SNOWY WONDERLAND

People take photos outside the Palace Museum in Beijing on January 6 after the years first recorded snowfall. The overnight snow hit most parts of the city with an average precipitation of 4.3 mm citywide， said the Beijing Meteorological Bureau.

Most areas in China from the north to the south received snowfall in early January. The snowfall coincided with the opening of the annual chunyun， the Spring Festival travel rush， on January 10. The rush will continue till February 18.

Prepping for Spring Festival

A visitor samples agricultural products from Dechang County of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture during a shopping fair to greet Spring Festival in Chengdu， capital of Sichuan Province in southwest China， on January 8.

Farewell to Poverty

A total of 645，000 people were estimated to cast off poverty in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， northwest China， in 2019.

About 976 poverty-stricken villages and 12 impoverished counties in Xinjiang shook off poverty last year， according to the government work report delivered at the annual regional legislative session on January 6.

In 2019， nearly 37.6 billion yuan （$5.41 billion） was allocated to improve the drinking water and housing security in the region， benefi tting 346，000 poor people without access to safe drinking water and 9，355 impoverished households living in dilapidated houses.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan（2016-20） period， Xinjiang identifi ed the relocation of the poor from inhospitable areas as a key battle against poverty. One year ahead of schedule， the region completed the relocation program and moved a total of 169，400 residents to places with better living conditions.

In 2020， Xinjiang aims to eradicate absolute poverty by lifting the remaining 165，000 people out of poverty and taking 10 counties off the poverty list.

Pneumonia Cases

Eight patients with viral pneumonia of unknown causes in Wuhan， capital of Hubei Province in Central China， have been cured of the disease and were discharged from hospital on January 8， local health authorities said.

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said on January 5 that the city had reported 59 such viral pneumonia cases， with seven patients in serious condition.

Tests on the exact pathogens and an investigation into the cause of the infections are underway. Infl uenza， bird fl u， adenovirus， Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome have all been ruled out， the commission said in a statement.

A preliminary investigation showed that there have been no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission and no reports of infections among medical staff， it said.

Some of the patients， who fell ill with pneumonia between December 12 and 29， 2019， are merchants from a local seafood wholesale market that has been temporarily shut down， according to the statement. A total of 163 people who came in close contact have been put under medical observation and have shown no abnormal symptoms such as fever. Local authorities are still searching for more close contacts.

Groundwater Monitoring

China has successfully completed its national groundwater monitoring project， according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The project was initiated in June 2015 with a total investment of 2.2 billion yuan （$316 million）. Jointly built by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Water Resources， it includes 20，469 groundwater monitoring stations， creating an automatic monitoring groundwater network that generates more than 89 million pieces of data on water levels and water temperatures every year.

Monitoring data has been applied to serve groundwater protection， land space planning and water resource management， providing a data basis for scientifi c research on groundwater resources and environment.

The network can automatically collect， do real-time transmission and conduct analysis of monitoring data. It will facilitate groundwater monitoring in some key areas including densely populated， major national engineering and subsidence areas.

Private Car Ownership

There were 260 million motor vehicles in China by the end of 2019， up 8.83 percent year on year， including 207 million private cars， the Ministry of Public Security said on January 7.

The number of new-energy vehicles reached 3.81 million last year， said the ministry， adding that the increase in the number had exceeded 1 million for a second consecutive year.

Nearly 29.43 million people received drivers licenses nationwide last year， bringing the total number of drivers to 435 million， said the ministry.

Nursing Home Rating

A national unifi ed rating system for nursing homes will be established by 2022 amid efforts to improve services at these facilities， the Ministry of Civil Affairs said in a guideline released on January 2.

Nursing homes across the country are encouraged to fi le for ratings on a voluntary basis， said the guideline， which also noted the ratings will follow a unifi ed procedure and will be recognized nationwide.

The guideline asked provincial authorities for civil affairs to designate a department for the rating service or determine a third-party rating agency through open bidding.

A New Look

Residents buy vegetables at Shuangta Market in Suzhou， Jiangsu Province in east China， on January 5. After extensive renovations in 2019， the market now serves as a place for shopping， entertainment and learning.

Fossil Research

A group of scientists from China， Australia and the U.S. made an accurate calculation of the fi rst mass extinction that occurred on Earth more than 400 million years ago， which lasted 200，000 years.

