Art and Fun in the Snow
　　Visitors play at the Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo on December 29， 2018. The 31st edition of the expo covers an area of 900，000 square meters.
　　IPR Court
　　The Supreme People’s Court （SPC） started to hear intellectual property rights （IPR） appeals that require more expertise starting on January 1.
　　As a permanent division under the SPC， the new IPR court will be made up of four departments， said Luo Dongchuan， Vice President of the SPC and the IPR court chief， at a press conference announcing the measure.
　　IPR cases refer to a broad range of lawsuits involving patents， copyrights， trademarks， new plant varieties， integrated circuit layout design and monopoly.
　　IPR cases are complex and expertise is needed for their trials. IPR court will help prevent inconsistencies in legal application and improve the quality and effi ciency of trials， Luo said.
　　The IPR court will also help nur- ture a favorable legal environment for technological innovation and a better business environment for domestic and international enterprises， he said.
　　According to the regulation， the IPR court will also conduct trial proceedings online， such as exchanging evidence or hosting pre-trial conferences.
　　Chinese courts heard 213，480 IPR cases in 2017， 40.4 percent more than in 2016， and double the number of those heard in 2013.
　　Veteran Employment
　　China’s Ministry of Veterans Affairs said on December 29， 2018， they will improve education and training for veteran soldiers to make them more competitive in the job market.
　　The ministry plans to encourage veteran soldiers to apply for educational opportunities and to better implement supporting policies including free education and training.
　　The ministry will also improve vocational education for veterans to enhance their employability with more job-oriented and specifi c training programs.
　　The ministry will cooperate with both state-owned and private companies， organize regional job fairs for veterans and set up information platforms to share job posts.
　　For veterans who want to start businesses， the ministry will help with tax cuts， setting up investment funds and providing professional guidance.
　　Veterans can also enjoy preferential policies in pensions， medical services， housing， transport and their children’s education. 　　The benefi ts will be divided into different levels based on the veterans’ contribution while in service， the ministry said， calling on society and volunteers to help exservice people.
　　Study on Lakes
　　The total lake area in China has increased by 9 percent over the past fi ve decades， according to a recent study.
　　Researchers from the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences used historical maps and Landsat satellite images to produce a comprehensive China lake dataset from the 1960s to 2015.
　　Results showed that the number of lakes （those above 1 square km） in China increased from 2，127 to 2，554， with the area expanded from 68，537 square km to 74，395 square km during the same period.
　　Lakes are sensitive to climate change and human activities， and are good indicators of environmental change. China has abundant lake resources but uneven distribution. Understanding long-term evolution， regional differences and lakes’ driving factors is of great signifi cance to water resource management and sustainable development in China.
　　The study also quantitatively analyzed these factors from the perspectives of climate change and human activities.
　　Climate factors have played a dominant role in lake changes across China， while human activities have also had an impact. Most of the 333 lakes that disappeared were in the eastern area of the country， where there is signifi cant human activity.
　　Future Hainan
　　China aims to build Hainan into an international tourism and consumption center by 2025 and a globally infl uential tourism and consumption destination by 2035， the National Development and Reform Commission said on December 28， 2018.
　　According to the plan， Hainan will ease restrictions on its offshore duty-free policy and develop crossborder cruise tourism.
　　Hainan will gradually exploit tourism resources in the Xisha Islands on the South China Sea and facilitate overseas patients’visits to the Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone.
　　Hainan also plans to lift consumption in cultural and sports tourism， as well as build more theme parks.
　　Moreover， tourism-related enterprises will be supported to go public and have access to fi nancing， while tourism-related fi nancial service institutions such as banks and insurance and loan companies will be encouraged to set up branch offi ces in Hainan.
　　Civil Servant Law 　　China’s top legislature voted to adopt the revised civil servant law as part of the efforts to promote civil service reform on December 29， 2018.
　　Lawmakers approved the revision at the end of a weeklong bimonthly session of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.
　　Civil servants’ reward and punishment systems have been improved in the new law， an offi cial with the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee said.
　　The new law states that civil servants who perform well in certain circumstances should be rewarded and those who fail in their performance appraisals may be demoted.
　　Supervision over civil servants has been reinforced in the revision， according to the offi cial.
