Squeaky Clean

Squeaky Clean

Inspectors use a drone to check a garbage station in a village in Wenan County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on May 14. The county has launched a program to introduce closed trash containers to rural households as part of its campaign to improve the living environment.

Well-Being Boost

As part of its efforts to enhance fi nancial support for targeted poverty alleviation， China will improve the transmission mechanism of monetary policy， strengthen the management of refi nancing and cut targeted reserve requirement ratio for inclusive fi nancing， according to a guideline issued by the Peoples Bank of China on May 15.

Financial institutions in the banking sector are encouraged to support the advantageous industries in rural areas for the sake of poverty reduction， increase loan issuance and improve fi nancial services for poverty relieving relocation.

More efforts will be made to boost inclusiveness in the fi nancial system and enhance the rural fi nan- cial environment.

Apart from accelerating the construction of payment infrastructure in rural areas， the country will strengthen protection of rural fi nancial consumers rights and interests.

The guideline also called for coordination of fi nancial support for poverty alleviation and fi nancial services for rural revitalization， reinforcing the sustainability of the support.

Initial Moves

Relocation efforts have offi cially begun in Xiongan New Area， a city in the making about 100 km southwest of Beijing， consisting of Xiongxian， Rongcheng and Anxin counties in Hebei Province.

Some 99 hectares of collectively owned land in Hexi Village and 58 hectares of land in Gongzhuang Village in Rongcheng are to be used for construction， according to a county government statement.

Therefore， villagers committees of Hexi and Gongzhuang and farmers who live on the land and will need to be relocated will receive compensation from the government， the statement said.

The farmers can choose between monetary compensation and new apartments. Those who opt for the latter will receive subsidies to rent houses and money for heating during the transition period.

The resettlement plan is open to suggestions and comments from residents， the statement said.

A large-scale building phase will start this year at Xiongan， authorities said， and a 13-square-km residential area is set to be built in the eastern part of Rongcheng.

Unified Insurance

China plans to fully establish a unifi ed national medical insurance service for both urban and rural citizens， according to a recent circular issued by the National Healthcare Security Administration and the Ministry of Finance.

The circular urged seven provincial-level regions that have not yet fully integrated their rural and urban medical insurance schemes to speed up the process and establish a unifi ed system by the end of 2019.

Currently， 24 provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland have replaced separate rural and urban medical insurance schemes with a unifi ed medical insurance service， to give urban and rural residents equal benefi ts.

The circular also said the average minimum amount of medical insurance subsidy for each citizen will increase from 490 yuan （$71） in 2018 to 520 yuan （$76） this year.

Rural citizens used to have a medical insurance scheme inferior to urban citizens. The unifi cation of rural and urban schemes started in 2017.

Food Security

China can achieve the bottom-line requirement of basic self-suffi ciency of cereal grains and absolute food security， said a senior agricultural expert on May 13.

The food supply can ensure the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020 and the basic realization of socialist modernization by 2035， said Mei Xurong， Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences， at the 2019 China and Global Agricultural Policy Forum held in Beijing on May 13.

According to the China Agricultural Sector Development Report 2019 released by Mei， the agriculture/food system contributes about 23.3 percent to the GDP and 36.07 percent to employment， playing a stabilizing role as a ballast stone in the Chinese economy.

The report analyzed the new situation and challenges facing Chinas agricultural development and assessed the possible impact of agricultural policy adjustments and the outside world on the development of Chinas agricultural industry.

The year 2018 marked the 40th anniversary of rural reform in China and saw the implementation of a rural vitalization strategy. The agricultural sector has seen a positive overall trend in development， with total grain output reaching 658 million tons， the report said.

Waste-Free Cities

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment and 17 other ministeriallevel departments launched a pilot waste-free program in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， on May 13 to curb trash created in cities.

The participating cities are Shenzhen， downtown Chongqing， Sanya in Hainan Province， and eight other places across China.

Xiongan New Area， Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area in Yizhuang， China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City， Guangze County in Fujian Province and Ruijin in Jiangxi Province also joined the program.

