Artful Touch

One of 24 volunteers works on a museum collection piece at a “hospital” for conservation in Beijings Palace Museum on June 9.

The institution was opened to the public as part of Chinas Cultural and Natural Heritage Day activities. Visitors watched as “doctors” repaired calligraphy pieces， paintings， bronzeware and clocks.

Online Complaint Platform

The General Offi ce of the State Council， Chinas cabinet， launched an online platform to receive public complaints on June 11.

The platform， accessible via the Central Government website， www. gov.cn， will receive complaints from the public about arbitrary charges for enterprises， failure to implement enterprise-related policies， as well as inconvenient and insuffi cient government services.

The offi ce pledged to carefully check and handle the complaints， make sure relevant departments conduct thorough investigations into the causes of the problems and properly solve the issues.

The measures are expected to help create a stable， fair， transparent and predictable environment for business operations and increase peoples sense of fulfi llment.

The offi ce also vowed serious punishment for departments or offi cials found to have committed dereliction of duty， negligence in work and other malpractices.

IPR Improvement

The comprehensive development level of intellectual property rights（IPR） in China continues to rise and the quality of patents is improving， said an offi cial of the State Intellectual Property Offi ce on June 12.

Han Xiucheng， Director of the offi ces Intellectual Property Development Research Center， made the remarks at the launch of a report about Chinas IPR development in 2017.

The report showed that China has made progress in IPR creation， application， protection， management and service， with the gap between major IPR powers narrowing. Chinas IPR development ranked 10th out of 40 countries in 2016， up from 19th in 2012.

In 2017， Chinas patent retention rate reached 60 percent， up 3.9 percentage points from a year earlier， while the average duration of invention patents reached 6.2 years， the report said.

Although the quality of Chinas patents has improved， it still lags far behind in quantity and effi ciency.

Han also said China would step up IPR protection in order to impose tougher punishment on IPR infringements by raising legislative standards， improving law enforcement and promoting innovation in the trial of IPR cases.

Digital Divide Tackled

China is planning to provide Internet access to almost all of its poor villages in the next three years as part of its efforts to narrow the urbanrural digital divide.

More than 98 percent of 122，900 registered poor villages across the country will have access to the Internet by 2020， according to a plan by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The ministry will work to provide broadband and 4G data network services to the villages and encourage telecom operators to offer special discounts to provide quality Internet services at a lower cost.

It also plans to ask cellphone manufacturers to develop more lowpriced， easy-to-use smartphones.

China had 1.08 billion 4G network users at the end of April， while fi xed-broadband subscribers to Chinas three major telecom operators—China Telecom， China Unicom and China Mobile—reached 366 million.

Pollution Inspection

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment launched a massive environmental inspection on June 11 to ensure the effective curb of air pollution in some key regions.

The review is expected to last until April 28， 2019， during which time approximately 18，000 environmental supervisors will be dispatched to unearth environmental protection problems in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas， the Yangtze River Delta， and the Fenhe and Weihe river plains， according to the ministry.

A total of 28 cities will be targeted， including 11 cities in the provinces of Shanxi， Shaanxi and Henan in the plains of the Fenhe and Weihe rivers， as well as Shanghai and Jiangsu， Zhejiang and Anhui provinces in the Yangtze River Delta.

Although air quality in these areas has continued to improve， pollution remains a serious problem in individual regions， the ministry said.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is the worst， while in some provinces like Henan and Shandong， the annual share of days with good air quality is less than 60 percent.

In the Fenhe and Weihe river plains， air pollution has worsened in recent years.

Minister Li Ganjie said on June 8 the move is meant to implement the requirements of the Central Government to fi ght a tough battle against pollution and boost ecological development.

Currently， the top priority is winning the battle against air pollution， and a three-year action plan must be released as quickly as possible， said Li.

Efforts must be made to curb PM2.5， a key indicator of air pollution， while iron， steel， thermal power， building materials， bulk coal， dieselpowered trucks will be put under strict scrutiny.

Graduates Jobs

Nearly 92 percent of Chinese college students who graduated in 2017 have found jobs， a similar rate to 2015 and 2016， a private survey showed.

The employment rate of university graduates in 2017 was 91.6 percent， while for graduates from junior colleges and higher vocational schools， the number was 92.1 percent， according to the findings of education research company MyCOS.

