THIS WEEK

A Day of Love

A couple poses for a photo outside a marriage registry in Haidian District, Beijing, on February 22. The number“2” stands for couple and many Chinese chose to register for marriage on the day because of its special numeral“arrangement”—2022/2/22. It may add a zest of prosperity to newlywed life.

Spring in the Air

A train runs past blooming flowers close to Liziba Station on Chongqing Rail Transit Line 2 in Chongqing Municipality, on February 20.

Veteran Affairs

China has issued a plan to further bolster the high-quality development of services and support for retired service personnel during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, Xinhua News Agency reported on February 20.

The main objectives are to raise the capacity of the current system to better provide assistance, working opportunities,pensions and preferential treatment for veterans, while better protecting their rights, interests and dignity, said the plan, jointly issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China(CPC) Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission. To deliver on the goals, the plan outlines relevant measures.

Winter Sports for Disabled

China has seen remarkable progress in the development of winter sports for people with disabilities in recent years, said an official with China’s Disabled People’s Federation.

At a press conference on February 20, Yong Zhijun,Deputy Director of the federation’s Department of Sports,said that Chinese athletes will compete in all six sports at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. He added that this is a significant improvement from the situation before 2015, when Chinese athletes competed in only two of the six sports.

“Today, the number of Chinese Paralympic athletes has grown from fewer than 50 to almost 1,000,” said Yong. He noted that the achievements have been made possible by the federation’s nationwide promotion of winter sports among disabled people, as well as by international cooperation and exchanges.

Yong said that by holding a number of national winter sports competitions, China has been able to select athletes for national sports teams. He also noted that, since 2016, Chinese Paralympic athletes have participated in multiple international competitions, further improving their skills.

Regarding the popularization of winter sports among disabled members of the general public, Yong said that the federation has held the annual “winter sports season for persons with disabilities” for six consecutive years.

Elderly Care Plan

The State Council has released a plan for the development of the country’s aged care service system during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the latest step in the implementation of its national strategy to address population aging, Xinhua reported on February 21.

The plan specifies major goals and tasks for the five-year period, including expanding the supply of aged care services,improving the health support mechanism for the elderly, and advancing the innovative and integrated development of service models.

The plan lists nine major indicators, such as the number of senior care beds and the ratio of nursing care beds in elderly care facilities, the mobilization of society as a whole to actively respond to population aging.

Detailed tasks include strengthening the safety net for elderly care services, expanding inclusive services coverage,developing the silver economy,and safeguarding the legitimate interests of the aging population.

China will step up institutional innovation, and boost policy support and financial input to enable the elderly to share in China’s development achievements, according to the plan.

Based on the latest census data, Chinese people aged 60 or above accounted for 18.7 percent of the country’s total population in 2020, 5.44 percent higher than in 2010.

With a solid material foundation, sufficient human resources and a long-standing culture of filial piety, China is confident in its ability to solve its aging population issue, the plan notes.

It also underlines the development of the silver economy, which, according to one government official,requires the country to provide“equal, attainable services and products for seniors with particular struggles.”

E-Cigarette Crackdown

Chinese authorities, including the Ministry of Public Security(MPS) and the national market regulator have jointly launched a campaign to crack down on selling electronic cigarettes to minors as well as related crimes.

Before the end of April, the authorities will take a series of tough measures including clearing out e-cigarette sales outlets and vending machines in the vicinity of schools, closing down unlicensed businesses and deleting harmful online information about the use of the devices, said the MPS on February 22.

On-site checks will be carried out in places minors frequent,such as bars and amusement parks, said the MPS, adding that publicity efforts will be stepped up to enhance young people’s awareness of the dangers of ecigarettes and build a social protection network.

Cold Weather Damage

As of 5 p.m. on February 21,approximately 30,000 locals in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had been affected by bowls of extreme cold that began on February 18, said the region’s emergency management department on February 22.

The freezing temperature have inflicted damage on more than 196 hectares of crops.Among these, approximately 7 hectares of crops have been completely destroyed.

