the past 15 years， China has lifted more than 600 million people out of poverty， accounting for about 70 percent of those brought out of poverty worldwide. It was the first developing country to meet the UNs Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty and hunger ahead of the 2015 deadline.

Operation Skynet

The money trails left by many fugitive corrupt officials have been tracked by Chinese authorities， the Peoples Bank of China （PBC） said on October 10.

It revealed that investigators have so far handled 92 major cases， involving 800 billion yuan （$126 billion） of embezzled money transferred through underground banks and offshore companies.

Since April， the PBC has worked with the Supreme Peoples Court， the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate， the Ministry of Public Security and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to track down illicit assets exported overseas under the Operation Skynet campaign， which aims to hunt down corrupt officials who have fled abroad.

Water Diversion

Chinas south-to-north water diversion project has supplied about 34 million people since it went into partial operation last December， new official data showed.

More than 1.7 billion cubic meters of water has been delivered through the 1，432-km middle route of the project to Beijing， Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei and Henan， the routes management bureau said on October 14.

The project now supplies 70 and 80 percent of the water consumed in Beijing and its neighboring Tianjin， respectively， it added.

The water diversion project， the worlds largest at an estimated cost of 500 billion yuan （$82 billion）， was designed to take water from Chinas longest river， the Yangtze， through eastern， middle and western routes to feed dry areas in the north.

The middle route， as part of the projects first phase， begins at Danjiangkou Reservoir in central Hubei Province and runs across Henan and Hebei before reaching Beijing and Tianjin.

The other two routes are not yet operational.

Massacre Database

China will set up a special database and upgrade the protection of documents regarding the Nanjing Massacre after files on the atrocity were listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.

A number of domestic archives will work together to establish the database， which will be open to the public at home and abroad， said a source with the Second Historical Archives of China on October 11.

The database can help people learn more about the historical calamity caused by war， said the source.

Lasting more than six weeks， from December 1937 to January 1938， the Nanjing Massacre saw the deaths of 300，000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers after the city fell into the hands of the Japanese.

On October 9， 11 sets of Nanjing Massacre files， including film， photographs and texts taken and written between 1937 and 1948， were listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register， despite Japans protests.

Nanjing Massacre documents are mainly housed in the Second Historical Archives of China， the Nanjing Municipal Archives and the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.

Ebola Vaccine

A private Chinese biotechnology company plans to mass-produce a vaccine against the Ebola virus developed by Chinese military scientists， according to company sources on October 14.

It is reported that Tianjin CanSino Biotechnology Inc. has started construction of a facility to produce the vaccine in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area.

Investment in the facility totals 2 billion yuan （$317 million）， and construction will be completed in September 2018. It will also produce other vaccines against pneumonia， meningitis and tuberculosis. Annual production is around 200 million vaccines.

Developed by a team of biotech experts with the Chinese Academy of Military Medical Sciences， the Ebola vaccine is based on the 2014 mutant gene type and takes the form of freezedried powder， which can remain stable for at least two weeks in temperatures of up to 37 degrees Celsius.

Experts say that it is suitable for the tropical climate in West African countries， where the deadly epidemic outbreak has killed more than 11，297 people since 2014.

According to the Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone， one of the three most affected countries along with Liberia and Guinea， the vaccine has proven“clinically safe.”

Tourism Promotion

Representatives from different countries and regions attend the Sand Pagoda Sculpturing ceremony during the 2015 International Islands Tourism Conference in Zhoushan， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on October 13.

The conference attracted more than 1，000 participants from 25 countries and regions.

Construction Completed

Attendees power on Huayang and Chigua lighthouses on Huayang Reef of Chinas Nansha Islands in the South China Sea at a ceremony on October 9.

The two lighthouses， as the first civil aids to navigation in the Nansha waters， will greatly improve navigational conditions and reduce navigational risks and accidents by providing route guidance， safety information， emergency rescue and other public services to passing vessels， according to Chinas Ministry of Transport.

Construction of the 50-meter-high cylindrical Huayang Lighthouse and cone-cylindrical Chigua Lighthouse began on May 26. They have reinforced concrete structures， a light range of 22 nautical miles and a glowing cycle of 8 seconds.

Deflationary Pressure

The latest official data have showed Chinese consumer inflation running at low levels and factory product inflation remaining in negative territory， triggering worries about sluggish market demand and deflationary pressure.

Chinas consumer price index（CPI） rose by 1.6 percent in September， down from 2 percent in August， said the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） on October 14.

On the other hand， Chinas producer prices continued to fall in September， signaling prolonged weakness in aggregate demand. The producer price index（PPI）， a measure of costs for goods at the factory gate， fell 5.9 percent year on year， unchanged from the rate seen a month earlier.

The reading also marked the 43rd straight month of decline.

Falling commodity prices and weak domestic demand are mainly responsible for the weak PPI reading， according to HSBC research.

Low prices amid the economic downturn mean monetary policies need to further ease， said Bank of Communications analyst Liu Xuezhi.

Minsheng Securities Co. Ltd. reckons the index will stay in negative territory in the foreseeable future， as China still has a long way to go in digesting its overcapacity in upstream industries.

The downcast PPI and slowing CPI highlighted deflationary pressure for China， Minsheng Securities said， projecting a high possibility of further cuts in interest rates and the bank reserve requirement ratio in the fourth quarter.

