Month: April 2021

(Xinhua)13:48, September 18, 2020

BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — Chinas customs authority on Friday took emergency preventive measures against imports of aquatic products from an Indonesian firm after sample inspections showed coronavirus contamination.

Customs offices nationwide would halt the acceptance of import declarations for aquatic products manufactured by PT. Putri Indah, after an outer packing sample from a shipment of Indonesian frozen hairtail tested positive for coronavirus, said the General Administration of Customs in a statement.

The suspension will be effective for a week, according to the statement.

(Peoples Daily Online)14:29, September 18, 2020

China has established a modernized grain storage system based on information technologies to ensure food security across the country.

Last year, China Grain Reserves Group Ltd. Company (Sinograin) upgraded its grain procurement model by using internet technologies, developing an app through which farmers can make appointments to sell their grains, improving efficiency in grain procurement and helping farmers increase income.

An intelligent camera in a grain storehouse of Sinograin. (Photo/Xinhua)

Farmers can choose grain storehouses nearby and make appointments to sell their grains through the app, said Li Haijie, deputy head of the storage department of the Central Grain Reserves Shunyi Directly Managed Storehouse (Shunyi Storehouse), the storehouse unit of Sinograin in Beijing.

Thanks to the application of information technologies through the whole process, it takes about 40 minutes to store grains, including sampling, weight measurement and unloading, Li noted.

鈥淚n the inspection process, quality indicators such as moisture and impurities, as well as food safety indicators including heavy metals and mycotoxins, will be measured. Only quality grains can be stored,鈥?Li added.

As of Aug. 14, the app has 650,000 registered users, who have sold 19 million tons of grains upon appointment, including 6.1 million tons during this year鈥檚 procurement period of summer grains, according to data from Sinograin.

Sinograin has also upgraded the science and technology of grain storage. 鈥淲e now mainly adopt scientific grain storage technologies such as electronic temperature measurement, mechanical ventilation and internal temperature control, as well as daily inspection of grain conditions to ensure the safety of grain storage,鈥?said Li Changliang, a storekeeper of a warehouse of wheat in the Shunyi Storehouse.

He can assess the situation of the grains through changes in grain temperature, thanks to more than 300 temperature measurement points in the warehouse storing over 6,000 tons of wheat.

In general, the average grain temperature of the whole warehouse is below 20 degrees Celsius throughout the year.

A smart integrated control platform can ensure real-time monitoring of grains, as each warehouse is equipped with a comprehensive monitoring system with high-definition monitors.

鈥淲e can check real-time situations inside and outside the warehouse through all-weather remote monitoring, ensuring intelligent prediction and early warning of changes in grain conditions through big data analysis and comparison, realizing scientific and green grain storage,鈥?said an employee of the Shunyi Storehouse.

So far, over 98 percent of Sinograin鈥檚 more than 980 granaries have realized scientific grain storage, with the percentage of grains that met the required standards remaining above 95 percent.

Sinograin has also established a relatively stable rotation mechanism. It sells out the grains that are close to or just past the storage life, and purchases grains that meet the quality and food safety standards each year to ensure regular storage of fresh grains.

The company is investing more in scientific and technological research, deploying Internet of Things, big data and other technologies to ensure sound management and high quality of China鈥檚 grain reserves.

(Xinhua)16:26, September 18, 2020

NANJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — Key villages for rural tourism in east Chinas Jiangsu Province received 4.45 million tourists in August, up 14 percent from the previous month, the provincial department of culture and tourism said Thursday.

From January to June, Jiangsu received about 110 million visitors, recovering to more than 70 percent of the same period last year, according to Jing Shengxian, deputy director of the department.

The province earned a total revenue of 33.55 billion yuan (about 4.9 billion U.S. dollars) from rural tourism in the first half of this year, which has recovered to more than 60 percent of the same period last year.

In order to boost culture and tourism consumption, especially in the upcoming National Day holiday, Jiangsu will hold a rural tourism festival from Sept. 26 till the end of October, featuring a series of activities and products, as well as 50 travel routes.

