SAFE AND SOUND

Astronaut Chen Dong is lifted out of the return capsule of the Shenzhou-14 manned spacecraft at the Dongfeng landing site in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on December 4.

The return capsule， carrying astronauts Chen Dong， Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe， safely touched down at the landing site earlier that day.

After traveling to the Tiangong space station on June 5， they completed multiple tasks during their mission， including five dockings， three extravehicular activities， a live science lecture to students on Earth， and several sci-tech experiments.

Exploring Life on Earth

Visitors look at a bird specimen at a biodiversity exhibition at the Shanghai Natural History Museum in Shanghai on December 7.

Online TCM Services

China has detailed measures to promote the role of information and technology in the development of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） during the 2021-25 period， Xinhua News Agency reported on December 6.

By 2025， a TCM information system that works in coordination with Chinas medical and healthcare mechanisms will be established， according to a plan released by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The plan encourages the establishment of smart TCM hospitals around the country and the promotion of online TCM pharmacies and medical services.

Flexible inter-hospital patient transfer， mutual recognition and sharing of lab and examination reports and other services will be enhanced among TCM hospitals， according to the plan.

Crested Ibis Population

The global population of crested ibises， a rare bird species， has increased from seven in 1981 to more than 9，000 at present， the forestry authorities of Shaanxi Province told a press briefing on December 5.

The species habitat has expanded from under 5 square km to about 16，000 square km， and the distribution range of the rare birds has gradually expanded to its historical area， Dang Shuangren， Director of the Shaanxi Provincial Forestry Bureau， said.

The crested ibis， with its iconic red crest and long black beak， was widely distributed across East Asia and Russias Siberia in the past. It was thought to be extinct in China until seven wild birds were observed in Shaanxis Yangxian County in 1981， a discovery that prompted captive breeding and enhanced the species protection.

Currently， about 7，000 crested ibises live in Shaanxi， Dang added.

Since the 1980s， Shaanxi has exported 14 crested ibises to Japan and the Republic of Korea（ROK）， and more than 1，000 crested ibises have been bred in the two countries. With the gradual release of the birds into the wild in Japan and the ROK， crested ibises will soon reappear in their historical distribution area in East Asia， Dang said.

Lake Ice Phenology

Chinese scientists have reconstructed a complete dataset of the lake ice phenology of 132 lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau covering the period from 1978 to 2016， according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）， Xinhua reported on December 7.

The dataset was recently presented on the data-sharing platform National Tibetan Plateau Data Center.

Lake ice phenology is a perceptible indicator reflecting changes in lake thermodynamics in response to global warming. Due to the limitations of conventional ground-based observations， the lake ice phenology over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is rarely observed and recorded.

The research team has integrated remote sensing and numerical modeling techniques to develop a complete， consistent and continuous time series of reconstructed ice phenology for 132 lakes on the plateau.

Based on the dataset， the research team found that for nearly 40 years， the plateaus lakes have been characterized by a delayed ice-on time， an earlier ice-off time， and shorter ice durations.

Space Experiments

Chinese scientists have completed the lifecycle growth experiments of rice and Arabidopsis， a small flowering plant related to cabbage and mustard， in Chinas Tiangong space station and successfully obtained their seeds， the CAS announced on December 5.

The seeds and other samples were brought back to Earth in the Shenzhou-14 spacecrafts return capsule on December 4.

According to the CAS， scientists worldwide had previously managed to obtain the seeds of a few crops like Arabidopsis， rape， wheat， and peas in space， but not those of rice.

The experiments， undertaken by the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences under the CAS， were conducted from July 29 to November 25.

During this period， the astronauts collected the rice samples at the germination stage on September 21， the Arabidopsis samples at the flowering stage on October 12， and both samples at their seed maturity stage on November 25. The samples were then stored in the cryogenic storage device.

According to the CAS， the samples will be transferred to a laboratory in Shanghai for further scientific testing and analysis.

Snow Season

People snowboard at a ski resort in Urumqi， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on December 5.

Delicacy Goes Global

More than 20，000 individually packaged ready-to-cook Fotiaoqiang， a traditional Chinese delicacy， have recently been boxed up in the coastal county of Lianjiang， Fujian Province， and sent off to the U.S. and Canada.

This is the first time Juchunyuan， a time-honored food brand in China， has exported its signature meal—a thick soup made with varieties of seafood and meat—to North America.

The delicacy dates to the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911） and the original recipe was created at the Juchunyuan restaurant in Fuzhou， capital of Fujian.

In 2008， the recipe of Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang was listed as state-level intangible cultural heritage.

“For many overseas Chinese， Fotiaoqiang is a must-have for the Spring Festival spread，”said Wang Yue， Deputy General Manager of Fuzhou Juchunyuan Group Co. Ltd.， which owns the Juchunyuan brand.

The company has registered a logo trademark for Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang in the U.S. and Canada. In June， Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The recently exported batch of Fotiaoqiang will be sold to major stores and restaurants in North America， according to Wang.

In June， Fujian rolled out its safety standards for making Fotiaoqiang. The first exported batch of ready-to-cook Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang was produced in compliance with these requirements.

There are around 60 million overseas Chinese worldwide， promising huge potential for the export of ready-to-cook Chinese foods.

Roaming the Wild

A snow leopard， a species under top-level protection in China， is released back into the wild in Lhunzhub County of Lhasa， Tibet Autonomous Region， on December 4， months after being rescued in Lhasas rural area.

