A Trial Run

A bullet train runs on the Chongqing-Guiyang Railway on January 11.

Tests are ongoing for a new line in southwest China designed for passenger trains running at speeds of up to 200 km per hour.

Fugitive Hunt

A total of 1，300 fugitives were captured or returned to China in 2017， with around 980 million yuan （$151 million） recovered， the countrys top anti-graft authority has said.

Of the returned fugitives， 347 had been Party members or state functionaries， and 14 were on an Interpol red notice of 100 suspects， the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection （CCDI） of the Communist Party of China revealed on its website.

According to the CCDI， more than 800 suspects in duty-related crimes such as bribery are still at large.

About 70 percent are believed to be in Australia， Canada， New Zealand and the United States， with many having obtained legal status abroad.

In April 2017， China released the details of 22 corruption suspects who had fl ed overseas， including their possible whereabouts， as specifi c as the streets and communities where they were believed to be living.

The information also included the name， gender， ID card number， former title， suspected crime， date of arrival in the current country and travel document number of each suspect.

Hotter Than Normal

The average temperature in China was 10.39 degrees Celsius in 2017， 0.84 degrees above normal and the third highest since 1951， according to the annual climate report released by the China Meteorological Administration.

The rise showed continued global warming partly due to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions， said Song Lianchun， head of the National Climate Center under the administration.

Average precipitation rose 1.8 percent from the normal amount to 641.3 mm， with a 7-percent drop in winter and an 8-percent drop in autumn.

Total volume of precipitation last year rose 121.4 billion cubic meters from normal to 6.09 trillion cubic meters， the report said.

There were fewer droughts， typhoons and severe convective storms in 2017， and the total area of farmland hit by disasters dropped， according to the report.

TCM Use

About 17.5 percent of all patients in China are treated with traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine said on January 15.

As of September 2017， 20.4 million patients had been discharged from TCM hospitals， accounting for 15 percent of all discharged patients in the country， the administration said.endprint

Currently， 67 percent of townlevel community health centers have TCM units， totaling more than 30，000. By September 2017， there were 45，800 TCM clinics across China.

Wang Guoqiang， head of the administration， said TCM services are still unbalanced and relatively weak at the community level.

“The needs of the public for TCM cannot yet be met，” Wang said.

The administration plans to support medical institutions with specialties in TCM and build at least one public TCM hospital in each county.

Defaulter Blacklist

More than 9.59 million people had been placed on a credit blacklist for defaulting by the end of 2017， according to the Supreme Peoples Court （SPC）.

The SPC has cooperated with airlines and railway companies to bar those who default from purchasing tickets， based on their ID card information and passports.

As a result， defaulters had been prevented from purchasing more than 9.36 million plane tickets and 3.67 million high-speed train tickets by the end of 2017， the SPC said.

Moreover， the SPC has worked with banks to reject loan and credit card applications from people who have defaulted.

Courts nationwide had frozen deposits totaling more than 180 billion yuan （$27.7 billion） owned by defaulters， the SPC said.

People on the blacklist are also banned from serving as corporate representatives or executives.

Online Education

The fi rst batch of 490 national quality courses is now available online for the public， according to an educational offi cial on January 15.

The courses focus on the common curriculum for undergraduate and higher vocational education， professional basic courses， and professional core courses， said Wu Yan， head of the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education， at a press conference.

About 70 percent of the 490 courses are provided by fi rst-class universities， including Peking， Tsinghua and Wuhan University.

In recent years， online education has become increasingly popular among Chinese， particularly after massive open online courses（MOOCs） entered China in cooperation with universities and websites.

According to fi gures from the ministry， Chinese higher educational institutions have set up more than 10 MOOC websites， covering over 3，200 courses. Some 55 million college students or social learners have viewed the courses. Another 3，000 national-level excellent online courses will be produced by 2020.endprint

Earth Simulation

China will build an earth system simulating device to strengthen fundamental research.

The project， to be built in Beijings northern suburban d istricts of Huairou and Miyun， is a major national scientifi c infrastructure program， said the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The device can simulate the complicated progress of earth systems. It will further knowledge of the interaction and evolution of the atmosphere， hydrosphere， cryosphere， geosphere and biosphere， and lay the foundations for research into climate and the environment.

