Flood Warning

A birds eye view of the Liujiang River in Liuzhou， southwest Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， on April 11 shows the first flood to crest in the area this year.

Continuous heavy rainfall caused the rise of the rivers water level to 79.93 meters on the morning of April 11， 2.57 meters lower than the warning level.

Officials Punished

The State Council has announced that 357 officials implicated in cases concerning the illegal sale of improperly stored vaccines would be penalized.

They will face punishments including losing their jobs or demotion， according to a decision made at a State Council executive meeting on April 13.

So far 192 criminal cases have been filed nationwide and 202 people were detained over the scandal， according to a statement issued after the meeting， which was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

Last month， the State Council announced a cross-departmental investigation into improper vaccine trading. Risk evaluations involving people having used the vaccines in question must be conducted as soon as possible， with the results publicized in a timely manner and the aftermath handled properly， said a statement released after the meeting.

During the meeting， attendees approved a decision to amend a regulation on the management of vaccine circulation and use， stipulating that drug wholesalers will be banned from selling vaccine products outright.

While preventing hospitals from directly contacting vaccine makers and potentially reaching dubious deals， such practices eschew intermediaries and greatly reduce risks in circulation and distribution as the entire process occurs under official arrangements.

A system to track the entire process from manufacturing， storage and transportation to their use will be set up， and institutes or hospitals must request storage temperature records upon receiving vaccine products.

According to the decision， fines for those illegally selling or improp- erly storing and transporting vaccines will be increased. Government officials will be required to resign from their jobs if they fail to perform their supervision duties well.

A Digital Education

A cloud platform designed to digitalize education was donated to 200 kindergartens， primary and secondary schools in the Tibet Autonomous Region on April 12.

The platform， worth 60 million yuan （$9.28 million）， was donated by Beijing-based technology company Yunxiao， which means cloud school in Chinese， through the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation （CSCLF） and the Tibet Development Fund during a ceremony in Beijing.

Jing Dunquan， Vice Chairperson of the CSCLF， said educational IT development should be used to close the digital divide among different regions， cities and rural areas， giving more children access to quality educational resources in order to improve their life opportunities through education.

Information Reward

The government of northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region offers the public rewards of up to 5 million yuan （$774，000） for information on terrorism.

Those who provide police with significant information on planned attacks， hijacking， assassinations， poisoning， blasts or sabotage of key infrastructure facilities， can get 200，000 yuan （$31，746） to 5 million yuan， the government said in a statement on April 11.

Lesser rewards are on offer to anyone providing terror information deemed less significant， and informants can apply to be rewarded with government jobs or social insurance， according to the statement.

In the initial 11 months after a terrorism crackdown was launched in May 2014， Xinjiang police busted 81 terrorism cases based on public tip-offs.

Public Interest Litigations

Chinese courts have handled 12 public interest litigation cases initiated by procurators since the country began a pilot reform in July 2015， the Supreme Peoples Court （SPC） said on April 8.

Half of the cases involved administrative litigations， including three concluded cases. The others included five civil public interest litigations and one with both civil and administrative litigation.

The Supreme Peoples Procuratorate in July 2015 issued a pilot reform plan to allow procurators to initiate public interest litigations in 13 provincial regions of the country.

The reform aims to better protect the interests of the nation and the public， especially in the protection of the environment and resources， as well as food safety， among others.

The SPC said courts took an average of 1.25 days to file public interest litigation cases initiated by procurators， less than the seven daytime limit.

Healthcare & Eldercare

China will encourage more hospitals to provide eldercare services and more nursing homes to offer medical care， according to an official document on April 8.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Health and Family Planning Commission jointly issued a circular describing the approval procedure for setting up institutions that have both healthcare and eldercare services.

Applications from medical institutions that offer accommodation and care services for senior citizens will be granted preferential conditions in the approval procedure， according to the document. Similar policies will also be available for applications from rest homes to establish senile disease hospitals， rehabilitation centers， traditional Chinese medicine services or terminal care institutions.

The circular called on relevant authorities to remove unnecessary barriers in the approval process， adding that collaboration between the two kinds of services will also be encouraged.

Dictionarys Records

Guinness World Records confirmed on April 12 that the Xinhua Dictionary published by Chinas Commercial Press is the “most popular dictionary” and the “best-selling book（regularly updated）.”

