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Research vessel Dayang Yihao departs from Sanya on south China’s island province of Hainan on December 2， making the country’s 30th oceanic exploration mission.
The voyage， which will last 180 days and cover 19，000 nautical miles， will take the vessel across the Indian Ocean. A total of 339 people are on board， including 254 scientists and engineers.
Among the experiments， scientists will test a remotely operated underwater vehicle on a series of oceanic surveys mainly on polymetallic sulphide and bioresources.
City Categories
In a plan released on December 3， the Chinese Government has identified 262 cities as being dependent on natural resources， in a bid to roll out targeted measures to boost their development.
The plan， which is the first national framework on sustainable development for resourcedependent cities， puts the regions into four categories based on their resource sustainability： growing， mature， declining or regenerative.
Yunnan， Liaoning and Henan are the three provinces with the highest concentration of such cities.
Central authorities will extend fiscal and policy support to facilitate restructuring and upgrading efforts， including accelerating shanty town renovation and boosting employment， according to the plan.
Outstanding Students
Shanghai was ranked first in mathematics， science and reading in a report on global education released every three years.
Sixty-five countries and regions took part in the tests for the Parisbased Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its PISA report （Program for International Student Assessment） is the single largest study of global schooling.
The study is highly influential， with participating countries and regions representing more than 80 percent of the global economy and often adapting policy in response to the findings.
The first PISA survey was carried out in 2000， with Shanghai joining the rankings in 2009 and coming first in the same three categories that year as well as first overall.
Around 6，400 students from 155 schools in Shanghai took part in the latest assessment in April last year. Globally， around half a million 15-year-olds took part. The tests are based on a 1，000-point scale.
Zhang Minxuan， leader of the Shanghai PISA program and President of Shanghai Normal University， attributed Shanghai’s students’ performance in mathematics to more chances to learn the subject， ability and family backgrounds. Shanghai students also reported an average of 13.8 hours every week doing school assignments， the highest and almost three times the average 4.9 hours.
Emergency Center
A national emergency broadcast center opened in China on December 3， as the country looks to speed up the construction of a nationwide radio network for transmitting rescue and relief information in disaster-hit regions.
Under China National Radio （CNR）， the China National Emergency Broadcasting Center is responsible for setting up an emergency broadcast system and building a radio network that links central authorities to communitylevel offices.
The plan， which marks an important step toward better coping with disasters， was inspired by a similar but smaller-scale radio network set up after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Lushan， in southwest China’s Sichuan Province， on April 20.
The radio service， initiated by CNR in conjunction with local radio and TV stations， will broadcast government relief measures and secondary warnings to disasterstricken areas via loudspeakers， AM radio frequencies and satellite facilities.
Environmental Safety
China’s ministries of public security and environmental protection have vowed to cooperate closer when dealing with environmental crimes and punishing wrongdoers.
A document on coordinating environmental protection and law enforcement efforts was drafted by the two ministries and made public on December 3.
According to the document， environmental protection departments should make greater efforts to uncover environmental violations， strengthen the monitoring of wasteproducing companies and impose administrative punishments on violators.
Meanwhile， police departments were urged to investigate environmental pollution cases that are severe enough to be considered crimes.
The document recommends regular meetings of departments in the two fields to share information and brief each other on their progress， urging the two sides to follow a clear division of work in the management of cases.
Underwater Project
Chinese archaeologists have begun full examination of the Nanhai -1， the wreck of an ancient Chinese merchant ship currently preserved in a giant tank of water.
The project is expected to last three to four years， according to the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang， a city in south China’s Guangdong Province.
The Nanhai-1 dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty in the 13th century. It was raised from the bed of the South China Sea at the end of 2007， along with much of its cargo. Archaeologists will work at the museum， entering into the tank designed to house the ship which is approximately 30 meters in length.
Archaeologists estimate there are about 60，000 to 80，000 antiques among the wreckage， most of them porcelain， precious metal objects and coins.
Over 6，000 pieces of porcelain， copper and other treasure were salvaged in two trial excavations in 2009 and 2011.
