News » China » China unveils top 10 sci-tech news events of 2012

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• China unveils top 10 sci-tech news events of 2012
• Sales boosting measures taken for Spring Festival
• Myanmar president meets Chinese special envoy
• Beijing to restrict cars on roads in polluted days
• Beijing plans fewer vehicles on roads to curb pollution
• Chinese surveillance fleet patrol Diaoyu Islands
• China's growing middle class to benefit the world: Canadian official
• Chinese surveillance ships patrolling South China Sea
• Heavy pollution in Beijing as smog returns
• Chinese surveillance ships patrolling South China Sea
• Chinese surveillance ships patrolling South China Sea
• 1,152 suspects arrested for trading personal data
• China vows more help to major poverty-stricken regions
• US to probe shrimp disputes with China
• Heavy pollution in Beijing as smog returns
• SW China house collapse kills 3, injures 4
• Railway companies' microblogs create convenience for travelers
• Money matters
• Rise in home prices recorded in most cities
• US to probe shrimp disputes with China, 6 other countries

China unveils top 10 sci-tech news events of 2012 Posted: 19 Jan 2013 10:53 AM PST BEIJING - Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, or the country's elite think-tank duo, unveiled on Saturday top 10 news events of domestic science and technology progress for the year 2012. Selected via a vote by academicians from both organizations, the 10 news events are as follows: -- Three Chinese astronauts on June 24 successfully completed a manual docking between the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module, the first such attempt in China's history of space exploration. -- China's manned submersible, the Jiaolong, set a new national dive record after reaching more than 7,000 meters below sea level during its dive tests in the Pacific Ocean in June. -- The world's first high-speed railway in areas with extremely low temperatures, the Harbin-Dalian rail, which runs through three provinces in northeast China, started operation on December 1. -- China on February 6 published a set of full coverage of moon map and moon images with a resolution of seven meters captured by the country's second moon orbiter, the Chang'e-2. -- The Chinese Sunway BlueLight supercomputer, which was built with domestically produced microprocessors and is capable of performing around one-thousand-trillion calculations per second, on September 11 passed the examination of the experts panel organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology. -- China on July 29 successfully conducted tests on its new 120-tonne-thrust liquid oxygen and kerosene engine for its new generation carrier rocket, the Long March-5. -- Research led by Chinese professor Jian-Wei Pan on the experimental demonstration of topological error correction with an eight-photon cluster state marked a breakthrough in quantum information processing research. It was published by the Nature journal in February. -- Chinese and foreign physicists during the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment have confirmed and measured a third type of neutrino oscillation. That was announced on March 8. -- The Ministry of Science and Technology announced on January 11 that the country has approved a hepatitis E vaccine developed by researchers from Xiamen University and Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co. Ltd. in east China's Fujian Province. -- China on October 28 unveiled Asia's biggest radio telescope in Shanghai, which is used to track and collect data from satellites and space probes.

Sales boosting measures taken for Spring Festival Posted: 19 Jan 2013 10:53 AM PST Residents shop at a Spring Festival shopping fair in Tianjin, Jan 19, 2013. Retailers all around the country rushed to take many kinds of sales boosting measures to attract shoppers on the occasion of Chinese Spring Festival that falls on Feb 10 this year. [Photo/Xinhua]

Myanmar president meets Chinese special envoy Posted: 19 Jan 2013 10:53 AM PST YANGON - Myanmar President U Thein Sein met with visiting Special Envoy of the Chinese government Fu Ying here Saturday. Myanmar President U Thein Sein (L) shakes hands with visiting Special Envoy of the Chinese Government Fu Ying during their meeting in Yangon, Myanmar, Jan 19, 2013. Fu Ying, who is also Chinese vice foreign minister, arrived in Yangon on Saturday. [Photo/Xinhua] At the meeting, the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the further deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. They also reached consensus on safeguarding peace and stability in the border areas of the two countries. Fu Ying, who is also Chinese vice foreign minister, arrived Yangon on Saturday. Previous Page 1 2 Next Page Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

