https://www.scmp.com/rss/308768/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com China’s central bank is expected to take the controversial decision to include clean coal projects in the official catalogue of items that are allowed to be financed by green bonds, a technical but significant move that could put its environmental financing standards at odds with the European Union and even affect global efforts in fighting climate change. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), which oversees green bond issuance on the interbank market in China, is expected to officially allow coal... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3026748/china-expected-allow-green-bonds-fund-clean-coal-projects?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3026748/china-expected-allow-green-bonds-fund-clean-coal-projects?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Sep 2019 00:00:11 +0000 China and California are seeking to push past the trade war to shore up their joint front in the fight against climate change, with a three-day summit in San Francisco this week. The “asymmetric” joint effort between the world’s second-biggest economy and America’s most populous state has the backing of California governor Jerry Brown and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who sent a personal message of support to Brown ahead of the summit. But the escalating trade war is already derailing a deal for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2164207/china-and-california-rise-above-us-trade-war-action-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2164207/china-and-california-rise-above-us-trade-war-action-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 14 Sep 2018 15:48:55 +0000 China’s push to create new trade and infrastructure links through its “One Belt, One Road” initiative will be hampered by Beijing’s reluctance to open up investment for foreign companies, according to experts. The strategy spearheaded by President Xi Jinping seemed to be incompatible with China’s preference for “one-way” globalisation and assertive policies in Southeast Asia, particularly on maritime routes in the South China Sea, experts said at the Oxford China Forum held in the University of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2072384/crucial-success-chinas-one-belt-plan-little-reciprocity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2072384/crucial-success-chinas-one-belt-plan-little-reciprocity?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Feb 2017 09:41:53 +0000 Chinese climate officials’ hopes of US President Donald Trump – who labelled global warming a “hoax” during his election campaign – softening his stance on the issue once he moved into the Oval Office have proved unfounded. Within hours of Trump’s inauguration ceremony to become the 45th president of the United States, his administration announced its commitment to eliminating the US Climate Action Plan, according to the “America First Energy Plan” posted on the White House’s official... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2064533/china-surprised-trumps-swift-move-axe-us-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2064533/china-surprised-trumps-swift-move-axe-us-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jan 2017 02:10:36 +0000 Whenever Beijing is shrouded in choking smog, photos taken two years ago in the city of Qianan, about 220km southeast of the capital, re-emerge online. The pictures, cited by social media users as the “origin of the smog”, were taken by freelance photographer Lu Guang for Greenpeace. They show dozens of huge chimneys belching out thick smoke day and night, painting the sky a dismal grey, and villagers living in the nearby village of Songting dying from the effects of air and water pollution. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2056336/smokestacks-still-billowing-chinese-city-became-byword?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2056336/smokestacks-still-billowing-chinese-city-became-byword?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Dec 2016 12:00:30 +0000 Beijing municipal government has issued this year’s first red alert for air pollution on Thursday – effective from Friday evening – after severe smog was forecast to blanket large areas of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, Henan and Shandong provinces in northern China until next Wednesday night. Beijing may ban Tianjin coal trucks to tackle air pollution From 8pm on Friday, the owners of private cars will be allowed to drive on Beijing’s road only on alternate days – depending on whether the number... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2054863/beijing-issues-2016s-first-red-alert-air-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2054863/beijing-issues-2016s-first-red-alert-air-pollution?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Dec 2016 08:00:45 +0000 China must prepare for the worst on US climate and energy policy, a mainland analyst said on Wednesday as Donald Trump named an oil executive to be the next US secretary of state. The US president-elect’s proposal to appoint ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson as the top US diplomat followed Trump’s nomination of climate sceptic Scott Pruitt to head the US Environmental Protection Agency. The decision is expected to stall US President Barack Obama’s signature climate legacy, the Clean Power... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2054612/china-must-prepare-worst-trump-era-climate-and-energy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2054612/china-must-prepare-worst-trump-era-climate-and-energy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 Dec 2016 00:03:11 +0000 Police in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu stepped up security amid mounting public complaints about smog, after briefly taking away eight mask-wearing protesters for questioning on Sunday night. The protest came as pollution problems worsen in China, forcing the government to be extremely sensitive about social unrest over environmental issues. The demonstrators were artists staging a brief sit-in after a mass protest over the pollution – planned for the weekend – was pre-empted by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2054001/mask-wearing-chinese-pollution-protesters-held-briefly?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2054001/mask-wearing-chinese-pollution-protesters-held-briefly?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Dec 2016 03:15:20 +0000 Blue skies created by short-term air pollution fixing campaigns ahead of political events are usually followed by a dramatic deterioration in air quality – often worse than before – when the events are over, a study has found. In the first study of the side effects of such clean air drives, the authors also found they are now used widely by local governments across the nation, apparently inspired by similar moves from central authorities ahead of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2053023/how-chinas-quick-blue-sky-fixes-make-pollution-worse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2053023/how-chinas-quick-blue-sky-fixes-make-pollution-worse?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Dec 2016 00:02:57 +0000 China fell dramatically in a global education survey that ranks teenagers’ performance in reading, maths and science after pupils from cities outside Shanghai were included in the study. In the latest Programme for International Student Assessment report released on Tuesday, the performance of 15-year-old pupils in mainland China dropped across all three categories after Beijing, Guangdong and Jiangsu province were included in the survey carried out last year. The country ranked 27th in reading,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2052506/china-falls-top-global-high-school-education-ranking?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2052506/china-falls-top-global-high-school-education-ranking?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Dec 2016 04:30:30 +0000 Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to highlight China’s economic might and try to boost Beijing’s global appeal in his possible debut at the World Economic Forum in Davos next month, analysts said. The planned appearance by Xi at the annual gathering of the world’s political and business elites will be a first for a Chinese president. It comes as the United States appears poised to become more inward-looking under incoming president Donald Trump and Europe is swept by populist... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2052109/xi-jinping-be-first-chinese-president-attend-davos-summit-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/economy/article/2052109/xi-jinping-be-first-chinese-president-attend-davos-summit-report?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Dec 2016 03:00:30 +0000 China tops the world in almost all types of air pollution, including sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, as well as carbon emissions, top mainland officials admitted. The officials also told a Guangdong forum that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region’s ­huge industrial output meant it was one of most polluted areas in the world. Watch: Various parts of China are enveloped in thick , white fog China’s capital on high alert for smog again Wang ­Jinnan, chief engineer of the Chinese Academy for... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2051914/china-tops-world-air-pollution-and-carbon-emissions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2051914/china-tops-world-air-pollution-and-carbon-emissions?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Dec 2016 00:00:45 +0000 After years of debate, the mainland has launched a pollution permit system that authorities are hailing as a major ­overhaul of environmental governance. Under the system, environmental protection bureaus will issue emission permits to factories detailing the types and amounts of pollutants they are ­allowed to discharge. The move is aimed at improving overall environmental quality through a targeted approach to managing polluters. China’s environment chief touts ‘clean’ coal tech but admits... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2051651/chinas-latest-green-plan-and-running-doubts-persist?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2051651/chinas-latest-green-plan-and-running-doubts-persist?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Dec 2016 23:00:15 +0000 Hopes are building that China will take the key role in tackling climate change amid the policy uncertainties of the Trump presidency in the US, but a veteran Chinese climate diplomat has warned Beijing might have a different understanding of what “leadership” means. Zou Ji, from the National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, said “in the context of Western media reports”, leadership meant China was expected to pledge deeper emission cuts and more help with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2050881/why-china-hesitates-take-global-climate-leadership-role?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2050881/why-china-hesitates-take-global-climate-leadership-role?