Renewables Bolster China’s High-Quality Development

Booming clean energy sector has bolstered full recovery and highquality development of China’s economy during the first quarter of 2021， the National Energy Administration （NEA） said at a recent press conference.

During the first quarter， to ensure energy supply across the nation， the NEA has used an energy dispatching mechanism in times of need. During this period， the supply of major types of energy has increased by varying degrees. Electricity supply was stable on the whole； oil and gas supply grew steadily， and refineries continued to upgrade.

Meanwhile， to achieve China’s goal of reaching a carbon emission peak by 2030 and being carbon neutral by 2060， the clean energy industry also continues to grow. Over the first three months， the newly installed capacity of wind power， solar power， hydropower， and nuclear power totaled 12.83 million kilowatts， accounting for 43.4 percent of the total installed power capacity， 2.8 percentage points higher than the figure from the same period last year.

The NEA pledged greater policy support for the renewable energy sector as the country is working to reach carbon emission peak by 2030 and go carbon neutral by 2060.

Ministry of Commerce to Regulate Online， Offline Smart Stores

The Ministry of Commerce is soliciting public opinions on a proposed Technical Guide for the Construction of Smart Stores （Trial）. The proposed guide calls for integrated online and offline services with smart stores， including “matching standard， quality， and price” of online and offline goods， and matching instant delivery as well as after-sales services.

According to the proposed guide， smart stores refer to those outlets that utilize modern information technologies， including the Internet， Internet of Things， 5G， big data， artificial intelligence， and cloud computing， to display， promote goods， settle deals， and provide support for the procurement， logistics， and supply chain. The proposed guide aims to provide customers with better products， higher efficiency， and a better shopping experience.

The proposed guide is applicable to two main categories of retail stores： supermarkets and convenience stores； department stores. The ministry also proposed to expand the application to shopping centers， discount stores （outlets）， and other retail formats.

Besides， the proposed guide required smart stores to meet technical standards in terms of broadband， smart sensing facilities， data centers， smart operation and maintenance facilities， as well as system support.

IT Jobs Favored Most by College Graduates in Post-Epidemic China

China is welcoming a record high of over nine million college graduates this summer. According to a survey released by zhaopin.com， a major online recruitment platform in China， the technology industry is the most attractive job option for graduates， with more than a quarter of them surveyed saying so.

IT-related jobs are followed by positions offered by real estate companies， which 10.9 percent of the respondents to the survey voted for， said the survey that ended in mid-April.

Among the respondents， 56.9 percent chose to join the workforce after graduation， 18.9 percentage points lower from last year； 15.8 percent chose freelancing， up 8.1 percentage points year on year； 12.8 percent chose to take gap years， up 6.6 percentage points year on year. In addition， 9.5 per- cent chose to continue their studies in domestic institutions of higher learning after graduation， up from 6.6 percent last year.

With fiercer competition and higher requirements for employees in the job market， college graduates are also adjusting their career development paths. More and more of them are choosing to continue their studies， or to embrace more flexible employment forms， such as freelancing.