THIS WEEK

THE SUMMIT OF SUCCESS

Members of a Chinese scientific expedition on their way to the top of Mount Qomolangma in Tibet Autonomous Region, on May 4.

The team managed to reach the summit that same day and established an autonomous meteorological monitoring station at an altitude of over 8,800 meters. The new station is the world’s highest of its kind.

Grand Canal Refilled

Water pours into the Grand Canal in Dezhou City, Shandong Province, on April 28. This long waterway connecting the northern and southern parts of China had all of its dried-out sections refilled after a water-supply project kicked off on April 14.

Better Life for Migrants

migrant workers reached 292.51 million in 2021, an increase of 6.91 million over the previous year.China’s migrant workers from rural areas enjoyed higher incomes and better living conditions in 2021, Xinhua News Agency reported on May 4.In 2021, migrant workers in the country earned an average of 4,432 yuan ($669.7) per month,increasing by 8.8 percent year on year, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Migrant workers in the manufacturing industry saw their monthly income surge 10.1 percent last year, the NBS said.The living area per capita of China’s migrant workers climbed 0.2 square meter to 21.7 square meters in 2021, said the NBS, adding that 95.6 percent of migrant workers have access to the Internet.The NBS data also showed that the population of China’s

New Research

Chinese scientists have developed a new method to convert carbon dioxide and water into glucose and fatty acids.

The technique comes after another group in China successfully synthesized starch from carbon dioxide in 2021, and it has provided fresh potential for artificial or semi-artificial food production.

The researchers from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China,the University of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese Academy of Sciences described a hybrid electrobiosystem in a study published in the journalon April 28.

The system couples spatially separate carbon dioxide electrolysis with yeast fermentation, which efficiently converts carbon dioxide into glucose with a high yield.

It employs a nanostructured copper catalyst that can stably catalyze pure acetic acid from carbon dioxide, and then use genetically engineered yeast to produce glucose in vitro from electro-generated acetic acid.

The method is also shown to be capable of producing other products like fatty acids using carbon dioxide, according to the study.

“This process can be understood as converting carbon dioxide into vinegar and feeding it to yeast to produce glucose and fatty acids,” said Zeng Jie, the paper’s co-corresponding author from the University of Science and Technology of China.

The upcycling of carbon dioxide into value-added products represents the tantalizing possibility of a renewable-electricitydriven manufacturing industry and a substantially untapped opportunity to tackle environmental issues and achieve a circular economy, the researchers said.“With an electrolyte reactor and different microorganisms,we can produce starch, pigment or medicines in the future,”said Xia Chuan, the paper’s cocorresponding author from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

Joint Patrol

Three Chinese law enforcement vessels returned to a port in Yunnan Province on April 29, concluding the 116th joint Mekong River patrol by China,Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

Five vessels from the four countries, with 105 law enforcement officers on board, sailed over 700 km for four days and three nights to ensure safety and stability along the river basin, according to the Yunnan provincial public security department.

The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping.

China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have been conducting joint patrols on the river dating back to December 2011.

Plastic Ban

Beijing will ban the use of nondegradable plastic packaging by express delivery outlets by year-end, amid China’s efforts to control plastic pollution, local authorities said on April 28.

To reduce the use of nondegradable plastic products from the source, the delivery outlets in the national capital will be also prohibited from using single-use plastic woven bags, according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform.

By the end of 2022, digital waybills, packaging tape narrower than 45 mm, and recyclable bags will basically cover the whole courier sector in the city.

In addition to the courier sector, Beijing has launched measures to restrict or even ban the use of non-degradable plastic products in other key industries involving catering, food delivery,wholesale and retail.

According to rough statistics from 2021, the offline stores of the city’s major supermarkets including Jingkelong, CSF Market,Walmart and Carrefour saw the sales of plastic shopping bags fall by 37 percent, or 23 million,from the previous year.

Beijing has made headway in the treatment of plastic pollution,but it still faces multiple challenges and needs to make further efforts, said a spokesperson of the commission.

In 2020, China released a plan to ban or significantly reduce the production and use of environmentally unfriendly plastic products in the next five years to contain pollution.

