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N Chinas Inner Mongolia plants 800,000 hectares of forests in 70 years

(Xinhua)09:10, July 30, 2019

HOHHOT, July 29 — North Chinas Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has planted around 800,000 hectares of forests in the Greater Hinggan Mountain over the past seven decades, local authorities said.

Since 1949, the region has insisted on carrying out afforestation mainly using native tree species and the introduced spruce, sea buckthorn and Siberian red pine, according to the local forestry administration.

The region also has developed its forestry economy to realize a more sustainable development of the local ecosystems.

Currently, the Greater Hinggan Mountain has about 10.3 million hectares of woodlands and about 8.37 million hectares of forests, with the areas forest coverage exceeding 78 percent, according to statistics from Chinas ninth survey of forest resources.

The Inner Mongolia part of the Greater Hinggan Mountain plans to have 1.3 billion cubic meters of living trees and 80.8 percent forest coverage by 2035.

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Death toll rises to 42 in southwest China landslide

(Xinhua)09:56, July 30, 2019

GUIYANG, July 29 — The death toll from a landslide in southwest Chinas Guizhou Province has risen to 42 while nine were reported as missing, local authorities said Monday.

The landslide lashed a village in Shuicheng County in the city of Liupanshui at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday, burying 21 houses. Rescue workers earlier raced against time to recover survivors while preventing secondary disasters.

Eleven people injured in the disaster had been taken to hospitals for treatment, according to the local emergency rescue command.

Based on life detection and the sites risk evaluation, the rescue operation ended midnight Sunday.

On Monday afternoon, more than 700 rescue officials and workers, victims families and local residents held a memorial service for the dead at the landslide site.

Monday marked the seventh day from the time of the disaster, a key traditional date for people to pay respect to the deceased in China.

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Hong Kong public show support for police in strictly enforcing law

(Xinhua)10:03, July 30, 2019

HONG KONG, July 29 — A number of civil groups in Chinas Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Monday showed their support for the police, hoping that they continue to work hard to enforce the law and maintain the order and security of Hong Kong.

The police have been striving to protect our safety amid the series of violent demonstrations that happened recently in Hong Kong, which is not easy, Hong Kong resident Chow said outside the Western Police Station, where he joined his friends to show support for the police.

We are here to support the police in strictly enforcing the law, getting rid of bullies and bringing peace to law-abiding people, Chow added.

Jack Shun, a friend of Chow, said that he was very angry about the illegal rallies and protests that took place over the weekend.

Why did those violent protesters throw bricks to the police? We have had enough! We dont want to see the police get hurt, Shun said indignantly, adding that he wanted to see Hong Kong stay stable and prosperous.

A number of civil groups also gathered at the Hong Kong Police Force headquarters to show their support.

More than 30 members from Defend Hong Kong Campaign rallied in front of the police headquarters, holding national flags and flags of Hong Kong SAR, raising banners and placards with slogans expressing their gratitude and support for the police.

Kenny Po, president of Defend Hong Kong Campaign, told reporters that the police have been doing their utmost in fulfilling their duties in order to maintain social order.

Po praised the police for taking appropriate actions promptly to restore order when facing violence by arresting some violent protesters.

We will continue to support the police in enforcing the law strictly and arresting those opposition legislators who have been instigating the youth to stage illegal protests and commit violence, Po said.

Retired Hong Kong resident Yiu Wing Wah were among a group of people at the police headquarters, presenting placards with slogans including well done!, keep it up! and protect Hong Kong to express support for the police.

We are here to express our consolation for the police and to show support for them in continuing to enforce the law and maintain the order and security of Hong Kong, Yiu said.

Our demand is very simple, that is to see stability and prosperity in Hong Kong, and no more damage, the 74-year-old said, adding that the violent protesters blocked the roads and disrupted normal businesses, which not only damaged the rule of law, but also affected Hong Kongs economy.

Meanwhile, some Hong Kong residents also went to the Central Police Station to show their support for the police on Monday.

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Number of pediatricians reaches 230,000 in China

(Peoples Daily Online)16:44, July 30, 2019

The ratio of pediatricians per 1,000 children in China reached 0.92 in 2018, as the number of pediatricians rose to 230,000 from 154,000 in the previous year, data from the National Center for Childrens Health revealed.

