2012 Miss World

(CFP)

Yu Wenxia, a girl from northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, won the Miss World crown for 2012, defeating more than 100 other hopefuls from across the globe. It's the second time a contestant from China has been awarded the title. Last year's Miss World, Ivian Sarcos of Venezuela, handed over her crown to Yu at a glittering ceremony held on August 18 in Ordos, a mining city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Yu, 23, studied national vocal music at the School of Music at Harbin Normal University from 2008 to 2012. She took part in the Chinese Miss Tourism competition in 2010 and won first place. She said she never expected to win the Miss World crown and she hopes to become a music teacher.

Administrative Reform

The State Council, China's cabinet, has decided to remove or modify 314 administrative examination and approval items in order to further clear systematic obstacles to its social and economic development and curb corruption.

According to a statement released on August 22, 184 administrative approval items will be canceled, while the power to approve 117 items will be handed down to government departments at lower levels. Thirteen items will be merged into other items.

This round of reductions, the sixth of its kind since the reform of the administrative approval system kicked off in 2001, mainly covers investment and social projects, with a special focus on the real economy, small and micro-sized enterprises and private investment.

Figures from the State Council show that a total of 2,497 administrative approval items, including those in the sixth round, have been rescinded or adjusted in the past 10 years, accounting for 69.3 percent of the total.

New Chapter

The China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) held its third national congress in Beijing on August 23. Qu Xing, President of the China Institute of International Studies, was elected the association's new president.

The CACDA organizes and coordinates research, seminars and workshops concerning issues of arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation and international security. Founded in August 2001, although it is officially designated an independent nongovermental organization, its activities and publications generally reflect the polices of the Chinese Government.

Thirty-five Chinese institutions comprise the association. Its 200-plus individual members include scientists and scholars working in the fields of weapons development and research, with retired diplomats and former defense officials providing additional expertise. In 2005, CACDA was granted special consultative status by the UN Economic and Social Council.

Widening Wealth Gap

Households in rural China have seen incomes increase on average over the past three years, but the wealth gap in the vast countryside has almost reached a warning level, a top Chinese institute for rural studies said on August 21.

The cash income of rural households grew 14.13 percent from a year earlier to an average of 38,894.4 yuan ($6,123) last year, and the per-capita cash income in rural areas rose 11.95 percent to 9,260.6 yuan ($1,458), according to a survey by Central China Normal University's Center for China Rural Studies.

The survey was launched in 2009 and covered more than 6,000 rural households across the country. The figures have not been adjusted to reflect inflation.

The institute said in a report released on August 21 that the income growth was fueled by rising wages among farmers who have abandoned rural life to work as migrant laborers outside of their hometowns, mostly in cities.

Wages paid to the migrant laborers accounted for 65.7 percent of the total income of rural households, it said.

The Gini coefficient, an index reflecting the rich-poor gap, in rural China stood at 0.3949 last year, nearing the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations, the institute said.

Anti-Corruption Plan

China will implement a five-year plan for eliminating corruption after the upcoming national congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), top official He Guoqiang said on August 21.

He, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, expressed readiness to improve anti-corruption efforts, describing the improvements as a "dynamic and long-term strategic project."

The 18th CPC National Congress will find new ways to prevent corruption both now and in the future, said He, who is also head of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

A sound system for punishing and curbing corruption is an important guarantee for the nation's development. The formation of the new five-year plan should be based on the results of the previous plan, as well as past experience, He said.

Longer Life

China's average life expectancy will increase to 77 years by 2020 from 74.83 years in 2010, according to an official forecast released on August 17.

Targets for improving life expectancy, as well as nine other key indicators of the country's public health, including maternal and child mortality rates, were set in a strategic report issued by the Ministry of Health.

The report said that national healthcare input should amount to 6.5 to 7 percent of the GDP by 2020. The ratio stood at 4.98 percent in 2010, based on a 2-trillion-yuan ($315 billion) annual healthcare budget.

The report also highlighted efforts to narrow the healthcare gap between different regions by introducing dedicated action plans for poverty-stricken areas.

Cross-Straits Cable

The first undersea telecommunications cables linking the Chinese mainland and Taiwan started operating on August 21.

The two optical fiber cables, linking the city of Xiamen in southeast China's Fujian Province and Kinmen Island, will serve as a cross-Straits "information highway," said Wang Xiaochu, Board Chairman of China Telecom, the primary builder and operator of the line.

Wang said that the designed capacity of the Xiamen-Kinmen cables, which were completed on June 22, is about 100 times the current telecommunications volume between the two sides.

Prior to the launch of the direct lines, signals were sent via international cables after cross-Taiwan Straits telecommunications services were opened in 1993.

Emissions Trading

Shanghai launched a pilot carbon emission rights trading scheme on August 16 in a bid to encourage carbon emission reductions.

About 200 major local polluters, including industrial companies whose annual carbon dioxide emissions reach 20,000 tons and non-industrial enterprises whose annual emissions total 10,000 tons, will take part in the trading, the city government said in a statement.

Each of the carbon market participants will get a free quota for a certain base carbon emission. Companies failing to meet emission cut targets will need to buy quota from those whose emission cuts exceed the targets.

"This is a landmark step China has made in building a domestic carbon emission trading market," said Xie Zhenhua, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency.

China has pledged to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 40 to 45 percent compared to 2005 levels by 2020.