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Warm-hearted bus drivers carry wheelchair-bound boy to rehabilitation training for six years

(Peoples Daily Online)15:38, November 25, 2020

A video clip of a bus driver carrying a little boy to go to rehabilitation training in Qingdao, east Chinas Shandong province, has recently gone viral.

The wheelchair-bound boy, Tong Tong (pseudonym), is 13 years old and has to go to downtown Qingdao for rehabilitation training every day.

Six years ago, Yu Yimu and Lu Zhenhua, drivers of Bus No. K1, met the boy by chance and learned about his story.

When the child was born, severe asphyxia resulted in brain damage, and he couldnt stand up, walk or talk. He has to go into the city for rehabilitation training every day, said Ms. Zhang, Tong Tongs mother.

After Ms. Zhang told Lu Zhenhua that Tong Tongs father had to go to work and she had to take his son on Bus No. K1 to the hospital by herself every day, Lu decided to lend a helping hand.

After learning what happened, Yu Yimu, Lus colleague, also took on the task of carrying the child on his back for the bus trips every day. Lu and Yu have been doing this for six years.

During this time, with the help of these bus drivers, Tong Tong has gone from being unable to walk or talk to being able to take stumbling steps and speak intermittently. Tong Tong can now say simple words like Dad and Hi.

Tong Tong now calls Yu Yimu and Lu Zhenhua Father Yu and Father Lu.

Thousands of netizens were moved by the actions of the caring bus drivers. Yu Yimu and Lu Zhenhua were recently given bonuses of 10,000 yuan ($1,520) for the help they have given the boy.

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Chinas agricultural product wholesale prices edge up

(Xinhua)16:38, November 25, 2020

The wholesale prices of Chinas agricultural products edged up Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

The latest China agricultural product wholesale price index came in at 118.69, up 0.03 points from the previous working day.

By 2 p.m. Wednesday, the average wholesale price of pork, a staple meat in China, was basically flat with Tuesday at 39.35 yuan (about 5.99 U.S. dollars) per kg, and that of eggs went up 0.5 percent to 7.55 yuan per kg.

The average wholesale prices of 28 key types of vegetables tracked by the government went up 0.4 percent, while that of six different types of fruits went down 0.2 percent.

The wholesale price index is compiled on the basis of data collected from around 200 agricultural wholesale markets and is updated daily based on the weighted average of price indices for goods including vegetables, fruits, aquatic products, livestock products, cereals and edible vegetable oil.

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Shanxi Province finds coronavirus on imported frozen food

(Xinhua)08:48, November 26, 2020

TAIYUAN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — The city of Huozhou in north Chinas Shanxi Province has found that an imported frozen food packaging sample tested positive for the novel coronavirus, local health authorities said on Wednesday.

According to the epidemic prevention and control team of Linfen, which administers Huozhou, the sample was taken from frozen freshwater shrimps imported from Ecuador.

Local authorities have sealed the products, quarantined, and conducted nucleic acid tests on relevant personnel who had direct contact with the food. So far, all results showed negative.

China has increased efforts to block COVID-19 through imported foods, with the Ministry of Transport releasing a guideline in mid-November to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 through imported cold-chain foods in road and water transportation.

The State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19 has also unveiled a plan to realize full-chain, closed-loop, traceable management of imported cold-chain foods. They vowed to conduct complete disinfection of those products, novel coronavirus tests at the ports, and ensure all imported cold-chain foods entering the market are traceable.

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China sees evident decline in adolescent stunting

(Xinhua)09:40, November 26, 2020

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) — The national prevalence of adolescent stunting in China has been declining over the past three decades, despite regional disparities, according to a supplement to the Journal of Adolescent Health for China.

Entitled Adolescent Health in China: Epidemiology, Policy, Financing and Service Provision, the supplement, which includes six papers, was jointly released by UNICEF China and Peking University Health Science Center.

Adolescent health is an important focus of the Chinese government, and the series of results presented in the supplement will make a vital contribution to child and adolescent health-related policy making, said Zhang Ning, deputy director of Peking University Health Science Center.

An article in the supplement found that mortality among Chinese children aged between five to 14 declined from eight to two per 1,000 from 1990 to 2018, faster than the global average.

It also pointed out that the adolescent mortality burden has shifted from communicable to non-communicable diseases since the 1950s.

