论文部分内容阅读
Scientists obtain sediments from the bottom of the sea onboard the Xiangyanghong 09 research ship on April 25. They embarked on a deep-sea mission in the South China Sea that day， the beginning of the second stage of China’s 38th oceanic expedition.
Illegal Fundraising
The crackdown on illegal fundraising will be tightened to protect people and fend off systemic risks， the Offi ce of the Inter-Agency Anti-Illegal Fundraising Taskforce said on April 25.
There were over 5，100 illegal fundraising cases in 2016， involving 251.1 billion yuan （$36.5 billion）. The number of cases went down 14.48 percent and the amount involved decreased 0.11 percent year on year.
It is the fi rst time both fi gures have declined， showing illegal fundraising， which had been rising in the past years， has been contained， Yang Yuzhu， head of the offi ce， said.
However， Yang added that the overall situation is still complicated and severe， highlighted by an increase in organized crime， online fraud and cross-regional crime.
China will strengthen supervi- sion of intermediaries in private fi nancing， enhance crackdowns on fraudulent advertisements and improve the legal system to guard against illegal fi nancing， Yang said.
Key fi elds including online lending， private wealth management， rural cooperatives and private equity will be under greater regulatory scrutiny.
Internet fi nance has grown fast in China as investors seek higher returns than on bank deposits while small businesses fi nd it easier to secure funds through online brokers. But risks have piled up too as regulations cannot keep up with the sector’s development.
Among the high-profi le fraud cases in 2016， Ezubao， an online peer-to-peer lending platform， cheated people out of nearly 60 billion yuan （$8.7 billion） through fake investment projects. Police opened investigations into the case in the fi rst quarter of 2016.
Re-hiring Workers
China plans to assist 500，000 workers made redundant during capacity cuts in the steel and coal sectors in 2017.
Employers re-employing laid-off staff in other posts will get subsidies， and the government will offer free retraining， Lu Aihong， spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security， said on April 25.
In 2016， the Central Government spent over 30 billion yuan （$4.35 billion） on providing assistance to 726，000 employees affected by the downsizing of the two heavy industries. The work has to continue as another 50 million tons of steel production capacity and at least 150 million tons of coal capacity will be cut in 2017.
According to preliminary forecasts， the coal and steel sectors will see combined layoffs of around 1.8 million.
Serial Killing Case
A 53-year-old man has been prosecuted for charges including robbery， rape， murder and dismembering bodies， the procuratorate in northwest Gansu Province confi rmed on April 25.
The man from Gansu， surnamed Gao， is accused of killing 10 women and an 8-year-old girl between 1988 and 2002， the procuratorate in Baiyin City said.
Local media reports said many of the victims were dressed in red， and some parts of their bodies were missing. It led to the media dubbing the killer the Chinese “Jack the Ripper.”
Baiyin police stumbled upon Gao after one of his relatives committed a crime and underwent DNA tests in 2015. Gao was arrested on August 26， 2016.
The procuratorate did not give a date for the trial.
Good Air Days
Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said on April 23 that Chinese cities reported more “good air” days in 2016.
In 2016， the 338 cities monitored by the ministry enjoyed good air quality on 78.8 percent days， up 2.1 percentage points from 2015， Chen said at a bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
Those cities reported heavy or even worse air pollution on 2.6 percent of days， down 0.6 percentage points.
China received 33，000 tip-offs on environmental violations， levied fi nes worth 440 million yuan （$64 million） in 8，500 cases， and detained 720 people in more than 800 cases.
Chen called for beefed-up efforts to f giht air， water and soil pollution and implement action plans in such f eilds.
The State Council， China’s cabinet， approved the establishment of 18 national nature reserves in 2016 and carried out remote monitoring of human activities in 446 national nature reserves.
Chen also stressed tightening nuclear and radiation safety supervision.
China has kept the radiation environment under control through careful operation of its 35 running nuclear power units and 19 research reactors for civil use. An additional 21 nuclear power units are under construction.
