FOLLOW THE RULES Injured manikins and crosses with the slogan "Say no to jaywalking" remind people to obey traffic rules in Chongqing, southwest China on April 16 (CNSPHOTO)

Food Tracking

China will speed up the construction of a national electronic food-tracking system as part of efforts to boost food safety supervision, a cabinet circular said on April 16.

Featuring an agenda on food safety work for 2013, the State Council circular urged that infant formula, ingredient milk, meat, vegetables, liquor and wine, as well as dietary supplement products be made traceable.

Standards concerning the volume of pathogenic microorganisms (such as bacteria), use of food additives, and levels of residue from pesticides and veterinary drugs in food products will be improved before the end of the year, the document said.

National product standards for honey and edible vegetables as well as relevant standards of testing methods will also be improved by the end of 2013.

Calling for efforts in forming a food safety credibility system, the State Council urged a "blacklist" system to be set up to publicize the names of firms that fail to be honest in business operations, a move intended to promote self-discipline initiatives in the food industry.

New Discovery

Chinese scientists have made the very first experimental observation of a phenomenon known as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect, a discovery that will help accelerate the IT revolution and in developing low-power-consumption electronics, the Xinhua News Agency reported on April 11.

QAH effect is one of the most important physical effects that had remained unobserved worldwide, according to academic Xue Qikun, who has led a team working on the subject since 2008.

"The technology may even bring about a supercomputer in the shape of an iPad," predicted Xue.

The QAH effect was predicted to occur in magnetic topological insulators by American scientist Edwin Hall more than 130 years ago. It is a kind of quantum Hall effect realized at zero magnetic field.

The quantum Hall effect describes how a voltage appears at both semiconductor edges when the electrons on a current-carrying semiconductor experience a force while being kept in a magnetic field, Xue explained.

Private Foundations

The number of private foundations set up in China reached 2,961 in the third quarter of 2012, about three times that of 2005, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on April 16.

The number of foundations in China has continued to increase steadily in recent years, with the number of private foundations overtaking public ones for the first time in 2011, according to a report released by the ministry's Non-Governmental Organization Administration.

The total assets of foundations across the country reached 78.5 billion yuan ($12.71 billion) in 2011, up 29.91 percent from 2010, figures from the report show.

Foundations received donations worth 40.1 billion yuan ($6.49 billion) and spent 28.9 billion yuan ($4.68 billion) on charity programs in 2011, according to the report.