Eco-friendly Rankings
An evaluation report on the environmental responsibility of 617 companies listed on China’s yuandenominated A-share market was released in Beijing on November 29. Released by a project team from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology， it ranks the companies’environmental performance alongside their environmental statements， corporate social responsibility reports and sustainability reports. According to the report， 426 companies from primary industries and secondary industries did better than 191 tertiary industry businesses in 2012， in terms of having a low ecological impact.
Initiated by the China Forum of Environmental Journalists and the China Youth Center for International Exchange in 2011， the evaluation campaign covered more than 2，000 A-share listed companies.
Netizen Population
The number of Internet users in China hit 604 million at the end of September， with mobile phones becoming the favored means of accessing the Internet， according to a State Internet Information Office announcement on November 28.
About 464 million people， 77 percent of the country’s total netizens， regularly accessed the Internet with their phones as of the end of June， according to the office’s vice minister， Ren Xianliang.
Mobile phones’ overtaking computers as the most common means of accessing the Internet signals that China has entered a mobile Internet era， according to Ren.
The office’s statistics also show that all China’s cities and 99 percent of its townships have been connected to the Internet.
The Internet has provided new channels for interaction between the government and the public and has become an incubator for China’s booming electronic businesses， Ren added.
Great Achievements
Director General of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization（FAO） Jose Graziano da Silva delivers a speech during the 40th anniversary of cooperation between China and the FAO in Rome， Italy， on December 2.
According to FAO figures， about 114 million people in China have been lifted out of hunger since 1990， accounting for nearly two thirds of the total 173 million worldwide. The FAO has provided technical support to projects in China and a new five-year China-FAO cooperation plan is being discussed.
4G Arrives
Visitors observe the fourth generation （4G） telecom booth at the Ninth China （Nanjing） International Software Product and Information Service Expo， held in Nanjing， capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology（MIIT） issued 4G licenses to three Chinese telecom operators on December 4， marking the beginning of a new era in China’s high-speed mobile network.
China Mobile， China Telecom and China Unicom received permits to offer 4G mobile network services employing homegrown technology—TD-LTE， or Time-Division Long-Term Evolution.
Trade Dispute
China on December 3 filed a complaint under the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism over antidumping measures by the United States against 13 types of Chinese products.
China has officially launched the WTO dispute settlement procedure and called for consultations with the United States under the mechanism， the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM） said in a statement.
“In its anti-dumping investigations and reviews， the United States has inappropriately applied targeted dumping methodology and denied companies’ separate tax rates，” MOFCOM spokesman Shen Danyang said in a statement.
These practices， which do not comply with WTO rules， have resulted in Chinese products mistakenly deemed as having been dumped， and have severely magnified dumping margins， Shen added.
The spokesman said antidumping measures launched by the United States for 13 types of Chinese products， including oil well pipelines， involved a total export value of $8.4 billion.
He said that China is resolutely against the misuse of trade remedy rules and protectionism. “China will also determinedly maintain its rights as a WTO member and safeguard the interests of domestic industries，” he said.
Prior to this， China filed 12 complaints under the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism and won 11 of them.
VAT Reform Expanded
China will continue to expand the scope of its pilot program to replace turnover tax with value-added tax（VAT） by including two new sectors under the reform， an official document revealed on December 4.
The country will incorporate the railway transportation and postal service sectors into ongoing VAT reform starting on January 1， 2014， according to a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council， China’s cabinet. VAT is tax levied on the difference between the cost of production and the price of a commodity on the market. It is favored partly because it can reduce double taxation.
Following regional experiments since the beginning of 2012， VAT reform was rolled out throughout the country on August 1， reducing taxes on businesses by 94 billion yuan （$15 billion） in the first 10 months of this year.
At present， the reform only focuses on certain service sectors， such as transportation on roads， waterways， air and pipelines， as well as some modern service areas such as information technology， cultural innovation and consulting services. After the expansion， the entire transportation industry will be covered by the VAT trials.
PMI Figures
China’s purchasing managers’index （PMI） for the manufacturing sector remained flat at 51.4 percent in November， according to data released on November 30.
The figure was the same as October， data from the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing （CFLP） showed. Manufacturing PMI has stabilized after rising for four consecutive months， showing a steady upward trend in manufacturing. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion， while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction.
