Workers pack up Bing Dwen Dwens at a licensed manufacturer in Qidong， Jiangsu Province on February 8. The mascot for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 has recently become a smash hit. Licensed manufacturers have increased production of the merchandise to ensure adequate supply.

Migrant workers are seen on a special train at Zunyi Station in Zunyi， Guizhou Province， on February 8. The special train， free of charge for migrant workers returning to work in larger cities， left Zunyi Station for Guangzhou and Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. It is the first such train for returning workers from Guizhou this year， with more than 600 migrant workers boarding.

China will continue to advance the opening up of its highlevel education， the Ministry of Education （MOE） said in its key tasks for 2022 released on February 8.

Efforts will be made to step up cooperation with other countries in the sector， such as advancing the high-quality development of the Education Action Plan for the Belt and Road Initiative and stepping up cooperation with ASEAN countries in vocational education and mutual recognition of academic qualifications， according to the ministry.

The country will also deepen reform of the system and the mechanism for sending government-funded students to study abroad， develop internationally competitive education for overseas students， and tighten regulations for the employment and management of foreign teachers， said the MOE.

The ministry will support quality basic education resources on the mainland to run schools in Hong Kong， explore the integrated development of education across the Taiwan Straits， and consolidate the platform for educational exchange between the mainland and Hong Kong， Macao， and Taiwan.

Efforts will also be made to promote the construction of pilot overseas Chinese schools and deepen cooperation with international organizations such as UNESCO.

China handed the ratification paper of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind， Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled to the World Intellectual Property Organization（WIPO） on February 5.

The Marrakesh Treaty， the first and only human rights treaty with copyright so far， is scheduled to come into force in China three months from now and is expected to guarantee print-disabled people’s equal access to culture and education.

China will provide practical support to print-disabled people per the treaty and continue to strengthen cooperation with the WIPO， Zhang Jianchun， vice head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee， said in talks with WIPO Director General Daren Tang via video link on February 5.

China will also further participate in the global administration of intellectual property under the WIPO framework， Zhang said.

The Marrakesh Treaty was adopted by the WIPO on June 27， 2013， aiming to dissolve copyright-related obstacles for print-disabled people to obtain works， and entered into force on September 30， 2016. It now has 84 contracting parties.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress， China’s top legislature， adopted a decision on ratifying the Marrakesh Treaty in October 2021.

China’s culture industry logged a steady recovery in 2021， with new business forms registering rapid expansion， data from the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） shows， Xinhua News Agency reported on February 6.

The combined operating revenue of major firms in the sector topped 11.9 trillion yuan（$1.87 trillion） last year， up 16 percent year on year and marking a two-year average growth of 8.9 percent， according to an NBS survey covering 65，000 companies.

China’s culture industry reported a solid recovery in 2021， said NBS senior statistician Zhang Peng. Zhang noted that 41 out of 43 industry subsectors reported year-on-year expansion in operating revenue.

Total operating revenue of the 16 subcategories closely related to new business forms， such as animation， games， and digital publishing， climbed 18.9 percent year on year. It accounted for 33.3 percent of total revenue of the culture industry.

Zhang expected further expansion of China’s culture industry in 2022， highlighting the supply of higher quality products and the dynamic consumption market.

Visitors appreciate plum blossoms at a park in Fuzhou， capital of Fujian Province， on February 9

China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has issued a plan to build a belt region for the integrated development of sports， cultural and tourist industries in Beijing and Zhangjiakou， the co-host city of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics， Xinhua reported on February 3.

The plan aims to leverage the Winter Olympic venues built in the region in a comprehensive and low-carbon way after the Olympic Games.

In the region， a series of global winter sports events and competitions will be held， toptier sports universities will be built and the charm of Chinese culture will be presented to the world through a host of cultural resorts， parks and brands.

The plan specifies efforts to promote and popularize winter sports among the general public， increase the venues’public accessibility and improve their services， and facilitate the wider spread of Winter Olympics culture.

A Chinese quartet stormed to a thrilling victory in the mixed 2，000m relay at the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 5， clinching China’s first-ever gold in the event. The feat can be partly attributed to aviation technologies.

A research team led by Ke Peng， an associate professor at Beihang University in Beijing who once studied air vehicles， has applied the knowhow of aircraft engineering into winter sports training.

The endeavor can be traced back to a chilly morning when Ke went to a skating rink in suburban Beijing. There， Ke’s team collected data via multiple sensors based on the athletes’movements， muscle strength and details involving the skate blades.

Later it occurred to Ke that the route planning algorithms used for aircraft could also be used to help design optimal glide routes for skaters.

Ke pondered over some critical questions such as whether or not skaters should slow down before they turn and whether they should turn in a small circle or a large one， concluding that the model can offer the answers.

The model is tailored to individual skaters. Inputting their heights， gliding postures， muscle energy consumption， angles of arm swings and leg kicks into the model can produce the optimal plan for energy distribution.

“Thanks to the scientific training approach， a typical speed skating race saw a 10-percent increase in speed，” Ke said.

