GENIUS BROTHERS HONORED FOR INNOVATION

Chen Yunji （left） and Chen Tianshi are scientist brothers in the Institute of Computing Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）. They were honored as two of the outstanding scientists for sci-tech innovation in 2017 in Beijing on January 21.

Born in Nanchang， Jiangxi Province， in 1983 and 1985 respectively， the two brothers were geniuses in childhood. They fi nished primary and middle school much earlier than their peers and enrolled in the University of Science and Technology of China at the ages of 14 and 16 respectively. After graduation， they both entered CAS to undertake doctorates in computer science.

Yunji， the elder brother， participated in the research and development of Chinas own computer chip， Loongson， beginning in 2007. Tianshi joined Yunjis research team in 2010. They now work together in researching an AI-based chip called DianNao. The series chips of DianNao have been used widely for image identifi cation， automatic piloting and language processing.

NEV Subsidies Discontinued

Legal Daily January 23

It was recently announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that the Chinese Government will completely annul its subsidies for new-energy vehicles（NEV） by the end of 2020.

Recent years have seen subsidies greatly boost Chinas NEV production. By 2017， China had produced over 808，000 NEVs. China has ranked number one in the world in terms of NEV production and sales for several consecutive years. However， subsidies make auto companies addicted to such favorable policies.

Huge subsidies have lured a large number of investors to rush to invest in the NEV industry. There are around 300 NEV manu- facturers in China， with nearly 5，000 types of NEVs appearing in the market or undergoing research and development. Some manufacturers even lack the qualifi cations to produce NEVs， and some that used to produce farm vehicles also rushed to transform themselves into NEV plants. The situation actually is hindering market order and the sustainable development of Chinas NEV sector.

Many NEV manufacturers seldom spend money on quality improvement， so their products fail to meet public demand in terms of performance， safety and design. Thus， more NEVs are produced than are needed in the market， resulting in a huge surplus.

The development of NEVs needs support from the government， but it cant count on subsidies for ever. Abolishing subsidies for NEVs will curb irrational investment and eliminate those incapable of operating this business properly， which in turn will help to forge bright prospects for Chinas NEV industry.endprint

Hainan Islands Environmental Problem

China Newsweek January 22

The Central Governments environmental inspection team recently released a report on Hainan Province， criticizing the south China island for not protecting the local ecological system and environment in the face of rampant real-estate development.

From August to September in 2017， the Central Government dispatched a team of senior officials and experts to Hainan Province to carry out a special inspection mission on environmental protection. On December 23， 2017， the working group issued the report based on their inspection tour. The report said that some local governments of cities and counties in Hainan Province pursued fiscal revenue from the booming real-estate development sector and ignored the importance of environmental protection and conservation， which has led to serious damage to the local environment. The inspection team also criticized the many reclamation projects for real-estate development which have destroyed original coastal ecological systems.

The Central Governments stern blame of local regulators shows the problems are very serious. As an island， Hainan has limited land resources for large-scale economic development. So， reclaiming land from the sea became a “consensus” between developers and local regulators. With local government acquiescence， various real estate projects involving reclamation were able to pass strict examination and approval procedures. But this will ultimately damage the local environment and undermine sustainable development.

Recently， the Government of Hainan Province has been correcting its faults at full stretch and prohibits all real estate projects that spoil the environment. The public hope the local government will not limit the remediation action only to real estate projects. The government should mend its governance and implement sustainable development in all respects.

Building Rural Boarding Schools

Qianjiang Evening News January 22

Chinas poverty reduction efforts have entered a critical stage. The plan is not only to lift 70 million people out of poverty within several years， but more importantly， to prevent those who have been helped out from slipping back to poverty. In rural areas， the poverty relief to a large extent relies on education.

Currently， education in rural areas faces many problems. In some impoverished areas， primary school classrooms are almost empty. Some schools only have a dozen students and two or three teachers. In mountainous areas， students live far away from their schools， and thus the journey to and from school costs several hours every day.endprint

In recent years， the Ministry of Education has implemented an action plan to build central schools for students scattered among different remote villages. But this approach cannot resolve all the problems. In fact， rural students need free-of-charge standard boarding schools that provide quality education and daily care from teachers. In rural China， a large number of students are left behind by their parents， who migrate to cities to make a living.

Furthermore， boarding schools are not just simply a school， but a complete premium education system which should be composed of quality teachers and curriculum， well-developed school bus services that ensure safety and save time for children， and safe and comfortable accommodation.

Particularly， children whose parents are working away from home in cities should be given special care. This scenario for boarding schools will not only help to improve rural education， but also uproot poverty in these areas once and for all.

CHINESE ARTIST BECOMES ACADEMICIAN OF FRANCE

Wu Weishan， Curator of the National Art Museum of China， has been honored as an academician of Académie des Beaux-Arts， the national art academy of France. Wu becomes the second Chinese member of the French art academy. The fi rst Chinese artist to receive such a lifelong title was eminent painter Wu Guanzhong.

Born in Dongtai， Jiangsu Province， in 1962， Wu Weishan graduated from Department of Arts of Nanjing Normal University in 1987. After further study at the European Ceramic Work Center and University of Washington， Wu worked as a professor at Nanjing University and founded the Sculpture Art Research Center in 1998. He was appointed as director of the Fine Art Research Center of the Chinese National Academy of Arts by the Ministry of Culture in 2009. Wu is also vice chairman of the China Artists Association.

As a renowned sculptor， Wu has won a number of artist awards in China and abroad， including the Pangolin Award and the National Award for Person of the Year in Chinese art.

“China is a colossal market where the middle class is looking for quality and innovation. French startups must consider this as part of their business plan.”

Thomas Vial， Director of the Tech and Services Department of Business France China， speaking in Paris about newly established French startups in China on January 24

“Compared to road transport， trains are much faster and can help save costs for companies.”

Zhang Haixia， Chief Operating Officer with Xinjiang Hongyunda International Freight Transport Agency， speaking about the China-Europe freight trains that set off from Urumqi， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on January 24

“Both Beijing and Shanghai are speeding up creation of science and innovation centers， and Hefei is also constructing an integrated science center.”

Xiang Libin， Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences， speaking about Chinas construction of scientific research centers during a conference in Beijing on January 24

“In the near future， China will plant its own retro-reflector on the moon， which will further boost the development of Lunar Laser Ranging in China.”

Li Yuqiang， an associate researcher with Yunnan Observatories， speaking about Chinas first successful Lunar Laser Ranging test on January 22endprint