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China’s Grand Canal has been added to the World Heritage List. The decision was announced at the 38th Session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in Doha， Qatar， on June 22.
The Grand Canal， with a length of 1，794 km， dates back 2，400 years. It’s the longest man-made waterway in the world and is still in use.
This year， a section of the ancient trade route of the Silk Road， linking China and Europe， and an extension of South China Karst， a natural World Heritage Site since 2007， also made the list.
Homes for Pensions
China has begun to pilot its muchdebated houses-for-pensions program in four cities as the country seeks alternative methods to cope with the rising needs of an aging population.
On July 1， Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou in Guangdong Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province launched a scheme that allows home owners over 60 to deed their houses to an insurance company or bank， which will then grant them a certain amount every month depending on the value of the houses and the person’s life expectancy.
According to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission （CIRC）， the pilot will last for two years.
CIRC official Yuan Xucheng said the pilot is intended to expand funding channels and improve the quality of the elderly care system.
The program， while hailed by some experts as an innovative solution， has sparked heated debate among the public， especially among those whose parents have property and fear losing their inheritance.
Latest official data show that the number of people aged above 60 has reached 202.43 million in China.
Anti-Terror Fight
The Chinese Government on June 24 released a television program about online terrorist propaganda created by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement（ETIM）， which is listed by the UN Security Council as a terrorist group.
In 2013， Chinese police tracked down 109 pieces of terror-related audio and video content produced by the movement， compared with 32 in the previous year， according to the State Internet Information Office （SIIO）. The recordings were matched by a surge in attacks.
Besides promoting terrorism， ETIM videos also offer tutorials on how to make explosives and how to use weapons.
The documentary indicates that the videos are produced outside China， with many hosted on servers in Turky.
The documentary’s release followed the launch of a campaign on June 20 to rid the Internet of audio and video materials that promote terrorism or violence. The move aims to safeguard social stability and long-term peace in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， according to a statement from the SIIO.
The authorities will prevent terrorist materials produced overseas from being disseminated in China， remove such information online， punish website servers violating the rules and urge Internet companies to uphold their responsibilities， the statement said.
Xinjiang saw its bloodiest attack in five years on May 22 when 39 innocent people were killed in a terrorist attack in the regional capital of Urumqi. On April 30， three people were killed and 79 injured in an attack at a railway station in the city.
Super Computer
The Tianhe-2 supercomputer， developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology， remains the world’s most powerful computer， according to a biannual Top 500 list of supercomputers. This is the third time Tianhe-2 has topped the list.
Tianhe-2， which is Chinese for“Milky Way-2，” clocks in at 33.86 petaflops， the equivalent of 33，860 trillion calculations per second. One hour of calculations by the machine would take the entire population of China 1，000 years if everyone was given a calculator.
The supercomputer is a product of China’s 863 hi-tech program， which aims to reduce reliance on foreign technology. According to a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology， Tianhe-2 has provided computing support for more than 120 clients at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong Province.
The development of the C919 airliner and drug testing in the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica were both aided by Tianhe-2. The supercomputer also helped to support Guangzhou’s e-government database and cloud computing storage.
Bacteria Breakthrough
Chinese scientists have successfully analyzed the structure of bacterium shigella flexneri， a breakthrough that may lead to a better understanding of drug-resistant illnesses.
The research team headed by Huang Yihua from the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has analyzed lipopolysaccharide structure of the external membrane of the germ.
The Gram-negative bacteria is part of the lineage of more than half of drug-resistant bacteria and its outer membrane is the main source of the microbe’s success.
According to Huang， the finding could open the door to new antibiotic strategies that target bacterial membranes. Vocational Education
The total number of students at vocational education institutions across China will reach 38.3 million by 2020， a new government guideline announced on June 22. The document was released to help boost vocational education and was issued by the State Council， China’s cabinet.
In 2020， it is expected that approximately 23.5 million students will study at vocational schools， which will take in students after they finish the first three years in middle schools. There will be 14.8 million students at vocational colleges that admit students from ordinary high schools and vocational schools and offer two or three years of further vocational education， according to the document. Currently a total of 29.34 million students study at 13，600 vocational schools and colleges across China.
Safer Food
An inspector from the local industrial and commercial bureau checks processed food on the shelves in a supermarket in Hengshui， Hebei Province， on May 28.
A draft amendment to the Food Safety Law had its first reading in the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， China’s top legislature， on June 23.
According to the bill， consumers can demand much higher compensation and offenders will face fines three times of that before. Administrative penalties will also be imposed on any officials responsible.