Bikes in Tibet
The bike-sharing fever has spread to southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region， with 500 shared twowheelers appearing on the plateau on April 20. The fl eets of bright yellow Ofo bikes have been placed in 22 spots in Xigaze， the region’s second largest city， Lu Shuang， the company’s regional manager， said.
“We hope shared bikes become low-carbon， cheap transport for locals and tourists alike in Tibet，” Lu said， adding that the company’s next stop would be Lhasa， capital of Tibet.
The bike-sharing business， which took off in big Chinese cities in 2016， allows riders to hire bikes for as little as 1 yuan （$15 cents） per hour via a mobile app and drop them off anywhere for the next user.
The bikes on the busy streets of Xigaze have attracted curious users. “It’s quite cheap， and really suitable for a short ride，” Cering， who had rented a bike with his friends for fun， said.
Backed by two-digit economic growth for over 20 years， car sales in Tibet have been booming. The underpopulated region now has 300，000 vehicles， with half of them in Lhasa.
However， the four-wheelers have led to traffi c congestion and parking problems in downtown Lhasa.
Better Healthcare
Over 2 million impoverished patients were treated in China in 2016， Wang Pei’an， Vice Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission， said on April 21.
Wang made the remarks at a press briefi ng， speaking of the national program that began in June 2016 and focused on poverty alleviation via improved healthcare.
According to Wang， medical security for impoverished people was enhanced in 2016， with 67.6 percent of them subsidized for their hospital expenses.
Also in 2016， patients in 74 percent of impoverished counties were able to receive treatment before paying， thanks to the program.
A database on their illnesses has been set up to prioritize the treatment of major illnesses， and 90，000 impoverished people have been treated for such illnesses since February.
Illness is a major cause of pov- erty among China’s rural population， with over 44 percent of the impoverished suffering from illnesses at the end of 2015.
Going by the Book
The scene in the National Library of China in Beijing on April 23， World Book Day.
Maiden Venture
Jia Jia， an interactive robot resembling a young Chinese woman in a traditional outfi t， conducts a man-machine dialogue with Kevin Kelly， founding executive editor of Wired magazine， from the University of Science and Technology of China （USTC） in Hefei， capital of Anhui Province， on April 24. Jia Jia， capable of speaking and moving her lips and body， was unveiled in 2016 by a USTC robot research and development team after three years’ research. Panda Breeding
Researchers in southwest China’s Sichuan Province have seen initial success in their experiment to encourage captive pandas to mate with wild ones in order to increase genetic diversity of the captive stock.
Female captive giant panda Cao Cao successfully mated with a wild male panda in the Wolong National Nature Reserve， according to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda， on April 21.
Cao Cao was released in the wild with a positioning system and a recording device fi xed around her neck. She was recaptured on March 27.
The recording showed that she had mated with a wild male panda.
Zhang Hemin， deputy head of the center， said inbreeding among captive bred pandas was reducing their fi tness. The experiment aims to bring in genes from the wild pandas to make the captive ones healthier.
More captive pandas will be released in the wild for such experiments.
Auto-Making Plan
China is aiming to become an automaking powerhouse in a decade， boosting the development of newenergy vehicles （NEVs） and relaxing restrictions on foreign ownership.
The strategy is to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies and increase the share of Chinese brands in the international auto market by 2025， according to an auto industry development plan released on April 25 by three government departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
By 2020， China will see NEV output and sales hit 2 million units annually， according to the plan.
That number is about f our times the current level. China sold 507，000 NEVs last year， the most in the world for a second year and up 53 percent from 2015， according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers （CAAM）.
Restrictions on foreign ownership in the country’s automobile joint ventures （JVs） will be relaxed“in an orderly manner.” China， the world’s largest auto market， caps foreign stakes in JVs in the domestic auto industry at 50 percent. The annual auto output is planned to reach around 30 million by 2020 and 35 million units by 2025.
