Day: July 2, 2020

(Xinhua)10:50, June 04, 2020

LONDON, June 3 (Xinhua) — Universities from the Chinese mainland have for the first time secured the top two spots in Times Higher Education (THE)s Asia University Rankings since it began in 2013, according to the latest rankings released Wednesday.

Tsinghua University, the first Chinese university to achieve top place in last years rankings, maintains its position at number one this year, while Peking University rises from 5th to 2nd.

This years rankings also saw Chinese mainlands universities claiming three of the top 10 positions for the first time, with the University of Science and Technology of China and South Koreas Sungkyunkwan University tied for 10th.

The dominance continues into the top 50, with 13 Chinese mainlands universities ranking 50th or higher.

With nine more universities qualifying compared to 2019, the Chinese mainland records its largest-ever number of participants this year with 81, ranking second among all Asian countries. The first comes Japan with 110 universities, and the third India with 56.

A total of 78 out of a record 489 institutions included in this years rankings are debutants, with Macaos Macau University of Science and Technology ranking 32nd, the highest.

Chinese mainlands dominance is truly cemented by achieving the top two spots for the first time in the rankings, said THEs Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty.

Despite a record total of universities qualifying for the ranking, Chinese mainland continues to demonstrate the growing strength of its higher education system to the rest of the world, he said.

China has been ahead of a lot of Asian nations in prioritizing the knowledge economy, prioritizing investment in great universities, that included of course financial investment to very very high levels, but also reform to make sure that academics, scholars of China are incentive eyes focused on producing high quality work, he said.

The world will see more Chinese scholars producing researches at the highest level in leading journals, which will further improve Chinese universities rankings, he added.

Baty predicted that the geopolitical implications of the COVID-19 pandemic response, coupled with dramatic changes to the international flow of students and academic talents, will benefit Asian universities and accelerate their competition with the best institutions in the world.

According to THE, which reports specifically on news and issues related to higher education, its World University Rankings judge research-intensive universities across all their core missions: teaching, research, knowledge transfer and international outlook.

(Xinhua)16:23, June 28, 2020

HEFEI, June 28 (Xinhua) — Wang Yunpeng, 58, who has been engaged in tea plantation for more than 40 years, used to be apprehensive that his decades-long experience was being challenged by the standardized farming.

No application of fertilizers and pesticides did yield less output, but at the same time induced higher income for him, Wang said.

Wang hails from the city of Luan in east Chinas Anhui Province, famed for generating one of the countrys best varieties of tea leaves.

Wang was invited to join a local cooperative in 2017 when he encountered severe financial difficulties due to his sons ailment. Owing to their worsening financial conditions, the Wangs were officially listed as impoverished.

Before joining the cooperative, I cultivated tea based on my experience, he said, adding that due to the varying qualities of tea leaves, he could hardly sell the produce at a higher price.

He leased his 0.2 hectares of tea garden to the cooperative, and in return, the cooperative provided him technical guidance on tea cultivation using a scientific approach.

The tea grown according to certain standards, including no application of fertilizers and pesticides, came to be known as Luan Guapian bearing the GI logo.

Luan Guapian was registered as a geographical indication (GI) product in 2008. The GI logo on the green tea indicates the specific geographical origin of Luan, vouching for its distinctive quality.

The provincial authorities issued certain criteria for the use of the GI logo stipulating that the logo will be allowed on the package only when the quality meets the standards.

Tea factories used to buy fresh leaves from farmers by weight. Now they strictly consider the size and color of the leaves before purchasing, said Wang.

Though initially, the elderly tea farmer worried that he may earn less, as the standardization policies decreased the output of leaves, the results were gladsome.

The use of standardized tools and production practices, without the use of pesticides and artificial fertilizers, generate a 5 percent-10 percent higher rate for the fresh leaves compared with the market price, Wang said.

In addition, Wang just needs to cultivate tea, as the cooperative is in charge of tea processing and marketing, thus drastically reducing his workload.

Wangs annual income has now doubled to around 30,000 yuan (about 4,239 U.S. dollars), and as a result, the entire family has been able to shake off poverty.

