Plant Factory

　　Ornamental plants at the Pinghu Agricultural Economy Development Zone in Pinghu， Zhejiang Province in east China， on January 12. The development zone comprising 11 villages and one community is promoting agricultural modernization and rural revitalization.

Forest Chiefs

　　A guideline has been issued to implement a forest protection scheme nationwide， Xinhua News Agency reported on January 12.
　　Issued by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council， the scheme is expected to be rolled out nationwide by June 2022.
　　General forest chiefs will be appointed in all provincial-level regions. They will have different levels of responsibilities in protecting forest and grassland resources.
　　Under the scheme， ecological protection and restoration of forests and grasslands will be strengthened and largescale afforestation promoted. Supervision of forest and grassland resources will be enhanced by utilizing modern information technology.
　　Prevention and control of pests and plant diseases， as well as natural disasters such as fires is also on the agenda.
　　The forest chief scheme was piloted in 2017. So far， up to 23 provincial regions have carried out the trial program， providing the foundation for its nationwide implementation.

High-Speed Railway

　　The length of high-speed rail lines in China totaled about 37，900 km at the end of 2020， almost twice that of 2015， according to the China State Railway Group， Xinhua reported on January 9.
　　By the end of 2019， the length of the country’s highspeed rail lines had exceeded 35，000 km， accounting for more than two thirds of the world’s total， a white paper titled Sustainable Development of Transport in China released in December 2020 said.
　　China had 146，300 km of rail lines at the end of 2020， up 20.9 percent from that at the end of 2015.
　　In 2020， 4，933 km of new lines were opened to traffic， while about 3，700 km more will be added this year.

River Runoff

　　As the climate continues to grow warmer， increased river runoff in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau， the roof of the world， has provided more fresh water， but may still not be able to quench the growing thirst of millions downstream. 　　Home to the headwaters of over 10 major Asian rivers， the plateau has become warmer and wetter under the impact of global climate change. However， an article published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change on January 12 said that the greater runoff brought on by both increased rainfall and glacier melting may not be able to meet rising water demands from the growing population in the Indus and Ganges regions.
　　“A large proportion of the population highly dependent on upstream water resources for their livelihoods will continue to experience severe water stress even with a wetter climate，” Wang Tao， lead author of the article and a professor at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research， Chinese Academy of Sciences， said.

Sewage Treatment

　　Over the next five years， sewage water treatment capabilities will be improved and the transformation of sewage into resources enhanced， according to the National Development and Reform Commission （NDRC）.
　　By 2025， there will be a marked improvement in sewage collection efficiency， while sewage treatment capabilities in cities and counties will meet local social and economic development demands， according to a document issued this month by 10 government departments， including the NDRC.
　　In cities suffering from water shortage， more than 25 percent of the sewage treated should be used as reclaimed water. For the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China， the rate should be over 35 percent.
　　By 2035， China expects to establish an organized， safe， environment-friendly and economical pattern in wastewater resource utilization.
　　The document said efforts should be made to push forward the recycling of wastewater as resource in key areas.
　　Some 75 billion cubic meters of urban wastewater were discharged in 2019， but the amount of reclaimed water used was less than 10 billion cubic meters.

New Taxpayers

　　A total of 57.45 million new taxpayers were registered in the past five years， surging 83 percent from the 2011-15 period， according to the State Taxation Administration， Xinhua reported on January 11.
　　More than 90 percent of the new market entities are privately owned. The proportion increased year by year during the period.
　　Rao Lixin， a senior auditor with the administration， attributed the sustained rapid growth of new taxpayers to continued taxation reforms， streamlined approval procedures and preferential policies designated for micro and small businesses. 　　Tax and fee cuts totaled about 7.6 trillion yuan （$1.17 trillion） during the 2016-20 period， including over 2.5 trillion yuan（$386 billion） waived last year to contain the novel coronavirus disease （COVID-19） epidemic and support economic and social development.
　　From 2016 to 2019， a total of 406.7 billion yuan （$62.8 billion） of income tax was waived for micro and small businesses， benefiting 23.69 million firms.
　　Tax authorities will optimize law enforcement and the business environment to promote the steady growth of market entities， Rao said.

Safe Operation

　　A maintenance worker from the State Grid Liupanshui Power Supply Co. in Liupanshui， Guizhou Province in southwest China， checks for ice on power transmission lines on January 12. Heavy snow hit the city and the company organized checkups and maintenance of power transmission equipment to ensure stable and safe operation of electric networks.

New Crops

　　Scientists have bred new varieties of major crops during the 13th Five-Year Plan （2016-20） period， providing support for national food security， the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences （CAAS） said on January 12.
　　CAAS has made remarkable progress in staple crop breeding in recent years.
　　Achievements have been made in genome analysis， cloning of new genes and key breeding technologies for crops including wheat， rice， corn， soybean and coarse cereals， Wan Jianmin， Vice President of CAAS， said at a press conference.
　　The research results have been published in top international journals such as Science， Nature， Nature Biotechnology and Nature Genetics， providing the theoretical basis and technical support for genetic improvement and precise breeding， Wan said.
　　According to him， CAAS has made breakthroughs in breeding new varieties that are of high quality， more capable of withstanding tough conditions and more suitable for machine reaping.
　　A research center for protecting and utilizing crop germplasm resources has been set up， preserving the second largest amount of crop germplasm resources in the world.

