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A consumer buys medicine at a drug store in Taiyuan， capital of Shanxi Province， on April 11.
A multi-departmental effort has been introduced to give the public better access to commonly used medications at a more reasonable price. A list of such drugs is expected to be publicized by June， and manufacturers will be entitled to the right of pricing according to production costs and the market situation.
The initiative comes in response to a series of shortages of commonly used and low-priced drugs. Under the new initiative， producers of the listed drugs will enjoy more freedom to price the medicine.
Purified Seawater
Construction of a desalination project that will deliver purified seawater to Beijing from its neighboring Hebei Province’s coast will start at the end of the year， local authorities announced on April 16.
The project will be located in Caofeidian， the second largest port in Hebei， with a daily desalination capacity of 1 million tons of seawater， said Wang Xiaoshui， director of the seawater desalination department of Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd.
After the project goes into operation in 2019， Beijing will receive more than 300 million cubic meters of desalted Bohai seawater annually， about 10 percent of its current water consumption volume.
“Beijing residents will be able to enjoy desalinated seawater，” said Wang.
The project will include a facility and a 270-km-long pipeline extending to Beijing.
University Cooperation
Duke Kunshan University （DKU）， a SinoAmerican joint venture university in east China’s Jiangsu Province， will officially open in August， local authorities said on April 15.
DKU， in the city of Kunshan， was jointly created by U.S.-based Duke University and Wuhan University in China’s Hubei Province. The Ministry of Education formally approved its establishment last September.
“We plan to enroll the first 100 students， including 50 Chinese， offering master’s degree programs in global health， medical physics and management studies. Graduates will be granted degrees from Duke University，” said Liu Jingnan， chancellor of DKU.
In addition to academic degree programs， the university will provide non-degree courses for undergraduate students. Students who successfully complete the program will receive Duke University course credit that can be transferred to other degree-granting institutions. China currently has about 1，500 Sino-foreign joint institutions and programs， including Shanghai New York University， Wenzhou-Kean University and DKU.
Crop Insurance
China will intensify its efforts to promote crop insurance， with insured farm produce expected to cover 60 percent of the country’s cultivated land by 2020， the country’s top insurance regulator said on April 14.
The country will improve its crop insurance mechanisms， especially services for the animal husbandry and planting sector， in a bid to guarantee food security， said Wang Zuji， deputy head of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.
Insurers will be encouraged to cover farm produce prices， rural houses and infrastructure， according to Wang.
The bureau is also considering subsidies for insurers to promote agriculture-related business， he said.
China had 1.11 billion mu （74 million hectares） of crops insured last year， accounting for 45 percent of the overall seeded area. A total of 33.67 million rural households received combined compensation worth 20.9 billion yuan（$3.4 billion）.
Robot Replacement
Guangzhou， south China’s economic powerhouse， has set a goal of having 80 percent of the city’s manufacturing production done by robots instead of human labor by 2020.
According to an industrial development guideline issued by the Guangzhou Municipal Government on April 15， the use of industrial robots will be encouraged in mechanical and automobile manufacturing， food processing and the manufacturing of pharmaceutical， electronic and dangerous products.
The document says that there will be subsidies of up to 30，000 yuan（$4，800） for those who purchase or rent a robot， and a maximum one-off subsidy of 500，000 yuan （$82，000） for companies that introduce a complete set of automation equipment in Guangzhou， capital of Guangdong Province.
The municipal government believes the rising human resource costs and increased demand for sophisticated manufacturing have provided an opportunity for an accelerated roll-out of robots.
Electricity on Everest
The base camp at Mount Qomolangma， also known as Mount Everest， which is located at 5，200 meters above sea level， now has access to reliable electricity， the Tibet Branch of the State Grid Corp. of China said on April 16.
