News

Xi Leads Top CPC Leadership to Meet Press

October 25， Beijing： Xi Jinping， general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China（CPC）， and the other newly elected members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 19th CPC Central Committee—Li Keqiang， Li Zhanshu， Wang Yang， Wang Huning， Zhao Leji and Han Zheng—meet the press at the Great Hall of the People.

Xi， also the Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission， noted that the 19th Party Congress had received extensive and detailed coverage that had captured the attention of the world.

The 19th CPC National Congress was held from October 18 to 24 in Beijing.

Beijing’s New Airport Gets Roof

October 16， Beijing： A foreign journalist shoots a video of Beijing’s new airport under construction. The roof and glass of the main terminal building of the new airport were being installed， and crews hope to seal off the building by the end of this year or soon thereafter， according to Zhu Wenxin， the airport’s spokesman.

As of the end of September， more than 90 percent of the earthwork had been completed， and 95 percent of supporting projects， such as bridge foundations， were finished. “Upon completion， it will be Beijing’s second international aviation hub， serving the capital and nearby residents along with Beijing Capital International Airport，” Zhu said.

The new airport， which broke ground at the end of 2014， is scheduled to begin trial operations in October 2019. By 2025 it is expected to facilitate 72 million passenger trips， 620，000 departures and arrivals and two million metric tons of cargo and mail annually.

Beijing’s First Maglev

October 16， Beijing： Maglev trains in a garage. Beijing’s first medium-low speed maglev line is expected to begin trial operations by the end of this year.

The 10.2-kilometer S1 line will connect the western suburban districts of Mentougou and Shijingshan， greatly easing traffic congestion on roads connecting the two districts and the city proper. Eight stations have been built， with a maximum designed train speed of 100 kilometers per hour， said Wang Ping， general manager of Beijing Maglev Corporation. The line is expected to transport 160，000 people every day， with a capacity of around 1，000 passengers per six-car train.

China’s first medium-low speed maglev line started operation in May 2016 in Changsha， Hunan Province， making China one of the first countries to master the technology.

Record Panda Breeding

October 13， Wolong， Sichuan Province： Panda cubs crawl on the ground at the Shenshuping protection base.

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong has celebrated the births of a record 42 panda cubs this year. The 42 cubs were born to 30 mothers. The 17 born at the Ya’an Bifengxia base in Sichuan made their public debut on October 13. The others met fans at the Shenshuping protection base in Wolong National Nature Reserve. “The population of cubs born this year shows our preservation and breeding techniques have matured，” remarked Zhang Hemin， deputy head of the center.

With the development of breeding technology， the population of giant pandas born in captivity in China has risen from just six in 1983 to 273 this year， accounting for over 60 percent of the world’s captive pandas. Giant pandas are endangered and live mainly in the mountains of northern Sichuan Province as well as southern Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.