Port E-Commerce

　　The customs authority at Alataw Pass， a major rail port in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China， has handled more than 1 million cross-border parcels so far this year.
　　In a little over a week since the New Year， the value of products that passed through the port amounted to over 8 million yuan （$1.24 million）， showing active cross-border e-commerce， according to the customs. 　　The outbound parcels， including toys， digital products， clothes and daily necessities， were mainly from China’s manufacturing hubs such as Dongguan and Shenzhen in south China and Hangzhou in east China and were dispatched to European countries including Belgium， the Netherlands and Germany.
　　The customs said it has worked with the local railway departments to facilitate the customs clearance process for the export enterprises.
　　Alataw Pass boasts the highest number of China-Europe freight train lines in China， and is favored by cross-border ecommerce companies that plan to export westward.

City-Wide Testing

　　A medical worker collects a swab sample from a child at a community COVID-19 testing site in Qiaoxi District in Shijiazhuang， capital of Hebei Province， north China， on January 12. Shijiazhuang started a second round of nucleic acid tests for all residents that day.

Bond Connect Boom

　　China’s Bond Connect program saw robust activity last year， with trading volume surging more than 80 percent year on year， according to a recent report released by Bond Connect Co.， Ltd.
　　In 2020， the total trading volume under the program reached 4.81 trillion yuan （$713.6 billion）.
　　By the end of last year， Bond Connect had 2，352 approved investors， up 46.9 percent from 2019.
　　The trading volume under the program hit a single-day record high of 36.94 billion yuan（$5.7 billion） on December 16， 2020.
　　The Bond Connect program， launched in July 2017， is a mutual market access scheme that allows overseas investors to invest in the Chinese mainland’s interbank bond market.

Business Environment

　　China’s business environment will be further improved in the 14th Five-Year Plan Period（2021-25） while boosting quality management of products， projects， and services， Zhang Gong， head of the State Administration for Market Regulation， said.
　　China’s business environment has improved remarkably in the 13th Five-Year Plan Period（2016-20）， with the average time to start a business shrinking from more than 30 days to less than four days， Zhang said.
　　In the next five years， China will take a series of measures to boost business system reforms and provide market entities with a fair， transparent， procedure-based， convenient and predictable business environment， he said. 　　The list of business permits for enterprises successfully piloted in 18 pilot free trade zones will become a national standard and will apply nationwide， he said.
　　China will intensify reforms in pilot free trade zones to meet the needs of deepening reforms and building a high-standard market system， he said.
　　In 2020， the administration stepped up law enforcement against monopolies and unfair competition， involving both online and offline activities， Zhang said. He pledged new efforts to fight these practices and prevent the disorderly expansion of capital.
　　During the 14th Five-Year Plan period， China will continue to strengthen quality management of key products， industries， and projects， and daily consumer goods and services， he said.
　　The quality of Chinese products and services has improved remarkably， as 93.86 percent of manufactured products met quality standards. The figure was 100 percent for large and medium-sized construction projects， data from the market regulator showed.

NUMBERS

Online Payment

　　Online payments through NetsUnion， Chinese online payment clearinghouse， and China UnionPay， a card payment giant， reached 3.89 trillion yuan（$600.8 billion） during the 2021 New Year holiday from January 1 to 3， a record high among all previous New Year holidays.
　　Online payments for daily necessities， hotel accommodation and catering accounted for the largest proportions of the total transactions in the threeday period， according to the two platforms.
　　NetsUnion processed 4.36 billion online payment transactions during the holiday， up 28.37 percent year on year， while data from China UnionPay showed that travel-related consumption saw steady growth in the period from one year earlier.
　　China’s consumer market remained buoyant during the holiday， with the average daily sales of key retail enterprises up 6.2 percent year on year， according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Mobile Games

　　The top 30 Chinese mobile game publishers raked in $2.16 billion worldwide in December last year， according to Sensor Tower， a mobile app data analysis firm.
　　The amount accounts for 29 percent of the total revenue in the global mobile gaming market during the period. 　　In 2020， the total sales revenue of the top 30 mobile gaming giants increased 45 percent year on year， and in contrast， the total payment of mobile gamers in App Store and Google Play only grew 27.8 percent year on year， Sensor Tower added.
　　The firm attributed the rapid expansion of these mobile game developers to their strategic understanding of the market and product innovation.
　　Tencent， NetEase， miHoYo， Lilith Games and FunPlus are among the top five Chinese developers in the list， according to Sensor Tower.

Hog Futures Listed

　　China’s first live-delivery futures variety， live pigs， began trading on January 8 at the Dalian Commodity Exchange.
　　Pig farming businesses can now use futures prices to improve their production plans and hedge spot risks. It would further promote China’s pig industry development and achieve stable prices and ample pig supplies.
　　As an agricultural and sideline product with the highest value in the country， live pigs create a market scale of about 2 trillion yuan （$309 billion） with a complete industry chain. However， China’s hog prices have been fluctuating sharply over the past years， bringing uncertainties to farmers and enterprises.
　　The listing of live pig futures will further fill the gap of livestock futures in China. Together with other varieties， including corn and soybean， it will create a commodity-price risk management system. It is conducive to promoting sound development of the livestock breeding industry， according to Fang Xinghai， Vice Chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission.