China on Saturday released guidelines on green development in agriculture, setting goals for resource conservation and environmental protection.

The guidelines were published by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council.

The country should maintain the area of arable land and prevent the land quality from worsening, according to the guidelines.

By 2020, farmland quality should be improved by 0.5 grade on average, while the total arable land area should be no less than 124 million hectares.

China grades its farmland quality on a scale of one to ten.

The government aims to prevent excessive exploitation of groundwater and improve the efficiency of irrigation.

The document set the target of zero growth in the amount of chemical fertilizers and pesticides used in major crops by 2020. Forest coverage is to exceed 23 percent.

The comprehensive production capacity of grains should be stabilized at or above 550 million tonnes by 2020, with the quality of farm produce markedly improved.

Straw, animal waste and agricultural plastic film should be fully utilized, according to the guidelines.

The agricultural sector remains resource-intensive, with pollution and ecological degradation yet to be contained, while the supply of high-quality and green farm produce cannot satisfy growing demand, the document said. Agriculture should be more sustainable, farmers better off, and the countryside more beautiful and liveable.

China will open wider to create and share development opportunities with other countries, Premier Li Keqiang said Saturday

Li made the remarks one day ahead of China’s National Day on Oct. 1, when addressing a reception at the Great Hall of the People.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, together with other senior leaders including Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan and Zhang Gaoli, as well as some 1,200 people from home and abroad attended the reception.

China will make new contributions to global governance and the promotion of world peace and development, said Li.

Li summarized the major events in 2017 and highlighted the improvement in economic structure, drop in overcapacity and booming entrepreneurial and innovation activities.

“All these are testimony to the great vitality, potential and resilience of the Chinese economy,” said Li.

Looking forward, he said China will work to maintain steady and sound economic development, strive for greater social progress and deliver an ever better life to the people.

“We will ensure that people’s essential needs are well met, and that our people will have fewer worries and complaints and lead a more fulfilling and happier life,” Li said.

Li also reiterated the “one country, two systems” policy in Hong Kong and Macao affairs.

Regarding ties across the Taiwan Strait, Li said the Chinese mainland will continue to uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus as the political foundation, and firmly oppose “Taiwan independence.”

“[We will] work with our compatriots on Taiwan and all those who support the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations to move toward the complete reunification of the motherland,” said Li.

China’s first domestic remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can dive into a depth of 6,000 meters under water completed Saturday its maid deep sea test.

During its 12-day test, the vehicle made seven dives to a maximum depth of 5,611 meters. The ROV also carried out benthic organism observations and collected organizism and rock samples.

The ROV was co-produced by the Shenyang Institute of Automation and the Institute of Oceanology, both under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

It took two and a half years to make the vehicle, said Li Shuo, deputy director of the Shenyang Institute of Automation.

The ROV can be widely used in marine environmental and biodiversity investigation as well as marine mineral resources exploration.

China is now one of the few countries that can independently develop ROVs fit to operate in a depth of 6,000 meters, together with the United States, Japan and France.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday welcomes more foreign experts and talent in China’s modernization construction in order to promote the country’s economic restructuring and upgrading.

Li made the remarks when meeting at the Great Hall of the People with a group of foreign experts who had recently received the Friendship Award, given annually by the Chinese government to honor outstanding foreign experts in China.

Speaking highly of their efforts for China’s development, the premier said China will continue to provide favorable working and living conditions for them.

As the world’s largest developing country, China is at a critical stage of economic restructuring and upgrading, he said, adding that “we should not only make use of Chinese talent resources and market space, but also adopt a more open policy for foreign experts.”

Li called for the protection on intellectual property and reform on streamlining administration as well as delegating power to lower levels in order to create a better environment for entrepreneurship and innovation.

These foreign experts introduced their achievements in promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, boosting the real economy, and expanding two-way investment, and expressed their willingness to contribute to China’s development.

At the invitation of Li, the recipients attended the reception marking the 68th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Hangzhou, capital of east China’s Zhejiang Province, issued a guideline Friday to regulate the city’s booming bike-sharing market.

There are now around 448,600 for-hire bikes from 10 companies on the streets of Hangzhou.

“Problems such as haphazard parking and too many bicycles in crowded areas have disrupted traffic order,” said Wu Zhirong, deputy director with the transport bureau of Hangzhou.

The guideline also ordered bike-sharing companies to have designated bank accounts to keep deposits, which should not be put to other use.

The guideline also demanded bike-sharing companies to assign at least one maintenance worker for 120 bikes.

It encouraged operators to use electronic fences or cooperate with third-party companies to help them in bike parking management.

He Xiongbiao, deputy director with Hangzhou road transport management bureau, said that the city will set up a supervisory platform before the end of this year, offering real-time data to help operators put their bikes where they are most needed.

China now has around 70 bike-sharing brands, with more than 16 million bicycles on streets nationwide and 130 million users, according to the Ministry of Transport.

In order to regulate the industry, Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Tianjin have already issued such guidelines.