Wonderful and White

A tourist enjoys the scenery in Jilin of northeast Chinas Jilin Province on January 22.

National Park

China plans to build a national park in the Sanjiangyuan region， the cradle of the Yangtze， Yellow and Lancang rivers in northwest Chinas Qinghai Province.

A guideline for the park has been completed by a design institute under the State Forestry Administration. The park will cover more than 30，000 square km， including the rivers sources in Madoi， Zhidoi and Zadoi counties. If the plan is given the green light， construction can begin as early as the end of this year.

At an average altitude of 4，000 meters on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， the Sanjiangyuan region is a paradise for herders and wildlife， such as the Tibetan antelope.

“Sanjiangyuan boasts an ecosystem comprising of glaciers， meadows and wetlands. Its not common in China， even Asia， and has scientific value，” said Wang Enguang， chief engineer with Qinghais forestry department.

China established the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve in 2000. Five years later， a 7.5-billion-yuan （$1.2-billion） ecological conservation project was launched in the region. In last January， a second-phase conservation project for Sanjiangyuan started with an investment of 16 billion yuan （$2.54 billion）.

Thanks to the efforts， the forest coverage rate in Sanjiangyuan increased from 3.2 percent in 2004 to 4.8 percent in 2012， and is expected to reach 5.5 percent by 2020.

Careers in Social Work

The Ministry of Civil Affairs （MCA） on January 26 named 42 prominent social workers to encourage more people to take up the profession.

The professionals work with mental health patients， individuals， families， groups and communities， said MCA social work division head Wang Jinhua.

There are 159，000 registered social workers and assistant social workers in China， and more than 400，000 people are engaged in social work.

In 2014， 2.35 billion yuan （$382.8 million） was invested in social work， up 40.7 percent year on year.

There are more than 30，000 registered social organizations in China as of 2014， said MCA spokesperson Chen Rifa， adding that of that number about 5，000 committed violations in 2014.

Overseas Talent

China has expanded its program to attract overseas talent by adding 55 introduction plans to the latest braingain list.

Overseas personnel introduced by the plans will enjoy preferential policies in visa applications， residence permits， settling in China as well as exit/entry convenience equal with members of the influential Thousand Talent program initiated in December 2008， the Peoples Daily reported on January 25.

More overseas personnel have come to China thanks to the talent introduction programs. Since 2008， the Thousand Talent program has introduced more than 4，100 overseas staff， with local governments attracting more than 30，000， according to official figures.

By the end of 2013， more than 1.44 million overseas Chinese students had returned to China， with returnees in 2013 five times the number in 2008.

The newspaper cited biologist Shi Yigong with Tsinghua University and physicist Pan Jianwei with the University of Science and Technology of China， both among the first group of Thousand Talent program scientists to come back to China， the backbone of the countrys innovation.

New rules on foreigners permanent residence in China are in the pipeline and expected to take effect before the yearend， which will further highlight preferential policies.

Pay Rise

Over 40 million civil servants and employees of government-sponsored institutions will be given， on average， a monthly salary increase of about 300 yuan （$48）， a senior official said on January 23.

“The increase is not big，” said Li Zhong， spokesman of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security， at a press conference， who added previous media reports of a 60-percent pay raise were not accurate.

The adjustment coincides with efforts to unify the pension system for private-sector employees， civil servants and employees of governmentsponsored institutions， according to the spokesman.

Pension reform aims to replace the current system， which sees nonpublic employees paying into their own pensions while civil servants and staff of government-sponsored institutions enjoyed pensions without contributing anything.

The adjustment plan， which will see the first basic salary increase since 2006， also aims to optimize the salary structure by merging some additional allowances or merit payments into the basic salary， Li said.

The basic salary had constantly accounted for a decreasing proportion of civil servants incomes since 2006， which Li said was unreasonable.

Twenty Twenty

A child gets an eye test at a juvenile visual protection base in Chengdu， Sichuan Province， on January 28.

It is the first nonprofit juvenile visual protection base in the city and it aims to help young people better protect their eyesight.

Figures from the National Health and Family Planning Commission show that more than 25 percent of primary students and more than 50 percent of middle school students are near-sighted in China.

Media Awards

President of Xinhua News Agency Cai Mingzhao （left） presents award of news teams in developing countries to Al Jazeera English at the awarding ceremony for the World Media Summit （WMS） Global Awards for Excellence in Beijing， on January 27.

The WMS Global Awards for Excellence was the first comprehensive global news awards covering multiple media formats—spanning traditional print， photography， video and integrated media.

The awards are designed to be authoritative， credible and globally influential. They are open to news organizations， professionals， teams and organizations from around the world.

Sky Burial Legislation

Tibet Autonomous Region will make a law to better protect sky burials， a traditional ritual that has drawn controversy after guides began leading tour groups to view the ceremony.

Sky burial is a Tibetan and Mongolian tradition in which bodies are fed to vultures and other predatory birds. It is regarded an act of generosity and a ritual that allows the soul to ascend to heaven.

The Tibet Regional Peoples Congress， the local legislature that concluded its annual session on February 23， passed a bill to better regulate sky burials， covering issues like management of the site， environmental protection and qualifications of ritual hosts.

Online Population

Chinas netizen population， the worlds largest， reached 648 million at the end of 2014， 16 million more than in June， according to an industry expert.

Jin Jian， Deputy Director of the China Internet Network Information Center （CNNIC）， said that online economy accounts for 7 percent of the nations GDP， up from 3.3 percent in the previous year.

Chinese consumers are eager to spend online. Internet retail sales totaled 331 billion yuan （$52.54 billion） in the first 10 months in 2014， up a stunning 55.6 percent over 2013.

