China can now view the entire country's land mass using HD satellite images, it was announced at a national geo-mapping conference held on December 26, 2014.

According to a statement issued by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, China has begun capturing remote-sensing images with clear view of objects of as little as a meter in length since 2012.

By October 2014, such high-resolution images had covered China's entire land territory.

Ebola Vaccine Test

The Chinese military has developed and will test an Ebola vaccine on humans, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on December 25, 2014.

At a press briefing, spokesman Yang Yujun said that a research team at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences had developed the vaccine.

Yang said that since September 2014, the Chinese military had sent some 300 medical personnel and specialists to Sierra Leone and Liberia in eastern Africa to help control the epidemic.

New Ship in Operation

China's first multifunctional offshore engineering ship capable of operating 3,000 meters under the water was put into operation on December 28, 2014, a major progress for China's deep-water ability.

The Offshore Oil 286 ship, built with an investment of more than 1 billion yuan ($163 million), belongs to the Offshore Oil Engineering Co. Ltd., an affiliate of China National Offshore Oil Corp., the country's largest offshore oil and gas producer.

The ship, 141 meters long and 29 meters wide, has a maximum loading capacity of 11,228 tons, and can accommodate up to 150 crew members. It is equipped with a 400-ton crane to fulfill installing missions underwater.

The ship can undertake hoisting and pipe-laying missions and support underwater robot and diving missions. It can also carry out equipment maintenance work.

Yellow Book Published

World Economy Analysis and Forecast (2015) and Annual Report on International Politics and Security (2015) were released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on December 26, 2014, in Beijing.

The two books, compiled by the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the academy and published by the Social Sciences Academic Press (China), are part of the Yellow Book of World Economy and the Yellow Book of International Politics respectively.

World Economy Analysis and Forecast (2015) analyzes the economic situation of world's major countries and region in 2014 and makes corresponding predictions.

This book also includes special reports on international trade, international finance, foreign direct investment, global commodity price, and studies on hot economic issues in 2014.