1、German President visits ChinaAt the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping， German President Joachim Gauck made his first official visit to China from March 20 to 24. As a former civil rights activist in East Germany and a passionate advocate for democracy and freedom of speech， Gaucks visit to
2、China has drawn significant attention from the international community. Media groups reported that back in March 2014， when Xi traveled to Germany， Gauck spoke with him about human rights issues in China. Xi invited him to visit and see the country for himself. Gauck did not dodge sensitive issues d
3、uring his time in the Middle Kingdom ?C he even brought human rights commissioner B？rbel Kofler with him. According to Germanys presidential office， Gauck talked with Xi about human rights， environmental protection， Internet security and Chinas controversial management of foreign-based nongovernment
4、al organizations. Yet， despite some disputes， Gauck and Xi both stressed bilateral strategic cooperation. At a meeting with reporters from the State publication Global Times （GT） ， Gauck spoke highly of Chinas rapid development， adding that he wanted this visit to deepen his understanding of China a
5、nd help the two countries maintain a close relationship. Gaucks talk with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also focused on “cooperation.”Li expressed a strong desire to connect Chinas “Made in China 2025” plan to Germanys “Industry 4.0” strategy. According to Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs， Li said th
6、at the two countries can best collaborate by combining Germanys advanced technology with Chinas highly cost-effective and competitive manufacturing. China will continue to open up its massive market to the outside world and welcome investment from foreign corporations. Li added that both sides will
7、discuss further cooperation when Chancellor Angela Merkel comes to China this year for the fourth round of Sino-German talks. During his stay in Beijing， Gauck also talked about cooperation with the senior leaders of the Party School of the Communist Party of China. He spent his last two days of the
8、 trip in Shanghai， where he visited the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum， and in Xian， the city that marks the beginning of the ancient Silk Road. Some German media commented that Gauck is trying to find a balance between nurturing a healthy relationship with China while still staying true to his act
9、ivist identity. Society vaccine Scandal Shandong Province police recently shut down a large-scale vaccine peddling operation responsible for the illegal sale of vaccines valued at more than US$41.3 million. Police said that over the past five years， the two main suspects， a mother and daughter surna
10、med Pang， have allegedly illegally accumulated 25 types of Class II vaccines and delivered them to 24 municipalities and provinces without following proper storage procedures. Given that Class II vaccines are optional and paid for out of pocket， unlike compulsory Class I vaccines， which are provided
11、 free of charge by the government， it is hard for the officials to accurately calculate the number of victims. Experts said that these improper storage methods make vaccines ineffective or at least less effective， but the risk of them being harmful is very low. Still， many people in affected regions
12、 have expressed anxiety over not knowing whether or not their vaccinations were efficacious. Police have so far detained over 100 people allegedly involved in some aspect of the vaccine ring. Given the massive scale of the operation and the relevant government departments failure to detect it， both
13、the media and the public have posited that corrupt officials may also have been involved. On March 22， Chinese Premier Li Keqiang ordered a detailed investigation into the vaccine scandal under the supervision of the Supreme Peoples Procuratorate and pledged to hold culpable officials accountable. C
14、hinese media outlets have taken advantage of the uproar to once again urge the government to improve its supervision of vaccinerelated departments as well as those departments compensation schemes， a demand which had been ignored for years. Business zuckerberg in Beijing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
15、 attended the China Development Forum 2016 held in Beijing in late March， where he participated in a panel discussion with Jack Ma， founder of Alibaba， Chinas biggest e-commerce platform. Discussion， according to Chinese media reports， focused on future tech innovations. Zuckerberg brought up virtua
16、l reality （VR） and plugged Facebooks new VR headset， Oculus Rift. He also mentioned artificial intelligence， stating that AI may soon be able to provide solutions for issues in different fields， such as medicine. Ma pointed out that while computers may be “smarter” than humans， humans are wiser， and
17、 so should utilize the intelligence of technology to “solve human problems.” During the same trip， Zuckerberg also met with Liu Yunshan， a high-ranking Politburo member. The two exchanged ideas on possible experience exchange between Chinese domestic Internet service providers and Facebook， which is
18、 currently banned from the Chinese web. Economy PBoC Reduces Reserve Requirement Ratio The Peoples Bank of China （PBoC ） ， Chinas central bank， announced it would reduce the required deposit-reserve ratio by 0.5 percent as of March 1， its first such reduction of 2016. According to the PBoC， the redu
19、ction， which lowers the amount of cash banks are required to keep on hand， aims to provide a better financial environment for Chinas much-touted supply-side reform by guaranteeing currency liquidity. Analysts predicted that the reduction may release 700 billion yuan （US$111.1bn） in capital， which wo
20、uld help stabilize the stock market and promote the development of the real economy. “The whole world is embracing looser monetary policy. In China， the reduction will make it easier for enterprises to get loans， ” Zhao Xijun， deputy director of Renmin Universitys Finance and Securities Institute， t
21、old . “Note that the reduction just allows a more flexible currency flow， rather than stimulating the economy.” Many experts told the media that it remains hard to say how the reduction will influence the economy in the long run. Science Chinese Scientists Create Lab-grown Mouse Sperm？ Several Chine
22、se scientists from Nanjing Medical University and the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences， have successfully created the worlds first functional lab-grown spermatozoa， marking a milestone in fertility research. According to Zhao Xiaoyang， one of the projects leading researcher
23、s， they created the sperm by combining primordial germ-like cells with testicular cells from mice. They then added other biological substances to stimulate growth， which eventually developed into spermatid-like cells. Zhao told State-run Xinhua News Agency that they have used the man-made sperm to s
24、uccessfully breed several dozen mice. However， these processes would not be able to be applied to human tissue until years of experiments and assessments have been conducted. The teams findings were published in a February issue of the journal Cell Stem Cell. Laws Chinas First AntiDomestic violence
25、Law Takes Effect Chinas first anti-domestic violence law came into effect on March 1， 2016. The new law， approved last December by the National Peoples Congress， defines domestic violence as any violence that occurs between family members， including between spouses， parents and children， or any pers
26、ons who live in the same house. It states that offenders should be punished in accordance with the relevant criminal law or corresponding regulation. A highlight of the law is that it specifies mandatory reporting for the first time. Teachers and medical personnel are now required to report suspected domestic violence or face punishment themselves. The law also empowered law practitioners to protect victims from domestic violence. Media reports in late March said that since the law took effect， many courts had granted restraining orders to victims of domestic violence.