People looking for new opportunities visit a job fair in Neijiang， Sichuan Province， on February 9. Various such fairs have taken place after the Spring Festival holiday to help people get a leg up in the new year.

The State Council has approved setting up more cross-border ecommerce pilot zones in 27 cities and regions as the government seeks to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment inflows.

The new zones will replicate and advance the experience learned from the previous ones， according to a statement released by the State Council.

Since 2015， China has established 105 cross-border ecommerce pilot zones in five batches. The new business model has become a vibrant force driving China’s foreign trade growth.

The authorities plan to improve standardization in a wide range of areas， including supervision， risk prevention， financial technology， green finance and digital currency， with the goal of basically establishing a financial standard system that fits modern finance in 2025， according to a plan to advance standardization of the financial sector over the 14th FiveYear Plan （2021-25） period.

The document was jointly published by the People’s Bank of China， the State Administration for Market Regulation， the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The country will improve the monitoring and early warning of financial risks， especially in Internet finance. Efforts will be made to guide the use of technologies， including cloud computing， big data and artificial intelligence. The utilization of financial data will be under better management to ensure the protection of public security， business secret and personal privacy.

The Chinese Government published 137 national and industrial standards in the financial sector between 2016 and 2020 and the standardization played an increasingly important role in serving the real economy， warding off risks and deepening reforms.

There were 1.43 million 5G base stations nationwide as of late 2021， data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.

The figure accounted for over 60 percent of the global total， with 10.1 5G base stations serving every 10，000 people in China， nearly doubling from the end of 2020， the ministry said.

Last year， the country’s 5G-related investment reached 184.9 billion yuan （$29 billion）， a share of 45.6 percent in fixed assets investment of the telecommunication industry， up 8.9 percentage points from that of a year ago.

China expects to see the number of 5G users exceed 560 million by 2023， and every 10，000 people in China will have more than 18 5G base stations at that time， according to a guideline released last year.

Hualong One， a China-designed third-generation nuclear reactor， has been confirmed adequate for use in Britain， the designer， China General Nuclear Power Corp. （CGN）， said on February 8.

The reactor has met the standard of the Generic Design Assessment （GDA）， according to a joint statement issued by the British Office for Nuclear Regulation （ONR） and the Environment Agency （EA）.

Before being put into use， the new technology must pass the assessment led by the ONR and the EA to determine its safety and environmental impact.

ONR has issued a Design Acceptance Confirmation （DAC） and EA has issued a Statement of Design Acceptability （SoDA） to Hualong One.

The CGN and French state-owned power giant EDF signed deals with the British Government in 2016 on building three projects in Britain. The project based in Bradwell， Essex， is expected to use the Hualong One technology.

The banking sector disposed of 3.13 trillion yuan （$492.4 billion） worth of non-performing assets in 2021， effectively reducing credit risks， according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. The figure saw an increase of 110 billion yuan （$17.3 billion） from a year ago， a record high.

During the 2017-21 period， Chinese banks handled 11.9 trillion yuan （$1.8 trillion） worth of non-performing assets， which surpassed the aggregate of 12 years prior to that period and served as a key backstop against systemic financial risks， the commission said.

Given the possibility of bad loans resurging amid COVID-19 strains and economic headwinds， the lenders should strengthen oversight of the quality of their assets， it added.

Chinese companies gained a greater market share in smartphone AMOLED display panel shipments in 2021 amid a rapidly growing global market， consulting firm CINNO Research said in a research note.

Led by BOE Technology Group， they seized a 20.2-percent share in the global market last year， up 3.7 percentage points from a year ago， according to it.

BOE’s shipments surged 67.2 percent from a year ago to 60 million units， accounting for 8.9 percent of the world’s total， ranking second globally. It was followed by Visionox Co. and Everdisplay Optronics （Shanghai） Co.， with a market share of 5.1 percent and 3 percent， respectively.

The global smartphone AMOLED screen market regis- tered a robust increase last year despite challenges including a lingering chip shortage， with total shipments at 668 million units， up 36.3 percent.

Manufacturers from the Republic of Korea controlled nearly 80 percent of the market， the report said. The shipments of Samsung Display alone represented a share of 72.3 percent， down 4.2 percentage points from a year ago.

China ranked second globally as home to 171 gazelle companies， or startups with high growth potential， according to the Hurun Global Gazelle Index list for 2021.

All entrants were founded in the 2000s， worth over $500 million and not yet listed on a public exchange. They are also most likely to become unicorns—firms valued over $1 billion—within three years.

Globally， a total of 525 companies were on the list， released by Shanghai-based Hurun Research Institute.

The U.S. topped the list with 201 gazelles in total.

China’s exports of mechanical and electrical products totaled$1.99 trillion in 2021， as strong demand fueled growth， according to Gao Feng， spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce.

The volume， representing a year-on-year growth of 29.1 percent， accounted for 59 percent of China’s total exports during the period， he said.

The expansion marked the quickest pace in 11 years.

Noting multiple uncertainties facing exports of mechanical and electrical products， Gao pledged further measures to improve the level of trade facilitation， help enterprises diversify their markets， and ensure the stability of the foreign trade industrial chain and supply chain.

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