INTO THE DEEP BLUE

Team members of Chinas 36th Antarctic expedition work on Chinas polar icebreaker Xue Long 2 in the Cosmonauts Sea on December 8.

This is the fi rst time for Chinas Antarctic expedition members to explore the Cosmonauts Sea.

Mission in the Sky

Workers perform maintenance on the Taihua Cableway in Mount Huashan in Shaanxi Province， northwest China， on December 5. The cableway， which was put into use in 2013， provides a stunning view of Huashan， known for its steep peaks.

Organ Donation

International organ transplant specialists have applauded Chinas signifi cant achievements in reforming and standardizing its organ donation and transplant system.

They made the remarks at the Fourth China International Organ Donation Conference， which was held in Kunming， capital of Yunnan Province， southwest China， from December 6 to 8.

“I have been following what China is doing in organ donation and transplant，” Jose Nunez， a World Health Organization （WHO） offi cial who oversees global organ transplants， said. “Every time I come to China， I can see great progress.”

The development of Chinas organ donation and transplant system is on the right path and in line with the guiding principles of the WHO， he added.

“The Chinese Government attaches great importance to organ donation and transplant. It has released over 30 documents and regulations to better regulate the fi eld，” said Huang Jiefu， Director of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee.

According to a report released by the China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation on December 7， the country recorded 6，302 cases of voluntary organ donations in 2018， more than double the number in 2015. It now ranks second globally in the number of organ donations and transplants.

Nearly 1.7 million Chinese have registered as organ donors， according to offi cial data.

Trial Guideline

The Supreme Peoples Court （SPC） released a judicial interpretation on the trial of cases about administrative agreements on December 10， aiming to better protect peoples rights and interests in cases that involve administrative organs.

According to the document， courts around the country should handle administrative litigations fi led by citizens， legal persons or other organizations on administrative agreements that concern land and housing expropriation and requisition， and the rental or transaction of government-subsidized housing， among others.

However， the courts will not accept counter-litigation cases fi led by administrative organs， it said.

The interpretation will also help ensure that administrative organs fulfi ll their contracts with investors during various cooperation processes， said Huang Yongwei， head of the SPCs Administrative Trial Division， at a press conference.

The document will take effect on January 1， 2020. Administrative agreements signed after May 1， 2015 will fall into its jurisdiction， while agreements signed before that date will be ruled by the laws and judicial interpretations at the time.

Water Consumption

The total annual consumption of unconventional water resources is expected to exceed 9 billion cubic meters in China this year， with recycled water to account for over 80 percent of the amount， according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Unconventional water resources include recycled water， desalinated seawater， rain and fl oodwater. As a country short of water resources， China regards unconventional water resources as important supplements to surface water， underground water and tap water.

Over the past few years， the government has promoted the use of unconventional water resources in industries， agriculture and environmental projects in a bid to meet the growing demand for water in waterdefi cient areas.

Chinas total annual water use is currently around 600 billion cubic meters， according to data from the ministry.

Educational Progress

Continued improvement has been made in Chinas educational system with government efforts to reform and balance development of the sector， according to a report from the National Bureau of Statistics.

By the end of 2018， there were 267，000 public and private kindergartens across the country， up 4.6 percent year on year.

The number of children enrolled in the preschool system was 46.56 million， up 6.1 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile， the graduation rate of the nine-year compulsory education， which covers primary and junior middle schools， was 94.2 percent in 2018， up 0.4 percentage point from 2017.

The gross enrollment ratio in high school education was 88.8 percent in 2018， up 0.5 percentage point from the previous year.

In addition， the country had 2，152 special education schools in 2018， with 59，000 teachers， up 2.1 and 4.8 percent， respectively.

The First Return

One or two giant pandas will be released into the wild in a nature reserve in the eastern province of Jiangxi， the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas（CCRCGP） said on December 5.

This will be the fi rst time a giant panda is released into the wild outside Sichuan Province in the southwest.

Jiangxi Guanshan National Nature Reserve has a mild climate and an intact ecosystem， with abundant bamboo resources and little human interference， which is conducive to giant pandas and other wild animals living and reproducing.

At an expert meeting， researchers with CCRCGP introduced the three candidates training for the wild. They are t he female Panwang and Ranran and male Yuner， all 2 years old.

Experts came to the conclusion that the pandas are ready for reintroduction and that the reserve meets the requirements for the program.

The giant panda reintroduction program refers to releasing captivebred pandas to their historical distribution areas to live and reproduce in order to rebuild the wild population of the giant panda.

Researchers will be able to obtain important data on the pandasadaption to the environment and climate by observing them after they are released.

The program has high research value for studying the reasons why pandas died out in their historical distribution areas and predicting climate changes infl uence on the current panda population， according to experts.

Back to Nature

A white stork is freed into the wild at the Jiangxi Poyang Lake National Nature Reserve in Jiangxi Province， east China， on December 8. A total of 120 cured migrant birds were freed at the activity.

Ready for Service

Trains are seen parked at a rail yard in Macao Special Administrative Region on December 10， the same day of the offi cial launch of Macaos light rapid transit service.

Earth Observation

The China National Space Administration released the fi rst batch of three-dimensional images based on the data from the recently launched Gaofen-7 Earth observation satellite on December 10.

The Gaofen-7， an important part of Chinas high-defi nition Earth observation project， is the countrys fi rst civil-use optical transmission three-dimensional surveying and mapping satellite that reaches the sub-meter defi nition.

The 22 images unveiled showed Beijing Capital International Airport， the new Beijing Daxing International Airport， as well as some regions in Chinas Anhui， Guangdong and Shandong provinces. Airplanes， vehicles， buildings and trees can be clearly seen in the images.

