Tremor Hits Jiuzhaigou

People injured in an earthquake in Jiuzhaigou County， southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， are transferred to the Central Hospital of nearby Mianyang City on August 9.

A 7.0-magnitude quake jolted Jiuzhaigou the day before. Twenty people had been confi rmed killed and 431 injured in the disaster， according to local authorities on August 10.

Jiuzhaigou is a popular tourist destination in the mountains on the eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. More than 50，000 tourists were evacuated following the quake.

Cataract Plan

China plans to offer free treatment to impoverished cataract patients， according to a plan published on August 9.

Poverty alleviation and health authorities are building a long-term mechanism to cover all cataract patients living in poverty by 2020.

The plan specifi es requirements for hospitals and quality of cataract surgeries.

Cataracts are the primary cause of blindness in China， and increasing numbers of young people suffer from them.

The cataract surgery rate， the number of procedures per million people， went over 1，500 in 2015 in China， and the number is expected to reach 2，000 by 2020， according to a national project for eye health.

China had spent the equivalent of over $100 million on cataract surgeries by 2014， said the World Health Organization.

Car Sharing

Regulatory authorities have announced their support for Chinas booming car-sharing industry and vowed to standardize the industrys development.

Unlike traditional car-rental services， car-sharing services take advantage of new technologies such as global-positioning and mobile Internet.

Such services improve user experience and offer an alternative to urban commuting， easing growing demand for private cars and parking space， according to a set of guidelines jointly released by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Housing and UrbanRural Development on August 8.

Car-sharing fi rms should improve their services by checking the identity of users carefully and optimizing the supply of cars by using big data analysis， according to the guidelines.

They should also ensure the safety condition of the cars， and protect private information and user deposits.

Companies are encouraged to use a credit-based model to evaluate the reliability of users instead of requiring them to pay guarantee deposits.

In terms of parking， public parking lots in shopping centers and large residential areas are encouraged to offer space for shared cars， while incentives will also likely be given to such cars for on-street parking.

Companies are also encouraged to use new energy vehicles （NEVs） as shared-cars， with support given for charging facilities of NEVs.

Public Donations

The total sum of public donations in China reached 82.7 billion yuan（$12.4 billion） in 2016， up 26.4 percent year on year， the Ministry of Civil Affairs （MCA） announced on August 3.

Apart from monetary donations， a total of 9.31 million people also provided 25 million hours of charity volunteer work.

By the end of 2016， 14.8 million people in urban China were on the basic living allowance， while in the countryside， the number was 45.9 million， according to the MCA.

The China Welfare Lottery， affi liated with the MCA， last year grossed total revenue of more than 206 billion yuan （$30.88 billion） from selling lottery tickets， 26.8 billion yuan （$4.02 billion） of which was spent on social aid projects and other social welfare programs.

Judicial Inspections

The Supreme Peoples Procuratorate（SPP） sent 16 inspection teams to investigate judicial misconduct and improve regulation of judicial acts nationwide in April and May， said the SPP on August 7.

The inspections involved 31 provincial-level， 35 city-level and 41 county-level procuratorates， according to a statement on the website of the SPP.

They found that some procuratorates actively corrected judicial misconduct that had been strongly criticized by the public， including coercive measures and overlooking human rights， the SPP said.

It added that local procuratorates need to focus on key problems according to their different conditions.

Mars Base

The fi rst Mars simulation base in China will be built in the northwestern province of Qinghai， the local government said on August 8.

The base will be in the red cliff region in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Situated at the Qaidam basin in west Qinghai， Haixi was chosen for its Mars-like landforms， landscape and climate， according to local offi cials.

The government of Haixi and the Chinese Academy of Sciences signed an agreement last November to build the base and have since begun discussing the project location.

The base， comprising a “Mars community” and a “Mars campsite，”will be turned into Chinas fi rst cultural and tourist experience base for space and astronomical education， Mars-themed tourism， scientifi c research and fi lm shooting.

Online Population

The online population reached 751 million in China in June， up 2.7 percent compared with the end of 2016， offi cial fi gures showed on August 4.

A total of 724 million Chinese now use mobile phones to go online， accounting for 96.3 percent of the online population， according to the 40th China Statistical Report on Internet Development released by the China Internet Network Information Center.

Mobile food delivery services saw the biggest rise in users， reaching 274 million， a 41.4-percent increase from six months ago.

Over 502 million used online payment on mobile phones， and 463 million used mobile online payment while shopping offl ine， as online commerce applications enjoyed a boost over the six months.

