Big Deal

May 21， Shanghai： Chinese President Xi Jinping （2nd right） and Russian President Vladimir Putin （2nd left） attend the signing of the China and Russia Purchase and Sales Contract on East Route Gas Project and a memorandum. The 30-year contract means that beginning in 2018 the Russian east route pipeline will supply China with 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually. “This is the biggest deal ever in the history of our gas industry，” declared Alexei Miller， Gazprom’s CEO. According to PetroChina， natural gas imported from Russia will satisfy China’s increasing domestic de- mand and help optimize its energy resource utilization structure with target markets in the northeast， the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster， and the Yangtze River Delta.

Pang Xinglei/Xinhua

China-Russia Joint Sea Drills

May 18， Shanghai： Anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Panteleyev from Russia enters a naval port for the China-Russia Joint Sea-2014 naval drills on the East China Sea between May 20 and 26. Warships from both navies fired a gun salute as China staged a welcome ceremony for visiting Russian naval vessels. A total of 14 surface ships， two submarines， nine fixed-wing warplanes， six shipboard helicopters and two special forces detachments rallied in Shanghai.

by Chen Jian

Her Majesty’s Passion for China

April 28， Shanghai： Danish Queen Margrethe II and her husband， Prince Consort Henrik， pose for pictures near the Bund. At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping， the Queen visited China from April 24 to 28， along with four ministers and five vice ministers from sectors of trade， recreation， development， culture， and education. Also making the trip were senior representatives from 110 Danish companies， making it the largest Danish delegation ever to visit China in the history of the country’s diplomacy. The Queen’s first visit to China dates back to September 1979– the first Western state-head to visit after the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China， and the first visiting Western monarch since the founding of New China in 1949. Aly Song/REUTERS

JD.com Hits NASDAQ

May 22， New York： Richard Liu， CEO and founder of Chinese e-commerce company JD.com， waves after ringing the NASDAQ opening bell in Times Square， New York City. China’s second-biggest e-commerce company， JD.com Inc. was valued at US$28.6 billion at closing， resulting in a 10 percent rise on the day of its listing， ranking it third among China’s listed internet companies， following Tencent and Baidu. Alibaba， another Chinese cyber giant， has applied for listing in the United States and hopes to enter the American capital market this fall， with an estimated market value of over US$200 billion – potentially the largest IPO ever on the planet.

Tesla Ignition

April 23： Elon Musk， CEO of Tesla Motors and an early investor in SpaceX and PayPal， hands over keys to the Model S to the first group of customers in Shanghai. Tesla Motors is globally known for premium electric vehicles. Musk has recognized China’s great demand and intends to establish factories for the production of the Tesla Model S in China， with hopes for as much success in the country as he has made in the United States.

Banquet for Pandas

April 23： Hau Lung-bin （3rd left）， mayor of Taipei， hosts a panda-themed banquet after the“animals” gained considerable popularity in the city， celebrating their contributions to boosting local tourism. Afterwards， paper pandas would tour across Taiwan. To count， 1，600 “paper pandas”and 200 “Formosan black bears”were presented during the Panda World Tour in Taipei， which has drawn over 3 million visitors since its launch in March. Along with tourism promotion， the campaign aims to arouse public concern for the protection of endangered animals. IC

Bodhisattva Facelift

May 7， Chongqing： A worker repairs a Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva statue carved in the late Southern Song Dynasty （1127-1279） into an 88-square-meter cliff on Baoding Mountain in Dazu. Its 1，007 arms spread like peacock feathers. Over the last 800 years， the statue has been damaged by wind and rain. The restoration， started in 2008 and scheduled to finish by early 2015， is the country’s most ambitious project for stone relics protection. IC

Female Honor Guards

May 15： Journalists and Chinese government officials take pictures of a female soldier as she begins practicing as an honor guard before a welcome ceremony for Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva， outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Three days before， 13 female honor guards， the first in China， representing the Chinese People’s Liberation Army on land， air， and sea， posed formally for the public. The team includes 30 women with an average height of 1.72 meters from 11 municipalities， provinces and autonomous regions， 90 percent of whom have received higher education. Kim Kyung-Hoon/ REUTERS

Quotes

“I’m here whether you’re coming or not.”

– Qin Gang， Chinese foreign ministry spokesman， in response to a question concerning China’s exclusion from Obama’s Asia-Pacific trip， which was considered by some a sign of tension with China.

“I believe that 100 Chinese cities， or maybe more， will ascend amongst the world’s top 600 cities in 20 years if the country’s GDP continues increasing at today’s speed. Young people can work in these cities rather than hunting for jobs in the top municipalities such as Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou， and Shenzhen.

– Prof. Chen Yuyu from Guanghua School of Management， Peking University， on solutions for employment issues.

“With one inspection tour occurring every several years， officials in question can easily appear integrated and diligent only when the inspectors arrive. This method of supervision is not effective.”

– Prof. Xie Chuntao from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee pinpointing the flaw of the traditional inspection system， in support of new policy from the CPC Central Committee on specific institutions.

“If China doesn’t delay the retirement age， by 2050， the young generation will be spending 41 percent of their payroll supporting the elderly.”

– Prof. Zhao Yaohui from the National School of Development at Peking University， in support of postponing retirement age.