Antarctic Expedition

A birds eye view of Chinas icebreaking research vessel Xue Long （Snow Dragon）， carrying the 33rd Chinese Antarctic expedition team， on February 14. The team has found a new site in the Ross Sea for the countrys fifth research station in Antarctica.

Cargo Spacecraft

China plans to launch its first cargo spacecraft via a Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket in April， sources said on February 13.

The Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft， which departed from Tianjin on February 5， arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south Chinas Hainan Province on February 13 for assembly and testing， according to the China Manned Space Agency （CMSA）.

Consisting of a cargo capsule and a propellant capsule， Tianzhou-1， the first cargo spacecraft independently developed by China， has a takeoff weight of about 13 tons， up to six tons of which is payload. It can remain in space on its own for as long as three months.

It is capable of docking with the Tiangong-2 space lab and refueling it， in addition to carrying out experiments and tests.

The Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket is scheduled to arrive at the launch center in March， the CMSA said.

The launch of Tianzhou-1 will be a crucial step for China in building a space station by 2020， as cargo spacecraft are required to ship necessities to astronauts aboard the station.

Wildlife Crimes

More than 29，000 wildlife and forest-related criminal cases were processed in 2016， the national forestry watchdog said on February 14.

The cases involved 2.64 billion yuan （$383.72 million） in total， Wang Haizhong， forestry police chief of the State Forestry Administration， said at a conference.

China launched three campaigns focused on wildlife and forest crimes last year. Authorities uncovered 2，138 cases of illegal woodland use， up 76.6 percent year on year.

Wang pledged to crack down harder on poaching and the illegal trade of wild animals as well as other forest-related crimes in 2017.

China has rich wildlife resources with around 6，500 vertebrate species， about 10 percent of the worlds total.

Over 470 terrestrial vertebrates are indigenous to China， including the giant panda， golden monkey， South China tiger and Chinese alligator.

To protect biodiversity， China has listed rare and endangered species， putting them under judicial protection with many laws and regulations at the central and local levels.

Vehicle Ban

Beijing has banned high-emission vehicles from its urban areas starting on February 15.

From then， light-duty gasolinepowered cars that fail to meet National Emission Standard III will be banned from entering the area within Beijings fifth ring road on weekdays.

Violators will be fined 100 yuan（$14.5） for every four hours they drive on the road. Substandard cars will also be taken off the road through annual inspections or spot checks.

The city currently requires new cars to comply with the Beijing VI emission standard， which is higher than the widely used National Emission Standard V and equivalent to the Euro VI standard， the strictest in China.

The National Emission Standard I was introduced in 1999 and the National Emission Standard II followed in 2004.

Beijings 5.7 million vehicles produce 500，000 tons of various pollutants annually and account for 31 percent of locally generated PM2.5， particulate matter associated with hazardous smog， making them the prime source of PM2.5， according to the environmental authority.

The average density of PM2.5 in Beijing was 73 micrograms per cubic meter in 2016， down 9.9 percent from the previous year， according to the Beijing Municipal Reform and Development Commission.

Go West

China will spend 150 million yuan（$22 million） on development in its western regions this year.

The money will fund preliminary work on major projects of the western development strategy in 12 provincial-level regions and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps， the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement released on February 14.

China launched the strategy in 2000 to boost development in Chongqing Municipality， Gansu， Guizhou， Qinghai， Shaanxi， Sichuan and Yunnan provinces， as well as Guangxi Zhuang， Inner Mongolia， Ningxia Hui， Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions.

Under the strategy， the regions enjoy support in infrastructure construction， foreign investment， environmental protection， education and staff retention.

The State Council approved the 2016-20 plan for the western development strategy in December 2016.

Dinosaur Trace

Zhejiang Province was a “Jurassic Park” with a wide variety of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous period， according to findings of a six-year survey.

A total 82 dinosaur fossil sites， with at least six dinosaur species and 25 types of fossil dinosaur eggs， were confirmed during the survey by a joint team of experts from the Zhejiang Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology and the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History between 2006 and 2013.

The survey covered an area of 11，000 square km. Scientists identified eight new species among the fossils.

Scientists used various research techniques， ranging across disciplines from geology to paleobiology and chronostratigraphy， combined with site inspections and excavations in their study， making it the most comprehensive research on dinosaur fossils in the province to date.

Their discoveries also support the general theory that a comet or asteroid impact caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs.