Folk Art Overseas
Two women from the Dong ethnic group of China perform at the opening ceremony of the Smithson Folklife Festival in Washington， D.C.， the United States， on June 25. It is the first time China has been the main guest of the annual exposition of living cultural heritage from worldwide
Higher Education
Kashgar University， the first comprehensive university in south Xinjiang， is already under construction， local authorities said on June 25.
The southern part of Xinjiang borders Pakistan， Afghanistan and Tajikistan， has a population of around 10 million， mainly ethnic Uygur people. It is substantially less developed than the northern part of the region.
South Xinjiang currently has only two higher learning institutions—Kashgar Normal University and Alar Tarim University. Kashgar Normal University offers 27 disciplines， mainly linguistics and teaching.
Erken Umer， President of Kashgar University， said that the new university will provide courses in international trade， business administration， architecture， tourism and hotel management as well as basic sciences and arts. Declining Confidence
Chinese entrepreneurs， bankers and residents have become less optimistic about the country’s economic conditions， central bank data revealed on June 25.
The entrepreneurs’ confidence index came in at 64.9 percent in the second quarter， retreating 2.1 percentage points from the previous quarter， the central bank said in a report， citing results from a survey of over 5，900 Chinese entrepreneurs.
In a separate report based on a survey of 3，100 bankers， the central bank said their second-quarter confidence index was down 13.9 percentage points from the previous quarter to 53.7 percent.
The surveys found that more people are concerned about employment. Of the 20，000 savers the central bank surveyed， 43.8 percent considered employment conditions “harsh” or“murky，” and their expectation index was 47.8 percent， down 2.1 percentage points from a quarter earlier.
Home prices are still a major issue of public concern， with 63 percent of people surveyed describing prices as“high and hard to accept，” down 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Some 50.3 percent reported that they expect home prices to remain unchanged in the third quarter， while 21.2 percent predicted rises.
The changing outlook came as China’s property sector continued to cool in May， as new home prices in half of a sample of 70 major cities showed month-on-month drops.
Fiscal Pressure
China may struggle to meet this year’s fiscal revenue target， the finance minister warned on June 24.
The central treasury received 2.9 trillion yuan （$472 billion） from January to May， a year-on-year growth of 6.3 percent， 0.7 percentage points lower than the budgeted target， said Lou Jiwei， when briefing lawmakers on the final accounts for 2013.
This year’s budgeted growth of central fiscal revenue is 7 percent. The government is “under heavy pressure，”Lou said.
Difficulties lie in the downward pressure on the economy and the program to replace business tax with valueadded tax （VAT） in some service sectors， which will reduce tax revenue by some degree， Lou said.
A Net Investor
China’s outward foreign direct investment （FDI） is very likely to exceed its inward FDI in 2014， making the country a net investor， according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development （UNCTAD）.
In 2013， China’s inward FDI rose by 2.3 percent to $123.9 billion， ranking second in the world after the United States， according to the UNCTAD’s World Investment Report released on June 24. “What’s more， China’s outward investment is more striking，” said Zhan Xiaoning， Director of the Investment and Enterprise Division at UNCTAD.
In 2013， investment outflows from China increased by 15 percent to $101 billion， the third highest in the world after the United States and Japan， the report said.
As China continues to deregulate outbound investment， outflows to developed and developing countries are expected to grow further， it said.
Outward investment will serve as an important driver for industrial upgrading and economic growth， Zhan said.
Making Tracks
Workers weld railway tracks in a logistics park in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The railway route， which will open to traffic on July 10， will connect Mongolia and Russia to China’s northeastern railway network.
RRR Review
The central bank is considering an annual review system to decide whether to cut lenders’ reserve requirement ratio（RRR）， China Securities Journal reported on June 25.
Reviews will focus on whether or not a bank’s lending to small and micro-sized enterprises and the agricultural sector has met requirements set by the central bank. The central bank has been encouraging lending to those areas—long neglected by banks in China because of higher risk.
Banks that meet the standards will have lower reserve ratios， the newspaper said， citing an anonymous source. A lower RRR gives a bank more funds to lend and the chance to make more profits.
The central bank started cutting RRRs selectively this year， as part of its effort to allow greater monetary flexibility while maintaining a prudent monetary policy amid an economic slowdown.
Subsidy Ends
China is moving to replace its decadesold agricultural subsidies with a more flexible pricing mechanism， as domestic harvests in the world’s largest grain importer are expected to see their 11th consecutive year of growth.
Experts say the change will not endanger food security nor result in steep price drops in major agricultural products.
Decisions to scrap the minimum purchasing price for rice， the temporary storage policy for soy and cotton and other agricultural subsidy policies were made on June 25 at a State Council executive meeting led by Premier Li Keqiang.
