SPRING SWEEPS IN

Children play in a blooming field in Zhenjiang， Jiangsu Province， on April 5， during Qingming Festival. Also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day， the festival is not only a time for people to pay tribute to their deceased relatives and ancestors， but also a time to venture outside and enjoy a spot of spring.

A farmer plows the field in Tongren， Guizhou Province， on April 5. As temperatures rise， farming activities are coming into full swing across China.

Air quality in Chinese cities improved in the first two months of the year， according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment （MEE）， Xinhua News Agency reported on April 5.

For 339 cities monitored by the ministry， the share of good air quality days stood at 81.9 percent in the January-February period， up 1.5 percentage points year on year， MEE data showed.

The average PM2.5 density， a key indicator of air pollution， dropped by 2.1 percent year on year to 47 micrograms per cubic meter， and the average density of PM10 shrank 15.4 percent year on year to 66 micrograms per cubic meter.

In February alone， the share of good air quality days in these 339 cities hit 91.3 percent， rising 4.5 percentage points over one year earlier.

During the same period， the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the neighboring area saw their share of good air quality days increase by 16.4 percentage points to 85.7 percent. The share of good air quality days in Beijing reached 100 percent.

Virtual tomb-sweeping has gained more acceptance among Chinese， data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed.

Qingming Festival， or TombSweeping Day， on April 5 this year， is a traditional Chinese holiday for people to pay tribute to those departed and worship their ancestors.

On April 3， the first day of the three-day holiday， 6.95 million Chinese held virtual memorial ceremonies across 2，304 online platforms， growing by 275.7 percent from a year earlier， said the ministry.

Meanwhile， 5.83 million people had traditional tombsweeping ceremonies across the country that day， 69.8 percent fewer than the previous year.

Thirteen monks were awarded the degree of Geshe Lharampa—equivalent to a doctoral degree in modern education—on April 2 in Tibet Autonomous Region.

The award ceremony took place inside the Jokhang Temple in downtown Lhasa， the regional capital. Geshe Lharampa is the highest degree in exoteric teachings of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Those monks who received the degree are all revered Buddhists from Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province.

Lozang Taktra， a 47-year-old monk from the Sera Monastery in Lhasa， received the best mark and said he planned to continue improving his religious learning and maintain his love for the country and the religion.

Outfall Screening

China will finish screening outfalls in seven major river and lake basins and water near the coastline for problems by the end of 2025， Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Qiu Qiwen said on April 2.

Treatment of outfalls in the seven basins， including the Yangtze River， Yellow River and Taihu Lake will also be largely completed by then， Qiu told a press briefing.

The announcement followed an earlier State Council guideline on tightening oversight and regulation on outfalls.

Since 2019， the country has successively launched screening and treatment of outfalls in the Yangtze River， Bohai Sea and Yellow River， and obtained a more accurate tally.

China will carry out differentiated treatment of the outfalls， removing， combining or rectifying problematic ones based on their types， said Qiu.

Consumer goods giant Unilever’s ice cream brand， Wall’s， has unveiled its new “lighthouse factory” in Taicang City， Jiangsu Province， Xinhua News Agency reported on April 2.

The intelligent factory， the world’s first “lighthouse factory”in the ice cream industry， adopts smart manufacturing technology that can help reduce carbon emissions and energy and water consumption by 83 percent and 14 percent， respectively， according to the city’s Bureau of Commerce.

In September 2021， the factory， upgraded from the former Unilever ice cream plant in Taicang， was added to the World Economic Forum’s Global Lighthouse Network， which recognizes factories showing leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Zhang Jiukui， President of the China Association of Bakery and Confectionery Industry， said the upgraded production base can be an example for improving the current ice cream production model and for upgrading the industry.

Workers make sweaters for export at a factory in Quanzhou， Fujian Province， on April 6.

The construction of a theme park featuring ancient Chinese mythology has kicked off in Wuhan， Hubei Province， Xinhua News Agency reported on April 2.

The first of its kind in the country， the park， with a total investment of 150 million yuan（$24 million）， is expected to complete construction in September and launch shows starting from October.

The park will cover a planned area of 5，600 square meters in its first construction phase and will feature a theater and an exhibition hall.

The park is themed on the ancient literary classic， Shan Hai Jing or Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Shan Hai Jing， which dates back 2，200 years， gives both a cultural and geographical account of China before the Qin Dynasty （221-206 B.C.）. It features geography， folklore， and a wealth of legends and fairy tales， and is often regarded as a primary source of Chinese mythology.

Tales including those of Nu Wa， the mother goddess in Chinese mythology， will be adapted into shows through the use of advanced digital technologies. Staff members will dress up as mythical characters and parade through the park， creating a fantasy world for the audience.

The theme park is expected to become Wuhan’s new landmark， boosting the city’s tourism growth， with about 350，000 visitors annually after it officially opens to the public.

A worker inspects a cotton picker at Xinjiang Boshiran Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Co. Ltd. in Tacheng， Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on March 31. In 2021， machines performed over 80 percent of cotton-picking in the region， with harvesting in northern Xinjiang nearly entirely mechanized， according to the regional agricultural authority.

With almost half a year to go before the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games， venues are ready for a Green， Smart， Economical and Ethical Asian Games.

Yangshan Sports Climbing Center， located in Keqiao District， Shaoxing， Zhejiang Province， was completed by late March. As the venue passed inspection on March 31， all 56 venues for the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Asian Para Games have been completed.