Beijing to restrict cars on roads in polluted days Posted: 19 Jan 2013 10:53 AM PST BEIJING - The number of vehicles on Beijing's roads could be cut on days when the city suffers from heavy air pollution, according to a new regulation released for comments on Saturday. According to the Beijing Municipal Air Pollution Control Regulation draft released by the municipal government, a certain number of vehicles will have to be off the road during heavy air pollution in order to protect the health of people in the city. The draft also stipulates emergency preparation, forecasts, warning alerts and a response system during heavy air pollution. Under such circumstances, the municipal government will issue air pollution notices and take emergency measures, such as suspension of factory production, and reduction in the number of running vehicles, the draft says. The regulation, jointly drafted by the municipal government and the city's people's congress, is aimed to solve air pollution problems faced by the city. Heavy smog covered China's capital for seven consecutive days until Wednesday, when a cold front with wind dispersed it. The haze returned on Saturday, when the air quality in the city fell to dangerous levels again. Special coverage: Air quality suffers due to smog

Beijing plans fewer vehicles on roads to curb pollution Posted: 19 Jan 2013 10:53 AM PST BEIJING - The number of vehicles on Beijing's roads could be cut on days when the city suffers from heavy air pollution, according to a new regulation released for comments on Saturday. According to the Beijing Municipal Air Pollution Control Regulation draft released by the municipal government, a certain number of vehicles will have to be off the road during heavy air pollution in order to protect the health of people in the city. The draft also stipulates emergency preparation, forecasts, warning alerts and a response system during heavy air pollution. Under such circumstances, the municipal government will issue air pollution notices and take emergency measures, such as suspension of factory production, and reduction in the number of running vehicles, the draft says. The regulation, jointly drafted by the municipal government and the city's people's congress, is aimed to solve air pollution problems faced by the city. Heavy smog covered China's capital for seven consecutive days until Wednesday, when a cold front with wind dispersed it. The haze returned on Saturday, when the air quality in the city fell to dangerous levels again. Special coverage: Air quality suffers due to smog

Chinese surveillance fleet patrol Diaoyu Islands Posted: 19 Jan 2013 10:53 AM PST BEIJING - A fleet of three Chinese marine surveillance ships continued to patrol territorial waters off China's Diaoyu Islands Saturday, according to the State Oceanic Administration (SOA). The vessels are Haijian 137, Haijian 23 and Haijian 26, the SOA said in a statement.

China's growing middle class to benefit the world: Canadian official Posted: 19 Jan 2013 03:23 AM PST A growing Chinese middle class is not only good for China, but for the world, Dalton McGuinty, premier of Canada's Ontario province, told Xinhua in an interview Saturday.

Chinese surveillance ships patrolling South China Sea Posted: 19 Jan 2013 01:18 AM PST Two fleets of Chinese marine surveillance ships are carrying out separate regular patrol missions simultaneously on the South China Sea, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said Saturday.

Heavy pollution in Beijing as smog returns Posted: 18 Jan 2013 09:03 PM PST The air quality in Beijing Municipality fell to dangerous levels again on Saturday after only a few days of blue skies.

Chinese surveillance ships patrolling South China Sea Posted: 19 Jan 2013 12:51 AM PST Two fleets of Chinese marine surveillance ships are carrying out separate regular patrol missions simultaneously on the South China Sea.

Chinese surveillance ships patrolling South China Sea Posted: 19 Jan 2013 01:22 AM PST Two fleets of Chinese marine surveillance ships are carrying out separate regular patrol missions simultaneously on the South China Sea.

1,152 suspects arrested for trading personal data Posted: 19 Jan 2013 12:49 AM PST Chinese police arrested 1,152 suspects for allegedly disclosing and illegally dealing personal information, the Ministry of Public Security said Friday.