The satellite， launched on November 3， is in orbit at an altitude of 506 km and has a design life of eight years. More than 14，000 images have been obtained so far.

It will mainly be used for 1：10，000-scale 3D mapping. Only a few countries have acquired this level of satellite surveying and mapping， said Cao Haiyi， chief designer of the Gaofen-7 at the China Academy of Space Technology.

Its horizontal positioning accuracy of ground objects is within 5 meters， and the height measurement accuracy about 1.5 meters， said Cao.

“Its like a precise ruler for measuring the land. Before the launch of Gaofen-7， we could only precisely locate super-highways， but now the satellite can help us accurately locate rural roads，” Cao said.

Greater Presence

Foreign-funded banks and insurers have reported a bigger presence in the Chinese market with the ongoing efforts of fi nancial opening up and the improving business environment， according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

By the end of October， foreignfunded banks had established 41 legal entity banks， 114 branches and 976 operating institutions on the mainland with their aggregate assets reaching 3.37 trillion yuan （$478.7 billion）.

Foreign insurers total assets stood at 1.28 trillion yuan （$182 billion） as of the end of October. In the fi rst 10 months of the year， the commission approved 18 applications from overseas banks and insurers.

Welcoming more qualifi ed foreign players to do business in China， the commission said it would advance fi nancial opening up， strengthen regulation and create a fair market climate.

Industrial Upgrade

Chinas industrial economy is experiencing a stable run with high-quality development of the manufacturing sector and a change of labor structure thanks to supply-side structural reform.

The number of industrial enterprises reached 3.45 million by 2018， with an average annual increase of 7.4 percent since 2013. Industrial assets stood at 139.3 trillion yuan （$19.79 trillion）， up 5.8 percent annually during the same period， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）.

The growth rate of the number of enterprises and asset scale in the equipment manufacturing sector topped all industrial sectors during the 2013-18 period， up 9.6 percent and 8.4 percent per year on average， respectively.

The number of employees in industrial sectors in 2018 was 115.22 million， with a yearly decrease of 3.9 percent since 2013， NBS data showed.

The commission said it will continue to deepen f niancial supplyside structural reform and promote solvency supervision and risk prevention and control. It will also step up efforts to prevent and defuse fi nancial risks.

Travel Creates Opportunities

A tourist relaxes at a homestay in Yongqing County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on December 10. The county is turning houses lying idle into homestays to develop rural tourism and boost the local economy. The county has been receiving nearly 10，000 tourists each day.

Robust Trade

Year-on-year drops in Chinas foreign trade halted in November in the latest sign of economic resilience.

Despite external uncertainties and domestic downward economic pressure， trade volume expanded 1.8 percent year on year in Chinese yuan terms， the General Administration of Customs of China said on December 8.

Exports increased 1.3 percent over a year ago in November， while imports gained 2.5 percent， ending year-on-year drops in the previous two months.

Private players， the trade sectors mainstay， managed to achieve a 10.4-percent year-on-year growth in trade volume in the fi rst 11 months of the year by such means as diversifying their trading markets and adjusting the trade mix.

Trade with Belt and Road participating countries rose 9.9 percent from January to November， accounting for nearly 30 percent of total trade.

Exports of machinery and electronic products grew 4 percent， while automobile exports expanded 5 percent.

“China has achieved betterthan-expected trade growth against downward pressure so far，” Li Xingqian， Director of the Ministry of Commerces Foreign Trade Department said， estimating total trade volume to be around 30 trillion yuan （$4.26 trillion） for the whole year.

Steady trade growth with improved quality is expected in 2020 despite sluggish global demand， Li said， citing the solid trade foundation and vitality of market players.

A recent private survey by HSBC and research consultancy Kantar reported that Chinese fi rms are moving fast to brave protectionist pressure.

While foreign companies are prioritizing cost reduction to mitigate the risk of trade tensions， Chinese fi rms are pursuing a different strat- egy. Over a third are changing their offerings in key trading markets by entering into joint ventures with local companies or digitizing their sales platforms， the survey showed.

Businesses in China are also prioritizing trade with regional partners， the survey said. Over half of Chinese fi rms identify Asia-Pacifi c as a top region for expansion in the next three to fi ve years.

China will take a string of innovative and reform steps to seek highquality trade growth to optimize the trade mix， boost effi ciency and competitiveness， and develop a sound evaluation mechanism by 2022， according to an offi cial guideline.

It will lift the trade share with its free trade partners， emerging markets and developing countries in its total trade， further reduce tariffs and institutional costs， boost service trade and promote cross-border e-commerce.

Trade Growth

A view of the container yard at the Manzhouli Station in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in north China on December 8. According to the local immigration inspection bureau， 2，444 China-Europe freight trains passed through the border gate in Manzhouli in the fi rst 11 months of the year， up 53 percent year on year.

AI Prospects

The artifi cial intelligence （AI） market in China is expected to reach $11.9 billion by 2023， a new white paper said.

Driven by favorable policies， Chinas AI market is expected to account for 12 percent of the global total in 2019， with an annual growth of 64 percent， making it the worlds second largest AI market， according to the white paper released by global market intelligence fi rm International Data Corporation and QbitAI， a Chinese technology media outlet.

The paper said Chinese enterprises increased their investment in AI technology in 2019， and the application scenarios of AI have become richer. The potential areas of Chinas AI market will focus on fi elds such as the service sector， healthcare and telecommunications.

The lack of AI technicians and high-quality data sets are the primary challenges for AI development. Unclear application scenarios and high project costs also hinder the development of the sector.

The paper forecast that the market would reach $4.25 billion by 2020， with an estimated annual growth rate of 51.5 percent.