Auto sales in China hit a record high of 28.03 million units in 2016， up 13.7 percent year on year， according to CAAM.
Vehicle Gala
The Seventh Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition on April 22. More than 1，000 exhibitors from 18 countries and regions attended the event from April 21 to 28， where 113 models of car made their global debut.
WB-AIIB Cooperation
The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB） have signed a memorandum of understanding （MOU） to strengthen cooperation.
Under the MOU， signed on April 23， both sides will cooperate on development fi nancing， staff exchanges， and analytical and sector work.
“It paves the way for the two institutions to further enhance coordination at the regional and country levels，” the World Bank said in a statement.
The two institutions had already signed a co-fi nancing framework agreement in April 2016. Since then， they have co-fi nanced fi ve projects： supporting power generation in Pakistan， a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan， and slum upgrading， dam safety and regional infrastructure development in Indonesia.
They are discussing more projects to be co-fi nanced in 2017 and 2018.
Top multilateral development banks （MDBs） have recently agreed to deepen collaboration to encourage private investment in infrastructure to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth throughout the world.
The MDBs will leverage their resources by joining forces to co-fi nance projects and also help generate interest among private investors in public-private partnerships and the development of infrastructure.
IPR Protection
Chinese fi rms have been facing an increasing number of intellectual property rights （IPR） infringement cases， a customs offi cial said on April 25.
Zou Zhiwu， Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs（GAC）， said customs seized 7.58 million items suspected of infringing the IPR of Chinese companies in 2016， up 13.2 percent from the previous year.
Last year， GAC took measures in 12 IPR protection cases in which there were foreign infringements on the rights of Chinese companies， up from four cases in 2015.
GAC will continue its focus on IPR infringement and fake products attempting to cross the border to maintain trade order， Zou said.
Chinese companies are becoming more aware of IPR protection and had fi led 27，873 IPR cases with GAC by the end of last year.
During the campaign 43，300 shipments of goods suspected of IPR infringement were seized.
Investment Hotbed
Central China is becoming an ideal destination for foreign investment， according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Unlike coastal areas， central China has many unique advantages in attracting foreign investment and saw foreign direct investment growth similar to the national average in the fi rst quarter， Vice Minister Wang Shouwen said at a press conference on April 25. Central China comprises six provinces： Anhui， Henan， Hubei， Hunan， Jiangxi and Shanxi.
Chinese exporters can send their products via China Railway Express to Central Asia and Europe， while products made in central China can exploit markets in both the east and west of the country.
To encourage foreign investment in central China， the central authorities decided in March to allow 43 sectors in the region to enjoy preferential policies， such as reduced taxation， when receiving foreign investment.
For the fi rst time since Expo Central China began in 2006， a high-level meeting will be held during this year’s event to gather ideas and suggestions from foreign companies to improve the investment environment. Expo Central China 2017 will take place in Hefei， capital of Anhui， from May 17 to May 19.
China-Iran Deal
China and Iran signed the fi rst commercial contract to redesign Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor， in Vienna， Austria， on April 23.
The commercial contract is seen as an important step toward modifi -cation of the reactor.
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action （JCPOA）， Iran agreed to redesign the reactor to minimize its plutonium production and avoid production of weapons-grade plutonium.
The redesigning is a core aspect of the JCPOA on Iran’s nuclear program.
The JCPOA agreement was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group， namely Britain， China， France， Russia， the United States and Germany.
The P5+1 countries have created a working group， led by China and the United States， to work with Iran to redesign the reactor.
Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency， Reza Najafi ， said the signing of the contract is important and Iran has very good cooperation with China.
Learning First-Hand
A foreign tourist tries to fry tea leaves by hand， a traditional processing method of the Yi ethnic group， in Keli Village in Ning’er Hani and Yi Autonomous County， Yunnan Province， on April 23.
