Wenchang Satellite Launch Center
Text
News in review
Monday ____October 29 Figures show two-child policy working In the first half of 2016, the proportion of Chinese newborns who were second children grew to 44.7 percent of total newborns. That's an increase of some 6.9 percentage points over the proportion of second-child newborns for the whole of 2015, which was 37.9 percent. A total of 8.31 million newborns were registered nationwide this year by the end of June, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. Some regions, mostly large cities, are beginning to see second children comprising more than half of local newborns, the commission said. Data indicate that it's the highest proportion of second children since China introduced its family planning policies in the late 1970s, limiting most couples to just one child, the commission told China Daily. (Photo 1) Microsoft plans to triple stores in China Microsoft Corp plans to triple the number of its franchised stores in China to 400 in two years, as the United States tech giant steps up efforts to boost the sales of its consumer electronics products. The plan came shortly after the firm unveiled a new all-in-one desktop personal computer on Wednesday, to target creative professionals and consumers. In the latest quarter ending in September, Surface revenue hit $926 million, up 38 percent year-on-year. In the same time frame, the China market was also growing rapidly. Currently, the firm has 115 franchised stores in the Chinese mainland and has established closer partnerships with major retail chains such as Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd. The firm is also planning to open its first China Microsoft store, a store owned and operated by Microsoft itself, as an increasing number of consumers are gravitated toward its products. (Photo 2) Tuesday____October 30 Unmanned combat drone to be exported China has granted an export license for the CH-5 reconnaissance/combat drone, which is believed to be one of the most powerful unmanned combat aircraft in the world. "Several foreign nations have expressed intentions to purchase the CH-5, and we are in talks with them," said Shi Wen, chief designer of the Caihong, or Rainbow, series at the China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics in Beijing. The CH-5 made its first flight in August last year, becoming the mightiest military drone in China in terms of operational endurance and payload capacity. (Photo 3) Weightless tourism coming soon Han Qingping, president of ChinaRocket Co Ltd in Beijing, said his company will develop a 10-metric-ton reusable spacecraft and use it to ferry three to five travelers to a height of 80 km for a new perspective on the mother planet and to experience weightlessness just below the height where satellites fly. "By 2025, a 100-ton reusable spacecraft will be produced to send up to 20 passengers to an orbit as high as 140 km above the ground," he said. That's into the thermosphere, and is high enough to be considered space. "Furthermore, we will begin to use the 100-ton vehicle to perform intercontinental scheduled flight and long commercial spaceflight around 2030." Han said his company plans to go public around 2020, adding it will share its facilities and equipment with other enterprises to boost the growth of the whole sector. Reports predict that by 2020 the market value of commercial space activities in China will reach 30 billion yuan each year. Wednesday____October 31 Central bank to remove China's 'penny' One series of the 1 jiao coin (0.15 cents) was to be removed from circulation starting on Tuesday, making the coin more valuable for collectors, according to a report by Modern Express. People's Bank of China, the central bank, has called on banks nationwide to hand over all that series of 1 jiao coins, adding that no new such coins are to be distributed, the newspaper reported. The coin, minted mainly from 1991 to 1999, is among the fourth series of renminbi coins. It features a chrysanthemum on one side and the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China, the full title of the state in Chinese and pinyin on the other side. The report cited a collector as saying that the coin is favored by collectors because of its design.(Photo 4) Coal producer Shenhua's profit rises 46% in Q3 China's largest coal producer saw profit jump 46 percent in the third quarter amid a price surge following the government's efforts to curb the oversupply. Net income at China Shenhua Energy Co, the biggest coal miner in the world's largest energy consumer, rose to 7.48 billion yuan ($1.1 billion) from about 5.1 billion yuan in the same period last year, the Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Coal prices have made a comeback after five years of declines because of a reduction in domestic supply. The central government earlier this year ordered miners to operate for the equivalent of 276 days of production, down from the standard 330 days, as part of its efforts to revitalize the industry and curb industrial overcapacity. This helped spur the nation's prices more than 70 percent so far this year. Thursday____November 3 China bans auction of looted cultural relics China's cultural relics watchdog has established a regulation banning the auction of stolen, smuggled and looted cultural relics nationwide. The regulation was issued by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. Other types of relics that are banned from being auctioned are those that have been legally confiscated by the government, and those belonging to State relics shops, national enterprises, the military and private museums. The regulation also stipulates that the State Administration of Cultural Heritage retains purchasing priority and the right to set prices for artifacts that do make it to legal auction. Many internet users have also expressed concern, pointing out that the regulation has no authority in overseas markets, which is where most looted cultural relics end up. (Photo 5) Dazzling penalty for some high-beam drivers Motorists in Shenzhen in southern China who drive with their lights on full beam will be punished by staring into powerful headlights for a minute, the news agency Xinhua reported. The city's police announced the punishment on Tuesday, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported. Offenders will be made to sit on a stool and stare into the blinding headlights for 60 seconds. They will also be fined 300 yuan (HK$345) and made to recite regulations on when headlights can be put safely on full beam, the report said. A police post on social media showed a photograph of a man sitting on a chair looking into the bright lights of a truck, with two uniformed officers standing by. In other social media, some said the punishment wasn't enough. Friday____November 4 Hong Kong importers pull tainted hairy crabs Importers of hairy crabs in Hong Kong recalled produce from two aquaculture farms in Jiangsu province on Wednesday, as excessive levels of chemicals linked to cancer were found in samples. But some importers refused to suspend sales, claiming that they source their crabs from other farms and the two concerned farms only handle import paperwork for them. Two samples of hairy crabs, imported from Wujiang Wanqing Taihu Crab Breeding Co and Jiangsu Taihu Aquatic Product Co, were found to contain 11.7 picograms and 40.3 picograms per gram of dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls respectively. The toxic chemical compounds can lead to reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer. According to the Center for Food Safety in Hong Kong, the acceptable level of the two chemicals contained in food is 6.5 picograms. Launch of carrier rocket to boost tourism Wenchang in Hainan province will see an increase in visitors as the launch of the Long March 5 carrier rocket, scheduled for early November, draws near. The Wenchang Satellite Launch Center is the fourth of its kind in the country. To ensure that visitors enjoy their experience of witnessing the launch of the carrier rocket, the second of its kind at the launch center, local authorities have prepared seven observation areas which can accommodate more than 25,000 spectators, according to a local government official. "We have also designed two routes for tourist groups and six routes for people who will drive by themselves around Wenchang, where tourism has peaked since the maiden launch of the Long March 7 carrier rocket in June," the official said.
