Sports Diplomacy

Shown is the countdown clock for the 22nd Winter Olympics in Sochi， Russia.

On January 20， China announced that President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games at the invitation of his Russian counterpart， Vladimir Putin.

“This will be the first time a Chinese president will have attended a major international sports event hosted in another country，” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said. Xi will be in Russia from February 6 to 8.

President Xis attendance at the opening ceremony in Sochi shows Chinas support for the Olympics as well as Russias work to host the games， Qin said.

The 22nd Winter Olympics are due to take place from February 7 to 23 and will consist of 98 events.

Bird Flu

Two patients， including a medical worker， being treated for the H7N9 strain of avian flu， died in Shanghai， local health authorities revealed on January 20.

Both tested posthumously positive for the H7N9 virus， according to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning.

The agency said that it was conducting further investigation and trying to track the source of the infection.

Shanghai has confirmed seven human H7N9 cases so far this year.

Zhejiang， a province located south of Shanghai， reported six more cases of H7N9 on January 19 and 20.

The new cases brought the number of infections in Zhejiang since the new year to 26， the most nationwide， according to the Zhejiang Provincial Commission of Health and Family Planning.

Human infections of H7N9 have also been reported in Jiangsu， Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

The southern province of Guangdong reported its third H7N9 death of this year on January 20.

Universal Education

The Chinese Government has vowed to ensure at least 90 percent of children with visual， hearing and intellectual disabilities will receive primary and middle school education by the end of 2016， according to a plan that was made public on January 20.

According to a 2014-16 plan on improving education for learners with special needs， the country will increase investment， build more infrastructure， train more quality teachers and reform the special education curricula.

Official figures show that compulsory education， which includes primary and middle school， only covered 71.9 percent of disabled children as of the end of 2012， compared with 99.5 percent of non-disabled children for primary schools and 98 percent for middle schools. The three-year plan stipulates that disabled children should attend the nearest possible standard schools， special education knowledge should be incorporated into exams for teachers certificates， and that higher education institutions should not refuse admission to students with disabilities.endprint

Workforce Decrease

Chinas working-age population dropped by 2.44 million to 919.54 million in 2013， the second year of decline， the National Bureau of Statistics announced on January 20.

The working-age population， which covers those between 15 and 59， accounted for 67.6 percent of the countrys total population in 2013， down 1.6 percentage points from 2012.

In 2012， China declared its first absolute drop in the working-age population in “a considerable period of time.”

Those aged above 60 accounted for 14.9 percent of the total population to 202.43 million while those above 65 made up 9.7 percent.

At the end of 2013， the Chinese mainlands population stood at 1.36 billion， with a natural population increase rate of 0.5 percent.

Crackdown

Almost 11 billion yuan （$1.81 billion） has been recovered and paid to migrant workers nationwide， the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security revealed on January 20.

To ensure migrant workers are paid properly before returning home for the Chinese Lunar New Year， a campaign began on November 20， 2013. As of January 15， some 1.5 million migrant workers had benefited.

In 2011， the countrys top legislature passed an amendment to the Criminal Law stipulating that malicious wage defaults are a crime and employers who intentionally withhold wages may face up to seven years in jail.

Child Protection

On January 20， Chinese authorities pledged stricter supervision over the protection of minors and their guardianship amid a growing number of cases in which juveniles have had their rights violated.

Those found to have violated juveniles rights will be barred from acting as guardians in the future， in accordance with administrative and legal procedures， according to a statement from the Supreme Peoples Court， the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security.

“Parents and guardiansunderstanding of their liabilities should be improved， and their guardianship ought to be revoked if they fail to fulfill their duties，” said Ma Guohua， deputy secretary general of the All China Lawyers Association.

China has no formal regulations on the guardianship of juveniles.

Increase in Charity

The Minister of Civil Affairs， Li Liguo， revealed on January 17 that nongovernmental charity funds are expected to reach 100 billion yuan（$16.5 billion） in 2013， much higher than the 81.7 billion yuan （$13.5 billion） in 2012.endprint

“Last year， Chinese charity organizations continued to expand， with more than 3，500 foundations existing nationwide，” Li said.

Chinas top legislature included a law on philanthropy in its 2013-17 five-year legislature program， with some regions， such as Fujian and Shaanxi provinces， already starting the legislative process.

However， Li said that China still faces many challenges and will step up necessary reform.

In 2014， the ministry will improve the registration system for social charity organizations and strive to innovate charity fund management in order to create more ways for enterprises and individuals to participate in philanthropy， according to Li.

Li also said that the ministry will establish platforms for publishing donation information on funds in order to increase transparency and credibility.

On Trial

Lu Yueting attends his trial at the Municipal Intermediate Peoples Court in Shijiazhuang， Hebei Province， on January 20.

Lu was sentenced to life imprisonment for poisoning frozen dumplings from December 2007 to January 2008， which left four Chinese and nine Japanese citizens sick.

The Shijiazhuang Municipal Intermediate Peoples Court delivered the verdict during a public hearing.

Lu， 39， a native of Jingxing County in Hebei， worked at the Tianyang Food Plant based in Shijiazhuang from 1993 to 2009.

Doctor Training

In 2015， China will set up standardized training for medical graduates before they can become resident doctors， according to a statement by the National Health and Family Planning Commission on January 17.

According to guidelines issued by seven departments， including the commission， health departments at all levels should form concrete policies and set up guarantee systems to pave the way for standardized training nationwide.