About 10 billion tons of solid waste are produced annually in China， according to Du Xiangwan， an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The amount of trash， if poorly handled， will be a huge burden for the environment and waste of resources， Du said.

Zero waste in cities calls for reducing trash production at the source， cutting landfi ll and increasing recycling.

“The long-term goal is to minimize solid waste production， maximize the use of trash-recycled resources and safe disposal，” Du said.

Rainbow Ride

Tourists grass-ski in an amusement park in Xuanen County， central Chinas Hubei Province， on May 13. As the countys transportation improves， tourism is injecting new impetus into the local economy.

Greener Lhasa

About 1.3 million trees have been planted on the bare mountains in Lhasa， capital of southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region， over the past seven years amid efforts to add greenery， local authorities said.

The plateau city has afforested nearly 400 hectares of mountainous areas， with its forestry coverage reaching 19.49 percent last year， according to the citys forestry and grassland bureau.

It also said Lhasa was the fi rst city in Tibet to successfully plant trees in a mountainous area with an altitude of more than 3，900 meters above sea level.

In a bid to improve the local natural environment， Tibet has launched a spate of ecological projects in recent years， including returning farmland to forest and curbing desertifi cation.

Offi cial data showed the regions forest coverage rose from less than 1 percent in 1951 to 12.14 percent in 2018.

Seismic Observation

A total of 360 observation stations have been established in the China Seismic Experimental Site （CSES） so far， Zheng Guoguang， head of the China Earthquake Administration， said on May 10.

China announced on May 12， 2018 that it would build the CSES， a natural laboratory in earthquake science and technology， in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.

It aims to facilitate investigatordriven research on earthquake preparation and occurrence， and enhance disaster resilience， according to Zheng.

Thirteen countries including the United States and Russia have participated in the research.

China will step up the pace of the experimental site construction to obtain more underground observation data and promote data sharing for further research， Zheng said.

Passing It On

Students learn embroidery in a primary school in Bijie， southwest Chinas Guizhou Province， on May 14. Local schools have added courses on intangible cultural heritage to boost the inheritance of traditional culture.

NEEQ Gains

Firms listed on Chinas National Equities Exchange and Quotations（NEEQ）， also known as the new third board， have gained more technical strength.

By the end of 2018， the number of patents held by the fi rms on the board averaged 34 each， up 21.43 percent year on year， while 43.46 percent of the companies owned more than 20 patents for inventions.

Analysts attributed the growing technical strength to higher research input. Data from annual reports showed that the combined research and development （R&D） expenditure of the fi rms totaled 59.91 billion yuan （$8.7 billion） in 2018， up 15.69 percent year on year.

Their average R&D intensity， the proportion of R&D expenditure to sales revenue， stood at 3.23 percent. By the end of last year， 72 percent of the listed fi rms were in advanced manufacturing and modern services. The proportions of hi-tech and intellectual property-intensive fi rms have grown to 65 percent and 42.25 percent， respectively.

Founded in 2013， NEEQ was launched to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and is seen as a better fi nancing channel for small and medium-sized enterprises， with low costs and simple listing procedures.

Electrical Boost

Workers examine facilities of a transformer substation to be put into operation in Wuhan， central Chinas Hubei Province， on May 13. The expansion of the substation， started in 2017， will improve its electricity supply.

PV Cooperation

Japans Panasonic plans to team up with Chinese photovoltaic （PV） module manufacturer GS-Solar （China） to expand their solar panel business， local media reported on May 13.

The partnership will allow Panasonic to optimize the development and production capability of its PV business while continuing to procure and sell PV modules produced at its Malaysian factory， the company said in a statement.

Panasonic will transfer its solar manufacturing subsidiary Panasonic Energy Malaysia to GS-Solar， which is based in Quanzhou， southeast Chinas Fujian Province.

The company will also set up a joint venture with GS-Solar in Japan by spinning off its PV R&D unit.

Panasonic and the new company will provide technical support for its factories in Japan and the United States.

GS-Solar will hold 90 percent stake in the new R&D venture with Panasonic owning the rest.