Scientists found that the sedimentary rocks where most dinosaur fossils were unearthed were sandwiched between two layers of volcanic rock， indicating vegetation was lush and suitable for dinosaurs in the early and middle Cretaceous period.

The evidence shows that a catastrophe in the late Cretaceous period may have ended the age of the prehistoric creatures. Scientists believe an asteroid colliding with Earth was the most likely reason， since such an impact can result in a series of sudden environmental changes such as volcanic eruptions， and generate radioactivity， which together can cause extinction.

Job Hunters

Would-be college graduates attend a job fair in Hengshui， Hebei Province， on February 13. The job fair offered more than 2，000 job vacancies.

Direct Link

An inauguration ceremony takes place for Xiamen Airlines Flight MF849 at Fuzhou International Airport in Fuzhou， Fujian Province， on February 15. MF849 is the first direct flight from Fuzhou to New York City operated by the airline.

Flu Prevention

Provinces affected by H7N9 avian flu have stepped up efforts to prevent the virus spreading following reports of a smattering of human cases.

In Sichuan Province， 280 live poultry trading and slaughtering venues in Suining were closed after four human H7N9 cases were reported in the city this year， according to the provincial health authorities.

The central province of Hubei has set up a headquarters for the prevention and control of human H7N9 transmission， according to the provinces Health and Family Planning Commission.

Hubei Province confirmed 19 human H7N9 cases from January 1 to February 9， scattered across several cities. Two patients have been discharged from hospital after recovering. The province has dispatched 16 inspection teams to check on prevention efforts.

In Changsha， capital of Hunan Province， all live poultry markets have been suspended. The province has reported 24 H7N9 cases， including five fatalities， this year.

Zhejiang Province ordered all markets across the province to halt live poultry trading by 6 p.m. on February 11， over bird flu concerns.

In January alone， Zhejiang reported 35 infections of the H7N9 strain of bird flu.

H7N9 is a bird flu strain first reported to have infected humans in China in March 2013. It is most likely to strike in winter and spring.

Exports and Imports

Chinas foreign trade rebounded at the start of 2017， with exports and imports both up significantly. Nonetheless， the rise of trade protectionism will put a damper on the growth of exports.

Chinas yuan-denominated exports rose 15.9 percent year on year in January， up from 0.6 percent in December， while imports increased 25.2 percent， up from 10.8 percent， customs data showed on January 10.

Foreign trade volume reached 2.18 trillion yuan （$314.2 billion） in January， up 19.6 percent year on year.

That led to a monthly trade surplus of 354.53 billion yuan （$51.58 billion）， down 2.7 percent from a year earlier， according to figures from the General Administration of Customs （GAC）.

Trade with the European Union， Chinas biggest trading partner， climbed 14.1 percent year on year in January， GAC data showed.

In the same period， trade with the United States， Chinas secondbiggest trading partner， rose 21.9 percent， and that with ASEAN， its third-largest trading partner， increased 18.8 percent.

Overseas-funded firms recorded a trade volume of 915.57 billion yuan（$133.21 billion）， up 13 percent year on year.

Private firms and state-owned enterprises posted a much stronger growth， with their trade volume rising 21.3 percent and 36.7 percent， respectively， in January.

Exports of machinery and electronics surged 16.6 percent year on year in January， accounting for 56.1 percent of the total exports volume.

Meanwhile， imports of primary commodities， including iron ore and crude oil， continued to grow in January， featuring general price rises， according to GAC.

Green Fingers

Farmers tend to vegetables in a controlled-environment agriculture park in Xuyi County， east Chinas Jiangsu Province， on February 14. With help from prestigious agricultural universities， Xuyi County has developed a series of modern agricultural programs in recent years.

Private Equity Boom

Chinas private equity industry posted strong growth momentum in January， with total assets nearly touching 11 trillion yuan （$1.6 trillion）. Private equity firms had assets totaling 10.98 trillion yuan （$1.59 trillion） under management at the end of January， jumping from 740 billion yuan （$107.66 billion） at the end of 2016.

There were around 18，000 officially registered private equity firms at the end of January， employing more than 280，000 people and managing over 47，500 fund products.

The number of private equity firms with assets of at least 10 billion yuan （$1.45 billion） reached 147 at the end of January.

The rapid development of the private equity industry bodes well for Chinas small and medium-sized enterprises which often have difficulties in getting financing.

