Winter Is Coming

Snowy scenery at Qinglanshan Township of Dingxi， northwest Chinas Gansu Province， on October 10 after a cold front brought snowfall to the city.

Children First

Putting children fi rst in national poverty alleviation efforts is the most effective way of breaking the cycle of poverty， helping children to reach their potential and driving national development and growth.

“Physical and mental health in childhood is of utmost importance，”said Zuo Changsheng， Director of the International Poverty Reduction Center in China， at the child poverty session of the Global Poverty Reduction and Development Forum on October 9.

“If one lives in poverty during childhood， the experience will have a great infl uence on ones future，” he added.

Jillian Popkins， chief of social policy and reform for children at UNICEF China， talked about the importance of left-behind children.“The most important change I would look for in the next 10 years is the numbers of children who are able to live with their parents and access services they need in the places where their parents can fi nd jobs，” she said.

She also talked about early child care. “There are still some areas in China where parents have to pay fees for the fi rst 1，000 days of life，”she said. As a result， some babies do not get the services they need.

Song Wenzhen， an offi cial with the National Committee on Women and Children under the State Council， said children in their fi rst 1，000 days of life are a key group in a child nutrition project.

“Malnutrition in early stages of life leads to higher risks of child mortality and morbidity，” she said， adding that 30 percent of child deaths are related to malnutrition， while defi ciency of protein and energy knocks 10 to 15 points off IQ and defi ciencies of iron and iodine cause a drop of fi ve to eight points.

Each year the Chinese Government provides 2.3 billion yuan （$347 million） as nutrition subsidies to 1.6 million children that are below 5 years old and impoverished. According to the National Plan for Action for Children （2011-20）， the under-5 anemia rate must be kept below 12 percent， the under-5 stunted growth rate to below 7 percent and the low weight rate to below 5 percent.

Arctic Expedition

China will double the frequency of Arctic expeditions to once a year from this year， the State Oceanic Administration （SOA） announced on October 10.endprint

Chinas ice breaker， named Xue Long （Snow Dragon） returned to base in Shanghai on October 10 after 83 days on the Arctic rim， completing its eighth Arctic expedition.

Rapid changes in the Arctic have an infl uence on climate， ecology and social and economic development in China， said Lin Shanqing， Deputy Director of the SOA， at a press conference when explaining why the country will increase Arctic research.

Arctic shipping routes which have been opened by the thawing of ice in the region are signifi cant to China， as the economy depends heavily on maritime transport， Lin said.

The routes are the shortest paths connecting northeast Asia with Europe and North America.

“Melting ice in the Arctic， the most vulnerable area to climate change， has been far beyond expectations. Our knowledge is far from suffi cient，” Lin said.

Grassland Environment

The ecology of Chinas grasslands is recovering， with vegetation coverage increasing to 54.6 percent nationwide， offi cial data showed.

The indicator， mainly refl ecting the density of grass， is 3.6 percentage points higher than fi ve years ago， according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Central Government has spent more than 20 billion yuan（$3 billion） each year on grassland development for the past fi ve years. In that time， overgrazing has dropped by 15 percentage points， while annual output of fresh grass passed 1 billion tons each year， said Yu Kangzhen， Vice Minister of Agriculture.

Speaking at a forum on October 10， Yu attributed the improvement to government policy and environmental protection， including payments to those involved in improvement of grasslands.

Yu also pointed out that industri-alization and urbanization will pose great challenges for grasslands.

He said the Ministry of Agriculture will work to improve the regulatory system of grassland protection and push for development of farming for the benefi t of local herdsmen.

China has around 400 million hectares of grasslands， about 40 percent of its total territory.

R&D Spending

Chinas spending on research and development （R&D） resumed double-digit growth in 2016， closing in on the level of developed countries.

R&D spending rose 10.6 percent year on year to 1.57 trillion yuan（$234 billion） in 2016， 1.7 percentage points higher than the rate in 2015， the National Bureau of Statistics（NBS） said on October 10.

The spending accounted for 2.11 percent of Chinas GDP， but was only a tiny fraction—0.05 percentage points—higher than the 2015 level.endprint

The structure of R&D spending improved as more money was given to fundamental research， with hitech fi rms and private research fi rms spending more. Spending on fundamental research remained low compared with developed countries， said Guan Xiaojing， a senior statistician with the NBS.

China still lags far behind major innovation-driven economies such as Israel， South Korea and Japan， Guan said.

According to the 13th FiveYear Plan for National Science and Technology Talent Development（2016-20）， China had 5.35 million people working in R&D at the end of 2015， the worlds largest pool of R&D talent.

