society

Quantum Communication Line in Operation

Connecting Wuhan City of Central Chinas Hubei Province and Hefei City of East Chinas Anhui Province， a world-leading quantum communication line was officially put into service in November 2018. It is the first commercial extension line of the worlds first quantum encryption communication trunk line， the Beijing-Shanghai trunk line.

The lines completion marks the beginning of the quantum communication era in China， bringing the country a step closer to building and operating the worlds most secure communication network. Quantum communications feature ultrahigh security. Information running through it is difficult to tap， intercept， or crack， experts said.

The line began construction in 2017. It involves an initial investment of about RMB 200 million （US $29 million） and all its technology and equipment was developed by Chinese scientists.

“The physical properties of quantum communication ensure information security，” said Wu Xiaofeng， deputy general manager of China Space Sanjiang Group. Unlike optical networks， quantum communication is an unconditionally secure method of communication. According to the company， the new quantum communication landline will be facilitated by building 11 stations in cities in Anhui and Hubei provinces， and is 609 kilometers long.

The Largest Fashion Market

“The year ahead is one that will go down in history，” write consultancy McKinsey & Company and media outlet The Business of Fashion in their joint report on the state of fashion in 2019. “Greater China will for the first time in centuries， overtake the U.S. as the worlds largest fashion market.”The wealth of Chinas nearly 1.4 billion people is rapidly multiplying， creating legions of new consumers with disposable income to spend on things such as sports， entertainment， and of course， clothes and shoes. Its shaping the way the fashion industry operates. Italian label Ermenegildo Zegna， for example， now looks to China， not the U.S.， as the place where it tests new products before deciding whether to roll them out around the world.

Simon Lock， CEO of Ordre.com， commented that hes seen many of the Chinese students who go abroad to study fashion more than often return home to start their own lines， rather than staying in New York or London as they typically had in the past. “They are now all rushing back to Shanghai and Beijing and establishing really good beachhead businesses in China before they start their international expansion，” he said.

Kevin Sneader， McKinseys global managing partner， pointed out that， under a moderate scenario of growth， China will add a number of consumers and spending power roughly equivalent to Germanys current economy by 2025.

China Now a Big Coffee Producer

China is one of the newer coffee-producing countries， producing Mild Arabica coffee in Yunnan Province. Chinas production of coffee has doubled every five years over the past two decades. It is a market with high growth potential for coffee consumption.

Chinas IP （Intellectual Property） activities and measures seem to coincide with its increase in coffee production. It has seen a leap in both patent and trademark filing activities over the past decade， rivaling the higher-income coffee-importing countries. Since 1995， applicants in China have filed nearly the same number of coffee-related patents as those in France， and more than those in the United Kingdom.

In addition， nearly 3，300 coffee-related technologies are protected through utility models. However， most Chinese patent filings are made in China only and do not have a foreign orientation， which is in contrast to those from France， Italy， and the United Kingdom. But China filed nearly 2，400 trademarks at the USPTO in relation to coffee-related goods and services， ahead of Germanys filing of approximately 2，200. This suggests that Chinese companies have a significant presence in the U.S. coffee market.

Prosecution for Pollution Offences Stepped up

A total of 4，939 suspects were charged for crimes related with environmental pollution from January to October 2018， up by 38.5 percent year-on-year， according to the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate. During the same period， prosecutors charged 26，765 people for destroying ecological environmental resources such as forests and grasslands， an indictment rate increase of 14.79 percent.

The prosecuting departments also launched 1，314 public interest litigations involving environmental pollution between January and October of last year. A total of RMB 17.15 billion （US$2.47 billion） of economic losses was recovered through all the cases handled by the prosecuting authorities.

The top procuratorate said it has deployed many actions to target crimes such as illegally cutting trees.

In the future， further steps will be taken to enhance communication with relevant authorities such as the Ministry of Ecology and Environment， the Ministry of Natural Resource， as well as the National Forest and Grassland Administration， to timely share information and conduct action plans to tackle major pollution cases.