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Artists create a snow sculpture for the 29th Harbin Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo in Harbin， capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province， on December 12. The expo is planned to open on December 22.
New Online Rule
A new Ministry of Culture regulation will require those who present streamed online shows to register using their real names.
Operators of online shows will have to identify presenters via interviews or video calls， and apply for a license from provincial cultural authorities. The documents will be filed with the ministry.
The regulation， which comes into effect on January 1， 2017， also requires the operators to obtain a permit from the ministry before running online channels in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan of China and foreign countries.
They must also supervise performances， keep records of all shows and establish a mechanism for handling emergencies. If they see content that violates the law， operators must suspend the service， preserve relevant data， and report the matter.
A blacklist will be created to strengthen management of online performances and ensure the sector’s healthy and orderly growth.
IDs of Old Trees
Nearly 20，000 ancient trees on the renowned Taishan Mountain， one of China’s five sacred mountains， now have “digital IDs，” the Taishan Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee said on December 11.
The digital identity cards contain basic information on the trees collected by a new monitoring and management system for ancient trees on the mountain in east China’s Shandong Province. The mountain holds great historical and cultural significance. Its peak， dubbed the Jade Emperor’s Peak， is nearly 1，500 meters above sea level.
The ID system will help rangers examine the growing environment and conditions of the trees， and monitor their physiology， diseases and pests. It can ascertain whether a tree is healthy， weak or dying， record the harm it has suffered， and the degree of damage sustained.
There are over 18，000 ancient trees on the Taishan Mountain with more than 1，800 classified as firstclass ancient trees， meaning they are more than 300 years old， rare， or of historical significance.
The mountain is home to several famous trees such as a pine over 500 years old which is on the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage list. Global Warming
The “roof of the world” has become warmer and wetter， according to a report jointly released on December 9 by the climate center of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region and the regional remote-sensing applications research center.
The report says the average temperature in Tibet during the flood season （from May to September） has seen a significant increase from 1981 to 2016， up 0.3 degree Celsius per decade on average. Precipitation during the same period has grown 10.1 mm every decade on average.
The average temperature in Tibet during the flood season in 2016 was 11.9 degrees Celsius， 0.44 degree higher than normal. The average precipitation in 2016 was 445.1 mm， 62.4 mm more than normal.
Experts say climate change is a double-edged sword for the region. With a warmer and wetter climate， it will see more vegetation and have a more favorable temperature for agriculture， animal husbandry and tourism， in the short term. However， the changing climate will result in receding glaciers and melting permafrost in the long run.
River Chiefs
China will appoint local government heads as river chiefs across the nation to clean up and protect water resources， according to guidelines published by central authorities on December 11.
The river chiefs will be responsible for the management and protection of the watercourses， according to the document forwarded by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council， China’s cabinet.
The Central Government expects to make it a nationwide mechanism by the end of 2018.
Government officials will be hired as river chiefs at provincial， city， county and township levels， and provincial region chiefs will be general chiefs responsible for all rivers and lakes in the region.
For large rivers and lakes that span across regions， river chiefs will be responsible for different parts of the water bodies and cooperate in their management.
The river chiefs’ responsibilities include water resource protection， pollution prevention and control and ecological restoration. Their performance will be assessed and they will be held accountable if environmental damage occurs in the water bodies under their charge.
Information including the names and responsibilities of the river chiefs will be made public for public supervision.
China initially appointed local government officials as river chiefs in 2007 to address a blue algae outbreak in the Taihu Lake in Jiangsu Province. The practice was adopted by several regions rich in water resources to ensure enforcement of environmental policies and enhance coordination. The Chinese Government released a national plan on environmental improvement for the 13th Five-Year Plan（2016-20） period in early December 2016 with detailed tasks to clean polluted air， water and soil and promote ecological civilization.
Cancer Breathalyzer
Chinese scientists have developed a device which may detect esophageal cancer by breath analysis.
Scientists with the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences， used a device—the proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer—to analyze breath samples of 29 esophageal cancer patients and 58 healthy volunteers.
Seven kinds of ion changes were found to distinguish the cancer patients from the volunteers. In the breath of the cancer patients， the median intensity of five ions decreased while the intensity of another two increased. More tests are needed to confirm the findings.
