HAPPY NEW YEAR

Ethnic Qiang villagers in Wenchuan County, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, dress up in traditional costumes to celebrate the coming New Year of the Qiang calendar on November 2.

November 3 represents the start of another year for this population of over 300,000 people. It is a time to celebrate harvests, send blessings, and pray for peace. According to tradition, the whole village gathers together over a meal and in worship of their respective gods.

Wenchuan County was struck by a big earthquake on May 12, 2008 that caused widespread devastation. However, much has been done to place the area back on its feet.

New Home

Reconstruction work in the earthquakestricken Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China’s Qinghai Province is completed.

A total of 1,248 reconstruction projects have been completed in the region with total investment of about 44.4 billion yuan ($7.2 billion). Over 60,000 students have moved from their temporary prefabricated classrooms to new campuses.

Yushu was hit by a 7.1-magnitude earthquake on April 14, 2010, leading to the deaths of more than 2,600.

Antarctica Station

China is planning the construction of a new research station in the south pole, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said on November 1.

Taishan Station, the fourth to be built by China in Antarctica, will be set up between the country’s existing Zhongshan and Kunlun stations to provide logistical support, according to Qu Tanzhou, Director of the Arctic and Antarctic Administration at the SOA.

A scientific expedition team would leave Shanghai on November 7 to carry out planning, including for the setting up of Taishan, a summer station that can be used from December to March. It will be used to study geology, glaciers,geomagnetism and the atmosphere in Antarctica.

Sickness Database

China has set up a database of acute altitude sickness that leads the world in terms of the number, variety and source distribution of samples, the Beijing-based PLA Daily reported on November 5.

The database was established by Xinqiao Hospital, affiliated to the Third Military Medical University in southwest China’s Chongqing, said the media outlet for the Chinese army.

The 20,000-strong data set of bodily functions and blood samples was collected by more than 60 doctors and professors from the hospital, who had been monitoring people traveling from the Chengdu Plains to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in various vehicles since 2011.

It will facilitate research into dramatically reducing the morbidity and fatality of altitude sickness, according to the newspaper.

EXPAT PARADISE

Shanghai tops the list as the favorite city of expatriates on the Chinese mainland in 2013, beating over 29 others.The city has the highest recognition in terms of working and living environment,expat-friendly policies and administrative capacity, according to a survey released on November 6

Haze on School Days

China may adopt a flexible working hours system and suspend school classes during high air pollution alerts, according to a government circular issued on November 6.

The circular was released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection as China faces growing pressure to curb air pollution, with heavy smog frequently smothering large cities.

The ministry urged every possible compulsory measure that could reduce emissions to be implemented when the highest alert of air pollution is issued. These measures include suspension or limiting of business production, restriction of vehicles allowed on the road, dust controls and a ban on outdoor barbecues.

Large-scale outdoor activities should also be canceled, and middle and primary schools, as well as kindergartens, should suspend classes, according to the document.Enterprises and institutions are also encouraged to adopt flexible working hours.

The circular also called for the setting of strict controls on coal- fired pollution while encouraging the use of natural gas.

FRIENDLY SPARRING

Chinese soldiers take part in a China-India joint anti-terrorism drill in southwest China’s Sichuan Province on November 5. The two countries each sent a 144-strong company to participate in the training program,code-named Hand-in-Hand 2013

Rare Fossil

Scientists have found the oldest fossil of insects copulating in northeast China, according to a study published on November 6 in the U.S.-based scientific journal PLOS ONE.

Fossil records of mating insects are uncommon. During the study,Dong Ren and his colleagues at the Beijing-based Capital Normal University, presented the fossil of a pair of copulating froghoppers, a type of small insect that still exists today and hops from plant to plant much like tiny frogs.

The fossil of the two froghoppers has them preserved in a belly-tobelly mating position with the male reproductive organ still inserted into the female, researchers said.

