Service-Ready: Patrol vessel Haixun 01 is berthed at a port in Shanghai on April 16 as the ship enters official service. The Shanghai Maritime Bureau manages the vessel. Haixun 01 is China's largest and most advanced patrol vessel. The 5,418-tonnage ship is 128.6 meters in length and has a maximum sailing distance of 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km) without refueling. It will carry out missions regarding maritime inspection, safety monitoring, rescue and oil spill detection and handling (JIANG SHAN)

Broadband Service

Some 18,000 rural villages and 5,000 schools in impoverished regions will enjoy broadband Internet service this year, according to an annual plan released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and seven other ministries on April 17.

The government will build 180,000 base stations this year to provide 3G mobile Internet service to 100 million users. Broadband Internet services will reach an additional 25 million people and 70 percent of broadband subscribers will have access to speeds of 4M or faster.

The government also hopes to expand the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) service, an integrated family broadband system, to at least 3,500 additional households this year, according to the plan.

FTTH refers to a form of fiber-optic communication delivery that reaches one living or working space. The fiber extends from a central office to the subscriber's living or working area.

By the end of January, the number of broadband users in China stood at 177.37 million, while 3G users reached 245.88 million.

Palace Preservation

A comprehensive plan to better preserve the Palace Museum in Beijing, also known as the Forbidden City that was home to emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), has been approved by the State Council, China's cabinet, a museum official said on April 17.

Curator Shan Jixiang said that a series of projects will be carried out to enhance the protection of 170,000-square-meter wooden building complex in the museum and its more than 1.8 million pieces of cultural relics.

According to the plan, major projects include remolding underground storehouses, restoring cultural relics and rebuilding infrastructure.

The move is meant to effectively address existing problems of insufficient storehouses and outdated infrastructure, as well as to reduce potential risks of fires, earthquakes, natural damage and theft, Shan said.

The plan states that the Palace Museum will be built into a first-class museum by 2020, when the former imperial palace will celebrate its 600th anniversary.

"The protection project aims at handing over an intact museum to another 600 years," Shan said.

Win Model

Global management consulting firm Hay Group has unveiled a new management model to help its customers succeed.

Known as the Win Model, it identifies three key ingredients for business success: strategic effectiveness, organizational effectiveness, and leadership effectiveness. The Win Model is based on the premise that addressing any of these areas individually is not enough so the model is designed to equip companies with practical, evidence-based analytical reports to identify key areas and a roadmap for transformation.

Hay Group has chosen China as the first country to launch its Win Model owing to the increasing importance of the China market in the global economy. The company will hold the Employee Engagement Forum in four cities—Beijing, Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in southern Guangdong Province.