The spectrometry takes only three minutes and the accuracy is 85 to 90 percent.
In China， esophageal cancer kills about 370，000 people each year. Both the prevalence and death rate are among the highest in the world. Common screening methods contain barium meals， tomography scans， endoscopy and biopsy. However， these invasive methods are not suitable for regular health exams or the very vulnerable.
Non-invasive screening methods like breath spectrometry will help in early detection and intervention.
Fun of 3D
Children visit an interactive museum for 3D printing in Yantai， east China’s Shandong Province， on December 10.
Making Recovery
Women make traditional food after moving to new house in Gyirong County of Xigaze， southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region， on December 8.
Over 16，000 people were affected by a quake which hit the county on April 25， 2015. More than 3，000 residential buildings were badly damaged. The local government has reconstructed 89.6 percent of houses for villagers so far. The rest will be finished by the end of 2016.
Educational Exchanges
China will improve the quality and opening up of its educational sector and raise cultural and personnel exchanges to a national strategic level， Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping said on December 11.
Efforts will be made to serve both overseas students in China and domestic students going abroad， and to support schools jointly run by China and foreign countries， Hao said， adding that China will send 29，000 government-sponsored students abroad as part of an initiative to train people with global vision. Over 523，000 Chinese studied abroad in 2015， making China the world’s top source of overseas students. China is also the world’s third largest study destination following the United States and Britain， which saw nearly 400，000 students from across the world last year. Sino-foreign cooperative education has progressed in recent years. China has established more than 2，400 cooperative programs with 700 overseas universities and signed agreements on mutual recognition of academic degrees and diplomas with 44 countries and regions. “Education is the priority in cultural and personnel exchanges. China has begun national-level educational cooperation with countries including the United States， Russia， Britain and France， and will raise such exchanges to a national strategic level in the future，” Hao said.
November CPI
The consumer price index （CPI）， a main gauge of inflation， grew 2.3 percent year on year in November， up from October’s 2.1 percent， the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） announced on December 9.
On a month-on-month basis， the CPI rose 0.1 percent in November.
NBS statistician Sheng Guoqing attributed the stronger growth of inflation to higher food and fuel prices.
Vegetable prices jumped 5.5 percent month on month， as the cold weather disrupted supplies， contributing 0.14 percentage points to CPI growth.
On a year-on-year basis， vegetable prices soared 15.8 percent， compared with a 13-percent increase in October.
The prices of petrol， diesel， gas， coal， water and electricity also increased in November， also due to the cold weather.
However， the price of fruit and pork continued to fall from October， down 2.2 percent and 1.9 percent， respectively.
In addition， tourism costs including flight prices dipped， as winter is the low season for travel.
On the other side of the equation， China’s producer price index， which measures inflation at the wholesale level， continued rising by 1.5 percent year on year in November， the highest in 56 months.
EV Chargers
The State Grid will build more charging facilities and expand public fast- charge networks for electric vehicles（EVs） in future years， the company’s Chairman Shu Yinbiao said on December 11.
The company plans to build 10，000 charging stations and 120，000 charging poles by 2020， said Shu.
The company will expand its public fast-charge networks for EVs in major cities including Beijing， Shanghai and Hangzhou， where charging facilities will be built within a radius of less than 1 km from each other， according to Shu.
By 2015， the State Grid had built fast-charge networks covering 11，000 km of highways between major cities， and it will further expand the networks to cover another 36，000 km of inter-city highways by 2020， he said.
According to Shu， the company has also built an online system that helps EV drivers locate charging facilities nearby and pay charging fees， and has so far been connected to more than 80，000 charging poles. Data from the National Energy Administration showed that China had 107，000 charging poles for EVs by the end of October 2016， up 118 percent from a year ago.
According to China’s 13th FiveYear Plan （2016-20）， the country will build a nationwide charging-station network that will fulfill the power demands of 5 million EVs by 2020.
Winter Harvest
A villager gathers mushrooms in a greenhouse in Renxian County， north China’s Hebei Province， on December 13.
In recent years， the local government has kept encouraging farmers to plant mushrooms and vegetables with modern facilities during winter.
