News in review

Monday____July 17

China rolls out plan to spur artistic creativity

China's Ministry of Culture has rolled out a plan to encourage artistic creativity during 2016-2020. The plan, for the 13th Five-Year Plan period, aims to create 100 classic artworks and 150 art exhibitions by 2020.

It will also step up support by funding 4,000 art projects and cultivating 1,000 playwrights, directors, musicians and critics.

Guided by socialist core values, the plan focuses on creating artworks themed on the Chinese Dream, according to the ministry.

"The plan has concrete measures to develop traditional culture by training art performers and strengthening guidance over art creation," said Qi Shuyu of the Chinese Academy of Governance.

China plans to encourage cultural prosperity in remote and poor regions by building more public cultural facilities, increasing access to radio and TV programs and offering subsidies for grassroots cultural workers.

Tougher stance on pollution yields results

China's top environmental authority is flexing its muscles to take on polluting companies through more inspections and law enforcement. Fines levied on violators have soared in the past six months.

As of July 6, nearly two-thirds of 32,004 companies inspected in 28 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, as well as neighboring regions, had committed various violations, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, including excessive emissions and installing insufficient pollution control equipment.

The teams conducting the yearlong inspections, which began in early April and are the most thorough to be launched by the ministry, found that 6,662 companies with no operating licenses had polluted the environment severely.

More than 1,400 pollution-related problems have been solved by shutting down the companies' operations, according to the ministry.

Tuesday____July 18

Police to exercisers: Stay off the roads

The police in Linyi, Shandong province, are encouraging schools to open their playgrounds to the public for exercise after a taxi drove into a group of people jogging in a vehicle lane, leaving one person dead and two injured.

Traffic police will ask people who jog in vehicle lanes to use the sidewalk and require them not to disturb traffic, the Linyi police said via social media. Those who seriously violate traffic regulations will face punishment.

The Zaoyuan walking team, which has more than 40 members, was notified by police that its members can exercise on the Zaoyuan Middle School playground.

However, a team member said it's more convenient to walk on roads.

"It's dark on the playground at night, as there are no lights," she told the Beijing Times.

Code of conduct issued for scientists

The China Association for Science and Technology recently published guidelines for improving the self-discipline of scientists and curbing academic fraud in scientific papers.

The association issued the guidelines to its affiliated organizations and schools last week. It included codes of conduct and bottom lines for scientific papers.

The bottom lines are no fabrication, no plagiarism, no impersonation and no bribery. Since 2015, foreign science publications have frequently retracted research papers by Chinese authors.

"This has a serious negative social impact and has directly harmed Chinese scientists' international reputations," the association said in a statement.

"These retractions are the result of some Chinese scientists lacking discipline or morals," it said. "The guidelines are meant to promote the scientific spirit and strengthen moral standards."

Wednesday____July 19

China increases US Treasurys holding in May

China increased its holding of US Treasury securities for the fourth consecutive month in May, the latest data from the US Treasury Department showed on Tuesday.

China added its Treasurys holding by $10 billion in May, with the total holding up to $1.1022 trillion.

China's foreign exchange reserves rose for the fifth month in a row in June, indicating easing capital flight pressure, according to data from the country's central bank, the People's Bank of China.

China's foreign exchange regulator, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, attributed the rise of forex reserves in June to stable cross-border capital flow and the relative appreciation of non-US dollar assets.

Acidification of Arctic to be studied on icebreaker

The Chinese icebreaker Xuelong, or Snow Dragon, will set out for northern seas on Thursday on a quest to measure the acidification of the Arctic Ocean.

It is internationally acknowledged that ocean acidification, mainly caused by rising carbon dioxide emissions, is worsening in the Arctic, according to Xu Ren, deputy head of the Shanghai-based Polar Research Institute of China. It is the first time the institute has targeted Arctic acidification.

"It may trigger environmental disasters, such as the bleaching of coral reefs, and affect marine biodiversity. Ocean acidification is a major international cutting-edge topic, after global warming and marine pollution," Xu said.

"Although the situation in the Arctic Ocean is undoubtedly better than that of the oceans adjacent to continents with a dense population, it will deteriorate with global warming." (Photo 1)

Thursday____July 20

China's X-ray space telescope data to be shared

China's first X-ray astronomical satellite, launched in mid June, is expected to start regular observation in November and its data will be open to scientists all over the world, say the main designers of the satellite's data system.

The 2.5-tonne Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), dubbed Insight, transmitted to a ground station its first data on its second day in orbit. The data proved to be of good quality, and the telescope detected a gamma-ray burst 10 days after its launch.

HXMT carries a trio of detectors that will help scientists better understand the evolution of black holes and the strong magnetic fields and interiors of pulsars.

"We will finish calibrating all instruments within the first five months in orbit before Insight starts regular observation," said Song Liming, deputy chief designer of the HXMT science ground segment and a scientist with the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Photo 2)

Beijing students take SAT, CAT abroad

An increasing number of senior middle school students in Beijing are traveling abroad to take SAT and ACT tests in order to apply for US colleges, spawning a booming business activity, Beijing Youth Daily reports.

Many US colleges look at applicants' SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) and ACT (American College Test) scores as an important reference for enrollment, but the tests are largely unavailable on the Chinese mainland.

Chinese students have to travel to Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan, or neighboring countries such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore to take the tests. Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo is the most popular thus far due to its proximity to the Chinese mainland and lower costs.

The paper said most attendees take the tests at least three times to get ideal scores, each trip costing a minimum of 5,000 to 8,000 yuan ($735 to $1,176).

Friday____July 21

China leads UN debate on African security

Promoting peace and security on the African continent is in the "interest of the entire international community", along with addressing the underlying causes of conflicts in African hot spots, said China's permanent representative to the United Nations.

"Africa is still confronted with multiple challenges in the areas of peace and security. Some countries of the region are still plagued by ongoing conflicts or political instability," Liu Jieyi said on Wednesday during an open debate at the UN Security Council on enhancing African capacities in peace and security.

"In the face of these difficulties, Africa is not fully equipped with the tasks of conflict prevention and resolution and maintenance of peace and security, and [African Union] peace operations are constrained by inadequacies in financial resources, equipment, technology and management systems," Liu said.

Chinese, US textile companies interweaving

The Chinese and American textile industries are collaborating more closely than ever as the US becomes a "key player in the international strategy" of China's textile companies, said Xu Yingxin, vice-president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

"The United States is not just a key trading partner with China in the textile industry; it is also a key player in the international strategy of China's textile industry," Xu said on Monday at the opening ceremony of the 18th annual China Textile and Apparel Trade Show at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York.

Chinese businesses have made greenfield investments in the US, set up US branches and opened R&D facilities and manufacturing plants.

Scaling down, a woman travels down an escalator decorated with piano patterns in Zhengzhou, Henan province, on July 11. Provided to China Daily

Workers work in a steel plant in Jinan, Shandong province on July 8. Provided to China Daily

(China Daily USA 07/21/2017 page12)