ELIMINATING THE THREAT OF COVID-19

People take nucleic acid tests for the novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19） at the Chengdu No.1 Peoples Hospital in Chengdu， Sichuan Province in southwest China， on December 9.

The city tightened COVID-19 control measures after a domestically transmitted case was reported two days earlier. There had been eight confi rmed cases and three asymptomatic cases as of December 11， local authorities said.

Snow Scenery

Terraced fi elds in Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County in Gansu Province in northwest China after snowfall on December 7. It was the period of Major Snow， the 21st of the 24 solar terms based on the traditional Chinese calendar， characterized by plummeting temperature and increased snowfall.

TB Prevention

A new guideline on tuberculosis （TB） prevention and control on campuses has been issued to protect teachers and students， Xinhua News Agency reported on December 7.

Despite a decline in cases in recent years， China bears a heavy burden of TB because of its large population， the guideline released by the National Health Commission and the Ministry of Education （MOE） said.

Students are a key group vulnerable to the disease， with the reported incidence among them accounting for one third of that of the total population. The beginning of each semester is the peak time of reported TB cases among students.

The guideline underlines the responsibilities and tasks of education and health authorities for TB prevention and control on campus， laying down detailed prevention measures.

It calls on schools to strengthen regular prevention and control work， list TB testing as mandatory in the health examination of new arrivals and the teaching staff， and raise selfprotection awareness.

The guideline also specifi es how to handle sporadic cases and stresses improving emergency response capacities.

Sharing Goodwill

Three medical workers， who received a sheep donated by Mongolia to show support for Chinas fi ght against the novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19）， have gifted their share to patients in their hospital in Jiangsu Province in east China， Xinhua News Agency reported on December 7.

The medics from the No.3 Peoples Hospital in the city of Huaian had provided psychological counseling to COVID-19 patients in Wuhan， the city in Hubei Province in central China that bore the brunt of the disease earlier this year.

Zhang Dongliang， one of the medics， said the patients need nutritious food more than doctors do.

Zhang said they were heartened by Mongolias gesture. Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga visited China in February during the critical stage of the countrys COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control and promised to send 30，000 sheep as a token of support. The sheep will be delivered in batches to medical workers in Hubei. The fi rst batch of sheep arrived in Wuhan in late November.

More Forests

Shaanxi Province on the Loess Plateau in northwest China has seen its forest cover exceed 45 percent， up by 2 percentage points from the level fi ve years ago， the provincial forestry authorities said on December 7.

In 2016-20， the province planted about 2.46 million hectares of trees， contributing to the rising forest cover， Dang Shuangren， head of the provincial forestry bureau， said.

Shaanxi returned 190，000 hectares of farmland to forest or grassland in the past fi ve years， with another 350，000 hectares of desertifi ed land treated， Dang said.

The Loess Plateau used to be plagued by chronic soil erosion in the last century， resulting in ecological imbalances. Millions of tons of mud and sand washed into the Yellow River， giving the river its name.

Bioinformation Ban

Tianjin Municipality in north China will prohibit businesses and institutions from collecting personal bioinformation starting next year， amid heightened public concerns over the uncontrolled use of facial recognition， now employed in mobile payment， tests， and even public toilets.

A regulation passed by the citys legislature on December 1 bans market credit information providers from collecting information needed for biorecognition and other personal data， including religion， blood type and medical history.

Personal income， savings and tax records are also protected from information harvesting unless the collectors have obtained the permission of clients， according to the legislation. It will target credit service agents， industry associations， as well as enterprises and public institutions.

Tianjin is just one of the cities that have moved to regulate the overwhelming applications for facial recognition， which have increasingly sparked controversies in society and raised fears of personal data leaks.

In October， the city of Hangzhou， in Zhejiang Province， east China， issued a regulation stipulating that the gathering of bioinformation， like fi ngerprints and facial recognition data， should not be required to enter residential communities.

On October 1， a new version of the national standards on personal information protection was released. It says before the collection of personal bioinformation， the individual whose personal information is being collected should be separately notifi ed of the purpose， method， and use as well as the collection scope and storage time.

Revitalizing Old Compounds

Elevators are installed in old buildings in Xinfangzi Community， Beibei District in Chongqing， southwest China， on December 8. The community has undergone renovation since last year， with public facilities such as parking lots， street lamps and squares revamped and elevators installed. The district has renovated multiple communities since last year to improve residents living conditions.

Winter Relief

To guarantee the basic living needs of people in disaster-hit areas during this winter and spring next year， 6.24 billion yuan （$955 million） has been allocated， the Ministry of Emergency Management （MEM） said on December 7.

With more provincial-level regions hit hard by fl oods this year， the ministry said it had worked together with the Ministry of Finance to plan for winter and spring relief in advance.

MEM has taken into consideration factors including the severity of fl oods， the impact of COVID-19， as well as poverty-alleviation needs while determining each regions share.

It has also urged authorities to ensure timely distribution of the funds to people hit by disasters before Spring Festival in February 2021.

Roller Skates

Hebei Province in north China has purchased nearly 100，000 pairs of roller skates for rural pupils， according to the local sports bureau.