　　The revised law states that civil servants’ failure to fulfi ll their obligations and duties will be a violation of discipline.
　　Civil servants should not be leaders of industry regulators or administrative departments in charge of supervising businesses run by their spouses， children or spouses of their children， according to the new law.
　　It also improved the regulation regarding civil servants’ positions and ranks as well as civil servant recruiting.
　　The revised law will take effect on June 1， as the institutional reform in local governments across the country will be generally wrapped up by the end of March 2019.
　　A New Start
　　A young couple poses for a photo in southwest China’s Chongqing as the fi rst day of 2019 arrives. Various activities were organized across China to ring in the new year.


　　Learning Platform
　　Senior Communist Party of China（CPC） offi cial Wang Huning announced on January 1 the launch of a new learning platform， which is considered a key measure to advocate the study of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
　　Wang， a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee， attended the platform’s launching ceremony.
　　Huang Kunming， a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee， said Xi’s important thoughts on reform， development， stability， domestic affairs， diplomacy， national defense， as well as governance over the Party， state and military should be fully demonstrated on the platform. 　　Addressing the ceremony， Huang called for efforts to build the platform into a comprehensive and resourceful database for studying and communicating Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
　　Users can log into the platform through the Xuexi.cn website or the mobile phone app， where they have free access to a great number of journals， ancient archives， open courses， songs， operas， movies and books.
　　Double-Decker History
　　An aerial photo of the renovated Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in the capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province. The bridge reopened to road traffi c on December 29， 2018， after a 26-month renovation. As the fi rst double-decker road-rail truss bridge designed by China， it fi rst opened to traffi c 50 years ago on the same date.


　　Economic Census
　　The fourth national economic census entered its registration phase on January 1.
　　The survey will cover all businesses involved in the secondary and tertiary industries， painting a wide economic picture.
　　About 30 million impersonal entities and industrial activity units， as well as about 60 million selfemployed entrepreneurs will be involved.
　　Ning Jizhe， deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission and head of the National Bureau of Statistics， said the registration will determine the quality of the whole census and called for efforts to ensure statistics are accurate and true.
　　A total of 2 million census workers will be deployed to nearly 900，000 communities to conduct the survey.
　　China has conducted three national economic censuses previously in 2004， 2008 and 2013.
　　QFII Quota
　　China’s dollar-denominated Qualifi ed Foreign Institutional Investor （QFII） program rose to $101 billion as of the end of December 2018， according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
　　The quota in the RMB Qualifi ed Foreign Institutional Investor （RQFII） program came in at 646.67 billion yuan （$94 billion）.
　　China’s currency， the yuan， is convertible for trade purposes under the current account， while the capital account， which covers portfolio investment and borrowing， is largely run by the state in an effort to manage capital fl ows in and out of the country.
　　The QFII and RQFII programs， introduced in 2003 and 2011， respectively， allow overseas institutional investors to move money into China’s capital account to encourage controlled fl ows. 　　The RQFII program is currently open to countries and regions including Hong Kong Special Administrative Region， the UK， Singapore， France， South Korea， Germany， Qatar， Canada， Australia and Luxembourg.
　　The Qualifi ed Domestic Institutional Investor program， a scheme that allows domestic investors to access overseas assets， remained at $103.23 billion. No new quotas have been granted for six consecutive months.
　　Threading Results
　　Workers make clothes in a factory in Ningjin County， north China’s Hebei Province， on December 29， 2018. Clothing enterprises have developed into clusters in Ningjin with a complete industrial chain， becoming a strong pillar of the local economy.


　　Joint Venture
　　Hefei-based Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd. （JAC） has established a new joint venture with U.S. engine manufacturer Cummins， it said on December 28， 2018.
　　The joint venture was formed after Cummins purchased U.S. automotive holding company Navistar’s 50-percent equity of the JAC-Navistar Diesel Engine Co. The deal for forming the joint venture was signed and announced in May 2018.
　　The new joint venture will specialize in producing light-duty and mid-range engines and supply them to JAC as well as other automakers.
　　“It will give new impetus to China’s commercial vehicle industry，” said Xiang Xingchu， General Manager of JAC. “We will fully support its development and entering the domestic and overseas markets.”
