Setting the Stage

A new memorial to renowned ancient Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu opens on September 24 in Tangs hometown of Fuzhou in east Chinas Jiangxi Province.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the deaths of Tang and two famous contemporaries， William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.

Food & Drug Safety

For better food and drug safety， government agencies will establish an information-sharing system to crack down on those who contravene the regulations， the China Food and Drug Administration （CFDA） said on September 22.

Altogether， 28 organs including the CFDA and the National Development and Reform Commission have jointly issued a memorandum on sharing information on food， drug， cosmetics and medical apparatus manufacturers or sellers who have been listed as transgressors by the CFDA.

Possible penalties range from more frequent inspections and restrictions on production and marketing of related products to inviting a third party to assess their performance.

Crackdown on Fraud

Beginning from December 1， any money transferred between accounts via automatic teller machines（ATMs） in China will take 24 hours for the transaction to be completed.

This is to prevent telecom fraud， where swindlers often trick victims into transferring money into their accounts via ATMs. In some cases， the transfer can be frozen if the victims call the police in time.

The new measure is part of the stipulations contained in a circular issued on September 23 by the Supreme Peoples Court， Supreme Peoples Procuratorate， Ministry of Public Security， Ministry of Industry and Information Technology， Peoples Bank of China， and the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The document makes it mandatory for telephone accounts to be registered using real identity information only.

All telecom service providers are required to register all telephone accounts in the country under real identities by the end of this year. Those without real identity registration will be suspended.

Websites or Internet accounts found to be contravening regulations will be shut down， and their operators may be subject to penalties.

The circular also calls for mea- sures to stop distribution of software that alters caller IDs， which is often used in telecom scams， and urges timely interception of such calls.

Environmental Management

China will run a pilot program to adjust the management of local environmental agencies and evaluate officials based on their performance in environmental protection， a guideline published on September 22 said.

The guideline， released by general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council， aims to put more focus on environmental protection and make the management of environmental protection agencies more efficient.

In the pilot provinces， city-level environmental agencies， though still part of city governments and subject to their administration， will be supervised mainly by provincial environmental agencies.

The guideline asks pilot provinces to explore setting up agencies to handle environmental affairs involving multiple river basins and regions.

It suggests an accountability mechanism be set up to deal with officials who interfere with law enforcement and environmental protection cases.

Provinces not involved in the pilot program have also been asked to prepare for similar changes in the future. The goal is to extend the proposed system nationwide by the end of June 2018.

By 2020， all environmental protection agencies below the provincial level are expected to operate more efficiently with the new system in place.

Lung Cancer Threat

Lung cancer has emerged as the leading killer disease in rural China.“The incidence and mortality of lung cancer has dramatically climbed in Chinas rural population over the past 10 years，” said surgical oncology professor Zhou Qinghua， who is also president of the Chinese Society of Lung Cancer. In 2015， 47.6 out of every 100，000 cancer patients in rural China were diagnosed with lung cancer， while 39.1 out of every 100，000 succumbed to it.

Lung cancer claimed 66，100 rural lives in 2015， overtaking breast cancer as the third leading cause of cancer deaths in women. Breast cancer killed 25，700 women that year.

The same year， 1.8 million people worldwide were reported to have lung cancer， and 1.6 million died of the disease. In China， there were 733，300 new cases， and about 610，200 people lost their battle with the disease.

Gene Bank

The China National GeneBank（CNGB）， located in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， was inaugurated on September 22， aiming to promote human health research and the conservation of global biodiversity.

Initiated by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2011， the project was established by Shenzhen-based BGI， one of the worlds leading genomics organizations.

Covering an area of over 47，500 square meters， the gene bank has saved more than 10 million bio-samples and established cooperation and research with over 100 organizations in areas such as human health， bio-diversity， and biological evolution.

BGI President Wang Jian said that the mission of the CNGB is to“preserve the essence of a billion years of evolutionary history and deposit the life foundations of billions of people.”

Instead of a mere database， the gene bank combines a bioinformation bank， a bio-samples and genetic resources bank， and a living resources bank of plant， animal and microbe species， according to Mei Yonghong， Director of the CNGB.

It also includes a digitization platform and a synthesis and editing platform， Mei said.

The gene bank has established guidelines to enable the exchange and sharing of data and genetic resources with the worlds major databases—the NCBI， EMBL-EBI and DDBJ—and with biobanks including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault， Heidelberg University and the Smithsonian Institute.

