Home for the Winter

Black-necked cranes overwinter in the Caohai National Nature Reserve in Weining County， southwest Chinas Guizhou Province， on November 17.

BeiDou System

With the launch of two new BeiDou-3 satellites for the homegrown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System （BDS） on November 19， China will have completed its basic navigation system and start to provide services for countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative by the end of the year.

“This is a key step for the BDS developing from a domestic Chinese system to a regional and then a global system，” said Yang Changfeng， chief designer of the system.

China plans to launch another 11 BeiDou-3 satellites in the coming two years. By the end of 2020， the BDS， named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper constellation， will go global and provide high-precision， reliable positioning， navigation and timing services anywhere in the world.

“China developed the BDS through a unique technological approach， contributing Chinese wisdom to the theory and construction of international satellite navigation systems，” said Xie Jun， deputy chief designer of the BDS.

A total of 18 BDS satellites have been sent into space from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest Chinas Sichuan Province in 2018.

“This year has seen the most intensive launch of BDS satellites. We improved our work effi ciency by reforming the management process. The number of satellite staff at the launch center has been reduced by nearly half， and the testing time before launch has been shortened by nearly a third，” Chi Jun said， head of the BeiDou-3 satellite team from the China Academy of Space Technology.

Ecological Jobs

More than 500，000 people living below Chinas poverty line have been employed as governmentpaid forest rangers as part of ecological poverty-relief programs， according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration on November 16.

Zhang Jianlong， Director of the administration， said forestry authorities nationwide had recruited rangers from impoverished population.

In addition， more than 1.6 million poor households have received government subsidies in return for giving up their reclaimed land. Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture in southwest Chinas Yunnan Province has provided jobs as ecological rangers for people from 195 impoverished households who form part of the Dulong ethnic group. In addition to providing them with an income， it also acts as a catalyst to protecting their native land.

“Local governments should tighten up management to ensure people in need are covered by the policy through jobs，” Zhang said.

He said the administration plans to add 300，000 more forest and grassland rangers nationwide and provide professional training for the workforce.

Housing Renovation

China will soon achieve this years housing renovation target for rundown urban areas， according to data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on November 17.

Construction began on 5.77 million homes in dilapidated areas during the fi rst 10 months of the year， accounting for 99 percent of the annual target， the ministry said on its website.

During the period， more than 1.5 trillion yuan （$216 billion） was invested in the renovation projects， according to the ministry.

The State Council， Chinas cabinet， said in March that a new three-year renovation plan would be launched to address housing in rundown urban areas， with construction on 5.8 million homes to start by the end of the year.

This is part of the governments efforts to improve the living conditions of people with housing diffi culties.

The country started renovation of 6.09 million homes in shanty towns in 2017， exceeding its target of 6 million.

Pain-Free Delivery

The National Health Commission has released a work plan for the nationwide promotion of pain relief methods during labor and delivery.

The three-year plan aims to make fewer mothers turn to caesarean sections to escape unbearable labor pain， thus increasing rates of natural childbirth.

Painless delivery is yet to become common in China due to several factors， including a shortage of anesthetists at hospitals and widespread myths surrounding labor pain relief methods.

A number of pilot hospitals will be chosen around the country between 2018 and 2020 to normalize and improve labor pain relief， before it is widely promoted， according to the work plan.

The plan also called for improved education via books， media and the Internet for expectant mothers and their families so they can better understand and accept labor pain relief.

The commission also released two norms attached to the work plan， one regarding labor pain relief operation procedures and the other in analgesia technical management.

Hello， My Friends

Primary school students pose with greeting cards made to mark World Hello Day， which falls on November 21， in Hohhot， north Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Theme Park Trend

China is on track to become the worlds largest theme park market by 2020， when the number of tourists is expected to exceed 230 million， according to a report by the U.S. engineering fi rm AECOM.

The number of tourists visiting Chinese theme parks has grown 13 percent annually in the past decade. The fi gure reached 190 million in 2017. The growth is expected to remain in double digits in the following years， according to the report. The growth is attributed to Chinese consumers rising income that sparks greater demands for leisure activities， as well as more convenient public transportation systems.

