GOING ALL OUT: An all-terrain vehicle rider races during the China ATVs and International Invitational Tournament on July 21 in Dongying City, Shandong Province (LI BO)

Farmer Education

The Ministry of Education (MOE) said on July 22 that it will accelerate the development of vocational education for professional farmers in order to safeguard food security and promote agricultural modernization.

Vice Minister Lu Xin said at a symposium that the focus of the work will be training foregoers and production management.

A joint study by the MOE and the Ministry of Agriculture found that China's rural labor force is both shrinking and aging.

The study also revealed that 70 percent of rural laborers have a primary and junior middle school education. The number of junior and senior high school graduates who choose to study agriculture is declining sharply.

Plateau Reserves

A sacsaoul forest on west China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau was designated as a national nature reserve, local officials said on July 21.

"The 370,000-hectare forest plays a primary role in stabilizing the ecosystem of the desert in Qinghai Province's Qaidam Basin," said Zheng Ze, forestry and animal protection chief of Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai.

Studies show the sacsaoul works efficiently in slowing winds, blocking sand and improving moisture.

The Qaidam Basin covers an area of 258,000 square km and is rich in oil, natural gas and metals.

Save Theaters

China on July 24 announced a program to help endangered traditional performing troupes.

The Ministry of Culture will select 40 troupes this year and sponsor performances and training of their artists over the next five years, said a ministry statement.

The program is aimed to protect traditional drama and musical theaters that are struggling to survive competition with modern entertainment, the ministry said.

A 1983 survey showed that China had about 370 active traditional theaters, mostly having regional influences.

The number dropped to about 280 in 2012 and 74 of them only have one professional troupe each.

Language Swap

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan are to jointly publish a report on their respective use of the Chinese language and its differences and evolution across the Taiwan Straits, the Ministry of Education said in a statement on July 23.

The two sides have agreed to improve the linkage of websites and network resource sharing, enhance the cross-Straits language exchange mechanism, and strengthen cooperation between young people on joint promotion of Chinese-language classic works, the statement said, adding that all these initiatives would be completed within 2013.

With deepening of cross-Straits cultural exchanges, the two sides have jointly worked on compiling Chinese language reference books, including those of technical terms, and opened a Chinese Language Repository website, the statement said.