More than 160，000 people in the four counties at the foot of Mount Qomolangma will benefit from the project， which cost 570 million yuan（$92.7 million）. The Chinese Government and the State Grid will invest 8.1 billion yuan（$1.3 billion） to bring power to places without electricity in Tibet and upgrade the existing rural grid between 2013 and 2015， according to the Tibet Branch of the State Grid.
An additional 440，000 Tibetans will have access to electricity when the projects are completed.
Bear Welfare
A black bear farm in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， where bears are raised for their bile， will be turned into a rescue center under an Animals Asia project.
The animal welfare group made the announcement jointly with the Nanning-based Flower World Bear Farm in Beijing on April 15.
Bear farms profit from taking bile from live bears and selling it for making medicine. The practice， which inflicts pain and damages the health of bears， has drawn criticism from animal rights activists and the public.
Under the Animals Asia project， the organization will invest $5 million to send 28 sick bears raised on the farm to Animals Asia’s Bear Rescue Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province for treatment. Over the next three years， it will also transform the Flower World Bear Farm， where 130 bears live， into its second rescue center in China.
There are an estimated 10，000 bears being raised in pens for their bile. According to Animals Asia， they are living in cages with damp floors.
Animals Asia， founded in 1998， is devoted to ending the “barbaric practice of bear bile farming.” According to its figure， the organization has rescued 285 black bears from Chinese bear farms thus far.
Flighty Fun
A contestant flies a kite shaped like a Peking Opera figure during a kite-flying contest in Weifang， Shandong Province， on April 16. Over 1，100 kites were flown during the event.
Spam Crackdown
A policeman in Shanghai checks a computer used to spam cellphone users on January 15.
Chinese mobile users received over 300 billion pieces of SMS spam last year， based on analysis of 270 million complaints， the People’s Daily reported on April 12.
Sales promotions accounted for 65 percent of the total， while real estate advertisements took up 15 percent. Beijing mobile users received an average of 2.22 junk messages each day.
The messages are sent via fake base stations—unlicensed telecommunications installations that allow criminals to send spam to nearby mobile users with fake phone numbers or disguised as communications from government departments， telecoms operators or banks. The report said that a campaign against spam at the end of last year successfully reduced such messages by over 50 percent in November and December 2013.
Financing SMEs
China will provide better support for small and medium-sized enterprises（SMEs） by simplifying how funds are allocated， the Ministry of Finance （MOF） said on April 14.
The ministry， along with the ministries of industry and information technology， science and technology， and commerce， issued a notice to improve the efficiency in the way funds are allocated to SMEs.
According to the notice， funds will be allocated to SMEs to help improve technological innovation， financing， services， and international cooperation.
The notice also highlighted more support for SME innovation in information technology， resource saving， new energy development， the biomedical industry and modern agriculture.
A subsidy for each new innovative project will stand at no more than 3 million yuan （$487，560）， or 40 percent of the research and development cost at most， according to the notice.
Corporate Defaults
Chinese banks have the means to deal with corporate bond and trust defaults， Deutsche Bank said in a research note on April 15.
A study by the bank found that listed Chinese banks hold 37 percent of outstanding debts in China’s corporate bond market and have provided 36 percent of the funding for the country’s trust sector.
That puts 88 billion yuan （$14.14 billion） worth of bank assets at risk. But according to Deutsche Bank， they are well covered by the 819 billion yuan（$132 billion） the banks have set aside to cover bad assets.
The bank said its study covers 2，400 corporate bond issuers and 13，000 trust products， with a total credit balance of 237 billion yuan （$38 billion）.
The bank said only 22 out of 2，400 bond-issuing firms are highly risky. Sixty-five percent of these firms are from industries saddled with overcapacity， including the steel， mining， metal and solar sectors.
China also witnessed the first onshore corporate default in March when a Shanghai-based solar firm failed to pay 89.8 million yuan （$14.4 million） in interest.
Meanwhile， authorities and banks have shown growing reluctance to bail out troubled assets， which analysts said could help correct distortion in risk pricing but could also stoke fear of more defaults to come.
