IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Xi warns Politburo on sense of superiority

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has warned comrades in the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to avoid a sense of superiority regarding their power or status.

He made the remarks at a meeting of the Political Bureau held on Dec 28 and 29, during which members discussed measures to strengthen Party discipline and clean governance and reviewed the implementation of the "three stricts and three earnests" requirement.

The "three stricts and three earnests" is a series of requirements for officials to improve their lifestyles and work. It refers to being strict in morals, power and discipline, as well as honest in decisions, business and behavior.

Regulator to tighten insurance controls

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission said on Dec 29 that it would tighten regulations for insurers to reduce the risks from equity investments.

Several insurance firms have been making aggressive equity investments recently with leveraged trading, and this could endanger their ability to meet financial obligations.

Xiang Junbo, chairman of the commission, warned of the emerging risks along with the rising number of market players and the expansion of their investment channels.

The regulator's warning came after a slew of insurance firms aggressively purchased equities in the public market through leveraged trading, raising concerns about their liquidity and investment risks.

The high-profile acquisition of listed developer China Vanke Co Ltd by Baoneng Group, a private insurance and property conglomerate, has prompted intense public attention because the financing for the investment is believed to have been made through leveraged products such as stock collateralization and structured funds.

AIIB set to convene in January for first time

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is set to convene in January for the first time since its establishment and will elect its first president, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The schedule was released on Dec 25, when the bank was formally established.

The ministry said that the bank's charter has garnered the approval of 17 countries, representing 50.1 percent of the total subscribed capital.

The bank's charter stipulates that the AIIB is legally valid so long as more than 10 countries - with their combined represented capital accounting for no less than half of the total capital - have given the charter their approval through their legislatures.

The 17 countries include major economies such as Australia, the United Kingdom, South Korea and Germany.

Demand booms for top financial talent

High-end jobs are flourishing with the launch of China-initiated new financial institutions and an imminent change in share-listing rules in the domestic market.

The recruitment wave is being led by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The AIIB posted five job vacancies on its English-language website six days before its official establishment on Dec 25, and 33 other vacancies in the following days.

The Silk Road Fund, a development financial institution funded solely by China, has advertised 10 positions on its website since Dec 10.

An Internet survey conducted by chinahr.com found that recruitment of high-end financial service managers has risen throughout last year. The first three quarters saw a double-digit rise in many coastal areas, ranging from Shanghai to Shenzhen.

China launches satellite with scientific mission

China launched an observation satellite early on Dec 29 that will provide weather forecasting as well as images and data from across Southeast Asia for forest monitoring, disaster prevention and other missions.

A rocket carrying the first Gaofen 4 Earth-observation satellite lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and placed the 5 metric ton satellite into orbit. The mission marked the 222nd flight of the Long March rocket family.

After a six-month in-orbit test, Gaofen 4 will provide images to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the State Forestry Administration, the China Earthquake Administration and the China Meteorological Administration.

Newly passed laws aim for safer society

A series of important laws, including China's first anti-terrorism legislation, the first anti-domestic violence law, and an amendment to the population and family planning law, were passed on Dec 27 by the National People's Congress Standing Committee to protect lives and make life easier for citizens.

The new laws were approved after major changes were made to their drafts in the debating stage and after elaborations over the past week.

HK, mainland officials seek to boost tourism

Tourism officials from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong will hold high-level talks in the special administrative region, where shop owners have seen frosty sales.

Further trouble lies ahead, as prospects for mainland visitors during the New Year and Spring Festival holidays remain bleak, said Joseph Tung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council in Hong Kong.

Delegates from the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau met their Hong Kong counterparts recently to discuss a raft of measures to reignite interest in Hong Kong as a tourist destination, as the start of the holiday season failed to arrest a slide in the number of tours.

New agreements are expected to be announced before the start of the new year, Tung said.

More pollution vigilance sought by top court

Environmental organizations and prosecuting authorities have been called upon to improve their role in dealing with environment-related cases, as the number of disputes has increased rapidly, an official of China's top court said.

Since Jan 1 this year, when the new Environmental Protection Law came into effect, Chinese courts in 15 provinces and municipalities, such as Guizhou, Gansu and Beijing, have handled 48 environmental public-interest cases, including three administrative ones launched by prosecutors, Wang Xuguang, deputy chief judge of the Environment and Ecology Tribunal under the Supreme People's Court, said on Dec 29.

Drones to monitor movement of PM2.5

Researchers in Shanghai have developed a method to use unmanned aerial vehicles to monitor the concentration of tiny PM2.5 pollution particles at high attitudes in the Yangtze River Delta.

Peng Zhongren, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and his research team collected three-dimensional data to map how the airborne pollutants move in the atmosphere.

Studies have shown that an inversion layer, where a layer of warmer air moves over a layer of colder air, prevents the vertical diffusion of pollutants and increases the concentration of PM2.5 near the ground. This provides the conditions for the formation of haze, Peng said.

Sign language, Braille to be standardized

China released a plan on Dec 29 aimed at standardizing sign language and Braille. A draft standard is expected in 2017, with a final version to be issued in 2020, along with training nationwide.

A database of sign language and Braille will also be set up, according to the plan, which was jointly released by the China Disabled Persons' Federation, the Ministry of Education, the State Language Commission, and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television.

According to official data, China has more than 30 million people with impaired hearing or vision.