Zhao Qinghe， a senior NBS statistician， attributed the strong PMI to expanding production， and confidence boosted by government measures to stabilize growth and restructure the economy， as well as large-scale enterprises’ active performance.
The PMI for China’s nonmanufacturing sector stood at 56 percent in November， down from 56.3 percent for October， according to the NBS and CFLP.
The non-manufacturing PMI tracks service， construction， software， aviation， railway transport and real estate among other sectors.
CFLP Vice Chairman Cai Jin said construction and information services are becoming increasingly active， and the nonmanufacturing sector is absorbing more labor.
Disney’s JV
The Walt Disney Co. （TWDC） and Shanghai-based BesTV New Media Co. Ltd. on December 4 announced plans to set up a joint venture in China to tap into the country’s fast-developing digital industry and market.
The new venture will use the technical expertise， professional skills， experience and marketing strategies of Disney and BesTV together. It will operate a digital technology consulting business focusing on BesTV and Disney-related services， products and content on China’s mainland， BesTV said in a statement. BesTV will own 51 percent of the joint venture， while the remainder will be owned by TWDC Shanghai Ltd.， a wholly owned subsidiary of TWDC.
Shanghai-listed BesTV， a subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group， has 18 million IPTV subscribers with its businesses in China， southeast Asia and eastern Europe.
Duty-Free Shopping
Kashgar， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， will start providing dutyfree shopping from 2015 as the city tries to build itself up as a trade hub in Central Asia. Duty-free shops will open in a plaza covering 100，000 square meters， local authorities said on November 30.
Visitors to Kashgar will be allowed to buy duty-free goods with valid plane tickets and travel agreements， according to the administration of Kashgar Economic Development Zone.
In a policy package released in 2011， the State Council said it supported Kashgar to set up a special customs regulation zone.
Soilless Cultivation
A worker examines vegetables in a soilless vegetable greenhouse at Yangzizhou Township of Nanchang， Jiangxi Province.
By utilizing soilless cultivation technologies， Yangzizhou has become the largest vegetable production base in Nanchang， with an annual production capacity of 70，000 tons.
The voyage， which will last 180 days and cover 19，000 nautical miles， will take the vessel across the Indian Ocean. A total of 339 people are on board， including 254 scientists and engineers.
Among the experiments， scientists will test a remotely operated underwater vehicle on a series of oceanic surveys mainly on polymetallic sulphide and bioresources.
City Categories
In a plan released on December 3， the Chinese Government has identified 262 cities as being dependent on natural resources， in a bid to roll out targeted measures to boost their development.
The plan， which is the first national framework on sustainable development for resourcedependent cities， puts the regions into four categories based on their resource sustainability： growing， mature， declining or regenerative.
Yunnan， Liaoning and Henan are the three provinces with the highest concentration of such cities.
Central authorities will extend fiscal and policy support to facilitate restructuring and upgrading efforts， including accelerating shanty town renovation and boosting employment， according to the plan.
Outstanding Students
Shanghai was ranked first in mathematics， science and reading in a report on global education released every three years.
Sixty-five countries and regions took part in the tests for the Parisbased Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its PISA report （Program for International Student Assessment） is the single largest study of global schooling.
The study is highly influential， with participating countries and regions representing more than 80 percent of the global economy and often adapting policy in response to the findings.
The first PISA survey was carried out in 2000， with Shanghai joining the rankings in 2009 and coming first in the same three categories that year as well as first overall.
Around 6，400 students from 155 schools in Shanghai took part in the latest assessment in April last year. Globally， around half a million 15-year-olds took part. The tests are based on a 1，000-point scale.
Zhang Minxuan， leader of the Shanghai PISA program and President of Shanghai Normal University， attributed Shanghai’s students’ performance in mathematics to more chances to learn the subject， ability and family backgrounds. Shanghai students also reported an average of 13.8 hours every week doing school assignments， the highest and almost three times the average 4.9 hours.
Emergency Center
A national emergency broadcast center opened in China on December 3， as the country looks to speed up the construction of a nationwide radio network for transmitting rescue and relief information in disaster-hit regions.
Under China National Radio （CNR）， the China National Emergency Broadcasting Center is responsible for setting up an emergency broadcast system and building a radio network that links central authorities to communitylevel offices.