The village has become a hot tourist destination after the government invested heavily in preserving and renovating local sites of historical and cultural interest.
Open Data
Leading Chinese on-demand ridesharing platform Didi Chuxing decided on April 24 to open its transport information platform to regulators to aid urban transport management.
Didi boasts over 20 million daily orders， resulting in the accumulation of a large amount of transport data. Authorized transport regulators can log on to Didi’s transport information platform to check real-time transport conditions such as congestion and act accordingly. Only local transport regulators in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province， Jinan in Shandong Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province have been authorized to access the information.
Didi also released a transport analysis report of major Chinese cities based on its large data set.
According to the report， northern cities suffer worse congestion than their southern counterparts during peak hours. In some areas in Beijing， it can take over 40 minutes to travel 9 km during the morning peak commuting hours.
Rail Partnership
The railway authorities of China， Belarus， Germany， Kazakhstan， Mongolia， Poland and Russia have signed an agreement to deepen cooperation on China-Europe freight rail services， according to China Railway Corp.
The agreement serves the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21stCentury Maritime Silk Road Initiative， known as the Belt and Road Initiative， will also expand the market share of rail freight between Asia and Europe， and will drive economic development and trade cooperation for countries along the routes.
The seven countries will jointly push for better railway infrastructure for a safe， smooth， fast， convenient and competitive rail route， according to the agreement.
Information technology will boost train speed and unifi cation of the various national services. Information-sharing platforms will be built to ensure transport safety.
The rail services will be expanded to more areas. A joint work team and expert team will be formed to solve problems.
The China-Europe freight train service， launched in 2011， has grown rapidly， becoming an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Over 3，550 freight trains have run so far， with services reaching 27 Chinese cities and 28 cities in 11 countries in Europe.
Getting a Fair Deal
Buyers select kitchenware at the China Import and Export Fair， or the Canton Fair， in Guangzhou， capital of Guangdong Province， on April 23. The second phase of the 121st Canton Fair opened that day， with the participation of 7，297 businesses.
Illegal Fundraising
The crackdown on illegal fundraising will be tightened to protect people and fend off systemic risks， the Offi ce of the Inter-Agency Anti-Illegal Fundraising Taskforce said on April 25.
There were over 5，100 illegal fundraising cases in 2016， involving 251.1 billion yuan （$36.5 billion）. The number of cases went down 14.48 percent and the amount involved decreased 0.11 percent year on year.
It is the fi rst time both fi gures have declined， showing illegal fundraising， which had been rising in the past years， has been contained， Yang Yuzhu， head of the offi ce， said.
However， Yang added that the overall situation is still complicated and severe， highlighted by an increase in organized crime， online fraud and cross-regional crime.
China will strengthen supervi- sion of intermediaries in private fi nancing， enhance crackdowns on fraudulent advertisements and improve the legal system to guard against illegal fi nancing， Yang said.
Key fi elds including online lending， private wealth management， rural cooperatives and private equity will be under greater regulatory scrutiny.
Internet fi nance has grown fast in China as investors seek higher returns than on bank deposits while small businesses fi nd it easier to secure funds through online brokers. But risks have piled up too as regulations cannot keep up with the sector’s development.
Among the high-profi le fraud cases in 2016， Ezubao， an online peer-to-peer lending platform， cheated people out of nearly 60 billion yuan （$8.7 billion） through fake investment projects. Police opened investigations into the case in the fi rst quarter of 2016.
Re-hiring Workers
China plans to assist 500，000 workers made redundant during capacity cuts in the steel and coal sectors in 2017.
Employers re-employing laid-off staff in other posts will get subsidies， and the government will offer free retraining， Lu Aihong， spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security， said on April 25.
In 2016， the Central Government spent over 30 billion yuan （$4.35 billion） on providing assistance to 726，000 employees affected by the downsizing of the two heavy industries. The work has to continue as another 50 million tons of steel production capacity and at least 150 million tons of coal capacity will be cut in 2017.
