The Chinese delegation parades its flag during the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Summer Games Tokyo 2020 on August 24.
　　A record number of 4，403 athletes from 162 delegations have been confirmed to take part in the Tokyo Paralympics， which will run until September 5.
　　China， participating in the Summer Paralympics for the 10th consecutive time， has sent 251 athletes with 16-year-old swimmer Jiang Yuyan being the youngest and 56-year-old table tennis player Zhao Ping the oldest. They will compete in 20 of the 22 sports.

Extravehicular Activities

　　Screen image taken at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on August 20 shows Chinese astronauts Nie Haisheng and Liu Boming after conducting extravehicular activities outside of the space station core module Tianhe. This was the second time that the astronauts conducted such activities during the construction of the country’s space station. Three astronauts were sent into space onboard the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft and entered Tianhe on June 17.

Greener Plan

　　About 33.33 million hectares of forests and grasslands are set to be planted in the next five years， according to the forestry authorities.
　　The task includes the planting of 3.6 million hectares of trees and 3.06 million hectares of grass each year， said Zhang Wei， head of the ecological protection and restoration department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration （NFGA）.
　　The afforestation plan is part of China’s efforts to fulfill its commitment to peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
　　China aims to increase its forest coverage rate to 24.1 percent and its grassland vegetation coverage to 57 percent by 2025， as outlined in the country’s 14th Five-Year Plan （2021-25） on the protection and development of forests and grasslands.
　　The country also aims to raise its forest stock volume to 19 billion cubic meters by the end of 2025， an increase of 1.4 billion cubic meters from last year.
　　China’s forest carbon reserves have hit 9.2 billion tons， with an average annual increase of over 200 million tons over the past five years， equivalent to a carbon sink of 700 million to 800 million tons， according to NFGA data. 　　The country has created the world’s largest planted forests， raising its forest coverage from 12 percent in the early 1980s to 23.04 percent in 2020， with its forest stock volume hitting 17.56 billion cubic meters.

Highest Expressway

　　The world’s highest expressway， running between the city of Nagqu and Lhasa， capital of Tibet Autonomous Region， went into full operation on August 21， with the opening of the final 227-km-long section between Nagqu and Yangbajain， according to the Ministry of Transport. The Yangbajain-Lhasa section of the expressway opened to traffic in October 2020.
　　The Nagqu-Lhasa expressway， running 295 km along an area with an average altitude of over 4，500 meters， is the first highway connecting Lhasa and the grasslands of northern Tibet.
　　Its operation will shorten the drive between Lhasa and the city of Nagqu to three hours from more than six.
　　It will significantly enlarge transport capacity and improve the level of security of the corridor connecting Tibet with Qinghai Province.

Improved Connectivity

　　Sichuan， Yunnan and Guizhou provinces， as well as Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region announced they would join the China-Singapore （Chongqing） International Dedicated Connectivity （IDC） at the IDC Forum held in Chongqing Municipality on August 23.
　　At the forum， the Chongqing Big Data Application and Development Administration signed a proposal on the IDC co-construction， sharing， and cooperation with the relevant government departments of Sichuan， Guizhou， Yunnan and Guangxi.
　　The IDC is a symbolic project of the China-Singapore（Chongqing） Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity （CCI）， as well as China’s first approved country-to-country dedicated connectivity.
　　It provides a dedicated data channel between Singapore and Chongqing， offering a better network experience featuring lower latency and packet loss and better network reliability.
　　At present， five of China’s province-level regions， including Chongqing， have joined the IDC， marking its expanding influence.
　　According to the administration bureau of the Sino-Singapore demonstration project in Chongqing， the value of the business cooperation and cross-border financing projects agreed under the CCI amounted to $21.4 billion and $15.1 billion， respectively.
　　Nearly 50 companies from both sides have signed IDC leasing contracts or conducted cooperation based on the IDC， covering remote healthcare， smart logistics and other fields.

Smart Expo

　　A staff member （right） operates a robot for firefighting and detection at the Smart China Expo in Chongqing on August 23. The Smart China Expo 2021 opened in Chongqing that day， with more than 600 enterprises participating in the exhibition both online and offline.

Disability Prevention

　　During the 13th Five-Year Plan（2016-20） period， China made marked improvements in multiple indicators for disability prevention and rehabilitation， according to a press conference on August 24.
　　The vaccination rate for eligible children under China’s national immunization plan was retained above 90 percent during the period in order to prevent disease-induced disabilities， while major endemic diseases were almost fully eradicated at the county level， said the China Disabled Persons’ Federation， the National Health Commission and the Ministry of Emergency Management at a joint press conference.
　　The rates of pre-pregnancy check-ups and prenatal screenings increased to 96.4 percent and 81.1 percent， respectively， helping reduce disabilities caused by birth defects and developmental disorders.
　　Compared with 2016， the number of workplace accidents in China declined by 39.8 percent in 2020， with related deaths down by 36.3 percent， along with a substantial decrease in traffic accidents， according to the press conference.
　　The coverage of basic rehabilitation services for the disabled exceeded 80 percent during the period.

Digital Currency

　　China’s digital fiat currency， or the e-CNY， has been used for the first time for transactions in the domestic futures market， the China Securities Journal reported on August 23.
　　The e-CNY has been used by the Dalian Commodity Exchange（DCE） for the payment of storage fees to a delivery warehouse， assisted by the local branches of Bank of Communications and Bank of China.
　　The application of e-CNY in the futures market provided an efficient， zero-cost and safe payment alternative for future exchanges and market participants through real-time inter-bank payment， the newspaper reported.
　　Jiang Bin， manager of the delivery warehouse， said e-CNY payment charges no transaction fee and is not restricted to the operation period of the highvalue payment system， which would bring more convenience to enterprises by showing realtime transaction progress.
　　The DCE said it plans to further promote business innovation and seeks to expand the use of the digital yuan while ensuring a safe and stable market operation.
　　China has launched e-CNY pilots across several cities since late 2019， including in Dalian in November 2020. As of June 30， the e-CNY had been applied in over 1.32 million scenarios， covering utility payments， catering， transportation， shopping and government services.

A New Beginning

　　Primary school students in Changchun， capital of Jilin Province， return to school on August 23 after their summer vacation.