AVENUE REBORN Tourists visit Qianmen Street, one of Beijing's oldest commercial areas, on September 28, the first day it was reopened to the public after major renovations (FAN CHANGGUO)

Ethnic Policy

The Chinese Government published a white paper on its ethnic policy on September 27, stressing harmony and equality among all ethnic groups.

The paper, released by the State Council Information Office, reviewed the situation in the country on ethnic issues, government policies over the past six decades and economic, social and cultural progress in ethnic minority regions.

It was China's third white paper on ethnic policy, following two reports that were issued in 1999 and 2005, said an official with the State Ethnic Affairs Commission.

"Through this white paper that summed up our ethnic policy and practice, we hope international society can have a better understanding about the reality upon which our policy is based, about what the policy is and the impact it has on solving ethnic issues and promoting the development of ethnic minorities in China," the official said.

Novel Energy

China has successfully excavated combustible ice, a form of natural gas hydrate, in the permanent tundra at the southern margins of the country's northwestern Qilian Mountains, the Ministry of Land and Resources announced on September 25.

Samples of combustible ice were collected in the area in November 2008, making China the first country to collect the gas hydrate in the tundra in the medium and low latitudes, the ministry said.

It also shows that China has become the third country in the world after Canada and the United States to successfully excavate gas hydrate from land, the ministry said.

Preliminary research shows that the prospective volume of natural gas hydrate in the country's frozen regions is estimated to reach 35 billion tonnes of oil equivalent.

Moon Face

Chinese experts announced on September 28 that the country's space scientists had completed the world's highest-resolution three-dimensional map of the Moon.

The map, covering the whole surface of the Moon, was made based on image data obtained by a charge-coupled device stereo camera carried by the Chang'e-1, China's first lunar probe that was launched in October 2007. The map's spatial resolution, measured by the distance of two features within an image that can be clearly defined, is 500 meters.

Liu Xianlin, head of the expert team, said the map could greatly help study the features, laws and creation of the moon's surface and deepen the understanding of lunar geology and its evolution.