For Memory

An exhibition to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the recovery of sovereignty over Taiwan from the 50-year Japanese occupation kicks off in Beijing on October 23.

In 1895， when China was defeated in the first Sino-Japanese War， the government of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911） was forced to cede Taiwan and its affiliated islands to Japan.

In 1945， upon the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II， China recovered territory occupied by Japan， including Taiwan.

Employment Data

The registered unemployment rate in Chinas cities stood at 4.05 percent at the end of September， slightly up from 4.04 percent in June， according to official data released on October 27.

China created 10.66 million new jobs for urban residents in the first nine months， Li Zhong， a spokesman for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security， told a press conference.

The government set the targets of creating at least 10 million new jobs in cities and holding the registered urban unemployment rate below 4.5 percent at the beginning of this year.

There were 109 positions for every 100 job hunters in the third quarter， indicating a generally balanced job market， Li said， citing a survey conducted by the ministry across 100 cities.

With the economy feeling the weight of downward pressure， there had been a decline in job vacancies. In the first nine months， positions at 30，000 monitored companies dropped by nearly 5 percent.

Li assured that this was a small loss and mainly affected industries struggling with overcapacity or environmental problems， including the coal， steel and chemical sectors.

He forecast that the job market will remain steady in the fourth quarter and next year， as the governments pro-growth measures bear fruit， including numerous cuts to banks reserve requirement ratio and interest rates.

Proof of Sovereignty

The Chinese religious sites on islands in the South China Sea have provided more evidence of Chinas sovereignty over the area， said a Beijing-based scholar of religious studies.

With historical documents， archaeological findings and 50 photos after four years of field study， Chen Jinguo， a researcher with the Institute of World Religions of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， believes that Chinese people built a lot of religious sites on the islands， their most important cultural features and the centers of fishermens everyday life， according to his thesis published in Religious Cultures of the World.

Chen said that claims of sovereignty over the islands are based on historical occupation and so some countries have destroyed Chinese religious sites and added “historical”features of their own.

Japanese Yoji Nishizawa occupied the Dongsha Islands in 1906 on the pretext of “discovering” them， changing their name to the Nishizawa Islands and destroying Chinese temples there.

Chen said that historical documents， archaeological findings， field studies and oral information have all recorded Chinese religious sites， an important basis for Chinas claim of sovereignty.

According to him， Chinese religious sites in the South China Sea signify Chinese peoples efforts to develop the waters.

Social Workers

There are currently 208，000 certified social workers in China， according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The country has shifted focus to social services to maintain social harmony. To this end， the Central Government aims to employ over 1 million social workers by 2020.

Li Liguo， Minister of Civil Affairs， who was speaking at a conference on October 22 in Chongqing， southwest China， said that China also has more than 3，000 non-government social service organizations.

Li said that China had been increasing investment in social and community services， which are mainly funded by the government， with some private investment.

Record Moon Stay

Chinas first lunar rover， Yutu， has been operating on the moon for almost two years， setting the record for the longest stay by this type of space exploration vehicle.

Yutu was deployed and landed on the moon via Chinas Change-3 lunar probe in 2013， staying longer than the Soviet Unions 1970 rover Lunokhod 1， which spent 11 months on the moon.

Although Yutu experienced a mechanical control abnormality in 2014 meaning it can no longer move， it continues to collect data， send and receive signals， and record images and video， according to Ye Peijian， chief scientist with the Change-3 program.

The delivery of the rover and a stationary lander to the lunar surface by Change-3 made China the third country to carry out such a mission.

China is planning the first attempt in human history to land a lunar probe on the far side of the moon， or “dark side of the moon，” which is never visible to Earth. The mission will be carried out by Change-4， a backup probe for Change-3.

Blood Vessel Printer

A Chinese biotechnological company announced on October 25 that it has developed the worlds first 3D blood vessel bio-printer， which makes it possible to produce personalized functional organs.

Sichuan Revotek Co. Ltd. based in Chengdu， capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， said that the significant breakthrough has been achieved through its self-developed stem cell bio-ink technology， 3D bio-printer and cloud computing platform.

“The creative breakthrough in the 3D blood vessel bio-printing means we have mastered the stem cell-based 3D bio-printing technology，” said Yang Keng， Chairman of Sichuan Languang Development Co. Ltd. Revotek is a subsidiary of Sichuan Languang.

Blood vessels that transport nutrients to organs are indispensable elements when creating any organs， ac- cording to James Kang， a scientist who led the program.

Kangs team has created a novel type of bio-ink—biosynsphere， whose primary goal is the personalized stem cell bio-printing to pave the way for organ regeneration.

Temple Restoration

Labrang Monastery， a prominent Tibetan Buddhist temple in Gansu Province.

Seven halls in the monastery have been restored.

Founded in 1709， Labrang Monastery has six Buddhist schools， 48 halls and over 500 residences for lamas. It launched a renovation project in 2012 with the focus on reinforcing structural elements， repairing paintings and frescos， as well as improving security and fire protection.

Winter Home

A tourist feeds a black-headed gull on the Dianchi Lake in Kunming， Yunnan Province， on October 28. More than 3，000 black-headed gulls flew to the city from Siberia recently to escape severe winter.

Meteorology Park

China will build its first meteorology park on Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province， the Huangshan Management Committee said on October 27.

Huangshan Mountain is well known for its beautiful sunrises， winter snow and views from above the clouds， making it an ideal place to build the countrys first park featuring meteorological scenes， according to the committee.

The concept of a meteorology park was first raised by Chinese scholars， said Lai Bixing， a professor at Central South University of Forestry and Technology in Changsha， Hunan Province.