The scientists from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology with the Chinese Academy of Sciences， the Australian National University and the University of California spent eight y ears researching a continuous and complete Ordovician-Silurian boundary profi le found in Yongshan County， Yunnan Province in southwest China.

Zhan Renbin， a researcher with the Nanjing institute and a participant in the project， said the precise geochronology is based on research on fossil sediment samples taken from Yunnan， which also provide an important basis to accurately study the causes and mechanisms of the mass extinction.

He said the section of strata samples completely retains the fossil sediment records from the fi rst mass extinction. The fossil dating suggests that the mass extinction at the end of Ordovician occurred from 443.1 million years ago to 442.9 million years ago， which is much shorter than previously thought.

During this period， a large-scale glaciation was formed with a total scale of 150 million cubic km， more than six times the total of Antarctic and Arctic ice coats today， which also triggered a rapid drop in the global sea level by 100 to 150 meters， leading to the mass extinction of life on Earth， he said.

A paper on the research was published in the December 2019 issue of the International Journal of Integrated Solid Earth Sciences.

Job Preferences

More international graduates favor Chinese tech companies to start their careers， according to a report issued on January 2 by New York University Shanghai based on the employment of the class of 2019.

The number of graduates starting their careers in the fi eld of information technology has continued to grow over the years， up 19 percent from 2017. The fi nancial industry also remains popular among graduates， the report said.

Among all the 118 international graduates of New York University Shanghais class of 2019， more were willing to choose Chinese hi-tech companies for their fi rst job， such as Huawei and Transsion， two tech gi- ants based in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province in south China， the report said.

In previous years， more graduates were interested in the education sector such as language training and education research.

Founded in 2012， New York University Shanghai is regarded as a pilot program in China-U.S. educational cooperation. It now has 1，300 undergraduate and graduate students， about half of whom are international students.

Pay Day

Yin Xinping receives his annual dividend for 2019 at a ceremony in Daoping Village in Longnan City， Gansu Province in northwest China， on January 7.

Villagers who are shareholders of Daopings joint-stock cooperative received dividends totaling 785，000 yuan （$112，600）. The village has risen out of poverty by setting up cooperatives and developing industries such as ancient village tourism， animal husbandry and rural e-commerce.

Civil Aviation

The civil aviation industry posted steady growth in 2019， reporting an expanded size and improved service quality， according to Chinas civil aviation regulator.

The industry conducted 660 million passenger trips in 2019， up 7.9 percent year on year， said Feng Zhenglin， head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China （CAAC）， at a conference on January 6.

Total transport turnover of the sector was 129.3 billion ton-km， with cargo and mail volume hitting 7.53 million tons， up 7.1 percent and 1.9 percent year on year， respectively.

The countrys aviation sector saw an unprecedented transformation， adding 9，275 km of air routes and increasing the number of transport airports to 238， according to the CAAC.

The service quality of civil aviation also improved nationwide， reporting an 81.7-percent fl ight punctuality rate， with the number of fl ights increasing 5.6 percent year on year.

Domestic passengers average self check-in rate was 71.6 percent at 37 of the 39 airports handling at least 10 million passenger trips per year， CAAC data showed.

The country aims to further expand the industry in 2020， expecting growth in the total transport turnover， number of passenger trips and cargo and mail volume.

Digital Channels

A worker packs fresh corn at an e-commerce service center in Zhangjiakou， Hebei Province in north China， on January 5. Local agricultural products are sold across the country through e-commerce channels， improving farmers income.

Joint Auto Venture

Chinas Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and German carmaker Mercedes-Benz announced the establishment of a joint venture to operate and develop the Smart brand globally on January 8.

The joint venture has registered capital of 5.4 billion yuan （$777.5 million）， with each side cont ributing 2.7 billion yuan （$388.8 million）.

Headquartered in Ningbo， Zhejiang Province in east China， the joint venture will enable the two carmakers to cooperate in research and development， manufacturing and supply chains to transform the Smart brand into a leading global producer of high-end， intelligent electric vehicles.

With joint efforts by MercedesBenz and Geely Holding， the new model of the pure electric Smart brand will be manufactured in China and is expected to be launched and sold worldwide in 2022.

The joint venture will bring the next generation of zero-emissions smart electric cars to the Chinese and global markets， said Ola Kallenius， Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG.

