Artists perform at the Mid-Autumn Festival Concert in the Greater Bay Area 2021 held in Shenzhen， Guangdong Province， in celebration of the traditional Chinese festival on September 21.
　　A number of new songs that signify the integration of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area， too， made their stage debut in this show themed on family reunions.

New Motto

　　The unveiling ceremony of the official motto for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022（Beijing 2022） “Together for a Shared Future” takes place in Beijing on September 17. As the Beijing 2022 organizers explained， “Together” depicts how mankind stays strong in the face of adversity and points out the solution to overcome those difficulties and create a better future； “for a Shared Future” embodies the vision for a better life and conveys hope and confidence.

Successful Docking

　　China’s cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-3， carrying supplies for the upcoming Shenzhou-13 crewed mission， successfully docked with the space station core module Tianhe on September 20， according to the China Manned Space Agency（CMSA）.
　　At 10：08 p.m. （Beijing Time）， Tianzhou-3 completed a computer-orchestrated rendezvous and docking at the rear docking port of the Tianhe core module. The whole process took approximately 6.5 hours， the CMSA said.
　　Following Tianzhou-3’s docking， two cargo crafts， docked at the two ends of the Tianhe core module to form a linear shape， are waiting for the arrival of Shenzhou-13 crew members.
　　Tianzhou-3 carries nearly 6 tons of goods and materials， including living supplies for the astronauts， one extravehicular space suit for back-up， supplies for extravehicular activities， space station platform materials， payloads and propellants.

Rare Horse Species

　　The number of Przewalski’s horses in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region had grown to 487 by the end of 2020， according to the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding and Research Center.
　　The Przewalski’s horse is believed to be the only truly wild horse species in existence today. It is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species and is under first-class national protection. 　　The horse species had been introduced to the United Kingdom， Germany and the United States before its extinction in China due to excessive poaching and environmental degradation. Starting in the mid-1980s， some horses have been brought back to China， raised in Xinjiang and Gansu Province.
　　In 2000， the population of this rare horse in Xinjiang increased to nearly 100， and some of them have been roaming wildly at a nature reserve since 2001.
　　“Over the past 20 years， 16 batches of the rare horses have been released into the Xinjiang wild. A total of 110 wild horses have returned to the wilderness and their population had increased to 274 by the end of last year，” said Yang Jianming， director of the research center.
　　The center will release 18 such horses into the wild over the next few months.

Picturesque Festival

　　The 21st Pingyao International Photography Festival kicked off in Pingyao， a UNESCO world cultural heritage site known for its well-preserved ancient architecture， in Shanxi Province， on September 19.
　　Themed “Wonderful World and Beautiful China” this year， the week-long festival showcased more than 8，000 works by 1，679 photographers from 26 countries and regions.
　　As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China（CPC）， the festival presented an exhibition featuring 100 photos from 100 photographers covering the past 100 years to showcase the history of the CPC.
　　Due to the pandemic， the festival mainly took place online this year.
　　Launched in 2001， the annual festival has attracted photographers from more than 100 countries and regions， and is considered an important stage for cross-cultural communication.

Tax Regulations

　　China will further intensify tax regulations on individuals and businesses in the entertainment industry as part of efforts to promote the sector’s sound and long-term development， according to the latest guideline released by the State Taxation Administration （STA）.
　　The tightened regulation will focus on day-to-day management and require celebrities and live-streaming performers to set up tax accounts for their studios or businesses in accordance with the law and have their tax declarations and payments audited and verified by the tax authorities， said the STA circular.
　　The guideline also underlined the need to carry out regular tax risk assessments on this sector， based on which celebrities and network anchors exposed to tax risks will receive one-to-one reminders and can rectify their problems.

Past and Present

　　People pass by a mural depicting life in a small alley in an old residential area of Shanghai on September 19. The neighborhood is under renovation.

War Commemoration

　　Sirens sounded and a huge bell tolled in Shenyang， capital of Liaoning Province， on September 18， in commemoration of the September 18 Incident 90 years ago that marked the start of Japan’s 14-year invasion of China.
　　Some 300 people gathered in front of the 9.18 Historical Museum in the morning. At 9：18 a.m.， 14 representatives from all of society jointly struck the huge bell at the museum 14 times， symbolizing the arduous course of China’s bitter war against Japanese aggressors. Air raid sirens wailed for three minutes， with pedestrians stopping in the streets and drivers honking their horns.
　　On September 18， 1931， Japanese troops blew up a section of railway under their control near Shenyang and accused Chinese troops of sabotage as a pretext for the attack. Later that night， they bombarded barracks near Shenyang， starting the bloody invasion.
　　Since 1995， Shenyang has been sounding the alarm every year to commemorate the events of that tragic day.

Wetland City

　　A total of 80 wetland parks will be constructed in Wuhan， capital of Hubei Province， over a period of five years， local authorities announced.
　　The city plans to improve the ecological environment through 213 projects， including wetland parks， street gardens and flower fields.
　　The city is also making further efforts to protect and restore 15 wetland nature reserves and parks， said Yu Lijun， head of the municipal forestry bureau.
　　“We hope to turn Wuhan into a genuine international wetland city in five years，” Yu said.
　　Wuhan， sitting at the confluence of the Yangtze River and its longest tributary， the Hanjiang River， boasts about 1，624 square km of wetlands.
　　In 2019， the city won the bid for the 14th Wetland City Accreditation of the Ramsar Convention and set the goal of creating an international wetland city.
　　The Ramsar Convention， or the Convention on Wetlands， is an inter-governmental environmental treaty adopted in 1971. It provides a framework for national action and international cooperation regarding the conservation and sensible use of wetlands and their resources.