Starting from February 18,most of the region has seen rainy days, with part of Guangxi suffering from heavy rainfall and rainstorms. Some mountainous areas in the northern part of Guangxi have reported icy road conditions or sleet.

Nine cities and 23 countylevel regions in Guangxi have suffered a total direct economic loss of more than 25.8 million yuan ($4 million) caused by the extreme weather, according to the department.

Farming Supply Imports

Alataw Pass, a major rail port in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is handling an increased volume of imported farming supplies as spring farming season has kicked off across China, Xinhua reported on February 22.

The pass has handled 91.4 tons of farming supplies via the China-Europe freight trains,worth nearly $1 million, according to the China Railway Urumqi Group Co. Ltd.

The farming supplies are mainly seeders, greenhouse equipment and harvesters.

To facilitate the entry of the farming supplies, local railway and customs departments have created up green channels for the materials and streamlined procedures.

At present, 60 routes pass through the Alataw Pass, connecting 13 countries and regions,including Russia, Poland,Germany and Spain. The pass handled 5,848 China-Europe and China-Central Asia freight trains in 2021, up 16.3 percent over the previous year.

Reaping the Harvest

Farmers showcase their strawberries grown in a greenhouse in Beijing on February 20.

A Bird in Hand

Children feed black-headed gulls in the snow in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, on February 22.

SME Support

Targeted measures will be rolled out to assist small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) overcome difficulties,and promote entrepreneurship and innovation, Yu Weiping, Vice Minister of Finance, told a press conference on February 22.

China’s total tax and fee cuts last year amounted to nearly 1.1 trillion yuan ($173.3 billion),official data showed. SMEs benefited the most from the efforts,according to Yu.

This year, small enterprises in the manufacturing sector will enjoy deferrals on all of their domestic value-added tax and income tax while medium-sized enterprises enjoy a 50-percent tax deferral.

Other supportive policies include establishing inclusive finance demonstration zones and improving the financing environment for SMEs.

From 2018 to 2022, 9 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) will be allocated to boost innovation and entrepreneurship among SMEs, Yu said.

E-Commerce Boost

The list of imported retail goods for cross-border e-commerce added 29 product categories from March 1, including ski equipment, tomato juice and golf equipment, according to a statement jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance and seven other departments.

All the items newly included have been in high consumer demand in recent years, Gao Lingyun, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

“The adjustment enriches domestic market supply, meets consumers’ aspirations for a better life and provides more opportunities for overseas enterprises,” Gao added.

The list was first issued in April 2016 and has since been optimized several times, with its commodity categories continuing to increase. It has helped promote the development of cross-border e-commerce and high-quality trade, according to Tian Guofeng, Deputy Secretary General of the China Association of Trade in Services.

PV Exports

In 2021, China’s exports of photovoltaic (PV) products surpassed $28.4 billion, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

The country’s PV industry chain and related supply chain have remained generally stable,the ministry said. Chinese enterprises produced 505,000 tons of polysilicon and 227 GW of silicon wafer last year.

As of late 2020, China had secured the largest share in the global output of polycrystalline silicon, PV cells and PV modules,and led the world in PV capacity additions for eight consecutive years.

Air Logistics

A safe, smart, efficient and green air logistics system will be preliminarily established by 2025, according to a new plan that maps out the development of the sector.

Costs will notably decrease by the year, and services for high-end manufacturing,postal-express delivery and cross-border e-commerce will continuously improve, read the document issued by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Equal attention will go to the development of cargo and passenger transport. The plan also encourages companies in the industry to expand their services and improve cooperation with cross-border e-commerce retailers and manufacturers,Liang Nan, an official with the administration, said.

China has made steady progress in air logistics development in recent years. As of 2020,Chinese enterprises had offered air cargo transport services in 237 domestic cities and 62 foreign countries or regions, data from the administration showed.

CPTPP Negotiations

China is in the process of negotiating with members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) regarding the procedures for accession,the Ministry of Commerce announced on February 17.

“China is ready to make efforts to fully meet the CPTPP rules and standards through reforms,”spokesperson Gao Feng said.

The ministry also made commitments to high-level openness in market access that will exceed China’s practices in existing pacts and provide CPTPP members with market access opportunities featuring huge commercial benefits.