Meteorologists from China and the United States have spent 10 years researching scenic spots and have established a world meteorological park system.

The park on Huangshan Mountain will become the worlds first of its kind. It will serve not only as a platform for meteorological science exploration but also an education base for youth， according to Lai.

New AIIB Member

Denmark signed an agreement with China on October 27 to become the newest member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB）.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Danish counterpart Kristian Jensen witnessed the signing in Beijing. China hopes to promote EU relations and strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Denmark on global and regional issues， Wang said.

Denmark is ready to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative， support the AIIBs operation and cooperate with China on other international affairs， Jensen said.

The China-initiated AIIB is a multilateral development institution tasked with financing infrastructure construction across Asia.

After signing the agreement， all 57 members must get the green light from their legislatures by December 31， 2016 in order to become the banks founding members.

Joining Hands

Online travel company Ctrip.com International Ltd. and its rival Qunar. com have agreed to a share swap and partnership that will create Chinas biggest online travel service.

Under the deal， Ctrip will own roughly 45 percent of Qunar， the company said in a statement on October 26.

Baidu， which owns 20 percent of Qunar， will take a 25-percent stake in Ctrip. The two companies will also combine products and services.

The deal comes about five months after Qunar rejected a buyout offer from Ctrip amid fierce competition for online bookings in China， where rising incomes and an expanding middle class are fueling a surge in travel.

“Its good for both companies，”Henry Guo， Managing Director at Summit Research Partners LLC， said.“Competition between the two companies has hurt both of them in terms of profitability as theres been some irrational pricing.”

Qunar is the second largest online travel agency in China， which is valued at about $5.2 billion， while Ctrip had a market valuation of $10.6 billion.

Making Farmers Jobs Easier

Visitors view the latest harvester at the 2015 China International Agricultural Machinery Exhibition held in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， from October 26-28.

Investing in the U.S.

Ping An Insurance （Group） Co. of China Ltd.， the countrys second largest insurer， formed a $600 million fund with Blumberg Investment Partners to make real estate investments in the United States.

The two companies plan to invest in long-term， high-quality U.S. leasing assets， the majority of which will be in the metropolitan New York area， the MidAtlantic， the Pacific northwest， Florida， Atlanta and Colorado.

Headquartered in Denver， Colorado， property fund Blumberg has investments in real estate， energy and resources and other sectors.

The investment highlights Ping Ans growing interest in U.S. logistics assets.

The two sides plan to continue to acquire premium properties with a future investment of $400 million. They have identified some property projects with strategic locations， Ping An said in a statement.

The move is part of an ongoing trend by Chinese companies to acquire overseas properties.

In 2014， Chinas Anbang Insurance Group Co. bought Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan in New York from Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. Ping An Insurance （Group） Co. acquired the Lloyds of London building from a Commerz Real AG-managed fund in 2014.

The United States has become the top destination for investments from the Chinese mainland， followed by Hong Kong， Singapore， Australia and Malaysia， according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield， a global private commercial real estate services firm.

Alipay in Taiwan

Alipay， Alibaba Groups electronic payment platform， received approval to launch a payment service in Taiwan， Alipays operator， Ant Financial， said on October 28.

More than 3，000 convenience stores， shopping malls and other shops frequented by mainland tourists will offer the service by the end of the year. Taiwan is a top destination for mainland tourists， and Alipay plans to add more stores to its network， said Peng Yijie， President of Ant Financials International Business.

Taiwan received 3.98 million mainland tourists in 2014， 11 times more than in 2008， according to data from the Taiwan Tourism Department.

The platform will work with E. SUN Commercial Bank in Taiwan to offer the QR mobile payment service， according to Ant Financial. Alipay has more than 400 million users， handling 120 million transactions a day. Half of the transactions are made on smartphones.

Closer to Green Ones

Visitors view vegetables in a demonstration park of agricultural science and technology in Hangzhou， capital of east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on October 28.

The garden is designed to help farmers grow vegetables， promote agricultural products and educate people on latest plantation technologies.

Environment Assessed

China launched a strategic environmental impact assessment across its three major economic powerhouses， the Ministry of Environmental Protection（MEP） said on October 27.

The assessment will cover the northern Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region， as well as the Yangtze River Delta in the east and the Pearl River Delta in the south.

Pan Yue， Vice Minister of the MEP， said these regions， while being substantial economic growth drivers， were infamous for their environmental problems， and this stirred the public to demand change.

Pan said the assessment will include the monitoring of urban development， distributing and capping pollutant emissions， and pressuring industries to undertake economic restructuring， among others.

The MEP is taking various measures to improve the way it undertakes environmental impact assessment， including revising regulations to combat corruption.

Open Up Wider

China has relaxed market entry rules to allow more foreign investment in businesses in Beijing in the travel， aircraft maintenance and event promotion service sectors.

Travel agencies with joint Chinese and foreign ownership are now allowed to provide services to Chinese citizens traveling abroad and to Hong Kong and Macao， according to a statement issued by the State Council on October 27. Agencies with mixed ownership were previously barred from providing such services.

A restriction saying that Chinese capital must take a controlling stake in aircraft maintenance projects in Beijing has been lifted， and promoters with full foreign ownership can now operate in the municipality， the State Council said.

The rules will remain relaxed until at least May 5， 2018.

Liu Haiquan， an official with Chinas Ministry of Commerce， said that the relaxations could be rolled out nationwide if they help Beijing improve its services.

The city attracted foreign investment contracts worth $27.11 billion in the first three quarters of 2015， according to official data.

Recognizing the service sectors huge growth potential， China has taken gradual steps to accelerate its development， liberalizing the finance， education， culture and medical treatment sectors in particular.