By 2025, the country expects to effectively control plastic pollution, substantially reduce the amount of plastic waste in landfills of major cities, establish a complete plastics management system and make progress in the development of alternative products, according to the plan.

Emergency Language Service

A language service team was established in Beijing on April 28,offering aid on dialects, foreign languages, and sign language in urgent situations.

The National Language Service Corps of China was jointly launched by 29 partners,including the Beijing Language and Culture University.

The need for such a service was raised in 2020 when medical workers from other parts of China were sent to Hubei Province and had problems understanding local dialects.

A digital reference for standard Chinese-Hubei dialect translation was widely welcomed at that time.

More such references and information technology products will be the focus of next-stage work, said China’s Vice Minister of Education, Tian Xuejun.

Archaeology Museum

An archaeology museum opened to the public in Xi’an,capital of Shaanxi Province on April 28.

The Shaanxi Archaeology Museum, which features the history of archaeology and protection technologies, has an indoor exhibition area of 5,800 square meters and an outdoor exhibition area of 10,000 square meters.

A total of 5,215 relics are on display. Most of them are exhibited to the public for the first time, including a tombstone excavated with an epitaph written by Yan Zhenqing, one of the most renowned calligraphers in Chinese history.Items that have been repaired by archaeologists using advanced technologies are also showcased, including a bronze chariot from the Western Zhou Dynasty (about 1046-771 B.C.).The excavation site of the chariot is also presented.

Home to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors, Xi’an is renowned for its rich cultural heritage resources. “By showing the real scene at the excavation site, the museum aims to offer the public a closer look at archaeological research,” said Sun Zhouyong, curator of the museum.

Lots of Fun

One-month-old Siberian tiger quadruplets play at Yunnan Wild Animal Park in Kunming, Yunnan Province, on May 3.

Vaccine Trial

A clinical trial volunteer receives a dose of China’s inactivated vaccine against Omicron variants in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province,on May 1. This inactivated vaccine was approved for clinical trials on April 26. The clinical trials are expected to conclude in three to four months.

Software Sector

The software and information technology sector sustained stable growth in the first quarter of the year, with its revenue from software-related business rising 11.6 percent year on year to over 2 trillion yuan ($302 billion), according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Companies in the sector raked in 203.1 billion yuan ($30.7 billion)in combined profits during the period, down 3.9 percent year on year, shrinking from the 7.6-percent decline registered in the first two months.

In the first three months,China’s software exports came in at $11.6 billion, up 4.3 percent year on year, the data showed.

Power Consumption

China’s power consumption is expected to rise between 5 percent and 6 percent in 2022,according to a report from the China Electricity Council.

Due to sporadic resurgences of domestic COVID-19 cases, the growth rate in April will likely be lower than it was in March.

However, as the current outbreaks are gradually brought under control, power usage is likely to pick up in May and June.

It is estimated that the country’s electricity consumption will improve 3.5-4.5 percent year on year in the first half of 2022.

If the impact of COVID-19 on the economy lessens, with the implementation of pro-growth measures and a low comparison base, electricity consumption is expected to grow faster in the second half of the year than in the first half, according to the report.

Tibet’s GDP

Tibet Autonomous Region’s GDP stood at 51.7 billion yuan ($7.8 billion) from January to March(Q1), a growth of 6.4 percent year on year, the regional government announced on May 1.

The added value of designated large enterprises in the region increased 17.6 percent year on year, 11.1 percentage points higher than the national average and ranking first nationwide.

Cai Min, deputy head of the regional statistics bureau, said that due to rising international ore prices, the added value of the local mining industry in Q1 rose 24.2 percent from the same period of 2021.

At the end of March, there were 414,900 registered market entities in Tibet, a year-on-year increase of 11.2 percent.

Forex Market

China’s foreign exchange (forex)market saw a turnover of 22.2 trillion yuan ($3.5 trillion) in March,up from 16.02 trillion yuan ($2.4 trillion) in February, official data showed on April 29.

Specifically, the turnover of forex transactions between banks and their clients totaled 3.83 trillion yuan ($579.5 billion),while that of interbank forex transactions stood at 18.37 trillion yuan ($2.78 trillion), according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

In Q1, the country’s forex market turnover totaled 57.67 trillion yuan ($8.7 trillion), the data showed.