“The fossil that we found is incredibly rare, and it provides an interesting glimpse into insect behavior and is a source of data that will be crucial in understanding their mating habits during the Middle Jurassic period,” Ren announced during a statement.

This is the earliest record of copulating insects to date, and suggests that froghoppers’ genital symmetry and mating position have remained unchanged for over 165 million years,the research team added.

Joint Research

A transportation research center was jointly launched by China’s Tsinghua University, Britain’s University of Cambridge and the U.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology on November 5 in Beijing .

It was established under the framework of the Low Carbon Energy University Alliance that was founded in 2009 by the three educational organizations.

The center will focus on future transportation studies, which include smart, green, low-carbon and ecological transportation, said Wu Jianping, director of the center.

Wu pledged to establish a world-class academic exchange platform where leading experts in the world can carry out short-term research and give lectures.

Fewer Cars

The Beijing Municipal Government will reduce the new car registration quota by 37.5 percent starting from 2014, making way for more newenergy vehicles as part of its efforts to curb air pollution.

According to measures for implementing the city’s five-year vehicle emission reduction plan (2013-17), the number of new registrations available for cars will be cut from the current 240,000 a year to just 150,000 by 2017.

The plan, released on September 12, ruled that the total number of vehicles in Beijing is to be restricted to around 6 million by the end of 2017.

The city had 5.4 million vehicles at the end of October this year, according to figures from the Beijing Traf fic Management Bureau.

Among the 600,000 vehicles that will be allowed onto the road within the next four years, 170,000 will be new-energy vehicles, at category that includes battery-powered electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell cars.

In 2014, 20,000 new car registrations will be allotted to new-energy vehicles, with a further 30,000 to follow in 2015.

ln 2016 and 2017, the figure will be doubled to 60,000.

Going Overseas

China’s homegrown Beidou Satellite Navigation System will begin its first overseas operations in Thailand early next year.

The announcement was made in Bangkok on October 30 by China’s Wuhan Information Technology Outsourcing Service and Research Center in conjunction with the Geoinformatics and Space Technology Development Agency under Thailand’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

China and Thailand signed a$319-million agreement in March,which has established their commitment to cooperating on the construction of Thailand’s geospatial system, giving the country access to China’s advanced technology,products and services.

The two sides have agreed to start building a model satellite station based on Beidou in an industrial estate in east Thailand’s Chon Buri Province next month and nationwide construction of others will begin early next year, said Liu Junyi, Deputy Director of the Wuhan Information Technology Outsourcing Service and Research Center.

lt will be the first time that the Beidou has been used outside China.

Free at Last

Zhang Xiang, a giant panda bred in captivity, was released into the wild on November 6.

Zhang Xiang was trained to build a den and mark her territory with the help of her mother and training staff. The cub also developed skills such as recognizing potential enemies, hunting for food and climbing trees.

Zhang Xiang is the third captive-bred giant panda to be released into the wild in the past decade. Scientists said that the survival of Zhang Xiang is vital for the continuation of the program, which aims to release more captive-bred giant pandas into the wild to ensure their genetic diversity.

Maker Bots

Visitors observe robot machines at the 15th China International Industry Fair, held in Shanghai from November 5 to 9.

A total of 1,979 companies from 25 countries and regions demonstrated their newest manufacturing technologies at the fair.

PMI Strengthens

China’s purchasing managers’ index(PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose to 51.4 percent in October, hitting a new high since May 2012, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on November 1.

China’s manufacturing PMI has risen for four consecutive months,showing a steady upward trend in manufacturing. A figure above 50 percent signals expansion.

Zhao Qinghe, a senior NBS statistician, attributed the strong PMI to expanding production after corporate con fidence was boosted by the government’s measures this year to stabilize growth and restructure the economy.

The PMI for China’s nonmanufacturing sector rose to 56.3 percent in October, the highest in the last 12 months, similarly con firming the trend.

Cai Jin, CFLP Vice Chairman,said the construction and service sectors are becoming increasingly active, with the non-manufacturing sector absorbing more jobs.

Online Funds Shops

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group opened the sales of funds on its popular online shopping platform Taobao on November 1 after receiving a no-action letter from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on October 31 for its funds business.

This makes it China’s first Internet company to provide services for funds sales institutions. Alipay,also run by Alibaba, will provide third-party payment services for online funds sales.

On November 1, the first batch of 17 funds institutions, including Guotai AMC, E Fund and Aegon-Industrial Fund, opened their online funds shops on Taobao.

Persons aged 18 or above can buy funds after passing real-name authentication through the Alipay online payment service.

The retailers will provide a onestop service for buyers to open accounts, place and pay for orders,

SPEEDY CONSTRUCTION

Workers at a construction site for the

South-to-North Water Diversion Project in north China’s Hebei Province on November 6.The section, from Handan to Shijiazhuang,is expected to be completed by the end of this year as well as manage their fund accounts, “similar to online clothes shopping,” said the Alibaba Group.

Online funds sales is the second major step for Alibaba after establishing a new business offering its customers higher investment yields than interest from banks. In mid-June, Alipay began to offer users the option to directly invest with the private Tianhong Fund. To date, the fund has accumulated an asset size of 55.6 billion yuan ($9.12 billion),the largest single fund in China.

Anti-Dumping Plan

China’s Ministry of Commerce(MOFCOM) announced on November 6 that it is to implement provisional anti-dumping regulations on cellulose pulp imported from the United States,Canada and Brazil.

The preliminary ruling requires importers of the product to place deposits with Chinese customs starting from November 7. The deposits will range from 0.7 percent to 50.9 percent of imports, depending on the dumping margin, said the MOFCOM statement.

MOFCOM announced that companies from the above-mentioned countries had dumped cellulose pulp on the Chinese market and such imports had caused substantial damage to the domestic industry.

BREAKTHROUGH

A staff member works on an iron printing production line in Qian’an, north China’s Hebei Province on November 6. This is the first high-end iron printing production line in China, with total investments of 1.1 billion yuan ($180.5 million)

The ministry launched its anti-dumping probe into imported cellulose pulp back in February.

Cellulose pulp, made from plant fiber, is used as a raw material in the production of viscose and acetate fiber.

Marine Economy

Readings from China’s first ocean development index were published on November 6 and will provide valuable information as the country looks to boost its marine economy and build itself into a maritime power.

The index figures showed growth of the marine industry over a five-year period.

The Xinhua Ocean Development Index grew at an annual average rate of 23.18 percent from 2006 to 2011,much higher than the annual average economic growth rate of 10.52 percent in the same period, according to a report released at the 2013 China International Blue Economy Summit Forum in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong Province, on November 6.

The index included four subindices: industry development,science and technology innovation,environmental resources and marine management.

The index is jointly released by the Xinhua (Qingdao) International Ocean Information Center and the State Financial Information Center Index Research Institute.

Chinese Cars in UAE

Sales of Chinese-made automobiles are gaining momentum in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),although shares remain marginal due to Japanese and German car manufacturers’ strong position in the market.

At the biennial Dubai International Motor Show, Hisam Khan, General Manager of car Naser M. Alsayer Group, the sole distributor of Chinese car brand BYD (Build Your Dreams), said, “BYD sold 350 cars in the UAE in 2012, and we will de finitely increase sales amid strong demand from mostly middle-class buyers.”

While this figure appears tiny compared with Japanese or German car giants operating in the UAE—German manufacturer Audi,for example, sold 3,235 units in the first nine months—Khan said that he was optimistic that Chinese cars as a brand are at the beginning of a long journey on the Gulf state’s streets and desert roads.

Vehicles from China also present at the show included Foton,Chery, Dongfeng, Brilliance and Great Wall.

