City in Smog

A view of Beijing on December 19. Severe smog continued to prevail in north China， disrupting life in dozens of cities.

Tackling Poverty

China has made huge strides in poverty reduction， achieving the governments target of lifting 10 million people out of poverty in 2016.

The countrys financial input for poverty reduction hit a record high in 2016， with that from the central and provincial governments exceeding 100 billion yuan （$14.5 billion） for the first time， Liu Yongfu， head of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development， told a conference on December 20.

Breakdown figures showed the central budget allocated 66.7 billion yuan （$9.6 billion） for poverty reduction in 2016， up 43.4 percent year on year， while that allocated by provincial governments rose more than 50 percent to top 40 billion yuan （$5.76 billion）. China has lifted 700 million people out of poverty through more than 30 years of reform and opening up. The nation aims to eliminate poverty by 2020.

To meet this goal， China must lift 10 million people out of poverty each year from 2016 to 2020.

Liu said the country will work on several fronts in 2017 to reduce poverty： promoting industrial development in poor regions； giving the poor better access to employment services， healthcare and education； and improving infrastructure in poor regions.

Supervisory System Reform

Chinas top legislature on December 19 deliberated a draft decision on piloting supervisory system reform in Beijing and the provinces of Shanxi and Zhejiang.

The draft was submitted for review by lawmakers at a bimonthly session of the National Peoples Congress （NPC） Standing Committee， which ran from December 19 to 25.

According to the draft， new supervision committees will be established in the three areas to produce an integrated supervision system that will be more authoritative and efficient.

The new supervision committee will integrate the supervision departments， the corruption prevention department， as well as the peoples procuratorate departments for handling bribery and dereliction of duty cases or prevention of duty-related crimes， according to the draft.

All public servants that exercise public power will be supervised by the new committee， the draft says. It confers on the committee the power to supervise， investigate and hand out punishment.

Explaining the draft to lawmakers， Li Jianguo， Vice Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee， said deepening supervisory system reform is a major issue in the countrys political life and is of great and far-reaching importance for strengthening the Partys leadership and advancing the rule of law.

Flight in Xinjiang

A flight connecting Qiemo， a farflung corner of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， and Urumqi， the regional capital， was launched on December 19.

The round-trip flight， operated by China Southern Airlines， departs Urumqi every Monday， Wednesday， Friday， Saturday and Sunday， and stops in Korla before arriving at Qiemo.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China Xinjiang Regional Administration said it was the first civilian airline since the last passenger plane service at the old Qiemo airport expired five years ago.

Qiemo is over 1，100 km from Urumqi and 720 km from Korla. The flight will cut travel time between Qiemo and Urumqi to 2.5 hours， from 15 hours by road.

The new airport in Qiemo has a cargo-handling capacity of 480 tons per year. The operating flight will receive state subsidies of about 7 million yuan （$1 million） every year.

Ethnic Minority Medicine

A draft Chinese law enhancing the role of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） in Chinas medical system will support ethnic minority medicine in the country.

According to the draft law， tabled for a third reading at a bimonthly session of the National Peoples Congress （NPC） Standing Committee， the state will enhance support， innovation， application and development， as well as professional training in ethnic minority medicine.

The state will step up the establishment of medical institutions practicing ethnic minority medicine and provide better training for practitioners， it said.

Ethnic autonomous regions should also create their own measures to develop local ethnic minority medicine in accordance with relevant laws， the draft said.

TCM has gained increasing global attention since Chinese pharmacist Tu Youyou was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work using artemisinin to treat malaria.

Ethnic minority medicine is an important part of TCM. According to a white paper issued by the State Council Information Office in December， 2016， 60，000 TCM and ethnic minority medical drugs have been approved.

At the end of 2015， there were 3，966 TCM hospitals and 42，528 TCM clinics across the country， including 253 hospitals and 550 clinics specializing in ethnic minority medicine. There has been steady progress in the standardization of ethnic minority medicine， the white paper said.

The draft also said China will protect TCMs intellectual property， adding that it will provide “special protection” for TCM formulas that are considered “state secrets.”

It vowed enhanced supervision on the quality of TCM materials， banning the use of highly toxic pesticides during the planting of herbs.