In February, Chinese customs said it will trial some of the CPTPP rules in several of China’s pilot free trade zones.

China officially filed an application to join the CPTPP last year.

Airbus Deliveries

Airbus delivered 142 commercial planes to the Chinese market in 2021, consisting of 130 single-aisle ones and 12 widebodies, company data showed on February 23.

China remained Airbus’largest single-country market globally. Commercial aircraft deliveries in the country accounted for more than 23 percent of its annual total in 2021, according to Airbus China.

The volume also marks a year-on-year increase of more than 40 percent compared with that in 2020.

By the end of last year,around 2,100 Airbus commercial planes were serving in the Chinese civil aviation market.

According to Airbus’ forecast in November 2021, the global commercial aircraft market is expected to recover to the pre-COVID-19 levels between 2023 and 2025, led by the single-aisle aircraft segment.

China will be a vital engine for the recovery. Its estimated demand of around 8,200 new commercial airplanes will constitute more than 20 percent of the global additions over the 2020-40 period.

Shale Gas

The Fuling shale gas field in Chongqing has put 19 new wells into operation this year, increasing its daily output by 1.06 million cubic meters, said its developer Sinopec, China’s largest oil refiner.

Considered a clean energy resource, shale gas is mainly methane.

The Fuling gas field entered commercial development in 2014. In 2021, its annual production exceeded 7.16 billion cubic meters, delivering clean energy to more than 70 cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

This year, it has produced more than 1 billion cubic meters of gas.

Monthly Shipments

China’s mobile phone shipments dropped 17.7 percent year on year to more than 33.02 million units in January, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

Chinese brands continued to dominate the domestic market, making up 77.7 percent of total shipments, said the CAICT, a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

A total of 30 new models were released over the month,down 43.4 percent from a year earlier. Chinese brands accounted for 26, down 48 percent year on year, the data showed.

Last year, China’s mobile phone shipments climbed 13.9 percent from 2020 to 351 million units.

RUSSIAUkrainian refugees arrive at a temporary settlement in Rostov Oblast on February 19.Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in east Ukraine on February 24

TONGARelief supplies are unloaded from a Chinese naval ship at the port of Nuku’alofa on February 19. Weighing approximately 1,400 tons, the latest Chinese aid included mobile homes, tractors, electricity generators, water pumps and purifeirs, food and medical materials

FRANCEPeople view the Meet the Little Prince exhibit at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris on February 23.Running from February 17 to June 26, the show features the original manuscript of the book now on display in France for the frist time

BRITAINA man passes a sign urging the wearing of masks in London on February 21. All anti-epidemic restrictions were lifted in England from February 24 onward, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled the government’s strategy for living with COVID-19

SOUTH AFRICAMinister of Finance Enoch Godongwana predicts an improved fsical outlook in his budget speech for the 2022-23 fniancial year in Cape Town on February 23

UNITED STATESA man walks the streets of Chicago on February 17.A snowstorm battered the central U.S. city that day

HORN OF AFRICA AFFAIRS SPECIAL ENVOY

China has appointed Xue Bing, former ambassador to Papua New Guinea, as the special envoy for the Horn of Africa affairs, the Foreign Ministry announced on February 22.

Xue is a veteran diplomat with work experience spanning Africa, the Americas,and Oceania.

The special envoy will establish working relationships with colleagues from relevant parties as soon as possible and maintain close communication and coordination on advancing the implementation of the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa.

During his visit to Africa earlier this year, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed the Outlook,which intends to support regional countries in achieving lasting peace and security as well as embracing development and prosperity.

Recent years have seen a growing number of scenic spots nationwide advocating free park admissions to encourage footfall.Instead of losing ticket revenues, these parks actually have seen profits go up.

For years, scenic spots relied heavily on admission income, but excessively expensive entrance tickets resulted in visitor discouragement. Facts now show that if they are willing to give up a portion of their ticket sales, these parks will have bigger opportunities to establish overall profit growth.

