A farmer works on July 23 in a fi eld in Zhangjiajie， central Chinas Hunan Province. This year， Dashu， or great heat day， one of the 24 Solar Terms according to the Chinese lunar calendar， fell on July 23， signifying the hottest day of the summer.

Flood Battles

As rainfall continued to batter northern China， relevant departments have made necessary preparations for possible disasters caused by the rain. On July 22， Chinas Ministry of Emergency Management （MEM） called for better efforts to mitigate disasters and reduce casualties during the fl ood season.

MEMs Vice Minister Huang Ming said that late July and early August is a critical period for fi ghting fl oods and providing relief.

The Yellow River Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters issued a new alert for fl oods along the rivers upper reaches on July 23. The water level along the section of the Yellow River—the second longest in China—in Lanzhou， northwest Chinas Gansu Province， has risen rapidly due to heavy rain.

Relevant departments along the upper reaches of the river have been asked to strengthen precautions against fl oods and landslides， as well as to evacuate people from affected areas and enhance monitoring along the river and dikes.

Safety personnel must promptly update and report information regarding fl oods， while reservoir management agencies should release fl ood waters according to instructions.

Heilongjiang Province， Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and northern Mongolia Autonomous Region have all suffered from the rain. Meanwhile， Beijing， Tianjin and Hebei Province experienced more heavy rains on July 23 and 24 from Ampil， the 10th typhoon this year.

Retired Teachers Recruited

Chinas education and finance ministries plan to recruit 10，000 teachers above retirement age in the next three years to teach in primary and junior middle schools in rural areas. The first batch of veteran teachers will be in place for the fall term.

The silver-age project launched by the ministries is aimed at improving the quality and balanced development of education in rural areas.

Most teachers will serve for at least one academic year， and those who pass assessments will be encouraged to extend their service.

Apart from giving classes， they will also evaluate other teacherswork， hold open lectures and workshops， give general guidance and help schools improve their management.

New Leukemia Drug

Chinese researchers are submitting a new leukemia drug for clinical trials， according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences （CAS）.

The new drug HYML-122 was approved by the China National Drug Administration for trials in June. Researchers based in east Chinas Anhui Province spent four years developing the new drug， said the CAS.

The drug is targeted for patients with acute myelogenous leukemia（AML）， an often fatal cancer caused by damage to the DNA of bloodforming stem cells in the bone marrow， resulting in abnormal blood cells. Without treatment， AML patients have only weeks or months to live.

The FLT3 gene is one of the most frequently mutated genes in AML. Studies have shown that 30 percent of AML is related to FLT3. The United States approved the worlds fi rst targeting drug in May 2017， but it may cause several side effects such as albinism. Thus， there is an urgent need for a safer and more effective drug， said Liu Qingsong， the lead researcher.

Animal experiments showed HYML-122， a small-molecule inhibitor of FLT3， improved safety and tumor penetration. Should clinical tests prove successful， it could provide a solution for patients， especially those with tumors in the late stages of the disease.

The new drug has been patent protected and may be marketed after fi ve years of clinical tests.

Industrial Robot Production

The industry scale of Chinas domestically made robots has seen 20-percent annual growth in fi ve years， Peoples Daily reported on July 23.

According to the China Robot Industry Alliance （CRIA）， 131，000 industrial robots were made domestically in 2017. In addition， there were more than 6，500 enterprises engaged in robot production by the end of 2017.

However， the market shares of domestically made industrial robots fell for the fi rst time in fi ve years， shrinking to below 27 percent in 2017.

China has employed the largest amount of industrial robots since 2013， according to CRIA. With the development and integration of information technology and artifi cial intelligence， robots could be used both in the manufacturing industry and peoples daily lives， Qu Daokui， President of Siasun Robot， a robot company in Shenyang， northeast Chinas Liaoning Province， told Xinhua News Agency.

Wrestling Tradition

Wrestlers compete during a Naadam fair in Chifeng， Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region， on July 20. Naadam fair， meaning entertainment or recreation in Mongolian， is a mass traditional Mongolian festival fi lled mainly with sporting events.

Ancient Book Preservation

Southwest Chinas Yunnan Province launched a preservation project to catalog and update its records of ancient books across the province.