Some 306，000 college graduates in 30 provincial-level regions were interviewed six months after their graduation.

Their average monthly income was 4，317 yuan （$674）， up from 3，988 yuan （$623） in 2016， according to MyCOS.

This also compares to Chinas average per-capita disposable income for urban residents， which stood at 3，033 yuan （$474） last year.

More graduates were employed by private enterprises and medium-， small- and micro-sized enterprises. In addition， more students found jobs elsewhere after graduating from colleges in large cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

Up to 14.7 percent of university graduates last year were employed in the education industry， while the construction industry hired the most junior college and higher vocational school graduates.

Freed Fish

Volunteers and local residents release fi sh into the sea in Haikou， capital of south Chinas Hainan Province， to celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8.

New Flu Vaccine

The national drug regulator has approved Chinas fi rst vaccine that can protect people from four infl uenza virus strains.

The four-strain vaccine adds protection against the Yamagata lineage of Infl uenza B， which was the main virus strain during the last fl u season， according to the National Drug Administration of China.

Two domestic companies—Hualan and Changsheng—have been approved to produce the vaccine， which may be used on adults and children aged 3 years and older.

H1N1 and H3N2 of Infl uenza A， and Victoria and Yamagata lineages of Infl uenza B are the common strains of human fl u viruses. Before the approval of the new vaccine， China only had three-strain vaccines on the market.

The seasonal fl u is an acute respiratory infection caused by infl uenza viruses， affecting seniors， infants and people with cardiopulmonary diseases in particular. Vaccination is considered the most effective way to prevent infection and guard against an epidemic.

Cool Ride

Tourists enjoy their rafting experience in Zigui County， central Chinas Hubei Province， on June 9.

Foreign Trade Up

Chinas trade in goods rose 8.8 percent year on year to 11.63 trillion yuan （$1.82 trillion） in the fi rst fi ve months of 2018， customs data showed on June 8.

Exports rose 5.5 percent year on year to 6.14 trillion yuan （$958.8 billion） in the period while imports grew 12.6 percent to 5.49 trillion yuan （$857.3 billion）， resulting in a trade surplus of 649.8 billion yuan（$101.5 billion）， which narrowed 31 percent， according to the General Administration of Customs （GAC）.

In May， the goods trade surplus shrank 43.1 percent to 156.5 billion yuan （$24.4 billion）， as exports rose 3.2 percent year on year to 1.34 trillion yuan （$209.2 billion） and imports surged 15.6 percent to 1.19 trillion yuan （$185.8 billion）， according to the GAC.

Private enterprises played a bigger role in trade by contributing 38.9 percent to the total， up 1 percentage point compared with the same period last year.

Exports and imports by foreignfunded companies totaled 4.95 trillion yuan （$773 billion）， up 4.3 percent， contributing 42.6 percent to the total foreign trade volume during the January-May period.

Exports of mechanical and electrical products rose 7.9 percent year on year to 3.61 trillion yuan （$563.7 billion）， accounting for 58.8 percent of the total value of exports.

In contrast， exports of laborintensive products dropped 4.1 percent to 1.13 trillion yuan （$176.4 billion）， accounting for 18.4 percent of the total.

In Transmission

Workers conduct routine maintenance on equipment at a cloud computing data center of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group in Zhangbei County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on June 12.

The equipment transmits electricity generated by a photovoltaic station to local households， realizing a new model for the transmission of clean electricity.

FDI Inflow

Foreign direct investment （FDI） in China will remain stable in the second half of the year， despite the uncertainty of global issues， a senior trade offi cial said on June 8.

“The nations FDI remained stable from January to April at 286.8 billion yuan （$44.8 billion）， up 0.1 percent year on year，” said Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen at a news conference.

Wang pointed to a recent report issued by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce stating that one third of U.S. enterprises plan to increase their investment in China by at least 10 percent.

According to Wang， the State Council， Chinas cabinet， will soon roll out new measures on active and effective utilization of foreign investment in promoting high-quality economic development.

The measures will cover the liberalization， facilitation， promotion and protection of investment， and will include improving regional opening up， as well as promoting innovation in national development zones.

