Moving Images

Moving Images

Visitors at the Tsingtao Film Museum during the 2019 Qingdao International Film and Television Expo held in the coastal city in east Chinas Shandong Province from August 26-28. The museum offers audiences an immersive experience of Chinas fi lm history using digital technologies.

New Pilot FTZs

The State Council announced a master plan for six new pilot free trade zones （FTZs） on August 26， in a strategic move to press ahead with reform and opening up.

The pilot FTZs will be located in Shandong， Jiangsu， Hebei， Yunnan and Heilongjiang provinces and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

This will bring the total number of the countrys pilot FTZs to 18.

The six FTZs will be tasked with differentiated reform experiments， according to the plan.

For example， the development of the marine economy is one of the focuses of the pilot FTZ in Shandong， a coastal province， while building a new type of industrial base is part of the plan for Hebei， which neighbors Beijing and Tianjin.

Supporting innovation and the development of the manufacturing industry is one of the goals for the pilot FTZ in Jiangsu， a vibrant manufacturing hub in the east. And Guangxi in the southwest will step up cooperation with the ASEAN region in its pilot FTZ.

The new pilot FTZs will highlight institutional innovation， further opening up， high-quality development and integration with major national strategies， said Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen.

After China started piloting an FTZ in Shanghai in 2013， it established 11 more in its coastal regions including Guangdong and Fujian and inland provinces such as Shaanxi and Sichuan. In August， a new section was approved to expand the Shanghai pilot FTZ.

Drug Safety

Chinas top legislature voted to adopt a revision to the drug administration law on August 26， as part of the efforts to ensure drug safety and meet peoples health demands.

Lawmakers approved the revision at the closing meeting of a fi ve-day bimonthly session of the National Peoples Congress （NPC） Standing Committee.

Aimed at addressing prominent problems in the pharmaceutical industry， such as high prices， and counterfeit and substandard drugs， the revised law stipulates the strictest standards and toughest measures in supervision over the whole industry chain process.

The drug administration law was fi rst promulgated in 1984， with the revision on August 26 the fi rst overhaul since a 2001 revision. The revised law will go into effect on December 1.

According to the law， supervision of drugs will be further tightened and expanded to cover the whole process， including the research and development （R&D）， production， sale， use and management of drugs.

A full traceability mechanism and a drug recall system will also be introduced. In addition， the online sale of drugs will be regulated. Vaccines， blood products， anesthetic and radioactive drugs， and other drugs under special administration shall not be sold online. It has stipulated the toughest punishment to protect the rights and interests of the people， said Yuan Jie with the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee. In addition to tightening supervision to ensure drug safety， the newly revised law also encourages innovation in new drug R&D.

Flood Control

Heavy fl oods have hit many parts of China due to severe rainfall this year. A total of 585 rivers in 25 provincial-level regions rose above the alarm level， up 52 percent from the same period in 2018， Ye Jianchun， Vice M inister of Water Resources， said at a press conference on August 27.

He emphasized that preparations should be made for fl ood control for autumn.

China had stronger rainfall this year compared to previous years， with 32 times as much torrential rain hitting the country， the second highest since torrential rain was f rist recorded in 2013.

In addition， four typhoons landed in China this year， including Typhoon Lekima， the ninth and strongest of the year， which brought precipitation of more than 153 billion cubic meters and affected a large part of the country， Ye said.

He also warned that experts should strengthen guidance on fl ood prevention skills and efforts should be made to enhance information sharing with meteorology and emergency management departments to prevent fl ood-related disasters this fall.

Droughts affected 3.67 million hectare of crops this year and led to a temporary water shortage which impacted 1.16 million people.

A Phased Fruit

Construction of the Badaling Changcheng Railway Station of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou High-Speed Railway in Beijing is underway on August 23. The main structure of the station was capped on the same day， marking the completion of all the main structures of the railway line.