1、Butter and BuddhasPeople visit butter sculptures at the Taer Monastery in Huangzhong County of northwest Chinas Qinghai Province on February 22. The monastery is the birth place of Tsongkhapa， founder of the Geluk School of Tibetan Buddhism. New Staple Food China will further boost its potato produc
2、tion to make the tuber one of the nations staple foods， the Ministry of Agriculture （MOA） said on February 23. By 2020， China will have more than 6.67 million hectares of potatoplanting areas， 30 percent of which can be processed into staple food， according to a document released by the MOA. To achi
3、eve the goal， China will better plan the planting of potatoes by taking local resources into account， while diversifying staple foods based on market demand， improving support for staple food production， and modernizing food processing. In terms of water and land usage， the potato industry will not
4、interfere with growth of Chinas top three staple cropsrice， wheat and corn. China is the worlds largest potato producer， with a planting area of around 5.6 million hectares. Reservoir Expansion The largest desert reservoir in Asia， the Hongyashan， in northwest Chinas Gansu Province， will expand its
5、storage capacity by 49 percent to ease desertification in the region， local authorities said on February 19. The reservoir， located in the middle reaches of the Shiyang River， will have its capacity increased to 148 million cubic meters， according to the provincial water resources department. The re
6、servoir will transmit 27.2 million cubic meters of water every year to the Qingtu Lake to meet the local demand. The height of the dams will be increased starting in February， and 117 hectares of trees will be planted by the reservoir to mitigate the wind and sand erosion， according to the departmen
7、t. The expansion is imperative because the reservoir， built in 1958， has accumulated 33.18 million cubic meters of sediment， a third of its storage capacity. The region is one of the major sources of sand storms in northwest China. The reservoir is vital to prevent the desertification of the localit
8、y. Home Purchase Tax China cut deed and business taxes for home purchases in most cities in an attempt to digest the property glut， an official statement said on February 19. The Ministry of Finance said that houses above 90 square meters will be levied a deed tax at 1.5 percent of the house price f
9、or first-time buyers in all Chinese cities， down from the current 2 percent. In terms of the second home purchase， tax rates will be 1 percent for those under 90 square meters and 2 percent for larger homes in cities excluding Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Previously， the rate was 3 per
10、cent， regardless of floor space. In addition， sales of houses held for more than two years will be exempt from business tax everywhere except the above-mentioned metropolises， said the statement. The tax adjustment will assist home sales and inventory reduction， and more support for the market can b
11、e expected， according to a research note from Minsheng Securities. In early February， the central bank loosened rules on down payments for home purchases in cities with no restrictions and allowed lenders and local authorities to decide on their own deposit requirements. The country has made destock
12、ing the property inventory one of this years major economic tasks， as an ailing housing market could derail the economy， which is growing at the slowest rate in a quarter of a century. The new policy took effect on February 22. Housing Facelift Beijing will transform its run-down neighborhoods to be
13、nefit 35，000 families in 2016， authorities said on February 23. The task will be carried out mainly in the capitals districts of Dongcheng， Xicheng， Chaoyang， Haidian， Fengtai and Shijingshan， where families will be relocated or see their homes renovated. Other work will be conducted in the sub-urbs
14、， according to the Beijing Major Projects Construction Headquarters Office. In January alone， Beijing has spent about 1 billion yuan （$153 million） on renovations， with 2，893 households having their homes renovated or moving into new ones. Over the past four years， more than 20 million units of affo
15、rdable housing have been built across the country， and 12 million more are under construction， with supportive funds for building these houses reaching 710 billion yuan （$109 billion）. R&D Reward China has created policies to encourage the countrys scientists to translate their research into commerc
16、ial products. The policies were laid out at the regular State Council executive meeting on February 17， which was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang. According to the policies approved at the meeting， statesponsored research institutions and universities will generally have autonomy in transferring
17、 their scientific outcomes to enterprises or social organizations， without having to file applications. All revenue generated from the work may be reserved by the research institutions or universities， which shall be used mainly for rewarding scientists， advancing research and industrial application
18、s. Reward money should constitute no less than 50 percent of the net income earned from transferring scientific outcomes to enterprises or other social organizations， as well as stock shares gained. Major contributing researchers should take no less than 50 percent of the total rewards. The new poli