As of July 28， 2015， the Xinhua Dictionary， the first modern Chinese dictionary since the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China on October 1， 1949， has sold 567 million copies globally， Guinness World Records announced at the presentation ceremony in London.

“Over the past year， our teams have completed extensive data investigation， collection and examination for these two records and we are delighted to verify that the Xinhua Dictionary is the most popular dictionary and the bestselling regularly updated book，”said Marco Frigatti， SVP Records at Guinness World Records.

Dubbed the “National Dictionary，” the Xinhua Dictionary has been a tool for several generations of Chinese people. It is also a good tool for foreigners who study Chinese language and culture.

Caught in Focus

Photos released on April 13 show the image of a wild giant panda in a snow-covered forest in Tielou Township of Longnan City， northwest Chinas Gansu Province， on March 27.

Over 160 infrared cameras were placed by forest authorities to monitor the wild animals and plants in the national nature reserve of Baishui River， which is home to 110 giant pandas.

Driving Without Driver

The departure ceremony of a 2，000-km road test for a driverless car developed by the Changan Auto Company is held in Chongqing， southwest China， on April 12.

The driverless car will run across a number of cities before reaching its destination in Beijing. It features adaptive cruise at full speed， traffic jam assistance， traffic information identification， an automatic lane change system and more.

GM Crops

China has mapped a plan for the future of genetically modified crops， giving priority to development of non-edible cash crops， according to the Ministry of Agriculture （MOA） on April 13.

Next in line comes indirectly edible， and then edible crops， reflecting Chinas prudent attitude to genetically modified crops， MOA official Liao Xiyuan told a press conference.

“Chinas safety evaluation system on genetically modified crops is the worlds strictest in terms of technical standards and procedures，”said Wu Kongming with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

For genetically modified crops， China currently only allows the planting of insect-resistant cotton and antiviral papaya for commercial purposes， Wu said， adding that genetically modified imports include soybean， corn， rape-seed oil， cotton and sugar beet.

The industrialization of genetically modified crops will focus on cash crops and industrial crops from 2016 to 2020， while beefing up the R&D and promotion of insectresistant cotton and corn， Liao added.

Rising FDI

Foreign direct investment （FDI） in the Chinese mainland continued to rise in the first quarter of the year， official data showed.

FDI， which excludes investment in the financial sector， rose 4.5 percent year on year to 224.21 billion yuan （$34.64 billion） from January through March， the Ministry of Commerce said on April 12.

Investment in the service sector accounted for 68.9 percent of total inflow during the period， reaching 154.38 billion yuan （$23.85 billion）.

FDI in the hi-tech service industry soared 104.3 percent over the year earlier period to 25.52 billion yuan （$3.94 billion）.

Investment from countries along the routes of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road remained robust， up 8 percent from a year ago to $1.84 billion.

In March， FDI grew 7.8 percent year on year to 82.34 billion yuan（$12.72 billion）.

CPI and PPI

Chinas consumer prices grew 2.3 percent in March year on year， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）.

The consumer price index （CPI）， the main gauge of inflation， shrank 0.4 percent in March from February， the bureau said in a statement on April 11.

NBS statistician Yu Qiumei attributed most of the inflation growth to high vegetable and pork prices.

Pork prices saw a 28.4-percent year-on-year increase， which contributed 0.64 percentage points to CPI growth， while vegetable prices skyrocketed by 35.8 percent， accounting for 0.92 percentage points in CPI growth.

In addition， Chinas producer prices continued to drop in March with the contraction narrowing from the previous month， indicating more robust demand in the industrial sector.

The producer price index （PPI）， a measure of the costs of goods， dropped 4.3 percent year on year in March， narrowing from a 4.9-percent drop in February and 5.3-percent decline in January.

The reading marked the 49th straight month of decline as Chinas economic growth slowdown and industrial overcapacity weighed on prices.

Output price drops in oil， natural gas and coal， oil refining， ferrous metal smelting， chemical raw materials and chemical products contributed around 65 percent of the general producer price decline， Yu said.

On a month-on-month basis， Marchs PPI inflation edged up 0.5 percent， the first such gain since 2014.

Yu attributed the improving producer prices mainly to extended gains for some commodity prices and smaller drops in the price of oil refining.

Production Line

Workers at a garment factory in Zhili Town in Huzhou， Zhejiang Province， examine ready-made clothes produced by workshops in other provinces on April 7.