Despite the large number of total attendees， the report also found that China has a markedly lower percapita attendance cost compared with developed economies.

“These fi ndings demonstrate a signifi cant opportunity for future growth in the Chinese market，” said Chris Yoshii， Vice President for Asia and Global Director for Leisure and Culture with AECOM.

Most of the theme parks are in economically developed areas such as south and east China， with the latter accounting for more than 30 percent of the total number. More parks are being built in central and southwest China， the report showed.

“We are seeing a trend of more parks in central and southeast China， the projects are shifting inland from coastal areas as a result of local economic development，” said Yoshii.

Red Harvest

Farmers harvest red rice in Nali County， south Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， on November 20. The fl ood-resistant and saline-tolerant crop is known for its health benefi ts.

Going Green

Dalian in northeast Chinas Liaoning Province will switch all its buses and ride-hailing cars in urban areas to environmentally friendly vehicles within the next few years.

Local transport operators will re- place all gasoline-powered vehicles running in its four urban districts with new-energy vehicles （NEVs） by 2020， the city government said on November 19.

In other parts of the city， NEVs will account for at least 10 percent of the bus fl eet by 2020. At least half of the newly purchased buses will also be NEVs by this date.

Also from 2020， all newly purchased taxis in the four districts must be new-energy or cleanenergy vehicles and those which join ride-hailing services will be required to be NEVs. By 2025， all ride-hailing vehicles must be NEVs.

The government also said it would speed up the construction of hydrogen fueling stations and electric vehicle charging networks.

China has pushed the use of NEVs to ease pressure on the environment by offering tax exemptions and purchase subsidies. The country has remained the worlds largest NEV market for three consecutive years， with some 777，000 NEVs sold in 2017 alone.

Tax Environment

Chinas tax environment improved remarkably in 2017. One notable feature is the compliance time， which dropped to 142 hours， falling by 31.4 percent year on year， a global report showed on November 20.

The number of payments has also been reduced to seven， demonstrating the continuing enhancement of taxpayer services， said a Paying Taxes 2019 report jointly released by the World Bank Group and PwC Global.

Paying Taxes investigates and compares tax regimes across 190 economies worldwide using a medium-sized domestic case study company. As one of the data providers in China for the Paying Taxes series report， PwC China witnessed the unremitting efforts of Chinese tax authorities.

“Chinas tax compliance time has fallen from 832 hours in 2004 to 142 hours in 2017， refl ecting the power of digitalization to disrupt the traditional tax administration mode，”said Peter Ng， PwC China Mainland and Hong Kong Tax Leader.

The report said China has been improving its tax regime and implementing tax reduction measures in recent years. These include the value-added tax （VAT） reform in 2013， a series of tax incentives put forward in 2018 supporting research and development and high and new technology enterprises， as well as small and thin-profi t enterprises， the simplifi cation of VAT rate brackets， and the refund of excess VAT credit for selected industry sectors.

“All these measures have demonstrated the continuous efforts of Chinese fi scal and tax authorities to reduce the tax burden， with the goal to vitalize business and improve the quality of economic growth，” said the report.

Railway Backup

A worker installs a cable box at a railway parts manufacturing enterprise in Raoyang County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on November 20. The county is a major producer of railway-related products in China with 34 companies engaged in this business.

Staying Warm

China has secured a substantial supply of natural gas and vowed to stabilize prices this winter as demand spikes in the heating season， according to the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC）.

The country has unveiled measures to increase its natural gas supply， expand the gas pipeline network， improve gas reserves and pre-arrange stocks for peak demand， according to Meng Wei， a spokesperson for the NDRC.

“Currently， the gas supply is suffi cient to satisfy the demand for civilian use，” Meng said， noting that the NDRC has pledged to strengthen monitoring and ensure stable gas prices throughout the winter heating season.

The commission also urged domestic gas suppliers to follow through with their contracts and ensure a stable gas supply.

The countrys gas output saw a year-on-year rise of 6.3 percent to 129.5 billion cubic meters in the fi rst 10 months of this year. From January to October， imported gas reached 72.06 million tons， with an increase of 33.1 percent year on year.

