Second-child policy

    The universal second-child policy implemented early last year was a major factor in raising the number of births in China to 17.86 million last year, an increase of 7.9 percent and the highest annual number since 2000, according to the top health authority.

    The number of newborns has increased by 1.31 million compared with 2015. The portion* of the births to couples who already had at least one child rose quickly to at least 45 percent last year, Yang Wenzhuang, a division director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said on Sunday. The proportion was around 30 percent before 2013.

    Lunar probe launch

    China plans to launch the Chang’e-5 lunar probe at the end of November this year, from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China’s Hainan Province, aboard the heavy-lift* carrier rocket Long March-5.

    The mission will be China’s first automated moon surface sampling, first moon take-off, first unmanned docking in a lunar orbit about 380,000 km from earth, and first return flight at a speed close to second cosmic* velocity*.

    Food online

    Insiders at a food forum in South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region said some 70 percent of food pulled off the shelves by supermarkets re-enters the market through online e-commerce sites, according to the Economic Information Daily.

    Chinese supermarkets are required to remove food that is more than halfway to its expiration date*, but strict supervision is lacking in online food sales. Wu Pei, vice secretary general of Guangxi Food Safety Association, said most online shops fail to clearly show the expiration date and instead only hype* lower prices in marketing to attract customers.

    Marine fish catch

    China plans to reduce its marine fish catch in the next few years to protect the environment.

    The ocean fishery output will drop to less than 10 million tons by 2020, down by 3.1 million tons from 2015, Vice Minister of Agriculture Yu Kangzhen said. “When setting the target, we have considered the state of resources, fishermen’s livelihoods and the sustainability of the fishing industry,” Yu said.(SD-Agencies)