Over 10 Million Rural Chinese Escape Poverty in 2016

The latest statistics bulletin shows that Chinas impoverished population in rural areas decreased by 12.4 million in 2016 to 43.34 million， as per the poverty line for rural residents of an annual per capita income of RMB 2，300 （2010 constant price）.

The progress owed much to financial resources， including the special poverty alleviation funds of RMB 66.7 billion earmarked by the central government in 2016， a year-on-year increase of 43.4 percent. In addition， nationwide， 961 counties （including 792 impoverished ones） started a pilot program of integrating agriculturerelated funds. More than 30 million poor people benefited from the program， with RMB 230 billion capital actually spent.

In addition， pilot projects to relieve poverty with e-commerce have been carried out in 428 impoverished counties. A poverty alleviation campaign combined with tourism covered 22，600 poor villages. The photovoltaic poverty relief project benefited 7.66 million poverty-stricken people with an overall volume of 5，160 MW.

In 2014 the data collection and input for 89.62 million poor people， 29.49 million impoverished households， and 128，000 poverty-stricken villages was completed. During the period 2015-2016， the government established files for each impoverished household and person， to accurately identify and help them. The government has also dispatched 128，000 working teams， consisting of a total 540，000 cadres， to povertystricken villages.

Chinas First National PPP Trading Platform

China established its first national assets trading platform for public private partnership （PPP） on February 28 in the northern port city of Tianjin. The PPP assets trading and management platform was jointly founded by the China Public Private Partnerships Center under the Ministry of Finance and the Tianjin Financial Assets Exchange.

The platform will provide PPP consulting， planning， bidding， and supervision services for local governments， to facilitate private capital to join PPP projects， said Ding Huamei， president of the exchange.

After three years of practice， the PPP has become an important tool for local governments to maintain growth， adjust economic structures， advance reforms， benefit the people， and prevent risks， said Jiao Xiaoping， director of China Public Private Partnerships Center.

By the end of 2016， the China PPP integrated information platform had admitted 11，260 projects， with a total investment of RMB 13.5 trillion. Among them， 1，351 projects were signed to enter the implementation phase， involving an investment of RMB 2.2 trillion.

China Plans to Slash Mobile Fees

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced recently that China will formally eliminate charges for domestic roaming and long-distance calls over mobile services as of October 1， in a bid to popularize the information services by lowering its price and allowing more people to enjoy the countrys achievements in the Internet and mobile communication sector.

Over the past two years， China has invested hugely in its telecommunication infrastructure with a total investment exceeding RMB 880 billion. The country has established the worlds largest fixed-line optical fiber and mobile 4G networks， with the access rate increasing significantly. Chinas optical broadband user population has grown rapidly， accounting for 76.6 percent of the countrys total. Latest data show that Chinas 4G users amount to 770 million， taking up more than half of the worlds total.

The last two years have seen a sustained drop of Internet service fees in China with the nationwide average fixed-line broadband service fee slashed by 86.2 percent and the average mobile broadband service fee lowered by 64.7 percent. The fee cuts and speeding up of the Internet access rate have benefited hundreds of millions of people.

Among the measures are lower fees levied on small and medium-sized enterprises for dedicated Internet access and broader access to broadband Internet in rural areas.

In addition， Chinas telecommunication corporations will further their efforts in negotiating with overseas telecommunication operators to lower fees for international longdistance calls， involving countries in North America， Europe， and along the Belt and Road routes.

Activity

Alexei Kornienko & Elena Denisova Concert

Date： April 6， 2017

Place： Shanghai Oriental Art Center

Price： RMB 120/180/280/380/460/580/660

Alexei Kornienko and Elena Denisova are Austrian musicians of Russian descent. Alexei Kornienko is a conductor and pianist； Elena Denisova is a violinist. They are co-founders of the Austrian Gustav Mahler Music Society. Elena Denisova is also the founder of the Moscow National Quartet.

Jane Eyre

Date： April 13-19， 2017

Place： National Center for the Performing Arts

Price： RMB 200/320/480/580/680/880

Jane Eyre， produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts （NCPA）， was first staged in China in June 2009. It was the first adaption of Charlotte Brontes classic novel to be performed on the Chinese stage. Since its debut， Jane Eyre has been performed many times at the NCPA， and also toured such cities as Shanghai， Chongqing， Ningbo， Hangzhou， and Fuzhou.