IN BRIEF (Page 2)

NDRC issues plan for growth in northeast

China's top economic regulator on Aug 16 announced a three-year plan to boost growth in the northeastern region, after a mild recovery in the first half of the year. The plan lists 137 key tasks for upgrading the economy, improving social welfare, creating job opportunities and simplifying administrative procedures, said Zhao Chenxin, a spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission. A total of 127 fixed-asset projects will be launched, covering fields such as transportation, energy construction, waterworks, agriculture, and urban and rural construction in the next three years, Zhao said.

Volunteers help fellow expats stay within law

Ten longtime foreign residents in Shanghai's Chengjiaqiao area, where expatriates account for 30 percent of the total residents, are working with police as volunteers to spread awareness of Chinese laws and rules among foreigners, especially newcomers. These volunteers, including businesspeople, artists and students from countries such as the Netherlands, Argentina, Italy and France will assist police in informing other expats to register with local police stations within 24 hours of arrival. More than 170,000 foreigners in Shanghai have lived and worked there for more than half a year, according to the city police.

Security top priority at G20 summit

The local government will "spare no effort" to guarantee the "absolute safety" of the G20 summit next month in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, the city's Party chief Zhao Yide said. Officials have rehearsed traffic control measures for the summit at night, when there are fewer vehicles on the roads, to avoid disturbing residents, Zhao said. In addition, the government has trained nearly 4,000 volunteers from 14 countries to provide multilingual services for the events, and people can dial 96020 for information about the summit.

Shanghai Book Fair hosts top authors

The 2016 Shanghai Book Fair, one of the biggest in China, opened on Aug 17. More than 40 writers including Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz from the Dominican Republic and British poet Sean O'Brien were in attendance. The market for books in China has seen rapid growth since 2014 when the goal of building a "nation of readers" was included in the annual Government Work Report. The show runs until Aug 21.

US Army chief visits East Asia

China hopes Washington "places a high priority and properly tackles" its plan to deploy an advanced anti-missile system in the Republic of Korea, Li Zuocheng, a commander of the People's Liberation Army, said when meeting with US Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley in Beijing on Aug 16. Milley, starting his first official visit to Beijing amid lingering tension triggered by the plan to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, was quoted by China's Ministry of National Defense as saying that he expects the two militaries to reinforce exchanges and boost trust. In recent months, Beijing and Moscow have strongly opposed THAAD, as the X-band radar associated with the system is known to locate missiles as far away as 2,000 km.

Heart disease rising, study finds

A study by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health suggests that an increasing body mass index, lower physical activity, smoking and unhealthy diets have contributed to the rise in cardiovascular disease, the No 1 cause of death in China. Also found were increases in high-cholesterol cases, obesity and Type 2 diabetes. The researchers analyzed data collected from 1991 to 2011, from 26,000 people in nine provinces, as part of the China Health and Nutrition Survey.

Smokers banned from high-speed trains

Passengers who violate the smoking ban on high-speed trains twice may be banned from purchasing tickets, China Railway Corp has announced. Passengers caught smoking will be fined and not allowed to buy high-speed train tickets again unless they sign an agreement promising not to smoke. If there is a second offense, railway authorities can prohibit him or her from using high-speed rail services, according to a regulation that took effect on Aug 15.

Beijing hosts internet security conference

The 2016 China Internet Security Conference opened in Beijing on Aug 17. More than 30,000 delegates attended at the two-day event, which is organized by the Internet Society of China and the internet security company Qihoo 360. Industry experts say a shortage of professionals is restricting the development of cybersecurity enterprises in China.

Smuggled ivory found by chance; 2 detained

Shijiazhuang Customs has busted an international ring linked to Japan that has been trading in illegal raw ivory and related products. More than 100 kg of ivory was confiscated. Two suspects have been detained. They ordered ivory products through an e-commerce site based in Japan, and the site would send the products through international mail, the authorities said. After receiving the parcels, the suspects allegedly sold the ivory products to other buyers via the internet.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/19/2016 page2)