WeChat Advertisement

WeChat， now Chinas most-used instant messaging smartphone app with about 468 million monthly active users， has kicked off an advertising program on its content-sharing platform.

Advertisements for Coca-Cola Co.， BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd. and smartphone maker Vivo Communication Technology Co. Ltd. were shown on the night of January 25 in the Moments timeline of WeChat， which is run by Tencent Holdings Ltd.

The advertisements look like Facebooks News Feed， and users are given the right to opt out of the advertisements if they are not interested.

Tencent said that “a rather intelligent technology” is used to push the ads to their targeted audiences or， in other words， different WeChat users will receive different advertisements.

The advertising program marked a major step in WeChats commercialization. The app， which was launched in January 2011， has established itself as a super gateway connecting its huge user pool with other third-party services， such as online shopping and taxi hailing. However， the advertising program marks the most straightforward method to date of earning revenue.

Cheaper Gas

A car fills up at a gas station in Shanghai， on January 26， when the National Development and Reform Commission， Chinas top economic planner， announced the 13th consecutive cut on retail prices of gasoline and diesel since July 2014.

Chinas domestic fuel prices are reduced when international crude prices change by more than 50 yuan （$8） per ton within a 10-working-day period.

Beijing-Moscow Rail

The first high-speed rail link between Beijing and Moscow will run for more than 7，000 km and span three countries—China， Kazakhstan and Russia， according to the Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government. The office made the revelation in a post on Sina Weibo， a Twitter-like microblog- ging service， on January 21.

The Beijing-Moscow high-speed rail project was proposed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during his visit to Russia last October. Li said that China was ready to advance the establishment of a Eurasian high-speed transport corridor linking Beijing and Moscow.

Local newspaper Beijing Times reported that about 1.5 trillion yuan （$242 billion） was expected to be invested in building the new line that would cut train travel time from Beijing to Moscow to two days. Currently， a one-way trip takes six days.

The China-Russia high-speed corridor will be a key project in the Silk Road Economic Belt China has proposed. The proposed trade route covers China and Central Asian Countries， aiming to deepen the connection between China and those countries.

Bad Loans

The non-performing loan ratio of Chinas commercial banks rose to 1.29 percent in the fourth quarter of 2014， official data showed on January 23.

The ratio was up from 1.16 percent at the end of September 2014， the China Banking Regulatory Commission （CBRC） said. Commercial banks bad debt ratio stood at a fiveyear high of 1.3 percent in the second quarter of 2010.

Despite the rise in the bad debt ratio， Wang Zhaoxing， Vice Chairman of the CBRC， said that the risk in Chinas banking sector is “under control” with the banks capital adequacy ratio and provision coverage ratio both at healthy levels.

At the end of November 2014， Chinese commercial banks capital adequacy ratio， which reflects a lenders capacity to cushion potential losses with its capital， stood at 12.93 percent， up 0.75 percentage point from one year earlier.

Aussie Acquisition

Australian private equity group Blackstone has sold a piece of real estate overlooking the landmark Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House for AU$415 million （$327 million） to Chinese property giant Dalian Wanda Group. The transaction is expected to close in March.

Wanda bought Gold Fields House in Sydneys business district from Blackstones portfolio company， Valad.

Gold Fields House had been owned by Blackstone since 2011 when it bought up the interests of Australian property group Valad， its first major Australian acquisition. The property was built in the 1960s and has been used as offices.

GDP Farewell

Shanghai， Chinas largest business hub， has abandoned GDP growth targets to emphasize the quality and efficiency of the economy， Mayor Yang Xiong said on January 25.

Shanghai will continue to optimize its economic structure and focus on innovation， Yang revealed in a government work report at the annual meeting of the municipal legislature.

The report shows Shanghais ambition to become an international center for technological innovation. It said that research and development expenditures will account for above 3.6 percent of the citys GDP in 2015. Aircraft engines， scientific research of the human brain and artificial intelligence will be the main focus.

From Red to Black

Bullet trains prepare to depart the Beijing South Railway Station， the starting point of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway in the north， on January 26.

In 2014， the total ridership on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line exceeded 100 million.

A surge in passenger traffic turned the high-speed rail route profitable for the first time in 2014， its third year of operation.

Hello Moto

Motorola announced its return to Chinas mobile phone market on January 26， two years after abandon- ing the worlds largest smartphone market.

Motorola Mobility， the American mobile device subsidiary of Chinese IT company Lenovo， unveiled three smartphones in Beijing that day to appeal to a market that sees intense competition between Apple， Samsung and homegrown brands Xiaomi and Huawei.

Motorola Mobility， headquartered in Chicago， quit selling phones in China as well as some other markets in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe in 2013， after it was bought by Google Inc.

Lenovo acquired the company from Google for $2.9 billion early last year and has since prepared to relaunch the brand in more emerging markets.

Company officials said that coming back to China and other emerging markets will help Motorola Mobility become profitable.

Landmark U.S. Deal

China CNR Corp. Ltd.， a leading manufacturer of locomotives in China， announced a subway export contract with the United States on January 26. It is the countrys first foray into the U.S. rail transit market.

China CNR will sell 284 subway trains worth $670 million to the transportation regulator in Massachusetts to equip Bostons Red and Orange subway lines， according to the announcement.

The subway trains are designed to run 102 km per hour and up to 129，000 km a year on regular maintenance for at least 30 years.

The Chinese company also plans to tap markets in New York， Washington and other U.S. cities. It will set up a R&D base in the United States to promote localized production by recruiting and training locals.

The United States contract means that ， throughout the value chain， Chinas rail companies now cover the worlds six continents.

China has been accelerating attempts for overseas investment in its rail technology， with cooperative talks with 28 countries underway.