By July 1， a newly revised negative list for foreign investment for the whole country will be issued， and the system of pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list will be fully implemented.

CEEC Cooperation

A demonstration zone has been launched in east Chinas Zhejiang Province to boost Chinas economic and trade ties with 16 Central and Eastern European Countries （CEEC）.

Fu Ziying， China International Trade Representative and Vice Minister of Commerce， made the announcement during a meeting of China and CEEC economic and trade ministers in Ningbo， Zhejiang， on June 7.

It is the fi rst demonstration zone in China with a focus on CEEC relations.

Fu said China would collaborate with CEEC to set up platforms for cooperation in small and mediumsized enterprises， e-commerce， customs， the digital economy and smart industries.

“Both sides will also regularly publish white papers evaluating bilateral trade cooperation，” Fu said.

Greater Bay Area

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is expected to be the largest economy among global bay areas by 2020， as Hong Kong becomes more attractive to fi rms and capital from the Chinese mainland， according to a report from real estate consulting fi rm CBRE.

CBRE said the Greater Bay Area has three growth powerhouses of Shenzhen， Guangzhou and Hong Kong， with advantages in scientifi c innovation， trade， logistics， fi nance and services， and it also covers cities with strong manufacturing power in the Pearl River Delta.

In 2017， the economic aggregate of the Greater Bay Area reached 11.7 trillion yuan （$1.83 trillion）.

The Greater Bay Area is accelerating its integration. As the development plan is implemented， population infl ow will increase， technology and industry will be upgraded and large-scale infrastructure investment will create new investment opportunities in real estate in the area.

As economic growth and structural transformation continue in the Greater Bay Area， demand for offi ce buildings will surge， said Li Ling， Managing Director of the Investment and Capital Market Sector at CBRE China.

High-end business will continue to gather in core cities that will boost offi ce building investment in Guangzhou， Shenzhen and Hong Kong， CBREs report said.

Taking the Bullet

A railway employee from Jordan tries out a bullet train simulator at the Wuhan High-Speed Railway Training Center in central Chinas Hubei Province on June 12.

Since its establishment in 2014， the center has offered training to over 400 overseas visitors.

Aircraft Cooperation

The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China has reached a consensus with Russias United Aircraft Corp. on the overall layout for the planned coproduction of the CR929 wide-body airline， according to a report on the Russian news site Kommersant.ru.

The CR929 is being developed by the China-Russia Aircraft International Corp. （CRAIC）， a joint venture between the two stateowned aircraft makers registered in Shanghai.

The Russian report said the two sides have signed agreements on major geometric features of the CR929， including the size and shape of the wings and the layout of the fuselage.

They fi rst began feasibility studies on the CR929 in 2014. Offi cials expect the review process to be completed in mid-2019.

Chinese and Russian offi cials said they expect the aircraft to challenge the market dominance of the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350， with the maiden fl ight of the CR929 scheduled for 2023.

CRAIC is anticipating deliveries of the aircraft to begin in 2026.

China-Africa E-Commerce

Chinas cross-border trade with Africa is expected to experience rapid growth thanks to an e-commerce platform launched on June 6 that will further bolster commercial ties and cooperation between the two sides.

The new platform， Ca-b2b.com， will operate under the aegis of ChinaAfrica E-Commerce Co. Ltd.， a cross- border e-commerce trading company.

It will be the only national China-Africa business-to-business e-commerce platform and will function as a one-stop destination for international trade in 17 categories， such as oil and gas， information communication technology， raw materials， automobiles and healthcare.

Equipped with multilingual assistance， the platform will offer services required for international trade， including contract signing， payment， insurance， logistics and customs declaration.

Hou Zhigang， Board Chairman of the company， said， “The launch of the e-commerce platform offers an economic trade channel for numerous enterprises from China and Africa to make optimal use of the Belt and Road Initiative.”

About 1.39 million enterprises to date， verifi ed by six national ministries， are among the fi rst batch of members on Ca-b2b.com. Nearly 6 million small- and medium-sized enterprises will also become potential customers on the platform.

Gesture Control

An exhibitor operates a mechanical arm through 5G technology during the 16th China International Software & Information Service Fair in Dalian， northeast Chinas Liaoning Province， on June 12.

The service fair saw the participation of 750 companies.