Building Growth

Chinas building materials sector warmed up last year as the housing market gained momentum， official data showed on February 13.

Cement output rose 2.5 percent year on year to 2.4 billion tons in 2016， compared with the 4.9 percent drop in 2015， according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Output of flat glass increased 5.8 percent in 2016， compared to an 8.6-percent decrease in 2015.

The data came as the property sector， a major consumer of cement and flat glass， gained momentum last year boosted by interest rate cuts and lower deposits.

Investment in real estate development grew 6.9 percent year on year in 2016， 1.1 percentage point faster than in the first three quarters， and 5.9 percentage points faster than in 2015， according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The real estate sectors recovery， however， has been uneven from city to city， with economically strong areas reporting drastic price rises， and less developed areas still reporting huge inventories of unsold homes.

Alibaba Grows in HK

Alibaba Cloud （AliCloud）， the cloud-computing arm of Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.， said on February 14 that it would double the capacity of its data center in Hong Kong， to up the ante with rivals Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in the fast-growing cloudcomputing market.

It also marks the companys latest expansion on top of a slew of data center openings in Germany， Australia， Japan and the United Arab Emirates， as it builds a physical presence in 14 global economic hubs.

The expanded Hong Kong data center is designed to meet companies soaring demand for high availability and disaster recovery， along with greater access to offerings including data storage and analytics， enterprise-level middleware and cloud security services， said Ethan Yu， Vice President of Alibaba and General Manager of Alibaba Cloud Global.

Hong Kong leads Asia in terms of cloud adoption as more businesses tap into cloud computing for benefits such as operational efficiency and innovation. The city reached the top in the Asia Cloud Computing Associations Cloud Readiness Index 2016.

Since 2014， AliClouds Hong Kong team has offered tailored solutions across sectors such as financial services， retail， hospitality and media. The expansion is expected to offer scalable computing services in the Asia-Pacific region and help grow a market share outside of the Chinese mainland.

Founded in 2009， AliCloud is the countrys largest cloud infrastructure services provider， according to market research firm IDC. Its number of paying clients doubled to 765，000 as of December 2016， according to its earnings report in January 2017.

But it is still a relatively smaller player in the global arena. Synergy Research Group put AliCloud in the third place among the worlds public cloud providers， following Amazon Web Services predominance with a 40-percent market share， and a combined 23 percent shared by Microsoft， Google Inc. and IBM Corp. AliCloud and nine other companies claimed a total of 13 percent.

TCM Market Opens

Drug distributors purchase traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） at a marketplace in Bozhou， east Chinas Anhui Province， on February 14. Bozhou is one of the largest TCM distribution centers in China， with a trade volume amounting to 24.3 billion yuan （$3.52 billion） in 2016.

Valentines Day Sale

A florist arranges bouquets at a flower shop in Zhengzhou， capital of central Chinas Henan Province， on February 14， Valentines Day. Many local retailers had Valentines Day promotions.

Methane Projects

China will spend 50 billion yuan（$7.3 billion） to undertake methane projects in rural areas， as the government seeks to increase the use of clean energy.

According to a plan released by the NDRC， during the 13th FiveYear Plan （2016-20） period， China will build 172 new biogas projects and 3，150 large-scale methane projects.

The projects will benefit more than 230 million rural residents.

Chinas fast-growing economy has seen rural energy consumption surge with a rapid expansion reflected in the livestock breeding and agriculture industries. These rural businesses create billions of tons of biomass waste annually， which can be used to produce energy.

According to official estimates， China generates 1.4 billion tons of rural waste materials annually that could be used for methane produc- tion. This amount of waste could produce 73.6 billion cubic meters of biogas and replace 87.6 million tons of standard coal.

Made in Indonesia

Xiaomi Corp. has started manufacturing its devices in Indonesia， as the Chinese smartphone vendor accelerates its expansion in Southeast Asia.

The move came after it posted initial success in India， the worlds fastest-growing major smartphone market.

The Beijing-based company said in a statement on February 10 that it is partnering with Erajaya Swasembada， Sat Nusapersada， and TSM Technologies to manufacture its smartphones in Indonesia.

The local factory is in Batam， part of the Indonesia-MalaysiaSingapore economic triangle and a free trade zone， which is also well known as an industrial city and an emerging transport hub. Local manufacturing will allow Xiaomi to sell 4G smartphones in Indonesia， the company said.