Tourists are no longer satisfied with arriving somewhere and taking a snapshot or two. They like to spend time experiencing the various options within a park. Therefore, when scenic spots cut,or even cancel, admission fees at the first gate, and develop more interesting features inside their domains, more visitors will prove willing to splurge on the latter.

A cancellation of admission fees not only helps boost a scenic spot’s revenue,but nearby restaurants, hotels and shops,too, will stand to gain from it.

“China always takes its own position according to the merits of the matter at hand. We believe that all countries should solve international disputes by peaceful means in line with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.”

Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN), speaks as the UN Security Council meets on Ukraine in New York City on February 21

“People of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region do not welcome any investigation based on the presumption of guilt, and they firmly oppose all kinds of prejudice and groundless accusations against China’s ethnic policies.”

Wang Yi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister,at the 58th Munich Security Conference via video link on February 19, noting China welcomes foreigners to visit Xinjiang to learn the truth

In June 2021, Sichuan Province in southwest China witnessed a shutdown of various bitcoin mines, in a bid to save energy and cut emissions.Although bitcoin is only an encrypted code in the virtual world, mining these crypto-currencies takes a lot of power,hugely adding to carbon emissions.The mining industry is wholly based on brute force, and the costs will rise as bitcoin reserves drop. Each transaction consumes 2,300 kWh of electricity, equal to the annual power consumption of a three-member urban unit. More importantly, bitcoin is only one of the many crypto-currencies.Today, Internet data centers worldwide account for 2 percent of the globe’s total power consumption.

Artificial intelligence (AI), widely recognized as a future economic pillar,is an even bigger potential electricity guzzler. Right now, AI is also based on brute force. Of course, the popularization of the Internet can also help cut carbon emissions in some areas; for example, video conferences save on transportation expenses.

Ironically, the higher carbon consumption efficiency soars, the larger demand will be. Unlike the agricultural or material sectors, which can achieve sustainable development through advanced productivity or frugality, energy is the fundamental foundation for all social and commercial activities,or rather, human progress. And mankind’s pursuit of progress is endless.

With the popularization of smart phones across China’s vast rural areas, many left-behind children have developed an addiction to browsing short videos and online gaming, posing a threat to their development.

Compared with their urban peers,these children are more vulnerable to smart phone culture. Most of them live with their grandparents and to keep in touch with their parents, they have their own phones, as their elderly custodians are often technologically illiterate.Subsequently, many kids are on their mobiles as often and as long as they please.

Smart phone addiction can have serious consequences. Apart from leading to poorer eyesight, it can also interfere with schoolwork. Some boarding students spend their weekends browsing about, and find it hard to concentrate on their studies when returning to school on Mondays. More dangerous is that an indulgence in the virtual universe will render them increasingly self-reclusive,particularly with no parents around.

To drag these kids out of virtual reality,it’s important for schools to encourage them to do sports and develop hobbies in real life,by offering the right venues and services.

FORMER POLITICAL ADVISOR SENTENCED TO LIFE

Ma Ming, former vice chairperson of the Inner Mongolia Regional Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, was recently sentenced to life in prison on grounds of bribery.

The court found Ma had taken advantage of his various positions in Jilin Province and Inner Mongolia, between 2000 and 2019, to seek benefits for others regarding business operations, job promotions and case management.

Ma was convicted for taking bribes amounting to over 157.85 million yuan ($24.93 million) in both money and valuables.

It further stated Ma’s case involved a particularly large number of bribes and numerous instances over a prolonged time period, but he was given a lenient sentence because he had confessed to his offenses, showed remorse, provided additional information about his and others’ wrongdoings, and returned all his illegal gains.

“Sanctions are never fundamentally effective means to solve problems, and China always opposes all illegal unilateral sanctions… Have U.S. sanctions solved any problems? Is the world a better place because of those sanctions?”

Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry,at a daily press briefing on February 23

“During the implementation of projects, the company hired citizens of Kyrgyzstan, who learned a lot. I hope that our cooperation will continue.”

Ulan Uezbaev, an official with the Bishkek mayor’s office,on the role of the China Road and Bridge Corp. in job creation through undertaking road projects in Kyrgyzstan,in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency