CHARITY RECIPIENT BECOMES YOUTH LEAGUE LEADER

Su Mingjuan， 34， the former poster girl for the Project Hope education charity， was elected deputy secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee in east Chinas Anhui Province in December 2017.

In 1991， the photographer Xie Hailong from China Youth Daily took a picture of Su in a shabby classroom in the poverty-stricken Jinzhai County， Anhui Province. The photo was later used as a poster for Project Hope， Chinas most infl uential public welfare project， and has become a symbol of the countrys efforts to promote nine-year compulsory education among all school-age children.

Su graduated from Anhui University in 2005 and found a job in a bank in Hefei， capital of Anhui Province. As a benefi ciary of the education charity， Su herself has also been helping poor students.

Since it was launched in 1989， Project Hope has built over 19，000 primary schools and helped over 5.5 million children in Chinas rural areas stay in school.

Promoting Library Development

Guangming Daily December 20， 2017

The Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Public Libraries came into effect on January 1， 2018. At a scheduled time， the Ministry of Culture， together with relevant departments， will inspect the implementation of the law. The inspection will focus on the performance of duties of local governments at all levels and public library services.

In recent years， new forms of libraries such as the “digital library” and the “24-hour library”have sprung up. But， development of public libraries in China is far from satisfactory. Statistics show that at the end of 2016， China had 3，153 public libraries， holding 902 million books， which means one public library for every 438，500 citi- zens and one book per 1.534 citizens.

The law on public libraries specifi es the responsibility of local governments and provides a legal guarantee for the building of a public library service system. Some local governments will need to learn from scratch how to provide such professional services.

Through inspection of implementation of the law， the Ministry of Culture should not only spot practices not in compliance with the law， but also collect experiences based on advanced practices. The inspection is of great signifi cance for encouraging public libraries nationwide to improve their facilities， managerial standards， and service effi ciency.

However， inspection is only a top-down approach to improve the laws implementation. Public library administrators should deliberate more on responding to the needs of the public and providing a better service for readers.endprint

Greater Bay Area， Huge Potential

Oriental Outlook December 28， 2017

Building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was one of the most discussed topics among Chinese people in 2017.

The development plan was fi rst offi cially brought up in Chinas government work report in March 2017. It covers 56，000 square km and 60 million people in nine cities and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

On November 10， 2017， Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a keynote address at the APEC CEO Summit that China will continue to explore new mechanisms and pathways for achieving coordinated development among regions， and “build worldclass city clusters and foster new sources of growth.”

In December 2017， the plan was listed as one of the key initiatives on coordinated development of regions at the Central Economic Work Conference.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area enjoys huge advantages. Compared with other such areas， it has the highest density of harbors and airports in the world. Currently among the four largest international bay areas， it has already become top in terms of annual throughput of port containers and airport passengers.

The uniqueness of the Greater Bay Area lies in its diversified institutional environment—it includes two special administrative regions under the principle of one country， two systems， two special economic zones（Shenzhen and Zhuhai）， and parts of the Free Trade Zone in Guangdong Province. The interaction of different institutions offers the area unlimited possibilities， making it an attractive destination for global capital and high-caliber people.

Through elevating the degree of cooperation and integration among cities and regions， the Greater Bay Area is expected to generate great energy and become an important global hub of innovation， fi nance， shipping and trade.

Chaos of Private Training Services

China Youth Daily December 26， 2017

The bosses of two private education and training institutions in Beijing absconded in mid-December 2017， abandoning students who had paid training fees ranging from 10，000 yuan （$1，534） to 50，000 yuan （$7，670） but not yet completed their courses， according to reports by The Beijing News.

Due to lack of supervision， the burgeoning private education market has been plagued with problems such as false advertising， illegal operation， confusing pricing， and low teacher competence.endprint

The market size of extracurricular education for primary and middle school students exceeds 800 billion yuan （$122 billion）. Some 13.7 million students attend extracurricular classes. However， a lot of institutions which have no qualifi cation to enter this market are running such classes.

Local education watchdogs have failed to effectively regulate the market due to shortage of related laws， undefi ned responsibilities and duties， and lack of legal enforcement power.

To regulate the private education and training market， the authorities need to draw up a refi ned top-level design. First， legislators must issue laws to clarify the nature， position， and management standards of this market. Second， a supervision system， which identifi es the responsibilities of different government departments， should be established. Third， the market calls for self-discipline and supervision by an industry association through third-party professional assessment.

CHIEF DESIGNER OF LARGE AMPHIBIOUS AIRCRAFT

Huang Lingcai， Deputy Chief Engineer of China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co. Ltd.， a subsidiary company of Aviation Industry Corp. of China （AVIC）， has become well known recently as the chief designer of Chinas first large amphibious aircraft， the AG600， which completed its maiden fl ight in south Chinas Guangdong Province on December 24， 2017.

Huang graduated from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1988 with a degree in helicopter design and manufacture and then became a researcher at an aircraft design institute under AVIC. Over the past 30 years， Huang has participated in the research and development of many aircraft. Huang is now the countrys renowned expert in aircraft structure and composite materials.

Huang assumed the position of chief designer of the AG600 in 2009. It has taken eight years for Huang and his team to develop the aircraft. The maiden fl ight of the AG600 makes China among the few countries capable of developing a large amphibious aircraft.

“We want to tap into the increasing demand for passenger and cargo traffic between China and Africa.”

Yared Berta， Regional Director for China， Mongolia and North Korea at Ethiopian Airlines， speaking in an interview with Xinhua on December 25， 2017

“The inclusion signals that the value of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions has been recognized by the world.”

Du Zhanyuan， Vice Minister of Education， speaking at a press conference on the inclusion of Chinese oracle bone inscriptions in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in Beijing on December 26， 2017

“Chinas newly added installed renewable energy capacity accounts for 40 percent of the global growth.”

Nur Bekri， General Director of the National Energy Administration， speaking at a press conference on energy in Beijing on December 26， 2017

“The BeiDou navigation and positioning system helped reduce the rate of major road traffic accidents and injuries in 2016 to almost half of that in 2012.”

Ran Chengqi， Director of the China Satellite Navigation Office and spokesperson for the BeiDou system， speaking at a press conference in Beijing on December 27， 2017endprint