PHYSICIST ELECTED TO APS

Wang Enge， an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）， has been elected international councilor of the American Physical Society （APS）， ThePaper.cn reported on September 22.

Founded in 1899， the APS is a nonprofi t membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics.

Wang is a professor of physics at Peking University and chairs the advisory board of the CAS Institute of Physics， where he also served as director from 1999 to 2007. He was also president of Peking University from 2013 to 2015.

His research focuses on surface physics， which is a combination of atomistic simulation of nonequilibrium growth and chemical vapor deposition of light-element nanomaterials. Recently， he has been studying the nuclear quantum effects of water on solid surfaces.

Wang received the Tan Kah Kee Science Award in Mathematics and Physics in 2014 and the Stanford GCEP scholar award in 2009.

Monitoring Online Rental Platforms

Peoples Daily September 20

Several online property platforms in China have recently come under fire as the apartments they rent to customers have been found to have excessive levels of formaldehyde， a chemical used in making building materials and furniture.

Some platforms offer apartments whose amount of formaldehyde is three to eight times more than the acceptable standard.

The high levels of formaldehyde pose serious health hazards to tenants. Whats more troubling is that its difficult for them to safeguard their rights as the contract normally has no article of compensation for an excessive amount of the harmful gas. Moreover， its hard for a tenant who gets sick after renting an apartment to prove his or her illness is directly related to the chemical.

The problem reflects loopholes in online property platforms quality control and consumer rights protection systems.

Supervision of such platforms should be strengthened by requiring them to provide information regarding when an apartment is renovated and materials used during the process. In addition， it should be compulsory for newly renovated apartments to go through formaldehyde tests administered by third-party agencies before being advertised for leasing. The standards of compensation for tenants when disputes occur should also be made clear.

More importantly， Internet companies， including online property platforms， should improve internal management and shoulder their social responsibilities. Companies that pursue profi ts at the price of quality of services will eventually lose customers and the market.

Building Ice Rinks

China Newsweek September 17

China only had 21 indoor ice rinks in 2003， but the number increased to 59 by 2011 and soared to 188 at the end of 2016.

The increase was in part due to the countrys recent rapid economic growth. In addition， the sector also got a boost from government efforts to promote winter sports after Beijing won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in 2015. According to a plan for 2016 to 2020， China should have no less than 650 indoor ice rinks by 2022， of which at least 500 will be newly built.

T h e B e i j i n g M u n i c i p a l Government published a guideline on accelerating the development of winter sports in March 2016， which stated that every district in the city should have a newly built indoor ice rink no less than 1，800 square meters by 2022.

In China， ice rinks are either run by private entities or the government. However， they both struggle to turn a profit as a result of huge power bills and low levels of commercialization. Currently， their income comes mainly from paid use by professional skaters for training and opening to the public.

In addition， China also lacks experienced technicians to maintain the rinks and much of equipment relies on imports.

Industry insiders estimate that China has the market for 3，000 indoor ice rinks， however， it should take 20 to 25 years to realize the goal rather than the four to five years leading up to the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Quality of Web Literature

Guangzhou Daily September 19

Chinas Web literature has experienced explosive growth in recent years. According to the recently released 2017 Chinese Web Literature Development Report， sales volume in the market reached 12.92 billion yuan （$1.88 billion） and the number of readers totaled 406 million last year.

In addition to the increasing number of writers and readers， a lot of fi lms and TV dramas adapted from Web novels have become hits with millions of viewers. Therefore， even if one has never read any Web novels， one cannot escape their infl uence.

Compared with conventionally published literature， Web literature has the advantage of more direct interaction with readers. However， it also faces issues such as lack of premium works and homogeneous competition， with many writers focusing on a limited range of topics such as fantasy stories. Also， Web novels are becoming increasingly longer in order to generate more profi ts. If such a trend continues， the genre will lose its appeal among readers.

In the preliminary stage of development， Web literature relied on the quantity of content to survive. However， as the genre evolves into a new era， it should try to win readers by improving its quality. Only by producing excellent works covering a broad range of topics will the genre be assimilated into mainstream literature.

SENIOR OFFICIAL INVESTIGATED

Nur Bekri， Vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission and head of the National Energy Administration， is being investigated for suspected serious violations of Communist Party of China （CPC） disciplinary rules and laws， according to the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission on September 21.

Nur Bekri， born in August 1961 and a member of the Uygur ethnic group， hails from Bole City in northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. He studied political science at Xinjiang University from 1978 to 1983 and worked at the school after graduation.

He later held leading Party and government posts at different levels in Xinjiang， including vice secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Regional Committee， chairman of the Xinjiang Regional Government and mayor of Urumqi， capital of Xinjiang. He assumed his current post in 2014.

“We strongly condemn it. The Foreign Ministry of China and the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm have lodged strong protests with the Swedish side in Beijing and Stockholm， respectively.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang on September 24， commenting on a Swedish Television news program aired on September 21， which appallingly insulted China

“At the early stage of Chinas reform and opening up， the vast inland regions were regarded as the ‘tail of the countrys opening up. But the tail has been turned into the locomotive of Chinas new development drive， bringing its geographical advantage to countries along the Belt and Road.”

Bai Ming， Deputy Director of the International Market Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation， in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency

“Chinas anti-poverty struggle is on a village-to-village， county-to-county and district-to-district basis， making the countrys poverty reduction more efficient.”

Sabina Alkire， Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative， commenting on Chinas targeted poverty reduction strategy on September 20

“The UK does not see Chinas rise as a threat， and is willing to commit to safeguard a rules-based international order while strengthening strategic dialogue and deepening exchanges and cooperation in various fields with China.”

British Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt， during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the margins of the annual UN General Assembly General Debate on September 24