Construction staff work on a power transmission tower that stands over 100 meters tall by the Yangtze River in Wuhu， Anhui Province， on November 11. The stronghold is part of the Baihetan-Jiangsu ultra-high-voltage power transmission project.
　　The 800-kV direct-current conduction project covers a total length of 2，087 km. As one of China’s “power highways，” it is an important part of the country’s west-to-east power transmission program. Upon its completion， the project will transmit 31.2 billion kWh of electricity per year.

Working in the Sky

　　Workers on the construction site of Greenland Center， a skyscraper project in Wuhan， Hubei Province， on November 15. The construction has now entered the final stage.

Delegate Election

　　The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China（CPC） has released a circular on the election of delegates to the Party’s 20th National Congress. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee has made detailed arrangements for the election， according to an official statement released on November 18.
　　The CPC will convene its 20th National Congress in Beijing in the second half of 2022， the 19th CPC Central Committee decided at its sixth plenary session earlier this month.
　　The election of the delegates will lay an important foundation for the success of this congress， the statement said.
　　A total of 2，300 delegates will be elected by 38 electoral units across the country， it fur- ther read， calling for intraparty democracy and strict procedures to ensure that high-caliber delegates are elected， their composition is well-structured， and the delegates come from a broad spectrum with the support of other Party members.
　　The statement stressed improving the composition of the delegates， with a certain proportion for frontline workers maintained. Efforts must be made to recommend model workers， farmers and professionals to stand for delegate elections. Women and people from ethnic minorities should also constitute a certain proportion of the delegates.
　　People from sectors such as economic development， sci-tech， national defense， political and legal affairs， education， communication， culture， health， sports and social management should all have representation.

New Academicians

　　A total of 194 new academicians from home and abroad were added to the registry by the Chinese Academy of Sciences（CAS） and the Chinese Academy of Engineering （CAE） on November 18. An academician is the highest academic title in China for science professionals， and the list is expanded every two years.
　　The CAS added 65 fellows from China， including five female scientists. It also added 25 members from 11 other countries such as the United States， United Kingdom， Germany， Israel， Brazil， and France. South Korea and Switzerland each has one scientist granted the title this year. It is the first time for scientists from these two countries to join the highest echelon of the academy， which now includes a total of 860 Chinese and 129 overseas academicians.
　　The CAE welcomed 84 new members from China and 20 from overseas this year， adding up to a total of 971 academicians from China and 111 from other countries.

Technical Education

　　China will improve employment benefits for technical school graduates over the 2021-25 period， according to a five-year plan published by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security， reported Xinhua News Agency on November 11.
　　According to the plan， work will be done during the 14th FiveYear Plan period （2021-25） to allow technical school graduates to benefit from policies on employment， entrepreneurship and army recruitment， as well as those on the granting of professional titles and employment in public institutions.
　　Technical schools specialize in training frontline workers in the production and service sectors. As of late 2020， China had 2，423 technical schools， with 3.95 million students enrolled.
　　In the 2021-25 period， China plans to keep the number of students at technical schools above 3.6 million and the employment rate for graduates above 97 percent， according to the plan.
　　The plan also pledges to ensure benefits for students in technical schools， such as improving internship arrangements and providing work-related injury insurance for interns.

Cross-Sea Bridge

　　The Meizhou Bay Cross-sea Bridge， a sea-crossing high-speed railway bridge connecting the cities of Fuzhou and Xiamen in Fujian Province， was completed on November 13. The bridge is one of the major parts of the 277-km Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway， which is currently under construction.
　　The length of the bridge is approximately 14.7 km and， according to the company responsible for its construction， it is the country’s first extradosed cable-stayed bridge on a seacrossing high-speed railway. 　　With a designed speed of 350 km per hour， the high-speed railway is expected to slash the travel time from the provincial capital of Fuzhou to the tourist city of Xiamen to no more than an hour.

Passing Down Tradition

　　Wu Yuan， a shadow puppeteer， performs a paper shadow puppet play for students of a primary school in Xiangtan， a city in Hunan Province， on November 12. Paper shadow puppet making and performing are forms of provincial intangible cultural heritage.

Slamming Slander

　　Residents of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have squashed rumors of forced labor at a press conference on November 14.
　　They said the local government uses every means available to create employment opportunities for them while encouraging them to start up their own businesses.
　　Pazliyan Maoraturdi， a resident of Wensu County in Xinjiang， not only earns a stable income from live-streaming on social media， but also helps local farmers expand the market for honey and other agricultural products.
　　With the support of the local government， Nurrela Wusman set up a housekeeping service company in the city of Atux in 2020. The firm now has over 80 employees and provides more than 20 services， including cleaning and babysitting.
　　“We create a better life with our own hands， and rumors about forced labor are totally groundless，” she said.
　　Xinjiang regards business start-ups as an important channel to boost employment， introducing a series of supportive policies including training subsidies and tax reductions， said Zhang Rong， director of the region’s public employment service center.
　　Zhang added Xinjiang had issued a total of 5.47 billion yuan（$857 million） in start-up loans from 2016 to 2020， helping 387，200 people set up their own businesses and creating 806，500 new jobs.

Newborn Penguins

　　A staff member feeds a penguin incubating its chick in Haichang Ocean Park in Shanghai on November 16. It’s the breeding season for Adelie penguins at the park and three baby penguins have been born.

Primate Breeding

　　China’s captive breeding program of the Black-shanked Douc Langur， an endangered primate with a wild population of less than 1，000 worldwide， has produced the nation’s first captivebred individual， researchers said on November 11. 　　The primate is listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species， and currently one of the most effective methods for restoring its population is through human intervention.
　　China’s captive breeding program of the species proved successful on July 9， when a baby monkey was born at the Chimelong Primate Research Center in Guangzhou， capital of Guangdong Province.
　　The newborn primate made its public debut on November 11. It is expected to leave its incubator in about two months’ time and to be released into its own species group at about two-anda-half years old.