The plan， which marks an important step toward better coping with disasters， was inspired by a similar but smaller-scale radio network set up after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Lushan， in southwest China’s Sichuan Province， on April 20.
The radio service， initiated by CNR in conjunction with local radio and TV stations， will broadcast government relief measures and secondary warnings to disasterstricken areas via loudspeakers， AM radio frequencies and satellite facilities.
Environmental Safety
China’s ministries of public security and environmental protection have vowed to cooperate closer when dealing with environmental crimes and punishing wrongdoers.
A document on coordinating environmental protection and law enforcement efforts was drafted by the two ministries and made public on December 3.
According to the document， environmental protection departments should make greater efforts to uncover environmental violations， strengthen the monitoring of wasteproducing companies and impose administrative punishments on violators.
Meanwhile， police departments were urged to investigate environmental pollution cases that are severe enough to be considered crimes.
The document recommends regular meetings of departments in the two fields to share information and brief each other on their progress， urging the two sides to follow a clear division of work in the management of cases.
Underwater Project
Chinese archaeologists have begun full examination of the Nanhai -1， the wreck of an ancient Chinese merchant ship currently preserved in a giant tank of water.
The project is expected to last three to four years， according to the Marine Silk Road Museum in Yangjiang， a city in south China’s Guangdong Province.
The Nanhai-1 dates back to the Southern Song Dynasty in the 13th century. It was raised from the bed of the South China Sea at the end of 2007， along with much of its cargo. Archaeologists will work at the museum， entering into the tank designed to house the ship which is approximately 30 meters in length.
Archaeologists estimate there are about 60，000 to 80，000 antiques among the wreckage， most of them porcelain， precious metal objects and coins.
Over 6，000 pieces of porcelain， copper and other treasure were salvaged in two trial excavations in 2009 and 2011.
Eco-friendly Rankings
An evaluation report on the environmental responsibility of 617 companies listed on China’s yuandenominated A-share market was released in Beijing on November 29. Released by a project team from the Beijing University of Chemical Technology， it ranks the companies’environmental performance alongside their environmental statements， corporate social responsibility reports and sustainability reports. According to the report， 426 companies from primary industries and secondary industries did better than 191 tertiary industry businesses in 2012， in terms of having a low ecological impact.
Initiated by the China Forum of Environmental Journalists and the China Youth Center for International Exchange in 2011， the evaluation campaign covered more than 2，000 A-share listed companies.
Netizen Population
The number of Internet users in China hit 604 million at the end of September， with mobile phones becoming the favored means of accessing the Internet， according to a State Internet Information Office announcement on November 28.
About 464 million people， 77 percent of the country’s total netizens， regularly accessed the Internet with their phones as of the end of June， according to the office’s vice minister， Ren Xianliang.
Mobile phones’ overtaking computers as the most common means of accessing the Internet signals that China has entered a mobile Internet era， according to Ren.
The office’s statistics also show that all China’s cities and 99 percent of its townships have been connected to the Internet.
The Internet has provided new channels for interaction between the government and the public and has become an incubator for China’s booming electronic businesses， Ren added.
Great Achievements
Director General of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization（FAO） Jose Graziano da Silva delivers a speech during the 40th anniversary of cooperation between China and the FAO in Rome， Italy， on December 2.
According to FAO figures， about 114 million people in China have been lifted out of hunger since 1990， accounting for nearly two thirds of the total 173 million worldwide. The FAO has provided technical support to projects in China and a new five-year China-FAO cooperation plan is being discussed.
4G Arrives
Visitors observe the fourth generation （4G） telecom booth at the Ninth China （Nanjing） International Software Product and Information Service Expo， held in Nanjing， capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province.
China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology（MIIT） issued 4G licenses to three Chinese telecom operators on December 4， marking the beginning of a new era in China’s high-speed mobile network.
China Mobile， China Telecom and China Unicom received permits to offer 4G mobile network services employing homegrown technology—TD-LTE， or Time-Division Long-Term Evolution.
Trade Dispute
China on December 3 filed a complaint under the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism over antidumping measures by the United States against 13 types of Chinese products.