At present, visiting suburban areas has emerged as the most preferred choice. From January to August, a total of 1.21 billion trips to rural areas were made across the country, generating total revenue of 592.5 billion yuan, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

(Xinhua)16:28, September 18, 2020

HONG KONG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — An active participation in the development of the Greater Bay Area will be a key direction for reviving the economy after the epidemic, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said at the 2020 Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Cooperation Chief Executive Joint Conference on Friday.

The chief executive and the relevant officials of the HKSAR government participated in the conference through video conferencing in Hong Kong.

The development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) is a major development strategy in the countrys reform and opening up in the new era and will foster the development of the PPRD region. HKSARs active participation in the development of the Greater Bay Area will be a key direction for reviving the economy after the epidemic, she said.

At the meeting, Lam discussed various matters with other government leaders of the PPRD provinces and regions, including jointly promoting the high-quality development of the PPRD regional cooperation in the post-epidemic era, building a modernized transport network, and jointly creating an innovative platform for cross-system collaboration.

She mentioned that professional services, financial and legal services in particular, are the fundamental strengths of Hong Kong, hoping that the professional services sectors of Hong Kong could assist enterprises of the PPRD region to explore overseas markets.

Lam pointed out that the epidemic has highlighted the importance of developing and promoting the application of technology. She recognized the potential of Hong Kongs technological and innovative products and solutions to enter overseas markets, which boosted the confidence in developing Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub in the Greater Bay Area.

She said that the HKSAR government is promoting Hong Kongs experiences in applying technology to combat the epidemic to overseas markets, especially the countries along the Belt and Road, and would be pleased to share more experiences with the PPRD provinces and regions.

Lam also mentioned that Hong Kong has come through a difficult period over the past year. She expressed gratitude to the central government and the PPRD provinces and regions for their support to Hong Kong.

She specifically thanked Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian for deploying the support team to assist the HKSAR government in successfully concluding the Universal Community Testing Program, which has provided COVID-19 testing for around 1.8 million Hong Kong residents.

The PPRD is an important regional cooperation platform covering Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan as well as the Hong Kong and Macao SARs. It was officially launched in 2004.

(Xinhua)09:17, September 13, 2020

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — The Chinese mainland reported 10 new imported COVID-19 cases Saturday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 2,635, the National Health Commission said Sunday.

Of the new imported cases, three were reported in Shanghai, two in Zhejiang, and one each in Tianjin, Henan, Guangdong, Guangxi and Shaanxi, the commission said in its daily report.

Among all the imported cases, 2,484 had been discharged from hospitals after recovery, and 151 remained hospitalized, with one in severe condition, the commission said.

No deaths had been reported from the imported cases.

(Xinhua)09:17, September 13, 2020

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — The National Health Commission said Sunday that 13 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals after recovery on the Chinese mainland Saturday.

There were 151 patients still being treated, including one in severe condition, the commission said in its daily report.

Altogether 80,399 patients had been cured and discharged from hospitals by Saturday, the report said.

As of Saturday, a total of 85,184 confirmed COVID-19 cases had been reported on the mainland, among whom 4,634 died of the disease.

(Xinhua)10:07, September 13, 2020

BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — The 23rd China Beijing International High-Tech Expo will be held in Beijing from Sept. 17 to 20, showcasing the latest technological achievements, the expos organizer said on Saturday.

This years expo will have an exhibition area of 30,000 square meters in its main venue, and will hold nine promotional events and two forums, according to the Beijing sub-council of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Federation of Engineering Organizations, and seven other international organizations, as well as more than 800 tech firms from home and abroad, have confirmed their participation.

(Xinhua)11:40, September 13, 2020

SANTIAGO, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — The Chinese Dream, a new book presented by Chilean economist Osvaldo Rosales and virtually launched Thursday, focuses on Chinas economic and cultural history, providing an in-depth understanding while seeking to demolish some stereotypes about the nation.

The work, which examines how China sees itself and how we Westerners make mistakes when interpreting it– according to the author — is being co-published by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

China made a triple transition in the most populous economy on the planet. From a closed economy to an open one, from a planned one to a market one, and from a rural society to an urban society, said Rosales, former director of ECLACs International Trade and Integration Division.

