Society

　　PX Controversy

　　The construction of a petrochemical plant in Maoming in south China’s Guangdong Province will be halted if the majority of residents object to it， the municipal government has announced.

　　“We are at a stage of disseminating information relating to the paraxylene (PX) project，” a municipal government spokesman told Xinhua News Agency on March 31 anonymously， adding that the local government would not go ahead with the project without consulting the public.

　　More than 1，000 locals staged protests on March 29 and 30 in front of the government building to express their objection to the project.

　　Since 2007， PX projects planned in Xiamen in Fujian Province， Dalian in Liaoning Province and Kunming in Yunnan Province have been shut down after residents protested， as they believed that the facilities would threaten the local environment. PX is a material used for making a number of polyester products.

　　Maoming is a major Chinese petrochemical production base. The PX project was approved in 2012 with an annual production capacity expected to meet 600，000 tons.

　　Carbon Trading

　　Central China’s Hubei Province launched the country’s sixth carbon trading scheme on April 2.

　　The scheme covers 138 companies in 12 high pollution industries， including power generation and steel， which have been given a combined carbon emission quota of 324 million tons for this year， the Hubei Carbon Trade Exchange said in a statement.

　　Under the trading program， those which emit below their quotas can sell their excess to other enterprises or investors for profit. Hebei is the first place where the government has sold reserve quotas. About 2 million tons of carbon have been sold at a price of 20 yuan ($3.22) per ton.

　　The exchange also signed carbon trading agreements with other provinces including Shanxi， Anhui， Jiangxi and Guangdong.

　　The scheme is a big step forward for China in building a nationwide carbon trading market， with an expectation of 40- to 45-percent reductions of 2005’s emissions slated for 2020.

　　Terrorists Arrested

　　Four suspects from the Kunming terror attack have been arrested for the crimes of organizing， leading， taking part in a terrorist attack and intentional homicide， the Yunnan provincial procuratorate said on March 29.

　　A group of knife-wielding assailants attacked civilians at a railway station in Kunming， the provincial capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province， on the evening of March 1， causing 29 deaths and injuring another 143.

　　Police shot and killed four of the attackers at the station. The other four were captured and detained by police on March 3.

　　Care for Elderly

　　China on March 28 established its first government-sponsored national fund specially designed for aged parents who have lost their only child.

　　The fund， which has raised donations worth more than 10 million yuan ($1.61 million)， will be under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

　　It will offer life assistance and psychological counseling to these elderly with financial difficulties by giving aid directly or through communities and nursing homes， according to Han Xuechen， director of the fund.

　　The fund is currently sponsoring pilot programs in cooperation with a sub-district in Beijing and the earthquake-hit Beichuan County in southwest China’s Sichuan Province， according to Han.

　　If successful， the plan is for the program to be gradually expanded.

　　China is undergoing a fast transformation and 202 million， or 14.9 percent of the total population， were aged 60 or above at the end of 2013， said Vice Minister of Civil Affairs Dou Yupei.

　　This number is expected to exceed 300 million by 2025， and a large number of them will also lack children and need special care from society， according to Dou.

　　Logging Ban

　　Heilongjiang Province in northeast China will ban commercial logging of its natural forests from April 1.

　　The measure was important in restoring the nation’s forest resources and insuring ecological security， said Zhao Shucong， chief of the State Forestry Administration.

　　He said that industries such as tourism and green agriculture should be developed as substitutes for logging.

　　Heilongjiang is home to 18.5 million hectares of state forests.

　　Ocean Regulation

　　China will issue a policy on regulating the country’s maritime area commercial use via tender， auction or listings in 2014， said the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) on March 31.

　　According to a SOA guideline on sea area management in 2014， it will improve the system of maritime property deals and jointly release a mortgage policy on the right of maritime use with the central bank.

　　The administration will make utmost efforts to complete the establishment of county-level oceanic functional zones and improve a three-tier oceanic zone system including national， provincial and city and county levels， the guideline said.

　　The SOA will also tighten implementation of the country’s sea reclamation plan， establish a multi-level coastal protection mechanism， and promote the protection and use of provincial-level coastlines.

　　CAS Ranking

　　The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) topped the Asia-Pacific region in the Nature Publishing Index (NPI) released on March 27， a benchmark for research success and achievement.

　　The CAS was ranked sixth in the NPI 2013 Global Top 200， up eight positions from the previous year. The University of Tokyo was ranked eighth in the global list and second in the Asia-Pacific region.

　　The CAS published 165 articles in Nature， a well-known scientific journal， in 2013.

　　University of Science and Technology of China， affiliated with the CAS， ranked 57th in the global list and tops the Chinese universities on the list.

　　Harvard University， Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University， all in the United States， were the top three on the global list.

　　The NPI ranks institutions according to the number of primary research articles they publish in the Nature journal， regarded as a pre-eminent platform for publication of international research.

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