A woman shows two sides of a commemorative coin in Huai’an， Jiangsu Province in east China， on January 29. The central bank issued a 10-yuan （$1.55） coin on January 29 to celebrate the Year of the Ox. In total， 150 million such coins were issued.
　　The Year of the Ox starts on February 12 and will end on January 31， 2022.

Welcoming the Spring Festival

Residents of Taiyuan， Shanxi Province in north China， buy decorations on January 31 in preparation of the Spring Festival on February 12.

Vaccine Progress

Seven Chinese-produced novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19） vaccines have entered Phase III clinical trials， according to an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology （MOST）， Xinhua News Agency reported on January 31.
　　China now has 16 such selfdeveloped vaccines undergoing clinical trials， Wu Yuanbin， Director General of Science and Technology for Social Development with MOST， said at a recent conference on hematology.
　　An inactivated vaccine developed by Beijing Biological Products Institute Co. Ltd. under the China National Biotec Group affiliated with Sinopharm， became the first to receive conditional market approval from the National Medical Products Administration last month. The provisional results of its Phase III clinical trials show a 79.34 percent efficacy against COVID-19.

Fewer Trips

The number of railway passenger trips took a nosedive in the first days of the 40-day Spring Festival travel season amid stringent epidemic control measures， data from the national railway operator showed on January 31.
　　Passengers made 2.96 million railway trips on January 30， and 3.08 million and 2.83 million trips respectively on January 28 and 29， according to the China State Railway Group Co. Ltd.
　　Trips made in the first three days of the usual travel peak were down nearly 75 percent year on year， the group said， forecasting a similar plunge on January 31 as some 2.9 million people were expected to take train.
　　Considering the sporadic COVID-19 cases and measures to reduce people’s migration， the group previously lowered its estimate of passenger trips from 407 million to 296 million for the travel peak.
　　To ease the flow and curb the spread of the epidemic， many places across China have encouraged their residents and migrant workers to stay put for the annual festival.

Ensuring Supplies

China will roll out a slew of measures to guarantee sufficient supplies of daily necessities during the Spring Festival holiday， authorities announced on January 27. 　　A total of 20，000 to 30，000 tons of pork from China’s central reserves will be put in the market to meet the rising demand for food during the holiday， Zhu Xiaoliang， an official with the Ministry of Commerce， said during a press conference hosted by the State Council joint prevention and control mechanism against COVID-19.
　　Zhu urged major wholesale markets of farm produce， catering companies， hotels and shopping malls to extend their business hours during the holiday to facilitate offline consumption.
　　The government is encouraging e-commerce platforms and logistics companies to work during the holiday， according to Zhu.

Advance Sales

Detective Chinatown 3 has seen its advance ticket sales exceed 100 million yuan （$15 million）. It will join six other domestic titles to screen in China during the Chinese New Year.
　　The highly anticipated comedy from Wanda Pictures led the advance sales chart for the week-long Spring Festival holiday， contributing more than two thirds of bookings， statistics from film data and e-ticketing platform Maoyan showed at noon on January 31.
　　The holiday is of great importance to China’s film industry.More than 4 million Maoyan users have expressed their interest in seeing the film. It is a sequel to the 2018 hit comedy Detective Chinatown 2.

Illegal Websites

China shut down 18，489 illegal websites in 2020， and issued warning notices to an additional 4，551， according to the Cyberspace Administration of China， Xinhua News Agency reported on January 30.
　　Some of the websites were shut down for promoting online gaming or dating under the guise of offering virtual courses， while others were punished for illegal materials including pornographic and violent contents.
　　Cyberspace administration departments in 2020 launched a series of campaigns to protect adolescents.

Thorough Disinfection

Staff members disinfect Shijiazhuang Railway Station West Square in Shijiazhuang， capital of Hebei Province in north China， on January 31. Local authorities have organized disinfection across the city’s key public areas to prepare for the reopening of business.

Professional Ethics

China will establish a mechanism to expose ethics violations by faculty members in higher education， the Ministry of Education（MOE） said on January 27.
　　During the faculty recruitment process， a nationwide sex offender database will be checked to bar those unqualified from teaching jobs， Ren Youqun， an MOE official in charge of teachers’ work， said. 　　Ren made the announcement while briefing a press conference on the two latest documents concerning the management of teaching staff at universities and the latest developments in education reform and innovation.
　　Professional ethics count the most in terms of faculty recruitment， conferral of academic titles， teaching work placement， selection of dissertation supervisors， teaching performance appraisals and research fund applications at colleges and universities， Ren added.

Mobile Phone Ban

Primary and middle schools have introduced a ban on the use of mobile phones in classrooms， as part of an effort to protect pupils from Internet and video game addiction， Xinhua News Agency reported on February 1.
　　Primary and middle school students should not bring their mobile phones into classrooms， according to a recent circular from the MOE.
　　If a student must bring his or her mobile phone to school， a special request should be submitted to the school authorities along with written consent from their guardians.
　　Once approved， students must hand in their mobile phones to designated school offices upon entering the school premises. The phones will then by no means be allowed inside classrooms.
　　Further measures will be put in place by individual schools to better meet their students’ need to reach their parents by phone while on campus.

Baby’s Day Out

An antelope calf at the Shanghai Zoo on January 31. The animal is listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List as a critically endangered species.