Under the new policy， the government will set up a target price for each kind of major agricultural product. Farmers will receive subsidies from the government when the market price is below the target， and low-income groups will also receive subsidies when the market price sours. The reform， which aims to restore a market-oriented pricing mechanism， as domestic grain prices are usually above the global price， will be conducted first from selected areas and particular types of agricultural products.
According to a statement released after the meeting， soy and cotton will be first in line to test the concept before the policy is applied to other major agricultural products， such as wheat， rice and corn. China has gradually set up various subsidy policies since 2004 to shore up grain prices and protect farmers’motivation.
Overseas Expansion
Alipay， China’s largest third-party payment service provider run by ecommerce giant Alibaba， announced on June 25 a partnership with the U.S. online payment startup Stripe.
Under the agreement， overseas merchants who use Stripe’s payment software can now detect if shoppers are located on the Chinese mainland and give them the option of paying through their Alipay accounts.
The move is expected to be warmly welcomed by Chinese shoppers who are not happy with providing their credit card details to overseas websites but who use Alipay as an alternative payment solution.
Stripe didn’t disclose the number of merchants Alipay is cooperating with， but said it now allows online merchants to conduct transactions using 139 currencies and Bitcoin， a virtual currency. It also plans to form more partnerships with popular payment providers in regions where credit cards are not widely used， according to media reports.
Causing a Stir
Farmers pick tea leaves in Rushan， Shandong Province.
The region has greatly developed its tea industry to help increase local farmers’ income. Each mu （0.07 hectare） of tea will generate over 7，000 yuan （$1，121） income for farmers.
Hydroelectric Plant
On June 25， China’s Sinohydro signed a deal with Bolivia’s Corani Electric Co.， an affiliate of the National Electricity Co.， to build a hydroelectric plant that will produce an additional 124 megawatts for Bolivia’s national power grid， the National Interconnected System.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales said the whole project will be developed in three stages through to 2018， with an estimated investment of $235 million.
“The investment is guaranteed to generate energy for the department and all Bolivia，” said Morales.
The government aims to consolidate the nation’s electric power infrastructure by 2020， so it can meet domestic demand and generate up to 1，000 extra megawatts for export.
The project includes building a reservoir， a network of roads and three tunnels， among other infrastructure. The plant is expected to be operational by 2018.
The Grand Canal， with a length of 1，794 km， dates back 2，400 years. It’s the longest man-made waterway in the world and is still in use.
This year， a section of the ancient trade route of the Silk Road， linking China and Europe， and an extension of South China Karst， a natural World Heritage Site since 2007， also made the list.
Homes for Pensions
China has begun to pilot its muchdebated houses-for-pensions program in four cities as the country seeks alternative methods to cope with the rising needs of an aging population.
On July 1， Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou in Guangdong Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province launched a scheme that allows home owners over 60 to deed their houses to an insurance company or bank， which will then grant them a certain amount every month depending on the value of the houses and the person’s life expectancy.
According to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission （CIRC）， the pilot will last for two years.
CIRC official Yuan Xucheng said the pilot is intended to expand funding channels and improve the quality of the elderly care system.
The program， while hailed by some experts as an innovative solution， has sparked heated debate among the public， especially among those whose parents have property and fear losing their inheritance.
Latest official data show that the number of people aged above 60 has reached 202.43 million in China.
Anti-Terror Fight
The Chinese Government on June 24 released a television program about online terrorist propaganda created by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement（ETIM）， which is listed by the UN Security Council as a terrorist group.
In 2013， Chinese police tracked down 109 pieces of terror-related audio and video content produced by the movement， compared with 32 in the previous year， according to the State Internet Information Office （SIIO）. The recordings were matched by a surge in attacks.
Besides promoting terrorism， ETIM videos also offer tutorials on how to make explosives and how to use weapons.
The documentary indicates that the videos are produced outside China， with many hosted on servers in Turky.
The documentary’s release followed the launch of a campaign on June 20 to rid the Internet of audio and video materials that promote terrorism or violence. The move aims to safeguard social stability and long-term peace in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， according to a statement from the SIIO.
The authorities will prevent terrorist materials produced overseas from being disseminated in China， remove such information online， punish website servers violating the rules and urge Internet companies to uphold their responsibilities， the statement said.
Xinjiang saw its bloodiest attack in five years on May 22 when 39 innocent people were killed in a terrorist attack in the regional capital of Urumqi. On April 30， three people were killed and 79 injured in an attack at a railway station in the city.
