China has effectively solved the problems of subsistence, food and clothing for its rural residents, says a white paper released by the Chinese Government on November 16.

According to the white paper, titled New Progress in the Development-Oriented Poverty Reduction Program for Rural China, China's poverty-stricken rural population fell from 94.22 million at the end of 2000 to 26.88 million at the end of 2010.

The proportion of extremely poor people in the country's rural population decreased from 10.2 percent to 2.8 percent over the same period.

The white paper says China has realized, ahead of schedule, the goal of cutting its impoverished rural population by half, which was listed in the UN Millennium Development Goals, thus making a great contribution to the world's poverty reduction efforts.

Talent Search

China has launched 12 major programs in order to recruit skilled professionals, academics and experts, in various fields from home and abroad, to meet the nation's huge demand for outstanding personnel.

These programs are part of the government's blueprint to create a highly skilled national workforce by 2020.

Among the programs, the 1,000 Plan or the Recruitment Program of Global Experts, is a special plan targeted at recruiting "innovative" talent from overseas, particularly from Chinese studying abroad.

As of August, 1,510 top-level scientists and professionals had been recruited to work in China under the 1,000 Plan, according to statistics.

Those who choose to join the scheme are eligible for awards of up to 500,000 yuan ($78,743) in cash. Scientific research funds of between 1 million yuan ($157,490) and 3 million yuan ($472,470) are also available to researchers who participate in the program.

Narcotics Fight

China will work with its Asian neighbors under a cross-border initiative to curb the trafficking of precursor chemicals to Afghanistan for use in making heroin, said China's Ministry of Public Security on November 15.

Operation TARCET, or Targeted anti-Trafficking Regional Communication, Expertise and Training, was launched by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the International Narcotics Control Board in 2007, focusing on the smuggling of acetic anhydride, a chemical compound used in the synthesis of heroin.

Several Asian countries, including Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan, are participating in the program. China joined in 2009.

Chinese police will share intelligence with police in participating countries, provide training for police officers and increase border controls under the operation, the ministry said.

Heating Up

A national scientific report estimates that sea levels around China will rise by 80 mm to 130 mm over the coming two decades, due to global warming.

The Second National Assessment Report on Climate Change, a joint work by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the China Meteorological Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also says the average temperature of the land surface in China had increased 1.38 degrees centigrade between 1951 to 2009.

China's glaciers have shrunk by 10 percent over the past 60 years as a result of rising temperatures, according to the report.