People's Liberation Army personnel across the nation began military training on the land, water and in the air starting on Wednesday. President Xi Jinping, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged the military to continue to improve its combat-ready training so it will be able to win modern wars. The photo is taken on Jan 4, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] China's military has conducted more than 4,000 realistic combat exercises since President Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military Commission, launched the annual training program on Wednesday. More than 4,000 training grounds nationwide from all branches of the People's Liberation Army, including the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, Armed Police and logistic forces, have begun their annual exercises, Xinhua News Agency reported. On Wednesday morning, after a short ceremony, Ground Force battalions and aviation corps from the snowy forests in northern China's Heilongjiang province immediately began a realistic war game exercise. It's unprecedented to jointly train with aviation units on the same day of the launch, said Xu Jiqiang, a tank specialist who has participated in annual training 15 times. The Ground Force training is also moving from sole ground combat to a comprehensive system that incorporates both ground and air units, he added. At a naval dock in the South China Sea, officers and soldiers loaded troops and equipment onto vessels, immediately dispatched ships, and practiced repelling plane and missile attacks from the air, according to Xinhua. At the same time, officers onboard submarines in the East China Sea were shouting combat commands, simulating a real attack scenario where they had been detected by an enemy submarine. Thousands of meters above ground, dozens of fully loaded Chinese warplanes from northern China practiced dogfights, ground-target missile strikes and long-distance travel in the blistering cold. Yang Junqi, an officer with the PLA Air Force who led the flight team, said all the training was based on real combat standards. The battle starts the moment the plane takes off, he said. The Rocket Force practiced emergency formation and volley firing using missile carriers, aiming to become a strategic force that is accurate and devastating whenever necessary. At a logistics base, more than 360 troops pledged their allegiance to the national flag before a day of intensive repair training. Sheng Wugang, a military engineer from the base, said the training added new malfunctions and other emergencies to test troops' ability to deal with the most dire and extreme situations. In the cold Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, armed police officers were conducting wilderness survival and reconnaissance training across the barren desert, snowy plateaus and mountainous valleys. While all the exercises were going on, all five theater commands of the PLA were on duty and closely monitoring the training in their regions. Zhang Qingfeng, an officer from the Western Theater Command, said: The military is only as effective as the command it receives. The commanders should focus on strategy, research and training for wars, and must understand how to cooperate and win wars with other branches of the military, he said. silicone bracelets cheapsilicone fidget spinnertyvek wristbands ukslap wristbandsprintable wristbands
Largest market will be accessible to 1,700 companies, 3.3b metric tonsChina started the world's largest carbon trading system on Tuesday, sending strong signals that it plans to use the market as a key policy tool to curb emissions and also is keeping its Paris Agreement commitments.The nationwide carbon market, which is built upon seven pilot programs implemented since 2013, will be open only to the power generation sector during its early phase, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.Still, it is expected to exceed the European Union's market, with more than 1,700 power generation enterprises producing 3.3 billion metric tons of carbon expected to be involved, according to the commission.The power sector accounts for about one-third of China's carbon dioxide emissions.Zhang Yong, vice-minister of the commission, said the introduction of the nationwide market shows China is delivering on its Paris Agreement promises.China pledged to peak carbon emissions by the end of 2030 in the Paris pact sealed in 2015.Putting a price on carbon will propel market players to further cut carbon emissions, as they have to consider those costs in making future investment and production decisions, according to Jiang Zhaoli, deputy director of the commission's Department of Climate Change.China will not introduce financial products such as carbon futures in the early stage as some other countries did because speculative behavior will do more harm than good in encouraging actual carbon reduction, according to Jiang.The initial benchmark for market inclusion is set at 26,000 metric tons of carbon or above a year.Firms involved that plan to emit more carbon should reduce emissions or buy spare credits from other companies, and those with extra allowances can sell or keep them for future use.While creating the market is a milestone, much needs to be done to make it a success in coming years, experts said.Transparency and public participation will be crucial for it to be an important incentive for carbon reduction, according to Femke de Jong, policy director of Carbon Market Watch.Liu Shuang, director of the Low Carbon Economic Growth Program with the Energy Foundation China, said improvements will be needed for a stronger legal basis, a more stringent cap and better allocation."For immediate next steps, it is essential for regulators to set up a reviewing mechanism to carefully monitor operational progress and collect data in a timely way to inform the design and decision-making for the next phases," she said.The government has set a three-year road map for gradually improving the framework before allowing real transactions. Real transactions are expected to take place in 2020.
