NEW OUTPOST: China is expanding its presence at the South Pole, with construction workers leaving the nation's Zhongshan Station on December 18 to build the Taishan summer field camp, the country's fourth Antarctic base (ZHANG JIANSONG)

Registration Reform

The Ministry of Public Security says that it has already drafted a plan for reforming the current household registration system.

"We will set up a new household registration system by 2020." said Huang Ming, Vice Minister of Public Security, in an interview with China Central Television on December 17. "It will have three key features. First of all, we will adopt the same system in urban and rural areas. Second, the requirement for immigration will be based on legal and stable homes and jobs. Besides that, the new system will be based on where you live most of the time as opposed to place of birth. By 2020, it should be much easier for people to migrate."

Huang said that this round of reform aims to help migrant workers in cities acquire legal registration and also to attract more people to cities. The government will also make efforts to boost public services, including education, medical treatment, and social security programs for long-term dwellers.

There are currently an estimated 160 million migrant workers in China.

Greener Petrol

China's standardization authority announced stricter quality standards for gasoline on December 18, in an effort to reduce vehicle emissions.

The higher standard marks a step toward accelerating the use of greener fuel in the world's largest auto market, where vehicle exhausts are blamed as a major factor in worsening air conditions.

The new standard, known as China 5, limits sulphur content for gasoline to no more than 10 ppm (parts per million), whereas the previous standard allowed up to 50 ppm.

Petrol meeting the new China 5 standard will be available nationwide by January 1, 2018.

According to government data, one fifth of airborne particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, commonly referred to as PM2.5, comes from vehicle emissions. PM2.5 readings are considered a major indicator of air quality.

Under the new standards, the maximum allowable content of manganese, an element that is harmful to humans, will be lowered to 2 mg/L from the previous 8 mg/L. Alkene content will also be reduced to mitigate photochemical smog.

Ding Jizhu, Director of the Industrial Standards Department under the Standardization Administration of China, said that the China 5 standard has been made in accordance with emission control standards in Europe.

Ding estimates that the new standard will cut nitrogen oxide emissions by 300,000 metric tons annually.

Protected Zone

China plans to strengthen environmental protection in the Sanjiangyuan region of west China's Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the headwater of many of its major rivers.

With an average altitude of 4,000 meters, Sanjiangyuan, which means "source of three rivers" in Chinese, is home to China's largest and highest wetland ecosystem.

The newly approved protection plan for the region aims to expand the rehabilitation area from 152,000 to 395,000 square km, according to a statement released on December 18 after an executive meeting of the State Council, the country's cabinet.

According to the plan, efforts will focus on protecting and rehabilitating vegetation in the area while developing and improved monitoring and warning network tailored to local ecological conditions.

Government Online

The official website of the Chinese Government, www.gov.cn, created two more microblog accounts on December 18, following their previous foray into social media in October.

The website, which is run by the General Office of the State Council, opened microblog accounts on Sina Weibo and People.com.cn.

Since October 11, the website has already been operating two micro-blog accounts at Xinhuanet.com and QQ.com, as well as an account on WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app with over 400 million users.

The website will use the social media accounts to publicize important information, according to a statement from the website.