China vows more help to major poverty-stricken regions Posted: 19 Jan 2013 12:49 AM PST Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Friday pledged more efforts to support developments in major poverty-stricken regions.

US to probe shrimp disputes with China Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:47 PM PST The US Commerce Department announced Friday that it was launching countervailing duty investigations on frozen warmwater shrimp from China and other six countries.

Heavy pollution in Beijing as smog returns Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:20 PM PST BEIJING - The air quality in Beijing Municipality fell to dangerous levels again on Saturday after only a few days of blue skies. Fog started lingering in the city on Friday night, taking the PM2.5 concentration to between 300 and 400 micrograms per cubic meter of air, or Level VI, which is at a dangerous level, according to Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center statistics. PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter. The weather forecast bureau has issued yellow alerts for fog and haze, the third highest level following red and orange. Visibility in the city's southern region will be less than 500 meters during daytime Saturday. A haze with a visibility less than 3,000 meters is expected to cover most of the city. The city's environmental protection departments have advised residents, especially the elderly and children to stay indoors, and urged relevant departments to tell companies to take measures to curb emissions. According to the weather forecast, it will snow on Saturday evening through to Sunday morning, which is likely to improve the air quality. Beijingers suffered from heavy smog for seven days through until Wednesday, when a cold front with wind dispersed it. The air quality indices were off the charts during the seven days, exceeding the "maximum" level of 500 in the city, as well as many other cities in central and north China.

SW China house collapse kills 3, injures 4 Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:20 PM PST KUNMING - Three people were killed and another four injured as a house collapsed around midnight Friday in southwest China's Yunnan Province, rescuers said Saturday. Fire fighters with the Weixi Lisu Autonomous County received the report early Saturday morning saying seven were buried in the house collapse in the village of Luoyi, Badi Township, said a statement issued by the county's fire department. When the rescuers arrived, five had been saved by villagers. One of them died at the scene. The injuries of the others were not life threatening, said the statement. The fire fighters pulled the other two trapped out of the debris around 2 a.m., who were both dead later. An investigation into the case is under way.

Railway companies' microblogs create convenience for travelers Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:20 PM PST BEIJING - On Tuesday, online train ticket website 12306.com was visited by 17 million users fighting to get train tickets back home during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday. However, fewer than 2.7 million tickets were available to be purchased from the site that day, with most of the tickets sold within minutes. Such imbalances in supply and demand during the annual holiday travel rush have resulted in significant complaints and criticism directed at railway authorities. Although railway authorities have long been criticized for being impersonal and out-of-touch, efforts by some rail companies to use microblogs to connect with their customers have started to prove useful. After the announcement of a new policy that allows train tickets to be sold 20 days in advance of a customer's preferred departure date, a railway company in south China's Guangdong province posted a special calendar on Sina Weibo, a popular microblogging site, that allows customers to easily see how far in advance they can purchase tickets for any given day in January. The calendar has been reposted tens of thousands of times on Sina Weibo and other microblogging platforms. Although the 20-day advance purchasing policy was issued on December 31 of last year, the language used by railway authorities to announce the change failed to attract attention. However, the calendar posted by the Guangdong rail company has attracted a great deal of attention, as well as been imitated by other railway companies. Following the post from Guangdong, the Beijing West Railway Station has also designed its own take on the calendar and posted it online, as well as printed it out and hung it in the station's brick-and-mortar ticket office. Other types of special calendars, as well as flow charts and lists of "booking tactics," have been promoted online by railway companies and authorities. Wang Likun, an employee from the Beijing Railway Company's publicity department, said the public's recognition of calendars indicates that netizens have new expectations in terms of how authorities should speak online. "We have to use the folks' language to help people more easily understand," Wang said. Xiaoyue, who edits the Beijing West Railway Station's microblog, said the essence of successful online communication lies in delivering information in a simple and direct way. "Only sincere communication can promote understanding and improve our service," Wang said. Spring Festival, which falls on February 10 this year, is China's biggest holiday. It is custom for families to reunite for the holiday, a factor that has led to massive seasonal travel rushes in recent years as more Chinese leave their hometowns to seek work elsewhere. Public transportation is expected to accommodate about 3.41 billion travelers nationwide during the holiday, including 225 million railway passengers, according to an estimate from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner.

