Seizing Opportunities

Seizing Opportunities

A job fair for college graduates is held in Lhasa， southwest Chinas Tibet Autonomous Region， on August 20. The number of college graduates in Tibet reached a record high of 23，616 in 2019， according to the local government.

Expanded Insurance

A total of 148 medicines have been newly included in Chinas basic medical insurance， work-related injury insurance and childbirth insurance programs. The renewed list， which covers 2，643 drugs， was unveiled on August 20 and will take effect on January 1， 2020.

Among the 148 new additions are fi ve drugs for major disease treatment， 36 medications for chronic diseases such as diabetes and 38 drugs for children.

The drug list update marked a key step in improving peoples medical security and easing the fi nancial burden on the insured， said Xiong Xianjun， chief of the Medical Services Administration Department of the National Healthcare Security Administration. Meanwhile， 128 drugs， which are exclusive products of high clinical value but have relatively high prices， have been identifi ed following expert reviews as potential additions to the list， as negotiations with their manufacturers are pending.

Support for HKSAR Government

Overseas Chinese nationals held peaceful rallies around the world to call for an end to violence in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region （HKSAR）.

Hundreds of people rallied at Union Square in downtown San Francisco， California in the U.S.， on August 18， to express strong support for the HKSAR Government and Hong Kong police， and to oppose the violence committed by rioters in the Chinese SAR over the past period.

The participants， mostly young people including students， whitecollar workers and business owners， came from different parts of the Bay Area to express their patriotism and zero tolerance for violent protesters in Hong Kong.

Any attempt by some extremists in Hong Kong to promote so-called“Hong Kong independence” must be opposed， said Vivian Liu， a designer with a local wedding company.

“As Chinese nationals living outside of China， we have the obligation to come forward to support our country when people with ulterior motives are launching a smear campaign against China，” said Wang Zhonghan， a student at City College of San Francisco.

On the same day， despite bad weather， overseas Chinese in London， the UK， and Boston， the U.S.， also held rallies to voice their demand for peace and stability in Hong Kong.

Xiongan Plan

The compilation of a plan for tourism development up until 2035 in north Chinas Xiongan New Area has been completed， according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

It has now been submitted to the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for approval， the ministry said in a statement.

Xiongan， aiming to become a millennium green city， was established in Hebei Province in 2017. It is located about 100 km southwest of Beijing.

The tourism industry will serve Xiongan in carrying out its tasks of relieving functions nonessential to Beijings role as the capital and helping coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region， according to the plan.

The government plans to build the area into a model for highquality tourism development， an international tourism destination in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and a world-famous tourism city.

Xiongan should be developed into a pilot zone to promote effective integration of culture and tourism， the reform of the tourism management system and the innovative development of eco-tourism， the statement said.

Upgraded Processor

China Electronics Technology Group Corp. （CETC）， a state-owned electronics manufacturer， unveiled an advanced neural network cognitive processor called Auk Core.

A neural network processor is a central processing unit that operates similar to neurons in the human brain to perform various computation tasks. With fully independent intellectual property rights， the Auk Core can provide functions including target detection and image classifi -cation for remote sensing and video imagery.

Compared to its previous generations， the processor has been manufactured with a high-speed and low-power design and can support various operating systems such as Windows and Linux. Its performance is comparable to that of top international competitors， according to the CETC.

Wang Ziwei， head of the project， said the processor can detect and identify objects at the sea surface and accomplish many more tasks under extreme external conditions.

A Night at the Museum

Visitors view exhibits at the new site of the Anhui Museum in Hefei， east Chinas Anhui Province， on August 16. The museum stays open late every Friday between July 24 and August 30 to enrich peoples nightlife.

To supplement the timber shortage in the wake of natural forest protection， Li said wood substitutes will be used in the construction of buildings and railways， while artifi cial forests and timber imports will also be promoted.

China implemented a forest conservation program in several pilot areas in 1998. The fi rst phase of the program was from 2000 to 2010， and the second phase will run from 2011 to 2020.

“Our goals are to put all natural forests under protection and establish related systems of restoring natural forests by 2020，” said Jin Min， a senior offi cial with the NFGA.

By 2035， the area of Chinas natural forests will remain stable at about 200 million hectares， to fulfi ll the objective of building a beautiful China， according to Jin.

Robot Staff

Mechanized receptionists are on display at the 2019 World Robot Conference in Daxing District of Beijing on August 20， the day the conference， themed Intelligent Ecosystem for a New Open Era， opened at the Etrong International Exhibition and Convention Center.

Railway Exchange

A total of 35 offi cials from 11 countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative came to China to take part in a training on railway construction and management， according to local authorities.

Organized by the Ministry of Commerce， the three-week training was held in three Chinese cities： Chengdu， capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， Hefei， capital of eastern province of Anhui， and Shanghai.