The increasing number of practitioners has relieved the demand-supply mismatch of children鈥檚 doctors, Ni Xin, director of the center, was quoted as saying by the Economic Daily on July 29.

As of last year, China had 228 childrens hospitals and over 20,000 general hospitals had pediatric departments. 42 Chinese universities have opened pediatrics majors and 586 medical bases were established to train pediatricians.

In rural areas, by the end of 2018, 32,765 children with congenital heart disease received treatment, of which 84.9 percent of the expense was covered by the national medical insurance. 19,348 children with leukemia received treatment, of which 85.5 percent of the expense was covered.

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One-legged Chinese man plants over 66.7 hectares of trees in 32 years

(Peoples Daily Online)16:49, July 30, 2019

Tian Yongping stands in the woodland. (Photo/Chinanews.com)

A one-legged Chinese man named Tian Yongping has planted over 1,000 mu (about 66.7 hectares) of trees in his hometown over the past 32 years, hoping to contribute to the protection of the ecological environment of the local area, WeChat account of China News Service reported on July 28.

Tian is a villager in Tianchi Village, Tianchi Township, Wenxian County, Longnan City of northwest China鈥檚 Gansu Province. He dropped out of school and became a lumberjack at the age of 19, as he wanted to help relieve the economic pressure on his parents.

In 1984, Tian lost his left leg in an accident during work and lived in despair for quite a long time. Thanks to encouragement from his wife Xiong Chengxiu, who was his fianc茅e then, Tian went to southwest China鈥檚 Chengdu the following year to get himself a prosthetic leg, and started to learn the cutting propagation technique in the city, intending to make a living on the skill.

Tian eventually decided to return his hometown and plant trees. 鈥淚 had cut down so many trees. Only by planting new trees can we recover the ecological environment of the area back to its previous condition,鈥?said Tian, explaining why he changed his ideas back then.

Tian walks in the woodland near Tianchi Lake with a walking stick (Photo/Chinanews.com)

Tian and his wife began their tree planting journey in 1987, and haven鈥檛 stopped ever since. Every morning, Tian gets up at around 6 o鈥檆lock, and then walks to the woodland near Tianchi Lake of his hometown with a walking stick, carrying food for the day.

The woodland is 3 kilometers away from his home, yet it is a difficult trip for Tian, as it is extremely difficult for a man like him, who walks with a stick and a prosthetic leg, to climb up and down the mountain. In rainy days, it takes Tian about 2 hours to get to the cabin in the woodland.

All of the saplings Tian planted were from the local government. Every spring over the past 32 years, Tian would go to the township government office, and ask to get as many saplings as possible.

At first, the water needed for watering the trees was all carried to the mountain by Tian and his wife, which was a tough job. Later in 1994, the couple found a small pool at the hillside, and thus enhanced their resolve to carry on the task.

鈥淲e were so excited about the discovery for several days,鈥?said Xiong, disclosing how happy they were to find the water source. After the problem of sources of water and saplings had been solved, they started to spend more efforts to plant trees, working day and night.

As he can鈥檛 keep down with the prosthetic leg, Tian would often get down on one knee to dig holes. Sometimes he would dig holes with his bare hands, as he felt the tools were too long and not convenient to use when he knelt down.

In order to save more time for work, Tian and his wife built a simple cabin on the woodland of the mountain, and lived there for 32 years. 鈥淭hinking about how the saplings are all going to survive and become trees, we are satisfied with our life,鈥?said Tian.

When Tian almost spent all his savings on planting trees, he tried to figure out how to make a living. Finally, he thought of the idea of growing polyporus umbellatus, a material of Chinese medicine, under the trees, which has proven to be a success.

Tianchi Township (Photo/Chinanews.com)

By 2003 when China rolled out the policy on returning the grain plots to forestry, Tian鈥檚 woods had already taken shape, with the diameter of some trees reaching around 20 centimeters.

During the past 32 years, Tian wore out 12 prosthetic legs, planted more than 1,000 mu of trees near Tianchi Lake, and taught his fellow villagers how to grow Chinese medicinal crops in woods.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not good enough to live a better-off life myself. I want to try my best to help my fellow villagers live a better life,鈥?said Tian, explaining that he hopes his fellow villagers can shake off poverty and live a better life through hard work.

