A sophisticated atmosphere observation system known as APSOS arrived in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region Thursday.

APSOS, or Atmosphere Profiling Synthetic Observation System, is the world’s first ground-based facility for profiling atmospheric variables and multiple constituents in the neutral atmosphere, according to Pan Weilin, a researcher with the Institute of Atmosphere Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It is capable of monitoring the atmospheric composition such as temperature, wind, ozone and carbon dioxide levels through remote sensing, said Pan.

The system was debugged in east China’s Anhui Province by Huainan Atmospheric Physics Institute and was transported to Yangbajain International Cosmic Ray Observatory in Tibet for extended atmospheric observation.

The system will be operational in October after testing.

The program was launched in 2012 with an investment of 93 million yuan (14 million U.S. dollars) from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

A giant panda born in Madrid Zoo in 2013 arrived in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province Thursday.

The male panda will been quarantined for one month before meeting the public at his new home, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the base said.

Xing Bao, which means star treasure, was born on Aug. 30, 2013. He was the third cub born to panda Huazuiba and her mate Bing Xing.

Under agreements signed with international zoos, all pandas born overseas must come to China once they mature to take part in breeding programs.

Staff at the base prepared billboards introducing Xing Bao and gave out postcards to celebrate his arrival.

China began cooperation with Spain in giant panda breeding research in 2007.

The theme concert of the 5th Nanchang International Military Tattoo was held in front of the Tenwang Tower, one of the three renowned ancient towers along the southern bank of the Yangtze River, on the evening of Sept. 25, 2017.

It was part of the activities for the ongoing military tattoo, lasting from Sept. 24 to Sept. 29 in Nanchang, capital city of Jiangxi Province.

Eleven international military bands and 10 domestic bands displayed their skills during the concert.

The military tattoo is a part of wider activities to honor and celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the 90th anniversary of the Aug. 1 Nanchang Uprising.

Tenwang Tower was first built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), but was destroyed during fighting in Nanchang in 1923. The present structure was built in 1966 based on the original design.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has dismissed claims that China’s tough measures to rein in pollution, including environmental inspections and factory closures, have dampened industrial production and pushed up prices of industrial products.

Scheaffler, a German company that makes bearings and precision components for the auto industry, estimated last week that the closure of its Shanghai supplier for pollution violations had cost the industry about 300 billion yuan ($45 billion).

Some have claimed the company’s statement shows that the nation’s strict pollution controls were harming economic growth.

That allegation was dismissed on Wednesday by Cui Shuhong, director of environmental impact assessments for the ministry, who insisted that supply and demand are still the main factors that dictate market prices.

Any statement that directly blames rising product prices on environmental protection measures “only rattles the market”, he said, adding that economic data from several cities prove that claims of a slowdown based on Scheaffler’s financial estimates are groundless.

In the first eight months, the added value of companies with annual revenue over 20 million yuan increased 6.7 percent year-on-year, while the national unemployment rate in the second quarter hit its lowest level since 2008. Both figures indicate steady growth, Cui said.

In addition, official data show that the 15 provincial areas visited by high-level environmental inspectors this year saw greater growth among companies with annual revenues over 20 million yuan than for such companies in the 16 regions that were not inspected.

“The output of iron and steel, nonferrous metals, glass and cardboard in the regions visited increased faster than the national average,” Cui said, adding that the data show the inspection did not affect industrial production.

“The stricter controls to combat pollution will phase out polluting companies – which disrupt the market order by not having the necessary equipment to reduce pollution – and promote healthy economic growth,” he said. “So it protects the environment and public health.”

The crackdown on polluters in Xingtai, Hebei province – which has been one of the worst cities for smog since 2013 – has improved the air quality, and the city’s economic growth is now ranked No 1 among the 11 big cities in the province.

Meanwhile, Jining, a large coal consumer in Shandong that relies on heavy industry, has shut down many polluting companies, yet the industrial output and revenue increased much faster than the provincial average in the first seven months.

Cui said the two cities demonstrate that healthy and faster economic growth can happen along with an improved environment and other cities should follow their example.

China’s Steady High Magnetic Field Facility (SHMFF) Wednesday passed testing by an expert panel organized by the National Development Reform Commission (NDRC).

The facility ranks second worldwide in terms of quantity and intensity.

The project, approved by NDRC in 2008, was jointly built by Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASHIPS) and the University of Science and Technology of China.

As one of the only two 40-Tesla hybrid magnet groups worldwide, the SHMFF has the potential to reach an even higher level of 45 Tesla, according to Hans Schneider Muntau, a world-renowned high field magnet expert.

By creating a magnetic field as high as 40 Tesla, the SHMFF would become an experimental environment for fields such as high temperature superconductivity, quantum materials and life science.

Since 1913, 19 accomplishments closely linked to high magnetic fields have won Nobel Prizes.

Wang Yingjian, Party chief of CASHIPS, said the SHMFF has been used as an experimental environment for more than 100 universities and research institutions, including Tsinghua and Peking universities, since its trial operation began in 2010.

More than 800 of their accomplishments have been published in journals including Nature and Science.

China is the fifth country to have a high magnetic field facility, following the United States, where the other 40-Tesla hybrid magnet is located, France, the Netherlands and Japan.