In his book, Rosales, a specialist in international relations as well as in Chinese culture and politics, urges readers to understand the Chinese dream, which guides the political and economic decisions of the nation.

This work emphasizes the need to achieve a more balanced, more inclusive development, more respectful of the environment, said ECLACs Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena during the virtual meeting.

Constanza Jorquera, an academic at the School of Political Science at the Diego Portales University in Chile, described the work as a Latin American vision regarding how to conceive of China and relate to it, noting that Latin America must reevaluate how it views the country.

Those who attended the launch agreed that the authors work presents a refined diagnosis of the Chinese experience, with a vast historical perspective that culminates in a substantive contribution to knowledge.

Jointly organized by the Permanent Forum of Foreign Policy, the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, the Institute of International Studies at the University of Chile, and the ECLAC, the launch attracted hundreds of online guests.

The book was previously presented in Argentina and Uruguay in March.

(Xinhua)08:52, September 14, 2020

HANGZHOU, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — This week, Gao Heyan, a freshman enrolled at Cornell University, chose not to go to his campus in the United States. Instead, he went to the International Campus of Zhejiang University in Haining, a small city about 130 km away from Shanghai. Gao will study and live on the campus as an exchange student for the fall semester.

Considering the COVID-19 epidemic, I think I am very lucky to have the alternative to experience a different campus, otherwise I would have to study online courses alone at home, Gao said. We will have more than 30 freshmen from Cornell entering Zhejiang University this fall.

Cornell University has launched a program called Study Away. Chinese students like Gao, who cannot return to campus in the United States, can apply to enter eight famous universities in China, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Zhejiang University, for online study.

As of Thursday, the International Campus of Zhejiang University had accepted more than 300 Chinese freshmen from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Cornell University.

We have had long-term cooperation and interaction with many American universities, said Wang Yufen, director of the office of student affairs at the International Campus of Zhejiang University. Wang said this group of Chinese students studying in the United States, who came to Zhejiang University, would enjoy the same kind of campus services as Zhejiang University students.

Zhejiang University also provides teachers and teaching assistants for these students to help with offline discussions, and offers general courses, such as modern Chinese history and cross-cultural exchanges.

Haining Campus offers us a good environment, where I can go to the gym, swim, and play basketball with other schoolmates. The school also provides some offline courses, which could better prepare us for study in the United States, said Zou Jiaru, a freshman majoring in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UIUC.

Some students, however, still have concerns because online courses are set according to American time. The courses are usually offered late at night or early in the morning in China.

Statistics show that in addition to UIUC and Cornell University, nearly 20 American universities, including Duke University, New York University, and Georgia Institute of Technology, also reached agreements with Chinese universities for them to accept Chinese students, who were meant to attend school in the United States.

According to official data, 177 F1 student visas were issued on the Chinese mainland from April to July this year, while 80,934 visas were issued in the same period in 2019.

I will graduate soon and I originally planned to study in the United States. Now I have to pay close attention to the issuance of student visas by the U.S. government. I hope the situation will get better after the fall semester, said Tang Zhizhan, a senior student at ZJU-UIUC Institute, Zhejiang University. If not, I will consider pursuing my studies in China.

(Xinhua)09:14, September 14, 2020

GUIYANG, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) — A total of 109,500 privately-owned enterprises had joined in a poverty alleviation program targeting poverty-stricken villages in China by June, said a senior official with the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) on Saturday.

These private businesses have helped 127,100 villages, including 68,900 registered poverty-stricken villages, Fan Youshan, ACFIC vice chairman, told a forum held in Danzhai County in southwest Chinas Guizhou Province.

The program was launched in October 2015 by ACFIC, the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, and the China Society for Promotion of the Guangcai Program.

These private firms have made nearly 91.6 billion yuan (about 13.4 billion U.S. dollars) of industrial investments in these poverty-stricken areas over the past years, with an additional 15.2 billion yuan for public welfare projects.

The firms have helped create 799,000 jobs and trained 1.16 million people, benefiting a registered poverty-stricken population of 15.64 million.

The ACFIC will guide the private businesses to earmark more new resources for more than 1,100 villages that are yet to be lifted out of poverty to help win the countrys battle against poverty.