Nations ask to play part in space lab
Many countries reach out as China prepares to put permanent station in service in 2022 Many nations have reached out to China, seeking to play a part in the country's future manned space station, a senior space industry official said Wednesday. "We believe there is a wide range of fields suitable for such international collaboration and these prospective cooperation projects will have huge potential," said Fu Zhiheng, vice-president of China Great Wall Industry Corp, a State-owned enterprise that is the nation's only authorized firm for international space collaboration. "In fact, we are in talks with some foreign countries in this regard," said Fu, who spoke with China Daily on the sidelines of the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai of Guangdong province. "My company's Manned Space Cooperation Center works with the China Manned Space Agency and has been pushing forward with related efforts," he said. Fu did not name any of the nations involved. China will start launching parts of its permanent manned space station starting in 2018 and put the space station into service around 2022, according to previous reports. It will consist of three parts-a core module attached to two space labs, each weighing about 20 metric tons. A scaled model of the space station is on display at the six-day air show that opened on Tuesday in Zhuhai. Meanwhile, the heavy-lift carrier rocket developed to launch the space station's modules, the Long March 5, is standing at Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan province waiting for its first trip into space. China's manned space station is likely to become the world's only space station after the International Space Station is retired in 2024, Chinese space officials have said. The International Space Station has worked in part as an orbiting laboratory for multidisciplinary research in areas including physics, medicine and space sciences. China currently is conducting some cooperation projects with foreign space agencies, mainly concerning scientific and technological experiments onboard China's Shenzhou XI spacecraft and Tiangong II space laboratory, according to Fu. He did not say which agencies are involved. Two Chinese astronauts are now aboard the combined Shenzhou XI-Tiangong II on a monthlong mission in space that started in mid-October. Fu also noted that his company has received requests from other nations that hope China will help them train astronauts. He did not name the nations. Yang Liwei, deputy director of China Manned Space Agency, previously said that China is open to cooperation with other nations in its future manned space station. Chinese scientists have designed a number of devices or instruments in the planned space station that can be used for international cooperative projects. They also developed adapters to permit docking with other nations' spaceships, according to Yang, China's first astronaut in space. In addition, he said China would be happy to help train astronauts from other countries and organizations and would also be glad to provide rides to foreign astronauts. Foreign astronauts who will have undergone training by Chinese experts will be welcome to work in the space station, he added. "The result of including foreign participants in our space programs is not only that these nations can send their people to space but also that they will be able to develop their own space projects," Yang said. zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
China's newest rocket facility prepares for launch
The Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, China's newest space facility, will soon carry out its first mission to send the country's next generation Long March 7 carrier rocket skyward. Yi Ziqian, deputy director at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center who also heads the Wenchang center, said on Friday that the Wenchang facility had completed all preparations for the maiden flight of Long March 7 and was ready to fuel the rocket. Wenchang Satellite Launch Center, in the southern island province of Hainan, is administered by the Xichang center. The China Manned Space Program announced on Wednesday that the first use of the Long March 7 will take place between Saturday and Wednesday, depending on conditions. The rocket was moved in a vertical position to its launchpad on Wednesday morning, waiting for its public debut. Before the end of the year, the Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket will also make its first flight from the center. The Wenchang Satellite Launch Center is China's latest launch facility, following the Xichang center in Sichuan, Taiyuan center in Shanxi and Jiuquan center in Inner Mongolia. China's newest rocket facility prepares for launch Covering about 12 square kilometers, it will be used to lift heavyweight satellites, deep-space probes, cargo spacecraft and the country's future space station that is planned to be built around 2022, according to Wang Zemin, a senior engineer who oversees the center's launch operations. Construction of the center was approved by the State Council and the Central Military Commission in 2007 and began in 2009. Work on the facility was completed in 2014 and the center conducted tests with prototypes of the Long March 7 and Long March 5 last year. "The biggest advantage of the Wenchang center is its low latitude - only 19 degrees north of the equator, which will enable rockets to save a lot of fuel and to carry heavier payloads, compared with launches from the other three centers in China," Wang said. Its location also helps to improve the nation's space launch network, thus strengthening China's overall launch capability. Moreover, the center's proximity to the sea allows rockets to be transported there by ship, he added. Other launch centers have to transport rockets using the country's railways, which are too narrow to carry China's next-generation, large rockets such as the Long March 5 that has a 5-meter diameter core booster. These advantages enable the Wenchang facility to launch a wide range of satellites and spacecraft, which means it will be competitive in the international commercial launch market, according to Yi. zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 A Long March 5 carrier rocket waits to be sent into space at the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan province on Oct 28
2 The rocket, Long March 7, is launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Hainan, China, on June 25, 2016
3 China's most powerful heavy-lift launch vehicle is expected to make its first test flight from Hainan's Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in November.