In addition, injuries dominated the causes of adolescent death in China. For example, road injuries and drowning were the leading causes of death in 2016.

In another study, researchers found that the countrys adolescents are threatened by obesity and dental caries. The findings indicated that the prevalence of permanent dental caries decreased gradually between 1995 and 2000 in China but increased from 2000 to 2014, and the prevalence in rural areas surpassed urban areas for the first time in 2014. Researchers believe changes in dietary patterns might have contributed to the transformation.

Other studies also shed light on the countrys allocation of spending on adolescent health, the framework of adolescent health indicators and adolescent health care in hospitals.

Douglas Noble, deputy representative to UNICEF China, said the organization will continue to provide support for research in adolescent health and keep accelerating advocacy and promoting the adolescent health agenda to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

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First unmanned farm in Shanghai enters initial stage of experimentation

(Peoples Daily Online)13:17, November 13, 2020

For the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Shanghai will create 13 pilot areas for the high-quality development of urban agriculture, one of which is the green pastoral pilot area with the core being digitalized unmanned farming in Waigang town, Jiading district.

(Photo/cctv.com)

During the harvest season, several harvesting machines were working in the rice fields; unhusked rice was neatly cut off by the harvesters, which are remotely operated by the staff members. This digitalized unmanned farm has currently entered the initial stage of experimentation.

There is 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares) of rice fields in Waigang town, of which about 13,000 mu has obtained the green certification, accounting for two-thirds of the total paddy field in the town.

(Photo/cctv.com)

The driverless system of agricultural machinery is mainly used in all kinds of large and medium-sized tractors, harvesters, paddy field machinery (such as rice transplanters) and other agricultural machinery.

(Photo/cctv.com)

Compared with traditional counterparts, agricultural machinery with a self-driving system can save more than 2 kg of seeds and increase production by about 10 kg per mu, reduce fuel costs by more than 50 percent, reduce labor costs by more than 65 percent, and increase land utilization by 0.5 to 1 percent.

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Chinas CPI up 0.2 pct in December

(Xinhua)11:19, January 11, 2021

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Chinas consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 0.2 percent year on year in December, up from a 0.5-percent decrease in November, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

The CPI edged up 0.7 percent on a monthly basis, compared with the 0.6-percent drop registered in November.

Food prices increased 1.2 percent year on year last month, reversing a 2-percent decline in November and contributing about 0.26 percentage points to the CPI increase, said Dong Lijuan, a senior statistician with the NBS.

Growing consumer demand, rising costs and special weather conditions were the main factors that pushed the CPI back into positive territory, Dong said.

In breakdown, prices of both vegetables and fruits climbed 6.5 percent year on year in December, while those of beef and mutton gained 4.6 percent from a year earlier.

In 2020, Chinas CPI rose 2.5 percent year on year, staying within the governments annual target of around 3.5 percent.

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Ride-hailing giant fined for not taking adequate epidemic prevention measures

(Xinhua)16:42, January 11, 2021

BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — An online platform of Didi Chuxing, a Chinese ride-hailing giant, was fined 340,000 yuan (about 52,700 U.S. dollars) for not taking adequate epidemic prevention and control measures, according to a press conference held Sunday in Beijing.

The citys transportation law enforcement department also investigated 96 cases related to the drivers of the companys platforms who have not taken adequate measures, while fining them 1.07 million yuan.

Since Jan. 1, the department has inspected the implementation of epidemic prevention and control measures by online ride-hailing platforms, taxi companies and drivers.

Rong Jun, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport said at the press conference that some drivers of the platforms do not disinfect or ventilate their vehicles, do not wear masks or wear them correctly, or do not dissuade the passengers who do not wear masks as required.

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Macaos new approved residential mortgage loans rise 6.7 pct in November 2020

(Xinhua)09:46, January 12, 2021

MACAO, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — The new approvals of Macaos residential mortgage loans (RMLs) increased while those of commercial real estate loans (CRELs) decreased in November 2020, the special administrative regions monetary watchdog said on Monday.

According to statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the new RMLs approved by Macao banks rose 6.7 percent month on month to 2.92 billion patacas (about 365.6 million U.S. dollars).

The new RMLs to residents, representing 99.1 percent of the total, rose 7.2 percent to 2.89 billion patacas. On the other hand, the non-resident component decreased by 28.1 percent to 25.1 million patacas.