Great Wall had only sold commercial vehicles like pickup trucks in the UAE. Since arriving in the UAE in 2011, Great Wall has sold 4,800 units. “For 2013, we expect to sell 1,000 units for the first time, up from 702 units last year,”said G. Machiner, sales manager of commercial vehicles at Dubaibased Al Naboodah, the exclusive distribution firm of Great Wall cars in the UAE.

Happy Harvest

A farmer picks up Chinese honey oranges in Xuan’en County,Hubei Province.

Xuan’en has over 30,000 mu (2,000 hectares) of oranges,which has greatly enhanced income for local farmers.

Numbers

2.2 mln

Number of Chinese people that are working for the country’s rapidly expanding e-commerce industry as of June

10.9%

Drop of the transaction value during the fall session of the Canton Fair, China’s largest trade event

40 mln yuan

Total value of seed funds to start a business in Shenzhen that the municipal government offered to 122 young entrepreneurs who have studied overseas

12%

GDP growth in Tibet Autonomous Region for the first nine months

MALI

Soldiers carry the coffins of two Radio France Internationale journalists at the Bamako airport on November 4, two days after they were killed in the town of Kidal by suspected terrorists

SAUDI ARABIA

Foreign workers gather near the Saudi immigration ministry in Riyadh as local security began their search campaign against illegal laborers on November 4

INDIA

A Sikh devotee lights candles at Golden Temple in Amritsar on November 2 prior to the Diwali-Festival of Lights, which starts on November 3 this year

INDONESIA

Sinabung volcano erupts and belches hot smoke into the air in Karo, North Sumatra on November 5. Hundreds of residents were evacuated to safer areas

EGYPT

Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and ousted President Mohamed Morsi gather outside a police academy in Cairo where his trial was held on November 4

BRAZIL

Children play in a newly inaugurated garden at Prazeres shantytown in Rio de Janeiro on November 1

“The historically low water levels of the Poyang Lake are caused by droughts as well as man-made factors, including the massive illegal dredging of sand for construction purposes.”

Kong Fanxiang, a senior research fellow with the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, explaining the shrinkage of China’s largest freshwater lake

“First, the number of government cars should be reduced. Second, the monitoring over their purchase and use should be intensified. Third, the fiscal supervision system should be improved and government budgets drafted more democratically.”

Deng Lianfan, professor at the School of Law of Central South University,suggesting methods for a new round of reforms on government vehicles

“The nature of acrobatics is to explore the limits of the human body. African students have fairly good physical condition and relatively better balance and flexibility compared to their Chinese counterparts.”

Ma Shumin, a teacher at Wuqiao Acrobatic Art School in north China’s Hebei Province, commenting on performances of African learners of the school on November 3

“A quarter of east Asia’s world heritage sites have been threatened by the booming tourism.”

Peter Ogden, a project expert for the UNESCO Beijing Office,commenting at the Lushan Forum on World Heritage Cultural Landscape in East Asia

CHAIr oF UNESCo’S GovErNING BoDy

Hao Ping, Vice Minister of Education of China and representative to the executive board of the UN Educational, Scienti fic and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), was elected president of UNESCO’s 37th General Conference for a two-year mandate on November 5.

The appointment made him the first Chinese representative elected to chair the supreme governing body of UNESCO.

Hao, 54, served as vice president of Peking University from 2001 to 2005 and president of Beijing Foreign Studies University from 2005 to 2009. He obtained a master’s degree in history from the University of Hawaii and holds a Ph.D in international relations.

CELEBRATED FILM DIRECTOR

Feng Xiaogang, one of China’s highest-grossing film directors, immortalized his handprints in cement at TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood on November 1.He was the first Chinese mainland director to receive the honor.

“This is a good and interesting thing. Being accepted in this Hollywood family, I feel it’s a recognition of my work,” Feng said.

