A Helping Hand

An excavator clears away ice at the Hukou Waterfall in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in Jixian County， Shanxi Province， on February 16. The move was part of efforts to ensure the safety of visitors to the famous natural spectacle.

Poverty Evaluation

Chinese authorities have published a set of criteria for assessing local poverty-relief work in its latest effort to deliver on the governments target of lifting all people out of poverty by 2020.

The evaluation criteria， released by the general offices of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council， will mainly check on local governmentsefforts to identify， help and reduce the members of their impoverished population， as well as whether poverty relief funds are being used effectively.

The method will apply to 22 provincial-level regions in central and west China， wherein the most impoverished people are concentrated.

The evaluation， organized by the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development， will be conducted annually during the 2016-20 period.

Authorities that fail to deliver satisfying poverty reduction results will be held accountable， and the results will serve as major reference to assess the performance of government officials， according to the method.

In 2015， there were still 70 million people living below the poverty line of 2，300 yuan （$352） in annual income by 2010 standards.

Child Care

The State Council， Chinas Cabinet， has released a set of guidelines on the protection of left-behind children—those under the age of 16 and whose parents work away from home—delineating the various responsibilities of parents， the government and the society at large.

The document states that local governments and villagers committees should keep themselves wellinformed of left-behind children within their jurisdiction， ensures that they are properly cared for， and also stresses parents primary responsibilities.

Governments at the township level are required to set up a file for each left-behind child. Village officials and Party members must also visit the children on a regular basis， according to the document.

It also stipulates that migrant workers who can take their children with them should do so， or one parent should stay home. Parents who cannot meet this requirement must appoint a responsible guardian.

While away from home， parents must keep in touch with their children regularly and visit them often， keeping track of their lives， studies and mental health.

The document comes as China reforms its household registration system， with some 100 million people expected to permanently relocate to towns and cities. It lays out measures to gradually decrease the number of left-behind children， by helping migrant workers find affordable housing and allowing their children to go to schools in urban areas.

More than 60 million children are considered left-behind across China.

Web Loopholes

More than 40 percent of Chinese websites are exposed to vulnerabilities that may lead to attacks and personal information leakages.

Over 1 million security loopholes on websites were detected in 2015 by Qihoo 360， a Chinese Internet security company. That accounted for 43.9 percent of total websites scanned， 13 percent of which had high-risk vulnerabilities， a report by Qihoo 360 showed.

Only 4.7 percent of security loopholes were fixed. Of those， 10.3 percent were addressed in 24 hours， while others took more than a week to complete.

The security flaws had led to hacker attacks， mainly directed at domestic IP addresses. Only 4.3 percent of total attacks were aimed at overseas IP addresses.

More than 5.53 billion items of personal information could have been leaked due to vulnerabilities on 1，282 websites， the report showed. The leakage rate in the healthcare industry was alarmingly high， with every loophole in their system leading to the potential loss of 9.6 million personal information.

National R&D Plan

China began a national key research and development （R&D） plan on February 16 to streamline numerous state-funded scientific and technological programs.

The plan focuses on research in fields vital to the countrys development and peoples well-being， such as agriculture， energy， the environment and health， as well as strategic fields key to industrial competitiveness， innovation and national security， said Hou Jianguo， Vice

Minister of Science and Technology.

It now covers 59 specific projects， Hou told a press conference.

The plan merges several prominent state sci-tech programs， including Program 863 and Program 973， which are focused on key fields such as biotechnology， space， information， automation， energy， new materials， telecommunications and marine technology.

Program 863s breakthroughs include the Tianhe-1 supercomputer， Jiaolong manned deep-sea research submersible， and super hybrid rice.

To address low efficiency resulting from redundant programs， over 100 programs will be merged into five plans： natural science， major sci-tech projects， key R&D plans， technical innovation and the fostering of sci-tech professionals.

This is the first national key R&D plan to be put into operation.

Pink Spring

The Nanjing International Plum Blossom Festival kicks off in Nanjing， Jiangsu Province， on February 16.

The event also involves a series of activities on traditional culture， tourism and folk arts.