Super Computer
The Tianhe-2 supercomputer， developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology， remains the world’s most powerful computer， according to a biannual Top 500 list of supercomputers. This is the third time Tianhe-2 has topped the list.
Tianhe-2， which is Chinese for“Milky Way-2，” clocks in at 33.86 petaflops， the equivalent of 33，860 trillion calculations per second. One hour of calculations by the machine would take the entire population of China 1，000 years if everyone was given a calculator.
The supercomputer is a product of China’s 863 hi-tech program， which aims to reduce reliance on foreign technology. According to a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology， Tianhe-2 has provided computing support for more than 120 clients at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou in south China’s Guangdong Province.
The development of the C919 airliner and drug testing in the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica were both aided by Tianhe-2. The supercomputer also helped to support Guangzhou’s e-government database and cloud computing storage.
Bacteria Breakthrough
Chinese scientists have successfully analyzed the structure of bacterium shigella flexneri， a breakthrough that may lead to a better understanding of drug-resistant illnesses.
The research team headed by Huang Yihua from the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has analyzed lipopolysaccharide structure of the external membrane of the germ.
The Gram-negative bacteria is part of the lineage of more than half of drug-resistant bacteria and its outer membrane is the main source of the microbe’s success.
According to Huang， the finding could open the door to new antibiotic strategies that target bacterial membranes. Vocational Education
The total number of students at vocational education institutions across China will reach 38.3 million by 2020， a new government guideline announced on June 22. The document was released to help boost vocational education and was issued by the State Council， China’s cabinet.
In 2020， it is expected that approximately 23.5 million students will study at vocational schools， which will take in students after they finish the first three years in middle schools. There will be 14.8 million students at vocational colleges that admit students from ordinary high schools and vocational schools and offer two or three years of further vocational education， according to the document. Currently a total of 29.34 million students study at 13，600 vocational schools and colleges across China.
Safer Food
An inspector from the local industrial and commercial bureau checks processed food on the shelves in a supermarket in Hengshui， Hebei Province， on May 28.
A draft amendment to the Food Safety Law had its first reading in the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， China’s top legislature， on June 23.
According to the bill， consumers can demand much higher compensation and offenders will face fines three times of that before. Administrative penalties will also be imposed on any officials responsible.
Folk Art Overseas
Two women from the Dong ethnic group of China perform at the opening ceremony of the Smithson Folklife Festival in Washington， D.C.， the United States， on June 25. It is the first time China has been the main guest of the annual exposition of living cultural heritage from worldwide
Higher Education
Kashgar University， the first comprehensive university in south Xinjiang， is already under construction， local authorities said on June 25.
The southern part of Xinjiang borders Pakistan， Afghanistan and Tajikistan， has a population of around 10 million， mainly ethnic Uygur people. It is substantially less developed than the northern part of the region.
South Xinjiang currently has only two higher learning institutions—Kashgar Normal University and Alar Tarim University. Kashgar Normal University offers 27 disciplines， mainly linguistics and teaching.
Erken Umer， President of Kashgar University， said that the new university will provide courses in international trade， business administration， architecture， tourism and hotel management as well as basic sciences and arts. Declining Confidence
Chinese entrepreneurs， bankers and residents have become less optimistic about the country’s economic conditions， central bank data revealed on June 25.
The entrepreneurs’ confidence index came in at 64.9 percent in the second quarter， retreating 2.1 percentage points from the previous quarter， the central bank said in a report， citing results from a survey of over 5，900 Chinese entrepreneurs.
In a separate report based on a survey of 3，100 bankers， the central bank said their second-quarter confidence index was down 13.9 percentage points from the previous quarter to 53.7 percent.
The surveys found that more people are concerned about employment. Of the 20，000 savers the central bank surveyed， 43.8 percent considered employment conditions “harsh” or“murky，” and their expectation index was 47.8 percent， down 2.1 percentage points from a quarter earlier.
Home prices are still a major issue of public concern， with 63 percent of people surveyed describing prices as“high and hard to accept，” down 1.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.
Some 50.3 percent reported that they expect home prices to remain unchanged in the third quarter， while 21.2 percent predicted rises.
The changing outlook came as China’s property sector continued to cool in May， as new home prices in half of a sample of 70 major cities showed month-on-month drops.
Fiscal Pressure
China may struggle to meet this year’s fiscal revenue target， the finance minister warned on June 24.
The central treasury received 2.9 trillion yuan （$472 billion） from January to May， a year-on-year growth of 6.3 percent， 0.7 percentage points lower than the budgeted target， said Lou Jiwei， when briefing lawmakers on the final accounts for 2013.
This year’s budgeted growth of central fiscal revenue is 7 percent. The government is “under heavy pressure，”Lou said.