Record Setter

A newly developed rapeseed variety, Zhongyouza 501, has achieved a yield of 419.95 kg per(0.07 hectares) in Xiangyang, Hubei Province. It is a record high in China.

With an oil content exceeding 50 percent, the strain produces 211.57 kg of rapeseed oil per.

Rapeseed is a major oil crop in China.

At present, the average peryield of rapeseed in China is 138.5 kg with an average oil-bearing rate of 43 percent, according to Professor Li Jiana at the College of Agronomy and Biotechnology at Southwest University.

In addition to its high yield,Zhongyouza 501 is also disease resistant and suitable for dense planting and mechanized harvesting.The new strain was developed by a team led by Wang Hanzhong,an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

China-EU Trade

Bilateral trade between China and the EU jumped 12.2 percent year on year to $205.87 billion in the first quarter of the year, Gao Feng, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, said on April 28.

Trade in mechanical and electrical products, light industrial goods and hi-tech products climbed 10 percent, 19 percent and 31 percent, respectively.

China and the EU share broad common interests and a profound foundation for cooperation. The two economies are highly complementary, Gao said, adding that deepening bilateral cooperation is beneficial to both sides and the recovery of the world economy.

China is ready to work with the EU to maintain the stability of the industrial and supply chains and foster new growth drivers in COVID-19 prevention, digitization, science and technology to inject impetus into bilateral economic and trade cooperation,Gao concluded.

Consumer Confidence

Approximately 60 percent of Chinese respondents believed their personal finances would improve in the coming year, higher than the global average of 48 percent,according to the latest Future Consumer Index report published by global consulting firm Ernst& Young (EY). The report tracks changing consumer sentiment and behaviors across global markets with 18,000 consumers surveyed worldwide.

Meanwhile, 43 percent of Chinese consumers said their current financial situation has improved due to appropriate reductions in consumption, which is 9 percentage points higher than the global average.

As climate change and sustainable development continue to attract global attention, more consumers said they are aware of the impact of their consumption behavior on the environment and include it as one of the main factors in their consumption considerations, the report said.

The data showed that 32 percent of Chinese respondents said they will prioritize sustainability and the environment in buying products, higher than the global average of 26 percent.

“Chinese consumers have shown a higher awareness of sustainable development, beginning to rethink their consumption behaviors and pursuing sustainability,” said Denis Cheng, EY Greater China Consumer Sector Leader.

Expanding Production

Merck, a Germany-based pharmaceutical company, will invest nearly 100 million euros ($110 million) over six years in Wuxi,Jiangsu Province, it announced on April 28.

The project will increase biopharma single-use assemblies and custom design capabilities of Merck’s existing production site, according to an agreement between the company and Wuxi’s hi-tech zone.

It is expected to create approximately 1,000 new positions and begin operations by 2024,the company said.

“Over the next five years,we expect strong growth in the bioprocessing market, with Asia growing in the mid-teens and China above 20 percent per annum on average,” said Marc Jaffre, Managing Director of Merck’s life science business sector in China. “This strategic investment will support biotech innovation in China.”

CUBA A May Day parade at the Revolution Square in Havana on May 1

ZIMBABWE An exhibitor in conversation with a visitor at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair in Bulawayo on April 29

HUNGARY Prime Minister Viktor Orban (second left,front) attends the frist session of the newly elected parliament in Budapest on May 2

NEW ZEALAND People arrive at Auckland International Airport on May 2. New Zealand has reopened to visitors from 60 visa waiver countries for the first time since the country closed its international borders in March 2020 as part of the government’s COVID-19 response

AUSTRALIA People are seen in front of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)in Sydney on May 3. After the benchmark interest rate dropped to a historic low during the pandemic,the RBA raised the rate by 25 basis points to 0.35 percent that day to curb soaring infaltion

UNITED STATES Protesters gather outside the U.S.Supreme Court in Washington,D.C. on May 3 following the leak of a draft opinion on abortion rights. The document would effectively eliminate abortion protections at the federal level and hand authority over abortion access to the states

NEW HEAD OF CASS

Shi Taifeng is the new president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(CASS).