Zika Cases

China confirmed a second imported Zika case on February 15， six days after the first was detected， the General Administration of Quality Supervision， Inspection and Quarantine （AQSIQ） said.

The AQSIQs Guangdong provincial branch found a passenger who had a fever at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport on February 12. The person was later confirmed by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention to be carrying the Zika virus.

The patient was exposed to an infected individual in Venezuela， days before returning to Guangzhou.

Chinas first patient with the virus was discharged from a hospital on February 14 after a full recovery.

Disease prevention experts said that the risk of any spread of the virus in China from this new case is low due to the timely quarantine， and the current low winter temperatures which curbs mosquito activity.

Symptoms of the Zika virus， which spreads among people through mosquito bites， include fever， joint pain， a rash， conjunctivitis， headaches and muscle pain.

Space Research

Tianqin， Chinas domestic gravitational wave research project initiated by the Sun Yat-sen University， south Chinas Guangdong Province， in July 2015， is awaiting governmental approval.

The U.S.-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory （LIGO） announced its discovery of gravitational waves on February 11.

According to Li Miao， Dean of the Institute of Astronomy and Space Science of the university in south Chinas Guangdong Province， Tianqin has already made progress on some key technologies and will be carried out in four stages over the next 15 to 20 years， including the last step of launching three highorbit satellites to detect gravitational waves.

The university plans to build a 5，000-square-meter observatory and a new lab occupying more than 10，000 square meters on Fenghuang Mountain in Zhuhai， Guangdong.

Chen Yanbei， a scientist with LIGO， said Tianqin will study the gravitational waves in the space， which is different from research made by the U.S. ground-based observatory.

“Tianqin will likely collect more information about the phenomenon， as a larger black hole may be detected in space compared with one detected on the ground，” Chen said.

Sun Yat-sen University is willing to cooperate with other institutions in China as well as around the globe to carry out its project， Li added.

Talent Competition

Candidates wait for their turn for interviews at the Beijing Film Academy（BFA） in Beijing on February 15.

The annual entrance exam of Chinas art colleges started simultaneously on the day.

The BFAs Performing Institute will admit only 45 students from more than 7，600 applicants.

Festival Consumption

Booming tourism， cinema and retail sales during the week-long Spring Festival holiday （February 7-13） showed that Chinas efforts to make its economy more reliant on the consumption power of its vast population are paying off.

Tourism revenue increased 16.3 percent during the seven-day holiday， to reach 365.1 billion yuan （$55.7 billion）， according to the National Tourism Administration. The number of tourists topped 302 million across the country， up 15.6 percent.

Shops and restaurants across the country brought in 754 billion yuan （$115 billion）， up 11.2 percent over last years Spring Festival， the Ministry of Commerce said.

On February 8， the first day of the Year of the Monkey according to the lunar calendar， box office revenues reached a record 660 million yuan （$101.18 million）.

Statistics from e-commerce giant Alibaba showed that around 14 percent of orders during its holiday promotion were delivered to different addresses， meaning that around 280 million orders were most likely holiday gifts.

Sea Transportation

A ship berths alongside the bulk cargo terminal of the Huanghua Port in north Chinas Hebei Province.

To further elevate the shipping capacity of the Qinhuangdao Port， Tangshan Port and Huanghua Port， Hebei plans to invest 40 billion yuan （$6.14 billion） in the next five years to build 67 berths， elevating the throughput capacity above 1.2 billion tons.

Foreign Trade

Chinas foreign trade slumped in January， with both exports and imports slowing at a faster-thanexpected rate due to weak global demand， customs data showed on February 15.

In January， foreign trade value in yuan-denominated terms edged down 9.8 percent year on year to 1.88 trillion yuan （$288.2 billion）， according to the General Administration of Customs （GAC）. Exports dropped 6.6 percent year on year to 1.14 trillion yuan （$175 billion）， slowing from the 2.3-percent growth last December， while imports declined 14.4 percent to 737.5 billion yuan （$113.06 billion）， worsening from a 4-percent slump last December.

The fundamental factor behind the disappointing foreign trade figures has more to do with the overall lack of external demand rather than changes in exchange rates， said HSBC in a research note.

