Monday

Rail traffic hits record high for Tomb-sweeping

Daily rail traffic hit a record high as China marked its Tomb-sweeping Day holiday.

Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is the most important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors. The three-day holiday spans from Sunday to Wednesday.

China Railway, the national railway operator, said Monday that it transported 12.68 million passengers on Sunday, an increase of 10.1 percent from a year ago, a record high for the holiday.

Some 9.84 million passengers traveled by train on Monday. The railway operator added 399 more trains to meet demand. (Photo 1)

Huawei profit stays flat, revenue growth slows

Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd said that its net profit edged up just 0.4 percent last year, its slowest annual growth since 2011.

Huawei - the world's No 3 smartphone maker behind Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd - said net profit rose to $5.3 billion (37.1 billion yuan) in 2016.

The company's global revenue climbed 32 percent, slightly slower than the 35 percent growth a year earlier.

Strong competition in China's smartphone market, from previously little-known local rivals OPPO Electronics Corp and Vivo Communications Technology Co Ltd, cost Huawei its top spot as the biggest vendor in the domestic market last year.

Revenue from Huawei's consumer business group rose 44 percent to $26 billion, but lagged the company's forecast of $30 billion made a year ago. (Photo 2)

Tuesday____April 4

Trash sorting to be mandatory in major cities

China plans to require household trash sorting in 46 major cities to deal with a growing refuse problem.

Detailed rules on sorting in the cities will be released this year. The rules will be mandatory only for public entities, such as governments and schools, and companies, such as restaurants and shopping malls. But residential communities are encouraged to follow suit.

Household trash has soared in cities, threatening the environment and hindering urban development. The central government began promoting trash sorting 16 years ago, but the results have not met expectations.

Sorting household trash, unlike construction and industrial waste, entails separating recyclables - bottles, cans, clothing, packaging and paper - kitchen waste and hazardous waste.

Rate of Mandarin speakers to be increased

China plans to increase the rate of nationals speaking standard Mandarin Chinese to 80 percent by 2020, according to a plan issued by the Ministry of Education and State Language Commission.

The percentage of those speaking standard Mandarin is above 70 percent, but there is still a huge gap between different regions and groups of people. The rate for speaking Mandarin exceeds 90 percent in large cities but is only 40 percent in many rural areas.

The plan calls for improved Mandarin speaking abilities among teachers, especially new teachers, who must meet national Mandarin speaking standards before being enrolled by schools.

The plan also highlights training of teachers from ethnic minority regions. Methods including online remote teaching will be used to ensure all ethnic teachers speak standard Mandarin.

Wednesday____April 5

Environmental watchdog focuses on seven cities

China's environmental watchdog has sent inspection teams to seven cities to cope with a new round of severe smog.

The inspection teams sent by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) went to Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Baoding, Xingtai and Anyang, all of which are in northern China.

Inspectors discovered factories fabricating pollutant data in Anyang and Xingtai. A steel mill in Tangshan was found to have shut down a pollutant detector. Those responsible have been detained by local police, the MEP said in a statement.

In Tianjin, several cement producers in Tangshan were found to have continued operations when they should have been suspended.

In Shijiazhuang and Beijing, a ceramics producer and a paper maker cheated inspectors regarding the use of purifying equipment.

In Xingtai, a furniture plant refused access to inspectors who were attempting to conduct inspections.

BYD opens electric bus factory in Hungary

Chinese vehicle manufacturer BYD opened its first European electric bus factory in the northern Hungarian city of Komarom.

BYD is expected to invest a total of $21.3 million (20 million euros) in the project through 2018.

Currently, there are 32 employees, but the company plans to employ around 300 people to assemble up to 400 electric buses a year on two shifts, which will be exported to customers across continental Europe.

After producing electric buses and coaches, the company will begin making electric forklift trucks and light commercial vehicles.

Isbrand Ho, managing director at BYD Europe, said that his firm had chosen Hungary and Komarom because of its central location and its long tradition of engineering excellence. (Photo 3)

Thursday____April 6

No Suzhou tombs for non-locals

While millions of visitors from neighboring cities swarmed into Suzhou, Jiangsu province, during the holiday to sweep tombs, people are finding it increasingly hard to buy new tombs there following a policy banning non-locals from buying space in public cemeteries.

The civil affairs bureau said the policy was not exactly new but a reiteration due to the shortage of tomb places. The aging population and urbanization have caused the shortage and sent prices soaring. The city reportedly aims to bring down the price of tombs, the average price for which was $17,420 (120,000 yuan) per square meter in 2016.

The civil affairs bureau estimated that 6 million people from other cities visited during the holiday to pay tribute to relatives buried in Suzhou. (Photo 4)

New drone model set for international market

China is the largest exporter of military drones, and it is ready to place a new model on the international market.

The TYW-1, developed by Beihang University in Beijing, one of China's top institutes for science and technology, is an unmanned aircraft for reconnaissance and combat based on the BZK-005 high-altitude, long-range reconnaissance drone, which the university also developed.

The BZK-005 is widely used by the People's Liberation Army and has performed many operations, foreign media have reported.

The drone is to make its maiden flight in September and will be placed on the international market in 2018.

Friday____April 6

Hisense becomes sponsor of 2018 World Cup

Chinese electronics giant Hisense has become an official sponsor of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the first-ever Chinese consumer electronics brand to sponsor the tournament.

"Over the years, Hisense has earned a lot of experience and brand growth through sports sponsorships," Liu Hongxin, president of Hisense Group, said on Thursday at a press conference held with FIFA.

As an official FIFA World Cup sponsor, Hisense will engage in an array of global marketing and advertising activities for both the 2017 Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup, reaching more than 200 countries and regions in the process and enhance international exposure for the brand.

Hisense will be able to associate its logo with the forthcoming major FIFA events, as well as numerous other rights that include access to advertising boards in stadiums, on-screen credits and other various creative marketing opportunities on-and-off the pitch during the events.

FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said FIFA welcomes the new sponsor with open arms.

China develops'hot'drill for Antarctic expedition

China announced it had completed controlled tests on its first hot-water drill, which is capable of drilling through 4,921 feet of ice and will be used for Antarctic research.

The fourth test of the drill was conducted at Jilin University in northeastern China's Jilin province.

The drill, which uses pressurized hot water to melt and bore into ice, is capable of drilling into the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica, the assessment panel announced after an on-site review.

After further testing, the equipment should be used during China's upcoming 34th Antarctic expedition in November.

Once it passes the Antarctic test, China will be the third country to have mastered hot water drilling deeper than 1,000 meters after the United States and Australia.