The Chinese military will stop all of its commercial activities before the end of the year, under a new guideline unveiled on Monday.The guideline, released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, State Council and Central Military Commission, said that stopping all of the military's commercial activities is a strategically important decision made by the Party, the Central Military Commission and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, and is a significant part of the ongoing reform of national defense and the military.It said the work has entered a crucial stage that requires determination, planning and cooperation between the military, local governments and Party committees.Units of the People's Liberation Army and the Armed Police Force must ensure that their commercial activities are halted before year's end and their assets be maintained at their current value during the process, the document said.Contracts between the military and civilian entities that will not conclude by year's end should be terminated by that time through negotiation or legal procedures, it said, adding that compensation will be given for economic losses.Under the guideline, commercial activities with sophisticated situations should be dealt with in a flexible manner such as entrusting civilian entities to manage them.It urged government and military departments to make policies to regulate nonmilitary programs assigned by the central government in the future.The document said all properties, land and reception facilities owned by the military and used for commercial purposes will be administered and allocated by the Central Military Commission.The Chinese military started running its own businesses in the mid-1980s to offset a defense budget decrease.In 1992, the Central Military Commission approved commercial activities by the PLA and the Armed Police Force. In February 2016, the Central Military Commission ordered the PLA and Armed Police Force to halt commercial activities within three years.Many corruption cases involving senior officers were closely connected to the military's commercial activities, and the military's involvement in commercial sectors aroused public concerns, said Senior Colonel Gong Fangbin, a political education researcher at PLA National Defense University. personalised silicone wristbandslost child wristbandcustom silicone braceletsbat fidget spinner
Beijing residents, used to seeing smoggy winter days, have enjoyed what have been called amazing days free of pollution, for 80 percent of the time in November. The blue sky has continued, data from the top environment authority showed on Thursday.Data released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Thursday shows that Beijing's air quality improved sharply in November, with the average PM2.5 concentration count cut by 54 percent to 46 micrograms per cubic meter, almost the summertime level in the capital.The air quality index stood at less than 100 on 80 percent of days in November. A year earlier, just 43 percent of days had an air quality index below 100.In addition, air quality improved in the larger Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in November, with more days of good air quality, Liu Zhiquan, head of the ministry's Environment Monitoring Department, said on Thursday.It's highly possible that Beijing will meet the ambitious reduction target set by the State Council in 2013, Environmental Protection Minister Li Ganjie said in early December, adding that the improvement showed comprehensive joint efforts are working.The northern region has a greater chance of days with severe air pollution due to excessive emissions from heating plants during the winter, especially on windless days, the ministry has said in the past.During past winters, the region has experienced soaring emissions of airborne pollutants, with a seasonal average increase of 30 percent, according to the ministry.But at least two straight weeks in December through Thursday of blue skies in the capital indicate good air quality, ministry data show."The air quality improvement in November in Beijing and its neighboring regions is closely tied to frequent cold fronts with strong wind that blew away the pollutants in the region," Ai Wanxiu, chief expert at the National Climate Center, said recently.Seven separate cold fronts swept the northern region in November, she said, hitting a record for the month dating to 1961.In addition, the significant improvement showed the ongoing mix of strict pollution controls have worked, a more important reason for the clean air, Xie Hongxing, director of the Innovation Centre for Clean-Air Solutions, an environmental think tank in Beijing, said on Thursday.China has launched comprehensive measures to reduce polluting emissions in the northern region, including restricting industrial production by shutting down thousands of polluting plants and suspending the work of iron and steel plants in 28 major cities, limiting the use of vehicles and reducing coal consumption as a heating source since September."The mix of efficient controls and the better implementation of them are major reasons for the improvement," Xie said, adding that the advanced technologies adopted also fueled the improvement.For example, the ultra-low-emission technologies used in coal-fired power plants managed to reduce the emissions, and the emission standards on vehicle exhausts are stricter than many Western countries, said Xie, adding that many foreign experts from the US and UK agreed it at the recent forum.