Online shopping， food delivery and travel orders increased 10.2， 41.6 and 11.5 percent respectively in the fi rst half of the year. Online public services also became a hit in the same period， with more than 106 million people using bikesharing services. Online education， taxi-hailing and private car-hailing had 144 million， 278 million and 217 million users respectively as of June.

According to the report， the number of websites across the nation was 5.06 million in June， up 4.8 percent in six months.

Social Organizations

China had about 702，000 social organizations at the end of 2016， according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on August 3.

The organizations included 336，000 social groups and associations， 5，559 foundations and 361，000 private non-enterprise organizations.

In China， private non-enterprise organizations generally include schools， hospitals， elderly-care centers and museums.

At the end of last year， social organizations nationwide had over 7.63 million employees， up 3.9 percent from the previous year.

In 2016， authorities investigated 2，363 cases of social organizationrelated violations， closing illegal organizations in 16 cases and handing down punishments in 2，347 cases， the ministry said.

Torch Relay

Olympic gold medal winner Wei Qiuyue starts the torch relay for the 13th Chinese National Games in north Chinas Tianjin on August 8.

The Games will take place in Tianjin from August 27 to September 8. Nearly 10，000 athletes will compete in the quadrennial event.

Education in Xinjiang

Since 2014， China has pumped about 12.2 billion yuan （$1.8 billion） into improving education infrastructure in rural areas of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The money has mainly been used to demolish dilapidated houses， build school dormitories and purchase educational equipment， according to the regional education department.

The measure has helped improve education conditions and narrow the education development gap between cities and rural areas， according to the department.

It said by the end of 2017， the region will have completed at least 70 percent of its target in dormitory construction and equipment purchases， and all schools for compulsory education in povertystricken counties will have proper educational conditions.

Welcome to Xiamen

Volunteers learn etiquette at Xiamen University in southeast Chinas Fujian Province on August 6.

Preparations are in full swing one month ahead of the Ninth BRICS Summit， expected to attract thousands of representatives from China and abroad. A total of 2，000 volunteers are undergoing two months of training.

Trade on Track

Despite a slower than expected monthly expansion， Chinas foreign trade growth is expected to remain on a positive track amid uncertainties for the rest of the year.

Exports in yuan-denominated terms rose 11.2 percent year on year in July， compared with the 17.3-percent growth in June， customs data showed on August 8.

Imports increased 14.7 percent， slowing from 23.1 percent in June， the weakest monthly growth so far this year.

A higher base， currency appreciation and falling commodities prices were behind the slower trade growth， and these factors will continue to drag down trade growth in the second half of this year， analysts said.

However， even with growth trending down， China is still likely to see its fi rst positive growth in annual foreign trade since 2014.

Diminishing overseas orders led to a 7-percent dip in foreign trade in 2015 and a 0.9-percent decline in 2016. In the fi rst seven months of this year， foreign trade surged 18.5 percent year on year as U.S. and European economies improved.

“We maintain our outlook that the second-half trade growth will slow from the fi rst half， but trade growth for the whole year will be steady and support the overall economy，” Liu Xuezhi， a researcher with the Bank of Communications， said.

Recovering foreign demand has driven Chinas export growth in recent months， he added.

The fundamentals of foreign trade remained positive， Huang Songping， spokesperson for the General Administration of Customs， said.

“In the absence of big risks， foreign trade will continue to stabilize and maintain growth in the second half，” Huang said.

A Booming Port

Containers are loaded down from a cargo ship onto trucks at a dock of the Port of Qinzhou， southwest Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， on August 8.

In the fi rst half of the year， the ports cargo handling capacity reached 39.087 million tons， an increase of 14.7 percent year on year. The harbor is growing to be a trading and sea transportation hub linking China and Southeast Asian nations.

Consumer Inflation Stable

Chinas consumer price index （CPI）， a gauge of infl ation， rose 1.4 percent year on year in July， the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） said on August 9.

It was slightly down from Junes 1.5 percent though on a month-onmonth basis， it was up 0.1 percent. Consumer infl ation was generally stable in July. Food prices， the biggest component of the CPI， were down 0.1 percent.

Vegetable prices rose 7 percent after declining for fi ve straight months as the scorching summer heat and heavy rains restricted output. Fruit prices shed 9.2 percent due to oversupply. Pork prices declined 0.7 percent as consumption fell in the summer.

Year on year， food prices dropped 1.1 percent in July， while non-food prices rose 2 percent. Excluding volatile food and energy prices， the core CPI increased 2.1 percent year on year in July.

