The National Ski Jumping Center for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou， Hebei Province， on July 29. The main structure was completed last December. Its nickname Snow Ruyi stems from its curves similar to a traditional Chinese jade ornament for good luck.
　　Including the Snow Ruyi， all 12 competition venues have been completed and passed on-site tests conducted by international sports federations. Test activities were staged during the most recent snow season to examine venues and facilities， operation and emergency response.

Super Arch

　　An aerial photo taken on July 27 shows the construction site of the Dafaqu Bridge in Guizhou Province. Its main arch was closed that day. The bridge， with a designed length of 1，427 meters and width of 33 meters， is one of the key projects along the Renhuai-Zunyi Expressway.

New Heritage

　　East China’s port city of Quanzhou， once hailed as “the very great and noble city” by the Italian explorer Marco Polo， won UNESCO World Cultural Heritage status on July 25， bringing the total number of the country’s UNESCO World Heritage sites to 56.
　　UNESCO accepted“Quanzhou： Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China” as a cultural property on its World Heritage List at the 44th Session of the World Heritage Committee held in Fuzhou， capital of Fujian Province.
　　Located on narrow plains along the coastline of Fujian， Quanzhou was one of the world’s largest ports along the historic Maritime Silk Road， particularly in the Song （960-1279） and Yuan（1279-1368） dynasties.
　　The heritage includes 22 sites of administrative buildings and structures， religious buildings， and statues. It witnessed multicultural communities， cultural memorial sites and monuments， the production of ceramics and iron， and a transportation network formed of bridges， docks and pagodas that guided voyagers.
　　“It reflects greatly the spatial structure that combined production， transportation and marketing. It demonstrates the key institutional， social and cultural factors that contributed to the spectacular rise and prosperity of Quanzhou as a maritime hub of the East and Southeast Asia trade network during the 10th to 14th centuries，” said a report by the International Council on Monuments and Sites， the committee’s official advisory body.

Family Planning Law

　　A draft amendment to China’s Population and Family Planning Law will be submitted to an upcoming session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress （NPC）， China’s top legislature， for deliberation， NPC sources said on July 27.
　　The session is scheduled to convene in August. The Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council have released a decision on improving birth policies to promote long-term and balanced population development， noting that the country will support couples who wish to have a third child.

Desirable Jobs

　　Highly skilled professionals were in increasingly short supply in China in the second quarter of this year， according to official statistics ranking the most indemand jobs in the country， Xinhua News Agency reported on July 25.
　　Nearly half the 30 new professions on the list of the 100 most in-demand jobs for the second quarter were related to sectors such as software， manufacturing and information technologies， according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security， which compiled the quarterly ranking.
　　Instrument making was among the top 10 most desirable jobs， and there were growing shortages of smart manufacturing， communication， and automatic control engineering technicians， the rankings show.
　　Service sector jobs remained in high demand， with sales representative， waiter， security guard， cleaner and marketing specialist topping the list.
　　The rankings are based on data collected from 102 public employment service agencies in the country.
　　China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5 percent in June， 0.7 percentage point lower than the same period last year， official data show. A total of 6.98 million new urban jobs were created in the first half of 2021， achieving 63.5 percent of China’s annual target.

Antelope Births

　　Approximately 8，000 Tibetan antelopes are expected to be born in a nature reserve in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， showing steady growth in the number of endangered species in the reserve， Xinhua reported on July 26.
　　Scientists who launched an expedition in the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve in June made the preliminary estimation through field observation， which showed that about 35，000 female Tibetan antelopes entered the reserve this summer， some 5，000 more than in 2020， Xu Donghua， an official with the reserve’s management bureau， said. 　　Approximately 25 percent of the antelopes are pregnant， Xu added.
　　Tibetan antelopes are mostly found in Tibet Autonomous Region， Qinghai Province and Xinjiang. The species is under first-class state protection in China.

Quick Response

　　Staff set up temporary laboratories for nucleic acid testing at a stadium in Nanjing， capital of Jiangsu Province， on July 27. Nanjing built six inflatable labs to improve its testing capabilities after new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases were reported.

