Teachers help students with their costumes and makeup at a primary school in Jiande， east China’s Zhejiang Province， on March 27， World Theater Day. On the day， students in the school had the chance to learn local opera and experience its unique charm with the help of professional teachers.
　　Democratic Reform In Tibet
　　China’s State Council Information Offi ce issued a white paper on March 27 on democratic reform and the development leap in Tibet over the past six decades.
　　The democratic reform in Tibet is the greatest and most profound social transformation in the history of Tibet， said the white paper titled Democratic Reform in Tibet—Sixty Years On.
　　“By abolishing serfdom， a grim and backward feudal system， Tibet was able to establish a new social system that liberated the people and made them the masters of the nation and society， thus ensuring their rights in all matters，” the document said.
　　Plant Explosion
　　The death toll from an explosion in a chemical plant in Yancheng， east China’s Jiangsu Province， has risen to 78， Yancheng’s Mayor Cao Lubao said on March 25.
　　The explosion happened on March 21， following a fi re that broke out in a plant owned by Jiangsu Tianjiayi Chemical Co. Ltd.， in a chemical industrial park in Xiangshui County in Yancheng.
　　It damaged 952 houses in the county with 89 seriously damaged houses set to be demolished. The owners can choose to buy new houses in cities with the compensation they receive， move into new houses offered by authorities or have their houses rebuilt. The other damaged houses will be examined by professionals and strengthened， Cao added.
　　Houses with shattered glass and other slight damage will be repaired within one week， according to Cao.
　　Air quality near the blast site is now stable and meets national standards， he said. The authority has strengthened air quality monitoring， increasing the frequency of air quality reports from every six hours to every two hours.
　　Measures have also been taken to prevent the outfl ow of contaminated water from the blast site， according to an offi cial with Jiangsu’s ecology and environment department.
　　Authorities have invited 30 experts from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences， Tsinghua University and other organizations to help fi nd solutions to the contaminated water and other pollutants， Cao said. 　　Legal Services
　　More efforts are expected to promote foreign-related legal service development in Beijing， according to the Beijing Lawyers Association.
　　The organization said it would help set up training systems aimed at introducing more talent to foreign-related legal services in response to a recent survey report that showed several shortcomings in such services provided in the capital.
　　The report， released by the All China Lawyers Association on March 27， is based on a survey covering Beijing’s top 900 law fi rms.
　　It showed that many lawyers do not have suffi cient knowledge of foreign laws or have diffi culties smoothly handling legal issues in foreign languages even though the majority of those surveyed can speak English.
　　Due to their lack of basic knowledge about different industries， many lawyers struggle to help their customers with risk control or other issues， the report said.
　　The association said it expects to see the range of foreign-related legal services expanding and would carry out surveys to learn about the needs of Chinese enterprises operating overseas.
　　Nursing Home App
　　A mobile app which offers access to information about nursing homes in China， the fi rst of its kind， has been put on a trial run in Beijing， according to its developer， the social welfare center under the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
　　Based on the national elderly care service information system， the app can provide detailed information about nursing homes， including their location， scale， services， costs and reviews by users， the center said in a statement.
　　The app can be opened on the messaging and social media app WeChat， bypassing the need for downloading it from app stores， according to the statement.
　　It is aimed to promote the transparency of nursing homes nationwide and make information about their internal service and safety management and infrastructure available to the public in order to strengthen oversight over the senior care industry， mobilize social forces and better promote nursing homes across the country.
　　Currently， the platform has information on 358 Beijing-based elderly care institutions and is expected to include more institutions from other provincial-level regions after the trial run.
　　Waste Seized
　　China’s Customs seized more than 300，000 tons of smuggled trash imports on March 22 in its latest move to curb the infl ow of “overseas trash” and protect the environment. 　　Nearly 1，000 offi cers took part in the action， arresting 115 suspects and breaking up 22 smuggling groups， according to the General Administration of Customs （GAC）.
　　By March 20， China had seen a sharp decline in the amount of legal imports of solid waste and the number of trash smuggling cases so far this year， falling 37 percent and 43 percent year on year， respectively， the GAC said in a statement.