The monthly average of new RMLs approved between September and November last year was 4.2 billion patacas, down 13.8 percent from the period from August to October.

The new CRELs dropped 39.3 percent month on month to 1.85 billion patacas. The new CRELs to residents, or 99.1 percent of the total, decreased 39.2 percent to 1.83 billion patacas.

The new CRELs to non-residents fell 52.0 percent to 17.2 million patacas.

The monthly average of new CRELs approved between September and November 2020 was 3.7 billion patacas, down 17.8 percent as compared with the period from August to October.

At the end of November, the outstanding value of RMLs was 234.9 billion patacas, which rose 0.1 percent month on month, or 1.8 percent from a year ago.

The outstanding value of CRELs grew 0.3 percent month on month, but dropped 4.5 percent from a year earlier, to 173.5 billion patacas.

At the end of November, the delinquency ratio for RMLs stood at 0.26 percent, down 0.01 percentage point from the previous month, but up 0.03 percentage point over a year earlier.

The ratio for CRELs was 0.49 percent, up 0.07 percentage point from a month ago or 0.11 percentage point from the same period of last year. (1 pataca equals 0.1247 U.S. dollar)

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Chinas Hainan establishes legislative advisory committee for free trade port

(Xinhua)09:50, January 12, 2021

HAIKOU, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — A legislative advisory committee has been established in Haikou, the capital of south Chinas Hainan Province, to improve legislation pertinent to the provinces construction of a free trade port.

The Standing Committee of Hainan Provincial Peoples Congress set up the committee. It aims to provide intellectual support for the ports legal system and improve the legislations efficiency.

Li Jun, deputy secretary of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the rule of law would help build a better business environment and bring core competitiveness for the Hainan free trade port.

Bringing together legal experts, scholars, and practitioners from home and abroad, the committee will be a think tank for improving the legal system of Hainans free trade port, said Li.

On June 1, 2020, China released a master plan for the Hainan free trade port, aiming to build Hainan Island into a globally influential, high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

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Chinas central bank sets key tasks for 2021

(Xinhua)10:31, January 07, 2021

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) — Chinas central bank outlined key policies and tasks for 2021 during an annual work conference held in Beijing.

The Peoples Bank of China (PBOC) said Wednesday in an online statement released after the meeting that it would adhere to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, and offer effective financial support in accelerating the construction of a new development paradigm.

The following are some key policy takeaways:

— Implement a prudent monetary policy that is flexible, precise, reasonable and moderate

China will make the money supply and aggregate social financing grow at basically the same level as the countrys nominal economic growth.

It will also deepen market-oriented reform of the exchange rates of the Chinese currency, the renminbi (RMB), and stabilize market expectations to keep the RMBs exchange rate basically stable at a reasonable and balanced level.

— Establish mechanisms that offer effective financial support to the real economy

The country will prolong the policies on inclusive loan repayment extension and the credit loan support program for smaller businesses, and guide the financial institutions to strengthen support for technology innovation, private companies and small and micro-sized enterprises.

— Advance green finance

To peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, the PBOC will channel more financial resources toward green development, promote the creation of a carbon emission trading market with reasonable pricing, gradually improve the standard of green finance and continue to promote international cooperation in green finance.

— Speed up improving the macro-prudential policy framework

China will bring major financial activities, institutions, market and infrastructures under macro-prudential management. It will also improve the supervision system of financial holding companies.

— Prevent and defuse financial risks

Measures will be taken to enhance prudential supervision of the financial activities of internet platform companies, strengthen an anti-trust push and prevent the disorderly expansion of capital, as well as make steady improvements in inclusive finance services, the bank said.

— Promote reform, opening-up in the financial sector

As part of efforts to promote greater reform of the financial market and financial institutions, the country will move to improve diversified channels for bond default disposal and implement a prudential management scheme for real estate finance.

It will also deepen participation in global financial governance, expand the two-way opening-up in the financial sector, promote the opening-up in the capital account in a steady and orderly manner, and keep the scale of foreign exchange reserve basically stable.

— Prudently advance the internationalization of the RMB

China will also prudently advance the internationalization of the RMB and promote the sound and coordinated development of local and foreign currencies in onshore and offshore markets.

— Better leverage financial technology

The bank will steadily carry out pilot programs for digital currency, encourage the use of credit reporting in digital finance and economic governance, and step up efforts for the investigation and monitoring of money laundering.