Drinking Culture

A taster examines two beer samples during China Craft Beer Awards 2016， a competition staged in Beijing， on December 16. The entries for the award were judged on the day.

Improving Work Safety

China issued a guideline on December 18 on improving work safety， seeking to plug the holes in its supervision mechanism， laws and safety standards to effectively prevent accidents.

The country vowed to optimize its supervision and management mechanism as well as laws and regulations to “significantly” reduce workplace accidents by 2020， according to the guideline， jointly issued by the Communist Party of China （CPC） Central Committee and the State Council.

The guideline clarified the definition and division of responsibilities concerning workplace safety.

The country plans to amend its criminal law to include workplace malpractices that easily lead to major accidents， according to the guideline.

It noted the country would increase financial input to enhance workplace risk control and prevent work-related illness， while improving management and auditing to make sure the money would be wisely spent.

Chinas work safety has been improving but more efforts would be needed as many problems remain， it said. The guideline came after a series of deadly accidents， ranging from mining disasters to power plant collapse. In one of the accidents， 74 people were killed in November 2016 when a platform for a cooling tower under construction collapsed in Jiangxi Province.

Snow Dances

Folk artists dance at the opening ceremony of a winter carnival in Oroqen Autonomous Banner of Hulun Buir， Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， on December 16. Many folk art and winter entertainment events will be held during the three-month carnival.

More Registered Volunteers

China has 28.25 million registered volunteers and more than 240，000 volunteer service organizations， according to the China Volunteer Service Federation （CVSF）.

By 2020， the number of registered volunteers will account for 13 percent of the total population， said the countrys 13th Five-Year Plan （2016-20）.

Liu Qi， President of the federation， said that the CVSF will train more professional volunteers and improve online services.

Approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs， the federation was established in December 2013. It is a national， non-profit social organization.

Reviving the Northeast

China vowed to improve reform efforts and encourage innovation in the northeastern region to bolster the regions economy during the 13th Five-Year Plan（2016-20） period， according to a plan issued on December 19 by the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC） .

The northeast should accelerate the reform of its traditional industries， the development of emerging industries and its service sector to improve the regions economic structure， said the NDRC.

The country plans to increase the regions investment in research and development to 2.1 percent of local GDP and make the service sector contribute 47.4 percent of GDP by 2020.

The northeast， an old industrial base， has faced more difficulties than the rest of China amid economic slowdown over the last two years. The region relies largely on heavy and chemical industries， energy resources， raw materials， and a large number of state-owned enterprises. According to the NDRC data， the regions economy grew 2.2 percent in the first half of 2016， much lower than the 7.6 percent， 7.8 percent and 8 percent for the eastern， central and western regions of the country， respectively.

Running Fast

A bullet train runs on a section of the Shanghai-Kunming high-speed railway in southwest Chinas Guizhou Province on December 17， 2016.

The section is scheduled to be put into operation at the end of December. By that time， the whole ShanghaiKunming high-speed railway， which has been under construction for eight years， will be in full operation.

Financing Startup Firms

The Bank of China Ltd. （BOC） has pledged to accelerate the development of its key investment and loan linkage mechanism by working with the administrative committees of five national innovation zones to build up its client base， risk compensation and information-sharing systems. The fourth biggest commercial lender by assets in China said it signed strategic cooperation agreements with the committees on December 16 and also inked accords on offering financing services through the investment and loan linkage mechanism to 12 technology and innovative companies.

Currently， it is waiting for regulatory approval to set up a subsidiary specializing in equity investments under the mechanism.

The investment and loan linkage mechanism was initiated by the State Council， Chinas cabinet. It aims to encourage banks to provide sustainable finance to technology companies and innovation-based startups by lending to them. In the meantime， it allows the banksqualified subsidiaries to make equity investments in them.

The mechanism is expected to help banks cover credit risks and secure returns on their investments.

On April 21， the Chinese Government authorized 10 banks， including the BOC， to carry out a trial program of the mechanism in five national innovation demonstration zones in Beijing， Shanghai， Tianjin， Hubei Province and Shaanxi Province.

“China is grasping the most crucial part of its innovation by carrying out a trial program on the investment and loan linkage mechanism，” said Liu Qiang， Executive Vice President of the BOC.