According to the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee， a total of 56 competition facilities will be used at Hangzhou 2022， including 12 newly built venues， and 44 renovated and temporary facilities.

In addition， 31 training venues and five Asian Games villages are also ready for service.

The 19th Asian Games will take place in Hangzhou， Zhejiang Province， from September 10 to 25， and the fourth Para Asian Games will be staged from October 9 to 15.

There will be the third Asian Games to be hosted in China， after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.

The People’s Bank of China （PBC） announced on April 2 that its digital yuan pilot program will expand to more domestic cities.

The digital fiat currency， or e-CNY， will be accessible in Tianjin and Chongqing municipalities， Guangzhou in Guangdong Province， Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian Province， and six cities in Zhejiang Province hosting the 2022 Asian Games， a PBC statement said.

The country has tested the use of the digital yuan in more than 10 locations， including Shenzhen in Guangdong， Shanghai， and Xiongan New Area in Hebei Province. Most recently， Beijing and Zhangjiakou in Hebei were included in the program following test rounds during the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

Replicable applications for the digital currency are taking shape in wholesale， retail， catering， tourism and administrative fee payment， which include both online and offline scenarios， according to the PBC.

Digital yuan transactions in China amounted to nearly 87.57 billion yuan （$13.78 billion） by late 2021.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission （CSRC） released new rules on overseas listings of domestic companies on April 2 to better protect confidential information and improve cross-border regulatory cooperation.

The document， revised from a 2009 version and now seeking public opinion， offers clearer guidance for businesses， including issuers and brokers， to carry out work related to confidentiality and archive management， according to a statement from the commission.

A CSRC spokesperson said the new rules will facilitate efficient listings， guide businesses to manage confidential and sensitive information， safeguard national information security， and improve regulatory cooperation between domestic and overseas authorities.

The interests of global investors will be guaranteed， the spokesperson concluded.

In the first two months of the year， Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. （CATL） provided 18.4 GWh of total electric vehicle （EV） battery installation worldwide， maintaining its global leadership， market research firm SNE Research said. CATL had represented a 34.4-percent market share.

BYD， a leading new-energy vehicle manufacturer and also an EV battery maker， beat out Japan’s Panasonic for third place with a market share of 11.9 percent during the period， the data showed.

The total amount of battery energy for EVs reached 53.5 GWh globally in the months， more than double the figure from the same period last year.

China’s non-bank financing is expected to recover gradually from the second half of this year， as a regulatory crackdown since 2017 has reduced irregular activities and contagion risks to the financial system， according to a report from Fitch Ratings.

Shadow-banking assets had been cut by 40 percent from 2017 under tightened regulation and they are expected to continue declining in the first half of 2022， the report said.

It added the move has contributed to the healthy development of non-bank credit intermediation.

Electronic payments handled by Chinese banks and nonbank payment institutions both registered rapid growth in 2021， a report from the People’s Bank of China showed.

Electronic payments processed by banks stood at 2，976.22 trillion yuan （$468.63 trillion）， up 9.75 percent year on year.

In breakdown， online payments rose 8.25 percent year on year to 2，353.96 trillion yuan（$369.3 trillion）， while mobile payments hit 526.98 trillion yuan（$82.7 trillion）， surging 21.94 percent over one year earlier.

Online payments handled by non-bank payment institutions jumped 20.67 percent year on year to 355.46 trillion yuan（$55.8 trillion）.

The rail cargo volume， a key indicator of economic activities， rose 2.8 percent year on year in the first quarter of the year， data from the China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. showed.

A total of 948 million tons of cargo was transported， 25.87 million tons more than in the same period last year， according to the company.

Of all， seeds and agricultural materials accounted for 43.79 million tons， up 8.8 percent year on year. Coal used for power generation totaled 350 million tons， up 6.5 percent year on year and ensuring coal storage in 363 power plants for 21.7 days.

Rail cargo transport through the New International LandSea Trade Corridor between Singapore and provincial-level regions of west China soared 56.5 percent to 170，000 twentyfoot equivalent unit containers， and the China-Laos Railway carried 260，000 tons of goods for import and export.

China will focus on developing new technologies to render a more efficient， cost-effective and reliable supply of renewables such as wind， solar， biomass and geothermal energy， according to a five-year plan for 2021-25， jointly released by the National Energy Administration （NEA） and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Breakthroughs are expected in the generation and usage of hydrogen energy， it said， stressing that a new power grid system will be established to accommodate renewable sources， and power storage will be enhanced.

The plan also underlined the importance of innovation to make nuclear and fossil energy more efficient.

The country will pilot regional smart energy systems and apply digital and smart technologies to traditional energy sectors including coal mining and gasoline production， it added.

China will tend to the needs of foreign firms in the auto industry and help tackle their difficulties in a timely manner， according to Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen.

Wang made the remarks at a March 31 symposium attended by representatives from 17 foreign-invested auto and auto parts manufacturers.

Noting that the auto industry is a critical arena where China actualizes foreign investment， he said the country has been broadening its market access and improving the business environment for overseas investors in recent years.

He called on foreign firms to grasp the opportunities presented by China’s transition toward innovation-driven green growth， and expand their footprints along the industrial chain.

Representatives of the attending companies said they consider China one of their most important overseas markets， and will increase investment in areas including new-energy vehicle batteries， hydrogen energy， and research and development.

NUMBERS

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