Emergency Plans

　　China’s top economic planner called for instantly triggering the highest-level emergency response in the face of extreme weather， seeking stepped-up protection for key infrastructure in urban areas.
　　Improvements should be made in emergency plans for dealing with the harshest weather conditions and a quickresponse mechanism should be established， according to a circular made public on July 26 by the National Development and Reform Commission.
　　It urges suspension of classes， work and transport when necessary. It also urges meteorological departments to strengthen forecast and early warning of disasters including heavy rainfall and typhoons， and release information to the public through multiple channels.
　　The circular requires a comprehensive investigation be carried out immediately in areas prone to disasters， such as urban rail transits， railways， tunnels and airports as well as underground spaces of public facilities.
　　The circular also underscores rapidly replenishing emergency supplies， ensuring flood control materials and disaster relief equipment and allocating necessary emergency communication tools.
　　Efforts should also be made to step up regulation related to the safety of projects under construction， says the circular， noting that offices and dormitories must not be built in valleys or lowlying areas.
　　China is facing severe floods as heavy rainfall and typhoons ravage many parts of the country， leading to casualties and economic losses.

Moment of Remembrance

　　People present flowers at a memorial park in Tangshan， Hebei Province， on July 28， the 45th anniversary of a 7.8-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 240，000 people.

New Species

　　New surveys have determined the existence of 10 new spider species and one new flower species on Mount Fanjing， a world heritage site in Tongren City of Guizhou Province known for its scenery and biodiversity， Xinhua reported on July 27.
　　The administration of the Mount Fanjing nature reserve said the newly discovered spider species belong to the Clubionidae， Salticidae and Araneidae families.
　　The newly identified plant is the Impatiens bullatisepala. The country has recorded about 280 Impatiens species， of which approximately three quarters are endemic to China.
　　The surveys were conducted after Mount Fanjing was added to the World Heritage List in 2018. So far， a total number of 7，307 wildlife species have been found in the mountain.

Pudong Cluster

　　The New Bund Global Economic Organization Cluster was unveiled in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area on July 28， as part of its efforts to attract more international economic entities to drive highquality growth.
　　A total of 10 international economic organizations have set up offices in the New Bund of Pudong （Qiantan Area）.
　　Yang Chao， deputy head of Pudong， said the cluster will gather more corporate headquarters， international organizations and institutions with global influence， helping Pudong become the prime option for many international organizations and improving Shanghai’s global competitiveness.

Worker Protection

　　Employers should ensure that food delivery workers earn no less than the local minimum wage， according to a guideline issued by seven departments in- cluding the State Administration for Market Regulation， the Cyberspace Administration of China and the National Development and Reform Commission on July 26.
　　The “strictest algorithm”should not be used as an assessment requirement and the delivery time requirements should be appropriately relaxed， according to the document.
　　Platforms should participate in social insurance programs for the food delivery personnel they employ， and people working for other types of employers are encouraged to join also， it said.

Housing Prices

　　Housing authorities held a regulatory talk with officials in five cities on July 29 and urged them to stabilize the property markets in the wake of rapid increases in local home prices.
　　Ni Hong， Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development， said Yinchuan， Xuzhou， Jinhua， Quanzhou and Huizhou should enhance property market regulation and keep its development stable and sound. 　　The prices of residential housing and land increase too fast in these cities in the first half of this year， and market expectations have become unstable.
　　Ni asked the local governments to uphold the principle that“houses are for living in， not for speculation” and refrain from using the property sector as a means of short-term economic stimulus.
　　Ni also urged them to speed up efforts in establishing a link mechanism between housing and land prices， developing affordable rental housing， and making two-way adjustments in supply and demand.

Original Innovation

　　China has substantially increased funding for basic research， with an average annual growth rate of 16.9 percent， Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said at a press conference on July 27.
　　The spending on basic research has reached 6 percent of its research and development（R&D） expenditure， he added.
　　The country has become the second largest contributor of high-quality scientific and technological papers in the world， according to Xu Jing， an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology.
　　The number of citations of Chinese academic papers in 12 fields including material science， chemistry， engineering technology， mathematics and physics ranked among the top two in the world， Xu said.
　　According to Wang， China is promoting building regional innovation hubs and encouraging regions with proper conditions to take the lead in innovationdriven development.
　　He said the total economic output created by hi-tech zones accounts for more than 12 percent of that of the national total.

Digital Cooperation

　　A directive on overseas investment and cooperation in the digital economy was released by departments including the Ministry of the Commerce on July 23， detailing major tasks to engage the global development of the digital technology.
　　It also pledged active efforts to promote China’s integration with the global industrial chain.
　　More measures will be rolled out to enable digital economy enterprises to accelerate the deployment of overseas research and development and product design centers， and strengthen cooperation with overseas technology companies in fields such as big data， 5G， artificial intelligence， and block chain for the joint development of cutting-edge technologies， the document said.
　　Domestic companies will also be encouraged to tap opportunities in the overseas digital market and invest in smart infrastructure.