IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Motorcycles will help in conservation fight

Two private organizations, one Chinese and the other African, have donated off-road motorcycles to support animal conservation in Kenya.

East African Wild Life Society and the Mara Conservation Fund donated five motorcycles to Kenya Wildlife Service, two to Narok county government for Mau forest rangers, two to Ol Kinyei Conservancy, and one to Mara Naboisho Conservancy.

A further three motorcycles will be donated to three other community wildlife conservancies.

The Mara Conservation Fund is a group in Kenya founded by Chinese national Zhuo Qiang and is dedicated to conserving endangered carnivores and other wildlife by protecting natural habitats.

Social media helping ease fears of GM foods

International agribusiness companies have intensified their efforts to ease public fears over genetically modified products in China, taking to social media platforms to popularize GM science and interact with the public.

Croplife International, the trade association representing a number of international biotechnology companies, launched its own Sina Weibo and Tencent WeChat public messaging accounts on Aug 7 to engage the public about genetically modified food products amid intense debate about their safety.

The association said in a statement that it is responding to calls by the central government to increase the popularization of GM science and to enhance the knowledge about GM foods.

Croplife China, a division of the organization in China, represents 13 international agricultural businesses in China, a majority of which are involved with genetically engineered seeds and the associated insecticides and herbicides.

Food security on the table

The Chinese embassy in Khartoum has hosted a workshop on China's experience in agricultural development and its role in achieving food security in Africa.

The opening session of the two-day workshop was attended by Sudan's State Minister for Agriculture, Yaqoub Mohamed Al-Tayeb, the Chinese Ambassador to the country, Li Lianhe, and researchers from China and nine African countries.

The workshop's aim was to discuss ways of achieving sustainable agricultural development in Africa by encouraging collaboration between China and Africa.

"Sudan is keen to achieve food security, and it has initiatives in this respect," said Al-Tayeb addressing the workshop.

Road above reservoir a truck-free zone

A stretch of road 4.4 kilometers long and running above the Three Gorges Reservoir area opened on Aug 9, with the management authority pledging strict rules for vehicles in a bid to prevent pollution of the water.

The section is part of the road connecting Gufu township in Xingshan county, western Hubei province, to a major provincial expressway. The road runs 10.5 km in total, and building began in 2012, a statement from the county said. It is hoped that the road will promote the county and attract more tourists, it said.

To reduce the risk of polluting the river, construction was conducted in low-flow season from May to September, with all construction waste removed immediately, said Chen Xingda, deputy head of the county's transportation bureau.

New trolleys fully recharge in 30 seconds

Train equipment maker CRRC Corp is introducing a fast-charge trolley bus system that trades traditional overhead cables for an energy model that can fully charge a trolley in 30 seconds while passengers are getting on and off.

The company claims that the flash charge supercapacitor is the only one in the world that allows a trolley bus to run for 8 kilometers with 10 seconds of charging.

"The technology is especially suited for buses that make frequent stops over short distances, and greatly reduces pollution from public transportation," said Zhou Qinghe, the president and general manager of CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co. State-owned CSR Corp and CNR Corp combined in May to form CRRC.

Rainfall, heat blamed as algae hits lakes

Continuous rainfall and relatively high temperatures are the main reason behind recent reports of blue-green algae in some major lakes in eastern China, according to experts.

Blue-green algae recorded on July 1 near Bakou and Chuanchang, both on the eastern shore of Chaohu Lake in Anhui province, had increased by 852 percent and 479 percent, respectively, from levels reported last year, according to the provincial Environmental Protection Department.

Authorities have issued two red alerts, the highest level, for blue-green algae outbreaks in the lake since April, with the latest announced late last month still in force.

Xinhua News Agency said the algae has been hard to contain and authorities are attempting to ensure clean water supplies for local residents given that the two areas are sources of drinking water.

Longer weekends urged to improve tourism

Employees should be given more flexibility in summer to take half-day vacations on Fridays, giving them extra time for weekend travel and boosting the tourism industry, the State Council suggested.

"These measures can help employees use their vacation time to travel more flexibly and avoid the peak traveling season, which would greatly ease the pressure on the transportation, tourism, commercial and catering sectors," said Wu Wenxue, deputy head of the China National Tourism Administration. "It could also tap the full potential of tourism consumption."

The lack of paid holidays has been blamed for overcrowding in many scenic spots during public holidays.

High-speed rail tests start in Jilin

A new section of the high-speed railway in Northeast China's Jilin province has started test runs.

The line will bring passenger rail for the first time to about 220,000 people in Hunchun, the only city at the juncture of China, Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The 361-kilometer passenger rail linking the cities of Jilin and Hunchun will start operation ahead of Oct 1, China's National Day, according to the Shenyang Railway Bureau.

The line will offer travelers stunning views of lakes and mountains in the province. Named the most beautiful rail section in the province, the Jilin-Hunchun section has nine stations that will allow travelers to reach Songhua Lake, Jingpo Lake, Changbai Mountain and Fangchuan township at speeds of up to 250 kph.

Chinese airlines score poorly in punctuality

Chinese carriers were among the least punctual airlines in the world last month, and analysts attributed the poor performance to rapidly growing air traffic and bad weather.

A report from Civil Aviation Data Analysis, a Chinese organization that tracks the on-time performance of 103 major global carriers, said that in July, China's three major carriers were rated 86th or worse.

Of the three, Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines Co was the best at 86th with an on-time rating of 70.45 percent. Beijing-based Air China Ltd was 93rd with 66.41 percent. Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd was 94th, with only 64.46 percent of its flights on schedule.

No Chinese carriers appear on the top 10 list for most punctual airlines in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the report, Asia's top three airlines for punctuality are Thailand's Nok Air, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways.

Ethnic games bridge tradition, modern skills

The 10th Chinese Ethnic Games opened on Aug 9, and 6,240 athletes from all 56 ethnic groups of China have been competing or performing in nearly 200 Chinese traditional sport events during its eight days.

The host city, Ordos, which means "many palaces" in Mongolian, has made significant economic progress in recent years, with its GDP expanding from 59.4 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) in 2005 to 416.2 billion yuan last year.

The 62-year-old games serve as a get-together party for China's ethnic groups and have played a key role in keeping China's multiple traditional sports alive.

The ethnic games offer the opportunity for rural and border area residents to present their unique skills and cultures.

There are 17 title events and 178 exhibition events in the games.

HIV cases rise among students

Health authorities nationwide were told on Aug 10 to improve coordination with their education counterparts and tell schools regularly about HIV infections among their students to better fight rising cases of the disease.

Education authorities should be told by health authorities of any HIV infection among students at schools within their jurisdiction at least every six months, the National Health and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Education said.

By the end of October last year, nearly 2,200 cases of HIV involving students age 15 and above had been reported nationwide, compared with 1,772 the previous year.

New standards gauge environmental harm

China is reforming the way compensation is determined for environmental damage as legal cases involving pollution are increasing quickly and unified national assessment standards are needed, experts said.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection presented a draft reform plan to the national leadership this year and already has conducted pilot projects in several cities, according to a report released by the ministry on Aug 10.

The ministry will compile technical standards and general principles on environmental damage assessment to be used by agents in the field, and will create models to assess damage once pollution is found.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/14/2015 page2)