The fi rst phase of the project will cover an area of 2.68 hectares at a cost of 1.25 billion yuan （$194 million）.

Winter Tai Chi

Tai Chi practioners perform at a ski resort in Hohhot， capital of north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， on January 12， kicking off a two-day fi tness event.

Bike Regulation

The traffi c authority of Nanchang， capital of east Chinas Jiangxi Province， has partnered with three shared bike companies—Mobike， Ofo and Hellobike—to set up a credit scoring system to tackle bad cycling.

They agreed to share data and build a scoring system from January. Riders will receive penalty points if they break traffi c rules. Those whose score reaches zero may be blacklisted and banned from riding.

Shared bikes， which can be unlocked with a smartphone app and left anywhere after use， have disrupted traffi c in many places， despite their popularity among commuters.

Traffi c police in Nanchang will send the companies information on the shared bike whose rider has violated traffi c rules or refused to accept a penalty. The company will then identify the user and inform the police of their background data.

Piracy Crackdown

Authorities said on January 16 that 2，554 websites were shut down and 2.76 million pirated publications were confi scated in a crackdown on copyright infringement launched in 2017.

Law enforcement nationwide examined 63，000 websites， deleted 710，000 links to pirated publications， and investigated 543 cases involving online copyright infringement.

The crackdown was launched by the National Copyright Administration， the Cyberspace Administration of China， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security to target fi lms， news， mobile apps and e-commerce platforms.endprint

Local authorities in Jilin， Shandong， Jiangsu， Jiangxi， Fujian and Hunan provinces uncovered 47 cases involving private cinemas and copyright infringement.

New Year Preparation

Residents select home decorations for the upcoming Spring Festival， or Lunar New Year， in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， on January 14. The Spring Festival falls on February 16 this year.

Stable Gains

Chinas economy ended 2017 on a strong footing with a better-thanexpected growth rate and improved structure， offi cial data showed on January 18.

The worlds second largest economy expanded 6.9 percent in 2017， higher than the 6.7 percent growth registered in 2016， data from the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） showed.

The reading marked the fi rst acceleration in the annual growth pace in seven years and was well above the offi cial target of around 6.5 percent.

“Major macroeconomic indicators all beat market expectations， pointing to economic stabilization，”said Ning Jizhe， head of the NBS.

Growth in the fourth quarter came in at 6.8 percent， unchanged from the rate seen in the third quarter.

Gross domestic product （GDP） totaled 82.71 trillion yuan （$12.84 trillion） in 2017， with the service sector accounting for more than half of the total. Consumption was the major growth driver， contributing 58.8 percent to GDP growth last year.

The strong growth was also helped by robust trade， which reversed a downward trend seen in the previous two years and contributed about 9 percent to GDP expansion in 2017.

Seafaring Giant

A domestically produced ultra large container ship with a capacity of 20，000 TEUs （20-foot equivalent units） takes to the water in Nantong， east Chinas Jiangsu Province， on January 15.

The ship， named COSCO Shipping Aries， is 400 meters in length， 58.6 meters in width and 30.7 meters in height.

Coffee Trade Hub

Southwest Chinas Chongqing Municipality has become the largest coffee trade hub in China， as the volume of the regions coffee trade by the end of 2017 exceeded the amounts in Shanghai and Yunnan.

On January 16， the Chongqing Coffee Exchange said that the volume of trade from June 2016 to the end of 2017 had hit 13 billion yuan （$2 billion）， while the trade volume of coffee last year reached 9.7 billion yuan （$1.5 billion）， making the inland municipality the most signifi cant contributor to the countrys coffee trade.endprint

“London and New York are the largest coffee trading centers in the world， while Chongqing aims to become the third largest so as to gain pricing power in the international market and change the existing industrial pattern，” said Peng De， General Manager of the Chongqing Coffee Exchange.

“The advantages of advanced logistics and services， as well as the high quality and output of coffee produced in neighboring Yunnan Province will help Chongqing realize its goal，” Peng said.

Coffee consumption in China has increased at an average growth rate of 20 percent per annum. It is expected that the value of domestic coffee consumption will reach more than 600 billion yuan （$93.33 billion） in 2020.

