IT’S OFFICIAL

A couple shows their marriage certifi cates at a marriage registration offi ce in Wuhan， Hubei Province in central China， on April 7.

Wuhan has gradually resumed the marriage registration service for citizens since April 3. Couples， to prevent cross-infection， should make a prior appointment and show their health status to enter the offi ce.

Sowing Change

A farmer operates an automatic tractor for sowing seeds in Tawan， a village in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China， on April 9. The autonomous region has switched to smart technology to improve farming effi ciency and reduce costs.

New Face Mask

Chinese researchers have developed a new type of face mask with graphene on the key fi lter layer， according to the Aero Engine Corporation of China.

Graphene is a form of carbon used in aerospace， energy and biological medicine industries and has high absorption capacity.

It gives the mask stronger antibacterial properties， better air permeability and enhanced durability.

The new mask can be used more than 48 hours， far longer than traditional ones.

Birds at Risk

A type of critically endangered tern， a seabird with a black cap， has been spotted in Fujian Province in southeast China.

The crested terns were found on a sandbank in a wetland along the estuary of the Minjiang River， according to local bird watchers. The playful birds were seen hunting food.

The terns were fi rst discovered in China. A typical tern has a black beak and white feathers.

The wetland is a major sojourn for migratory birds， including rare species. It is home to 1，084 types of animals and plants， and more than 50，000 water birds make stopovers there while migrating.

“The Chinese crested terns were discovered in 1861， and had not been seen for more than a century，” local bird watcher Wang Naizhu said.“They appeared in the wetland in 2004.”

Fewer than 100 such terns exist in the world， but locals once observed 16 of them in the wetland， bird observer Ban Ma said.

Great Wall Repair

Beijing will start repairing the eastern part of the Jiankou Great Wall at the end of April.

The Jiankou section is in Huairou District of Beijing. It is one of the most dangerous parts of the Great Wall and called “the Wild Great Wall” by mountain hikers.

Zhang Tong， Director of the Huairou District Cultural Relics Offi ce， said the repair was initiated at the end of 2017， and so far 2，232 meters including 11 towers have been repaired.

Work on 885 meters， including eight towers， will be fi nished this year.

Originally built in the Tang Dynasty （618-907） and restored in the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）， the Jiankou Great Wall connects with the Mutianyu Great Wall in the east and the Huanghuacheng Great Wall in the west.

“The renovation will eliminate potential safety hazards while preserving the unique landscape and characteristics of the section，” Zhang said.

The Great Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Beijing plans to comprehensively protect and develop a Great Wall Cultural Belt covering an area of 4，929.29 square km.

Water Transfer

Eighty million cubic meters of water will be transferred to the Xianghai Wetland in Jilin Province in northeast China， the Ministry of Water Resources said on April 7.

Due to less rainfall， the wetland has been shrinking， and its biodiversity has been threatened， prompting the government to divert water from a reservoir 192 km away to boost biodiversity， aquaculture and tourism.

The Xianghai Wetland is a nature reserve for the protection of rare waterfowls such as red-crowned cranes and rare plant communities such as the Mongolian yellow elm.

Tibet Tunnels

Construction on the last two of the 47 tunnels on a 435-km railway linking Lhasa and Nyingchi in Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China was completed on April 7， marking huge progress for the mammoth project.

The Mainling tunnel， located in the city of Nyingchi， is 11，560 meters long with an average elevation of 3，100 meters above sea level and a maximum depth of about 1，200 meters. It is believed to be one of the most diffi cult tunnels ever built.

The 8.7-km Zagar tunnel in the city of Shannan traverses seven complex geological faults， including one of the thickest water-rich moraine layers.

The completion of the two tunnels on the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway has increased the total tunnel length to 216.5 km， almost half of the railway length.

Bridges and tunnels comprise 75 percent of the railway while over 90 percent of it is on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， more than 3，000 meters above sea level.

Nearly 20，000 builders have been working on the railway since the end of 2014.

As of April 7， 119 bridges were built， leaving just one more to be completed. About 115 km of tracks have been laid， and the rest will be completed by the year-end.

This is Tibets fi rst electric railway with a designed speed of 160 km per hour， expected to be put into operation in 2021.

Adapting to Adversity

A worker adjusts a face mask machine in Harbin， Heilongjiang Province in northeast China， on April 7. Since the novel coronavirus outbreak， Chuangbo Technology， a tech company in the city， has shifted to developing face mask machines. Each machine can produce 120，000 masks a day.

Travel Peak

Railway traffi c picked up during the three-day Tomb-Sweeping Day holiday through April 6 as the novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19） epidemic continued to ease in China.

Total train trips nationwide hit 11.36 million during the holiday， including 4.125 million on April 6， a single-day record high since the Chinese New Year holiday that ended in early February， according to data from the China State Railway Group Co.

