White New Year

Tourists enjoy snow view in Binhe Park of Daxing District in Beijing on February 20. Beijing welcomed its first snowfall of the Chinese Lunar New Year on February 19.

Settling Down

China plans to abolish its controversial temporary residence permit and push forward reform of the household registration system， according to a public security reform plan released on February 15.

Permanent residence permits will be adopted to replace the temporary residence permit， according to the plan approved by central authorities.

Temporary residence permits have long been held by hundreds of millions of Chinese migrant workers， who have to apply for the permit before formally living and working in a new city.

Observers said the permit has led to instability and unsettlement and the temporary residence registry system is no longer suitable for todays situation.

Many cities in China have already ended the temporary permit system， but Beijing continues to use it.

According to the reform plan， the level of public services enjoyed by residents will depend on the duration of their residence.

Public security departments should facilitate permanent residence registration and ID card applications when applicants are not in the cities where they applied for permanent residence， the plan said.

Improving Xinjiang

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China will invest more in social welfare projects in 2015 to improve the lives of the people there， authorities said on February 25.

The government will allocate more than 72 billion yuan （$12 billion） this year to help steer 100 projects in areas such as housing， employment， agriculture and environment improvement， according to Huang Wei， Vice Chairman of Xinjiang， on February 25.

Huang said priority would be given to the regions 9，611 villages. Each village will be allocated 500，000 yuan（$80，000） to finance local transportation， utilities， environmental protection and agriculture.

He added that the government would continue to build new houses， create job opportunities and bolster the economy at the village level.

Meanwhile， 12 rural projects will be initiated this year， including the establishment of homes for the disabled and the elderly， as well as educational campaigns.

Satellite Navigation

Precision service infrastructure for Chinas Beidou satellite navigation system will be built on the QinghaiTibet Plateau as part of efforts to create a nationwide base station network for high-precision navigation and positioning by 2018.

The infrastructure will be built in Qinghais Xining， the provincial capital， and Haidong， said an official with the First Institute of Surveying and Mapping of Qinghai on February 23.

The infrastructure is critical to practical navigation and includes base station networks， data processing， broadcasting systems and user terminals， which together will help provide more precision services.

Beidou is the Chinese equivalent of the U.S. NAVSTAR Global Positioning System—more commonly known as GPS—and Russias Global Navigation Satellite System. Currently， Beidou consists of 20 satellites.

The system began to provide precision positioning， real-time navigation， location reporting， precise time reading and short message services for users in China and the Asia-Pacific in December 2012. The government aims to make it a global system by 2020.

Patent Applied For

China had more patent applications than any other country in 2014 for the fourth year running， official data showed on February 23.

The number of invention patent applications filed to the State Intellectual Property Office （SIPO） in 2014 stood at 928，000， up 12.5 percent from 2013， the SIPO.

The office authorized a total of 233，000 patents in the year， 163，000 of which were from Chinese applicants.

By the end of 2014， China had 663，000 patents， and the number of patents per 10，000 Chinese people had reached 4.9， according to the SIPO.

China has seen rising numbers of patent applications as part of a drive to upgrade the economy. However， the countrys invention patents still lack a competitive edge， experts said.

One of the governments priorities has been to boost innovation by improving protection of intellectual property rights.

Tax-Free Vehicles

China has exempted roughly 42，800 buyers of new-energy vehicles from a 10-percent purchase tax since a new policy became effective last September， an official statement said.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in the statement on its website that it has designated three types of 377 new-energy vehicle models from 57 manufacturers that might benefit from the tax exemption.

From September 2014 to January 2015， about 42，800 owners enjoyed the exemption， including owners of 36，600 passenger vehicles and 6，207 commercial vehicles.

The Chinese Government rolled out the policy in a bid to save energy and reduce pollution.

From September 1， 2014， to the end of 2017， buyers of qualified purely electric cars， plug-in hybrid electric cars and fuel cell cars will not have to pay the vehicle purchase tax.

Human Day

Children attired in traditional costume read poems of Du Fu， a great romantic poet in the Tang Dynasty （618-907）， at the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Chengdu， capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， on February 25.

It is the seventh day of the first lunar month， also the “Renri”which literally means Human Day in Chinese. According to Chinese legend， the goddess Nyuwa created the world and animals during the first six days， after which humans were created. It is a tradition for citizens in Chengdu to visit the Du Fu Thatched Cottage on Human Day.

Spring Saplings

A girl plants trees together with her mother on February 25 in Liping County， Guizhou Province.

It was the first working day after the Spring Festival holiday. Many people plant trees to mark the start of a new year.

Antarctic Achievements

February 20 marks the 30th anniversary since China set its step at the South Pole.

On February 20， 1985， Chinas first Antarctic station， the Great Wall station， was opened on King George Island， on the north of the continent.

Compared with the Westerners who first landed in Antarctica in 1820， the Chinese were newcomers， arriving 75 years later than Japan， the first Asian country to record an expedition to the“end of the world” in 1910.

While now， Chinas 31st Antarctic expedition， consisting of 281 team members， is perhaps one of the largest operations currently on the continent. As a gift for the 30th anniversary， a rare greenhouse was built by the team， where 20 varieties of vegetable were planted.

The team is expected to make unprecedented achievements， including building a base for the Beidou navigation satellite system， selecting a site for an airstrip to launch and land fixed-wing aircraft on the ice sheet， installing a new astronomical telescope and surveying more areas to map them.

Housing Prices

Chinas real estate market has extended its downward trend with new home prices in January registering month-onmonth declines in most cities surveyed.

Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed， new home prices dropped in January in 64， according to the National Bureau of Statistics（NBS）. The prices remained flat in Shanghai， Nanjing in Jiangsu Province， Nanchang in Jiangxi Province and Guangzhou in Guangdong Province in the month. Only two cities， Shenzhen in Guangdong and Ganzhou in Jiangxi， saw prices rising 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent， respectively.

For existing homes， prices fell in 61 cities， while only six recorded gains.

NBS statistician Liu Jianwei said that the housing market in the four most economically developed cities—Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou and Shenzhen—stabilized in January， while prices in big cities， mostly provincial capitals， dropped more slowly. Prices in small and medium-sized cities remained in freefall.

Silk Road Fund

The priority of Chinas newly established Silk Road Fund Co. Ltd. is to seek investment opportunities and provide monetary services throughout the One Belt and One Road initiatives， said a recent statement released by the Peoples Bank of China， the countrys central bank.

China in 2013 proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to improve cooperation with countries in a vast part of Asia， Europe and Africa. President Xi Jinping announced the creation of the $40-billion Silk Road Fund in November 2014， and it was established on December 29 last year. The company will invest mainly in infrastructure， resource development， as well as industrial and financial cooperation， in an effort to achieve common development and prosperity.

Great Channel

Carrying 64 TEUs of containers， the first Madrid-Yiwu freight train arrives in Yiwu， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on February 22.

Yiwu is known for having Chinas largest wholesale market for consumer goods. The rail service between Yiwu and Madrid， Spain， was formally launched on November 18， 2014.

Soaring FDI

Foreign direct investment （FDI） in the Chinese mainland jumped 29.4 percent in January from a year earlier， settling at$13.92 billion， according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The pace of growth quickened from a 1.7-percent increase in 2014， as investment in the countrys service industry continued to pick up steam.

A total of $9.18 billion， around 66 percent of the FDI， went into Chinas service sector in January. FDI into the manufacturing sector reached $3.95 billion， accounting for 28.4 percent of the total.

In January， outbound FDI from the Chinese mainland also saw a robust growth of 40.6 percent year on year. Chinese investment flew to 1，105 companies in 131 countries or regions， totaling $10.17 billion.

EV Sharing

Rio de Janeiro， Brazils second largest city， plans to launch an electric-vehicle sharing service with input from Chinese automaker BYD， local media reported on February 24.

BYD is one of five firms that together make up PPP Radar， the consortium that has won the bid to develop the program， according to O Estado de Sao Paulo.

BYD， together with DirijaJa， IDOM， PricewaterhouseCoopers and Albino Advogados Associados， has six months to present their project， the newspaper said.

“The city of Rio de Janeiro should have a fleet of electric vehicles as of next year for car-sharing，” the daily said， adding that the program will offer some 300 cars initially.

Car-sharing， which operates in cities worldwide， allows drivers to rent a vehicle by the hour， a convenience for those who dont need a car full time or want to try a different model than the one they have.

Maintenance Efforts

Workers clear waste in a chamber of the south-line ship lock of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.

Approved by the Ministry of Transportation， the ship lock started a 20-day overhaul on February 24.

Tying the Knot

Chinese taxi-hailing apps Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache announced merger in mid-February after a year of break-neck competition for market shares.

The two firms will retain their own brand and business after the merger. Both Didi and Kuaidis current CEOs will co-chair the newly-founded company that analysts say could be valued at $6 billion.

Kuaidi held a 56.5-percent share of Chinas taxi-hailing app market， while Didi accounted for 43.3 percent as of December 2014， according to research consultancy Analysys International.

Didi and Kuaidi have received backing from Chinese internet giant Tencent and Alibaba， respectively.

The merger of Didi and Kuaidi is not a monopoly， according to sources with Kuaidi.

Chinas anti-monopoly law states that the companies which want to merge should report to the Ministry of Commerce if their combined turnover in the last fiscal year exceeded 2 billion yuan （about $320 million） and at least two of them reported turnover of more than 400 million yuan （$64 million）. Since the two companies combined revenue is far lower than the standard， they are not obliged to report to the anti-monopoly regulator， said Tao Ran， a senior vice president with Kuaidi.

Lesser Restrictions

The Chinese Government has allowed local resource-starved refineries to import crude oil.

Qualified local refineries will only be allowed to import crude oil if they cut backward capacity or install natural gas storage facilities， according to an announcement from the National Reform and Development Commission.

The new rule applies to local refineries already in production that have facilities with refining capacity of over 2 million tons and meet ecological， quality and energy-saving requirements.

China only allowed governmentapproved refineries to use imported crude oil in the past.

The announcement also said that no new refineries or capacity expansion are allowed without government permission and called for equal treatment of state-owned and private refineries.

Bank Expansion

Chinas banking regulator has approved two state-owned banks to open branches in less developed southern areas of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to stimulate local development.

China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China have received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission （CBRC） to set up secondary branches in Kashgar.

Establishing bank branches in south Xinjiang will benefit infrastructure construction in the area and promote economic development and social stability， said the CBRC.

In mid-February， the Peoples Bank of China and regulators of banking， securities and insurance sectors jointly released a guideline to increase policy support to south Xinjiang.

Online Games Boom

China had 248 million mobile online game players at the end of 2014， surging 32.9 million from the previous year， the China Internet Network Information Center （CNNIC） has said.

A CNNIC report showed that amid the development of 4G mobile networks and upgrade of smartphone hardware， Chinas online game players are turning from computers to mobile phones， a new powerhouse to drive the vibrant sector， according to the report.

The number of people accessing the Internet from mobile devices totaled 557 million at the end of last year， up 56.7 million year on year and accounting for 85.8 percent of Chinas total online population.