Gift of Grain

Gift of Grain

A farmer harvests rice in Caofeidian District of Tangshan City， north Chinas Hebei Province， on October 14. Over 21，000 hectares of paddy fi elds in the district were harvested.

U.S. Interference

A spokesperson for the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Offi ce of the State Council condemned the passing of the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 by the U.S. House of Representatives on October 16.

The lower house of Congress passed the act on October 15， despite strong opposition from the Chinese Government.

The spokesperson， Yang Guang， said the move was a gross interference in Chinas internal affairs， a blatant backing of violent radicals， and a full revelation of the U.S. House of Representatives and other politicians attempt to contain the development of China by playing the Hong Kong card.

The disturbance， originating from proposed ordinance amendments， has become more violent， inescapably related to overt and covert support from the U.S. for anti-China troublemakers in Hong Kong， Yang said.

U.S. house members and other politicians have turned a blind eye to violent crimes by Hong Kong mobs， confused right and wrong and confounded black with white， Yang said.

Since Hong Kongs return to the motherland， the policies of “one country， two systems，” the people of Hong Kong governing Hong Kong and a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have been faithfully implemented， and the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents have been fully protected in accordance with the law， Yang said.

“We advise the U.S. Congress and other politicians to respect facts and immediately stop the subsequent review of the so-called act to avoid heaping error upon error，”Yang said. “Hong Kong would be more prosperous and stable without U.S. interference.”

Living Better

A steady progress in fulfi lling annual housing renovation targets for rundown urban areas is taking place in China， offi cial data showed on October 15.

Construction began on 2.74 million homes in shantytowns in the fi rst nine months of the year， or 94.8 percent of the annual target， according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

The government plans to start renovation of 2.89 million homes in dilapidated urban areas by the end of 2019.

During the January-September period， more than 940 billion yuan （$133 billion） was invested in renovation projects， according to the ministry.

Shantytown transformation has been a priority for the government in recent years. China aims to renovate 15 million dilapidated homes from 2018 to 2020 to speed up its urbanization drive and improve peoples lives.

Heritage Protection

China will soon announce the eighth group of 762 major cultural heritage sites to be put under national-level protection， according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration（NCHA）.

With the newcomers， China will have 5，058 historical and cultural sites for national-level protection and preservation， Liu Yuzhu， head of the administration， said on October 15 at a press conference.

The 762 sites consist of ancient ruins， tombs， constructions， grottoes and other sites of historical and cultural signifi cance， according to Liu.

The selected sites refl ect the development of Chinese society from different aspects， including agriculture， education and industry， said Song Xinchao， deputy head of the NCHA.

The administration will take joint action with provincial-level authorities to enhance the protection and preservation of the sites， including restricting construction projects near the sites， assigning institutions to take charge of protection and clarifying the responsibilities of all relevant parties， Liu said.

The 762 major historical and cultural sites were approved at the State Councils executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang in late September.

“For a country with a timehonored civilization like China， it is important to strengthen the protection of the cultural relics as a way to reinforce historical memory，” Li said.

This round of applications started in July 2018， with the symbolic and national signifi cance of the cultural relics underlined during the selection process.

Science Talent

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will promote fostering talent with advanced manufacturing skills， particularly the application of industrial robots， to boost the development of the advanced manufacturing industry， an offi cial said on October 11.

Fu Jianqi made the remarks at a press conference for the Third National Industrial Robot Technology Application Skills Competition， whose fi nal is to be held in Jinan in east Chinas Shandong Province on October 18-20.

This years competition features the application of automatic guided vehicles and increases the diffi culty in assembling tasks， Fu said.

Contestants from 30 provinciallevel regions across China and 16 central state-owned enterprises will participate in this years competition.

Helping Buds Blossom

A press conference on the Spring Bud Project is held in Beijing on October 10. Launched by the China Children and Teenagers Fund in 1989， it has funded and helped over 3.69 million girls living in poverty fi nish school. The project has collected donations of nearly 2.12 billion yuan （$297.5 million） and provided assistance to build 1，811 Spring Bud schools.

Carbon-Ion Therapy

Chinas fi rst self-developed carbonion therapy system has been approved by the national drug regulator and has obtained market access.

This is the fi rst time that the National Medical Products Administration （NMPA） has approved a domestically produced carbonion therapy system， according to the offi cial website of the national drug regulator.

Installed in Wuwei Cancer Hospital in northwest Chinas Gansu Province， the system was co-developed by the Institute of Modern Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a subsidiary company.

The product is composed of an accelerator system and a treatment system， which includes two treatment rooms that can provide carbon-ion beams for the treatment of malignant tumors.

The approval of the system marks a new step in the development of high-end medical equipment in China. It will also contribute to the development of cancer diagnosis and treatment in the country， according to the NMPA.

A report published by the National Cancer Center in 2017 showed that China has nearly 25 percent of the worlds new cancer cases， with 10，000 cancer patients added per day. Every year， there are 2 million cancer-induced deaths. Lung， breast and stomach cancers are the most common types.

Smart Market

A screen displays information on agricultural products at the Jinzhaoxing smart market in Changsha， central Chinas Hunan Province， on October 15. The market has a smart information system application， providing product information at a glance and making payments more convenient.