Financing Leaders

Guangdong， Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces were the top three regions in terms of aggregate financing to the real economy in 2020， the central bank said on February 2.
　　Guangdong in south China led the country with an amount of 4.07 trillion yuan （$630 billion）， according to a table posted on the website of the People’s Bank of China.
　　The figures for Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the east hit 3.36 trillion yuan （$520 billion） and 3.22 trillion yuan （$498 billion）， respectively.
　　By the end of 2020， the national outstanding social financing rose 13.3 percent year on year to 284.83 trillion yuan（$44 trillion）. Of the total， the outstanding yuan-denominated loans to the real economy were 171.6 trillion yuan （$26.56 trillion）， up 13.2 percent year on year.

Industrial Plan

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology unveiled a three-year action plan for the development of the electronics industry on January 29， saying breakthroughs are expected in major sectors such as smart terminals， 5G and the industrial Internet. Additionally， the annual sales of electronic components are expected to reach 2.1 trillion yuan （$324.5 billion） by 2023. 　　According to the ministry， the competitiveness of China’s advantageous products， as well as the resilience and supply capacities of the domestic industrial chain， will be enhanced by 2023.
　　Specifically， it said patents of key products such as multilayer ceramic capacitors （MLCCs） and optical fiber communication devices would be better leveraged to forge a batch of new enterprises with competitive edge in the global market.
　　A mobile phone contains more than 1，000 MLCCs， and a new-energy vehicle uses more than 10，000 MLCCs.
　　China boasts a generally complete domestic supply chain of electronic components， but it has yet to reach an advanced international level in terms of technology and industrialization， Yang Xudong， an official with the ministry， said.

Customs Reform

Data from the General Administration of Customs of China showed that in December 2020， clearing Chinese customs took an average of 34.91 hours for imports and 1.78 hours for exports， 1.82 hours and 0.95 hour faster than a year ago， respectively.
　　Compared with 2017， the import clearance time within customs facilities was slashed by 64.2 percent， while the export clearance time fell 85.5 percent.
　　China has continued to streamline its customs clearance procedures， cutting the number of certificates required to 41 this year， down from 86 in 2018. Most of these forms can now be submitted online.
　　To mitigate impacts of the epidemic on foreign trade， China has rolled out a series of policies. In 2020， the customs authorities waived 268.77 billion yuan （$41.5 billion） in taxes for foreign trade firms.

NUMBERS

Duty-Free Shops

Two new offshore duty-free shops opened in Haikou， capital of the island province of Hainan in the south， on January 31， raising the number of this kind of retail outlets in the province to nine.
　　Under Hainan’s tax policies， these shops enable consumers who are departing the province，but not China， to purchase products paying zero import duty.
　　Beginning on July 1， 2020， Hainan increased its annual duty-free shopping quota from 30，000 yuan （$4，639） to 100，000 yuan （$15，463） per person. The categories of dutyfree goods have been expanded from 38 to 45， with electronic products such as mobile phones and laptops added to the dutyfree list.
　　The previous duty-free limit of 8，000 yuan （$1，237） for a single product has been lifted， and the number of categories with a single-purchase quantity limit has been significantly reduced. The duty-free purchase limit for cosmetics has also been raised from 12 items to 30. 　　Official data shows sales of offshore duty-free shops in the province exceeded 32 billion yuan （$4.98 billion） in 2020.
　　Following the policy upgrade， the average daily duty-free sales hit 120 million yuan （$18.5 million） at the end of 2020， a more than twofold increase year on year.
　　After duty-free sales doubled in 2020， industry insiders say duty-free shopping in Hainan is likely to become a 100-billionyuan （$15.4-billion） industry over the next few years.

Trade Freights

Yiwu， the world’s largest consumer goods trade hub in Zhejiang Province in east China， will launch more than 1，500 Europe-bound freight trains this year， according to the provincial government.
　　The cargo route linking Yiwu with Europe via Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China handled 1，399 ChinaEurope freight trains in 2020， soaring by 165 percent year on year.
　　As a major foreign trade engine in China， Zhejiang saw its exports grow 9.1 percent year on year to nearly 2.52 trillion yuan （$388.5 billion） in 2020. The province accounted for 14 percent of China’s total export volume.
　　Initiated in 2011， the ChinaEurope rail transport service is a significant part of the Belt and Road Initiative， established to boost trade between China and other participating countries.
　　The novel coronavirus disease has greatly affected sea and air transportation. During the pandemic， the China-Europe freight train service has played a significant role in stabilizing international railway logistics， ensuring smooth transportation of goods， including personal protective equipment and other medical supplies.

Clean Power

Qinghai Province in northwest China generated 84.7 billion kWh of electricity from clean energy sources in 2020， up 8.7 percent year on year， according to local authorities.
　　As a result， 38.11 million tons of standard coal equivalent were saved， cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 62.68 million tons， according to Fang Baomin from State Grid Qinghai Electric Power Co.
　　Qinghai is known for its rich water， solar and wind power. Last year， clean energy sources accounted for 89 percent of the province’s total power generation. Hydropower generation reached 59.9 billion kWh， up 8.1 percent on the previous year. Electricity generated from solar energy and wind energy came in at 16.7 billion kWh and 8.1 billion kWh， up 5.5 percent and 22.5 percent， respectively.
　　By the end of 2020， the total installed power generating capacity of Qinghai reached 40.3 million kW， with 90 percent using clean energy.