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Chen Yan, a piano tuner who is visually impaired, bids farewell on Dec 18 to Jenny (front), a guide dog that has accompanied her for more than seven years. The China Guide Dog Training Center in Dalian, Liaoning province, provided a new companion for her. The center held a retirement ceremony for Jenny, but the animal was reluctant to leave Chen and tried to defend her from the replacement dog. Liu Chang / For China Daily |
China factor drives global wages up
China played a significant role in global wage growth from 2008 to 2017, helping the average wage to rise by 22 percent, compared with just 13 percent if the country is excluded, according to a report by the International Labor Organization. Experts attributed China’s influence on wages to the country’s steady economic growth and its changing growth drivers. According to the new report, which was based on data from 136 countries, the annual average global real wage in 2017 grew by 1.8 percent year-on-year, the lowest rate since 2008. The growth rate in 2016 was 2.4 percent. The report again suggested China was a significant factor. Without China, the average real global wage increased 1.1 percent last year.
Double-deck container train enters service
A double-deck freight train carrying 56 standard containers of goods left Ningbo-Zhoushan Port for Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, on Dec 18. It was the first such train to enter service in China. The ability to carry a bigger load – 30 percent more than a conventional container train – saves transport costs by comparison with traditional single-deck container trains, according to sources at the port. Last year, the port handled more than 1 billion tons of cargo, the most in the world.
Funds allocated for disaster relief
The central government has allocated 5.2 billion yuan ($754 million; 665 million euros; ￡598 million) for disaster relief until spring next year. The money will be used for relieving people from disasters during the harsh winter and spring period, and for daily necessities, the Ministry of Emergency Management and the Ministry of Finance said. Some regions in China have experienced sustained cold weather and snowfall this winter, and earthquakes and landslides have occurred in some places, the ministries said, urging local governments to safeguard people’s lives and property.
Customers demand their bicycle refunds from Ofo
Nearly 2,000 people gathered outside the headquarters of bike-sharing giant Ofo in Beijing on the morning of Dec 18, anxious to know whether – and when – their deposits for the shared bikes will be returned. Ofo, one of China’s leading bike-sharing companies, said late on Dec 17 that because of the increasing number of claims, applications for refunds will be dealt with in the order received. The company asked people to wait patiently. The company claimed 200 million users in November last year, meaning deposits could amount to as much as 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion; 2.6 billion euros; ￡2.3 billion euros). At 9:30 am on Dec 18, a long line of users crowded outside the company’s headquarters in Beijing’s Zhongguancun area, still dubious about Ofo’s reassurances.
Experts explore ways to manage national parks
China will consider regulations on outdoor recreation as it builds and manages national parks, as the parks have become hot destinations for the growing population of sports enthusiasts, experts said at a forum in Shanghai. The forum, the First International Conference on National Parks and Outdoor Recreation, hosted recently by the Shanghai University of Sport, brought together around 200 experts and scholars from around the world for discussions on sustainable development of national parks and outdoor recreation. “China has just begun the construction of national parks and has much to learn from its international counterparts, especially in the management of outdoor recreational activities,” said Dong Erwei, a professor at the university.
City, province team up to feed wild birds
Beijing and neighboring Hebei province have, for the first time, joined hands to provide winter feed for wild birds that migrate to a nearby reservoir, local wildlife authorities said on Dec 17. Nearly 10,000 wild birds, mainly gray cranes, have been spotted resting in Guanting Reservoir, which borders Beijing’s Yanqing district and Zhangjiakou’s Huailai county, since the beginning of winter. About 750 kilograms of corn has already been distributed, and another 3,000 kg will be provided in the future, according to the Beijing Wildlife Conservation Association. Because of cold weather and a large number of birds, food shortages in winter are common, according to the association. It said the birds will be fed every three weeks, though the frequency may change depending on the weather and the number of birds.
Commission: More bus safety needed
Local authorities across China are urged to adopt more measures to ensure the safety of buses, including strengthening guardrails on bridges to prevent vehicles from breaking through, according to a guideline released by the Work Safety Commission of the State Council. The guideline, published on Dec 17, was released following the plunge of a bus from a Chongqing bridge into the Yangtze River with 15 people aboard in October. In the guideline, the commission said government departments and local authorities must learn the lesson and enact more measures to prevent similar accidents.
21,000 toilets in plan for tourists
China plans to build or renovate about 21,000 toilets at tourist destinations next year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism said. The move is part of the country’s “toilet revolution”, which began in 2015. The next step in the revolution was announced at a conference in Guangdong province over the weekend of Dec 15-16. The ministry said the country has built or upgraded nearly 24,000 toilets for tourists this year, including about 15,000 in less-developed central and western areas. To boost domestic tourism, China aims to install or upgrade a total of 64,000 toilets in the 2018-20 period, according to an action plan released by the government.
Dark matter satellite keeps on ticking
China’s Dark Matter Particle Explorer, nicknamed Wukong, or Monkey King, will extend its service in space by two years, as it is still in good condition and collecting important scientific data, researchers said on Dec 17. The team operating the satellite said that Wukong’s key performance indicators have barely changed since it was launched three years ago as China’s first satellite to probe dark matter, the mysterious substance theorized in astrophysics that pervades “empty” space. On Dec 17, the satellite reached its expected service life of three years, having orbited the earth 16,597 times in a sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers. It detected around 5.5 billion cosmic particles.
(China Daily European Weekly 12/21/2018 page2)