FDI Data

Non-financial foreign direct investment（FDI） onto the Chinese mainland expanded 9 percent from a year earlier to $94.9 billion in the first nine months， said the Ministry of Commerce（MOFCOM）.

Among all sectors， hi-tech services continued to shine， attracting $6.16 billion of foreign investment in the first nine months， a 57.6-percent surge year on year.

Hi-tech manufacturing saw investment inflow accelerate to a 10.4-percent growth during the period， reaching $7 billion.

FDI in the service sector in general rose 19.2 percent to $58 billion， while that in manufacturing edged up 0.7 percent to $29.8 billion， according to the MOFCOM.

More foreign firms invested in China through mergers and acquisitions， which accounted for 16.1 percent of the total FDI in the January-September period， up from 5.8 percent in the same period of last year.

Fresh Move

A staff member of an Internet company monitors vegetables through live images on October 13 in Hohhot， north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The company， founded in July this year， connects farmers and local consumers through the Internet. Consumers can order fresh vegetables via the website， WeChat account or smartphone application.

The company has signed cooperative agreements with 50 local vegetable processing and plantation organizations and delivers fresh vegetables to over 20，000 families in Hohhot each day.

Foreign Trade

Chinas foreign trade dropped 11.4 percent year on year in September to$350.77 billion， less severe than the 9.1-percent contraction in August， data from the General Administration of Customs （GAC） showed on October 13.

Exports dropped 3.7 percent to$205.56 billion， and imports decreased 20.4 percent to $145.22 billion. The trade surplus totaled $60.34 billion.

For the first three quarters of the year， foreign trade dropped 8.1 percent year on year to $2.9 trillion， with exports down 1.9 percent to $1.66 trillion and imports down 15.3 percent to $1.24 trillion. The trade surplus totaled $424.09 billion.

GAC spokesperson Huang Songping attributed the drops to the sluggish global economy， high costs and slumping commodity prices.

Trade prospects in China are set to remain favorable during the fourth quarter after exports fell less than expected in September， Huang said.

Huang said the GAC remains confident that exports during the fourth quarter will overtake the figures for the third quarter as the structural reforms and steps by the government to boost foreign trade yield results.

“In the absence of any major economic or political risks， we remain confident and positive on prospects for exports in the fourth quarter，” he said.

Little Carrot， Big Money

Local farmers process carrots in Yongqing County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on October 13.

The county has greatly developed its carrot industry over the past few years， making it the largest carrot production base in north China with an annual transaction value of 1.26 billion yuan （$198.6 million）.

China-Russia Expo

Nearly 10，000 businesspeople from 103 countries and regions have participated in the Second China-Russia Expo that was held in Harbin， capital of northeast Chinas Heilongjiang Province， from October 12-16.

More than 4，000 businesspeople are from Russia， which borders Heilongjiang. Some 170 large-scale Chinese enterprises and more than 50 leading Russian enterprises， including Sinara Group， Gazprombank， CTZUraltrak and Rusnano， attended the expo.

Some 46 activities， including seminars， investment promotions and commerce fairs， were held on the sidelines of the expo. Moreover 15 key commerce events covering a range of industries， including railways， forestry， finance， tourism and e-commerce， were held at the expo at the same time.

China and Russia are pushing forward a comprehensive strategic partnership， Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said at the opening ceremony of the expo.

China would like to integrate the Belt and Road Initiative with Russias strategy of developing the Far East and strengthen cooperation in aerospace， nuclear energy， civil aviation and crossborder transportation， Wang said.

Russia would like to expand cooperation with China and create a more open and favorable environment for cooperation， Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin also said on the occasion.

Renamed last year， the expo was formerly called the China Harbin International Economic and Trade Fair， an annual cooperation project between China and Russia since 1990.

Hear Me Now？

The State Council decided to improve broadband in rural and remote areas on October 14.

Stronger telecom services will help attract investment and fuel coordinated development， narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas， said a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council.

The meeting urged more input from the central budget， more support from local policies and capital， more telecom construction and maintenance from private capital， more public-private partnerships， and stricter supervision of subsidies.

By 2020， 50，000 more villages will gain access to broadband， and 30 million rural households will enjoy upgraded services. The total investment is estimated to hit more than 140 billion yuan （$22 billion）.

The meeting also stressed the importance of e-commerce， saying a faster expansion of e-commerce in rural areas will stimulate consumption， benefit farmers and support the real economy.

REAL Deal

Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding to invest in REAL， a South Korean action movie， featuring Kim Soo Hyun.

The deal was put together at the recent Busan International Film Festival and reflects the strategic focus of Alibaba Pictures to go global.

The agreement will give it sole distribution rights for the movie in China. Chinas e-commerce king Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.， which owns Alibaba Pictures， will help market the film through advertising and brand licensing on its e-commerce platforms.

“Were investing in REAL because the Korean film industry is arguably the most influential in the region. The hugely popular Kim Soo Hyun is the embodiment of that. We aim to support regional movie making in Asia， as well as bigger Hollywood movies，” Zhang Qiang， CEO of Alibaba Pictures， said.

The REAL deal is Alibaba Picturessecond overseas foray after investing in the Hollywood blockbuster Mission： Impossible—Rogue Nation. The movie was released in China in September and has grossed 867 million yuan （$137 million） at the box office.

REAL is expected to start filming by the end of this year.