IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Retail sales growth strongest in a year

China's retail sales growth picked up to 10.8 percent year-on-year in November, the highest this year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Dec 13. In the same month, industrial output rose by 6.2 percent year-on-year, up from 6.1 percent in October. Urban fixed-asset investment growth was 8.3 percent in the first 11 months, unchanged from the January-October period, while private investment growth increased by 3.1 percent in the first 11 months, up from 2.9 percent in the first 10 months. Private investment, which to a large extent indicates the vitality of the corporate sector, and home sales, which is a main driver of growth for China this year, have shown signs of weakening, casting a shadow on the prospects of the Chinese economy next year.

Antitrust fine soon to hit US carmaker

A penalty for monopolistic behavior will soon be issued against a United States automaker for impeding competition, China's top pricing regulator said. The penalty, against an unnamed company, comes as authorities work to step up antitrust oversight and expand the industries they scrutinize in order to promote fair market competition, according to Zhang Handong, director of the National Development and Reform Commission's price supervision bureau. This is being done while treating foreign and domestic enterprises equally, Zhang said.

Talks with Vietnam boost cooperation

Chinese and Vietnamese government delegations, led by Chinese Vice-Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Hoai Trung, met on Dec 12 in Beijing for border and maritime boundary negotiations. The two sides agreed to implement cooperative projects on fisheries and on oil and gas exploration in Beibu Bay, and to continue conducting joint patrols by the two navies and coast guards, in order to maintain peace and stability at sea. They also reaffirmed that they will continue to implement the consensus reached by the two countries and steadily push forward border and maritime boundary negotiations.

Documentary begins the second season

The second season of the documentary series The Tokyo Trials premiered on International Channel Shanghai on Dec 13. To mark 70 years since the commencement of the post-World War II tribunal against 28 military and political leaders of Japan, the Shanghai Media Group News Center produced the documentary with the Tokyo Trial Research Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The second season's three episodes were made because of stronger research and new discoveries, according to Song Jiongming, head of the SMG News Center.

Hepatitis C therapy to be improved

Several DAA medicines are expected to get approval from the top drug authority and enter the Chinese market early next year, which will bring China's hepatitis C treatment in line with international mainstream practices, according to Wei Lai, president of the Chinese Society of Liver Diseases of the Chinese Medical Association. Currently, most Chinese patients are on injection interferon therapy, which takes longer and may cause serious reactions for some recipients. DAA, by contrast, is taken orally and can usually get rid of the virus and cure the disease in about 12 weeks.

Misuse of funds for fighting pollution found

In ongoing central inspections in seven provincial-level regions, more than 1,100 officials have been summoned to talk about their performance in environmental protection, with 687 being held accountable, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Dec 13. The inspection teams, headed by ministerial-level officials, have exposed and transferred 5,462 cases to the governments they inspected, and 112 people were detained, the statement says. Total fines from polluters have grown to 66 million yuan ($10 million; 9.41 million euros; 7.89 million), of which Guangdong province has been fined the most out of the regions, which also include Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing municipalities, and the provinces of Hubei, Shaanxi and Gansu.

Ethnic regions see economic growth

Economic growth in regions inhabited by ethnic groups in China has been faster than the rest of the country in the past few years, but poverty alleviation remains a long-term challenge, according to a report released on Dec 13. The gross domestic product growth rate of the country's five ethnic autonomous regions - Xinjiang Uygur, Tibet, Ningxia Hui, Inner Mongolia and Guangxi Zhuang - and of the three provinces inhabited by many ethnic groups - Yunnan, Guizhou and Qinghai - was above the national average in 2015, which was 6.9 percent. However, the GDP per capita in these areas is still quite low.

Telecom satellite system to encircle the globe

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp plans to build a global real-time communications satellite network by 2020, a senior company executive says. Sun Weigang, chief engineer at the state-owned space giant, says the Hongyan satellite system will be composed of 60 small satellites operating in low orbits and 20 ground stations around the world. The system will provide a wide range of civilian services such as ground data collection and exchange, ship identification and tracking, mobile broadcasting as well as navigation signal enhancement, he says.

Military cooperation seen as mutual trust-builder

Cooperation between Chinese and the Philippines in the defense and security field, if realized, would further develop the relationship as well as boost mutual trust, Chinese observers say. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Dec 11 that he had decided to accept an arms deal offered by China. Duterte said he has directed Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to send a general to formally receive guns from Beijing that were offered through what Duterte described as "a grant payable in 25 years", according to the Philippine news site Inquirer.net.

Xi says law, virtue both crucial to governing

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, underscored governance of the country by both law and virtue, in order to modernize state systems and capabilities. Xi made the remarks at a group study attended by members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The group study, the 37th of its kind, focused on governance by law and virtue through Chinese history. Xi said that "law is virtue put down in words, and virtue is law borne in people's hearts", adding that law and virtue are both important in state governance, since both regulate social behavior, adjust social relations and maintain social order.

Orbiter to study lightning, pollutants

China has launched a new-generation weather satellite on Dec 11 that can improve weather forecasting, as well as help study lightning and air pollutants, including PM2.5. The 5.4-metric-ton Fengyun 4A, developed by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology, was launched on Dec 10 atop a Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, which is overseeing the satellite project. The country's latest geosynchronous meteorological satellite will gradually replace the Fengyun 2 satellites, the administration said in a statement.

Incident with Japan triggers concern

China is gravely concerned about Japan's interference with Chinese Air Force planes passing through Miyako Strait, China's Defense Ministry said. It was the second major confrontation between the two countries' air forces this year. The first came in mid-June, when Japanese fighter jets used fire-control radar to target Chinese military planes in the East China Sea, the ministry said in a statement in July. On Dec 17, two Japanese F-15 fighter jets closely harassed and released decoy flares at Chinese Air Force planes that were passing through the Miyako Strait to conduct an exercise in the western Pacific Ocean, Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said in a news release on Dec 17.

Scientists find method to block fearful memories

Chinese scientists say they've found a new way to effectively inhibit a person's fear memory arising from traumatic events such as domestic violence, sexual assault and war. Animal testing led by Yu Yongchun, a researcher at Fudan University's Institutes of Brain Science in Shanghai, found that fear can be effectively removed by transplanting a special kind of nerve cell into the brain of an adult mouse. The findings are expected to shine new light on the treatment of severe mental conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The results were published online recently by Neuron, an influential journal in the field of neuroscience.

Helicopters used to monitor traffic

Helicopters have been enlisted in Lanzhou, Gansu province, to monitor rush-hour traffic three days a week. Police are hoping the helicopters will help them spot traffic violations and gather evidence. Police choppers will be on duty every Monday morning, Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening for two hours. They are equipped with high-definition cameras and real-time image transfer systems to send images captured from 150 meters away to traffic police headquarters.

River chiefs to balance growth, environment

The central government will establish a system of chiefs responsible for rivers and lakes nationwide, and covering all waterways by the end of 2018. The chiefs will take full responsibility for the management and protection of the country's water bodies. Heads of provincial-level regions will be general chiefs responsible for all rivers and lakes in the region, while other top officials at the provincial, city, county and township levels will act as chiefs responsible for different parts of the water bodies.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/16/2016 page2)