Hitting the Slopes

Most of the ski resorts in Zhangjiakou， Hebei Province， which hosted the snow events for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022， have been open to the public since early November and witnessed a boom in winter sports in the first snow season since the Winter Olympics， China Daily reported on December 7.

Six major ski resorts in the citys Chongli District have opened to skiers， including Genting Snow Park， which was a major venue for the Beijing 2022 Games.

According to the Hebei Daily， the district has opened six snow slopes and play areas for kids. Five other slopes for halfpipe， slopestyle， parallel giant slalom， ski or snowboard cross and moguls will open to skiers in mid to late December.

For the new snow season， the resort has rolled out a series of measures to prevent COVID-19， such as self-service ticket-purchasing machines.

Used Car Exports

Fourteen more regions， including Liaoning， Fujian and Sichuan provinces， have been allowed to export secondhand cars， a notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce， the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Customs of China read.

These regions shall formulate the admission standards for local enterprises， standardize the selection procedures and support companies with access to secondhand cars for sale， overseas marketing channels and after-sales services to carry out the export business， it said.

More efforts should be made to facilitate vehicle transaction registration， license application and customs clearance to create a sound environment， the notice added.

China officially kicked off its export of secondhand cars in May 2019， with Beijing， Tianjin， Shanghai and Guangdong Province among the first batch of 10 regions allowed to conduct such trade.

Industrial data showed 13.3 million used cars were traded in China in the first 10 months of 2022.

Saving Energy

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has introduced a catalogue of recommended energy-saving technologies and equipment to help enterprises improve their energy efficiency and reduce costs.

The document lists energysaving technologies in the industrial and information fields， such as iron and steel， nonferrous metal， data centers and telecommunication.

It further recommends eight categories of energyefficient equipment， including the likes of electromotors， transformers， industrial boilers and compressors.

Furnishing Profits

During the January-October period， profits of major Chinese furniture-making enterprises stood at 34.42 billion yuan （$4.9 billion）， up 3.8 percent year on year， according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The combined operating revenue of these firms went down 6.2 percent from a year ago to 610.75 billion yuan （$87.46 billion）， the data showed.

China is the worlds largest furniture manufacturer and exporter， with total furniture export value hitting $75.14 billion last year， according to the China National Furniture Association.

Futures Market

The futures market reported a 3.95-percent year-on-year growth in trading turnover in November， industrial data showed.

Turnover reached 52.79 trillion yuan （$7.56 trillion） that month， up 58.09 percent from October， according to data from the China Futures Association.

The markets trading volume climbed 55.68 percent from a month earlier to 700 million lots， the data showed.

In the first 11 months of the year， trading volume fell 11.74 percent year on year to 6.1 billion lots， with a total turnover of 486.93 trillion yuan （$69.73 trillion）， the association said.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced in a statement on December 2 it has greenlighted the trading of industrial silicon futures and options in the Guangzhou Futures Exchange.

Road Logistics

The road logistics price index came in at 103.3 in November， up 1.8 percent year on year， according to a survey jointly conducted by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and Guangdong Linan Logistics Group.

The subindex for the fulltruckload logistics price， which mainly measures bulk commodity and regional transportation， rose 1 percent over one year earlier to 102.9.

The survey attributed the stable prices that month to factors including e-commerce promotion and the market regulation mechanism but did note a declining demand and excessive market capacity.

Panda Bonds Rules

China will improve fund management rules for panda bonds in its latest step to progress the two-way opening up of its financial market， according to a circular issued by the Peoples Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange on December 2.

Panda bonds are yuandenominated debts sold by overseas issuers in China.

The new regulations， which will come into effect on January 1， 2023， facilitate the financing of overseas institutions in the domestic bond market， the circular read.

Management rules for panda bonds， including those related to funding registration， fund remittances and the opening of accounts， will be unified in Chinas interbank bond market and exchangetraded bond market， according to the notice.

Overseas institutional investors will also be allowed to conduct foreign exchange derivative transactions with qualified domestic financial institutions to manage their exchange rate risks.

The issuers can keep funds raised in China or remit them overseas， the notice said.

Chinas panda bonds issuance registered stable growth in the first three quarters of 2022. Approximately 75.4 billion yuan（$10.8 billion） of such bonds were issued in the period， up 8.7 percent from a year ago， official data showed.

Pension Trials

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission （CBIRC） announced on December 1 it will run commercial pension trials in 10 cities and regions nationwide for one year starting from January 1， 2023.

The pension scheme， which will be voluntary and operate in market-oriented and law-based manner， will be piloted in cities and regions such as Beijing， Shanghai， and the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang， the commission said.

The pension plan is a part of the third pillar of Chinas pension system， supplementing the private pension system that was recently implemented， according to the CBIRC.

China has a three-pillar old-age insurance mechanism， covering national basic oldage insurance， enterprise and occupational annuities， commercial old-age financial products and the private pension plan.

Economic Census

The fifth national economic census will be conducted in 2023 to take stock of the countrys economic and social development， the State Council said in a notice.

The upcoming census will carry out an input-output survey， it added.

The objects of the census include all legal entities， industrial activity units and self-employed households engaged in secondary and tertiary industry activities in China.

The notice emphasized data quality， calling for efforts to ensure the census data are true， accurate， complete and reliable.

NUMBERS

（$1=6.97 yuan as of December 8）