Liu said it would be a new driver for science and technology development.

Biggest AIIB Loan

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank （AIIB） has approved a$600-million loan， the largest it has ever sanctioned， for an energy project in Azerbaijan.

Approved by AIIBs board of directors on December 21， the loan will support construction of a natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey， known as the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project， AIIB said on December 22.

The pipeline will transport natural gas from fields in Azerbaijan to Turkey and then on to markets in Southern Europe. The construction will create jobs in Azerbaijan and Turkey.

AIIB is co-financing the project with other multilateral development banks， including the World Bank Group.

With this project， AIIB will have lent $1.73 billion in nine infrastructure projects across seven countries in its first year of operation. AIIB is a China-initiated multilateral bank founded on December 25， 2015.

Home Prices Stabilized

Chinas red-hot property market in major cities has continued to stabilize after authorities took a series of measures to contain prices， according to an official survey released on December 19.

Of the 70 large and mediumsized cities surveyed， 55 saw the price of new residential housing climb month on month in November， down from 62 in October， according to the National Bureau of Statistics（NBS）.

In Beijing， new residential home prices stayed unchanged from a month earlier， while in Shanghai， prices dipped 0.1 percent.

Year on year， home prices in the two cities had risen 28.9 percent and 34.8 percent， respectively.

According to the NBS， new residential home prices in first-tier cities edged up 0.1 percent in November on a monthly basis， retreating 0.4 percentage points from the growth seen in October.

“Data show a sharp cooling in the 15 first-tier and major second-tier cities and a notable stabilization in prices due to the governments differentiated control policies，” said NBS statistician Liu Jianwei.

Since October， dozens of Chinese cities have announced measures， including purchase limits and tightened mortgage restrictions， to prevent prices from rising out of control.

Ripe Time

A villager dries persimmons in Guangde Village of Anxi County in Quanzhou， southeast Chinas Fujian Province， on December 17， 2016.

China-Thailand Railway

The planned China-Thailand railway linking the Thai-Lao border with Bangkok will benefit Thailand， as the high-speed railway is expected to improve local peoples livelihoods， the Thai transport minister said.

“We dont have a highspeed railway here in Thailand yet， but we foresee that highspeed railways can bring change to the lives of Thai people， as proved in China，” Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said.

He believes that once the traveling time from Bangkok to cities along the railway is cut to one or two hours， these cities with railway stations may have a great chance to attract more people and investment because of the high living costs in Bangkok.

“The economic benefit is much higher than financial return，” he said， adding that he learned from China that high-speed railways did help cities attract more people and investment.

He also mentioned that the 873-km railway can help bring more Chinese tourists to the kingdom and thus boost local tourism growth.

“The traveling time from the northeastern Nong Khai Province on the Thai-Lao border to Thai capital Bangkok will be shortened and it may attract Chinese tourists who like to travel by train，” he said.

Around 8 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2015 and the number is expected to exceed 9 million in 2016. China is now the largest source of visitors to Thailand， accounting for about 30 percent of all international tourists.

Global Downturn Affects China

The global economic downturn is the main reason behind Chinas slowdown in growth， rather than domestic issues， said Justin Yifu Lin， former chief economist at the World Bank.

The continued economic slowdown is more the result of external and cyclical factors， he said at a forum held by Peking University on December 18.

Chinas GDP grew 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2016， steady with the first half and within the governments target of between 6.5 and 7 percent for 2016.

In 2015， Chinas economy recorded the slowest annual expansion in a quarter of a century by growing 6.9 percent year-onyear.

Comparing Chinas growth to that of other emerging economies and developed countries， Lin pointed out that although high-performing， high-income economies do not face the same domestic issues as China， their economic performance has been similar or even worse.

Therefore， countries around the world must be all suffering from the same external and cyclical factors， he said.

Lin said weakness in the global economy has affected Chinas exports， and the countrys domestic growth momentum lies in the expansion of both consumption and investment demand.

Shopping for Warmth

Customers shop for cashmere products at the 23rd China Qinghe International Cashmere and Fluff Products Fair in Qinghe County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on December 16， 2016.

The three-day fair attracted more than 2，000 traders from home and abroad.