Blossoming Banks

Photo taken on March 25 shows the spring flood of Hukou Waterfall of the Yellow River in Linfen， north Chinas Shanxi Province.

Warmer temperature and melting ice in the rivers upper reaches lead to the annual spring flood （also known as the “peach blossom flood”） of Hukou Waterfall， a popular event that draws tourists.

Rural Land Reform

China announced a pilot program on March 20， allowing the trade of rural land use rights for stakes in farming entities.

The pilot program will be run in three experimental rural reform regions in Jiangsu， Sichuan and Guizhou provinces， and four counties in Heilongjiang， Shandong and Zhejiang provinces and Chongqing Municipality， the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.

There are two kinds of land ownership in China—urban land is owned by the state while rural land is normally held under collective ownership. Farmers are part of the collective community and enjoy land use rights， though they come with restrictions.

Under the pilot scheme， farmers will be allowed to turn their land use rights into shares in farming enterprises or cooperative societies， according to the statement.

The ministry has ordered local governments in the seven chosen localities to submit detailed plans before May. It urged protecting farmers rights and interests during the reform.

Government Websites

China will survey all levels of government websites， closing down dormant sites and making active ones “more pragmatic.”

The census will continue through December in order to “l(fā)earn the general situation of e-government，”according to a circular by the State Council General Office. It will cover websites at all levels of government， ministries， subordinate departments and institutions. Surveys will determine whether the websites are useful， regularly updated and whether ques- tions raised by the public via the sites have been dealt with appropriately.

Results will be made public when the survey is completed.

Chinas government websites have developed rapidly since the Central Government website （www.gov. cn） went online on January 1， 2006. Transparency has since become a major yardstick assessing government work.

New Tibetan Words

A committee has finished translating a batch of meteorological terminology into Tibetan， with a Mandarin-Tibetan lexicon being published in Tibet Autonomous Region on March 23.

Head of the compilation committee Soinam Doje said that the compilation， which took five years， was done by local meteorologists and Tibetan language experts in Tibet on the basis of a Mandarin version of the lexicon.

The publication of over 2，000 entries covers areas such as atmosphere， synoptic meteorology and climatology， he said.

“About 30 percent of the Tibetan translations are newly created words，”compiler Namgyae Zhoigar said， adding that local meteorological departments will help farmers and herdsmen understand and use the terminology.

UK Visa Applications

China has replaced India to become the biggest country in terms of the annual quantity of British visa applications， the newly appointed British Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward revealed at a press conference in Beijing.

In 2014 alone， the number of British visas issued in China reached a record high of more than 400，000.

Woodward said that Britain has begun to issue long-term visas for either business trips or normal tourism， and that as long as the applicants keep sound records on previous visits to Britain， they will have the right to apply for multi-entry visas valid for one year， two or five years and even up to 10 years.

Xinjiangs Elder Care

Northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will invest 540 million yuan （$87 million） in elderly facilities， including nursing homes， the local civil affairs department said.

The Xinjiang Civil Affairs Department said 430 million yuan（$69.35 million） would go to establishing nursing homes for the physically and mentally disabled.

By the end of this year， the region is expected to have 24 beds for every 1，000 elderly residents， up from 20 by the end of last year， an official with the department said.

The region has 2.5 million people aged 60 and above， about 11 percent of its population， and this number is rising by about 4 percent annually.

Officials said the regions elderly care program struggles with a lack of beds， a prominent problem in rural regions.

Sustainable Agriculture

The State Council has issued a plan to boost sustainable development of agriculture by 2020， revealed Chen Xiaohua， Vice Minister of Agriculture， on March 20.

According to the plan， the country will promote scientific and technological advances in agriculture， protect farmland， raise irrigation efficiency， fight environmental pollution and restore agricultural ecology.

It stated that Chinas forest coverage shall exceed 23 percent by 2020.

E-Sport Season

The World Cyber Arena （WCA） Games 2015 started， with prize money rocketing to 100 million yuan （$16 million）， the WCA Organizing Committee said on March 23.

The competitive season will last more than 278 days， including 20 stages， five activities and over 1，274 hours of live broadcasting. The finals will be held in December in Yinchuan， a city in western China.

At present， the organizing committee confirmed that the games project is divided into international E-sports and Chinese E-sports.

The global E-sports events cover internationally popular titles such as DOTA2 and Hearthstone， while the national league will be focused on League of Legends， Legends of the Three Kingdoms， The Blade of Heroes， as well as virtual versions of more traditional games like poker and mahjong.

The first WCA Games kicked off in Yinchuan in October last year， when more than 3，300 e-athletes from around the world attended the games.

Taking Flight

Birds at the Beidagang wetland in Tianjin on March 21. Administrative staff have recorded more than 6，000 migrant birds in the wetland， as the weather gets warmer.

Exceptional Snapshots

Judges of the 11th China International Press Photo Contest （CIPPC） release an award-winning photo in Chengdu， capital of southwest Chinas Sichuan Province， on March 25.

Photographers from 26 countries and regions received 68 awards this year. The first CIPPC was held in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province， in 2005.

New FTZs

The establishment of three more free trade zones （FTZs） in Tianjin and Guangdong and Fujian provinces was approved at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held on March 24.

FTZs are important for exploring new paths and acquiring new experiences， said a statement released after the meeting.

The new zones， as well as the Shanghai FTZ launched in September 2013， will continue working for institutional innovation， according to the statement.