The holiday saw an average of 260 more trains put into operation every day as the authorities continued to ensure safe and smooth travel.

Local railway authorities have ratcheted up transportation capacity for bullet trains and adhered to containment measures such as disinfecting and body temperature screening.

New Pilot Zone

The State Council on April 7 announced its approval to develop Baise， a city in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south on the border with Viet Nam， into a new pilot zone.

Building the pilot zone is an important measure to promote the joint construction of the Belt and Road， accelerate border development and opening up， and pursue opening up on all fronts， according to the statement.

The pilot zone will boost Chinas cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in political， economic， cultural as well as scientific and technological areas； and in the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor.

It will also contribute to the battle against poverty and promote urban and rural development in the border region.

Lessons for Teachers

Teachers in a primary school in Handan， a city in Hebei Province in north China， practise disinfection on April 7 to prepare for restart of classes. Multiple primary schools in the city conducted epidemic control drills that day to ensure safe and orderly resumption of classes.

RRR Cuts

The Peoples Bank of China （PBC）， Chinas central bank， on April 3 announced a decision to cut the reserve requirement ratio （RRR） for small and medium-sized banks by 100 basis points in its latest effort to bolster the real economy amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The RRR cuts will be implemented in two phases， with the fi rst round of 50 basis-point reductions expected on April 15. The second equal reduction will be effective on May 15， the PBC said in an online statement.

The reduction in the cash that lenders must hold as reserves is expected to unleash around 400 billion yuan （$56.3 billion） of longterm capital into the market， the PBC said.

The cuts are expected to inject liquidity into around 4，000 small and medium-sized lenders including rural cooperatives， rural commercial banks and city commercial banks operating within provincial administrative areas， adding sources of stable fi nancing for small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs）.

After the cuts， the RRR for small and medium-sized lenders will be slashed to 6 percent， a relatively low level compared with the ratio in other developing countries and past rates in China.

The PBC also cut the interest rate on excess reserves for fi nancial institutions from 0.72 percent to 0.35 percent from April 7， the fi rst time it slashed the rate since 2008.

The move will push banks to utilize their capital more effi ciently and help them better serve the real economy， especially SMEs.

China Post

A China-Europe freight train， the “China Post” CR Express 1st block train， bound for Lithuania is ready to depart from Tuanjiecun Station in Chongqing， southwest China， on April 3. Chongqing opened a new postal rail service to Europe on April 3 to meet the rising demand for international parcel delivery amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Luckin Fraud

Chinas securities regulator said on April 3 that it is paying close attention to and strongly condemns the accounting fraud by Luckin Coffee Inc.， a coffee chain.

A listed company， no matter where it is listed， should strictly abide by the laws and norms of the relevant market and carry out its obligation of information disclosure truthfully， accurately and completely， the China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） said in an online statement.

Luckin Coffee， domiciled in the Cayman Islands， registered to issue shares via an overseas regulator and listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market in May 2019， CSRC said.

Starting in the second quarter of 2019， the companys chief operating offi cer and several employees engaged in fraud， including fabricating certain transactions， Luckin Coffee announced on April 2， citing an internal investigation.

The aggregate sales associated with the fabricated transactions in 2019 amount to around 2.2 billion yuan （$310 million）， according to the corporate announcement.

The Xiamen-based company， founded in 2017， had about 4，500 stores in more than 40 cities across China by the end of 2019.

Computer Surge

A total of 2.72 million units of computers were produced in March at LCFC （Hefei） Electronics Technology Co.， Ltd， the largest PC research and development and manufacturing base of Chinese tech giant Lenovo， with a record monthly revenue of more than 10 billion yuan （$1.41 billion）.

On March 27， more than 124，500 units of computers rolled off the production line， registering a record high of daily output at the computer maker in Anhui Province in east China， the LCFC said.

“We are catching up on production for orders for nearly 3 million units of all types of computers and servers， which are about three times the amount in the same period of last year，” LCFC CEO Bai Peng said.

The demand for electronic devices with a large display screen such as computers and tablets has surged amid the COVID-19 outbreak when more people are homebound to help contain the spread of the virus.

According to Bai， activities like video conferences， online education and computer games have not only helped people cope with stayat-home life but also driven orders for computers and tablets that are essential tools for these activities.

Thanks to its strict epidemic prevention and control measures， no COVID-19 cases have been reported at the company since it resumed operation in February.

New Plant

Machinery is parked during a ceremony to mark the start of construction on BMW Brilliance Automotives new plant in Tiexi in Shenyang， capital of Liaoning Province， northeast China， on April 1.

Movie Boost

China will introduce relief measures to boost the development of the fi lm industry， which has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak， the China Film Administration said on April 3.