The success story is not unique to Wang. According to local authorities, the increase in average annual per capita income of farmers in the Luan tea plantation area exceeds 1,500 yuan.

Anhui Province has 78 GI-registered products and the annual sales totaled nearly 41.5 billion yuan in 2019. Among them, 15 GI products have been exported to overseas markets totaling nearly 2.8 billion yuan in revenue.

In addition, 47 GI products related to poverty alleviation projects have helped more than 260,000 poor people, whose per capita annual income grew by 3,000 yuan.

China and the European Union (EU) completed an eight-year agreement on GI in 2019 that included 275 GIs from the two sides. Besides, another China-EU agreement on GI will be inked soon.

According to the new agreement, Chinese products will have the right to use the official certification mark of the EU, making it easier for companies to export relevant products to Europe.

Someday the tea I plant may be in a foreigners cup, Wang said.

(Xinhua)08:48, June 24, 2020

SHIJIAZHUANG, June 23 (Xinhua) — Repair work on a section of the Great Wall in north Chinas Hebei Province is underway, local cultural and tourism authorities said.

The Heduling section of the Great Wall, located in Houjiazhuang Township of Neiqiu County, dates back some 500 years to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Years of weathering without repair had damaged a gateway, stairs and crenels, and the walls had also been damaged by plant roots, said Jia Chenghui, a cultural relics protection official of the countys cultural, radio, television and tourism bureau.

The local cultural relics protection department then applied for 1 million yuan (about 141,400 U.S. dollars) in funding from the provincial administration of cultural heritage to repair the 150-meter section of the Great Wall.

According to Jia, the collapsed gateway was restored and the plant roots affecting the walls were cleared in the first stage in 2018. In the second stage, which started in late May, repairmen will mend the collapsed walls and cracked sections, and reinforce the rock stairs.

The second stage of repairs is expected to be completed by early July.

(Xinhua)09:19, June 30, 2020

BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhua) — Chinese authorities have demanded strengthened efforts to prevent new school dropouts due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

A thorough survey should be conducted among school students, and individualized plans need to be worked out for students who drop out. This is according to a guideline on further controlling the dropout rate, and ensuring the implementation of compulsory education, released on Monday.

Efforts should be intensified to encourage dropout students from poor families to return to school this fall semester, said the document, issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and multiple government departments.

The guideline stressed that no school-age children from poor families, except those unable to learn due to their physical condition, should drop out of school.

The number of Chinese students quitting school, amid their nine-year compulsory education period, fell by nearly 99 percent from 600,000 nationwide in early 2019 to 6,781 as of June 14 this year, said the MOE.

(Xinhua)09:51, June 30, 2020

TAIPEI, June 29 (Xinhua) — The second cub of giant panda Yuan Yuan, born Sunday afternoon at the Taipei Zoo, is female and weighs about 186 grams, the zoo said Monday.

The newborn cub is in good condition but suffered a minor injury on her back, possibly by her mother, when she tried to grasp and cuddle with her, Taipei Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao said at a press conference.

The cub has been fed with the milk taken from Yuan Yuan by zookeepers, since the mother panda had failed to feed her for five hours since the birth, Tsao said.

She had drunk a total of 18 ml of milk four times by Monday morning, he said.

Yuan Yuan and Tuan Tuan, the panda pair who arrived in Taipei as a goodwill gift from the Chinese mainland in December 2008, had their first cub, a female, on July 6, 2013.

According to the zoo, Yuan Yuan has received artificial insemination from Tuan Tuan every year since 2015. This years operation, conducted on February 26 and 27, has been successful and she has shown signs of pregnancy, such as eating less, since June 2.

The cub was born at 1:53 p.m. Sunday after five hours of labor.

The Taipei Zoo extended gratitude to the mainland experts for providing expertise online, Tsao said.

They could not be at the scene due to epidemic control policies, but closely communicated with us online, and provided valuable help, he said.

The zoo hopes that the panda cub will be healthy and grown-up enough to meet the public by this Christmas, he said.