SOE Reform

China has sped up mixed ownership reform of state-owned enterprises（SOEs）， with the fourth batch of the pilot SOE list soon to go public， according to 21st Century Business Herald.

The fourth batch will include over 100 enterprises， Peng Huagang， an offi cial with the StateOwned Assets Supervision and Administration of the State Council， told the newspaper.

In 2018， 2，880 central and local SOEs conducted a mixed ownership reform. About 70 percent of centrally administered SOEs and their subsidiaries now have mixed-equity ownership.

The SOEs owned assets of 58.2 trillion yuan （$8.56 trillion） by the end of last year， with 7.2 trillion yuan（$1.05 trillion） belonging to minority shareholders.

From 2013 to 2018， the central SOEs had absorbed social capital worth over 260 billion yuan （$37.8 billion） and raised more than 1 trillion yuan （$145 billion） through the securities market， the newspaper reported.

Peng said the scale and fi eld of the reform would be expanded based on market principles and protecting the property rights of all contributors.

Since 2016， China has selected 50 SOEs in three batches to conduct the pilot reform in power， energy， civil aviation， telecommunications and defense.

AI Alliance

An artifi cial intelligence （AI） industrial alliance dedicated to resources matchmaking has been formed in Shanghai， China Daily reported on May 10.

Formed at the end of April， the 22-member bloc includes leading AI enterprises from both domestic Internet giants such as Alibaba， Tencent and Baidu， and international powerhouses from Microsoft Asia Research Center （Shanghai） to ABB， a Swiss industrial conglomerate specializing in robotics and automation technology.

It is designed to provide resources matchmaking for participating enterprises， an essential step to foster AI development given the rich application scenarios available in the city.

The alliance also brings in core players in the telecom， fi nancial and manufacturing sectors to create industrial synergies， offer specialized AI services and conduct overseas exchanges.

After the alliance was announced， Shanghai unveiled the fi rst batch of 12 AI pilot scenarios to power various industries.

Shanghai is looking to become a global AI hub with plans to expand the scale of its industry to more than 100 billion yuan （$14.7 billion） by 2020.

Right on Track

A staff examines the condition of the W82523 freight train in Korla， northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on May 11. Such freight trains with over 10，000 tons of goods were put into operation in May.

Shared Bikes

The Beijing Municipality launched a one-month campaign on May 13 for regulating shared bikes in the city， according to the offi cial micro-blog of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

The city had nine registered bike-sharing companies and more than 1.9 million shared bikes as of the end of April. However， active bikes accounted for less than 50 percent， according to April statistics.

The campaign is directed toward areas with a large number of bikes and electric bikes， such as major avenues， subway stations， scenic spots and business districts.

Bike-sharing companies are required to recycle broken bikes and clear bikes that are parked against regulations.

In September 2018， Beijing authorities set a limit on the number of shared bikes in the capital as the industry continued to grow.

Chinas bike-sharing market has grown rapidly over the past few years as part of a booming digital economy.

Xiaomis New Move

The fi rst physical store opened by Chinese electronics company Xiaomi in South America offers its more than 25，000 Chilean followers new technologies at affordable prices.

The Mi fans demand quality from Chinese products and lower prices.

Xiaomi now has 130 products available in Chile， including cellphones， security cameras， computers， robot vacuum cleaners， bicycles， electric scooters and accessories. The company is looking to open another six stores and consolidate its expansion in Chile and the region after landing in Mexico. It also hopes to introduce technologies yet unknown to Latin America.

The Latin American market is crucial and attractive to the brand， especially Chile， “a country that tends to adopt new technologies very rapidly，” the brand said.

Currently， there is a large demand in the South American country for these types of devices， and thus a greater offer is in need from technology companies， which boosts competition and benefi ts consumers， the Chinese fi rm said.

In 2005， Chile became the f rist Latin American country to sign a free trade agreement with China， and in 2019， it became the f rist country in the region to update the agreement.

Green Pillar

A farmer works in a grape greenhouse in a town in Tangshan， north Chinas Hebei Province， on May 14. In recent years， the town has developed protected agriculture to boost the local economy.