Festival Landscape

Tourists pose for a picture in front of a flower display in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing on September 25.

The ornamental flower display， 50 meters in diameter and 17 meters in height， was installed in celebration of the National Day， which fell on October 1.

Meeting of Views

The International Seminar on the Belt and Road Initiative opens in Xian， Shaanxi Province， on September 26. More than 300 delegates from 35 countries attended the two-day event， which had the theme “Shared Memory， Common Development.”

China has signed cooperative agreements with more than 30 countries and launched manufacturing and production capacity cooperation with more than 20 countries along the routes of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road， said Liu Qibao， member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee， in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony.

Cycling First

Beijing plans to make more bicycles available for rent and reserve more lanes for cyclists to offer green options to 75 percent of commuters by 2020， the city authorities said on September 24.

An additional 10，000 bikes will be available for rent by the end of this year， bringing the citys fleet to nearly 80，000. Rental bikes， with an average fee of 1 yuan （$0.15） per hour， are available at more than 2，000 locations across the city. The municipal transport commission said that the city will have 500 km of bike lanes by the end of the year. Special lanes will be dedicated to bikes on 150 roads， including the Third Ring Road， one of the busiest main roads in central Beijing， according to the commission.

By 2020， Beijing will have 100，000 public bikes for rent， 900 km of subway lines and urban railway， and 1，000 km of bus lanes.

Prior to 2000， bicycles were the most popular means of personal transportation in Beijing. But few people choose to travel by bicycle today， as many have to go at least 10 km to work， which is too far and tiring.

The health and safety risks posed by smog and heavy traffic also discourage many commuters from biking， according to a survey on transportation in Beijing conducted this summer.

AIIB Breaking Ground

A commencement ceremony for the construction of the permanent headquarters of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB） was held on September 23 in Beijing.

The headquarters will be located in the north of Beijing， between the Olympic Forest Park and the iconic Birds Nest Stadium， with construction expected to be completed by the end of 2019， the bank said in an online statement.

“This bank sets out to be lean， clean and green， and there is no better site in Beijing to highlight our green commitment than alongside the beautiful Olympic Forest Park，”said AIIB President Jin Liqun at the ceremony.

The AIIB has been using temporary offices in downtown Beijings Financial Street since beginning operations in January.

Jin expects the headquarters to serve as a new city landmark and provide a solid foundation for the banks development.

The AIIB is a not-for-profit bank initiated by China and supported by a wide range of countries and regions. With an authorized capital pool of $100 billion， it aims to provide financing for infrastructure improvement in Asia.

In June， the bank approved its first four loans， totaling $509 million， to fund power， housing and transportation projects in Bangladesh， Indonesia， Pakistan and Tajikistan.

Nuclear Power Expansion

A technician examines equipment in a control room at the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant， the first nuclear power plant in northeast China， on September 22 in Dalian， Liaoning Province.

Construction of the first stage of the plant has been completed， with the second stage expected to be finished in 2021.

Made in India

Chinas Huawei Technologies Co. will begin assembling phones in India with manufacturing partner Flextronics International Ltd.， establishing a foothold in the worlds fastest-growing smartphone arena.

The Chinese company expects to have Flex put together its first gadgets starting from October， Jay Chen， chief executive for Huaweis Indian business， told reporters at a news conference on September 24.

Huawei， the worlds third largest smartphone maker， joins rivals Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. in targeting one of the few markets still rapidly expanding as global demand stagnates. But intense competition between market leaders has begun to depress margins. Grabbing a solid share of India， however， could further Huaweis stated ambition of displacing Apple and Samsung to become the worlds top maker of phones.

India， the worlds second largest smartphone market， is on the cusp of a phone manufacturing boom spurred by the governments “Make in India” drive. Huawei joins a growing list of international brands now getting their phones put together in the country.

Chinese companies in particular have been keen to set up shop in India as growth at home slows down. Before Huawei， LeEco was the most recent company to get in on the act， contracting a facility to assemble 60，000 phones a month， rising eventually to 200，000.

Founded in 1987， Huawei used its business of selling networking gear to bankroll its initial foray into premium phones. The Shenzhenbased company has emerged in the past years as Chinas leader in highend phones， eschewing the lowerend models that its rivals， like Oppo and Vivo， favor. Its among a crop of Chinese smartphone vendors now steadily draining market share from Samsung and Apple globally.