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Dec 2016 23:00:29 +0000 Environmentalists are making a last-ditch effort to halt a controversial plan to build a 13 billion yuan (HK$14.5 billion) dam on China’s biggest freshwater lake, Poyang, fearing the project will take a toll on endangered migratory birds and finless porpoises. Activists are urging the public to file objections to the project, as an environmental risk evaluation is currently under way. Developers will be allowed to start ­construction once the review is completed. [The prolonged dry spell] is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2049630/chinas-eco-warriors-make-last-stand-against-poyang-lake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2049630/chinas-eco-warriors-make-last-stand-against-poyang-lake?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Nov 2016 01:00:45 +0000 A Chinese man working for a car-hailing company insisted on reaching his customer’s destination by following the map instructions on his smartphone’s GPS too closely – and was left stranded in his car in a muddy ditch, mainland media reports. The man, surnamed Yu, who had picked up his customer in Chengdu, Sichuan province, at 11pm on Wednesday, was finally rescued about five hours later, the Chengdu Business Daily reported. ‘Ghost’ Uber drivers take real payments from Chinese users without... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2047910/chinese-car-hailing-driver-stuck-mud-he-follows-not-so?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2047910/chinese-car-hailing-driver-stuck-mud-he-follows-not-so?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Nov 2016 07:30:30 +0000 A Chinese villager working in his garden was shocked to find a rare spider with an unusual flat patterned disc on its abdomen – sightings of which were first recorded in an ancient book written more than 1,000 years ago, mainland media reports. He thought the unusual markings on the spider’s flat abdomen meant he had uncovered a cultural relic while working beside tangerine trees at his home in Pujiang county, near Chengdu, in Sichuan province. Return to sender: Chinese customs officers discover... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2047884/chinese-villager-shocked-discover-cultural-seal-has-eight-hairy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2047884/chinese-villager-shocked-discover-cultural-seal-has-eight-hairy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Nov 2016 06:00:30 +0000 Beijing saw this winter’s first snowfall on Monday as the Chinese capital was forecast to experience its coldest period from November 21 to 27 for the past 30 years. The cold front sweeping through northern parts of China is expected to see temperatures drop by between six to 10 degrees Celsius. Cold front to lift smog choking Beijing – for now The temperature range on Monday was forecast to be between a high of zero degrees Celsius and a low of minus 8 degrees Celsius. The snow started to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2047847/snow-hits-beijing-forecasts-warn-winters-chill-coldest-three?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2047847/snow-hits-beijing-forecasts-warn-winters-chill-coldest-three?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Nov 2016 04:00:00 +0000 In a rare move, the anti-graft watchdog of China Railway Corporation announced a demotion of a senior official by revealing vivid details of his “inappropriate affairs” with a woman - and possibly her daughter too. The official report about Huang Gang – detailing more than 2,300 bawdy text messages he had sent to the woman on his phone – was later published online and quickly went viral after being shared by thousands of people in only a few hours. Official accused of four-year affair with TV... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2046951/chinas-anti-graft-watchdog-publicly-shames-and-demotes-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2046951/chinas-anti-graft-watchdog-publicly-shames-and-demotes-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Nov 2016 09:29:15 +0000 A 23-year-old Chinese nurse died after being hit by a truck after she stopped her car on a highway to help people who had been injured in a traffic accident, mainland media reports. The nurse, Wang Lijun, who worked in Panzhihua, was killed on Tuesday evening, after she and her colleague stopped to treat people hurt in the earlier crash on a highway in Sichuan, Chengdu Business Daily reported. Father to get insurance payout after killing son in road accident in China: report She was hit by a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2046929/chinese-nurse-killed-she-hit-truck-after-stopping-help-people?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2046929/chinese-nurse-killed-she-hit-truck-after-stopping-help-people?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Nov 2016 08:03:53 +0000 Three-year-old panda twins have arrived at a research centre in southwest China as part of a loan agreement with a zoo in the United States, a newspaper reported. Mei Lun and Mei Huan were born at Zoo Atlanta, but are now settled at a panda research centre in Chengdu in Sichuan province, the Chengdu Business Daily reported. Giant pandas taken off global ‘endangered’ list as population rebounds The pandas’ parents were loaned by the authorities in China to the zoo in the US and as part of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2046850/us-born-giant-panda-twins-struggle-local-food-and-language-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2046850/us-born-giant-panda-twins-struggle-local-food-and-language-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Nov 2016 04:15:48 +0000 All eyes are on China to see if it will make up for a “leadership deficit” in international climate talks following the victory of climate change sceptic Donald Trump in the US presidential election. The world’s largest carbon emitter, however, appears to be cautious in responding to expectations that it might take the lead in negotiations to enforce a climate change treaty. Chinese negotiators currently attending the annual international climate change talks in Marrakech in Morocco have offered... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2046816/will-china-take-lead-if-trump-pulls-out-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2046816/will-china-take-lead-if-trump-pulls-out-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Nov 2016 02:16:18 +0000 China’s smog-laden capital may be quietly scaling back its clean-up ambitions, now that the city looks set to miss its 2017 target for lowering levels of harmful particulate pollutants known as PM2.5. Instead, the municipal government, under its newly appointed acting mayor, Cai Qi, approved a more moderate 2020 target last week for reducing the smog-inducing pollutants. Chinese presidential ally named new acting mayor of Beijing Weather authorities have forecast that from Tuesday, Beijing will... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2045829/chinas-polluted-capital-may-be-scaling-back-its-smog?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2045829/chinas-polluted-capital-may-be-scaling-back-its-smog?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Nov 2016 23:03:22 +0000 The first Chinese woman to fly a ­J-10 fighter was remembered fondly on Sunday as a “golden peacock” after her death on Saturday in an air training accident. Yu Xu, 30, died when her double-seater J-10 crashed in Hebei province. Her co-pilot ejected in time. Yu’s classmates described her death as a “shock”, with some observers calling for higher training standards for aerobatics pilots. Yu, born in Chengdu, ­Sichuan province, was one of the 35 women recruited as trainee pilots in July... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2045607/call-more-training-after-death-chinese-woman-pilot?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2045607/call-more-training-after-death-chinese-woman-pilot?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Nov 2016 15:15:30 +0000 The election of Donald Trump as US president could effectively put an end to the honeymoon period of Sino-US cooperation on ­climate change, which saw the world’s two largest carbon emitters formally join the Paris accord. Mainland experts said that although Trump’s victory was ­unlikely to derail China’s domestic energy and climate policies, the era of cooperation between the two nations on keeping the global temperature rise to within a safe limit was over. Watch: Obama and Trump’s first White... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044883/election-trump-curtain-has-fallen-over-sino-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2044883/election-trump-curtain-has-fallen-over-sino-us?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Nov 2016 23:00:15 +0000 Beijing residents and their neighbours in Hebei province and Tianjin awoke to another round of smog on Wednesday – and the choking air pollution will only get worse this weekend, meteorological officials warn. They forecast on Tuesday that the heavy pollution would remain across the region for a week until a cold front cleared away the smog on November 16. Appalling air quality: Beijing takes deep breath as smog season sets in At noon on Wednesday, Beijing’s air quality index reading was at 220... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2044383/why-does-chinas-choking-smog-persist-despite-beijings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2044383/why-does-chinas-choking-smog-persist-despite-beijings?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Nov 2016 06:54:38 +0000 A senior Chinese climate change negotiator has rejected claims that China’s carbon emissions may already have peaked, but mainland researchers are gradually reaching a consensus that the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter may curb emissions faster than the government has already pledged. Zou Ji, deputy director general of the National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, made the comments ahead of the annual UN climate summit in Morocco, which started on Monday.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2043908/china-may-beat-deadline-halt-growth-greenhouse-gas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2043908/china-may-beat-deadline-halt-growth-greenhouse-gas?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Nov 2016 02:00:30 +0000 An independent food safety researcher has called on authorities in the Chinese mainland to impose tough limits on dioxin contamination of water and soil, following the detection of the carcinogen in Jiangsu hairy crabs sold in Hong Kong. Cancer-linked chemicals found in Hong Kong hairy crab Hong Kong’s Centre for Food Safety said on Tuesday it found excessive dioxin levels in two of five hairy crab samples from two mainland farms it tested. One sample had 11.7 picograms of the contaminant per... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2042436/call-tougher-dioxin-limits-after-carcinogen-found-hairy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2042436/call-tougher-dioxin-limits-after-carcinogen-found-hairy?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Nov 2016 23:03:52 +0000 China’s security chief Geng Huichang will likely step down soon from his position after being appointed to a senior role on an advisory panel for Hong Kong and Taiwan affairs. Geng, the minister of state security, was on Tuesday named deputy director of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee’s panel on Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese affairs, Xinhua reported. The CPPCC is China’s top political advisory body. Guess what India and China need... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2042266/chinas-minister-state-security-set-step-down-senior?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2042266/chinas-minister-state-security-set-step-down-senior?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Nov 2016 04:15:30 +0000 Two former senior military officers have been expelled from the Communist Party for alleged ­corruption, according to state-run Xinhua. In a statement released late on Thursday at the end of the Central Committee’s sixth plenum in Beijing, the party said Fan Changmi, former deputy political commissar of the Lanzhou Military Area Command, and Niu Zhizhong, a former deputy commander of the People’s Armed Police, were expelled over “serious discipline violations”, usually a euphemism for graft. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2041082/communist-party-expels-two-former-senior-military?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2041082/communist-party-expels-two-former-senior-military?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Oct 2016 15:36:36 +0000 Gazing at the thin grass barely covering the soil on what was once one of China’s lushest prairies, Mongolian herder Lingjae, 54, was not optimistic she would get a good price for her sheep. She was anxiously waiting for offers from two livestock dealers on an unusually warm late-September day on the Hulunbuir grasslands in the north of Inner Mongolia, bordering Mongolia and Russia. Now grass grows only to 20 to 30cm, even where sheep and cattle are not grazed Narentuya “The dealers are not... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2025219/why-grass-now-costs-more-sheep-chinas-vast-inner?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2025219/why-grass-now-costs-more-sheep-chinas-vast-inner?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Oct 2016 02:03:23 +0000 A group of young Chinese wine tasters, with an average age of 25, won an international tasting competition in France on Saturday – a result that organisers called “a thunderbolt in the wine world”. The four-member team from China, with their French coach, Brice Leboucq, beat 20 rival teams – with France finishing second and the United States third – after identifying details of six white wines and six red wines without seeing the bottle or label. Former champions Spain were 10th. China’s new... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/2026828/china-teams-victory-hits-wine-tasting-world-thunderbolt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/money-wealth/article/2026828/china-teams-victory-hits-wine-tasting-world-thunderbolt?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:57:20 +0000 A total of 168 lawyers signed a petition letter sent to the State Council on Saturday, demanding revocation of amended regulations on law firms seen as a further attempt to silence legal practitioners critical of the authorities. The lawyers said the changes were “against the rights and freedoms of speech, of the press, peaceable assembly and protest enshrined by the constitution”. When the new provision comes into force next month law firms will be punished if their lawyers write open letters,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2026571/chinese-lawyers-petition-state-council-recall-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2026571/chinese-lawyers-petition-state-council-recall-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Oct 2016 16:18:36 +0000 A fire erupted and set off an explosion at an oil refinery in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing in Jiangsu province on Sunday afternoon, according to the city’s fire department. The explosion occurred at about 1.51pm at a plant in Qixia district owned by China Petrochemical subsidiary Jinling Petrochemical. The company said on its official WeChat account that the incident did not cause any injuries, or trigger any other environmental damage. More PX plants planned in China despite last week’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2026508/explosion-and-fire-erupt-chinese-oil-refinery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2026508/explosion-and-fire-erupt-chinese-oil-refinery?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Oct 2016 10:10:15 +0000 China’s environment ministry ­has released its first survey on the exposure of the country’s infants and adolescents to environmental risks, showing how seriously children are threatened by indoor air pollution, unsafe drinking water and hazardous emissions from factories and vehicles. The Ministry of Environmental Protection conducted its first nationwide survey on children’s pollution exposure patterns from 2013 to 2014, interviewing 75,519 children and teenagers up to the age of 17 in 30... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2024156/quarter-chinas-children-risk-polluted-indoor-air-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2024156/quarter-chinas-children-risk-polluted-indoor-air-home?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Sep 2016 19:00:15 +0000 A man was arrested on Thursday in southwestern China on suspicion of killing 19 people, including four minors, mainland media have reported. The suspect, 27, lived in the same village as the victims, outside Qujing city, about 200km from Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, according to police. An earlier government report which circulated online in the afternoon stated 16 people from six families were killed. But the figure was revised to 19 by the provincial bureau of public security. It... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2023713/man-arrested-over-slaying-19-neighbours-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2023713/man-arrested-over-slaying-19-neighbours-south-china?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Sep 2016 11:36:58 +0000 The Communist Party on Tuesday announced the date for a key ­plenum late in October, with ­revamping decades-old codes of conduct for party members expected to be high on the agenda. The Politburo, the party’s decision-making body, said after a meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping that the sixth Central Committee plenum would be held from October 24 to 27, Xinhua said. The plenum comes amid reshuffles of provincial leaders ahead of a once-every-five-years party congress late next year, at... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2022979/politburo-announces-chinese-communist-party-plenum-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2022979/politburo-announces-chinese-communist-party-plenum-will?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Sep 2016 09:45:45 +0000 Shenzhen customs officers confiscated more than 400 smuggled iPhone 7s in a joint operation with Hong Kong authorities on Friday, the first day the products went on sale, mainland media reported on Sunday. Chinese customs authorities said they handled more than 60 attempts to smuggle in iPhone 7s on Friday, with most offenders concealing the handsets on their bodies, Xinhua reported. The first smuggler was caught at 1pm on Friday and had five of the devices on him, Legal Daily ­reported. Each... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2020458/hundreds-smuggled-iphone-7s-netted-chinese-border-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2020458/hundreds-smuggled-iphone-7s-netted-chinese-border-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 Sep 2016 14:15:45 +0000 This year marks the 30th anniversary of the first full descents by raft down the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in China. That summer two teams of Chinese youths, one from Sichuan province and the other from Luoyang in Henan province, embarked on their adventure to raft through the most turbulent rapids on the river. Their aim was to beat another planned expedition led by the American Ken Warren so Chinese would be the first to descend the mighty Yangtze. Sparked by nationalist fervour, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2019987/survivor-rafting-disaster-yangtze-says-he-still-loves-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2019987/survivor-rafting-disaster-yangtze-says-he-still-loves-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Sep 2016 03:01:56 +0000 Mainland authorities have published a much-delayed state plan for areas along the Yangtze River, reflecting Beijing’s struggle to balance the ecology and economy along the country’s longest river. The 6,300km Yangtze and the area it passes through has suffered serious environmental degradation in recent years from huge dams disrupting flows, overuse of water resources, species extinction, and the dumping of waste into the waterway. That’s on top of the many chemical and industrial complexes that... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2018630/china-struggles-finds-economic-and-ecological-balance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2018630/china-struggles-finds-economic-and-ecological-balance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Sep 2016 09:30:00 +0000 The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission announced on Sunday that it had moved the conservation status of the giant panda from “endangered” to “vulnerable”. In a statement issued on Monday, the State Forestry Administration said it was too early to change the panda’s status, insisting the bear remained “endangered”. China thinks giant pandas aren’t out of the woods yet The upgraded status of the giant panda was widely expected as the wild population has... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2017122/not-simply-black-and-white-disagreement-status-chinas-iconic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2017122/not-simply-black-and-white-disagreement-status-chinas-iconic?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Sep 2016 06:15:00 +0000 When the conservation status of the giant panda was moved from “endangered” to “vulnerable” at the weekend, conservationists reacted with excitement, viewing it as encouragement for China’s efforts to curb poaching and replant bamboo forests in a nation that doesn’t have a good reputation for protecting wildlife. But the global celebration of the decision by the International Union for Conservation of Nature was contradicted by a lukewarm response from China. Giant pandas taken off global... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2016350/china-thinks-giant-pandas-arent-out-woods-yet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2016350/china-thinks-giant-pandas-arent-out-woods-yet?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Sep 2016 18:00:39 +0000 G20 countries are not doing enough to mitigate climate change and must work harder, climate experts urged in Beijing as leaders of the world’s 20 major economies gathered in Hangzhou. The Group of 20 (G20) economies must ratchet up efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, shift away from investment in coal towards renewable energy and reduce fossil fuel subsidies. Current pledges made by the 20 countries, which account for 75 per cent of global carbon emissions, fall far short of a target set by... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2014205/worlds-top-20-economies-not-doing-enough-fight-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2014205/worlds-top-20-economies-not-doing-enough-fight-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Sep 2016 03:00:30 +0000 China and the United States – the world’s two largest economies and worst carbon polluters – are expected to make public a cross-checking of each other’s fossil fuel subsidies at the G20 summit in Hangzhou this weekend, people familiar with the matter say. It will be the first time that China has allowed a foreign country to review its domestic energy subsidies. The arrangement is also the first among G20 powers. While the real impact may be small, it signifies that China will, on a limited... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2011376/china-us-set-release-review-each-others-fossil-fuel?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2011376/china-us-set-release-review-each-others-fossil-fuel?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Aug 2016 02:30:00 +0000 The alleged serial killer accused of raping and murdering nearly a dozen women and girls over more than a decade in northern China has been described by acquaintances as a quiet man, emotionally detached from his family, but known for his “filial piety” when young. Gao Chengyong is accused of killing 11 people in Baiyin in Gansu province and Baotou in neighbouring Inner Mongolia between 1988 and 2002. The youngest victim was eight years old. He was detained after a tip-off at a grocery store in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2010590/revealed-quiet-dutiful-son-who-became-one-chinas-most-notorious?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2010590/revealed-quiet-dutiful-son-who-became-one-chinas-most-notorious?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Aug 2016 05:15:15 +0000 An alleged serial killer accused of raping and murdering nearly a dozen women and girls – one as young as eight, has been arrested in China’s northwest Gansu province, solving a terrifying mystery that has gripped the city of Baiyin for 28 years, according to police. In a statement on the weekend, the Ministry of Public Security said Gao Chengyong, 52, a married father of two, was detained after a tip-off at a grocery store at the Baiyin Industrial School on Friday morning and admitted killing a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2010288/end-grisly-three-decade-mystery-chinese-police-arrest-suspected?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2010288/end-grisly-three-decade-mystery-chinese-police-arrest-suspected?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Aug 2016 11:14:35 +0000 China’s chief climate negotiator Su Wei, who was key in helping secure the landmark Paris Agreement last year, has left his position amid a personnel reshuffle, sources say. Su, known among climate diplomats around the world for being tough and direct in his negotiations, left the powerful National Development and Reform Commission’s climate change office after being appointed director of the commission’s international cooperation department, according to two sources close to the NDRC. China and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2009108/chinas-top-climate-negotiator-who-helped-secure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2009108/chinas-top-climate-negotiator-who-helped-secure?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Aug 2016 04:00:15 +0000 China and the United States are set to jointly announce their ratification of a landmark climate change pact before the G20 summit early next month, the South China Morning Post has learned. Senior climate officials from both countries worked late into the night in Beijing on Tuesday to finalise details, and a bilateral announcement is likely to be made on September 2, according to sources familiar with the issue. President Xi Jinping will meet his US counterpart Barack Obama for the G20 summit... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2008593/china-and-us-ratify-landmark-paris-climate-deal-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2008593/china-and-us-ratify-landmark-paris-climate-deal-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Aug 2016 04:00:45 +0000 China has given the first detailed look at the technology of its Mars mission, which it hopes to launch in 2020. Images depicting the orbiter, lander and rover were released to the public on Tuesday, four months after the mission was announced, according to China National Radio. Chinese scientists study viability of manned radar station on the moon The goal is to study the planet’s features, including its soil, environment, atmosphere and the interaction of any water and ice the probe found,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2008041/china-unveils-design-unmanned-mission-mars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2008041/china-unveils-design-unmanned-mission-mars?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Aug 2016 14:57:18 +0000 At least two people have been rescued after part of a pedestrian walkway caved in suddenly in northwest China on Tuesday afternoon. Videos posted on Chinese social media platforms, including weibo, show pedestrians fleeing in fright as a section of the walkway collapsed at the bustling Zhangye Road shopping area in downtown Lanzhou, Gansu province. Passers-by were filmed rushing to the aid of those who fell into the hole in the ground, pulling them to safety. It was not immediately known whether... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2007917/people-pulled-safety-sudden-walkway-collapse-northwest-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2007917/people-pulled-safety-sudden-walkway-collapse-northwest-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Aug 2016 09:22:18 +0000