A Safer Ride

Leading ride-hailing platform Didi has recently launched an audio and video recording function in 10 cities. This move has sparked heated online discussion as to whether the surveillance measure will help boost the safety of passengers or infringe on personal privacy.

As a step to strengthen safety supervision， Didi has activated the audio recording function nationwide and will continue to expand the visual recording function across the country.

Liu Ruisheng， an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， said there is no contradiction between emphasizing security and protecting privacy. However， Didi cannot force consumers to accept the audio and visual recordings， and their right to choose should be guaranteed. The company ought to develop a detailed procedure of data processing to ensure data security while asking for passengers permission before initiating the function.

Didi offers a wide range of appbased transportation options for 550 million users worldwide， with about 30 million rides each day. However， the murder of a young female passenger by a Didi driver in August in east Chinas Wenzhou City， the second such case in about three months， raised public concerns over the platforms capability to provide safe services. The authorities ordered Didi to rectify operation patterns to ensure the safety of its customers.

Face Off

A staff member demonstrates Alipays digital payment function based on facial recognition at the 2018 Hangzhou Yunqi Conference in east Chinas Zhejiang Province. Booming Internet companies such as Alibaba， the parent company of Alipay， are injecting new momentum into Chinas economic transformation.

U.S. Treasuries

Chinas holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds in September hit their lowest in a year， but the country remained the largest foreign buyer of U.S. government debt， statistics released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on November 16 showed.

Chinas holdings of U.S. Treasuries totaled $1.151 trillion in September， down by $13.7 billion from the previous month.

The statistics also showed that Japan， the second largest foreign buyer， was a net seller of U.S. Treasuries in September too， with its holdings slipping from $1.03 trillion to a one-year low of $1.028 trillion.

The data represented the aggregation of purchases and sales by both foreign offi cial institutions and private investors. Together， U.S. Treasuries saw a net foreign outfl ow of $29.1 billion in September.

Of that， net foreign private infl ows were $23.5 billion and net foreign offi cial outfl ows were $52.7 billion， meaning that the foreign private sector remained a net buyer， while foreign offi cial institutions contributed more to the selling activity.

Washington has increased the issuance of its government bonds since the massive corporate tax cut was enacted last December. Business insiders have warned of imbalance between demand and supply.

“I think we have a supplydemand problem for bonds that will particularly come next year or the year after，” said Ray Dalio， founder of the worlds largest hedge fund company Bridgewater Associates.

“In other words， because of that tax cut and the defi cit， well have to sell a lot more bonds， and the United States itself cant absorb that quantity of bonds，” he said.

Rural Designs

A designer shows a rendering drawn by his team next to a newly constructed facility in Lujia Village， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on November 14. The fl ourishing tourism industry has brought dramatic changes to the village.

Fish Farming

Chinas fi rst batch of farmed salmon will hit the market ahead of the Spring Festival， or Chinese Lunar New Year， in February， said the operator of the Shenlan 1， the worlds largest fully submersible fi sh cage.

The fi sh farm， located 130 sea miles east of Rizhao City in east Chinas Shandong Province， takes advantage of a cold water mass in the Yellow Sea to cultivate the deepsea fi sh species.

The huge steel facility built by the Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group is 35 meters tall， which is roughly as tall as an 11-story building. It measures 180 meters in width， allowing it to accommodate 300，000 salmon.

Since the salmon at the stage of growth when it can swim out of gravel， known as fry， were released into the cage in July， they have survived the harsh summer， according to the Rizhao Wanzefeng Fishing Co. Ltd. The fi rst harvest can be expected at the beginning of next year.

Chinese consumers have shown a growing appetite for fresh seafood.

“The China-developed fi sh farm in the cold water mass enables Chinese fi shing fi rms to cultivate seafood with high economic value，”said Dong Shuanglin， former deputy head of Ocean University of China.

In addition to the submersible fi sh cage， Shandong has built 35 fl oating platforms for fi sh farming in the sea.

One of the platforms， the Yangguang 1， is equipped with ocean current power generation， sewage water treatment facilities and an intelligent control system for making automatic fi sh farming management.

In 2007， the provinces reaped 210 billion yuan （$30.2 billion） in revenues from marine ranching， with more than 100，000 people employed in the industry.