YOUNGEST GENERAL ON ACTIVE DUTY

Gao Jin became the youngest general on active duty after a promotion ceremony on July 28， several days ahead of China Army Day on August 1. The 58-year-old general， who is currently Commander of the Peoples Liberation Army （PLA） Strategic Support Force， is acknowledged as one of the science champions in Chinas military building.

Gao joined the army at the age of 19 and served in the Second Artillery Force of the PLA， now the PLA Rocket Force， for some 30 years. Before he was appointed as the commander of the strategic support force in 2016， he led the PLA Academy of Military Sciences for one year.

Movie Revival

Qianjiang Evening News August 1， 2017

Four days after Wolf Warriors II was screened on July 27， the box-offi ce receipts had hit 1 billion yuan （$148.65 million）. While reaping revenue， this movie has also won a lot of public acclaim.

Wolf Warriors II shot to fame with the tag of “Chinas mainstream movie.” It is a combination of the mature movie industry with Chinese culture and spirit. This movie also created Chinese super heroes who love their country and the people， filling the audience with national pride.

The box-offi ce takings of 1 billion yuan within four days may not have been something to boast of two years ago. But in the past year， China has had a sluggish movie market， and domestic movies in particular are experiencing diffi cult days.

The lackluster state of Chinas movie market is to a large extent attributed to the industrys overdevelopment and serious bubbles. While the quality of movies is put aside， capital operation and marketing hype are treated as priority. In some cases， performers are reluctant to spend much time understanding the script， and attractive young actors， even if they do not perform well， ask for whopping payments. Worse still， poor quality movies can also achieve box-offi ce success.

Anyway， the movie market has made a fair judgment. Having gradually woken up， the audience is able to tell good movies from bad ones， and a sluggish movie market is the consequence of the many superficial and blundering movies.

Tested By Extreme Heat

China Newsweek July 31

In north China， scorching weather used to appear only in summer， but this year， high temperatures popped up in spring. In the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region， this summer has had many more days with high temperatures than in previous years. Against the backdrop of global warming， its becoming hotter and hotter in summer in China. Big cities with hot summers are known as “hot stoves，” and there is even a new list ranking “hot stove” cities circulating online.

According to weather experts， the main reason for extremely hot weather in big cities is the urban heat-island effect. A city of several million people tends to be 0.5-1 ？ hotter than its suburbs. Many factors have contributed to this effect. Compared with soil or water， asphalt roads absorb more heat and all the heat absorbed during the daytime remains within the city. Besides， numerous cars and air conditioners also add heat to cities. Meanwhile， increasing pollution means more solid and liquid airborne particles that can absorb heat radiation and prevent heat from dispersing during the night.

Greenhouse gases and other man-made factors have become the major cause of global warming and extremely high temperatures. Global warming and city clustering has increased 60-fold the probability of extremely high temperatures in the Yangze River Delta region compared to the 1950s.

As for how to mitigate the urban heatisland effect， one method is to separate building blocks with trees， woods， or rivers， etc. Besides， controlling population density， encouraging residents to increase rooftop greenery by offering subsidies， and increasing water bodies within cities， will also help to lower city temperatures. An important point is that cities must plant more trees instead of grass， as trees are more effective in adjusting temperature within a limited area. Greenery in cities will help to absorb not only greenhouse gases， but also particles， so as to reduce heat. There are many ways to fight extreme heat in summer， and the key is to improve a citys ecological matrix.

Another Charge Cancellation

Peoples Daily Online July 28

China Telecom has announced the cancellation of domestic long-distance and roaming charges from September 1， a decision also echoed by the other two telecom operators， China Unicom and China Mobile.

Despite users complaints and dissatisfaction， these telecom operators have not been quick to respond. Therefore， the cancellation of domestic long-distance and roaming charges amounts to a milestone in these companies histories. Individual users will benefi t directly from the drop in charges and wont need to cut short telephone conversations with parents and friends.

Against the backdrop of declining telephone services， cancelling long-distance and roaming charges will not cause the telecom companies too much loss. However， we should not turn a blind eye to various reforms that have been undertaken in recent years in the telecom industry. To curb telecom fraud， real-name registration has been adopted. Remaining data in a monthly plan can still be used the next month. Both are improvements in Chinese telecom services. The operators keep updating their services to better serve users and catch up with the times， rather than staying still and benefi ting from their monopoly.

CENTENARIAN PHYSICIST

Cheng Kaijia， who made a great contribution to the fi rst atomic bomb made independently by China in the 1960s， was awarded the Order of Bayi， the militarys highest award， which was established in 2017.

The 99-year-old physicist was born in Jiangsu Province. He went to Britain， studied with German physicist Max Born at the University of Edinburgh， and came back to China in 1950 with a PhD degree. He then worked at Zhejiang University and Nanjing University. Cheng was elected to be an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980 and was awarded the national top science technology award in 2013.

“My lifetime wish is that my country as well as its national defense can become strong，” Cheng said.

“Safeguarding the multilateral trade system and the rise against protectionism serve the common interests of emerging and developing economies.”

Zhong Shan， Minister of Commerce， calling for BRICS nations to expand cooperation and explore new impetus amid uncertainties in the global economic recovery at the opening ceremony of the seventh meeting of BRICS trade ministers in Shanghai on August 1，

“Considering our current operation status， we will be able to complete and may even exceed our global expansion goal of 200 cities [by the end of this year].”

Chris Martin， Mobike Vice President and head of its overseas expansion business， announcing the launch of the companys bike-rental services in London on August 1

“Governments used to rely on whistleblowers for clues， but with the help of big data they can take the initiative in more cases.”

Chai Haitao， Deputy Director of the National Office of Combating Infringement and Counterfeiting， urging copyright protection chiefs from across China to learn how Alibabas big data technology can help crack down on fake goods

“With such a growth rate， it wont take long for Chinas total trade volume with the U.S. to exceed that with EU members.”

Wei Jianguo， Vice President of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges， predicting that the U.S.， whose trade with China in the first half grew 21.3 percent year on year， will overtake the EU as Chinas largest trading partner this year