Deutsche Bank said while May and June could see a peak number of bonds and trust products come due， investors could learn that actual defaults are less than they thought， regaining confidence in Chinese banks. The report also added that it is normal for defaults to rise steadily as a way to correct distortions in pricing credit risks and improve the efficiency of capital allocation.
Simplifying Approval
The review and approval process for foreign-funded enterprises to operate telecom value-added services in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone （FTZ） has been simplified， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT） announced on April 15.
The review and approval authority has been delegated from the MIIT to the Shanghai Communications Administration， said the MIIT in a document.
The length of time from submission of application to approval has been shortened to no more than 60 days down from five months.
Telecom value-added service providers refer to those using public telecom network infrastructure and providing value-added services including call centers and smartphone app stores rather than traditional voice telephony services.
Canton Fair Kicks Off
Visitors attend the 115th Canton Fair held in Guangzhou， capital of south China’s Guangdong Province， on April 15.
IPO Market
China’s securities regulator on April 11 denied rumors that the country’s initial public offering （IPO） market has been shut down.
The clarification came after the China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） in late March suggested companies planning an IPO should “choose a reasonable timing”for IPO application.
The CSRC urged the companies to go to the New Third Board， a national share transfer system for SMEs to transfer shares and raise funds， or seek IPOs overseas.
“This is just a suggestion by the CSRC in response to questions raised by the market. This is neither mandatory nor does it mean the IPO application window is shut down，” said Zhang Xiaojun， spokesman of the CSRC.
The suggestions were made in March because， in the words of the regulator， “a large number of IPO applications were still pending approval and new applicants would have to wait for a relatively long period.”
New rules governing IPOs would also result in stricter requirements for information disclosure and more responsibilities for the issuer and sponsor， the CSRC said.
Zhang said the CSRC was just reminding issuers and sponsors of the current special circumstances and suggesting they choose the right equity trading market. “This would help avoid worsening the already crowded IPO channel. For those companies who have decided to file an IPO application， they should time it reasonably to avoid extra cost and burden on themselves.”
China imposed a moratorium on IPOs in October 2012 as the country worked to reform a market featuring a pricing system that had led to consistently excessive offering prices. The authorities reopened the market for IPOs at the end of 2013.
Positive Reaction
A staff member from the China Nuclear Energy Scientific Research Institute introduces a nuclear reactor model to visitors at the 2014 China International Nuclear Industry Expo in Beijing on April 15.
The expo， lasting from April 15 to 18， attracted over 200 exhibitors from 40-plus countries to showcase their latest nuclear energy technologies and products.
FTA Talks
China and Australia on April 12 voiced hopes to hasten negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement （FTA） and strike a deal as soon as possible.
Meeting with entrepreneurs together with visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott， Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is now on the fast track.
“It is a common aspiration of businessmen from both countries and also an important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries to speed up the FTA negotiations，” Wang said.
The role of the government， Wang said， is to “build roads and bridges”for enterprises and provide them with convenient， safe and efficient services.
Wang called on both governments to meet halfway and show flexibility in the FTA negotiations to make tangible progress at an early date.
For his part， Abbott said development of economic and trade relations between Australia and China had moved rapidly in recent years and he expected an FTA deal at the earliest possible opportunity.
Initiated in 2005， talks between Australia and China on the FTA have gone through 19 rounds so far. If a deal is signed， it would be the first FTA between China and a major developed economy， giving Australian agricultural produce easier access to the enormous Chinese market.
China is Australia’s largest trade partner and biggest export market， while Australia is Chinese enterprises’largest overseas investment destination country.
According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce， bilateral trade reached $136.4 billion in 2013， up 11.5 percent from 2012.
Abbott said Australia would like to be a long-term， stable provider of energy， resources and food to China， adding that he hopes to see more and more Chinese enterprises invest in Australia and promising to facilitate their business.