　　Headquartered in the U.S. state of Indiana， Cummins is a leading engine manufacturer and a Fortune 500 corporation.
　　Online Consumption
　　Consumers in Chinese counties are increasingly opting for smart and quality products online as robots and imported goods are gaining popularity， a recent report showed.
　　The survey， conducted by ecommerce giant Alibaba’s think tank AliRresearch， mapped consumption trends over the fi rst 11 months of 2018 in nearly 3，000 county-level administrations in China.
　　Robot vacuum sales in the top 10 Chinese counties reached 100 million yuan （$14.6 million）， while the stir-fry robot has become a popular smart kitchenware category， according to the report.
　　Agricultural drone sales online were noted in counties in northeast regions， as farmers in the traditional agricultural base modernize their production， according to AliResearch.
　　The report also marked the rapid sales growth of imported health， skincare and makeup products in the Chinese counties. 　　According to the Ministry of Commerce， online retail sales in Chinese villages reached 632.2 billion yuan （$92 billion） in the fi rst half of 2018， up by 34.4 percent year on year. The growth is 4.3 percentage points higher than the national average.
　　According to a Morgan Stanley report， the disposable per-capita income of families in China’s smaller cities was 55 percent lower than those in top-tier cities a decade ago， with the difference decreasing to 45 percent as of 2017， and likely to come down even further to 36 percent by 2030.
　　Copper Riches
　　Artisans make copper handicrafts in Jiande， east China’s Zhejiang Province， on January 2. Through cooperation with the National Museum and cultural and creative institutions at home and abroad， the company has achieved soaring sales revenue.


　　Copyright Industries
　　In 2017， copyright industries added over 6 trillion yuan （$872.2 billion） in value to the Chinese economy， accounting for 7.35 percent of the GDP， according to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication on December 25， 2018.
　　Compared to 2013， when it stood at about 4 trillion yuan （$581.5 billion）， the value in 2017 registered a 42-percent surge.
　　Core copyright industries—which refer to sectors that attribute all of their output value to copyright such as publishing， recording， fi lm， TV broadcasting and software—reached 3.8 trillion yuan（$552.5 billion） in 2017， accounting for 4.61 percent of the GDP， said the report.
　　The National Copyright Administration cited measures taken by authorities in copyright protection and people’s increasing copyright protection awareness as major reasons leading to the development of copyright industries.
　　Protecting Nansha
　　China put facilities related to ecological protection and restoration into service on three reefs in the South China Sea on January 1， according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
　　The facilities on Yongshu， Zhubi and Meiji reefs will be mainly used for the protection and restoration of coral reefs， which are key to the ecological security of the Nansha Islands and the whole South China Sea region， the ministry said.
　　They will lead to a better understanding of the coral reef ecosystem of the islands and tailored conservation and rehabilitation measures， it said.
　　On October 31， 2018， the ministry launched marine observation stations on the three reefs， which are now offering regular information services including marine forecasts and disaster warnings to the international community and passing ships. 　　Shale Gas Output
　　The Fuling shale project， China’s largest shale gas fi eld， generated more than 6 billion cubic meters of shale gas in 2018， according to its developer Sinopec.
　　The fi eld sold nearly 5.8 billion cubic meters of shale gas in 2018， earning it fi rst place both in production and sales in China.
　　By the end of 2018， Fuling， in the southwest municipality of Chongqing， had produced more than 21.5 billion cubic meters.
　　The new industry has helped the region improve its energy structure and shift away from traditional energy sources， such as coal， in recent years.
　　It is estimated that 3 billion cubic meters of shale gas is equivalent to burning 6 million tons of coal， reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 4.2 million tons.
　　China has made breakthroughs in shale gas exploration in both capacity and drilling techniques， making it one of the top shale gas suppliers in the world.
　　The accumulated proven geological reserves of shale gas in China have exceeded 1 trillion cubic meters as of the end of April 2018， according to the China Mineral Resource Report 2018.
　　Bread Basket
　　A naan bread industrial park in Urumqi， northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on December 25， 2018. The industrial park was opened to promote the sale of the distinctive local food both online and offl ine， employing over 1，000 people.