Smart Trucks

A Chinese auto maker has completed the countrys fi rst highway test of smart-drive functions of commercial heavy-duty trucks.

FAW Jiefang Automotive Co. Ltd.， a truck subsidiary of FAW Group， Chinas leading automaker， said on October 10 it has tested three Jiefang container trucks with auto-driving functions on a section of the Changchun-Shenzhen Highway.

The trucks， which have a loading weight of 40 tons， can perform auto cruising and braking. The Lane Keeping Assist System allows for hands-free driving.

Hu Hanjie， General Manager of the company， said smart-driving vehicles are the future. The company aims to develop a new model with high-precision positioning abilities by 2018 and make another model based on 5G communications networks available for driving by 2020.

By 2025， the company is expected to develop its fi rst self-driving truck.

Built in 1956， the company made Chinas fi rst domestically produced truck. Since then， it has produced 6 million vehicles. In the fi rst nine months of this year， it sold 198，000 vehicles， ranking fi rst in China.

Land of Fish and Rice

Women of the Dong ethnic group compete in catching fi sh in Linxi Township， Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County， south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， on October 9. More than 100 women of the Dong ethnic group took part in the traditional harvest celebration.

Fans of Robots

Students experience interactive exhibits at a mobile science museum in Shuangluan District of Chengde， north Chinas Hebei Province， on October 10.

Anti-Corruption Campaign

The top anti-graft body of the Communist Party of China （CPC） said on October 10 that 6，187 offi cials were punished in September for violating the Partys austerity rules.

The offi cials were involved in 4，506 cases， according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection （CCDI）.endprint

Awarding an unauthorized allowance or bonus was the most common misdemeanor， followed by giving or accepting gifts and misuse of public vehicles.

A total of 47，005 offi cials involved in 33，471 cases were punished in the fi rst nine months of 2017， the CCDI said.

The CPC released its eight-point rules on austerity in late 2012 to reduce undesirable work practices.

The CCDI has a monthly reporting system on the implementation of the rules within provincial-level governments， central Party and governmental agencies， centrally administered state-owned enterprises and central f niancial institutions.

RRR Cut

Chinas central bank on September 30 announced a targeted reserve requirement ratio （RRR） cut to encourage inclusive fi nancing at commercial banks， such as credit support for small and micro-sized enterprises， startups and agricultural production.

The Peoples Bank of China（PBC） said commercial banks whose annual outstanding or new loans in inclusive fi nancing account for more than 1.5 percent of the total will enjoy a 0.5-percentage-point RRR cut from the central banks benchmark level from next year.

The RRR will be cut further by 1 percentage point if the ratio exceeds 10 percent， the PBC said.

Inclusive fi nancing will also cover credit support for small business owners， impoverished groups and students.

The cut is a structural adjustment that does not change the countrys overall monetary policy stance， the PBC explained， stressing that it would continue to implement“prudent and neutral” policy to guide reasonable credit and fi nancing growth.

Li Qilin， chief macro researcher with Lianxun Securities， expected the targeted cut to release at least 700 billion yuan （$106 billion） of liquidity into the economy.

The last cut to the benchmark RRR was in March 2016， when the rate was lowered by 0.5 percentage points.

Springing up Like Mushrooms

A villager prepares to disinfect mushroom bundles in Xiacun Town in Xinyu City， east Chinas Jiangxi Province， on October 10. More than 1，000 households in Xiacun have pulled themselves out of poverty by engaging in the mushroom industry.

CIC Report

Total assets of China Investment Corp. （CIC）， the nations sovereign wealth fund， surpassed $900 billion in August.

The fi gure is more than triple the original capital of $249 billion when the fund was founded a decade ago. It has become the worlds second largest sovereign wealth fund， only after the Government Pension Fund of Norway， whose assets reached $1 trillion in September.endprint

CIC has generated an annual return of 14.35 percent， with that from overseas investment at 5.51 percent.

“Compared with other fi nancial institutions， our biggest advantage is that we are backed by the Chinese market，” CICs General Manager， Tu Guangshao， said.

By the end of 2016， almost half of CICs overseas investment was in public equities， followed by alternative assets， fi xed income instruments， cash and other vehicles. Around two thirds of the investment was externally managed.

Tu said CICs growth in the next 10 years will depend on its efforts to invest in Chinas economic transfor- mation and push forward its global march.

“CIC will devote itself to serving as a bridge linking businesses and markets at home and abroad，” Tu said.

Holiday Tourism

The National Day holiday， known as Golden Week， saw a surge in tourist revenue along with passenger fl ows. This year the holiday was extended by one day as the Mid-Autumn Festival fell on October 4.