A multi-departmental effort has been introduced to give the public better access to commonly used medications at a more reasonable price. A list of such drugs is expected to be publicized by June， and manufacturers will be entitled to the right of pricing according to production costs and the market situation.
The initiative comes in response to a series of shortages of commonly used and low-priced drugs. Under the new initiative， producers of the listed drugs will enjoy more freedom to price the medicine.
Purified Seawater
Construction of a desalination project that will deliver purified seawater to Beijing from its neighboring Hebei Province’s coast will start at the end of the year， local authorities announced on April 16.
The project will be located in Caofeidian， the second largest port in Hebei， with a daily desalination capacity of 1 million tons of seawater， said Wang Xiaoshui， director of the seawater desalination department of Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd.
After the project goes into operation in 2019， Beijing will receive more than 300 million cubic meters of desalted Bohai seawater annually， about 10 percent of its current water consumption volume.
“Beijing residents will be able to enjoy desalinated seawater，” said Wang.
The project will include a facility and a 270-km-long pipeline extending to Beijing.
University Cooperation
Duke Kunshan University （DKU）， a SinoAmerican joint venture university in east China’s Jiangsu Province， will officially open in August， local authorities said on April 15.
DKU， in the city of Kunshan， was jointly created by U.S.-based Duke University and Wuhan University in China’s Hubei Province. The Ministry of Education formally approved its establishment last September.
“We plan to enroll the first 100 students， including 50 Chinese， offering master’s degree programs in global health， medical physics and management studies. Graduates will be granted degrees from Duke University，” said Liu Jingnan， chancellor of DKU.
In addition to academic degree programs， the university will provide non-degree courses for undergraduate students. Students who successfully complete the program will receive Duke University course credit that can be transferred to other degree-granting institutions. China currently has about 1，500 Sino-foreign joint institutions and programs， including Shanghai New York University， Wenzhou-Kean University and DKU.
Crop Insurance
China will intensify its efforts to promote crop insurance， with insured farm produce expected to cover 60 percent of the country’s cultivated land by 2020， the country’s top insurance regulator said on April 14.
The country will improve its crop insurance mechanisms， especially services for the animal husbandry and planting sector， in a bid to guarantee food security， said Wang Zuji， deputy head of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.
Insurers will be encouraged to cover farm produce prices， rural houses and infrastructure， according to Wang.
The bureau is also considering subsidies for insurers to promote agriculture-related business， he said.
China had 1.11 billion mu （74 million hectares） of crops insured last year， accounting for 45 percent of the overall seeded area. A total of 33.67 million rural households received combined compensation worth 20.9 billion yuan（$3.4 billion）.
Robot Replacement
Guangzhou， south China’s economic powerhouse， has set a goal of having 80 percent of the city’s manufacturing production done by robots instead of human labor by 2020.
According to an industrial development guideline issued by the Guangzhou Municipal Government on April 15， the use of industrial robots will be encouraged in mechanical and automobile manufacturing， food processing and the manufacturing of pharmaceutical， electronic and dangerous products.
The document says that there will be subsidies of up to 30，000 yuan（$4，800） for those who purchase or rent a robot， and a maximum one-off subsidy of 500，000 yuan （$82，000） for companies that introduce a complete set of automation equipment in Guangzhou， capital of Guangdong Province.
The municipal government believes the rising human resource costs and increased demand for sophisticated manufacturing have provided an opportunity for an accelerated roll-out of robots.
Electricity on Everest
The base camp at Mount Qomolangma， also known as Mount Everest， which is located at 5，200 meters above sea level， now has access to reliable electricity， the Tibet Branch of the State Grid Corp. of China said on April 16.
More than 160，000 people in the four counties at the foot of Mount Qomolangma will benefit from the project， which cost 570 million yuan（$92.7 million）. The Chinese Government and the State Grid will invest 8.1 billion yuan（$1.3 billion） to bring power to places without electricity in Tibet and upgrade the existing rural grid between 2013 and 2015， according to the Tibet Branch of the State Grid.