Difficulties lie in the downward pressure on the economy and the program to replace business tax with valueadded tax （VAT） in some service sectors， which will reduce tax revenue by some degree， Lou said.
A Net Investor
China’s outward foreign direct investment （FDI） is very likely to exceed its inward FDI in 2014， making the country a net investor， according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development （UNCTAD）.
In 2013， China’s inward FDI rose by 2.3 percent to $123.9 billion， ranking second in the world after the United States， according to the UNCTAD’s World Investment Report released on June 24. “What’s more， China’s outward investment is more striking，” said Zhan Xiaoning， Director of the Investment and Enterprise Division at UNCTAD.
In 2013， investment outflows from China increased by 15 percent to $101 billion， the third highest in the world after the United States and Japan， the report said.
As China continues to deregulate outbound investment， outflows to developed and developing countries are expected to grow further， it said.
Outward investment will serve as an important driver for industrial upgrading and economic growth， Zhan said.
Making Tracks
Workers weld railway tracks in a logistics park in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The railway route， which will open to traffic on July 10， will connect Mongolia and Russia to China’s northeastern railway network.
RRR Review
The central bank is considering an annual review system to decide whether to cut lenders’ reserve requirement ratio（RRR）， China Securities Journal reported on June 25.
Reviews will focus on whether or not a bank’s lending to small and micro-sized enterprises and the agricultural sector has met requirements set by the central bank. The central bank has been encouraging lending to those areas—long neglected by banks in China because of higher risk.
Banks that meet the standards will have lower reserve ratios， the newspaper said， citing an anonymous source. A lower RRR gives a bank more funds to lend and the chance to make more profits.
The central bank started cutting RRRs selectively this year， as part of its effort to allow greater monetary flexibility while maintaining a prudent monetary policy amid an economic slowdown.
Subsidy Ends
China is moving to replace its decadesold agricultural subsidies with a more flexible pricing mechanism， as domestic harvests in the world’s largest grain importer are expected to see their 11th consecutive year of growth.
Experts say the change will not endanger food security nor result in steep price drops in major agricultural products.
Decisions to scrap the minimum purchasing price for rice， the temporary storage policy for soy and cotton and other agricultural subsidy policies were made on June 25 at a State Council executive meeting led by Premier Li Keqiang.
Under the new policy， the government will set up a target price for each kind of major agricultural product. Farmers will receive subsidies from the government when the market price is below the target， and low-income groups will also receive subsidies when the market price sours. The reform， which aims to restore a market-oriented pricing mechanism， as domestic grain prices are usually above the global price， will be conducted first from selected areas and particular types of agricultural products.
According to a statement released after the meeting， soy and cotton will be first in line to test the concept before the policy is applied to other major agricultural products， such as wheat， rice and corn. China has gradually set up various subsidy policies since 2004 to shore up grain prices and protect farmers’motivation.
Overseas Expansion
Alipay， China’s largest third-party payment service provider run by ecommerce giant Alibaba， announced on June 25 a partnership with the U.S. online payment startup Stripe.
Under the agreement， overseas merchants who use Stripe’s payment software can now detect if shoppers are located on the Chinese mainland and give them the option of paying through their Alipay accounts.
The move is expected to be warmly welcomed by Chinese shoppers who are not happy with providing their credit card details to overseas websites but who use Alipay as an alternative payment solution.
Stripe didn’t disclose the number of merchants Alipay is cooperating with， but said it now allows online merchants to conduct transactions using 139 currencies and Bitcoin， a virtual currency. It also plans to form more partnerships with popular payment providers in regions where credit cards are not widely used， according to media reports.
Causing a Stir
Farmers pick tea leaves in Rushan， Shandong Province.
The region has greatly developed its tea industry to help increase local farmers’ income. Each mu （0.07 hectare） of tea will generate over 7，000 yuan （$1，121） income for farmers.
Hydroelectric Plant
On June 25， China’s Sinohydro signed a deal with Bolivia’s Corani Electric Co.， an affiliate of the National Electricity Co.， to build a hydroelectric plant that will produce an additional 124 megawatts for Bolivia’s national power grid， the National Interconnected System.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales said the whole project will be developed in three stages through to 2018， with an estimated investment of $235 million.
“The investment is guaranteed to generate energy for the department and all Bolivia，” said Morales.
The government aims to consolidate the nation’s electric power infrastructure by 2020， so it can meet domestic demand and generate up to 1，000 extra megawatts for export.
The project includes building a reservoir， a network of roads and three tunnels， among other infrastructure. The plant is expected to be operational by 2018.