According to preliminary forecasts， the coal and steel sectors will see combined layoffs of around 1.8 million.
Serial Killing Case
A 53-year-old man has been prosecuted for charges including robbery， rape， murder and dismembering bodies， the procuratorate in northwest Gansu Province confi rmed on April 25.
The man from Gansu， surnamed Gao， is accused of killing 10 women and an 8-year-old girl between 1988 and 2002， the procuratorate in Baiyin City said.
Local media reports said many of the victims were dressed in red， and some parts of their bodies were missing. It led to the media dubbing the killer the Chinese “Jack the Ripper.”
Baiyin police stumbled upon Gao after one of his relatives committed a crime and underwent DNA tests in 2015. Gao was arrested on August 26， 2016.
The procuratorate did not give a date for the trial.
Good Air Days
Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said on April 23 that Chinese cities reported more “good air” days in 2016.
In 2016， the 338 cities monitored by the ministry enjoyed good air quality on 78.8 percent days， up 2.1 percentage points from 2015， Chen said at a bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
Those cities reported heavy or even worse air pollution on 2.6 percent of days， down 0.6 percentage points.
China received 33，000 tip-offs on environmental violations， levied fi nes worth 440 million yuan （$64 million） in 8，500 cases， and detained 720 people in more than 800 cases.
Chen called for beefed-up efforts to f giht air， water and soil pollution and implement action plans in such f eilds.
The State Council， China’s cabinet， approved the establishment of 18 national nature reserves in 2016 and carried out remote monitoring of human activities in 446 national nature reserves.
Chen also stressed tightening nuclear and radiation safety supervision.
China has kept the radiation environment under control through careful operation of its 35 running nuclear power units and 19 research reactors for civil use. An additional 21 nuclear power units are under construction.
Bikes in Tibet
The bike-sharing fever has spread to southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region， with 500 shared twowheelers appearing on the plateau on April 20. The fl eets of bright yellow Ofo bikes have been placed in 22 spots in Xigaze， the region’s second largest city， Lu Shuang， the company’s regional manager， said.
“We hope shared bikes become low-carbon， cheap transport for locals and tourists alike in Tibet，” Lu said， adding that the company’s next stop would be Lhasa， capital of Tibet.
The bike-sharing business， which took off in big Chinese cities in 2016， allows riders to hire bikes for as little as 1 yuan （$15 cents） per hour via a mobile app and drop them off anywhere for the next user.
The bikes on the busy streets of Xigaze have attracted curious users. “It’s quite cheap， and really suitable for a short ride，” Cering， who had rented a bike with his friends for fun， said.
Backed by two-digit economic growth for over 20 years， car sales in Tibet have been booming. The underpopulated region now has 300，000 vehicles， with half of them in Lhasa.
However， the four-wheelers have led to traffi c congestion and parking problems in downtown Lhasa.
Better Healthcare
Over 2 million impoverished patients were treated in China in 2016， Wang Pei’an， Vice Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission， said on April 21.
Wang made the remarks at a press briefi ng， speaking of the national program that began in June 2016 and focused on poverty alleviation via improved healthcare.
According to Wang， medical security for impoverished people was enhanced in 2016， with 67.6 percent of them subsidized for their hospital expenses.
Also in 2016， patients in 74 percent of impoverished counties were able to receive treatment before paying， thanks to the program.
A database on their illnesses has been set up to prioritize the treatment of major illnesses， and 90，000 impoverished people have been treated for such illnesses since February.
Illness is a major cause of pov- erty among China’s rural population， with over 44 percent of the impoverished suffering from illnesses at the end of 2015.
Going by the Book
The scene in the National Library of China in Beijing on April 23， World Book Day.