An additional 440，000 Tibetans will have access to electricity when the projects are completed.
Bear Welfare
A black bear farm in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， where bears are raised for their bile， will be turned into a rescue center under an Animals Asia project.
The animal welfare group made the announcement jointly with the Nanning-based Flower World Bear Farm in Beijing on April 15.
Bear farms profit from taking bile from live bears and selling it for making medicine. The practice， which inflicts pain and damages the health of bears， has drawn criticism from animal rights activists and the public.
Under the Animals Asia project， the organization will invest $5 million to send 28 sick bears raised on the farm to Animals Asia’s Bear Rescue Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province for treatment. Over the next three years， it will also transform the Flower World Bear Farm， where 130 bears live， into its second rescue center in China.
There are an estimated 10，000 bears being raised in pens for their bile. According to Animals Asia， they are living in cages with damp floors.
Animals Asia， founded in 1998， is devoted to ending the “barbaric practice of bear bile farming.” According to its figure， the organization has rescued 285 black bears from Chinese bear farms thus far.
Flighty Fun
A contestant flies a kite shaped like a Peking Opera figure during a kite-flying contest in Weifang， Shandong Province， on April 16. Over 1，100 kites were flown during the event.
Spam Crackdown
A policeman in Shanghai checks a computer used to spam cellphone users on January 15.
Chinese mobile users received over 300 billion pieces of SMS spam last year， based on analysis of 270 million complaints， the People’s Daily reported on April 12.
Sales promotions accounted for 65 percent of the total， while real estate advertisements took up 15 percent. Beijing mobile users received an average of 2.22 junk messages each day.
The messages are sent via fake base stations—unlicensed telecommunications installations that allow criminals to send spam to nearby mobile users with fake phone numbers or disguised as communications from government departments， telecoms operators or banks. The report said that a campaign against spam at the end of last year successfully reduced such messages by over 50 percent in November and December 2013.
Financing SMEs
China will provide better support for small and medium-sized enterprises（SMEs） by simplifying how funds are allocated， the Ministry of Finance （MOF） said on April 14.
The ministry， along with the ministries of industry and information technology， science and technology， and commerce， issued a notice to improve the efficiency in the way funds are allocated to SMEs.
According to the notice， funds will be allocated to SMEs to help improve technological innovation， financing， services， and international cooperation.
The notice also highlighted more support for SME innovation in information technology， resource saving， new energy development， the biomedical industry and modern agriculture.
A subsidy for each new innovative project will stand at no more than 3 million yuan （$487，560）， or 40 percent of the research and development cost at most， according to the notice.
Corporate Defaults
Chinese banks have the means to deal with corporate bond and trust defaults， Deutsche Bank said in a research note on April 15.
A study by the bank found that listed Chinese banks hold 37 percent of outstanding debts in China’s corporate bond market and have provided 36 percent of the funding for the country’s trust sector.
That puts 88 billion yuan （$14.14 billion） worth of bank assets at risk. But according to Deutsche Bank， they are well covered by the 819 billion yuan（$132 billion） the banks have set aside to cover bad assets.
The bank said its study covers 2，400 corporate bond issuers and 13，000 trust products， with a total credit balance of 237 billion yuan （$38 billion）.
The bank said only 22 out of 2，400 bond-issuing firms are highly risky. Sixty-five percent of these firms are from industries saddled with overcapacity， including the steel， mining， metal and solar sectors.
China also witnessed the first onshore corporate default in March when a Shanghai-based solar firm failed to pay 89.8 million yuan （$14.4 million） in interest.
Meanwhile， authorities and banks have shown growing reluctance to bail out troubled assets， which analysts said could help correct distortion in risk pricing but could also stoke fear of more defaults to come.