Wind Power Deal
Apple announced it will partner with Goldwind， the world’s largest wind turbine maker， in projects in China that will produce 285 megawatts of wind power.
This marks Apple’s first foray into wind power and is its largest clean-energy project to date， said Lisa Jackson， Vice President of Environment， Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple.
According to Goldwind， a Hong Kong-listed company based in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， Apple has purchased 30 percent of equity in four companies to run four wind power projects in the provinces of Henan， Shandong， Shanxi and Yunnan.
The four companies are under the Beijing Tianrun New Energy Investment Co. Ltd.， a subsidiary of Goldwind， the announcement said.
Apple is striving to improve the environmental impact of its supply chain， which is responsible for more than 70 percent of its total carbon footprint.
Over a year ago， Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company aimed to make its supply chain in China 100 percent powered by renewable energy.
He promised 2，000 megawatts of clean energy in China alone and 4，000 megawatts around the world.
Apple started with a 40-megawatt solar power project in southwest China’s Sichuan Province in 2015， which generates enough power to cover all its offices and stores in the country.
It then backed three solar power projects， which can generate 170 megawatts of power， in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2015.
The wind and solar projects are targeting upstream suppliers that do not have a direct business relationship with Apple， Jackson said.
“These projects will produce more than 900 million kwh of power， equivalent to the amount of energy needed to power 690，000 Chinese homes，” she said. Banking Data Published
China’s foreign exchange regulator hailed a recent move by the Bank for International Settlements （BIS） to start publishing Chinese banking data.
The BIS announced on December 11 that it will now publish Chinese locational banking statistics（LBS）， and that it will also publish Chinese banking data on its official website.
The BIS move demonstrated that China’s statistics on its balance of international payments are internationally recognized thanks to continuous improvement of transparency， the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.
The number of LBS-reporting countries rose from 44 to 46 after taking in China and Russia.
A total of 12 emerging economies now report to the LBS， along with 12 offshore financial centers and 22 advanced economies， according to the BIS.
“The claims and liabilities of domestic and foreign banks located in China and Russia have been included in global aggregates in the LBS since the end of December 2015，” the BIS said.
At the end of June 2016， Chinese banks reported outstanding crossborder claims of $778 billion and liabilities of $918 billion， it said.
Tropical Produce Gathering
A crowd of visitors looks at farm produce showcased at the China （Hainan） International Tropical Agricultural Products Winter Trade Fair in Haikou， capital of south China’s Hainan Province， on December 12.
The 100 millionth Passenger
Passenger Mao Weiying （right） is interviewed by the media at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on December 12.
Mao， who arrived at the airport on Flight MU592 on that day， was the 100 millionth traveler for Shanghai’s airports.
Shanghai， which has two international airports， is now the world’s fifthbusiest city airport system by passenger throughput， following London， New York， Tokyo and Atlanta.
Free Profit Transfers
China’s foreign exchange authority said on December 9 that there are no restrictions on foreign firms’cross-border profit transfers， re- sponding to market concerns about tightened regulation over capital outflows.
As China has realized convertibility under the current account， real international payments and transfers are not restricted， including those of dividend and goods and services trade， according to a statement of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Weighed on by a weak Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar， regulators moved to crack down on illegal cross-border capital flows， while reiterating that normal business will not be affected and foreign investment is still welcome. In November， the yuan fell against the dollar， but was relatively stable against a basket of currencies.
China-Nepal Trade
The total trade value at the border port of Gyirong in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region from January to October exceeded 2.35 billion yuan （$340 million）， a 20-fold increase year on year， Lhasa Customs said on December 12.
A 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25， 2015， damaging and closing the Zham and Gyirong ports. As a result， trade in Tibet fell to about 5.66 billion yuan （$816.5 million） in 2015， down 59.2 percent year on year， the Commerce Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region said.
On October 13， 2015， the port of Gyirong reopened and China-Nepal trade recovered immediately.
The port of Gyirong now undertakes the trade function of the port of Zham， which used to clear about 90 percent of land-borne trade between China and Nepal before the earthquake.
According to the regional government， the Gyirong port is expected to become a major route for trade between China and Nepal.
