In Wednesday's Papers: High-Speed Trains to Offer Wi-Fi Service, Money Floods into Yu E Bao before Spring Festival

High-Speed Trains to Offer Wi-Fi Service

A few high-speed railroad routes will begin offering Wi-Fi services soon, says WAPI Industry Alliance, an organization for wireless industry companies that includes the country's Big Three telecoms firms. It is unclear how the Wi-Fi service will be offered and when they will be available on more routes. Work was also being done to improve the stability of 3G and 4G services provided by the telecoms companies. The services are sometimes spotty on trains. The Wi-Fi system is awaiting the approval of regulators and China Railway Corp., which runs the country's railroads. Rail officials have said passengers cannot sell Wi-Fi services from laptop hotspots.

Original story by ST Daily

Money Floods into Yu E Bao before Spring Festival

More than 4 million people put money into Yu E Bao accounts from January 23 to 29, says e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, the company that offers the investment service. Average daily deposits topped 10 billion yuan, several times more than the usual amount. Much of the investments came from people's year-end bonuses, analysts say. Tian Hong Asset Management Co., the fund company that manages Yu E Bao, has quickly become the country's largest public funds manager.

Original story by 21 Century Business Herald

Eight New Cases of H7N9 Bird Flu Discovered

Eight more people have been found infected with H7N9 bird flu, Xinhua said on January 28. The cases were in the coastal provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong. Jiangsu has reported 53 cases of human infection since January 1, more than for the same period last year. China has stepped up efforts into H7N9 vaccine research. Health experts say transmissions between people are very unlikely, but poultry markets have been closed in affected areas as a precaution.

Original story by Beijing News

Capital Issues Subsidy Plan for New-Energy Cars

The Beijing city government announced a plan on January 28 to subsidize purchases of new-energy vehicles. Under the plan, buyers of select models of electric or hybrid cars will be given subsidies of as much as 108,000 yuan. The list of models that qualify will be released in February. All of the models are domestic brands, a city official said. The city is also planning to build more charging facilities.

Original article by Caixin

Second Batch of Telecoms Resale Licenses Issued　

Eight companies were granted licenses for telecoms resale business on January 29, the second time the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has issued the permissions. Major retailers Suning and Gome are among the companies. On December 26, the MIIT gave licenses to 11 companies to participate in a pilot program for telecoms resale business. The pilot program allows private companies that do not own wireless networks or facilities to resell wholesale services they buy from telecom carriers, such as call time, to other companies or individuals.

Original article by Caixin

Provinces to Release Results of Land Survey

Provincial governments will soon release detailed results of a land survey following the completion of a national investigation. The second national land survey was published on December 31. It shows that the country had about 2.03 billion mu, about 135.4 million hectares, of arable land last year. This was an increase of 200 million mu from a survey in 1996. Despite the increase, some provinces are expected to report that they have less arable land than they did a decade ago, a source from the Ministry of Land and Resources said. The central government has set a "red line" lower limit for arable land at 1.8 billion mu.

Original story by China Business News