Holiday upsurge leads to box-office records

China's box office revenues jumped by 51 percent to a record 14.47 billion yuan ($2.23 billion)in the first quarter, thanks to a rise in audience numbers during the New Year holiday season.

However, despite being delighted by the rise, many insiders have voiced concerns about irregularities and possible bubbles in China's movie industry, and have called for a more healthy and sustainable development.

Data released on Sunday show that the week-long Spring Festival holiday, from Feb 7 to 13,generated 3.6 billion yuan in ticket revenues, while February enjoyed the quarter's best returns with 6.9 billion yuan, according to China National Radio.

Earning 10.5 billion yuan, Chinese films accounted for almost three-quarters of the takings in the country's box offices during the first quarter. (Photo 1)

Malaysia favors China on high-speed rail

Chinese companies are widely considered as the forerunner for the proposed high-speed railway project linking the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, a local media reported on Sunday.

A series of recent investment by Chinese state-owned companies have helped to lay the ground for the bid for the 350 km high-speed railway, according to the Sunday Star, a Malaysian English newspaper.

In March, China Railway Group Limited (CREC), one of China's largest state-owned companies, announced a 2 billion-U.S. dollar investment to build its regional headquarter in Bandar Malaysia, the proposed terminal for the Kuala Lumpur to Singapore line.

The announcement came three months after CREC's successful bid with its Malaysian joint-venture partner in December to acquire 60 percent of the Bandar Malaysia project.

On the railway bid, China is facing competitors from Japan, South Korea, France and others.

Tuesday April 5

'Exotic names' will soon vanish

The Chinese government is moving to ban 'exotic' names given to places, buildings and complexes to protect and preserve traditional culture.

In recent years, real estate developers and some local governments have chosen names based on locations and buildings overseas, such as 'Manhattan' or 'Venice'.

Authorities have decided to ban the use of place names inspired by locations overseas, and have ordered the removal of the imported monikers by the end of June next year.

To curb the growing use of foreign names, Li Liguo, the minister for civil affairs, has ordered governments at all levels to standardize place names and protect long-standing geographical or historical names.

Shenzhen e-bike clampdown hits couriers

A crackdown on the use of unlicensed electric bikes and freight tricycles in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, has paralyzed courier services, leaving delivery workers struggling to cope with piles of undelivered packages.

The campaign, launched by the city's traffic police on March 21, has resulted in the seizure of 17,975 electric bikes by March 31, and 874 people were detained on charges of operating them illegally, according to the police's Sina Weibo account.

Only electric bicycles that have been registered with the police are allowed to operate on the roads and freight tricycles have been forbidden in the city.

The campaign has hit Shenzhen's express delivery sector hardest, because most of the couriers use electric tricycles to deliver packages. (Photo 2)

Wednesday April 6

China launches first microgravity satellite

China successfully launched its first microgravity satellite, the SJ-10, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province on Wednesday at 1:38 am.

Designed in the shape of a bullet, the SJ-10 carries 19 experimental loads for 28 scientific research projects in microgravity, a very low gravity that mimics weightlessness, including research into fluid physics, fire safety on manned space flights, coal combustion and materials processing.

Microgravity experiments have previously been carried out on space facilities, including space stations, space shuttles and research rockets.

The SJ-10 will stay in orbit for a few days and an orbital module will stay in orbit another few days for additional experiments.

Yao Ming voted into basketball Hall of Fame

Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2016 on Monday for his role in helping spread the NBA's popularity throughout China.

The announcement said Yao changed the face of global basketball as a respected player and ambassador of the game.

'He led his hometown Shanghai Sharks to a CBA Championship in 2002 and was the No 1 pick in the NBA Draft the same year. As a member of the Houston Rockets, he earned All-Rookie honors (2003) and was named to the All-NBA Team five times (2004, 2006-2009). As an eight-time NBA All-Star (2003-2009, 2011), he broke the record for most All-Star votes, previously held by Michael Jordan in 2005,' the announcement said.

The induction ceremony will be held in Springfield, Massachusetts on Sept 9, 2016.

Thursday April 7

Research due on anti-pollutant role of forests

National research on the role of forests in controlling PM2.5 and other air pollutants is expected to conclude next year.

The research, which was launched in 2013, is being carried out by Beijing Forestry University and the Chinese Academy of Forestry, among other institutions.

It includes studies of the most effective types of trees for cleaning the air, according to Wang Cheng, director of the State Forestry Administration's Urban Forest Research Center, who was speaking during the First Asia-Pacific Urban Forestry Meeting, which opened in Zhuhai on Wednesday.

Social media erupts after hotel attack

An alleged attack on a woman in a four-star hotel in Beijing caused public outrage on social media on Wednesday.

The woman, whose Sina Weibo account is @wanwan_2016, posted her story in which she claimed she was followed and attacked by a stranger in a hotel while several passersby, including an employee of the property, did not help.

The incident spread quickly online.

The hashtag #Woman has been attacked in Heyi hotel# became the most heated topic by far and has 600 million reads and counting.

About one million internet users had already joined the discussion until 9:30 am on Wednesday.

Her Weibo account @Wanwan_2016 also jumped as the third popular topic on the real-time list.

Friday April 8

Hebei hits anti-pollution target early

Hebei has achieved its target of lowering airborne PM2.5 levels by more than 20 percent two years ahead of schedule, according to the province's Environmental Protection Bureau.

The average concentration of PM 2.5 in the province last year was 28.7 percent lower than it was in 2013, when the State Council ordered in a 'National Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution' that it should fall by 25 percent in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region by 2017.

PM 2.5 refers to airborne particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less that is hazardous to human health.

The average concentration of PM2.5 in the province last year was 77 micrograms per cubic meter, which is a 18.9 percent year-on-year decrease - the largest drop in the region.

Hebei is notorious for its bad air quality, with seven of its cities consistently ranking among the top 10 most polluted.

Govt to inject $927b into high-tech

China will invest more in the country's high-tech research and development, as well as infrastructure development, including railway, fixed assets, water conservancy projects, the Securities Daily reported on Thursday.

Total investment is estimated to exceed 6 trillion yuan ($926.6 billion) this year, half of which will be special funds targeting projects such as transportation, environment protection, urban planning, and tourism.

Meanwhile, fixed-asset investment is likely to reach 500 billion yuan in 2016, said the newspaper, if the country's economic planner continues its financial support with the same zeal in rest of the year.

The National Development and Reform Commission approved 36 fixed-asset projects in January-February, with an investment of 88.2 billion yuan.

Other funds may go to projects including railway and water conservancy construction, high technology research and development, western development, and so on. (Photo 5)