FLYING PANDA Participants fly kites at the 30th Weifang International Kite Festival in Weifang in east China's Shandong Province on April 20 (SUN SHUBAO)

Environmental Tax

To promote environmental protection, the Chinese Government is considering introducing environmental taxes in the country's ecocompensation mechanism, an official said on April 23.

The government is also planning to further a reform in the resource tax system as a measure to increase compensation for environmental protection and ecological preservation efforts, according to a report by Xu Shaoshi, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission.

Xu delivered the report on behalf of the State Council to lawmakers attending the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, that opened in Beijing on April 23.

In addition to compensation drawn from central and local fiscal funds, China will turn to more market-oriented systems, such as carbon and emissions trading as well as eco-friendly package labeling to encourage environmental protection, Xu said.

Reactor Evaluated

The initial design of the ACP1000, China's domestically developed advanced pressurized water reactor, passed an authoritative industry evaluation on April 19, the developer of the nuclear reactor said.

About 40 experts from relevant departments and industry associations participated in the evaluation. They concluded that the technology and safety index of the ACP1000 are on par with the world's third generation of nuclear reactors and the reactor can be completely designed and built in China.

The China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), the developer of the ACP1000, said that it has finished a preliminary safety analysis report, and it is working on plans for construction by the end of the year.

The CNNC added that it has the complete intellectual property rights for the ACP1000 reactor, which boasts a designed lifespan of 60 years. The company has already signed export contracts for the reactor.

Robot Association

The China Robot Industry Association was launched in Beijing on April 21 to promote the application of robot technologies and products.

The association was initiated by the China Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF) as a non-profit organization that will focus on robot research and development, production and utilization.

The robot association has 77 members, including major enterprises in the sector and research institutes.

Members will cooperate on technology, marketing and intellectual property rights to popularize the use of robotics, said Wang Ruixiang, President of the CMIF.

China's robotics market represents a fifth of the world market. At present, foreign brands dominate more than 90 percent of China's robot market. In 2011, robot imports rose 62 percent to 38,000 units with a total value of $866 million.

IPR Suits

Courts across China handled 83,850 civil lawsuits over intellectual property rights (IPR) in 2012, up 44.1 percent from 2011, according to an IPR white paper the Supreme People's Court released on April 22.

Also in 2012, courts across the country received about 87,420 new civil lawsuits over IPR issues, a jump of 46 percent from 2011.

More than 60,000 suspects were detained for IPR infringement and producing and selling substandard commodities in 43,000 cases in 2012, with a total value of 11.3 billion yuan ($1.83 billion), according to the white paper.