Quantum Conference

　　A quantum computing prototype model is on display at the 2021 Quantum Industry Conference in Hefei， capital of Anhui Province， on September 18. Themed “Quantum Technology·Industry Revolution，” the conference brought together scientific researchers and industry leaders to discuss the development of the quantum industry and released a series of applications.

Innovation Leader

　　China remains the only middleincome economy listed in the world’s top 30 most innovative ones， according to a report released by the World Intellectual Property Organization （WIPO） on September 20.
　　WIPO’s Global Innovation Index （GII） 2021 shows that China moves from ranking 14th in 2020 to 12th this year， and is“knocking at the door of the GII top 10，” which “underlines the continued importance of governmental policies and incentives to stimulate innovation.”
　　Since 2013， China has consistently moved up in the GII rankings， establishing itself as a global innovation leader.
　　According to the GII， the number of China’s patents by origin scaled by GDP is higher than those of Japan， Germany and the U.S. The same goes for the number of trademarks and industrial designs by origin as a percentage of GDP.
　　In terms of innovation clusters geographically， the top 10 list remains the same as last year with only minor shifts. The Shenzhen-Hong KongGuangzhou region and Beijing now rank second and third， respectively， after the TokyoYokohama cluster in Japan. Shanghai ranks eighth. Of the top 100 clusters， China has 19.
　　Published annually， the GII provides performance measures and ranks 132 economies on their innovation ecosystems. As in past years， Switzerland， Sweden， the U.S. and the UK continue to lead the rankings. Other top 10 individuals include the Republic of Korea， the Netherlands， Finland， Singapore， Denmark and Germany.
　　According to WIPO Director General Daren Tang， “in spite of the massive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic， many sectors have shown remarkable resilience， especially those that have embraced digitalization， technology and innovation.”

RMB Globalization

　　The use of the Chinese yuan in cross-border payments will be expanded amid efforts to advance its internationalization， the People’s Bank of China （PBC） said in a recent report.
　　The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement will further boost trade in the AsiaPacific region， thereby offering more opportunities for the yuan’s use in trade and investment activities， according to the report released on September 18. 　　Based on yuan-denominated commodity trade settlements， which develop steadily， China will increase the use of the currency in cross-border ecommerce， it added.
　　To push forward RMB internationalization， the country will also explore more options for yuan-denominated investment and financing， step up currency settlement cooperation with other countries， and improve the infrastructure for yuan-based settlement and clearing.
　　The cross-border use of the Chinese currency， including payments and receipts， surged 44.3 percent year on year to 28.39 trillion yuan （$4.4 trillion） in 2020， an all-time high， data from the report showed.

Power Production

　　Installed power generation capacity of China increased 9.5 percent year on year in the first eight months of the year to 2.28 billion kW， according to the National Energy Administration.
　　Specifically， the installed capacity of wind power jumped 33.8 percent year on year to about 300 million kW， while that of solar power increased 24.6 percent to 280 million kW.
　　The country’s electricity consumption， a key barometer of economic activity， totaled 5.5 trillion kWh in the JanuaryAugust period， up 13.8 percent year on year， the administration’s data also showed.

Auto Market

　　Chinese automobile brands saw their market share at home expand to 42.1 percent in August， up 8.3 percentage points year on year， according to a monthly report from the China Passenger Car Association.
　　Retail sales of their producers reached 600，000 units within the month. According to the report， the figure represented a 6-percent growth from the same period in 2020 and was 10 percent higher than in 2019.
　　Market leaders BYD， SAIC Passenger Vehicle Branch and GAC Aion have displayed fairly strong supply chain resilience by effectively coping with chip shortages and expanded their presence in the new-energy vehicle market in August.
　　Compared to joint ventures， local brands managed to respond more swiftly to market changes， maintain a faster pace of product development， and better keep up with the changing consumption patterns in the Chinese market， the report said.
　　The association also attributed the growing acceptance of local brands to the rising purchasing power of consumers born after 1995， who appear less sensitive to joint-venture brands but are more interested in indigenous products with Chinese characteristics.

Cloud Spending

　　Expenditure on cloud infrastructure services in China surged 54 percent year on year to $6.6 billion in the second quarter of 2021， according to technology market research firm Canalys. 　　Alibaba Cloud remained the market leader with a 34-percent share， while Huawei Cloud stayed in second place， occupying 19 percent， data from Canalys showed.
　　Driven by the smart tourism， government and finance sectors， Tencent Cloud saw accelerated growth in the period， accounting for 18.8 percent of the market.
　　Baidu AI Cloud came in fourth with an 8-percent share.
　　The four companies accounted for 80 percent of the country’s total expenditure in the field， Canalys said.

Data Centers

　　The direct investment in data centers on the Chinese mainland reached approximately $880 million in the first six months of the year， the largest in the AsiaPacific region， data from a recent report by real estate services and investment firm CBRE Group showed.
　　Total investment across the Asia-Pacific region amounted to$1.8 billion in the period， equivalent to 80 percent of last year’s total.
　　The investment is expected to set a new record this year， after an already record-breaking performance in 2020， according to the agency.
　　With 5G commercialization， the rapid development of the digital economy amid the pandemic and the government’s strong support in “new infrastructure，” data centers are increasingly gaining the favor of investors， Sam Xie， head of CBRE research in China， said.
　　Xie noted that data center investment on the Chinese mainland will continue its upward momentum this year， as long-term trends such as tech innovation and consumption upgrades become increasingly important in investor strategy development.

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