19、cies also allow scientists and researchers to take parttime jobs in enterprises to convert their discoveries into products， and they may temporarily leave their posts to start their own businesses. Lander Woke Up Chinas first moon lander， the Change-3， awakened automatically on February 18 after “sl
20、eeping”during the lunar night， entering its 28th lunar day， Chinas State Administration of Science， Technology and Industry for National Defense （SASTIND） announced on February 19. One lunar day lasts approximately 14 Earth days. The spacecraft has stood the test of extreme low temperatures during 2
21、7 lunar nights since its successful soft landing on the moon in December 2013， according to a statement by SASTIND. Although the moon lander has already exceeded its design life by 14 months， the astronomical telescope and other surveying devices it is carrying still work well. The engineering and s
22、cientific data it has transmitted will pave the way for scientific research and future lunar probes， and the data is globally accessible， SASTIND said. SASTIND also said that preparation for the countrys next lunar probe mission， the Change-5， is under way， and it is expected to be launched around 2
23、017. The Change-5 probe will be tasked with landing on the moon， collecting samples and returning to Earth. Bright and Colorful A monkey figure lantern attracts many visitors at a celebration for the traditional Lantern Festival in Fuzhou， Fujian Province， on February 19. The Lantern Festival fell o
24、n February 22 this year. Traditionally， people eat sticky rice dumplings on this important family reunion day. Themed Post A themed post office is unveiled in FAW-Volkswagen， which located in Changchun， Jilin Province， on February 19. Cooperatively created by FAW-Volkswagen and China Post， it is the
25、 first post office themed with the automobile industry in China. Power Grid Upgrades China will start a new round of electricity power grid upgrades in rural areas to ensure nationwide coverage of stable supply by 2020， according to a State Council notice released on February 22. The upgrades are ai
26、med at meeting both demand from agriculture and household consumption. The project will address problems like low voltage and insufficient supply. The urban-rural gap remains big in China， with many villages still lacking reliable water and power supplies. By the end of 2017， all village wells shoul
27、d be powered from the grid. An earlier State Council meeting pledged to spend more than 700 billion yuan （$107 billion） on rural power grid upgrades. City Planning On February 21， China issued a set of guidelines on urban development. The document sets the basic principles， key tasks and targets for
28、 future urban development and management， aiming to ensure that cities are “orderly constructed， properly developed， and efficiently operated.” At the end of 2015， 56.1 percent of the Chinese population lived in cities. Urbanization in the past few decades has brought about significant social and ec
29、onomic changes in China， spawning problems including traffic jams， pollution and compromised public safety. The guidelines said that China will limit cities from growing beyond the means of their natural resources and environment. It also called on planners to differentiate cities through unique lan
30、dscape modeling based on local characteristics. Aside from the exterior of buildings， factors including resource and energy conservation as well as environmental protection should also be taken into account in the process of designing and constructing， according to the guidelines. As part of efforts
31、 to provide low-income urban residents with affordable housing， China aims to complete the renovation of rundown urban areas and dilapidated housing by 2020. Bustling and Rustling A vendor in the China Commodity City in Yiwu， Zhejiang Province， talks with a Yemeni businessman on February 23， the fir
32、st business day of the wholesale marketplace after the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Roughly 77 percent of commercial tenants in the market started operation on the day， while over 217，600 consumers came to buy commodities. Capital Exports China overtook Germany in net capital exports in 2015， acc
33、ording to a report on February 22 by the Ifo Institute for Economic Research， a German think tank. According to Ifo， China looks set to become the new number one with net capital exports of $293 billion from an international perspective. Germany followed suit with exports of around $280 billion， mea
34、ning that German capital exports look set to fall below those of China for the first time since May 2010. The report noted that Germanys net capital exports had actually hit a new record in 2015， which rose to 8.3 percent of its annual economic output for the year， following 7.3 percent in 2014. Acc
35、ording to the EU， a level of 6 percent is sustainable in the long term， which means that Germany remains by far the greatest lender of new funds on both sides of the Atlantic to the debt-afflicted countries. “This development was driven by goods exports， which accounted for a surplus of 262 billion
36、euros， also marking a new record， ” the Munich-based think tank added. In addition， considering the low price of oil and the weak euro， Ifo predicted that Germanys current account surplus will continue to rise in 2016 and that it is once again very likely to be higher than 8 percent of its annual economic output.