The industrial upgrading drove electro-mechanical products， which took the lions share of exports， up 4.7 percent during this period.

Li attributed the resilient trade growth to stable economic expansion， effective policy support and market diversifi cation.

The economy is shifting from being driven by investment and exports to consumption. Net exports contributed 20.7 percent of GDP growth in the fi rst half of the year， while consumption accounted for 60.1 percent， offi cial data showed.

Green Lighting

An aerial view shows photovoltaic （PV） panels on house roofs in a village in Jincheng， north Chinas Shanxi Province， on October 13. The city has promoted rural PV stations to produce electricity in a green manner， helping alleviate poverty effectively.

Capital Support

More efforts will be made to exert the capital markets advantages in alleviating poverty， according to Zhao Zhengping， Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

He told a forum on October 14 that the government will encourage funds， talent and technologies from developed areas to fl ow into poor areas with market-based approaches， such as initial public offerings （IPOs）， mergers and acquisitions.

A total of 13 enterprises from impoverished areas had realized IPOs through a fast-track policy， raising funds worth 7.4 billion yuan （$1.05 billion）， Zhao said.

He also underscored the role of the futures market in stabilizing farming production， accelerating agricultural modernization and facilitating the market-oriented pricing reform of agricultural products.

“The country will maximize the capital markets guiding and driving role in allocating resources， encouraging private capital to participate in the tough battle against poverty，”Zhao said.

Outbound Packages

From 2020 to 2025， Chinas outbound small packages will see their postal remuneration rates rise by 164 percent compared to 2019， according to the countrys postal service regulator.

The prediction was based on the reform plan of postal remuneration rates passed at the Third Extraordinary Congress of the Universal Postal Union （UPU）， a UN agency that runs the worldwide postal system and establishes international postal policy.

Remuneration rates are the tariffs paid by the sending country to the receiving country for the delivery of its post， primarily bulky letters and small packages under 2 kg， according to the UPU.

With the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce in recent years， the international small package business has seen rapid growth and signifi cantly rising processing costs， the State Post Bureau of China（SPB） explained.

“In the long run， its an inevitable trend that the remuneration rates of small international packages will rise sharply， which will increase the logistics cost of cross-border e-commerce， said Gao Hongtao， Deputy Director of the SPBs General Offi ce.

More efforts should be made to promote structural adjustment updates of products in Chinas ecommerce platforms and upstream industries， Gao said.

Green Energy

In 2018， China topped the world in terms of newly added and cumulative installed photovoltaic and wind power capacities， according to a report released by China Economic Information Service.

It is also leading the world in investments in renewable energy， the report noted. Boasting multiple green energy patents， China is among the worlds most capable powers in developing renewable energy.

While its green energy policies and industrial systems are improving， development in the sector still faces some bottlenecks， including fi nancing diffi culties for businesses and rising operation costs.

To address such issues， China should strengthen policy guidance to encourage business innovation and create more fi nancing channels for them.

Chinas energy sector is accelerating its transition to a clean low-carbon mode. Renewable and nuclear energy have accounted for more than half of Chinas annual increase in installed capacity since 2013， a report by the International Energy Agency （IEA） said.

The share of renewables in meeting global energy demand is expected to reach 12.4 percent in 2023， according to the IEA forecast.

Automatic Glaze

An automatic machine glazes a product in a workshop of a porcelain company in Dehua County， southeast Chinas Fujian Province， on October 11. In recent years， the county has encouraged local enterprises to increase productivity through expanding automatic manufacturing.

Improving Leverage

Property developers across China will see lower leverage in the next 12 to 18 months as revenue growth outpaces debt growth， a Moodys report showed.

The credit metrics of 53 developers rated by Moodys will improve during the period on robust revenue growth， a result of strong contracted sales growth in the past two to three years， the report said.

The weighted average revenue to adjusted debt ratio of the companies will increase to 70-75 percent from 62 percent for the 12 months ended on June 30， it predicted.

Large-scale developers will drive the overall leverage improvement across rating categories， due to strong contracted sales growth in the past few years.

Authorities have been tightening curbs on a variety of fi nancing by developers as part of a broader deleveraging campaign in the country.

Government efforts to control debt funding to the property sector will slow the developers business growth and debt growth in 2019 and 2020， according to the report.

Blockchain Network

A nationwide blockchain-based service network （BSN） was jointly launched by the State Information Center （SIC）， China Mobile， China UnionPay and other institutions on October 15， aiming to improve the layout of related industries in the country.

Featuring controllable security， independent innovation， openness and inclusiveness， the public infrastructure network will effectively reduce the technical and economic threshold for the application of blockchain， said Zhang Xueying， deputy head of the SIC.

With the gradual adaptation of 5G wireless communication， the Internet of Things， artifi cial intelligence and other technologies， the BSN will provide high-quality and customized services for the development of smart cities and the digital economy， and help nurture a batch of new industries or new business models based on the blockchain technology， according to Zhang.

Beta tests of the network have also kicked off， with all related content， applications and resources free of charge until March 2020.

Virtual Power

A visitor experiences virtual skiing based on 5G and VR technologies at a digital economy expo in Shijiazhuang， north Chinas Hebei Province， on the opening day on October 11. Hi-tech exhibits such as 5G-based smart driving and remote control were displayed at the event.