Geely Holding Chairman Li Shufu said it will step up cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual benefi t and accelerate Smarts electric and intelligent transformation.

IP Development

China has improved its policy environment for innovation and intellectual property （IP） development over the past year， Shen Changyu， head of the National Intellectual Property Administration （NIPA）， said at a meeting in Beijing on January 6.

In 2019， China had 13.3 invention patents per 10，000 people. The total number of effective registered trademarks exceeded 25 million， with every 4.9 market entities owning one registered trademark on average.

The countrys patent examination has become more effi cient. The period for high-value patent examination has been reduced to 17.3 months and the average time for trademark registration to 4.5 months， according to the NIPA.

Chinas innovation strength has been at the forefront of the world. According to the Global Innovation Index 2019 by the World Intellectual Property Organization， China moved up to 14th place worldwide， the highest ranking among middleincome economies.

Xiao Yaqing， head of the State Administration for Market Regulation， said at the meeting that market supervision will be further strengthened.

“IP creation is the key to promoting innovation and high-quality development. Stepping up IP protection will improve Chinas core international competitiveness，” Xiao said.

Handiwork Opportunities

Workers make broom handicrafts as local specialty products at a factory in Chifeng， Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， on January 4. A total of 85 factories have been established for producing handicrafts， which have been sold abroad and helped over 9，000 people fi nd employment.

Local Bonds

Local authorities raised 4.36 trillion yuan （$622.9 billion） through bond issuance in 2019， up from 4.17 trillion yuan （$601 billion） the year before.

The average issuance interest rate was 3.47 percent for the year， 42 basis points lower year on year， the Ministry of Finance （MOF） said in a recent statement.

China accelerated its bond issuance and utilization， with the annual target for new bond issuance achieved by the end of September 2019.

Meanwhile， the issuing channels were more diversifi ed as China started to allow commercial bank over-the-counter issuances of local government bonds in March， the MOF said. To further spur the economy， China has eased restrictions on infrastructure construction fi nancing， allowing local governments to use part of special-purpose bonds as project capital to support major national infrastructure projects.

Tibet Growth

The GDP in Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China grew about 9 percent in 2019， according to the local government work report.

Its GDP was estimated at more than 160 billion yuan （$23 billion） last year， Qizhala， Chairman of the regional government， said as he delivered the report on January 7 at the Third Session of the 11th Peoples Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region.

The per-capita disposable income for the regions rural residents grew about 13 percent， while that for urban residents rose more than 10 percent.

Meanwhile， in 2019， Tibet created 52，000 urban jobs and maintained its urban registered unemployment rate within 3 percent.

Tibet also improved its business environment last year. Qizhala said the region saw an average daily increase of over 200 market entities， bringing the regions total number of market entities to over 325，000， with total registered capital of 1.5 trillion yuan （$216 billion）.

Tibets GDP in 2020 is expected to maintain a stable growth of 9 percent， he said， with the total retail sales of consumer goods targeted to grow 10 percent.

Meanwhile， the per-capita disposable income for the regions urban and rural residents in 2020 is estimated to grow 10 percent and 13 percent， respectively.

Housing Sales

Leading Chinese real estate developers had robust annual sales in 2019 amid slower growth in the industry， Shanghai Securities News reported on January 7.

The total contracted sales of the top 30 property developers was 5.74 trillion yuan （$823.65 billion）， with the top four enterprises—China Vanke Co. Ltd.， Country Garden， Sunac China and China Evergrande Group—all exceeding 550 billion yuan （$79 billion）.

Despite the robust sales posted by major fi rms， the real estate sector as a whole saw a lower growth rate， with the top 100 real estate enterprises rate at 6.5 percent in 2019， down from 50.8 percent in 2016.

Chinas real estate market remained healthy in 2019 thanks to the Central Governments continued efforts to stabilize land and home prices， Lin Bo， General Manager of China Real Estate Information Corp.， said.

The countrys investment in property development grew 10.2 percent year on year in the fi rst 11 months of 2019 to 12.13 trillion yuan （$1.7 trillion）， according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Hi-Tech Engine

A staff member checks a production line of high-speed data transfer cables at a company in Zhili Town， Zhejiang Province in east China， on January 5. The town has focused on cutting-edge industries such as electronic information， metal materials and photovoltaic equipment manufacturing to upgrade its economy.