　　Customs data also showed fi ve rounds of crackdowns on trash smuggling in 2018， investigating 481 cases of smuggling foreign trash and seizing 1.55 million tons of illegal waste imports.
　　China began importing solid waste as a source of raw materials in the 1980s and for years has been the world’s largest importer， despite its weak capacity for garbage disposal. Some companies illegally bring foreign garbage into the country for profi t， posing a threat to the environment and public health.
　　Given rising public awareness and a green development drive， the government decided last year to phase out and completely halt such imports by the end of 2019.
　　Clone in Training
　　China’s fi rst cloned police dog Kunxun plays with a trainer at the Kunming Police Dog Base in southwest China’s Yunnan Province on March 21. The dog was cloned in December 2018 in Beijing from a 7-year-old female police dog named Huahuangma.


　　Cyber Management
　　China has made progress in cyberspace management as well as related technologies and industries over the past year.
　　It has improved cyberspace security through strengthened regulations and targeted campaigns to crack down on online pornography， fabricated information and personal information infringement.
　　Supervision over Internet-based industries has been strengthened， with regulations on fi nancial and blockchain information services released in December 2018 and January 2019， respectively.
　　As of November 2018， China had more than 144，000 patent applications related to artifi cial intelligence， which accounted for 43.4 percent of all such applications across the world， more than any other country.
　　A number of China’s 5G technology plans have met international standards， and China is among the leading countries in 5G technology， both in terms of development speed and quality， according to the 43rd report on China’s Internet development released by the China Internet Network Information Center in February. 　　Last year， China removed domestic data roaming fees and reduced several other telecommunication charges， while the overall Internet speed was boosted.
　　In the next fi ve to 10 years， China plans to build the world’s largest Internet Protocol version 6-based network for commercial use， which is expected to integrate next-generation Internet technology with every aspect of society.
　　Styling Times
　　Models show off a variety of designs at the opening of the China Fashion Week in Beijing on March 25. Some 150 designers from home and abroad took part in the event which lasted through March 31.


　　Insurance Openness
　　China has given permission to a joint venture （JV） to establish a pension insurance company in the country， making it the fi rst JV to gain access to this sector.
　　The JV， Heng An Standard Life， was formed in 2003 and is 50-50 owned by Scotland-headquartered Standard Life Aberdeen and Tianjin TEDA International at the end of 2018.
　　The new entity will be the country’s fi rst foreign-funded pension insurance company， the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said on March 27 on its website.
　　The commission said the country will continue to open up its banking and insurance industries as well as improve the business environment to ensure more overseasfunded banking and insurance institutions can tap into the fi nancial market.
　　The insurance market in China is expected to grow at an average of 13 percent over the next 10 years， according to British insurance giant Prudential Corporation Asia （PCA）.
　　As the fi rst British insurer to enter the Chinese mainland market， PCA has been in China for 19 years， spanning 87 cities in 19 provinces via its joint venture with the CITIC Group.
　　PCA Chief Executive Nic Nicandrou recently told Xinhua News Agency that while the company’s market share in China is about 0.6 percent， its business in China is already the third largest in PCA’s portfolio businesses across Asia given the country’s huge market base. PCA achieved doubledigit growth in China in 2018 and outperformed the market despite a challenging environment for the sector， he said.
　　Contributing Ideas
　　The China Development Forum 2019 formally opens in Beijing on March 24. More than 50 offi cials from Chinese central government departments and over 150 overseas delegates participated in the three-day event. The event focused on issues such as supply-side structural reform， opening up of the fi nancial market and fi nancial stability.


　　Industrial Profits
　　China’s major industrial fi rms reported falling profi ts in the JanuaryFebruary period， due to price and seasonal factors， but continued to see progress in structural upgrading and deleveraging， offi cial data showed on March 27.
　　Combined profi ts of industrial fi rms with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan （$2.98 million） stood at 708.01 billion yuan （$105.4 billion） in the fi rst two months of 2019， down 14 percent year on year， according to the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS）.
　　Zhu Hong， an NBS senior statistician， attributed the decline to lower profi ts in some industries and disruptions caused by the Spring Festival holiday in early February.
　　Auto， petroleum processing， steel and chemical industries saw profi ts markedly pared by falling product prices， dragging the overall industrial profi t growth down by 14.2 percentage points， according to Zhu.
