WATER INDUSTRY SCHOLAR PASSED AWAY

WATER INDUSTRY SCHOLAR PASSED AWAY

Xu Baojiu， Chinas renowned water industry scholar， died in Beijing at the age of 103 on October 15.

Xu， a pioneer in water supply and sewerage engineering in China， was the first one to put forward the concept of the water and wastewater industry， contributing to the rise of urban sewage treatment rate from 5 percent to 90 percent between the 1970s and 1990s.

Born in Guiyang， capital of Guizhou Province， Xu graduated from the University of Wisconsin System in 1951 and then returned to China. As the first PhD of water and wastewater engineering in China， he went on to teach at the School of Environment， Tsinghua University， for almost five decades.

Based on Xus concept of water and wastewater industry， the schools curriculum topic of Water Supply and Sewerage Engineering was upgraded to Water Supply and Drainage Science and Engineering in 2012.

Cheers to the Twilight Years

guancha.gmw.cn October 15

Chinas Chongyang Festival， celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month， is known as the Senior Citizens Festival. This year， it took place on October 14.

According to the seventh national census， there are 264 million people aged 60 and above in China， accounting for 18.7 percent of the total populace. This number is expected to exceed 300 million during the 14th FiveYear Plan （2021-25） period， posing a huge challenge to effectively tackling the issues of an aging population.

For that reason， governments at all levels should attach great importance to related undertakings by renewing policies， rolling out financial support plans and improving associated systems， such as social security， to ensure that the elderly can continue to live their lives with health and dignity.

The aging issue also serves as an opportunity as a so-called silver economy can inject impetus into social development. Yet it is worth noting that the overall market supervision should improve along with the emerging needs of the seniors for healthcare and financial management.

City of Biodiversity

Oriental Outlook October 21

Biodiversity refers to the variety of all life on Earth. It is the accumulation of all animals， plants， micro-organisms and the ecological environment in which they live. In recent years， Beijing has made continuous efforts in the field of biodiversity conservation， creating a harmonious coexistence between man and nature.