China has officially launched the WTO dispute settlement procedure and called for consultations with the United States under the mechanism， the Ministry of Commerce （MOFCOM） said in a statement.
“In its anti-dumping investigations and reviews， the United States has inappropriately applied targeted dumping methodology and denied companies’ separate tax rates，” MOFCOM spokesman Shen Danyang said in a statement.
These practices， which do not comply with WTO rules， have resulted in Chinese products mistakenly deemed as having been dumped， and have severely magnified dumping margins， Shen added.
The spokesman said antidumping measures launched by the United States for 13 types of Chinese products， including oil well pipelines， involved a total export value of $8.4 billion.
He said that China is resolutely against the misuse of trade remedy rules and protectionism. “China will also determinedly maintain its rights as a WTO member and safeguard the interests of domestic industries，” he said.
Prior to this， China filed 12 complaints under the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism and won 11 of them.
VAT Reform Expanded
China will continue to expand the scope of its pilot program to replace turnover tax with value-added tax（VAT） by including two new sectors under the reform， an official document revealed on December 4.
The country will incorporate the railway transportation and postal service sectors into ongoing VAT reform starting on January 1， 2014， according to a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council， China’s cabinet. VAT is tax levied on the difference between the cost of production and the price of a commodity on the market. It is favored partly because it can reduce double taxation.
Following regional experiments since the beginning of 2012， VAT reform was rolled out throughout the country on August 1， reducing taxes on businesses by 94 billion yuan （$15 billion） in the first 10 months of this year.
At present， the reform only focuses on certain service sectors， such as transportation on roads， waterways， air and pipelines， as well as some modern service areas such as information technology， cultural innovation and consulting services. After the expansion， the entire transportation industry will be covered by the VAT trials.
PMI Figures
China’s purchasing managers’index （PMI） for the manufacturing sector remained flat at 51.4 percent in November， according to data released on November 30.
The figure was the same as October， data from the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing （CFLP） showed. Manufacturing PMI has stabilized after rising for four consecutive months， showing a steady upward trend in manufacturing. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates expansion， while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction.
Zhao Qinghe， a senior NBS statistician， attributed the strong PMI to expanding production， and confidence boosted by government measures to stabilize growth and restructure the economy， as well as large-scale enterprises’ active performance.
The PMI for China’s nonmanufacturing sector stood at 56 percent in November， down from 56.3 percent for October， according to the NBS and CFLP.
The non-manufacturing PMI tracks service， construction， software， aviation， railway transport and real estate among other sectors.
CFLP Vice Chairman Cai Jin said construction and information services are becoming increasingly active， and the nonmanufacturing sector is absorbing more labor.
Disney’s JV
The Walt Disney Co. （TWDC） and Shanghai-based BesTV New Media Co. Ltd. on December 4 announced plans to set up a joint venture in China to tap into the country’s fast-developing digital industry and market.
The new venture will use the technical expertise， professional skills， experience and marketing strategies of Disney and BesTV together. It will operate a digital technology consulting business focusing on BesTV and Disney-related services， products and content on China’s mainland， BesTV said in a statement. BesTV will own 51 percent of the joint venture， while the remainder will be owned by TWDC Shanghai Ltd.， a wholly owned subsidiary of TWDC.
Shanghai-listed BesTV， a subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group， has 18 million IPTV subscribers with its businesses in China， southeast Asia and eastern Europe.
Duty-Free Shopping
Kashgar， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， will start providing dutyfree shopping from 2015 as the city tries to build itself up as a trade hub in Central Asia. Duty-free shops will open in a plaza covering 100，000 square meters， local authorities said on November 30.
Visitors to Kashgar will be allowed to buy duty-free goods with valid plane tickets and travel agreements， according to the administration of Kashgar Economic Development Zone.
In a policy package released in 2011， the State Council said it supported Kashgar to set up a special customs regulation zone.
Soilless Cultivation
A worker examines vegetables in a soilless vegetable greenhouse at Yangzizhou Township of Nanchang， Jiangxi Province.
By utilizing soilless cultivation technologies， Yangzizhou has become the largest vegetable production base in Nanchang， with an annual production capacity of 70，000 tons.