China in the News

Joanna Zhou (周娜), now residing in Knoxville TN, immigrated to Indianapolis with her husband from Beijing in 2013, where she worked in Human Resources for a U.S. Fortune 500 company. She enjoys her new life with her husband and kept in touch with her IAAT friends and readers by contributing to this column.

China’s largest snow-ice theme park opens

Harbin Ice-snow World, China’s largest ice and snow theme park, opened for its 21st winter season Monday in Harbin, capital of northeastern province of Heilongjiang. Covering an area of 600,000 square meters, the park features 21 sites of snow and ice carvings and sculptures this year. It is estimated that 220,000 cubic meters of ice and snow were used in its construction. The park will also hold over 20 interactive entertainment programs and host two international ice carving competitions this year, the organizer said. Various activities are held in the park each winter for around three months. Ice and snow have become a magnet for tourism in Harbin, which is known as “the Oriental Moscow” for its Russian-style buildings such as St. Sophia Cathedral. Harbin Ice-snow World received over 116,800 visitors and brought in 29.91 million yuan (4.28 million U.S. dollars) in revenue during the three-day New Year’s Day holiday in 2018.

世界最大冰雪乐园 “长春冰雪大世界”开门迎客

2019年12月21日，“世界最大冰雪乐园”吉林省长春市“ 长春冰雪大世界”试营业，吸引了全国各地游客感受冰雕、冰雪的魅力。“长春冰雪大世界”位于吉林省长春市莲花山生态旅游度假区天定山滑雪场附近，总占地面积108万平方米、共有130处冰雪建筑，总用冰量、用雪量30万立方米，是世界最大的冰雪乐园。

Beijing air quality improves in first 11 months

 Beijing’s air quality continued to improve this year, with major air pollutant concentrations falling year on year, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment. Data released by the bureau showed that the average concentration of PM2.5 from January to November was 42 micrograms per cubic meter, dropping by 14.3 percent year on year. Three days of heavy air pollution were recorded, a decrease of 10 days compared with the same period last year.

前11个月北京优良天数215天，大气污染治理措施显效

北京市生态环境局介绍总体来说，今年北京前11个月的空气质量整体还是不错的。除了良好的气象条件外，这也得益于一系列大气污染治理措施长期实施后环境效益的显现。综合施策，重型柴油车治理成效提升。“公转铁”成果扩大，通过铁路运输进京的砂石骨料等达183万吨、水泥达9.8万吨，货物到发铁路运输比例上升到7.8%。车型结构持续优化，1-11月，全市淘汰国三重型柴油货车4.18万辆，新增纯电动汽车6.8万辆。完善重型车排放远程在线监控系统，累计将2.3万辆重型柴油车纳入在线监控平台，实现实时监控、精准执法、溯源监管。今年11月，北京市空气中细颗粒物（PM2.5）平均浓度为44微克/立方米；1至11月，PM2.5累计浓度为42微克/立方米；累计优良天数215天，重污染3天。

JD’s largest smart logistics center goes operational

JD Logistics, the supply chain arm under Chinese online retailer JD.com, Wednesday put into operation its largest integrated smart logistics center, Dongguan “Asia No. 1.” Covering an area of about half a million square meters and featuring a processing capacity of 1.6 million orders a day, Dongguan “Asia No. 1” is JD’s 25th smart logistics center in the country that can store more than 20 million medium-size items in its automated high-rise warehouse.

Dongguan “Asia No. 1” has 78 stacking machines, each 22 meters high, and over 800 sorting conveyors that can efficiently deliver parcels to logistics centers nationwide. The center also features the large-scale use of robots and automated equipment. The operation of the center will largely shorten delivery time and raise allocation and transshipment efficiency in south China, the company said.

京东物流最大的智能物流园区投用 见证中国快递市场发展

京东物流最大的一体化智能物流园区东莞“亚洲一号”，18日全面投用，日订单处理能力达160万单。业内人士表示，中国物流基础设施不断地智能化迭代，见证着中国快递市场的迅猛发展。 近年来，人工智能、大数据、5G等前沿技术已经在物流行业“落地”，发挥着降本增效的重要作用。东莞 “亚洲一号” 被业内视为物流基础设施智能化迭代的代表之一。广东东莞市是京东物流业务布局的战略核心城市之一。此次投用的东莞 “亚洲一号” ，是该公司在国内布局的第25座智能物流园区。该物流园区建筑面积约50万平方米，自动立体仓库可同时存储超过2000万件中件商品，集自动入库、存货、打包、分拣、出库等全流程作业于一体。

BMW Brilliance to recall 312,281 vehicles in China

BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd., a joint venture between the BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd., will recall 312,281 vehicles in China due to defective fuel tanks, China’s market regulator has said.

The recall involves models which were manufactured between April 22, 2011 and July 31, 2016, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement. The flaw with the fuel tanks could cause oil leaks and increase risks, according to the statement. The recall of 150,951 vehicles will begin on Dec. 27, 2019 and the recall of 161,330 vehicles will start on May 29, 2020.

宝马一次性召回312281辆

12月20日，据国家市场监督管理总局官网显示，华晨宝马将召回2011年4月22日至2016年7月31日期间生产的部分宝马3系共计312281辆。一款车被一次性召回如此大数量，这在行业内也实属罕见。此次召回的主要问题，是因为这批次的车辆设计因燃油箱制造工艺波动和设计容错性不足，在使用一段时间后可能引发燃油箱上部的加工口盖板开裂，导致车辆加满燃油时发生燃油泄漏，存在安全隐患。而对于目前的这批车次，宝马官方给出的应急处理方案竟然是：建议用户在召回维修前加注燃油时不要超过油量表的四分之三，大概45升油，这样就可以避免增加燃油箱负荷诱发损坏。

Alibaba to pilot “time bank” for nonprofit elderly service

Alibaba Group is testing a new model of elderly care through its “time bank,” which makes every hour people spend advancing public welfare exchangeable for services for seniors, the company said on Tuesday. Online Alibaba users will have a unified quantitative standard to evaluate their public welfare acts. Alibaba also unveiled a set of criteria, the first in China to measure the value of voluntary service hours and philanthropic behaviors, with its basic unit named “public welfare hours.” Public welfare hours can be deposited in the time bank by volunteering offline, donating blood, planting trees via Alibaba’s Ant Forest scheme and more.

阿里发布国内首个公益时标准 将展开“时间银行”试点

“让公益行为可记录、可分享、可激励。你在互联网上的爱心捐赠、捐步、种树等公益行为都有了统一的价值量化标准-公益时，公益时用户将获得免费使用机场贵宾厅、免费领取志愿者保险、免费体检等日益增加的权益。据阿里巴巴3小时公益平台 (手淘、支付宝搜索 “3小时”) 数据，自2015年9月5日起，3小时公益平台已在淘宝、支付宝等28个APP上线，超过5000万注册用户，1600多家公益机构入驻。中国爱心网友通过线下志愿服务，线上爱心捐赠、捐步、种树等互联网公益行为，已累计产生1700万公益时，相当于花了1700万小时做志愿服务。