Youngest Go Champion

(WANG JINGYU)

Jiang Weijie, born in 1991, a Chinese Go player, became champion by defeating Lee Changho of South Korea at the 16th LG Cup Championship on February 15. Go, called weiqi in Chinese, is an ancient board game that originated in China. This victory made Jiang China's youngest Go world champion.

In winning the title, Jiang earned a promotion from the professional fifth dan straight to the ninth dan, the highest rank for professional Go players.

Female Role Model

(CFP)

Yi Jiefang, head of NPO-greenlife, an environmentally oriented nonprofit organization, won the 2011 Annual Female Model prize on February 20.

In 2000, Yi's son died. In order to fulfill her son's wish of "planting trees and creating forests," Yi quit her job and set up NPO-greenlife three years later. Under her leadership, the organization, together with hundreds of volunteers, reforested north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region by planting more than 1 million trees there.

Genetic Engineering Ban

The freedom of grain producers in China to genetically engineer produce will be limited under a draft law released on February 21 by the Legislative Affairs office of the State Council.

The research, sale, import and export of transgenic grain seeds should comply with state regulations. Institution and individuals must not apply transgenic technologies to principle grain cultivars without approval, said the draft referring to transgenics, the practice of inserting into an organism DNA that is not normally present.

The forthcoming law, the first of its kind in China, aims to ensure grain supply and security by stabilizing grain output and intensifying supervision over the market.

The draft also includes stipulations concerning the market deployment of grain resources and the safeguarding of grain production, circulation and quality.

According to the draft, the production, circulation and sale of edible vegetable oil will also be subject to the bill.

Health Benefits

China will raise government subsidies for health insurance offered to farmers and non-working urbanites to over 360 yuan ($57) per person per year by 2015, an increase of 80 percent.

The announcement was made after a State Council executive meeting on February 22. At the meeting, new health reform targets were set for the 2011-15 period.

China's basic health insurance system includes health insurance for urban employees, jointly paid by the government, employers and individuals; there is also health insurance for non-working urban dwellers and rural cooperative health insurance for rural residents, which is co-paid by the government and individuals.

Major reform targets include the expansion of basic health insurance coverage, perfecting the country's essential medicine system, as well as improving communitylevel clinics and public hospitals. The ongoing health reforms started in April 2009.

Government Transparency

A report on China's legal development has rated the transparency level of the country's governmental organizations, with the Ministry of Commerce topping the list of 59 central government departments.

According to the report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on February 20, the Ministry of Commerce achieved a score of 67 out of 100 based on evaluations of several factors, including transparency and the public availability of information.

The National Population and Family Planning Commission and the Ministry of Environmental Protection ranked second and third, respectively.

Among provincial-level governments, Beijing led with 72.5 points, followed by Tianjin and Jiangsu Province.

The report said different standards make it difficult to compare the transparency levels of  government organizations, with many transparency reports lacking clear and detailed information.

Space Docking

China will launch its manned Shenzhou-9 spacecraft between June and August this year, as well as conduct a space rendezvous and docking mission with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab module, a spokesman for China's manned space program said on February 17.

The space-docking mission will be manually conducted by astronauts, giving China another chance to test its docking technology, the spokesman said.

The Shenzhou-9's three crewmembers will board the Tiangong-1 after the docking is completed, they will spend several days in the module and conduct scientific experiments.

An evaluation of the program was carried out following a previous rendezvous between the Tiangong-1 and the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft, which showed that all relevant systems are in good condition and are ready for a manned docking, the spokesman said.

The orbiting Tiangong-1 is ready to accommodate the astronauts, and the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and its carrier rocket, the Long- March II-F, are undergoing final checks, the spokesman said.

The Tiangong-1 went into space on September 29, 2011, docking with the Shenzhou-8 spacecraft to complete China's first space docking mission just over a month later.

Sand Control Program

An anti-desertification program powered by an investment of 700 million yuan ($111 million) is expected to begin in October in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, said the regional forestry department.

The World Bank will provide a loan of $80 million to help fund the program, with the remaining amount supplied by the local government.

Located on the arid Loess Highlands, Ningxia has been heavily affected by desertification over the years.

The program is designed to reverse the desertification of more than 66,000 hectares of land located near the Ningdong Energy and Chemical Industry Base. It will also improve the ecology of a section of the Yellow River, China's second longest waterway.

Anti-bribery Archive

A national online archive of individuals and companies guilty of bribery has been established, said the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on February 16.

The archive connects all local databases, which store information on bribe givers and takers, making their names available across the country for public inquiry, according to a statement from the SPP. Prior to this, there was no national listing.

Institutions or individuals can apply for an inquiry if they are suspicious about an individual or company. Anyone discovered to be on the list will likely be disqualified for bidding on government projects, some of these companies will even be forbidden from operating, the SPP said.