Over 1，700 rural primary schools received the skates， which cost over 20 million yuan （$3.06 million）， on December 5.

“With the new skates， we can ensure that every child will have them in the gym and enjoy more diverse activities，” Xin Xiangyan， head of the Bayi Hope Primary School in Chengnanzhuang Township， said at the distribution ceremony.

Roller skating is seen as a good substitute for ice skating as there are more venues and coaching resources for the sport. It has been promoted in Hebei since Beijing won a joint bid with Zhangjiakou in Hebei to host the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The share of pure electric vehicles in the NEV market will soar to 90.9 percent in 2025， up from 80.3 percent this year.

The IDC attributed the surging expansion of Chinas NEV market to government promotion， transformation and investment from vehicle manufacturers， advancements in battery technology， autonomous vehicle development and more openminded consumers.

Underground View

The construction site of Suzhou Subway line S1 in Suzhou， Jiangsu Province in east China， on December 7. The line， with a total length of 41.25 km， is expected to be put into trial operation in December 2023.

BOC Fined

Chinas banking regulator said on December 5 it has made administrative punishment decisions and taken regulatory measures following an investigation into a risk incident related to a crude oil futures product sold by the Bank of China （BOC）.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission stated to take the incident， triggered by the BOCs Yuanyoubao product， very seriously and has urged the bank to protect investors rights and interests.

A total fi ne of 50.5 million yuan（$7.7 million） has been imposed on the BOC and its branches， and those BOC senior executives involved have been warned and fi ned， said the commission.

The commission will continue to tighten oversight and urge banking and insurance institutions to enhance compliance， to safeguard the rights and interests of fi nancial consumers and to defuse systemic fi nancial risks， it said.

The BOC said in a statement that it accepts the punishment and will implement regulatory measures， adding that it will enhance its capability to control risks and maintain prudent and compliant operations.

The BOC will continue to communicate with clients on solutions and try its best to address the issue appropriately， it said.

New Rail Lines

The National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC） said on December 4 that the country plans to construct some 10，000 km of new railway lines in three major city clusters over the next fi ve years to facilitate regional connectivity.

Railway networks consisting of inter-city lines， as well as urban and suburban lines， will take shape in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region， Yangtze River Delta， and the GuangdongHong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as of 2025， the NDRC said in the announcement.

Upon completion， inter-city travel within these city clusters will take less than two hours， and the commuting time within the metropolitan areas will be cut to less than one hour.

Some 6，000 km of the planned railways will be built in the next three years， according to the NDRC.

Accelerating the construction of inter-city railways as well as urban and suburban lines will serve as a key pillar for the coordinated development in these regions.

China will continue to advance coordinated regional development and a new type of urbanization， according to the Communist Party of China Central Committees proposals for formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan （2021-2025） for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035.

Flying Industry

An employee prepares to test fl y a drone at Tianjin i-Kingtec Co. Ltd. in Tianjin Municipality， north China on December 1. The Binhai New Area of Tianjin has been developing its drone industry by encouraging innovation. The district has a complete industrial chain of drone research， development， production and testing.

Facilitating RCEP

The State Council has made arrangements to step up the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership （RCEP）.

More work should be done to uphold free trade and open up new space for win-win cooperation， according to a statement released on December 9 after a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang.

The meeting， urging domestic work to ensure RCEP implementation， called for coordinated efforts to promote the opening up of trade in goods and services， investment and other fi elds， along with higher standards and rules for trade and investment liberalization and facilitation， intellectual property protection， e-commerce， as well as economic and technological cooperation.

As much as 90 percent of intraregional trade in goods will be tarifffree when the agreement comes into effect. To properly implement the RCEP， the meeting urged measures for tariff reductions， simplifi ed customs procedures， as well as unifi ed and mutual recognition of product standards.

The meeting also demanded efforts to honor Chinas commitments on the foreign-investment negative list and all-round protection of intellectual property rights.

Yulan Bonds

The Shanghai Clearing House and Brussels-based Euroclear Bank on December 8 jointly launched the Yulan Bond business， named after Shanghais city fl ower—the magnolia， and aimed at linking Chinese issuers with global investors.

The bonds will be issued through the Shanghai Clearing House， a Chinese interbank bond market clearing house. The two clearing houses are interconnected to provide registration， custody， and settlement services for Chinese issuers and overseas investors of the bonds.

Data shows that in 2019， a total of 690 bonds were issued by Chinese institutions overseas， with an issuance scale of about $217.8 billion， representing a year-on-year increase of 33.29 percent.

Compared with the traditional overseas bond issuance， Yulan bonds， issued with electronic bond registrations， are more convenient in terms of capital security and information acquisition.

The Shanghai Clearing House is one of the three largest bond registration， depository， and settlement institutions in China. Euroclear Bank， under the Euroclear Group， connects nearly 50 international markets.

Robot Show

A vehicle for anti-terror deployment at the China （Foshan） International Intelligent Robot Expo 2020 in Foshan， Guangdong Province in south China， on December 3. The exhibition， sponsored by the Chinese Institute of Electronics， kicked off on that day. Top robot manufacturers from home and abroad showcased their latest products， technologies and solutions.