New Online Rule
A new Ministry of Culture regulation will require those who present streamed online shows to register using their real names.
Operators of online shows will have to identify presenters via interviews or video calls， and apply for a license from provincial cultural authorities. The documents will be filed with the ministry.
The regulation， which comes into effect on January 1， 2017， also requires the operators to obtain a permit from the ministry before running online channels in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan of China and foreign countries.
They must also supervise performances， keep records of all shows and establish a mechanism for handling emergencies. If they see content that violates the law， operators must suspend the service， preserve relevant data， and report the matter.
A blacklist will be created to strengthen management of online performances and ensure the sector’s healthy and orderly growth.
IDs of Old Trees
Nearly 20，000 ancient trees on the renowned Taishan Mountain， one of China’s five sacred mountains， now have “digital IDs，” the Taishan Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee said on December 11.
The digital identity cards contain basic information on the trees collected by a new monitoring and management system for ancient trees on the mountain in east China’s Shandong Province. The mountain holds great historical and cultural significance. Its peak， dubbed the Jade Emperor’s Peak， is nearly 1，500 meters above sea level.
The ID system will help rangers examine the growing environment and conditions of the trees， and monitor their physiology， diseases and pests. It can ascertain whether a tree is healthy， weak or dying， record the harm it has suffered， and the degree of damage sustained.
There are over 18，000 ancient trees on the Taishan Mountain with more than 1，800 classified as firstclass ancient trees， meaning they are more than 300 years old， rare， or of historical significance.
The mountain is home to several famous trees such as a pine over 500 years old which is on the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage list. Global Warming
The “roof of the world” has become warmer and wetter， according to a report jointly released on December 9 by the climate center of southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region and the regional remote-sensing applications research center.
The report says the average temperature in Tibet during the flood season （from May to September） has seen a significant increase from 1981 to 2016， up 0.3 degree Celsius per decade on average. Precipitation during the same period has grown 10.1 mm every decade on average.
The average temperature in Tibet during the flood season in 2016 was 11.9 degrees Celsius， 0.44 degree higher than normal. The average precipitation in 2016 was 445.1 mm， 62.4 mm more than normal.
Experts say climate change is a double-edged sword for the region. With a warmer and wetter climate， it will see more vegetation and have a more favorable temperature for agriculture， animal husbandry and tourism， in the short term. However， the changing climate will result in receding glaciers and melting permafrost in the long run.
River Chiefs
China will appoint local government heads as river chiefs across the nation to clean up and protect water resources， according to guidelines published by central authorities on December 11.
The river chiefs will be responsible for the management and protection of the watercourses， according to the document forwarded by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council， China’s cabinet.
The Central Government expects to make it a nationwide mechanism by the end of 2018.
Government officials will be hired as river chiefs at provincial， city， county and township levels， and provincial region chiefs will be general chiefs responsible for all rivers and lakes in the region.
For large rivers and lakes that span across regions， river chiefs will be responsible for different parts of the water bodies and cooperate in their management.
The river chiefs’ responsibilities include water resource protection， pollution prevention and control and ecological restoration. Their performance will be assessed and they will be held accountable if environmental damage occurs in the water bodies under their charge.
Information including the names and responsibilities of the river chiefs will be made public for public supervision.
China initially appointed local government officials as river chiefs in 2007 to address a blue algae outbreak in the Taihu Lake in Jiangsu Province. The practice was adopted by several regions rich in water resources to ensure enforcement of environmental policies and enhance coordination. The Chinese Government released a national plan on environmental improvement for the 13th Five-Year Plan（2016-20） period in early December 2016 with detailed tasks to clean polluted air， water and soil and promote ecological civilization.
Cancer Breathalyzer
Chinese scientists have developed a device which may detect esophageal cancer by breath analysis.
Scientists with the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences， used a device—the proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer—to analyze breath samples of 29 esophageal cancer patients and 58 healthy volunteers.
Seven kinds of ion changes were found to distinguish the cancer patients from the volunteers. In the breath of the cancer patients， the median intensity of five ions decreased while the intensity of another two increased. More tests are needed to confirm the findings.
The spectrometry takes only three minutes and the accuracy is 85 to 90 percent.
