Football Blueprint

Pupils from No. 3 Primary School in Beichen District of Tianjin pose with footballs on March 16.

An overall reform plan was unveiled on March 9 as the Chinese Government aimed to improve the standard of soccer playing in the worlds most populous country.

According to the plan， the reforms involve almost every aspect of the sport， including professional clubs， professional leagues， the national teams and soccer education.

Overseas Students

A total of 377，054 overseas students from 203 countries and regions studied in China in 2014， up 5.77 percent year on year， Chinas Ministry of Education（MOE） said on March 18.

International students studied in 775 colleges， research institutes and other institutions across 31 provinces， municipalities and autonomous regions， the MOE said， adding that 9.8 percent of them were sponsored by Chinese Government scholarships.

A total of 164，394 international students are earning degrees， including 47，990 graduate and doctorate students， the MOE said.

The Republic of Korea， the United States and Thailand were the three major sources of international students in China， the ministry revealed.

Plateau Airports

China now has 15 high plateau airports， about 36 percent of the worlds total， according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China （CAAC）.

In 2014， high plateau airports handled 5.8 million passengers， up 18.7 percent year on year， and 59，000 flights， up 19.1 percent year on year.

Different from common flights， high plateau flights face more safety challenges， thus， standards should be established at the legislative level， said Li Jian， deputy head of the CAAC， on March 14.

High plateau airports are no less than 2，438 meters above sea level. Plateau airports refer to those at an altitude no less than 1，500 meters， but less than 2，438 meters above sea level， according to the CAAC.

Regulating Cosmetics

Chinas drug watchdog is soliciting public opinion on tighter requirements for the production of cosmetics.

According to the temporary rules on production and inspection released by the China Food and Drug Administration （CFDA） on March 17， cosmetics manufacturers must establish a mechanism to ensure their products are traceable from warehouse to sales.

The CFDA will also require manufacturers to monitor and report adverse reactions related to their products and to also set up a product recall system.

A report released at the HB Global Cosmetics Summit 2014 in January showed Chinas annual cosmetics sales topped 200 billion yuan （$32 billion） in 2014， snatching a market share of 8.8 percent globally， second only to the United States.

Air Force Training

Sixteen high schools have been selected to be training bases for the Peoples Liberation Army （PLA） Air Force. They will provide flight training to students.

The schools， selected by the Ministry of Education， the Ministry of Public Security and the PLA General Political Department， will recruit male junior high school students aged 14 to 16.

“The schools will provide flight training in addition to regular subjects，”said Zhou Junqiang， from the PLA Air Force.

As Air Force weaponry becomes more sophisticated， pilots need to be better educated.

According to an announcement issued last month， applicants must undergo assessment including psychological tests.

Successful applicants will receive a subsidy and should board at the schools. They will also commit to PLA aviation universities and participate in pilot recruitment tests after graduating from high school.

Bilingual Books

More than 6，000 bilingual childrens books have been distributed recently to four kindergartens in a remote part of southwest China， part of a drive to promote bilingual education in disadvantaged Tibetan areas.

The books， distributed to the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province， were published by a government-supported translation bureau in the prefecture.

This is one of the first large print runs of bilingual books for pre-school children in Tibetan areas， most of which are in Tibet Autonomous Region as well as the provinces of Qinghai and Sichuan.

Science Woman

Yi Xie， professor at the University of Science and Technology of China， was honored at the LOreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards 2015 on March 18， together with four other women for their ground-breaking discoveries in the physical sciences.

“Her work will contribute to lessening pollution and boosting energy efficiency， as well as having open promising prospects for the future. Committed to preserving our planet， she has dedicated her life to finding new and intelligent solutions to address the environmental challenge，” it added.

This years five laureates were selected from five continents of the world by an independent jury made up of 12 prominent international scientists who were personally chosen by the president of the jury and 1999 Nobel Prize winner Professor Ahmed Zewail. Dedicated to both honoring distinguished female scientists and supporting promising young researchers， the LOreal-UNESCO For Women in Science initiative accelerates and supports the careers of the 15 exceptional young women chosen every year.

Clean Energy

Purely electric cars used for APEC on October 30， 2014， in Beijing.

The number of new energy vehicles to hit Chinas roads by 2020 will reach 300，000 as the country aims to save energy and combat pollution， the transportation authority announced on March 18.

China will create a favorable environment to foster quicker growth in the new energy vehicle sector through intense government-led promotion.

New Style Supermarket

People pass by a low-tax supermarket in Hangzhou， Zhejiang Province， on March 16. Hangzhous first cross-border electronic commerce low-tax supermarket opened recently， where customers can buy imported goods at a price about 40 percent lower than the average of other supermarkets by making a list with their cellphones through App stores.

Japanology Award

The award ceremony of the Seventh Sun Pinghua Japanology Academic Fund Award by China Soong Ching Ling Foundation was held in Beijing on March 13.

Sun Pinghua （1917-1997） was the former President of the China-Japan Friendship Association. This award， set up in memory of Sun in September 1997， aims to support the study and cultivation of Japanology in order to further improve friendship between China and Japan.

This award is held every three years and is the only award in China for work in the subject.

Home Prices Decline

Two interest-rate cuts in three months and the removal of property purchase curbs have so far failed to revive Chinas housing market， with the pace of price declines accelerating in February.

The real estate market continued to falter with new-home prices in February registering month-on-month declines in most surveyed cities. Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed， newhome prices dipped in 66 in February from the previous month， according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） on March 18.