Professionals involved in the preservation of ancient texts， along with 51 university students， worked together during the 40-day investigation to sort and catalog the books. The project—primarily registering authors， book editions， as well as the location of the books—was jointly organized by the Ancient Books Preservation and Conservation Association of China and the Yunnan Ancient Books Preservation Center.

Yunnan is home to more than 1 million ancient books. Since 2008， it has registered and cataloged about 70 percent of its ancient books in local libraries， museums and temples. Volunteers were trained on how to register and catalog the books before beginning the project.

International Beer Festival

The 28th Qingdao International Beer Festival， one of the largest beer festivals in China， opened on July 20 in the coastal city of Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province.

This year， the festival will offer 200 different beer brands from over 30 countries and regions and more than 1，300 types of beer， said Mi Desheng， Director of the tourism commission of the Xihaian New Area， where the festival is taking place.

The festival will last 38 days—longer than previous years—to accommodate more tourists， Mi said. The venue occupies more than 800，000 square meters， he added. Qingdao hosted the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization（SCO） Summit on June 9-10. The beer festival features SCO countries， including a venue for Russian beer， Mi said.

As home to Tsingtao Brewery， a time-honored beer brand in China， Qingdaos international beer festival is an annual carnival and one of the largest in the country.

No Fishing

Fishing boats berthed at a port in Qidong， east Chinas Jiangsu Province， on July 22. Ampil， this years 10th typhoon， brought gale force winds and downpours to the area.

Senior Boom

The number of elderly people in China is expected to peak at 487 million in 2050， accounting for 34.9 percent of the total population， said an offi cial with the National Health Commission on July 19.

According to Wang Jianjun， Executive Deputy Director of the Offi ce of the National Working Commission on Aging， the number of people aged 60 and above in China will reach 300 million by 2025， and 400 million by 2033.

“The money spent on the elderly， including care and medical services， will take up 26.24 percent of Chinas GDP by 2050， up from 7.33 percent in 2015，” he said.

Wang called for more agingrelated education， saying that it would contribute to a favorable atmosphere for this work in society.

A circular on such education was released by the office and 13 other departments in January， in order to raise peoples awareness of an aging society.

Bolstering the Real Economy

China will better utilize its fi scal and fi nancial policies to support the expansion of domestic demand and boost the development of the real economy， a State Council executive meeting decided on July 23.

The meeting， chaired by Premier Li Keqiang， said that a more proactive fi scal policy will be pursued and the government will focus on tax and non-tax fee cuts. More companies will be eligible for preferential policies involving an additional deduction in research and development spending on taxable income， a policy expected to cut 65 billion yuan （$9.6 billion） of taxes this year. This comes on top of an initial goal of reducing taxes and fees by 1.1 trillion yuan （$162 billion） for the year.

The countrys prudent monetary policy will neither be too tight nor too loose， the meeting announced. The government will keep the social fi nancing scale at a reasonable level， and liquidity will remain proper and suffi cient.

The government will step up efforts to ensure delivery of the state fi nancing guarantee fund， targeting 140 billion yuan （$20.6 billion） of loans for about 150，000 small and micro-sized fi rms each year.

Water Welcome

Fire engines welcome a cargo plane with sprays of water as the fi rst regular all-cargo intercontinental routes were launched in central Chinas Hunan Province at the Changsha Huanghua International Airport on July 21.

SOE Profits

Profi t growth of Chinas state-owned enterprises （SOEs） accelerated in the fi rst half of the year， offi cial data showed.

Combined profi ts reached 1.72 trillion yuan （$253 billion） for the January-June period， up 21.1 percent year on year， according to the Ministry of Finance. The pace of growth quickened from the 20.9-percent increase registered in the fi rst fi ve months.

By the end of June， total SOE assets reached 171 trillion yuan （$25.2 trillion）， up 9.4 percent from a year earlier， while liabilities climbed 8.8 percent to 111 trillion yuan （$16.4 trillion）.

In the fi rst half of the year， SOEs in sectors such as iron， steel， oil， petrochemicals and non-ferrous metals posted dramatic profi t increases.

Accusations Rebuffed

On July 23， China said that it has no intention of spurring exports through competitive devaluation of its currency， rejecting U.S. accusations of manipulating the exchange rate of the yuan.

“The yuans exchange rate is mainly determined by market supply and demand，” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a press briefing. “It floats in both directions， which means there are ups and downs.”

Currently， the good fundamentals of Chinas economy provide strong support for the yuans exchange rate to remain generally stable.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said earlier that the United States was monitoring the recent weakness in Chinas currency and would review whether it had been manipulated.

“China remains resolute and clear in its stance that it does not want a trade war， but is not afraid of and will fight one if necessary，” Geng said.

Limits to Bike Sharing

Kunming， capital of southwest Chinas Yunnan Province， will not accept business applications from new bikesharing firms as of August since existing operators have already overshot the citys capacity.

Incumbent bike-sharing companies， including Mobike and Ofo， will be subject to strict rules regarding the phasing out of old bikes， according to a management rule recently released by traffic authorities.

The rule sets a limit for the city of 300，000 shared bikes. The citys four bike-sharing companies currently have about 350，000 bicycles and 4 million registered users， among its total population of 6.6 million. Bike-parking areas in public spaces without official permit will be banned.

Bike sharing has caused problems such as traffic jams， parking difficulties and vandalism， as well as challenges for urban management. Many cities have regulated the service. In May， Beijing and Hangzhou unveiled new rules， with the latter removing at least 80，000 bikes from the street.

The Kunming Municipal Government has already turned down several applications from companies wishing to enter the market.

Smart Technology

Robots on display at the China International Consumer Electronics Show， which took place in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， on July 20-23. Exhibits covered new technology and products ranging from smart homes to cars of the future.

Virtual Telecom

China has given an offi cial green light to virtual telecom operator businesses after piloting the practice for almost fi ve years.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued offi cial licenses to 15 private virtual telecom fi rms to resell mobile services， according to a ministry statement released on July 23.

These virtual operators， including tech giants Alibaba and Xiaomi， do not maintain the network infrastructure but rent wholesale services from the countrys three major telecom operators China Mobile， China Unicom and China Telecom.

In a move to further open up the telecom sector， China started to issue pilot licenses in 2013 to allow private companies to offer repackaged mobile services to users. A total of 42 Chinese enterprises received pilot licenses to operate virtual telecom businesses.

Granting these offi cial licenses is aimed at encouraging mobile telecom business innovation and improving the sectors overall service quality， the statement said.

Ford Boosts Performance

Ford Motor Co. has vowed to“take urgent action to address underperformance” in the Chinese market as the U.S. automaker reported a sharp decline in overall profi ts in the second quarter of the year.

Ford made a net income of $1.1 billion in the second quarter， which was $900 million less than the same period in 2017， according to its latest earnings report released on July 25.

Fire at one of Fords supply plants in the U.S. and underperformance in China were believed to be two main factors which led to the almost 50-percent decrease in profi ts.

Ford said that in Asia Pacifi c， the company is now focused on China and taking urgent action to address underperformance.

“This includes improving cost competitiveness with aggressive fi tness actions， localizing more products in China， as well as recruiting more local talent to key management positions，” said the automaker.

It added that new products will soon enter the Chinese market， with 60 percent of the lineup refreshed or new by the end of 2019.

Ford did not reveal specifi c fi gures related to its China sales， but put the whole Asia-Pacifi c regions revenue for the second quarter at$2.3 billion， down $1.1 billion year on year.

Green Power

A farmer cleans scum in a fi sh pond in Huzhou， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， on July 25， below photovoltaic panels that are used for power generation. The photovoltaic project was built on 11，000 mu （733 hectares） of fi sh ponds， forming a unique landscape.

New Platform

The China-Serbia Economy Association （CSEA）， which aims to attract prominent companies to further develop the cooperation and exchanges between the two countries， was founded in Belgrade on July 24.

Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Li Manchang invited companies to join the association， explaining that the establishment of the CSEA is a result of his cooperation with Tomislav Nikolic， former President of Serbia and current President of the National Council for Cooperation With China and Russia.

According to CSEA President Xu Li， the goal of the association is to actively respond to the Belt and Road Initiative by creating a platform and promoting exchange among companies.

“It will provide immense support to the companies from China to invest and grow in Serbia， while also signifi cantly helping Serbian companies that plan to develop in the Chinese market，” Xu said， adding that some of the members of the association， such as China Road and Bridge Corp. and Huawei， have already made immense contributions to economic ties between the two countries.