In China， esophageal cancer kills about 370，000 people each year. Both the prevalence and death rate are among the highest in the world. Common screening methods contain barium meals， tomography scans， endoscopy and biopsy. However， these invasive methods are not suitable for regular health exams or the very vulnerable.
Non-invasive screening methods like breath spectrometry will help in early detection and intervention.
Fun of 3D
Children visit an interactive museum for 3D printing in Yantai， east China’s Shandong Province， on December 10.
Making Recovery
Women make traditional food after moving to new house in Gyirong County of Xigaze， southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region， on December 8.
Over 16，000 people were affected by a quake which hit the county on April 25， 2015. More than 3，000 residential buildings were badly damaged. The local government has reconstructed 89.6 percent of houses for villagers so far. The rest will be finished by the end of 2016.
Educational Exchanges
China will improve the quality and opening up of its educational sector and raise cultural and personnel exchanges to a national strategic level， Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping said on December 11.
Efforts will be made to serve both overseas students in China and domestic students going abroad， and to support schools jointly run by China and foreign countries， Hao said， adding that China will send 29，000 government-sponsored students abroad as part of an initiative to train people with global vision. Over 523，000 Chinese studied abroad in 2015， making China the world’s top source of overseas students. China is also the world’s third largest study destination following the United States and Britain， which saw nearly 400，000 students from across the world last year. Sino-foreign cooperative education has progressed in recent years. China has established more than 2，400 cooperative programs with 700 overseas universities and signed agreements on mutual recognition of academic degrees and diplomas with 44 countries and regions. “Education is the priority in cultural and personnel exchanges. China has begun national-level educational cooperation with countries including the United States， Russia， Britain and France， and will raise such exchanges to a national strategic level in the future，” Hao said.
November CPI
The consumer price index （CPI）， a main gauge of inflation， grew 2.3 percent year on year in November， up from October’s 2.1 percent， the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） announced on December 9.
On a month-on-month basis， the CPI rose 0.1 percent in November.
NBS statistician Sheng Guoqing attributed the stronger growth of inflation to higher food and fuel prices.
Vegetable prices jumped 5.5 percent month on month， as the cold weather disrupted supplies， contributing 0.14 percentage points to CPI growth.
On a year-on-year basis， vegetable prices soared 15.8 percent， compared with a 13-percent increase in October.
The prices of petrol， diesel， gas， coal， water and electricity also increased in November， also due to the cold weather.
However， the price of fruit and pork continued to fall from October， down 2.2 percent and 1.9 percent， respectively.
In addition， tourism costs including flight prices dipped， as winter is the low season for travel.
On the other side of the equation， China’s producer price index， which measures inflation at the wholesale level， continued rising by 1.5 percent year on year in November， the highest in 56 months.
EV Chargers
The State Grid will build more charging facilities and expand public fast- charge networks for electric vehicles（EVs） in future years， the company’s Chairman Shu Yinbiao said on December 11.
The company plans to build 10，000 charging stations and 120，000 charging poles by 2020， said Shu.
The company will expand its public fast-charge networks for EVs in major cities including Beijing， Shanghai and Hangzhou， where charging facilities will be built within a radius of less than 1 km from each other， according to Shu.
By 2015， the State Grid had built fast-charge networks covering 11，000 km of highways between major cities， and it will further expand the networks to cover another 36，000 km of inter-city highways by 2020， he said.
According to Shu， the company has also built an online system that helps EV drivers locate charging facilities nearby and pay charging fees， and has so far been connected to more than 80，000 charging poles. Data from the National Energy Administration showed that China had 107，000 charging poles for EVs by the end of October 2016， up 118 percent from a year ago.
According to China’s 13th FiveYear Plan （2016-20）， the country will build a nationwide charging-station network that will fulfill the power demands of 5 million EVs by 2020.
Winter Harvest
A villager gathers mushrooms in a greenhouse in Renxian County， north China’s Hebei Province， on December 13.
In recent years， the local government has kept encouraging farmers to plant mushrooms and vegetables with modern facilities during winter.
Wind Power Deal
Apple announced it will partner with Goldwind， the world’s largest wind turbine maker， in projects in China that will produce 285 megawatts of wind power.