A total of 705 million trips around the country were made between October 1 and 8， generating 583.6 billion yuan （$87.7 billion） of revenue， the China National Tourism Administration （CNTA） said.

The two fi gures represented increases of 11.9 percent and 13.9 percent year on year respectively， the CNTA said.

On the railways， over 110 million trips were made over the holiday once the travel rush started on September 28， China Railway Corp. said.

The economic impacts of Chinas mobile population have also been felt worldwide， as more Chinese opted to travel overseas.

CNTA data showed that about 6 million Chinese traveled to 1，155 cities in 88 countries or regions during the holiday.

Russia was the most popular destination for Chinese tourists， followed by Thailand， Viet Nam， Singapore and Malaysia， while Moscow was the most popular city， followed by St. Petersburg， Bangkok， Pattaya and Singapore.

Better Prospects

The World Bank said on October 4 that it sees better growth in East Asia and the Pacifi c region this year， partly due to stronger-thanexpected growth in China.

The bank said in its latest East Asia and Pacif ci Economic update it had revised the regions GDP growth forecasts up 0.2 and 0.1 per-centage points to 6.4 percent and 6.2 percent respectively for 2017 and 2018.

Sudhir Shetty， the banks chief economist for East Asia and the Pacifi c region， said the growth of the region is expected to remain strong in the near term， partly because of Chinas economy， which is likely to grow at 6.7 percent this year， the same pace as in 2016.endprint

Due to better-than-expected performance in the fi rst half， the bank had upgraded Chinas 2017 and 2018 economic growth forecasts by 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points to 6.7 percent and 6.4 percent respectively.

Chinas GDP grew 6.9 percent year on year in the fi rst half， underpinned by consumption and improving external conditions.

The growth in China， however， is projected to moderate in 2018 and 2019 to around 6.4 percent， as the economy rebalances away from investment and external demand toward domestic consumption over the medium term， according to Shetty.

Besides， the Chinese Government is expected to continue to pursue policies aimed at bringing the growth of debt under control to reduce macroeconomic risks and imbalances.

Gathering for Business

Business representatives visit the 14th China International Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Fair in Guangzhou， south Chinas Guangdong Province， on October 10. Companies from over 30 countries and regions participated.

Thailand-China Railway

The fi rst batch of Chinese engineers have passed the geology and theoretical tests required under the fi rst phase of the Thailand-China railway project， the Council of Thai Engineers and the Council of Thai Architects in Bangkok announced on October 9. There are 77 Chinese engineers in the fi rst batch.

The criteria set to test them include not only their engineering qualifi cations， but also their knowledge of Thai geography and how to deal with disastrous fl oods， according to Kamol Takkabutr， Chairman of the Council of Thai Engineers.

After the engineering theoretical tests， the Chinese engineers will have to sit architectural tests. Meanwhile， Kamol said training courses will be held for the following batches.

Thailand will start the construction of the fi rst phase of the Thailand-China railway project no later than November， once the environmental impact assessment report is approved， said Thai Minister of Transport Arkhom Termpittayapaisith in an interview with Xinhua last month.

Earlier in September， Thailand and China signed design and supervision contracts for the projects 253-km fi rst phase， which will link the Thai capital， Bangkok， with the nations northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

BYDs U.S. Factory

Chinese carmaker BYD unveiled on October 6 its expanded electric bus manufacturing facility， North Americas largest， in the city of Lancaster in south California， the United States.endprint

BYD， which stands for “Build Your Dreams，” is also the worlds largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries. The companys electric bus， supported by its solar panels， LED lighting and energyeffi cient technologies， is able to run over 248 km after a single charge， placing it among the furthestrunning such vehicles in the world.

This expansion is an addition of a new wing to the current BYD Coach and Bus assembly line， bringing the total manufacturing facility to nearly 42，000 square meters and quadrupling its size from its initial footprint in 2013.

The growth of BYD Coach and Bus refl ects a rapid transition to electric transportation and will allow the company to build up to 1，500 electric buses annually.

“As BYD continues to develop cutting-edge technology that helps transform the transportation industry here…， this investment will help create jobs in our community， keep Lancaster on the forefront of technological advancement， and put emission-free vehicles on our streets，” U.S. Congressman Kevin McCarthy said at the opening celebration.

Since BYD established its U.S. electric bus manufacturing facility in Los Angeles County， the company has created nearly 800 full-time jobs throughout the state. The facilitys expansion will enable BYD to employ up to 1，200 full-time workers in total when the production line reaches full capacity， according to the company.

A Big Harvest

A cotton harvester operates in a fi eld in Hami， northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on October 8. The cotton harvest season recently began in Xinjiang， a leading producer of the crop in China.endprint