An increasing number of enterprises in Zhili have transferred their manufacturing bases to other places with lower labor costs.

Soybean Production

The Ministry of Agriculture （MOA） said on April 12 that China will plant more soybean and improve yield to fill a gap between supply and demand.

By 2020， the country will have 9.33 million hectares of soybeanplanting areas， 2.7 million hectares more than in 2015， and these areas will produce 2，025 kg of soybean per hectare， 225 kg more than the current level， according to an MOA statement.

The government will invest in technology to improve yield and strengthen policy support for soybean farmers， it said.

Impacted by imports， Chinas soybean production has decreased in recent years as profit margins dwindled. However， demand for the protein-rich grain is increasing.

Dumping Blocked

China imposed anti-dumping duties on unbleached bag papers imported from the United States， the EU and Japan beginning on April 10.

The duties will last for five years， the Ministry of Commerce said on April 9.

According to the ministrys final ruling， companies from the above-mentioned regions have dumped unbleached bag papers on the Chinese market， causing substantial damage to the domestic industry.

Anti-dumping duty rates for U.S. imports are set at 14.9 percent， those for EU imports range from 23.5 to 29 percent， and Japanese companies are subject to a 20.5-percent rate， the ministry said.

China launched an anti-dump-ing probe into imported cellulose pulp in April of last year.

Unbleached bag papers are often used to package cement， chemical products and some food products.

Super Worker

A technician operates on a robot at the 2016 Xiamen Industry Exposition in east Chinas Fujian Province on April 12.

The exposition demonstrates the application of intelligent manufacturing amidst the development trend of industry-Internet integration.

Lowering Threshold

A “negative list” approach， which identifies sectors and businesses that are off-limits or restricted for investment， has been tested in Shanghai， Tianjin， as well as Fujian and Guangdong provinces， the National Development and Reform Commission announced on April 8.

The commission said that it has handed out the draft plan on the approach to the four regions， which specifies 96 items that are off-limits and 233 items that are restricted for investment.

The pilot is a major step in the governments aim to explore a system that could be replicated nationwide for application in 2018 as part of its effort to streamline government administration and give more freedom to the market.

The “negative list” approach is a common practice adopted in many countries to manage foreign investment. China has piloted the rules in its first pilot free trade zone in Shanghai since 2013.

By extending the approach to cover domestic businesses， the government looks to reduce the threshold for investment and business startups to bring out the potential of various market entities as economic growth slows.

Rules Adjusted

Top securities regulator is seeking to revise its risk management rules on Chinese securities firms to adapt to new changes in the industry.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） on April 8 released its draft plan to change the way it calculates net capital and the risk capital requirements for securities firms.

It also plans to adjust the indicators for leverage and liquidity regulation of the industry.

The revised calculation will see the industrys net capital increase by around 20 percent and that of risk reserve capital rise two times， which will make the risk coverage indicator more “reasonable，” according to the CSRC.

Other adjustments include lowering the ratios of net capital to liabilities and net capital to net assets.

“As the securities firm structure and business products grow more diversified， risks are also becoming increasingly complicated， making the current mechanism unable to deliver proper risk controls，” CSRC spokesman Zhang Xiaojun said while explaining the reason for the change.

The draft is open to public feedback until May 8.

Service Alliance

Beginning on April 13， users are able to use the mobile app of Chinese ride-hailing service Didi to book rides provided by the companys partner Lyft when traveling in the United States.

In an effort to compete with its rival Uber outside of China， the Beijing-based startup has invested in other ride-hailing services abroad since last year， including Lyft， Grab in Southeast Asia and Ola in India.

Didis Chinese mobile app will serve as a gateway for Chinese tourists to access Lyfts services. Lyft operates in nearly 200 U.S. cities， including popular destinations New York City， Washington， D.C.， Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Didi said that it also provides translation services should customers have trouble communicating with drivers. In addition， fares will be converted into Chinese renminbi and be payable through Chinese mobile payment services offered by Alibaba and Tencent.

Foreigners in China are also expected to be able to access Didis services in China through Lyft during the second quarter of this year， Didi said.

Didi hopes to be able to offer similar mutually accessible services with Ubers rivals in other markets around the world.

Fantasy World

Children play in Chinas first Legoland Discovery Center in Shanghai on April 7. The center began a trial operation on that day， where more than 3.9 million Lego pieces simulate a miniature world for visitors.