IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Myanmar oil pipeline deal reached in Beijing

China and Myanmar on April 10 signed an agreement on a crude oil pipeline to send oil from Myanmar's Kyaukpyu Port to Yunnan. The agreement and eight other cooperation documents were signed after talks between President Xi Jinping and Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw, who is on a state visit to China from April 13 to April 18. Details of the agreements were not released. In the talks, Xi said China is willing to "push forward China-Myanmar cooperation to focus more on Myanmar's livelihood, such as education and rural area development". Xi said China expects to work with Myanmar to firmly adhere to the right direction for bilateral ties and support for each other on key issues related to core interests.

Chinese top Go player to face AI nemesis

Ke Jie, 19, the world's No 1 Go player, will challenge artificial intelligence program AlphaGo, developed by Google DeepMind, in a best-of-three contest as part of the Future of Go Summit in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, from May 23 to 27, the Chinese Go Association said on April 10. The showdown will be the latest between elite human players of the ancient Chinese game and AlphaGo, which defeated South Korean Go master Lee Se-dol 4-1 in a match in March 2016 before racking up 60 straight wins against human players from China, South Korea and Japan - including Ke - in fast-paced online matches as of January.

Tunnel is final link in bridge project

Construction of the 2.74 kilometer Gongbei tunnel was completed on April 10 in the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone, the final link that should enable the 50 km Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project to open before year's end. Construction of the six-lane tunnel started about four years ago. The speed limit through it will be 80 kilometers per hour. The Gongbei tunnel is a major component of the gigantic bridge, linking the three regions, located at the mouth of the Pearl River, according to Zhi Yufeng, chairman of Guangdong Nanyue Transportation Investment and Construction Co.

Air quality issues found in Shaanxi

Poor efforts to cut coal use and upgrade the industrial structure in Shaanxi province contributed to a worsening of air quality last year in Xi'an and other cities, environmental inspectors from the central government said on April 11. During a monthlong inspection that started on Nov 28, officials identified 1,309 pollution problems in the province, according to Li Jiaxiang, who headed the team of inspectors. As of the end of February, 222 polluting companies had been shut down and 26 people found responsible for pollution were detained, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement.

Li urges Japanese to help improve ties

Premier Li Keqiang met with a Japanese economic delegation headed by Yohei Kono, president of the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 10. Li urged Japan to view China's development as an opportunity and pursue positive policies toward China to improve bilateral relations. History and reality show that relations between the two countries can maintain healthy and stable development only if both sides adhere to principles set out in documents signed by them between 1972 and 2008 and stick to the direction of peace, friendship and cooperation, said Li.

Cambodian version of Xi's book lauded

The Cambodian edition of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China made its debut in Phnom Penh on April 11 as Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen called on the country's young people to read the book to learn about governing a country. The book in Khmer, the Cambodian language, joins editions published in 16 other languages, with 6.2 million copies distributed worldwide.

Construction plans set for Antarctic airfield

Progress continues on China's first airfield in Antarctica, with site selection and a survey completed and plans set for construction to begin as early as year's end, according to a senior scientist. The airfield, near China's Zhongshan Station, will be able to handle fixed-wing aircraft. Specialists from the nation's 33rd Antarctic expedition recently surveyed a 3-square-kilometer area selected for the airfield, said Sun Bo, deputy director of the Polar Research Institute of China under the State Oceanic Administration. Sun said the construction of the planned airfield will be carried out by the 34th Antarctic expedition, which is set to arrive in Antarctica around the end of this year, adding that the project will undergo an international environmental protection review.

Latest technique to restore woman's face

A 27-year-old woman is expected to have a nose and a mouth again after a series of surgical procedures in Shanghai. Experts said they have used an innovative method to rebuild the woman's face, cultivating nose and upper lip tissues on her chest area for later transplant. Such technology, which uses the patient's own tissue rather than a donor's, is a major breakthrough in the field, according to Shanghai No 9 People's Hospital affiliated with the School of Medicine at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Fund set up to treat rare diseases

A fund to assist in the medical treatment of patients with rare diseases was launched in Shanghai on April 9, with an initial balance of 3 million yuan. The money was raised by institutions in Shanghai that treat rare diseases, and by drug companies. Globally, there are some 6,000 to 7,000 recognized rare diseases. Only a few have established treatments, such as Gaucher disease and Pompe disease.