Deutsche Bank said while May and June could see a peak number of bonds and trust products come due， investors could learn that actual defaults are less than they thought， regaining confidence in Chinese banks. The report also added that it is normal for defaults to rise steadily as a way to correct distortions in pricing credit risks and improve the efficiency of capital allocation.
Simplifying Approval
The review and approval process for foreign-funded enterprises to operate telecom value-added services in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone （FTZ） has been simplified， the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT） announced on April 15.
The review and approval authority has been delegated from the MIIT to the Shanghai Communications Administration， said the MIIT in a document.
The length of time from submission of application to approval has been shortened to no more than 60 days down from five months.
Telecom value-added service providers refer to those using public telecom network infrastructure and providing value-added services including call centers and smartphone app stores rather than traditional voice telephony services.
Canton Fair Kicks Off
Visitors attend the 115th Canton Fair held in Guangzhou， capital of south China’s Guangdong Province， on April 15.
IPO Market
China’s securities regulator on April 11 denied rumors that the country’s initial public offering （IPO） market has been shut down.
The clarification came after the China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） in late March suggested companies planning an IPO should “choose a reasonable timing”for IPO application.
The CSRC urged the companies to go to the New Third Board， a national share transfer system for SMEs to transfer shares and raise funds， or seek IPOs overseas.
“This is just a suggestion by the CSRC in response to questions raised by the market. This is neither mandatory nor does it mean the IPO application window is shut down，” said Zhang Xiaojun， spokesman of the CSRC.
The suggestions were made in March because， in the words of the regulator， “a large number of IPO applications were still pending approval and new applicants would have to wait for a relatively long period.”
New rules governing IPOs would also result in stricter requirements for information disclosure and more responsibilities for the issuer and sponsor， the CSRC said.
Zhang said the CSRC was just reminding issuers and sponsors of the current special circumstances and suggesting they choose the right equity trading market. “This would help avoid worsening the already crowded IPO channel. For those companies who have decided to file an IPO application， they should time it reasonably to avoid extra cost and burden on themselves.”
China imposed a moratorium on IPOs in October 2012 as the country worked to reform a market featuring a pricing system that had led to consistently excessive offering prices. The authorities reopened the market for IPOs at the end of 2013.
Positive Reaction
A staff member from the China Nuclear Energy Scientific Research Institute introduces a nuclear reactor model to visitors at the 2014 China International Nuclear Industry Expo in Beijing on April 15.
The expo， lasting from April 15 to 18， attracted over 200 exhibitors from 40-plus countries to showcase their latest nuclear energy technologies and products.
FTA Talks
China and Australia on April 12 voiced hopes to hasten negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement （FTA） and strike a deal as soon as possible.
Meeting with entrepreneurs together with visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott， Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang said economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is now on the fast track.
“It is a common aspiration of businessmen from both countries and also an important consensus reached by leaders of the two countries to speed up the FTA negotiations，” Wang said.
The role of the government， Wang said， is to “build roads and bridges”for enterprises and provide them with convenient， safe and efficient services.
Wang called on both governments to meet halfway and show flexibility in the FTA negotiations to make tangible progress at an early date.
For his part， Abbott said development of economic and trade relations between Australia and China had moved rapidly in recent years and he expected an FTA deal at the earliest possible opportunity.
Initiated in 2005， talks between Australia and China on the FTA have gone through 19 rounds so far. If a deal is signed， it would be the first FTA between China and a major developed economy， giving Australian agricultural produce easier access to the enormous Chinese market.
China is Australia’s largest trade partner and biggest export market， while Australia is Chinese enterprises’largest overseas investment destination country.
According to statistics from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce， bilateral trade reached $136.4 billion in 2013， up 11.5 percent from 2012.
Abbott said Australia would like to be a long-term， stable provider of energy， resources and food to China， adding that he hopes to see more and more Chinese enterprises invest in Australia and promising to facilitate their business.