English learning

    Chinese parents are making their children learn English earlier, according to a survey published by the China Youth Daily on Saturday.

    English has been introduced in primary schools, but more parents are starting their children on the second language before the age of 5. Nearly 70 percent of the 2,003 respondents reported that their own children or children they know started learning English before age 5, mainly due to Chinese parents’ fixation* on giving children an early advantage. Another major reason is that parents believe it is more effective to cultivate children’s language skills at an early age.

    Parking space

    Eight parking spaces specially designed for female drivers in Hangzhou, the capital city of East China’s Zhejiang Province, have triggered* controversy recently.

    The parking space in the Tonglu highway service area in Hangzhou is painted in pink and 1.5 times larger than normal parking spaces. The designer of the special parking space said that it is particularly devised for those women who are not good at parking their cars.

    Scientist awarded

    A world-leading aerospace* society has awarded its top prize on ground testing to a Chinese scientist for the first time, demonstrating China’s great strides in the field, the academic journal Acta Aerodynamica Sinica reported recently.

    The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics presented the Ground Testing Award 2016 to Jiang Zonglin, a scientist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who led China’s R&D in the JF12 shockwave* hypersonic* wind tunnel.

    Real-name rule

    China’s third-party payment Alipay and popular messaging platform WeChat are urging users to verify their accounts with authentic personal information as new regulations on online payment services become effective on July 1.

    The new regulation issued by the People’s Bank of China says that third-party payment providers should implement a real-name system for all payment service accounts, and institutions must not accept anonymous users or those who use pseudonyms*. (SD-Agencies)