Trade with Chinas three biggest trade partners， the European Union， the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations， all dropped around 10 percent.

In dollar-denominated terms， Chinas exports fell by 11.2 percent from one year earlier in January， worsening from Decembers 1.4 percent decline. The import decline also widened to 18.8 percent.

Foreign Investment

Foreign direct investment （FDI） into the Chinese mainland continued to grow steadily in January despite slowing overall growth in the worlds second largest economy.

FDI， which excludes investment in the financial sector， rose 3.2 percent year-on-year to 88.25 billion yuan （$13.55 billion） last month， the Ministry of Commerce said on February 15.

Investment in the countrys burgeoning service sector accounted for 67.6 percent of total inflow during the period.

FDI in the hi-tech service industry more than doubled to 7.2 billion yuan （$1.1 billion）.

Investment from the United States， the European Union and Japan increased the most， up 463.6 percent， 30.9 percent and 22.8 percent， respectively.

Data also showed that Chinas non-financial outbound direct investment （ODI） in January was 18.2-percent higher than in January 2015.

Some 78.76 billion yuan （$12.09 billion） of ODI came out from China last month.

The year-on-year increase accelerated from a 6.1-percent rise last December and was also faster than the annual growth of 14.7 percent in 2015.

The ministry attributed the growth largely to investment in the manufacturing sector， which soared nearly 90 percent year-on-year to 1.62 billion yuan （$248.6 million） in January.

Chinese local enterprises contributed 92.5 percent of the total ODI in January， up from a share of 66.4 percent in 2015， with their outbound investment surging 175 percent yearon-year.

Blooming Valentines Day

Flowers of different colors are packaged for sale at a flower market in Kunming， southwest Chinas Yunnan Province on February 14.

On Valentines Day， large quantities of flowers flood into the national market from Yunnan.

Sound Trademark

A state-owned radio stations signature tune is about to be approved as Chinas first sound trademark.

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce （SAIC） said on February 14 that it had reviewed the application from China Radio International and plans to approve it.

A sound trademark is a sound that is used to perform the trademark function of uniquely identifying the commercial origin of products or services. Famous examples include the Nokia tune and McDonalds “Im lovin it” jingle.

Chinas top legislature revised the Trademark Law to allow sound to be registered as a trademark in 2013.

The SAIC had received 450 applications for sound trademarks by the end of January since it began accepting such applications in May 2014.

Less Holdings

China， the top buyer of U.S. Treasury securities， cut its holdings in December 2015， the latest data from the Treasury Department showed on February 16.

China reduced its holdings of the Treasury securities by $18.4 billion to $1.2461 trillion in December 2015. In the previous month， it had increased its holdings by $9.7 billion.

Japan， the second largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury securities， cut its own figure by $22.4 billion to $1.1225 trillion in December.

In December， the overall foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities rose to $6.1658 trillion from Novembers $6.1257 trillion.

Insurance Boom

China became the worlds third largest insurance market in 2015， with insurance premiums surging in the past five years， according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission （CIRC）.

With an annual growth rate of 13.4 percent， insurance premiums increased from 1.3 trillion yuan（$197.9 million） in 2010 to 2.4 trillion yuan （$367.92 billion） in 2015， CIRC data showed.

With the expanding insurance market in the worlds second largest economy， the total assets of the whole insurance industry in China more than doubled from 5 trillion yuan （$766.5 billion） in 2010 to 12 trillion yuan （$1.84 trillion） in 2015.

Experts attributed the performance of the industry to Chinas growing economy and the peoples improving living standards.

On the back of such a booming market， insurance companies have experienced bumper years in the country.

The profits of the whole insurance sector totaled 282.4 billion yuan （$43.29 billion） in 2015， compared to 83.7 billion yuan（$12.83 billion） in 2010 when China was home to the worlds sixth largest insurance market， CIRC data showed.

In 2015， China contributed 26 percent of the growth of global insurance market.

Hunting for a Job

Job seekers submit their resumes at a recruitment fair in Yichang， central Chinas Hubei Province， on February 15.

After the Spring Festival holiday （February 7-13）， job fairs are held in many regions to help people who come back to urban areas to find a job.