Feng achieved a box-office total of 2.5 billion yuan($410 million) over his two-decade career as film director. Seven of his films, including Back to 1942,Aftershock and Cellphone, were screened at the TCL Chinese Theater on November 2 and 3.

Visa Problems

Life Weekly

October 28

With China’s big middle class able to afford overseas trips, complaints about difficulties facing local passport holders during visa processing have increased. This poses questions as to the value of a Chinese identity.

Chinese seldom enjoy visa-free treatment. Such status is usually conferred by the Cannikin Law, which pertains to the degree of development and comprehensive quality of a country’s lowest social hierarchy. However, the gap between the rich and poor as well as imbalanced economic development are currently major problems in China, and the situation can’t be changed in the short term. This means, as long as these two major problems are not solved,it is hardly for Chinese people to enjoy wider scope of visa-free treatment.At the same time some countries that had granted landing visa or visa-free treatments to Chinese canceled that preferential treatment because of illegal detention of some Chinese.

However, there is also good news. To attract Chinese with strong consumption capabilities, more countries are providing conditional visa-free visits, while this year, certain states have also simpl ified visa procedures for Chinese tourists.

Shame of CNN

Global Times

November 4

Recently, CNN published an article on its website, commenting over the terrorist attack on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on October 28. The piece reviewed the so-called Chinese Government’s “suppression” of the Uygur ethnic group in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and questioned the Chinese police conclusion of events, asking “whether Monday’s alleged attack was a well-prepared terrorist act or a hastily assembled cry of desperation from a people on the extreme margins of the Chinese state’s monstrous development machine?”

This time, CNN has gone too far.Usually, Western media interviews East Turkistan terrorist leaders such as Rebiya Kadeer, expressing their sympathy and support. But this time, CNN’s website published comments written by an assistant professor of George Washington University,showing its attitude directly.

This article may reflect the opinion of quite a number of Americans. But, even though some think this way, it is still quite bad for a media organization to present such a stance as a mainstream opinion of American society.

When the September 11 event occurred in the United States, all Chinese mainstream media fiercely condemned the acts of Al Qaeda organization and stood with the American Government and its people.

We believe that, despite disputes between countries, when it comes to terrorism, all forces loving justice and peace should unite. It is really double standards to call it terrorism when it causes loss to your own home, while call it “cry of desperation”when it occurred in others’ yards.

Speaking of “desperation” and “hatred,”no suicide attackers lack these. Didn’t Al Qaeda members who attacked the United States and Europe reveal it? Didn’t the Palestinian female suicide bomber who attacked Israel show it? Without extreme religious brainwashing, how could the killing of innocent people be regarded as“justice” or “jihad”?

Since ancient times, differences have existed between civilizations, nationalities and ethnic groups. This problem has never been solved. The West is certainly no model. Both the United States and Europe have suffered ethnic conflicts from time to time.

Some Western elites hold double standards regarding China and Russia on issues of terrorism. This is no good for counterterrorism causes. This time, CNN couldn’t help but release its schadenfreude, though it ruined the image of itself in the eyes of Chinese people.

On the contrary, French President Francois Hollande immediately condemned the terrorist attack on Tiananmen and expressed condolences to the victims’ families. While this boosted the French image,CNN has presented some American media gradually kidnapped by dark psychology.

More Attention to Bus Drivers

The Beijing News

November 3

Dong Hongnian, a bus driver in Suzhou,east China’s Jiangsu Province, suffered from a sudden cerebral hemorrhage while on duty. During the incident, and while enduring great pain, he managed to pull the hand brake and stop the bus, just in time to save the lives of more than 20 passengers and keep the vehicle from plunging from a bridge with a 3-meter slope at its side.

Dong’s actions have won him great honor. However, he has not been the only bus driver to suffer a sudden onslaught.Bus drivers work long hours and under great pressure, which over time, takes a toll on health and could negatively affect the safety of passengers.

It is essential to organize regular physical examinations for all bus drivers and assess their health conditions.