This marks Apple’s first foray into wind power and is its largest clean-energy project to date， said Lisa Jackson， Vice President of Environment， Policy and Social Initiatives at Apple.
According to Goldwind， a Hong Kong-listed company based in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， Apple has purchased 30 percent of equity in four companies to run four wind power projects in the provinces of Henan， Shandong， Shanxi and Yunnan.
The four companies are under the Beijing Tianrun New Energy Investment Co. Ltd.， a subsidiary of Goldwind， the announcement said.
Apple is striving to improve the environmental impact of its supply chain， which is responsible for more than 70 percent of its total carbon footprint.
Over a year ago， Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the company aimed to make its supply chain in China 100 percent powered by renewable energy.
He promised 2，000 megawatts of clean energy in China alone and 4，000 megawatts around the world.
Apple started with a 40-megawatt solar power project in southwest China’s Sichuan Province in 2015， which generates enough power to cover all its offices and stores in the country.
It then backed three solar power projects， which can generate 170 megawatts of power， in north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2015.
The wind and solar projects are targeting upstream suppliers that do not have a direct business relationship with Apple， Jackson said.
“These projects will produce more than 900 million kwh of power， equivalent to the amount of energy needed to power 690，000 Chinese homes，” she said. Banking Data Published
China’s foreign exchange regulator hailed a recent move by the Bank for International Settlements （BIS） to start publishing Chinese banking data.
The BIS announced on December 11 that it will now publish Chinese locational banking statistics（LBS）， and that it will also publish Chinese banking data on its official website.
The BIS move demonstrated that China’s statistics on its balance of international payments are internationally recognized thanks to continuous improvement of transparency， the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said.
The number of LBS-reporting countries rose from 44 to 46 after taking in China and Russia.
A total of 12 emerging economies now report to the LBS， along with 12 offshore financial centers and 22 advanced economies， according to the BIS.
“The claims and liabilities of domestic and foreign banks located in China and Russia have been included in global aggregates in the LBS since the end of December 2015，” the BIS said.
At the end of June 2016， Chinese banks reported outstanding crossborder claims of $778 billion and liabilities of $918 billion， it said.
Tropical Produce Gathering
A crowd of visitors looks at farm produce showcased at the China （Hainan） International Tropical Agricultural Products Winter Trade Fair in Haikou， capital of south China’s Hainan Province， on December 12.
The 100 millionth Passenger
Passenger Mao Weiying （right） is interviewed by the media at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on December 12.
Mao， who arrived at the airport on Flight MU592 on that day， was the 100 millionth traveler for Shanghai’s airports.
Shanghai， which has two international airports， is now the world’s fifthbusiest city airport system by passenger throughput， following London， New York， Tokyo and Atlanta.
Free Profit Transfers
China’s foreign exchange authority said on December 9 that there are no restrictions on foreign firms’cross-border profit transfers， re- sponding to market concerns about tightened regulation over capital outflows.
As China has realized convertibility under the current account， real international payments and transfers are not restricted， including those of dividend and goods and services trade， according to a statement of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
Weighed on by a weak Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar， regulators moved to crack down on illegal cross-border capital flows， while reiterating that normal business will not be affected and foreign investment is still welcome. In November， the yuan fell against the dollar， but was relatively stable against a basket of currencies.
China-Nepal Trade
The total trade value at the border port of Gyirong in China’s Tibet Autonomous Region from January to October exceeded 2.35 billion yuan （$340 million）， a 20-fold increase year on year， Lhasa Customs said on December 12.
A 8.1-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on April 25， 2015， damaging and closing the Zham and Gyirong ports. As a result， trade in Tibet fell to about 5.66 billion yuan （$816.5 million） in 2015， down 59.2 percent year on year， the Commerce Department of the Tibet Autonomous Region said.
On October 13， 2015， the port of Gyirong reopened and China-Nepal trade recovered immediately.
The port of Gyirong now undertakes the trade function of the port of Zham， which used to clear about 90 percent of land-borne trade between China and Nepal before the earthquake.
According to the regional government， the Gyirong port is expected to become a major route for trade between China and Nepal.