Wang Chen， vice head of the Science and Education Division of the commission， said that， drawing from international experiences， a graduate must receive strict training before he or she becomes a clinical doctor.

However， China does not currently have national standards for training， and training to become a resident doctor depends on the hospitals where they are employed， leading to differing standards across regions， Wang said.

According to the guidelines， training bases will first be set up at top-level hospitals and some lowerlevel hospitals based on the local situation. They will be subsidized by local governments and central finance.endprint

Wang said that after standardized training begins nationwide， passing it will become a requirement for attaining a professional title.

Lumber Hub

Workers load lumber to be shipped to a dock in Caofeidian port in Tangshan， north Chinas Hebei Province， on January 20.

The lumber dock was officially opened for the first time that day. Port authorities plan to build the largest lumber trading platform in north China within the next three years.

New Silk Road

Northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will rebuild itself as the transport， financial and logistics center of the Silk Road Economic Belt in 2014.

Nur Bekri， the regional governor， said that Xinjiang will continue opening up to Central Asia and Europe， and grasp the opportunity to boost the Silk Road Economic Belt， during his speech at the annual session of the local legislature which started on January 16.

A Silk Road Economic Belt agreement was signed by 24 cities from eight countries along the Silk Road in November， to promote greater cooperation， development and prosperity among the countries.

Xinjiang will promote the establishment of a free trade zone with countries along the route and strengthen multilateral cooperation on agriculture， energy， tourism and culture. At the same time， Xinjiang will keep opening up to the domestic market， and prepare for the transfer of industries from the east region to the west， according to Nur Bekri.

Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the idea of the economic belt during his visit to Central Asia in September， eyeing the cultural revival of the Silk Road， which historically linked China with Central Asia and Europe， as a way of developing political and economic ties.

Land defined as the new Silk Road covers 18 Asian and European countries with a total area of 50 million square km and a population of 3 billion. It also boasts rich energy， mining， tourism， cultural and agricultural resources.

IPO Debut

Chinas first initial public offering（IPO） since the year-long listing freeze on January 17 received a fervent response from traders whose cheers brought its trading to a temporary halt.

Neway Valve （Suzhou） Co. Ltd.， an industrial valve manufacturer， made a strong debut on the board， with its shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange opening around 20 percent over the IPO price.endprint

Neway continued upward by as much as 31.99 percent in the morning session， prompting a temporary halt to trading according to new IPO rules that set limits for price changes.

At the close of business， Neway Valve ended at 25.34 yuan （$4.19） per share， 43.5 percent over the offering price. The broader Shanghai Stock Exchange dropped 0.93 percent.

“The market response showed investors want new blood in the stock market，” said Qin Xiaobin， an analyst with China Galaxy Securities.

For other firms waiting to launch IPOs， Neways debut was encouraging， but its following price movements will be mainly decided by the firms strength， Qin noted.

Meanwhile， analysts cautioned that too fast a resumption of IPOs would put a strain on the stock market where liquidity remains tight.

Home Prices Up

Home prices in major Chinese cities continued to climb despite repeated government efforts to cool the sector.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities， 65 saw a month-onmonth rise in new home prices and 64 reported price gains in existing and second-hand homes in December 2013， according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on January 18.

More cities saw price growth easing last December， a result the senior NBS statistician Liu Jianwei attributed to a raft of government efforts to stabilize market expectations， including more control measures and increasing supplies of affordable housing.

All of the cities except Wenzhou reported gains in new home prices over the past year.

First-tier cities continued to see rises in December， with the prices of new homes in Beijing and Shanghai surging over 20 percent from a year ago， but Liu said the trend has been losing momentum.

Shipbuilding

Though the Chinese shipbuilding industry has yet to come in from the cold， recent restructuring as well as cuts in overcapacity and upgrades have given the troubled industry more hope， a report showed.

The industry received new orders with dead weight tons of 70 million in 2013， up 242 percent from 2012， according to a report posted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Altogether， 80 percent of these new orders went to the 20 industry leaders， up 5.5 percent from 2012.

The industry had attracted orders for sophisticated ships， the report said， citing six liquefied natural gas carriers and four very large gas carriers.endprint

Despite the progress， insiders believe that hard times for the industry are far from over， as it grapples with a recession caused by waning demand and higher costs， following the financial crisis of 2008. Chinese authorities have introduced a slew of measures to encourage upgrading and mergers.

Zhang Guangqin， President of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry， said it will take at least another five years to ease the influence of overcapacity.

Polysilicon Tariff

Chinas Commerce Ministry on January 20 imposed five-year duties on solar-grade polysilicon imports from the United States and the Republic of Korea （ROK）.

China will apply anti-subsidy duties of up to 2.1 percent and antidumping duties ranging from 53.3 percent to 57 percent on polysilicon imports from the United States. The rates for imports from ROK are set between 2.4 percent to 48.7 percent.

The decision came after China began to levy provisional duties on polysilicon imports from the two countries in 2012 following preliminary investigations that found exporters dumped their products on the Chinese market.

Solar-grade polysilicon is an important material for making solar cells， a sector fraught with trade disputes.

Food Fair

Potential buyers examine samples at a seaweed trade fair held in Lianyungang， a coastal city in east Chinas Jiangsu Province， on January 18.

Buyers from home and abroad and over 90 dried seaweed suppliers attended the fair.endprint