RMB Clearing Bank

The Peoples Bank of China announced on September 23 that it has authorized the Industrial and Commercial Bank of Chinas （ICBCs） Moscow office to provide renminbi clearing services in Russia.

China is seeking wider use of its currency in global trade and investment. Chinese and Russian central banks signed a memorandum in June on the establishment of a renminbi clearing mechanism in Russia to facilitate cross-border use of the yuan by enterprises and financial institutions from both countries.

Amid close economic ties between the two neighbors， the Russian central bank included the renminbi in its foreign exchange reserves at the end of 2015.

ICBC is the largest lender in China， and its Moscow branch is the biggest Chinese bank in Russia.

Innovative City

Shanghai ranks fifth in the Asia and Pacific Knowledge Competitiveness Index this year， due to its ability to transform innovation into economic growth， according to a report issued at the Pujiang Innovation Forum 2016， which took place in Shanghai on September 24-25.

Among 33 regions in Asia—covering China， Japan， South Korea， Australia， Singapore， India， Israel and New Zealand—Shanghai edged up from sixth last year， with Beijing moving up to sixth from seventh place last year. Singapore topped this years list.

Luo Shougui， Director of the Asia and Pacific Unit at the Center for International Competitiveness， who led the research， said emerging economies were cutting corners on innovation， while some advanced economies were bearing the brunt of the economic downturn. This is“especially reflected in those relying heavily on traditional manufacturing， influenced obviously by demand and industrial fluctuations，”Luo added.

Shanghai stood out in evaluations of industrial upgrading and entrepreneurship， ranking third and fifth respectively， which “back the city up on transforming technical innovation into economic value and citizens wealth and welfare，” the report said.

“This means Shanghai excels especially in injecting advanced technologies into traditional manufacturing. Whats more， it has abundant entrepreneurs to convert them into wealth，” Luo said.

Beijing， in contrast， leads in research investment， though it is relatively lacking in terms of its capability to integrate research results into industries， the report said.

The report highlighted Shanghais competence in resource integration， which is considered as the pivot for the city to propel the national economy.

Shanghai has continuously risen in the index ranking since its first release in 2010， which Luo said reflected the citys long-term efforts in innovation.

A Taste of Hunan

Visitors taste tea from central Chinas Hunan Province on September 22 at the Fifth China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Soaring Property Prices

The property sector saw growth accelerate in August， with more cities reporting month-on-month rises in new home prices， an official survey showed on September 19.

Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed， 64 reported new home price climbs month on month， up from 51 in July and 55 in June， the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） said.

Meanwhile， four cities reported month-on-month price declines， down from 16 in July and 10 in June， according to the NBS data.

On a yearly basis， 62 cities posted new home price increases and six reported falls in August， compared with 58 and 11 respectively in July.

Prices in Shanghai， Shenzhen and Beijing rose 37.8， 37.3 and 25.8 percent year on year respectively， compared with 33.1， 41.4 and 22.7 percent in July.

For existing homes， 57 cities reported month-on-month price increases and nine reported lower prices in August， compared with 51 and 12 respectively in July.

Connectivity Initiative

A host of cultural and commercial exchanges with foreign countries involved in the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative （Belt and Road Initiative） will be carried out under a newly launched program.

The China International Culture Exchange Center and China General Chamber of Commerce jointly inaugurated the program in Beijing on September 26.

During the yearlong Belt and Road Cultural and Commercial Multinational Exchange Program， a forum will be held to discuss a range of topics on culture， art， historical heritage， education， tourism and economy. A documentary regarding the Silk Road will also be shot. In addition， China pavilions will be built in Belt and Road countries to display and sell products made in China.

“I believe the program will facilitate the establishment of a new platform for cultural and commercial cooperation and promote coordinated development between China and other countries along the Belt and Road，” said Wang Xuejun， Deputy Secretary General of the China International Culture Exchange Center.

Two in One

An entrepreneur shows her newly issued business registration certificate， which also serves as a tax registration certificate， in Quanzhou， southeast Chinas Fujian Province， on September 21.

China is carrying out trials to combine the two certificates for individually owned businesses in four selected areas—Shanghai， Fujian， Heilongjiang and Hubei—as part of government efforts to streamline business administration.