FDI and ODI

Foreign direct investment （FDI） into the Chinese mainland grew steadily in 2017， while the nations outbound direct investment （ODI） declined.

FDI rose 7.9 percent to reach an all-time high of 877.56 billion yuan （$136.5 billion）， the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM） said in an online statement on January 16.

According to MOFCOM， 35，652 foreign-funded companies were set up in China last year， up 27.8 percent from the year before.

MOFCOM offi cial Tang Wenhong attributed the steady momentum to a better business environment， structure and distribution of investment.

In 2017， the government eased restrictions and simplifi ed procedures for foreign investment， he said.

“The structure of foreign investment continued to improve， with strong investment in hi-tech services， which rose 93.2 percent to reach 185 billion yuan （$28.78 billion），” said Tang. Some 66.6 billion yuan （$10.36 billion） fl owed into hitech manufacturing， an increase of 11.3 percent.

In contrast， MOFCOM data also showed that non-f niancial ODI declined in 2017 amid government restrictions on investment overseas.

Chinese investors spent a total of $120 billion in 6，236 enterprises across 174 countries and regions last year， a 29.4 percent drop.

Han Yong， a MOFCOM offi cial， announced that “irrational outbound investment has been curbed.”

The countrys ODI had grown rapidly in recent years， but Chinese authorities have introduced stricter rules and have advised companies to make investment choices more carefully following a number of inexplicable decisions in recent years.

In a document released last August， the State Council said overseas investment in areas including real estate， hotels， cinemas and entertainment would be limited， while investment in sectors such as gambling would be banned. Investment in 2017 mainly went toward leasing and commercial services， manufacturing， wholesale and retail， and information technology.endprint

Non-fi nancial ODI to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative has been encouraged. In 2017， ODI in those countries totaled$14.4 billion， 12 percent of the total， up from 8.5 percent in 2016.

Chain Reaction

Workers process navel oranges at a factory in Zigui， central Chinas Hubei Province， on January 14.

In recent years， an industrial chain of plantation， processing， research and development， and picking tourism has been established in Zigui.

Qualified Dairy

Some 99.8 percent of fresh milk products in China complied with national standards， according to the latest dairy quality spot check result on January 16.

“The quality of domestic fresh milk products has never been better than today，” said an offi cial with the Ministry of Agriculture （MOA）.

The spot check detected no illegal additives， such as melamine， according to the MOA.

The quality of milk and dairy products has improved as China has taken a series of preventative measures over the past years， including improving regulations and industry standards， and tightening supervision.

For nine consecutive years， the MOA has implemented specialized supervision campaigns for fresh milk products. The supervision covers more than 8，100 dairy farms， 5，400 fresh milk product purchasing stations and 5，200 transport vehicles across the country.

The countrys milk industry has recovered from the 2008 scandal in which infant formula produced by Sanlu Group， then Chinas leading dairy company， was found to contain melamine， killing six babies and leaving thousands of others seriously ill.

China produced 37.12 million tons of milk and 29.93 million tons of dairy products in 2016， ranking third after the United States and India.

More Land Supply

Chinese authorities are seeking new sources of residential land supply to improve housing， as the government gradually ceases to be the sole provider of residential land.

Authorities will work on plans to let non-real estate companies build residential housing on land for which they have obtained the usage rights， Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming revealed at a recent national conference.

The government will also allow rental housing on rural land to increase rental options， he said.

From last August， rural collective economic organizations can build and rent housing on rural construction land by themselves or through joint ventures on a trial basis in 13 Chinese cities， including Beijing， Guangzhou and Shanghai.

China will move faster to put in place a housing system that ensures supply through multiple sources and encourages both housing purchases and rentals， according to plans unveiled at the annual Central Economic Work Conference in December 2017.

The country will develop its housing rental market， especially long-term leases， and support the development of professional and institutional housing rental enterprises.

Smart Production

Robots handle materials in a factory of the Wenzhou Ruiming Industrial Co. Ltd. in Ruian， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on January 16.

In recent years， Ruian has been committed to upgrading the local manufacturing industry by expanding the employment of robots in production， management and services.endprint