Asia-Business

News from China

China launches medium-lift Long March-7A carrier rocket

12th March 2021

China launched its Long March-7A Y2 carrier rocket on Friday from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's island province of Hainan.

The rocket blasted off at 1:51am (Beijing Time) from the launch site, sending an experimental satellite into the planned orbit.

The satellite will be mainly used for in-orbit tests of new technologies including space environment monitoring.

A modified version of the Long March-7 rocket, the launch vehicle represents the new generation of China's medium-sized high-orbit rocket. It has a carrying capacity of at least 7 tons for the geosynchronous orbit.

This was the 362nd flight mission of the Long March rocket series.

Source: Shanghai Daily, March 12, 2021

Govt moves to pass law to help save Yellow River

26th February 2021

A law to improve the conservation of the Yellow River Basin ecosystems and promote regional economic development is being drafted amid efforts to strengthen the protection of the watercourse and prevent environmental hazards.

The legislative work is on the agenda of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress this year and government departments are preparing the document, said Wang Fengchun, an official from NPC’s Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee.

Similar legislation aimed at protecting other river basins across the country is also in the works, he added.

Wang said that while environmental protection and green development are the top priorities in making such laws, “We will also take ecological and economic benefits into consideration to improve the green transformation of economic and social development in all respects in the river basins.”

To ensure the laws can better respond to public concerns and solve environmental problems more effectively, he said lessons will be drawn from the drafting of the Yangtze River Protection Law — which was passed late last year — with a cross-department legislative team established and opinions solicited from more walks of life, both online and offline.

Groundbreaking law

The Yangtze River Protection Law was the first law in China made for a specific river basin.

Aimed at promoting well-coordinated environmental conservation and avoiding excessive development, the law will come into force on March 1.

As well as strengthening protection of the ecology of Asia’s longest river, the law will also restrict exploitation of shorelines and impose tougher punishments for a number of violations that cause environmental hazards in the river basin.

Fishing, for example, will be banned in all of the Yangtze’s natural waterways, including in its main tributaries and lakes.

Environmental authorities pledged to try their best to make sure the law can be implemented effectively.

Ma Yi, head of the office for dealing with Yangtze River matters at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said they will guide local government departments in the implementation of the fishing ban, helping to save endangered species in the river.

Source: Shanghai Daily, February 26, 2021

Xi hails China's poverty eradication miracle

25th February 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday hailed the country's achievement of eradicating extreme poverty as a miracle that shall "go down in history."

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing a grand gathering held in Beijing to mark the country's accomplishments in poverty alleviation and award its model poverty fighters.

In his speech, Xi declared a "complete victory" in the fight against poverty through joint efforts from all ethnic groups.

Over the past eight years, China has lifted 98.99 million poor rural residents under the current poverty line out of poverty, with 832 impoverished counties and 128,000 poor villages removed from the poverty list.

Eliminating poverty in rural areas is a key contribution to accomplishing the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, Xi stressed.

Since late 2012, China has built or upgraded 1.1 million km of rural roads, provided a reliable supply of power to rural areas, and expanded fiber-optic Internet access and 4G signal coverage to more than 98 percent of its poor villages.

During the same period, some 25.68 million impoverished people from 7.9 million households have seen their dilapidated houses renovated, and more than 9.6 million people have been relocated from impoverished areas.

In addition, 28 ethnic minority groups with relatively small population have shaken off poverty collectively.

Xi said the country has created a "China example" of poverty reduction and made great contributions to global poverty alleviation.

China has lifted 770 million rural residents out of poverty since the beginning of the reform and opening-up over 40 years ago when calculated in accordance with China's current poverty line, accounting for more than 70 percent of the global total according to the World Bank's international poverty line.

China has met the poverty eradication target set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 10 years ahead of schedule, Xi said.

Source: Shanghai Daily, February 25, 2021

2 new imported COVID-19 cases reported in Shanghai

20th February 2021

Two imported coronavirus cases were reported in the city on Friday, said the Shanghai Health Commission on Saturday morning. No locally transmitted cases were reported.

Both patients are Chinese working in Ethiopia who arrived at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport on February 16 on the same flight.

They have been transferred to the designated hospital for treatment, while 64 close contacts on the same flights have been put under quarantine and observation at designated places.

Meanwhile, four patients were discharged upon recovery, the commission said.

So far, of all the 1,407 imported cases, 1,338 have been discharged upon recovery and 69 are still hospitalized.

Two imported suspected cases are undergoing test.

Of all the 371 local cases, 348 have been discharged upon recovery and 16 are hospitalized. There have been so far seven local fatalities.

No suspected local cases were reported, and no asymptomatic infection cases are undergoing medical observation now, the local health commission said.

Source: Shanghai Daily, February 20. 2021

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40