Money matters Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:20 PM PST Updated: 2013-01-19 08:20 By Long Wei ( China Daily) A man dressed as the legendary God of Wealth gives a red envolop to a boy in Hangzhou, Zhejiang pronvince, on Friday. Giving red envelopes, containing money, is a Chinese tradition on important occasions, such as weddings and Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 10. [Photo by Long Wei/For China Daily] Spring Festival, red envelope or blue-chip World's biggest red envelop shows up in Fujian Red envelops to newly-weds

Rise in home prices recorded in most cities Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:20 PM PST Analysts remain confident levels will be kept in check due to policy curbs More than half of China's major cities saw a rise in home prices in December, on both a yearly and monthly basis, according to official figures released on Friday. Of the 70 major cities monitored, 40 saw property prices rise year-on-year, compared with just 18 in November. But their average growth rate was capped at 2.4 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. On a month-on-month basis, 54 major cities saw prices rise, compared with 35 in November. Though their average growth rate was below 1.2 percent, the growth rate is higher than the 0.9 percent for the previous month. Home prices in Beijing, for instance, rose 0.8 percent against the previous month, and 1.8 percent compared with the same period of last year. It was a similar situation in the pre-owned home market, NBS statistics showed. Commenting on the figures, Liu Chunyan, executive director of real estate service provider World Union, said: "Prime property in key cities will face huge price-hike pressure in 2013, due to the supply-demand imbalance. "But soaring prices across the country are still unlikely, considering the government's determination to rein in runaway property prices." Frank Chen, executive director of international real estate service provider CBRE, added: "We expect the country's home price growth will be around 10 percent this year." A homebuyers' confidence index, released by World Union, has indicated that potential homebuyers are now more optimistic toward the country's real estate market. The index reading was 57 in the fourth quarter of last year, up 0.4 percentage point quarter-on-quarter. According to separate statistics from the Beijing housing authorities, sales of pre-owned homes in Beijing reached a 23-month high in December, due to shrinking supply and some panic buying. A total of 17,920 homes were sold and registered online last month, a 24 percent increase over the previous month - the highest rise recorded since the government launched measures in February 2011 to curb runaway property prices. A manager at HomeLink, the large-scale brokerage firm, said the company's transactions in Beijing in December were equal to the whole of 2010. In another report published on Thursday, World Union suggests the country's real estate market will see further consolidation this year, with large property developers taking more market share. The report said the country's top 20 developers had a 20 percent market share in the first three quarters of last year, but that financing difficulties will further disadvantage smaller developers.

US to probe shrimp disputes with China, 6 other countries Posted: 18 Jan 2013 11:20 PM PST WASHINGTON - The US Commerce Department announced Friday that it was launching countervailing duty investigations on frozen warmwater shrimp from China and other six countries. The investigations are in response to the petition filed by the US Coalition of Gulf Shrimp Industries, who alleged producers and exporters of China, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam have received financial assistance from governments. In 2011, the United States imported frozen warmwater shrimp from China at an estimated $153.7 million, 8.4 percent less than 2010, according to the US government's data. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determination on or before February 11, 2013. If the ITC determines that imports from China and the other six countries are materially injuring, or threatening material injury, to the domestic industry, the Commerce will continue the investigation and is expected to make its countervailing preliminary determinations in March 2013. The US government has already slapped antidumping duty orders on frozen warmwater shrimp from Brazil, China, India, Thailand and Vietnam. The Chinese Commerce Ministry has repeatedly urged the United States to abide by its commitment against protectionism and work together with China and other members of the international community to maintain a free, open and just international trade environment.

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