HANDY-CAPABLE: A member of the dance troupe of the Harbin Disabled Art Group trains in the northeastern city in Heilongjiang Province on May 14. The troupe is made up of 18 people with hearing and speech difficulties (WANG KAI)

High-Up Experiment

Chinese scientists have launched a sounding rocket to conduct an experiment in Earth's upper atmosphere.

The National Space Science Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on May 14 that the rocket blasted off at 9 p.m. on May 13 from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The experiment was designed to investigate energetic particles and magnetic fields in the ionized upper atmosphere and near-Earth space.

According to a preliminary analysis by the center, the experiment has reached expected objectives, allowing scientists to obtain data on the atmospheric environment at extreme altitudes.

Mo's New Job

Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan was appointed director of the International Writing Center of his alma mater, Beijing Normal University.

At the International Writing Center's inauguration ceremony on May 13, Mo said he hoped to develop the facility into "a place for writing, a research institute and a platform for international academic exchanges."

World-famous writers, poets, translators, Sinologists and scholars will be invited as guest writers to engage in writing, research and academic exchanges at this university established a century ago.

The center will aim to be a literature education base and an incubator for Chinese writers. Postgraduates and doctoral students will be enrolled to study creative writing, according to Mo.

Mo was granted a master's degree in literature and arts in 1991 after studying for a postgraduate program at Beijing Normal University.

Survey in Sansha

To advance the construction of China's newest city, an official delegation completed a field survey of the islands and waters within the jurisdiction of Sansha City on May 14, according to the provincial authorities of Hainan.

Sources with the Hainan provincial government said the survey was conducted in preparation for the formulation of Sansha's regional development plans.

With its government office based on Yongxing Island in the South China Sea, Sansha was established last July to administer three island groups—Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha—and their surrounding waters.

To facilitate local resource development and environmental protection efforts, the survey focused on the marine resources and environment of Sansha.

Organ Distribution System

China will cooperate with Italy and Spain to improve its human organ distribution system, ensuring safety of organ donors and receivers and enhancing professional training, according to agreements signed on May 11.

The Chinese Research Center for Organ Distribution and Sharing System signed cooperation agreements separately with an Italian organization and a Spanish one in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, in a bid to learn from their experience and practices.

There are annually 300,000 patients in China waiting for organs, said health authorities. China has 164 hospitals qualified to practice human organ transplantation.

China's national organ distribution and sharing system, which was put into use in April 2011 to ensure fair and transparent organ distribution, has helped 626 patients in need.