Village Official
Qin Yuefei, a Yale University graduate who has worked as an official in a village of central China's Hunan Province since 2011, recently gains public attention
Comedy King
Zhao Benshan, a famous Chinese skit star, announces that he will quit skit performing and focus more on film and TV drama production

"Smog harms people's health, especially the respiratory system. In the past 10 years, Beijing's lung cancer rate increased 60 percent, for which air pollution was an important reason."

Zhong Nanshan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, speaking to China Central Television on January 30

"Downtown Sanya is designed for 300,000 to 400,000 residents, but during the peak tourist season more than 1 million people will flood into the city."

Wang Yong, Mayor of Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, speaking on the sidelines of the provincial legislative body's annual session on January 28. Sanya may be the country's most popular resort during the coming Spring Festival, but the city's infrastructure is not yet ready for booming tourism.

"Our research found that many rich Chinese people assumed philanthropy was a simple task and few have a clear strategy of charitable giving or making sustainable efforts to help solve social problems such as aging. It resulted in overlapping donations in a few fields, including education."

Deng Guosheng, Director of the NGO Research Center at Tsinghua University, speaking to China Daily on February 1. China's wealthy showed an increasing enthusiasm in making big donations to the nonprofit sector including universities in 2012, according to a report

"I don't know what would get lost in cultural translations. I think that inevitably, if you're adapting something from one culture and setting it to another, you're going to lose some subtleties and references."

James Poniewozik, TV critic for Time magazine, responding to the news that the Chinese TV drama The Legend of Zhenhuan, or Empresses in the Palace is to be shown on American channels, on February 1

Buying Property Abroad

Oriental Outlook
January 31

In recent years, more and more Chinese are buying real estate in foreign countries. From 2011 to 2012 the proportion of Chinese property buyers in Vancouver increased from 29 to 40 percent of the total buyers. About 30 percent of the city's residents are from China. In one of London's two main financial centers, Canary Wharf, one third of new properties are sold to the Chinese. Because of surging sales, the housing price in the center of the city and its traditional high-end living districts has risen from 5 to 10 percent.

Furthering Anti-Corruption Efforts

Caijing Magazine
January 28

In the past 30 years, more high-level officials in China were involved in corruption cases.

Yi Junqing, Director of the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, was expelled from his post on January 17 for having an extra-marital affair with a female student, who posted a long article disclosing their affair online, which was wildly forwarded afterward.
more>>
 
Reservoir Leak Rescue work is underway on a reservoir leak in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, which occurred on February 2 (ZHAO GE)
New Emission Standard A worker at an auto testing center in Beijing shows a symbol for vehicles up to the Beijing V Emission Standard, which became effective on February 1 (GONG LEI)
Press Invited
Journalists from China and abroad have been invited to cover two major annual events on the country's political calendar next month
NBS Shows Its Work
China's National Bureau of Statistics has published the methodology it used to calculate the Gini coefficient reflecting the social wealth gap
Relics Census
China's first national survey of moveable cultural relics will cover all possessions of state organs, public service units, state-owned enterprises and organizations on the mainland
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Setting Sail The ultra-large container ship COSCO KHI 111 sets sail on a trial trip on February 2. The vessel, 366 meters long and 51.2 meters wide, can carry 13,000 containers (XU PEIQIN)
Local Goes Global A worker sows hats worn by Muslims in a workshop at Yijia Buhala Group in Qinghai Province. During the past five years, the province has invested more than 1 million yuan to promote local brands that have Qinghai characteristics (WU GANG)
Steady Rebound
China's manufacturing sector continued to expand in January, but at a slower pace, which suggests a steady growth trend in the country's economy
More Tax Reforms
Value-added tax reform in some pilot regions will be expanded to more areas as burdens on Chinese business have been reduced, says the Ministry of Finance
Deficit Widens
China's capital and financial account remained at a deficit in the fourth quarter of 2012, dragged down by lackluster foreign investment amid a faltering global economic recovery
more>>
The Nature and Risks of China's Shadow Banking
In the next five years, the top risk to China's financial market is the country's shadow banking system
Geely's Acquisition
Chinese carmaker Geely has acquired Manganese Bronze Holdings, manufacturer of the iconic London Black Cab, for 11.04 million British pounds
Ctrip's Dismal Year
Income at Ctrip.com International Ltd., the largest Chinese online travel agency by market share, continued to fall in 2012. The agency's operational profit was 655 million yuan ($105 million) last year, down 39 percent from 2011
more>>
  • RUSSIA
    A man carries flowers as he walks past gravestones of the Red Army soldiers who died in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II at a military cemetery near Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, on February 1, the day before the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the battle (XINHUA/AFP)
  • MALI
    Men recover burnt ancient manuscripts at the Ahmed Baba Center for Documentation and Research in Timbuktu on January 29. Fleeing militants torched the building that housed priceless ancient manuscripts one day earlier (XINHUA/AFP)
  • MEXICO
    A rescuer stands inside the building of state-owned Mexican oil giant Pemex in Mexico City following a blast on February 1. The explosion rocked the skyscraper, leaving more than 30 dead (XINHUA)
  • SOUTH KOREA
    The Naro-1 carrier rocket takes off from its launch pad at the Naro Space Center in Goheung on January 30. It successfully put a satellite into orbit after two failed attempts (XINHUA/AFP)
  • LAOS
    People participate in a mini-marathon to celebrate Laos' ascension to the World Trade Organization as its 158th member in Vientiane on February 2 (XINHUA)
  • FRANCE
    Members of the Eurocorps military contingent take part in a ceremony in Strasbourg on January 31 marking the end of their intervention in Afghanistan (XINHUA/AFP)
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