The offi cials were from railway or transport sectors of Burkina Faso， the Czech Republic， Laos， Mauritius， Mongolia， Mozambique， Sri Lanka， Sudan， Thailand， Uganda and Viet Nam. They fi nished the training and returned to their countries from Shanghai on August 14.

Gerard Constant Emmanuel Guigma， technical director of Burkina Fasos transport department， said China has overcome complicated natural environments and built a strong railway network， which has attracted worldwide attention. He said he expects more cooperation with China in this fi eld.

“The training is a manifestation of mutual trust， cooperation and common development between China and other countries under the Belt and Road Initiative，” said Luo Zhaoxin， director of the international education and training center of China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd.， one of the training agencies.

“We would like to work with offi cials from other countries to build a platform for exchanges and cooperation and promote the sustainable development of railway projects in their countries，” Luo added.

Country Road

A country road in Zaoqiang County， north Chinas Hebei Province， under construction on August 15. Once the road is completed， it will promote the sale of agricultural products and accelerate the pace of rural revitalization.

Cutting Costs

The Peoples Bank of China （PBC） unveiled a plan to improve and reform the countrys loan prime rate（LPR） mechanism on August 17， in its latest efforts to cut fi nancing costs for the real economy.

Introduced in 2013 and posted every trading day， the LPR functions is a market-based reference for lenders to set their loan interest rates.

Starting on August 20， the National Interbank Funding Center will disclose the new LPR at 9：30 a.m. on the 20th day of each month， according to a statement by the PBC.

In addition， the number of quotation banks will be expanded from 10 to 18， including national banks as well as urban commercial banks， rural commercial banks， foreigninvested banks and private banks， to improve the LPRs representation.

An above-fi ve-year LPR will be available in addition to the current one-year LPR to serve as pricing references for new bank lending， the PBC said.

Banks should take the LPR as the major lending rate reference when issuing loans， the statement said.

The PBC plan came after the State Council decided on August 16 to take market-oriented reform measures to reduce real interest rates and ease fi nancing diffi culties.

To ensure that the new plan is well implemented， enterprises can report banks practices of setting an implicit interest rate fl oor to market regulators and self-disciplinary industrial bodies.

Green Logistics

The logistics services in China have become more environmentally friendly as packages for express delivery are becoming more recyclable and transport greener， according to the State Post Bureau（SPB） on August 14.

By the end of June， 96 percent of courier deliveries were using digital waybills， while 45 percent of products sold on e-commerce platforms had given up secondary packaging， said Liu Jun， SPB Deputy Director.

China has also deployed waste sorting devices to nearly 10，000 courier service branches and built a number of green distribution centers to save land， energy and water resources， Liu said.

New-energy vehicles （NEVs） are also used widely in the courier sector， with the number reaching 20，000， according to Liu.

“We encourage the courier sector to use NEVs and vehicles meeting higher emissions standards and gradually raise the use of NEVs in express delivery，” he said.

IP Pledge Financing

Chinas banking and intellectual property （IP） regulators have decided to jointly boost the use of IP as a fi nancing tool to support the development of innovative enterprises， said an offi cial statement on August 16.

Released by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission， it encouraged banks and insurers to grant greater support to the use of IP as a pledge for fi nancing.

Commercial banks are encouraged to establish separate credit programs and specifi c in-house performance appraisal and incentive mechanisms to support IP pledge fi nancing under the premise of having risks under control， said the statement.

A feasibility study can be advanced in the sphere of using IP assets， geographical indications and layout designs of integrated circuits as collateral for fi nancing， it said.

The commission also said it would tolerate a slightly higher bad loan ratio in the IP pledge fi nancing business of commercial banks， which have found major hindrances related to the evaluation， disposal and selloff of IP pledges.

Solutions given by the commission involve the training of IP pledge fi nancing specialists， the establishment of a sound in-house evaluation mechanism， the making of pledge registration， the strengthening of the dynamic management of collaterals and the tight monitoring of borrowers business operations.

The balance of IP pledge fi nancing of Chinas banking institutions stood at 98.5 billion yuan （$14 billion） at the end of March， up 98 percent from the end of 2018， offi cial statistics showed.

Hardcore Technology

A boy plays with a smart robot at the 14th China Xian International Science and Technology Industry Expo in northwest Chinas Shaanxi Province on August 15. The expos exhibitions included artifi cial intelligence， aerospace， biotechnology， optoelectronic chips and information technology.

New Gas Resources

Sinopec， Chinas leading petroleum and petrochemical producer， has explored 92 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves in southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， the company said on August 14. The newly verifi ed reserves are expected to produce 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year， equivalent to the annual gas consumption of 10 million households.