Opening-Up Plan

　　Hainan Province aims to speed up the development of three sectors， i.e. duty-free shopping， international medical care and international education. This goal， along with the roadmap for achieving it， has been set out in Hainan’s 2021-25 development plan.
　　The island province is a free trade port. The recently published development plan sets the target for its tourism industry to contribute to 17.8 percent of the island’s total economic growth by 2025.
　　Efforts will be made in the Hainan Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone to introduce and cultivate a network of high-end， professional medical institutions to promote research progress on stem cell， immune cell and gene therapies， plus other new techniques in the biomedical sector.
　　The medical pilot zone also encourages people from the countries joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to come for treat- ment. According to the plan， Lecheng is expected to attract approximately 500，000 people for medical treatments in Hainan by 2025.
　　In regards to education， Hainan encourages overseas colleges and educational institutions to establish operations on the island.
　　Last June， China released a longer-term master plan to build its southernmost province into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

New Stock Exchange

　　The newly established Beijing Stock Exchange （BSE） started trading on November 15， marking a key step in China’s efforts to deepen capital market reform and support small businesses.
　　At the launch ceremony， Yi Huiman， Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission， hailed the launch of the BSE as “another landmark in China’s capital market reform and development.”
　　The launch came only two months after an announcement of the plan for a new stock exchange， in addition to the two existing bourses on the Chinese mainland—in Shanghai and Shenzhen， respectively. 　　The first batch of 81 companies debuted on November 15. Of these， 10 were newly approved and 71 were transferred from the selected tier of China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations， also known as the“new third board.”
　　All 81 firms are top performers in their respective sectors， boasting sound business operations and great potential for growth， said Li Xudong， Managing Director of China Securities.
　　Li added that 87 percent of these firms are from fields related to advanced manufacturing， hi-tech service and strategic emerging industries， with their average spending on research and development topping 25.36 million yuan （$3.97 million）.
　　Over 95 percent of China’s enterprises are small and medium-sized enterprises （SMEs）. These small businesses are major job creators in the country and an important part of its real economy but have long suffered from insufficient financing.“Setting up the BSE is of vital importance in creating a multi-level capital market， improving financial support for SMEs， as well as promoting innovation-driven development and economic transformation and upgrading，”Yi said.

Foreign Investment

　　Qingdao， a port city in Shandong Province， has attracted investment from 172 Fortune 500 companies and， at the same time， Qingdao enterprises have established overseas companies and institutions in 112 countries and regions worldwide， local authorities said on November 16.
　　The number of enterprises that have contributed to the city’s foreign trade has exceeded 20，000， an increase of more than 6，000 from 2015， said Xue Qingguo， Vice Mayor of Qingdao， during a press conference.
　　A total of 172 Fortune 500 companies have invested in 367 projects in the port city， while local enterprises have invested overseas to establish a total of 1，820 enterprises and institutions， according to Xue.

Polymer Project

　　International energy company ExxonMobil initiated a project in Huizhou， Guangdong Province， on November 16 to produce performance polymers used in packaging， automotive and agricultural products.
　　The launching ceremony took place simultaneously in Huizhou， Beijing and Houston， Texas.
　　With a total investment of about $10 billion， the project will be constructed in two phases. Once the first phase has been completed and put into production， annual revenue is expected to reach 39 billion yuan （$6.1 billion）.
　　“Demand for performance polymers will continue to increase in China， and we are in a good position to meet the needs of that growing market，”said Karen McKee， President of ExxonMobil Chemical Co.

5G Network

　　By 2025， China’s 5G network will cover all cities and towns， as well as most villages， reported Xinhua News Agency on November 17， citing a development plan on digital infrastructure， issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
　　According to the plan， the number of 5G base stations per 10，000 people will reach 26 by 2025.
　　Gigabit optical fiber network will cover most urban and rural areas， and facilities and services for data and computing will be enhanced remarkably， the plan reads.
　　The plan highlights a new type of supervision system， as well as the protection of users’rights and interests， especially their personal information.

Stable Employment

　　China has created 11.33 million new jobs in its urban areas during the first 10 months of this year， achieving its annual target two months early.
　　“From January to October， the country’s surveyed urban unemployment rate averaged 5.1 percent，” said Fu Linghui， spokesperson for the NBS on November 15.
　　China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 4.9 percent in October， 0.4 percentage point lower than the same period last year， NBS data showed.
　　“The policy of stabilizing employment continued， and the employment situation was generally stable，” Fu noted.

Fixed Assets Investment

　　China’s fixed assets investment went up 6.1 percent year on year in the first 10 months of this year， according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on November 15.
　　During the first 10 months， the investment in fixed assets amounted to over 44.58 trillion yuan （$6.98 trillion）， growing by 7.8 percent since 2019， and achieving a two-year average growth of 3.8 percent.
　　Investment by the private sector rose 8.5 percent year on year to nearly 25.45 trillion yuan （$3.98 trillion） in the first 10 months， the NBS data showed.

Sea-Rail Route

　　A train chartered to transport Russian crude oil arrived in Shaanxi Province on November 13， the first delivery of the commodity using marine-railway transportation.
　　The 2，000-ton consignment was first shipped from the port of Kozmino in Russia to the port of Qingdao， Shandong Province， and then transported by railway over 1，200 km to the refinery of the Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum（Group） Co. Ltd. in the city of Yulin， Shaanxi.
　　The import also marks the opening of the new sea-rail transport route.

NUMBERS