Xi: Dialogue needed to calm region

The Korean Peninsula issue should be settled through peaceful means, President Xi Jinping told US President Donald Trump on April 12, adding that Beijing is willing to continue a dialogue with Washington on the issue. Xi spoke by telephone with Trump on the issue just days after meeting with him on April 6 and 7 in Florida. Xi "stressed that China sticks to the target of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and that China is committed to peace and stability of the peninsula," according to a news release issued by the Foreign Ministry.

Guidelines to help fix national healthcare

China will press to strengthen medical partnerships and arrange closer ties between top-tier hospitals and grassroots medical services to provide better health management and care for urban and rural residents. A set of measures was approved during the State Council's executive meeting on April 2, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. People are demanding more and better healthcare, and the allocation of medical resources is seen as a tough balancing act.

CPI mild in March as producer prices cool

China's consumer inflation remained mild in March, rising only slightly month-on-month, easing concerns of a possible jump in inflation partly from increases in producer prices making their way through the economy. China's consumer price index rose by 0.90 percent in March, up only 0.10 percentage points from February, the National Bureau of Statistics said on April 12. Falling food prices helped keep consumer inflation in check, the agency said.

Spring attracts hundreds to the peaks of Tibet

More than 300 mountaineers from around the world will try to conquer some of the planet's highest peaks during this year's spring climbing season in the Tibet autonomous region. Adventurers from 30 countries filed climb plans with the Tibet Mountaineering Association ahead of the season, which began April 10 and runs for 60 days. In addition to the mountaineers, the seasonal climbing activities will involve more than 100 guides, translators and trainers, according to the association. Of those filing plans to climb, more than one-third, 135, were from Nepal.

Ties benefit island republic

Premier Li Keqiang called on the African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe to firmly adhere to the one-China policy while promoting cooperation with Beijing in areas like tourism and fisheries, after resuming diplomatic ties four months ago. Li made the call on April 12 while meeting with Patrice Trovoada, prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe, who was on an official visit to China. An agreement was signed as a guide to promote bilateral cooperation through 2021.

Public hospitals told to end drug markups

All public hospitals have been told to end the longtime practice of drug price markups by the end of September as part of the ongoing healthcare reform, the top economic planner said on April 12. Public hospitals' loss of revenue will be offset for the most part by an increase in the prices of patient services, and more government investment is expected, a National Development and Reform Commission statement said.

Satellite launch marks new communications era

China launched its most advanced communications satellite Shijian 13, on April 12, marking the start of the country's large-capacity communications network in space. The satellite, developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and based on its DFH-3B communications satellite platform, was deployed by a Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province. The satellite, which weighs 4.6 metric tons, is expected to stay for 15 years in a geostationary orbit about 36,000 kilometers above Earth, the academy said.

More online trading violations probed

China's top market regulator uncovered more than double the number of online trading violations in the first quarter compared with last year. In total, 2,330 cases related to online goods sales and services were dealt with in the January-March period nationwide, surging by 163 percent year-on-year, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce said. China has intensified efforts to regulate online business activities to protect the interests of netizens.

Ethnic medicine sees rising output

Output of traditional Tibetan medicine rose to 2,300 metric tons last year due to growing demand for ancient remedies. The value of medicine produced rose to 1.5 billion yuan ($217 million; 204.4 million euros; 173.7 million). Twenty-one pharmaceutical companies in the autonomous region have been awarded the Good Manufacturing Practices for Pharmaceutical Products certificate, the region's Commission of Industry and Information Technology said. To meet rising demand, the cultivation area for traditional medicine ingredients across the region increased by about 200 hectares last year.

Number of intercepted invasive species surges

Exit-entry inspection and quarantine officers in Beijing stopped more than 10,000 consignments of banned animals, plants and other items between January and March, an increase of 35 percent compared with the same period last year. A total of 667 consignments, a nearly fourfold increase, contained harmful pests, such as seed weevil, according to the Beijing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

Insurance official under investigation

Xiang Junbo, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, is under investigation by China's top anti-graft authority. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China said in its online statement that Xiang was being investigated for suspected serious violation of the Party's code of conduct. The investigation began after China's top leadership vowed to contain systemic financial risks.

(China Daily European Weekly 04/14/2017 page2)