More than 60 countries will send delegations to join multinational naval events marking the anniv
Gao cited data to rebut that view and urged AmCham Chi
ina to evaluate China’s market access and business environment for foreign investors in a “comprehensive, objective and fair” way.
The ministry’s data showed that US investment in China jumped 71.3 percent year-on-ye
ar in the first three months of this year. In 2018, US investment increased 7.7 percent year-on-year.
Gao said expansion of the investment figures fully demonstrates that US compan
ies continue to be optimistic about the market and accelerate the pace of investing in China.
Gao cited another survey published in February by AmCham China that showed that most US
companies with operations in China said they have continued to see their revenues grow there.
Gao said the ministry will maintain close contact with foreign enterprise
s and business associations, and continuously improve China’s business environment.
The situation is very much like the ceiling of a roo
m in which airborne particulate matter is present. The lower the ceilin
g is, the higher the density of pollutants which then mix with the cleaner air.
With a low mixing layer, Taihang mountain range to the west and the Yanshan mountai
n range to the north serve as walls that form a semi-closed “room” in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster.
The high level of emissions is the major reason for air pollution in th
e greater Beijing area, and meteorological conditions also play a key role as an exte
rnal factor, said Xu Xiangde, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences.
Zhang Xiaoye, Xu’s colleague, said the “marked effect” of continuous pollutant accu
mulation on meteorological conditions could make overall pollution even worse.
“After the accumulation reaches a certain level, it will further wor
sen the meteorological conditions, which then will further affect air quality, causing explosive
Top economic planner bullish on reaching annual growth
China’s economy, despite headwinds, has enjoyed a good start in the first quarter of 2019, and the country has the confide
nce to achieve the annual projected growth goal, said the country’s top economic planner.
“The first quarter’s stable economic development has laid a solid foundation for the an
nual growth,” said Yuan Da, spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission.
“The economy has stayed on the track of steady growth. We have the confidence, conditio
ns and capability to meet the projected targets for economic and social development this year.”
Yuan made the remarks at the NDRC press conference on Thursday in Beijing.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s economy expanded at a faster-than-expected 6.4 perce
nt year-on-year in the first quarter. The growth was unchanged from that in the fourth quarter in 2018.
The most recent incident was Saturday in Jinjiang, Fujian
when the late Qing Dynasty residence of Wu Lu, the province’s last zhuangyuan (top scorer on imperial examinations), was damaged.
Fire this year also destroyed a bridge dating from four centuries ago in Nanping, Fuji
an, a Qing Dynasty residence in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and an office structure from the 1930s in Fuzhou, Jiangxi.
The operators of the sites hit by fire will be responsible for the dam
age, said the heritage administration. “Electrical faults and loose supervision over the use of fire
during renovation are the main reasons” for the damage, the administration’s statement said.
Though the fire at Notre Dame is under investigation, Frenc
h officials said they suspect its source might have been related to restoration work on the cathedral.
The monkeys implanted with human genes developed bett
better short-term memory and faster reaction times compared with the control group, acco
rding findings published March 27 in the China-based journal National Science Review.
The study also found that transgenic monkeys’ brains took longer to develop, in a similar fashion to humans.
The experiment has divided the scientific community however, with a number of Western scientists criticizing it as uneth
ical, while some went as far to suggest, perhaps ironically, that it could lead to a Planet of the Apes-type scenario.
The Kunming Institute of Zoology told China Daily in a statement that the experiment was ethically approved in 2010.
In 2015 the animal rights committee of Kunming Biomed International, a research organiza
tion specializing in nonhuman primates, also declared the animals were being treated humanely in every
step of the experiment, in accordance with domestic and international regulations, the statement said.
In 2017 the institute’s bioethics review committee
n evaluated and approved the experiment before applying for National Natural Scie
nce Foundation of China funds, with the project gaining the foundation’s support.
“Experimenting on nonhuman primate models to research the brain’s cognitive function, de
velopment and related diseases have great scientific and medical values,” the statement said.
“For research purposes, there are precedents of scientists implanting human genes int
o lab animals such as mice, rats, and macaque monkeys, and these researchers have made great con
tributions to understanding life, disease mechanisms and clinical drug development.”
In 2008 US scientists implanted macaque monkeys with Huntington’s disease to further understand the condition and possib
ly identify a new form of treatment, with the project’s findings published in the journal Nature.
In 2009 Japanese scientists created the world’s first transgenic primates
and bred monkeys with a gene that made the animals’ skin glow a fluorescent green.
Hu said the administration also will promote anti-smug
ling and wildlife protection knowledge among the public, and it welcomes public supervision or reports of smuggling.
As social networks and online stores have become increasingly important tools for wildlife s
mugglers, the administration has beefed up its anti-smuggling work online this year.
Customs officials are working on cases involving another 100 tons
of endangered wildlife and wildlife products, of which about 300 kilograms are tusks and ivory products.
Last year, the administration purchased advanced screening and detection equipment to improve th
e efficiency of its anti-smuggling work, according to Wang Wei, director of the administration’s ports supervision department.
People caught entering China with endangered wildlife or wildlife
products worth less than 200,000 yuan ($29,800) face up to five years in prison. If such contr
band goods are worth more than 1 million yuan, the penalty upon conviction is a minimum of 10 years in prison.
Four public holidays in 2018, namely the Spring Fest
ival, Tomb-sweeping Day, May Day and Dragon Boat Festival, all saw a marked increase in the number of domestic tourists.
During the three-day Tomb-sweeping Day holiday that ende
d on April 7, the number of domestic tourists reached 112 million, a 10.9 increase year-on-year.
Apart from sightseeing, more Chinese tourists now opt to exp
erience the cultural essence of their destinations by visiting local museums.
Over the past three years, visitors to Chinese museums have been growing by about 100 mi
llion each year, Liu Yuzhu, head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, told reporters earlier this year.
During the week-long Spring Festival Holiday in 2019, more than 40 percent of the 415 milli
on domestic tourists visited museums, a report from the China Tourism Academy showed.
Man arrested after incident in west London: British police
A man has been arrested after an incident in west London on Saturday morning. Police f