Maiden Venture
Jia Jia， an interactive robot resembling a young Chinese woman in a traditional outfi t， conducts a man-machine dialogue with Kevin Kelly， founding executive editor of Wired magazine， from the University of Science and Technology of China （USTC） in Hefei， capital of Anhui Province， on April 24. Jia Jia， capable of speaking and moving her lips and body， was unveiled in 2016 by a USTC robot research and development team after three years’ research. Panda Breeding
Researchers in southwest China’s Sichuan Province have seen initial success in their experiment to encourage captive pandas to mate with wild ones in order to increase genetic diversity of the captive stock.
Female captive giant panda Cao Cao successfully mated with a wild male panda in the Wolong National Nature Reserve， according to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda， on April 21.
Cao Cao was released in the wild with a positioning system and a recording device fi xed around her neck. She was recaptured on March 27.
The recording showed that she had mated with a wild male panda.
Zhang Hemin， deputy head of the center， said inbreeding among captive bred pandas was reducing their fi tness. The experiment aims to bring in genes from the wild pandas to make the captive ones healthier.
More captive pandas will be released in the wild for such experiments.
Auto-Making Plan
China is aiming to become an automaking powerhouse in a decade， boosting the development of newenergy vehicles （NEVs） and relaxing restrictions on foreign ownership.
The strategy is to achieve breakthroughs in key technologies and increase the share of Chinese brands in the international auto market by 2025， according to an auto industry development plan released on April 25 by three government departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
By 2020， China will see NEV output and sales hit 2 million units annually， according to the plan.
That number is about f our times the current level. China sold 507，000 NEVs last year， the most in the world for a second year and up 53 percent from 2015， according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers （CAAM）.
Restrictions on foreign ownership in the country’s automobile joint ventures （JVs） will be relaxed“in an orderly manner.” China， the world’s largest auto market， caps foreign stakes in JVs in the domestic auto industry at 50 percent. The annual auto output is planned to reach around 30 million by 2020 and 35 million units by 2025.
Auto sales in China hit a record high of 28.03 million units in 2016， up 13.7 percent year on year， according to CAAM.
Vehicle Gala
The Seventh Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition on April 22. More than 1，000 exhibitors from 18 countries and regions attended the event from April 21 to 28， where 113 models of car made their global debut.
WB-AIIB Cooperation
The World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB） have signed a memorandum of understanding （MOU） to strengthen cooperation.
Under the MOU， signed on April 23， both sides will cooperate on development fi nancing， staff exchanges， and analytical and sector work.
“It paves the way for the two institutions to further enhance coordination at the regional and country levels，” the World Bank said in a statement.
The two institutions had already signed a co-fi nancing framework agreement in April 2016. Since then， they have co-fi nanced fi ve projects： supporting power generation in Pakistan， a natural gas pipeline in Azerbaijan， and slum upgrading， dam safety and regional infrastructure development in Indonesia.
They are discussing more projects to be co-fi nanced in 2017 and 2018.
Top multilateral development banks （MDBs） have recently agreed to deepen collaboration to encourage private investment in infrastructure to support sustainable and inclusive economic growth throughout the world.
The MDBs will leverage their resources by joining forces to co-fi nance projects and also help generate interest among private investors in public-private partnerships and the development of infrastructure.
IPR Protection
Chinese fi rms have been facing an increasing number of intellectual property rights （IPR） infringement cases， a customs offi cial said on April 25.
Zou Zhiwu， Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs（GAC）， said customs seized 7.58 million items suspected of infringing the IPR of Chinese companies in 2016， up 13.2 percent from the previous year.
Last year， GAC took measures in 12 IPR protection cases in which there were foreign infringements on the rights of Chinese companies， up from four cases in 2015.
GAC will continue its focus on IPR infringement and fake products attempting to cross the border to maintain trade order， Zou said.
Chinese companies are becoming more aware of IPR protection and had fi led 27，873 IPR cases with GAC by the end of last year.
During the campaign 43，300 shipments of goods suspected of IPR infringement were seized.