Graft watchdog opens WeChat account

The top disciplinary watchdog will launch an official account on WeChat, the instant-messaging app, on Jan 1, part of efforts to widen its anti-corruption drive. In addition to providing information, the account will allow users to report suspected violations by officials, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said on Dec 29.

Shipment eases natural gas squeeze

A recent natural gas shortage was relieved in northern China with a shipment of liquefied natural gas, the country's largest oil and gas supplier said on Dec 29.

Some 260,000 cubic meters of LNG was shipped to Tangshan, Hebei province, on Dec 27 and pumped into pipelines, China National Petroleum Corp said. It added that "appropriate" controls on the use of natural gas would not be lifted for a while.

Billions in public funds recovered

More than 380 billion yuan ($58.5 billion; 53.5 billion euros) in public money was recovered in the first 11 months of 2015, as China stepped up efforts to root out corruption and curb irregularities in public spending.

Liu Jiayi, head of the National Audit Office, said 100,000 entities nationwide had been audited from January to November, with more than 3,600 cases of violations of Party rules and national laws handed over to judiciary departments. Audits of more than 20,000 government officials found cases of misuse of public funds totaling more than 250 billion yuan, the office said.

Subsidies to replace government housing

China's housing minister said on Dec 28 that governments will stop building rental housing units to accommodate migrant workers or people displaced by demolitions or renovations of urban areas and shantytowns.

Instead, subsidies will be increased and people will be encouraged to find their own accommodation from private landlords, according to Chen Zhenggao, the minister of housing and urban-rural development, who raised the issue at an annual work conference.

He said the plan is aimed at boosting the rental housing market and is part of a broader plan to assimilate 274 million migrant workers as urban residents, providing a new source of demand for housing, education and other consumption tied to the economy.

Pledge to crack down on college test cheaters

The Ministry of Education has vowed to target exam cheats after claims that answers for the National Postgraduate Entrance Examination were released in advance online. The test was held on Dec 26 and 27.

Internet users posted screenshots from social-networking apps showing questions and answers that were going to be on the exam. The ministry said it has asked public security officials to investigate.

Smoking rate holds steady, survey finds

China now has 316 million smokers, up 15 million since 2010, according to a survey by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Twenty-seven percent of adults smoke, the same as in 2010, going through an average of 15.2 cigarettes a day. More than half of all men and 2.7 percent of women light up. More than 15,000 people aged over 15 were surveyed.

More than 1 million people die every year in China due to smoking-related diseases. About 740 million are routinely exposed to secondhand smoke, which leads to 100,000 deaths annually.

China Telecom boss in corruption probe

Chang Xiaobing, chairman of China Telecommunications Corp, has become the highest-ranking official in the telecom sector to come under investigation for suspected serious disciplinary violations - often a reference to corruption-related crimes.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the anti-graft watchdog, announced the probe on Dec 27. Experts say the investigation has to do with Chang's tenure at China Unicom, where he masterminded the company's efforts to develop third-generation communication networks.

Special tanks to help fight urban, forest fires

China North Industries Group Corp has developed a series of firefighting tanks that can be used in urban areas and to control forest blazes. The tanks are already in service with at least 28 firefighting departments in Shandong, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Hunan provinces.

The latest model, designed to control forest fires, has received 50 orders and is now being delivered, China North Industries said.

With the chassis and armor of a military tank, the vehicle can protect firefighters from flames, explosions and building collapses. It has an automatic spray device and fireproof coating that can keep the vehicle's interior temperature cool.

Rise in FDI, ODI 'puts economy on target'

Both foreign direct investment in China and outbound direct investment have risen in 2015, putting the nation on track to meet its annual growth target, Gao Hucheng, the minister of commerce, said on Dec 27.

FDI is expected to reach $135 billion this year, up almost 13 percent year-on-year, while ODI is forecast to hit $128 billion, up 24 percent year-on-year.

Gao said his department's main tasks in the 13th Five-year Plan (2016-20) will be to stabilize external demand, improve the quality of high-end manufacturing and adjust the industrial structure to attract quality FDI.

Central bank gives helping hand to Tibet

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, is seeking new methods to strengthen financial support in the Tibet autonomous region, aiming to accelerate regional economic development and lift local residents out of poverty in the next five years.

New financial measures, including more-aggressive bank lending with relatively lower interest rates in Tibet than other regions, are under discussion, according to officials and financial industry executives.

False-money firm aims for market listing

Guangdong Yixiang Folk Culture Co, which makes and sells false paper money, which is mainly used for burning in traditional Chinese ceremonies, has applied to be listed on the New Third Board, aiming to facilitate its business expansion.

The New Third Board, launched in late 2012, has so far attracted about 2,500 firms, mostly in the technology sector.

Yixiang, based in the southern city of Shantou, makes more than 200 products, which are mainly sold in Southeast Asian countries and regions. Its sales reached nearly 40 million yuan ($6.1 million; 5.6 million euros) in the first nine months of this year.

Cross-Straits travel gets ferry boost

A passenger ferry route between Huangqi in Fujian province and Matsu in Taiwan now allows tourists and commuters a cheaper and faster choice for cross-Straits travel.

Huangqi is the closest mainland port to Matsu. Each trip along the route, which crosses an 8-kilometer strip of sea, takes 25 minutes and costs 135 yuan ($20; 19 euros).

China Daily-Xinhua

(China Daily European Weekly 01/01/2016 page2)