Chinas producer price index（PPI）， which measures costs for goods at the factory gate， rose 5.5 percent year on year in July， NBS data showed.

It was unchanged from the previous two months. On a monthon-month basis， the PPI was up 0.2 percent， according to the NBS.

Funds for Xiongan

The management committee of the Xiongan New Area on August 8 announced a special company has been established to fund the areas development.

The China Xiongan Construction& Investment Group is a stateowned company with a registered capital of 10 billion yuan （$1.47 billion）. It will raise funds to build houses and apartments， develop the Baiyangdian water area， and build transport links， energy infrastructure and public facilities in Xiongan.

In April， the government announced plans to establish the Xiongan New Area， a new economic zone about 100 km southwest of Beijing. It consists of three counties in north Chinas Hebei Province—Xiongxian， Rongcheng and Anxin.

New Home Policy

More homes with joint property rights between the government and occupiers will come on the market in Beijing to bring down prices and meet the needs of local people without home， the municipal government said on August 3.

The new homes will be jointly owned by the government and the buyers， and the government will give its share of “the right of use” to the latter.

Buyers and their families should have no homes under their names. Single people who buy them should be at least 30 years old. One family can apply for only one home.

Households living or working in a district will have priority for the new homes in the district over purchasers from other districts.

Five years after the purchase， owners can sell their shares based on the market price， with the government or its assigned management agencies having the preemptive right to buy it back.

The new policy is designed to fend off speculation and make the housing system fairer by helping more residents live in their own homes.

Sizzling Coal Profits

Coal producers in China have reported impressive profi ts for the fi rst half of this year.

Of the 37 listed companies， more than half have estimated halfyear profi ts to double from a year ago.

In its semi-annual report to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange， Henan Shenhuo Coal and Power said its net profi ts， excluding non-recurring gains and losses， increased more than 11 times year on year to 576 million yuan （$86 million） due to a rise in prices.

China Shenhua Energy， the countrys largest coal miner， announced its fi rst-half profi t had jumped 147 percent from the same period last year to 24.3 billion yuan（$3.64 billion）. It also attributed the huge rise to higher coal prices.

Other producers， including Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity Power and China Coal Energy， also reported hefty gains for the JanuaryJune period.

About 111 million metric tons of capacity was forced out of the market in the fi rst half of this year， 74 percent of the annual target， according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

In the fi rst fi ve months， large coal companies registered total profi ts of 123.4 billion yuan （$18.5 billion）， 120 billion yuan （$17.99 billion） more than in the same period last year.

As part of the effort to overhaul the economy， the Chinese Government plans to eliminate 150 million tons of coal capacity this year.

Underground Particle Lab

Visitors look at the model of a neutrino detector in a laboratory of the Daya Bay nuclear power base near Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， on August 7.

The lab consists of a 3，000-meter tunnel and fi ve underground chambers to carry out experiments.

McDonalds New Menu

McDonalds Corp.， in a new venture， will open 2，000 new restaurants in fi ve years， taking the total number of its outlets in China to 4，500， the company said on August 8.

The new venture， jointly established by CITIC Ltd.， CITIC Capital， Carlyle Capital and McDonalds， paid $2.08 billion for the U.S. fast food chains business of about 2，700 stores on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong， under an agreement reached in January. The transaction was completed on July 31.

The new company will become McDonalds largest franchisee outside the U.S. market. It aims to drive double-digit sales growth in each of the next fi ve years， including delivery hub coverage of over 75 percent of restaurants.

On the Chinese mainland， the company expects to fasten its pace from opening about 250 outlets per year in 2017 to 500 per year in 2022. Nearly half of the new stores will be opened in third- and fourthtier cities.

Poverty Relief Measures

Villagers pick vegetables on reclaimed farmland on a mountain slope in Xuanen County of central Chinas Hubei Province on August 8.

Planting organic vegetables has become an approach for local farmers to shake off poverty in recent years. Organic vegetables are grown on land covering over 66，000 hectares. Local roads and infrastructure have also been improved to help transport agricultural produce to markets.

Alibabas Travel Tool

On August 7， Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group unveiled a joint venture with Marriott International to allow travelers to book Marriott hotels through Alibabas travel service website and app.

Tourists will be able to reserve Marriotts over 6，200 properties in 125 countries on Fliggy， Alibabas online platform， as well as the hotel chains Chinese-language digital channels.

The hotel will also accept Alipay， the online payment platform owned by Alibabas affi liate company Ant Financial. Through the partnership， Marriott will be able to get access to Alibabas 500 million monthly mobile users.