Shi was born in September 1956 in Yushe, Shanxi Province. In 1978, Shi embarked on his studies at the Law School of Peking University and obtained a master’s degree in jurisprudence. In 1985, he started working at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In 2010, he left the school to work first as a Party official in Jiangsu Province,and in 2016, became the governor of that province. He then held posts in Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions. As secretary of the Inner Mongolia Regional CPC Committee from October 2019 to April this year, he pushed forward local anti-corruption measures in coal-related fields, bringing down scores of corrupt senior officials.

Established in May 1977, the CASS is the country’s premier academic organization and comprehensive research center in the fields of philosophy and social sciences.

When recruiting new staff, some Chinese companies blatantly tell their applicants to “forget about the concept of a basic salary and a two-day weekend,” or “young people should devote their lives to work.”

The younger applicant is not against putting in the extra hours, but their sense of indignation stems from the fact corporate culture tries to justify, even glorify, its excessive and unpaid ways.

Objectively, if the basic salary does not fall below local minimum wage standards, it’s not in violation of the law.However, to publicly demand job applicants forget about “the concept of a basic salary” is by no means in line with the labor law. Fortunately, more and more young job hunters today are just saying“no” to this rather outdated corporate thinking.

“Economic and trade ties, especially those in agriculture, are the ballast of China-U.S. relations.”

Qin Gang, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., in an article published by, an Iowa newspaper

“The outcome of half a century of bilateral relations between China and the Caribbean has been very positive in the economic and trade fields.”

Eduardo Regalado, a senior researcher with the International Policy Research Center of Cuba, in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency

The island province of Hainan has been making headway in its ecological protection efforts in a bid to forge a template of harmony between mankind and nature.

The 2021 data show that the water quality in all of the island’s crucial water sources has reached the highest standards, while polluting factors in its offshore waters have been wiped out. Based on this overall success, new measures will now start targeting specific water bodies across the island.

The island has issued effective local regulations on the use of plastics.Disposable plastic products are being gradually replaced by greener alternatives. Projects to reclaim land from the sea, or enclosing the sea, have been canceled. Tropical forests are Hainan’s most important ecological defense barrier. About one seventh of the island’s land area is part of the national park reserve, keeping many endangered species and a vast biodiversity well-preserved.

China proposed establishing a free trade zone in Hainan in 2018 and began construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port two years later. Over recent years, a large number of foreign companies have settled there.The free trade port is set to introduce island-wide customs clearance operations by 2025.

Nanjing University recently announced it will no longer be using foreign academic indexes like the QS World University Rankings, an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds, or the Science Citation Index(SCI).

In February 2020, China’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science and Technology already issued an official paper discouraging the use of the SCI as a framework for the assessment of research performance.

While these foreign indexes had inspired and pushed Chinese universities forward for years, they also brought about negative influences because these rankings were directly linked to the amount of state funding schools could receive as well as their attractiveness to prospective students.

The question now beckons: How can China’s universities establish a general education standard and assessment system? This will require a detailed and long-term outline, one that steers away from the conventional system overemphasizing a school’s number of published academic papers and is based on the national conditions.

TEAM CHINA MAKES A COMEBACK

Ye Jinguang, or Brandon Yip, captain of the Chinese team, stormed through the 2022 Ice Hockey Men’s World Championship Division II Group A in style. Team China secured the gold after just three games courtesy of a 5:1 win against host and bronze winner Croatia on April 29. The championship title also secured a spot for Team China in Division I after a 15-year absence.

Ye was born to a Chinese-Canadian family in Vancouver,Canada, in 1985. With National Hockey League experience in Canada, he currently plays for HC Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League. During the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, Ye served as captain of the Chinese team.

“Though the team still has a long way to go, we hope we can plant the seed of ice hockey in the hearts of more Chinese children,” Ye said.

“The labor market is extremely tight, and inflation is much too high.”

Jerome Powell, Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve(Fed), at a press conference on May 4. The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by a half percentage point that day, marking the sharpest rate hike since 2000

“Any potential solution should not lead to an additional financial burden for member states,especially developing countries.”

Dai Bing, China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, at the resumed session of the Fifth Committee of the 76th Session of the UN General Assembly on May 3