鈥淭eaching one to fish is better than giving him fish,鈥?said Tian, who was given the title of 鈥渟elf-improvement model of Gansu Province鈥?in 2014.

At present, Tian鈥檚 main job is to patrol and manage the woodland as a forest ranger. Spending so much on the creation of the woods, Tian doesn鈥檛 want to see any wanton felling of trees. He hopes to see his hometown with greener mountains and clearer waters.

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Chinas preschool parent-child market sees rapid expansion

(Peoples Daily Online)15:12, July 10, 2020

Chinas pre-school parent-child market is expanding rapidly, as a growing number of young parents take a more scientific approach to parenting.

(Photo/Peoples Daily)

We spend a large portion of the family budget on raising our kid, said Ma Xin, who lives in Dongcheng district, Beijing, and has a 4-year-old daughter. The couple spend almost half of their income every month on better raising their daughter.

Besides the basic expenses such as food and clothing, we also spend money on buying cartoon books and toys, watching cartoons and early education courses, Ma said.

The investment in preschool parent-child consumption has been increasing year on year for new parents born after 1995, with annual compound growth of per capita consumption on Tmall, an e-commerce platform, reaching 61 percent in the past three years.

The structure of preschool parent-child consumption is moving from daily supplies to the fields of education and entertainment. A Tmall report showed that parental investment in early education is coming very early on in children, and sales of toy books and educational toys are growing rapidly.

The preschool parent-child consumption market is characterized by high user stickiness, different buying and consuming groups, and a strong sense of science and technology, according to Cai Liuyang, a professor of psychology at Tsinghua University.

Meanwhile, one mother in Shanghai pointed out that the key for preschool parent-child consumption is edutainment, where children can learn as well as can play, and parents also can participate.

As more and more audio programs have become popular with parents, sales of intelligent speakers featuring childrens mode and voice control on Tmall have increased by 121 percent in the past three years.

Data from market consultancy company iiMedia Research indicated that the number of children aged from 0 to 6 reached 100 million in 2018, and the number of clients in early education institutions has also been increasing.

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Air Chinas Moscow-Beijing flight suspended over COVID-19 cases

(Xinhua)16:44, July 10, 2020

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) — Chinas civil aviation regulator said Friday that an Air China flight from Moscow to Beijing would be suspended after over five passengers tested positive for COVID-19 on a July 4 flight.

The suspension of flight CA910 will last for one week, starting July 13, and is the fourth of its kind ever imposed following the introduction of a reward and suspension mechanism by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on June 4.

According to the CAAC policy, if all inbound passengers of an airline test negative for novel coronavirus for three weeks in a row, the operating airline will be allowed to increase its number of flights to two per week.

If the number of passengers testing positive reaches five, the airlines flights will be suspended for a week. The suspension will last for four weeks if the number of passengers testing positive reaches 10.

The CAAC also said that Air China is not allowed to transfer the original quota of flight CA910 to other routes.

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U.S. business leaders in China urge both countries to overcome political differences to fight pandemic

(Xinhua)10:49, July 09, 2020

BEIJING, July 8 (Xinhua) — U.S. business leaders in China have called on both countries to overcome their political differences and strengthen cooperation to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and back a global economic recovery, according to a recent report by the South China Morning Post.

Collaboration between U.S. and Chinese subnational governments has been excellent, but were disappointed at the national level, the SCMPs report on Monday quoted Ker Gibbs, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, as saying.

Gibbs made the remarks at a webinar on Monday, during which Chinese and U.S. representatives of business, medicine, non-governmental organizations and other areas discussed a new report titled China-U.S. non-government cooperation in response to COVID-19: Current conditions, challenges and prospects.

The report, released by Beijing-based think tank Center for China and Globalization, said efforts to combat the pandemic by China and the United States, the two largest economies in the world, will have a crucial impact on pandemic containment and post-pandemic economic recovery.

Facing the grave threats to humanity, China and the U.S. should form a peaceful and harmonious bilateral relationship to forge better leadership on global governance and trade and economic development that will make both winners, instead of falling into zero-sum thinking and unbridled competition, it said.

