Remarkable Progress in Greening Project

　　On June 30， the State Administration of Forestry and Grassland released a whitepaper on the progress of China’s Grain for Green Program from 1999 to 2019. During the last 20 years， more than 34.3 million hectares of marginal farmland were turned into forests or grasslands. These forests accounted for more than four percent of newly added green space worldwide during the same period， the document said.
　　During the 20 years， China’s central budget invested over RMB 500 billion across the country， and the results were evident： rehabilitation of eco-systems accelerated， vegetation increased remarkably over a short span of time， forest coverage grew by more than four percent， and the eco-environment improved significantly.
　　The project has also boosted farmers’ income and poverty alleviation. It involved 41 million rural households nationwide， and directly benefited 158 million rural residents. By the end of 2019， the participating families received RMB 9，000 on average for each person in subsidies from the state. From 2007 to 2016， these families saw their per capita income grow by 14.7 percent year on year， 1.8 percentage points higher than the national average for rural residents.
　　The whitepaper calls the Grain for Green Program a great initiative of China and for the world as well. It has made great contributions to increasing carbon sink， cushioning climate change， and improving global ecological governance.

Cyber Security， a Huge Market

　　A report released by the Cyber Security Association of China shows that cyber security technologies， products， and services generated RMB 52.3 billion in revenue in China last year， an increase of 25.37 percent over 2018. The market value is expected to exceed RMB 100 billion by the end of 2023. During the 2017-19 period， the compound annual growth of China’s cyber security market tallied a record high of 28.98 percent. At present， there is about 100，000 people working in this sector.
　　In a breakdown， 66 percent of the 2019 cyber security revenue came from hardware and software products， 24 percent from security services， and 10 percent from integration services.
　　Last year， 13 Chinese cyber companies saw their annual revenue exceed more than RMB 1 billion in cyber security business， accounting for 48.82 percent of the national total； 94 companies made more than RMB 100 million； and nearly 400 companies were below the RMB 100 million mark.

Free Nine-Year Education for All

　　All school-age children in China should attend primary and middle school， unless they are unfit to do so， a new guideline said on June 29.
　　Issued by the Ministry of Education and nine other departments， the guideline stressed the need to intensify efforts to prevent dropouts in the country’s compulsory education system from first to ninth grade.
　　Thanks to the nation’s poverty alleviation efforts， the number of dropout students in China has drastically dropped from 600，000 in early 2019 to 6，781 on June 14. There were only 97 students from families registered as impoverished who were not attending primary and middle schools by June， down from 200，000 previously. The completion rate of nineyear compulsory education is expected to reach 95 percent by the end of 2020.
　　Local authorities should keep records on all dropouts and make sure all dropouts from impoverished families return to school in the fall， the guideline said. Education authorities and schools should communicate with parents and students via different means and prevent any new dropouts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
　　Education， public security， human resources， and social security authorities should share information about any students who start working before the age of 16， and employers that hire those students must be punished， the guideline said.