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NDRC unveils guidelines for shrinking citiesor the first tim
The government has for the first time added guidelines on the development of shrinking cities into a document outlin
ing key urbanization tasks this year as the country experiences an unprecedented urban expansion.
The shrinking small and medium cities should adjust their planning to c
ontrol the rise of urban construction land and efficiently use the available land, guiding populat
ion and public resources to concentrate in urban areas, according to the document released on Monday by the N
ational Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner.
A shrinking city usually means a dwindling population, emerging vacant spaces and t
he underuse of existing urban infrastructure, said researchers from both home and abroad.
National Business Daily reported Wednesday that 22 Chi
nese cities experienced continuous dwindling population in three years, ac
cording to its statistics based on data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
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Myopia cannot be cured under current medical technol
ology, according to the notice jointly issued by six ministries including the National Health Comm
ission, the Ministry of Education and the State Administration for Market Regulation.
The notice also said that authorities would crack down on activities that deceive the p
ublic and damage their interests in the name of using Chinese medical technology to treat myopia.
Hu Ailian, vice-director of the Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology at Beijing Tongren Hospital, said tha
t myopia can’t be cured at the current stage but children and teenagers could prevent, control or slow its progressio
n by using their eyes properly, increasing outdoor time, and avoiding looking at close objects for long time.
Once parents find their children have problems with eyesight, they should send them to ophthalmic medical institutions for e
xamination, listen to doctors’ suggestions and receive vision correction, Hu added.
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China published its first reference book on occupat
tional classifications in 1999. It included 1,838 jobs. From 2004 to 2009, China listed 120 new jobs in 12 batches.
In 2010, China started revising the reference book by adding new jobs, and finally published the latest edition of the reference
book in 2015. In the past four years, as new industries bred many new jobs, China renewed the listing of occupations.
The ministry said the regular releases of new job classifications could help boost employmen
t, reform vocational education and training, and assist with policymaking in the labor market.
National flags flew at half-staff in Xichang, capital of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan pro
vince, on Thursday, a day of mourning for the 30 lives lost battling a raging forest fire.
The State Council, China’s Cabinet, declared Thursday a day to honor the 30 people who w
ere confirmed on Monday to have died in the blaze — 27 members of the Xichang fire department, a local fore
stry official, a forestry staff member and a villager. They ranged in age from 19 to 49 years old.
A 50-year-old forestry official, who was missing in the wildfire, was reported on Thursday afternoon to have been killed.
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However, Chinese authorities will continue to curb any
tendency to increase iron and steel capacity, and the focus has shifted from cut
ting overcapacity to improving the industry’s high-quality development, Lyu said.
The high profits in the sector last year, which were a result of slashed capacity in the previo
us years, have prompted the attempts to expand steel capacity illegally, according to him.
“For the next phase, it is critically important to keep the overall ca
pacity from growing, while at the same time to optimize the capacity layout in the ind
ustry and increase product quality to achieve high-quality development in the sector,” he said.
Lyu also revealed that the authorities will carry out a random inspection
on illegal steel production activities this year, through means such as satellite remote sensi
ng, electricity consumption monitoring, and illegal production activity reporting platforms.
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The fire broke out in a mountainous area on the northe
thern outskirts of Beijing around noon Saturday, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.
The blaze started on a mountain in Miyun District at around 12:23 pm and spread to Pinggu District at about 1 pm due to strong winds.
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 50.5 in Ma
rch, up from 49.2 in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Sunday.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.
NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe attributed the monthly increase in the manufacturing PMI to accelerated produ
ction activities and improved domestic demand boosted by government supporting policies, including tax and fee cuts.
Emergency response was activated immediately after the fire broke out, and th
e fire in Miyun was largely put out Saturday afternoon, with no casualties reported.
A preliminary investigation by local police shows the fire was caused by six villagers repairing water pipes in the forest.
Local government took immediate action under its emerg
ency response mechanism and the six suspects are under control now.
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Vice-Premier Liu HeUS Trade Representative Robert Lighthize
hina and the United States made new progress on trade and economic issues in their eighth round of consultations, Xinhua news agency reported late on Friday.
The two sides discussed “relevant texts of agreement” during the two-day talks, co-chaired by Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He, US Tr
ade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the State-run media said.
The meeting was a prelude to the ninth round of high-level talk
s scheduled next week in Washington that Vice-Premier Liu is set to attend.
China and the US have been expediting their economic and trade consultations, with a g
oal of implementing the consensuses reached by both countries’ leaders in December.
e Robert Lighthizer (left) and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin pose for a
photo at the eighth round of China-US consultations on economic and trade issues in Beijing
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hina urges UK to stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs
China on Thursday urged the United Kingdom to respect China’s sovereignty and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks after the UK government released its latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong.
“We urge the UK to face the reality that Hong Kong has returned to China for 22 years, respect China’s s
overeignty, stop releasing relevant reports, and stop interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs,” Geng said at a press briefing.
It is undeniable that the “one country, two systems” practice has achieved widely-acknowledged success, he said.
“Hong Kong’s affairs have been entirely China’s internal affairs since
July 1, 1997. The British side has no right to make irresponsible remarks or interfere with any excuses,” Geng said.
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Charles is an artist and an academic. He is someone who
think, both of our country should be very proud to have a friend, a representative like him,” he said.
At present, there are more than 800 13-18-year-old students at the
School, including nearly 60 Chinese students, most of whom are from Hong Kong.
Uppingham school was founded in 1584. The famous British educator Edward Thri
ng (1821-87) used to be its headmaster and took the lead in proposing the concept of “all-around education”.
Thring opened the first school gymnasium in England, introduced wood and metal workshops, and provided a sw
imming pool. In academic matters he stressed sound training in mathematics, the classics, and music. In 1869 he fou
nded the Headmasters’ Conference, an organization that had a great influence in English school education.
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Liu Gang, the founder of PayNews.net, a Hangzhou-based
online news service focusing on China’s mobile payment industry, said to Securities Daily he
expects the run-up of cashless payments will maintain for three to five years until it takes up as much sha
re of consumption as possible, as consumers incrementally wade farther into cashless payments.
Data from PBOC revealed banking financial institutions in 2018 conducted 220.31 billion deals in non-cash paym
ents involving 3,768.67 trillion yuan, a rise of 36.94 percent and 0.23 percent year-on-year respectively.
In the same period non-banking payment institutions, mainly referring to third-party online payment service providers, had 530.61 b
illion deals, surging 85.05 percent, and the transaction volume was 208.07 trillion yuan, up 45.23 percent fro
m the previous year. Mobile payment platforms Alipay and WeChat Pay occupy over 90 percent of market share.
By the end of 2018, a total of 424 commercial banks and 115 payment institutio
ns were connected to a unified clearing platform set up by the Payment and Clearing Association of China, PBOC said.
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At smaller services, shovels are used to move the dirt. So
many people attended Wednesday’s service that Akil said guests were invited to throw a small handful each.