　　In addition， compared with the same period last year， the Spring Festival holiday had a longer impact on industrial production as it came earlier this year， the statistician noted.
　　On the positive side， consumer product manufacturers and equipment producers maintained relatively high profi t growth， refl ecting structural improvement.
　　Meanwhile， NBS data showed progress in the country’s bid to help reduce corporate leverage through supply-side structural reform.
　　Hu Chi， an economist with the research center under the StateOwned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council， said industrial profi ts are expected to rebound in the future due to government measures to support production and reduce corporate burden.
　　NEV Subsidies
　　The authorities on March 26 unveiled tougher policies for subsidizing the purchases of new-energy vehicles（NEV） to push for the sector’s highquality development.
　　The threshold of technological requirements has been “moderately raised” to support producers with advanced technology， reliable product quality and high safety standards， according to a joint statement released by the Ministry of Finance and other ministries.
　　The new measures raise the energy density threshold for the NEV power battery system， moderately raise the energy consumption requirement and raise the mileage threshold for the continuous driving of pure electric passenger vehicles.
　　Due to factors such as economies of scale and cost reduction， the country has reduced the subsidy standards for new-energy passenger vehicles， buses and trucks to promote the survival of the fi ttest and prevent drastic market fl uctuations， the statement said. 　　After a three-month transition period starting on March 26， local governments should stop subsidizing purchases of NEVs other than new-energy buses and fuel cell vehicles and instead use the funds to improve charging facilities and other supporting services.
　　Last year， NEV sales soared 61.74 percent to 1.26 million units， according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
　　Sweeter Life
　　Tourists pick strawberries on a farm in Qinhuangdao， north China’s Hebei Province， on March 27. In recent years， agro-tourism has injected impetus into local economic development and helped improve farmers’ income.


　　Procedural Reform
　　The General Offi ce of the State Council has released a guideline on reform of the construction project approval system， with the goal of sharply reducing the time required.
　　The country will reduce the time needed for approving construction projects to within 120 work days in the fi rst half of this year， according to the document. This is a dramatic cut from the more than 200 work days previously.
　　It also contains a plan to establish a national unifi ed approval and management system for construction projects by the end of 2020.
　　Authorities will unify the approval procedures， information platforms， approval and management， and regulatory tools for construction projects， the guideline said.
　　The move is part of China’s broader reform to cut red tape and improve the business environment.
　　Tech Cooperation
　　BYD， a leading Chinese electric vehicle maker， has inked an agreement with telecom giant Huawei Technologies to promote compre- hensive strategic cooperation.
　　With years of technological accumulation in new-energy vehicles and rail transport systems， BYD will collaborate with Huawei， a leader in artifi cial intelligence， 5G， cloud computing and big data， to forge ahead with the transformation and upgrading of mobility services， according to an agreement signed on March 25.
　　The two parties will seek indepth exchanges and collaborations on the Internet of Vehicles， intelligent driving， smart monorail and smart campus solutions.
　　In addition， a driverless monorail transit system， developed by Huawei and BYD， has started operation in Yinchuan， northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
　　New Showroom
　　The Sany Group， a global heavy equipment manufacturer， opened a modern showroom in Kenya on March 26， the fi rst of its kind in East Africa. 　　The showroom displays various equipment， including concrete machinery， road machinery， excavators， mixer trucks， tipper trucks and fi refi ghting machinery.
　　The group signed a dealership agreement with Kenyan construction company Rhombus Construction Co. Ltd. in 2018 to sell its products in the African country.
　　As business partners， the companies aim to take a share of the 9.5-trillion-shilling （$95 billion） construction market in Kenya， with the resultant effects of creating more job opportunities， training engineering students and the acquisition of affordable equipment， Victor Marangu， head of sales and marketing at Rhombus Construction， said.
　　Under the partnership deal， Rhombus Construction is expected to sell 650 Sany dump trucks and 200 concrete machines in Kenya in the coming three years.
　　Building Up
　　Machines at a construction site in the economic development zone of Horgos， a major land pass in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region bordering Kazakhstan， on March 21. Some 72 major projects will be initiated in the zone， covering industrial processing， infrastructure， agriculture and cultural tourism.