For existing homes， 61 cities saw price declines in February on a monthly basis， while five cities posted gains， and four reported flat prices.

Liu Jianwei， an economist with the NBS， said the decline reflects slack sales during the Lunar New Year holiday（February 18-24）.

Liu said historical data indicated that sales in March would “significantly increase.”

Investment Law Revised

China released revised procedures for foreign investment on March 13， relaxing many restrictions on overseas capital.

The Catalogue of Industries to Guide Foreign Investment issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in conjunction with the Ministry of Commerce， opens more areas—mainly services and manufacturing—by lowering thresholds for foreign businesses.

Now in its sixth version， the catalogue consists of three parts： industries where foreign investment is encouraged， restricted or banned.

The latest revision more than halves the number of industries with restrictions from 79 to 38. The number of industries in which Chinese investors must hold stakes was dropped from 43 to 15， while the number demanding Chinese inves- tors hold controlling stakes fell from 44 to 35.

Foreigners are barred from 36 industries， compared from 38 in the previous version.

Foreign investors are allowed to do business in all industries that do not appear in the catalogue. The list will come into effect on April 10.

Waste Not， Want Not

A worker in the Xiabancheng Township of Chengde， north Chinas Hebei Province， makes fodder from crop stalks on March 18. In 2014， the county developed methods to convert around 400，000 tons of crop stalks into fodder and bio-fuel.

Alibaba Expansion

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. said on March 18 that it will start logistics service in South Korea this year.

Alibaba said the Cainiao Network， the logistics company belonging to Alibaba， is planning to carry out a midand long-term logistics program in South Korea.

The company said that it is analyzing the relevant data， preferring to cooperate with domestic and overseas partners and trying to utilize their logistic facilities. It hopes to realize its ultimate goal： a better logistic service and experience with the platform of Cainiao Network.

But Alibaba denied that the logistic service will be launched in April as reported by some South Korean media， saying that the timing was “too soon.”

After the launch of Cainiao logistic service in South Korea， Chinese consumers will be able to purchase commodities directly from South Korean sellers via Alibabas one-stop services supplied by its online shopping mall Tmall.com， its online payment service provider Alipay and Cainiao Network.

According to Alibaba， Alipay has supplied cross-border payment services to over 400 South Korean businesses.

Stricter Scrutiny

The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission（SASAC） of the State Council plans to hire independent accounting firms to examine the overseas assets of stateowned enterprises （SOEs） administered by the Central Government.

In order to address growing concerns about a lack of transparency regarding SOEs overseas assets， the SASAC will purchase third-party services from accounting firms through a bidding process beginning on April 7， the SASAC said on March 17.

The firms that bid must be established in accordance with Chinese laws and be qualified to provide services to the government.

The bidders must have no record of major law violations or administrative punishment by financial authorities in the past three years， and their activities must not have been restricted by authorities in the same time frame.

Triple Functions

The nose section of the first China-made amphibious plane capable of putting out a fire， coded AG600， is delivered in Chengdu， capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， on March 17.

Another Mans Treasure

A new Australian technology that converts blast furnace waste into an ingredient for cement is being trialed for commercialization in China.

The Dry Slag Granulation （DSG） technology reduces water use and greenhouse gas emissions and is the focus of a partnership announced on March 16 between the Australias chief science body， the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization （CSIRO）， and Beijing MCC Equipment Research and Design Corp.

“The benefits from wide uptake of DSG technology on blast furnaces will profoundly help the global industry to reduce water and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions while sustaining metal production，” said Jonathan Law， Director of Minerals Down Under Flagship at CSIRO.

“DSG is just one of the CSIRO innovations in sustainable steel production and one of many solutions we have found for national and global challenges in the minerals industry，” Law said.

Window to the Future

Microsoft said on March 18 that it will partner with Lenovo and Xiaomi to develop smart devices that run the latest version of its Windows operating system.

The U.S. multinational announced an initiative to deepen cooperation with Chinas leading hardware and software makers to promote Windows 10 on computers， tablets and smartphones， during a two-day conference in the southern city of Shenzhen.

Windows 10 is slated for launch sometime this summer.

Lenovo， one of Chinas largest smartphone makers and the parent company of Motorola Mobility， will launch Windows-based smartphones this summer， said Tong Fuyao， General Manager of Lenovo China.

Smartphone maker Xiaomi， now the third largest in the world， will provide feedback to Microsoft based on a test run of the operating system on Xiaomis flagship smartphone Mi4 later this year.

Windows Phone accounted for a meager 0.4-percent market share in China in the 12 months ending last September， compared with a morethan-90-percent share between Googles Android and Apples iOS， according to consultancy firm Kantar Research.

Movie-Making Deal

Hunan TV and Broadcast Intermediary Co. （HTBI） sealed a deal with American film studio Lionsgate on March 18 to invest $1.5 billion on co-productions in the next three years. It is the biggest overseas deal in Chinas movie-making history.

HTBI will cover 25 percent of production costs for at least 50 Lionsgate films and pocket 25 percent of all returns. It has an option to distribute four of the films in China each year. Games and theme park development are included in the deal.

HTBI is the listed arm of Hunan TV， one of Chinas largest broadcasters producing some of the countrys most popular shows.

“China has become the worlds second largest film market and Lionsgate is one of the largest independent Hollywood filmmakers，” said Long Qiuyun， Chairman of the HTBI. “The deal will bring Hollywoods production model to China and start an era full of imagination.”

Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer said cooperation with HTBI will significantly expand Lionsgates market share in China and bring more films with Chinese elements to the international market， he said.