President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China Alan Beebe, who also attended the webinar, noted that national interests and politics continued to intervene in the public health crisis.

Covid-19 does not recognize politics or borders. This is a matter of science, Beebe was quoted by the SCMP as saying.

The chamber has been working closely with U.S. and Chinese local governments to resume production over the past few months, Beebe said, adding, we should continue to work, especially on non-government cooperation, to really focus on human lives and human health and economy to minimize the impact of the pandemic.

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U.S. business leader says phase-one trade deal with China in smooth implementation

By XiongMaoling,HuYousong (Xinhua)14:39, July 09, 2020

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Xinhua) — The implementation of the China-U.S. phase-one economic and trade agreement is proceeding smoothly, effectively, U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) president Craig Allen has said.

So far as I know, that is proceeding smoothly, effectively, exactly as planned, said Allen, whose organization represents over 200 American companies that do business with China.

On the policy objectives, things are going well, Allen said, noting that U.S. company, indeed the U.S. government, recognizes that great progress has been made and that opportunities have been produced for foreign companies, including American companies.

So theres a real correlation between Chinese interest and U.S. interest here, he said.

Noting that he has seen very good progress in Chinese imports of U.S. agricultural products since April, the U.S. business leader, however, said the overall results of trade expansion are mixed, due to the unforeseeable consequences of COVID-19.

On the direct side, we see a definite slowdown in demand for imported products in China and that affects everyone, he said.

On the indirect side, I would note that for example, energy prices are very low. And so therefore, even if you had a very high volume of imports, the value of those imports would be low, Allen said.

We have to recognize the realities of COVID-19, he said, noting that both direct and indirect impact needs to be faced squarely and honestly. You cant wish COVID-19 away.

Amid strained China-U.S. ties, Allen thinks it is especially important for the two sides to implement the trade deal fully and completely. There are many other tensions within the relationship, but we need to keep stability where we can find stability, he said.

According to USCBCs estimates, approximately 2.4 million Americans are involved in U.S.-China trade or investment. I think that the last thing that the U.S.-China relationship needs is a disruption in trade and investment, which will hurt both of our citizens, Allen said.

We need to think of the people, the workers, the farmers, and the ranchers that are active in U.S.- China trade, he said.

We should be careful to maintain the foundation of the relationship, which, he argued, is largely economy, trade and commerce based.

Both of our Chinese history and American history show that our countries are strongest and most prosperous when our countries are open and welcoming trade and investment, Allen told Xinhua.

The United States and China together account for 40 percent of the global economy, Allen said. We have mutual responsibilities to meet our commitments, and mutual responsibilities to the global trade, to minimize disruption and maximize economic value for all.

Noting that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is predicting a relatively robust recovery of over 8 percent in 2021 for China, Allen said that makes Chinas role as a global engine of economic growth even more important as the global economy struggles to recover from a pandemic.

Even with the sped-up supply chain shift amid the pandemic, he said almost all USCBC member companies are increasing investments in the Chinese market.

Most of our companies are large investors in China, and they are there because the Chinese market is very large and growing rapidly, Allen said.

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China’s food delivery market expected to reach 1 trillion yuan within three years

(Peoples Daily Online)16:22, July 09, 2020

China’s food delivery market is expected to expand within the next three years to reach 1 trillion yuan (about $142 billion), according to an industry report.

(Photo/Xinhua)

Online food delivery is estimated to account for about 20 percent of the country’s catering industry this year, said the report released by the China Hospitality Association and the Meituan Research Institute under Chinese food delivery giant Meituan Dianping.

China’s food delivery market hit 653.6 billion yuan in 2019, 39.3 percent more than the year before, according to statistics from iResearch.

Last year, the transaction volume of Meituan’s food delivery business increased 38.9 percent to 392.7 billion yuan, according to the company’s financial report. The daily average number of transactions rose 36.4 percent to 23.9 million, while the average value per order of its food delivery business grew 1.8 percent year-on-year.

By the end of 2019, the number of food delivery consumers reached 460 million, accounting for 50.7 percent of the country’s total number of internet users.

Meituan added around 1 million new couriers between Jan. 20 and May 24, playing an effective role in creating jobs.