Investment Hotbed
Central China is becoming an ideal destination for foreign investment， according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Unlike coastal areas， central China has many unique advantages in attracting foreign investment and saw foreign direct investment growth similar to the national average in the fi rst quarter， Vice Minister Wang Shouwen said at a press conference on April 25. Central China comprises six provinces： Anhui， Henan， Hubei， Hunan， Jiangxi and Shanxi.
Chinese exporters can send their products via China Railway Express to Central Asia and Europe， while products made in central China can exploit markets in both the east and west of the country.
To encourage foreign investment in central China， the central authorities decided in March to allow 43 sectors in the region to enjoy preferential policies， such as reduced taxation， when receiving foreign investment.
For the fi rst time since Expo Central China began in 2006， a high-level meeting will be held during this year’s event to gather ideas and suggestions from foreign companies to improve the investment environment. Expo Central China 2017 will take place in Hefei， capital of Anhui， from May 17 to May 19.
China-Iran Deal
China and Iran signed the fi rst commercial contract to redesign Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor， in Vienna， Austria， on April 23.
The commercial contract is seen as an important step toward modifi -cation of the reactor.
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action （JCPOA）， Iran agreed to redesign the reactor to minimize its plutonium production and avoid production of weapons-grade plutonium.
The redesigning is a core aspect of the JCPOA on Iran’s nuclear program.
The JCPOA agreement was reached in Vienna in July 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 group， namely Britain， China， France， Russia， the United States and Germany.
The P5+1 countries have created a working group， led by China and the United States， to work with Iran to redesign the reactor.
Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency， Reza Najafi ， said the signing of the contract is important and Iran has very good cooperation with China.
Learning First-Hand
A foreign tourist tries to fry tea leaves by hand， a traditional processing method of the Yi ethnic group， in Keli Village in Ning’er Hani and Yi Autonomous County， Yunnan Province， on April 23.
The village has become a hot tourist destination after the government invested heavily in preserving and renovating local sites of historical and cultural interest.
Open Data
Leading Chinese on-demand ridesharing platform Didi Chuxing decided on April 24 to open its transport information platform to regulators to aid urban transport management.
Didi boasts over 20 million daily orders， resulting in the accumulation of a large amount of transport data. Authorized transport regulators can log on to Didi’s transport information platform to check real-time transport conditions such as congestion and act accordingly. Only local transport regulators in Shenzhen in Guangdong Province， Jinan in Shandong Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province have been authorized to access the information.
Didi also released a transport analysis report of major Chinese cities based on its large data set.
According to the report， northern cities suffer worse congestion than their southern counterparts during peak hours. In some areas in Beijing， it can take over 40 minutes to travel 9 km during the morning peak commuting hours.
Rail Partnership
The railway authorities of China， Belarus， Germany， Kazakhstan， Mongolia， Poland and Russia have signed an agreement to deepen cooperation on China-Europe freight rail services， according to China Railway Corp.
The agreement serves the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21stCentury Maritime Silk Road Initiative， known as the Belt and Road Initiative， will also expand the market share of rail freight between Asia and Europe， and will drive economic development and trade cooperation for countries along the routes.
The seven countries will jointly push for better railway infrastructure for a safe， smooth， fast， convenient and competitive rail route， according to the agreement.
Information technology will boost train speed and unifi cation of the various national services. Information-sharing platforms will be built to ensure transport safety.
The rail services will be expanded to more areas. A joint work team and expert team will be formed to solve problems.
The China-Europe freight train service， launched in 2011， has grown rapidly， becoming an important part of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Over 3，550 freight trains have run so far， with services reaching 27 Chinese cities and 28 cities in 11 countries in Europe.
Getting a Fair Deal
Buyers select kitchenware at the China Import and Export Fair， or the Canton Fair， in Guangzhou， capital of Guangdong Province， on April 23. The second phase of the 121st Canton Fair opened that day， with the participation of 7，297 businesses.