The document said that the Shanghai FTZ has made “positive progress” over more than a year， generating a model that can be replicated elsewhere.

The Shanghai FTZ is a testing ground for reforms in various areas ranging from administration， investment and finance through to services.

The FTZs are part of a new， more open economic system， exploring new models for regional economic cooperation， and establishing a law-based climate for business and commerce， the statement said.

Manufacturing Upgrade

The Chinese Government pledged on March 25 to boost the implementation of the “Made in China 2025” strategy， which will upgrade the manufacturing sector.

Accelerated industrialization is supported by the manufacturing sector， according to a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council， Chinas cabinet.

The “Made in China 2025” strategy can empower the manufacturing sector， while assisting products “innovated in China，” it said， adding that this will help the country achieve a medium-to-high speed of growth.

When delivering a government work report to this years full session of the National Peoples Congress on March 5， Premier Li Keqiang said that China will implement the “Made in China 2025” strategy alongside an“Internet Plus” plan， based on innovation， smart technology， the mobile Internet， cloud computing， big data and the Internet of Things.

Following this， according to the State Councils statement， informatization and industrialization will be unified and priority will be given to the development of 10 particular industries， including information technology， new materials and agricultural machinery.

The statement goes on to stipulate that more efforts will be made to boost the integrated growth of productive services and the manufacturing sector， and improve the capabilities and core competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.

Favorable policies will be mapped to help forge an upgraded version of the manufacturing sector， the statement said.

Coal Curbs

The National Energy Administration（NEA） said on March 25 to continue scaling back the coal industry in a drive to encourage greater use of renewable energy.

China will continue to eliminate excess production capacity in the coal industry and curb its blind expansion， as the country targets a switch to greener energy sources， according to a circular issued by the NEA.

It vowed to “spare no effort” to reduce air pollution and improve environmental protection through efficient use of coal and cutting emissions.

Coal consumption accounts for about 66 percent of Chinas primary energy consumption， 35 percentage points higher than the world average， according to the NEA.

The government plans to slash coal consumption by 160 million tons in the next five years and to reduce energy intensity， or units of energy per unit of GDP， by 3.1 percent in 2015.

Wall of Noodles

A farmer makes fine dried noodles in his yard in Dongzhao Village， Weixian County in Hebei Province， on March 25. The village has specialized in producing hand-made hollow fine-dried noodles for more than a century. An average household there can produce more than 150 kg of noodles annually， which are then sold into neighboring regions.

Direct Delivery

On March 20， Chinas first delivery of 6，000 parcels booked through overseas direct purchase and transported by sea arrived in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， from South Korea.

China introduced the direct purchase importation model in 2014 to ensure quicker customs clearance for foreign goods purchased by online shoppers in the “Haitao” market， which allows direct purchase of foreign goods that are unavailable or exorbitantly priced in China.

Prior to the launch of the sea shipping service for overseas direct purchase， most parcels were transported via air or mail routes.

Chinas e-commerce has seen explosive growth in recent years. Online retail sales racked up 2.6 trillion yuan（$418.24 billion） in 2014， up 41 percent from the previous year. Cross-border trade by e-commerce companies is forecast to reach 6.5 trillion yuan （$1.05 trillion） in 2016.

In Tune With The Market

A worker makes a ruan， a traditional Chinese musical instrument， in a factory in Lankao County， Henan Province.

At present， there are more than 80 Chinese musical instrument factories in Lankao， with their combined annual industrial output reaching 480 million yuan （$80 million）.

Yuan Clearing Bank

ICBC Canada， a clearing bank for the Chinese currency yuan， or renminbi， was officially launched in Toronto on March 23， becoming the first renminbi trading hub in the Western hemisphere.

Canadian Finance Minister Joe Oliver and Chinese Ambassador to Canada Luo Zhaohui attended the inauguration ceremony of the bank， also known as ICBK.

“Todays announcement of the launching of a renminbi hub reinforces the strength of our ties，” Oliver said.

“Through lower transaction costs， it is now easier for Canadian firms to trade with and do business in China. This will mean jobs， growth and longterm prosperity for Canadians， and a brighter future for both our great countries，” he added.

The hub represents the latest step toward boosting China-Canada trade， now worth 78 billion Canadian dollars（$62.21 billion）. Currently， Canadian companies buying and selling in China have to use an intermediary currency， usually the U.S. dollar， an extra step in the process that adds costs and a layer of complexity.

At the ceremony， Gu Shu， Vice President of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China （ICBC）， said that the bank would fully utilize Canadas geographic and multiple time-zone advantages in support of the banks 24/7 renminbi clearing system.

The ICBK will take over yuan clearing services when transactions in Beijing and Singapore are closed， Gu said.

Shandong Fair

The 2015 Shandong Commodities Fair opened on March 24 in west Japans commercial city of Osaka， with more than 150 firms and manufacturers from the Chinese province participating.

The three-day event， held in MyDome Osaka， a major exhibition hall in central Osaka， is mainly organized by the Department of Commerce of Shandong in cooperation with the Japan-China Economic Relations and Trade Center and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

At the 17th annual holding of the event， the fair covered an area of about 4， 800 square meters， with over 180 booths on three floors displaying a wide range of goods such as items of apparel， daily necessities， home fabrics and shoes， as well as cultural products.

Qin Haifeng， an official from Shandong， told Xinhua that the fair has become an important platform for enterprises from Shandong to increase business links with Japanese firms and has helped enhancing business and cultural communication between the Chinese province and west Japan.