Census takers register a family’s information in Qicun Town， Shandong Province in east China， on November 1， the day the seventh national census kicked off. This year， about 7 million workers are going from door to door to document demographic changes in the world’s most populous country.
　　The census has been held every 10 years in China since 1990. The last one found the population had increased to 1.37 billion.

Fruit Time

A villager dries persimmon in Cixian， a county in Hebei Province in north China， on November 3. Dried persimmon， a popular treat known as shibing in Chinese， has become a distinctive local industry.

Religious Freedom

The Islamic Association of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China on November 3 released a report on freedom of religious belief in the region.
　　It said some anti-China forces from the United States and other Western countries had recently made fallacious statements that freedom of religious belief was restricted in Xinjiang and mosques were demolished.
　　They are groundless claims that have severely hurt the feelings of Muslims in Xinjiang and aroused indignation and opposition， the report said.
　　The right to freedom of religious belief is fully guaranteed in Xinjiang and normal religious activities are carried out in an orderly way. Muslims’ dietary habits， festivals， wedding and funeral practices， and other customs and rituals are also respected.
　　Thanks to the strong government support， the condition of mosques has improved. They now have running water， electricity， heating and communications facilities. Roads to mosques have been improved to make access easier， the report added.

Internet Conference

The Seventh World Internet Conference will be held in the river town of Wuzhen in the eastern province of Zhejiang on November 23-24， the Cyberspace Administration of China （CAC） said at a press conference on November 2.
　　The conference will be themed“Digital empowerment to create a better future： jointly build a community of shared future in cyberspace.”
　　Focusing on artificial intelligence， cloud computing， big data， 5G， the industrial Internet， cyber security and e-business， the conference will have one main forum， five sub-forums， and other activities both online and offline.
　　The World Internet Development Report 2020 and the China Internet Development Report 2020 will be released during the conference. 　　With measures to contain the novel coronavirus disease epidemic in place， China has established“fast lanes” and “green lanes”with Singapore， Laos， Cambodia， Myanmar and Indonesia to facilitate the movement of personnel and resumed direct flights with several ASEAN countries.
　　Deng said the efforts will stabilize regional production and supply chains， develop new growth modes and thus inject stronger impetus into the economic growth of the countries.

Project in Progress

Construction of a one-stop aircraft maintenance base at the Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou， Hainan Province in south China， is in full swing on November 2. After completion， it will serve air companies from home and abroad.

Patent Benefits

Award-winning patents have generated massive economic benefits， boosting the high-quality development of intellectual property in China， the National Intellectual Property Administration （NIPA） said on November 2.
　　As of the end of 2018， projects related to the 40 top winners of this year’s China Patent Award， 30 for invention and 10 for design， had created 660 billion yuan （$98.7 billion） in sales revenue， 62.9 billion yuan （$9.4 billion） in profit， and 136.3 billion yuan （$20.4 billion） in exports， Lei Xiaoyun， a NIPA official， said at a press conference in Beijing.
　　The China Patent Award， the country’s top award in the field， has been co-organized by NIPA and the World Intellectual Property Organization since 1989.
　　According to Lei， candidates for this year’s awards reached a recordbreaking 2，479.
　　“Of the 766 award-winning invention patents， 62 percent are in strategic emerging industries， and 83 percent in patent-intensive sectors，”Lei said， adding that most awardwinning patent projects involve key industries and core technologies.

Stronger Web Firms

China’s Internet and related sectors registered double-digit growth in business revenue in the first three quarters of the year， official data showed.
　　Major Internet companies raked in 895.6 billion yuan （$134.7 billion） in the period， up 13.7 percent year on year， according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology （MIIT）.
　　The operating profit of the industry grew 13.6 percent year on year to 86.74 billion yuan（$13 billion）.
　　Its spending on research and development totaled 49.74 billion yuan （$7.48 billion）， up 11.2 percent over the same period last year. 　　MIIT statistics cover enterprises with annual revenue from Internet services of above 5 million yuan（$752，000） in the previous year.

Smart Airports

　　During the 13th Five-Year Plan （2016-20） period， industry-wide efforts have been made to develop smart airports， highlighting data sharing， effective coordination and intelligent operations， Dong Zhiyi， deputy head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China （CAAC）， said at a conference in Xiamen， Fujian Province in southeast China. The conference was held on October 29-30.
　　China has set up big databases to sustain industry operations and put into use a range of new technologies in fields such as airport security management， flight management and operations control at airports， he said.

Salt Harvest

Workers collect salt at a salt field in Qingdao， Shandong Province in east China， on November 4.

NEV Plan

A development plan for China’s new-energy vehicle （NEV） industry in 2021-35 said the country will become an automotive powerhouse.
　　The plan， released by the State Council on November 2， lists five strategic tasks—improving technology innovation capacity， building new-type industry ecosystems， advancing industrial integration and development， upgrading the infrastructure system， and expanding opening up and cooperation.
　　The targets include bringing the average power consumption of electric cars down to 12 kWh/100 km and raising the proportion of NEVs in new vehicle sales to 20 percent by 2025.
　　By 2035， electric automobiles are likely to become the mainstream in the new vehicle market， while all vehicles used in public transportation will be electrified， according to the plan.
　　Boasting the world’s most sizable inventory of NEVs， China accounts for 55 percent of global NEV sales.

LNG Deal

The Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange （SHPGX） executed its first international liquefied natural gas （LNG） tender transaction on November 2.
　　According to the tender result， Chinese oil and gas giant CNOOC will purchase 65，000 tons of LNG to be delivered in March 2021 from Aramco Trading Singapore.
　　On October 30， SHPGX’s online international LNG trading system launched purchase and sales tender services for international traders.
　　Sinopec and CNOOC announced purchase tenders through the system on the same day， seeking to purchase overseas LNG to be delivered in the subsequent months. 　　A number of foreign gas suppliers， including Total， Mitsui & Co.， Glencore， RWE and Aramco Trading Singapore， were invited to participate in the tenders.
　　SHPGX said it is mulling the establishment of a group purchasing service for small and mediumsized LNG buyers in accordance with market demand.

Poverty-Relief Initiative

Shoppers select commodities at the China Western Consumption Poverty Alleviation Center in Chongqing， southwest China， on October 31. The 15，000-square-meter building has more than 40 pavilions， presenting products from impoverished areas.

Tibet’s Economy

The GDP of Tibet Autonomous Region in southwest China totaled 130.8 billion yuan （$19.5 billion） in the first three quarters of the year， up 6.3 percent year on year， local authorities said on October 29.
　　Seven emerging sectors empowered the region’s economy—plateau biology， tourism and culture， green industries， clean energy， modern services， border trade logistics， and the hi-tech and digital industry， according to the regional bureau of statistics and the Tibet survey office under the National Bureau of Statistics.
　　They achieved a value-added output of 28.9 billion yuan （$4.3 billion） from January to September， with the hi-tech and digital industry surging 37 percent year on year and the plateau bio-industry up 31.6 percent.
　　The pharmaceuticals is another pillar industry in the region. Its value-added output soared 36.6 percent year on year in the first three quarters， compared with a 7.1-percent growth of all major industries.