IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Watchdog: Data sold for profit

The country's top anti-graft watchdog said on April 27 that hundreds of staff members at the statistics bureau have been using data for personal gain, including collecting fees for providing information and other services. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said 313 staff members were asked to return 3.23 million yuan ($497,000; 432,000 euros) in fees that they collected for irregular data services.

Guideline to phase out poverty relief

The general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued a guideline to phase out the poverty-alleviation mechanism, Xinhua News Agency reported on April 28. Existing poverty-relief policies will remain for a certain period of time, and the target of lifting villages and counties out of poverty should be achieved before 2020, according to the guideline.

Capital to release some reserve pork

Beijing will release 3.05 million kilograms of meat from its frozen pork reserves in a bid to ease pressure on pork supplies and limit price increases.

The city's pork prices have been rising since the Lunar New Year due to a limited supply.

Raw pork prices surged 50.6 percent month-on-month in April, according to the municipal government.

The move, which will last until July 4, will see 50,000 kg of pork sold cheaply to 121 major supermarkets on a daily basis. The government will also provide subsidies of up to 9 yuan ($1.38; 1.20 euros) per kilogram of pork sold, to encourage vendors to lower prices.

Report says China should open further

China should expand its economic opening-up by pushing the Belt and Road Initiative and participating in the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, according to the China Reform Report 2015 released on April 28 by the Innovation and Development Institute, a think tank in Shenzhen. China should embrace the TPP rules that benefit China's development, the report said.

Tibet regional revenue rises by 12.7 percent

Nearly 20 billion yuan ($3.1 billion; 2.7 billion euros) was raised through taxes in the Tibet autonomous region last year, a 12.7 percent year-on-year increase, the regional office of the State Administration of Taxation announced.

Police bust online gambling racket

Police have detained 19 alleged members of an online gambling gang in a case they say involved transactions totaling more than 300 million yuan ($46.1 million; 40.2 million euros). Police in Loudi city, Hunan province, have frozen more than 200 bank accounts and confiscated 11 limousines and more than 100 computers in a three-month investigation, the city government said. The online gambling came to light in January, when two residents told police they had lost money on an illegal lottery website. The gang's websites had more than 10,000 users, police said.

Water enforcement inspections begin

The top legislature announced a nationwide plan on May 4 to inspect the enforcement of China's water conservation laws. The move is meant to improve agricultural water use and better protect water resources. The inspection team should focus on facilities and promote water-saving irrigation technology, said Ji Bingxuan, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. The inspections will start this month in Jilin, Jiangsu, Anhui, Hunan, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces, and in the Guangxi Zhuang and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions.

Transition to VAT is now complete

China has replaced all business tax with value-added tax after extending the policy to cover the construction, real estate, finance and consumer service sectors on May 1. They were the last four sectors still taxed based on their revenue. VAT refers to a tax levied on the difference between a commodity's price before taxes and its production cost. Revenue tax refers to a levy on a company's gross revenues. The expansion of the VAT is expected to ease tax burdens by more than 500 billion yuan ($76.9 billion; 66.9 billion euros) this year.

Longest cave proves to be even longer

A team of Chinese and French speleologists has determined that China's longest cave is around 186 kilometers long, 25 km longer than a measurement from 2014. The cave researchers conducted a joint expedition from April 16 to 28 at Shuanghe Cave in Wenquan township, Suiyang county. They also discovered fossils of vertebrates at 13 sites in the cave. Most of them belonged to giant pandas, while others include possible bear and elephant skeletons.

Ancient alley crowded despite ban on groups

Nanluoguxiang, a popular ancient alleyway in Beijing lined with shops, restaurants and bars, was packed with visitors during the May Day holiday despite a recent ban on tour groups in the area.

On April 30, more than 70,000 visitors flocked to the 787-meter-long, 8-meter-wide alley that has eight narrower and symmetrical alleys on either side, while more than 90,000 visited on May 1 - similar to numbers during the same period last year.

Urban patrol officers were sent to entrances to the alleys to ensure the implementation of the new regulation and to direct the crowds, China News Service reported.

Inspectors detail past Hebei laxity

The national environmental protection inspection team said on May 3 that former top leaders in Hebei province, through a pattern of loose supervision, had neglected their duty to curb pollution.

Efforts by the provincial government have a long way to go in meeting the expectations of the central government and the public, inspectors said in a report.

Among a series of problems exposed, the leaders failed to take environmental protection work seriously, despite requirements laid down by the central government from 2013 and reiterated many times over two years. For example, Hebei failed to provide sufficient funds for projects curbing air pollution. The provincial funds allocated for curbing air pollution accounted for only 15.5 percent of money provided by the central government from 2013 to 2015.

Record number of rail journeys made

Some 12.9 million train trips were made in China on April 30, the first day of the three-day May Day holiday, exceeding the daily record set during the same period last year. According to China Railway Corp, 8.5 percent more trips were made than on the same day a year ago. Megacities, including Beijing and Shanghai, saw huge passenger flows. The corporation estimated 10.15 million trips were made nationwide on May 1. Extra trains were put into service to cope with demand.

Nearly 665,000 social groups registered

China had nearly 665,000 registered social organizations as of the end of March, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said. The registered organizations include 329,000 social groups, 4,841 foundations and 331,000 private nonenterprise units, according to the ministry. A private nonenterprise unit is a community organization established by enterprises, public service units, social organizations or other community forces and individual citizens with nonstate assets to engage in service activities. Private nonenterprise units include schools, hospitals, elderly care centers and museums.

China's manufacturing activity up slightly

China's manufacturing activity expanded for a second consecutive month in April, but at a slower pace. April's purchasing managers index came in at 50.1 in April, after 50.2 in March, and below market expectations of 50.3, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, and lower than 50 a contraction.

Mountaineers to challenge peak

The Mountaineering Association of Peking University on May 4 announced an ambitious expedition to climb the world's highest peak, Qomolangma, as part of the celebration of the renowned university's 120-year anniversary in 2018. The association, better known as Shan Ying She, meaning a group of mountain eagles in Chinese, will recruit an amateur team of students and experienced alumni to train rigorously over the next two years for the campaign to summit Qomolangma, known as Mount Everest in the West.

Singing contest to return to screen

The TV singing contest Super Girl will return to screens after a 10-year hiatus. The show - to be relaunched by Hunan Satellite TV, in Changsha - is similar to American Idol in the United States and among the earliest contests in China offering ordinary people a chance at stardom. About 610,000 people have registered to enter the contest, according to a news conference held on May 3.

Pioneer in American studies honored

Mei Renyi, a Chinese pioneer in American studies, was honored with a lifetime achievement award in Beijing on April 29 by the US-China Education Trust and the American Studies Network.

Mei, 81, a professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, has influenced a generation of scholars and researchers in international relations and has published dozens of books and papers on English language and American studies.

At the award dinner, the Mei Renyi American Studies Essay Competition was also inaugurated.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/06/2016 page2)