Chinese President Xi Jinping Wednesday called for solid moves to advance reforms.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks at the 37th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Deepening Overall Reform, which he heads.

All localities should be devoted to delivering reforms, shouldering their due responsibilities and making concrete and pioneering efforts, Xi said.

The group called for green and sustainable development of agriculture. Relevant departments should properly deal with the relationship between green development and ecological protection, grain safety, and raising farmers’ income, according to a statement released after the meeting.

Agricultural development should be compatible with the environment and resources, and should stay coordinated with production and people’s livelihoods to achieve sustainable growth.

The group urged the establishment of a national technology transfer system, with a focus on strategic industries of far-reaching significance. Technology transfer should play a better role in upgrading technological innovation and boosting economic and social development, the statement said.

Reforms should be made to promote corporate governance structures in public cultural institutions to improve management and services, and to inject vitality into these institutions, according to the statement.

Boards of directors should be the main form of corporate governance structure in these institutions, such as libraries and museums.

Representatives of the industry, professionals and people from all walks of life would also be invited to participate in the management of these institutions, it said.

The conference stressed efforts to enhance and improve people-to-people communication with other countries, emphasizing confidence in the path, theories, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

In an effort to raise the professional level of civil servants, the appointment system should be introduced in recruiting personnel to posts with special expertise requirements, according to the statement.

To protect consumer interests and ensure good quality is the bottom line, it said. The group called for the establishment of a safety monitoring and quick response system for imports and exports.

The meeting highlighted the importance of ensuring good quality drugs and medical equipment. The drug approval system should be improved to enhance innovation and research capabilities of medical businesses.

Regarding the national park system, the group urged priority to be given to ecological protection.

Legal protection and oversight should be put into place to establish a natural reserve system of which the national parks play a major part.

Since the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee was held, a package of pilot reforms have been implemented. They are replicable and applicable, as a role model and a breakthrough in the comprehensive reform agenda.

Relevant departments should review the progress of the reform and correct the wrongdoing in a timely fashion.

To deal with difficult reform agenda, officials should push and track the reform progress in person. Pioneering efforts are needed to break major barriers and well implement the pilot reforms, the statement said.

Four people were killed and nine others injured after a pileup on Yangde Boulevard in suburban Taipei on Wednesday, according to local police.

The accident occurred at around 8:16 a.m. when a cement truck failed to stop as it approached an intersection on the boulevard.

A total of nine fire engines and 12 ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

Three men and one woman died. Five houses, 13 cars and nine motorcycles were damaged due to the accident, local authorities said.

The truck’s driver said his vehicle’s brakes failed. Further investigation is underway.

The 429-meter-high Haikou Twin Towers under construction in the Hainan Dayingshan Central Business District, Haikou, will become the tallest building in Hainan Province.

With a total area of 720,000 square meters, the architecture resembles the lotus and Buddha’s hands symbolizing the prayer and the dynamic emergence of Hainan.

It is more than just a landmark, as the multi-function towers will provide a sustainable way of life with a unique mix of restaurants, shops, offices, hotels and sightseeing spaces throughout the building.

Ju Kaiyong, vice manager of Haikou Twin Towers Project, said the skyscraper will provide living and working space for over 20,000 people and attract at least 3 million tourists per year. This will greatly promote the development of catering services, hotels, shopping and other related industries.

He said Haikou Twin Towers will be the future landmark of Hainan and is a key project for upgrading the global image of Dayingshan CBD and building Hainan into an international tourism island.

A competitor plays Honor of Kings during the 2017 King Pro League Spring Season in Shanghai in April. [Photo/China Daily]

Over half of the 2,013 respondents in a survey conducted recently by China Youth Daily believed that overindulging in mobile games may result from a person’s weak will power for a meaningful life.

According to the survey, 73.9 percent of respondents acknowledged that they love mobile games, while 78.4 percent of them revealed that they know many people who are addicted.

The survey consisted of 54.9 percent males and 45.1 percent females with 75.7 percent of them holding at least a bachelor’s degree; 19.1 percent are high school or technical secondary school graduates, while 5.2 percent have graduated or yet to be graduated from middle school.

“I never used to like mobile games as I thought they were worthless and harmful to the eyes,” said Du Yiting, a university freshman from Tianjin.

“But when my classmates always talked about the games with phrases and terms that I was not aware of, I was worried that I may become excluded if I did not start playing the games,” she recalled.

To maintain her friendship with her classmates, Du started playing mobile games, which later became an addiction that she struggled to get rid of.

During her summer vacation, she started playing games before even getting out of bed and then joined up with her classmates from noon till nighttime.

According to the survey, 85.3 percent of respondents claimed that they can control the time spent playing mobile games, while, 14.2 percent reckoned they are addicted to the games.

Zhao Limin from Beijing found her son had become deeply engrossed in the games, ignoring meal times and bedtimes. Many things can trigger his mood swings such as shouting, clapping and stamping. When she dissuaded her boy from spending too much time on the games he would lose his temper.

Zhao’s son epitomizes a common scenario in the life of game addicts.

“A friend of mine has spent 10,000 yuan (US$1,480) on tools and software upgrades for mobile games.” Du said.

Xiang Ligang, an analyst of the telecommunication industry, said that the easy access, convenient portability and role-play excitement have resulted in the addiction to mobile games.

According to Xiang, the government should set ceilings on the charges of mobile games and parents should help develop diverse hobbies for their children during the vacation other than leaving them alone to play mobile games.

More than 65 percent of respondents supported the idea of creating a rating system for mobile games to prevent young people becoming overindulgent in them.

From Aug. 14, vehicles not registered in Beijing will be prohibited from driving on 23 routes and the Second Ring Road, a highway encircling the center of the capital.

Drivers violating the restriction will be fined 100 yuan (US$14.80).

Since Nov. 27, 2015, non-local vehicles have been banned from 14 routes and the Second Ring Road from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

To further alleviate traffic congestion, the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau has made the restriction even stricter by increasing the number of restricted routes and extending the period from 16 hours to 24 hours.