China has stressed the significance of philosophy and social sciences in developing socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics are a necessary requirement in the new era, said Wang Weiguang, president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

“Philosophy and social sciences play an critical role in the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics,” Wang said.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is speeding up building “philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics,” a system including various fields such as history, economics, politics, culture, society and ecology.

It is necessary for philosophy and social sciences to better play their role in the complicated international situation when various thoughts and cultures intertwine, said Wang.

With more than 30 years of reform and opening up, China has made remarkable economic and social progress, but various ideologies and thoughts keep cropping up.

It is still a complex task to build consensus. We have an urgent need to solve these major theoretical and practical problems through philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics, Wang said.

China successfully installed the containment dome for its first demonstration nuclear power project using Hualong One technology, a domestically developed third-generation reactor design, in east China’s Fujian Province on Thursday.

The hemispherical dome, weighing 340 tonnes and measuring 46.8 meters in diameter, was installed by crane on the No.5 unit of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) in Fuqing City at 5:58 p.m.

The installation marks the completion of construction work on the pilot project and the beginning of the assembly stage, said Yu Peigen, deputy general manager of CNNC at the site of installation.

The dome will be used for protection against nuclear accidents under extreme conditions, and both its design and installation are very demanding processes.

“The installation is much more difficult than that of traditional nuclear reactors because the whole weight of the dome and the ropes is more than 500 tonnes,” said Yang Jianguo, the lifting commander at the site.

Construction of the pilot project began in May 2015 and was scheduled to take about 62 months to finish.

The successful installation of the dome will contribute to the development of China’s domestic third-generation reactor design and enhance the confidence in Hualong One among Belt and Road countries to boost cooperation, said Wang Shoujun, chairman of CNNC.

The country has actively promoted Hualong One at home and abroad. There are now four projects using Hualong One design under construction, including two reactors in Karachi, Pakistan.

During the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation earlier this month, CNNC also signed a cooperation framework agreement with Argentina, a key emerging market for Chinese companies, which included using the Hualong One design for the country’s fifth nuclear unit.

The Chinese Arctic and Antarctic Administration (CAAA) on Thursday signed memorandums of understanding with polar region research institutions from six countries in order to step up cooperation in the field.

According to the administration, the memorandums will deepen cooperation with Argentina, Chile, Germany, Norway, Russia and the United States, in fields such as site inspection, scientific research, logistic support, environmental protection and management, personnel exchanges, policy planning and education.

All sides agreed to practice international cooperation as advocated by the Antarctic Treaty to deepen practical cooperation.

The CAAA is under the administration of the State Oceanic Administration, which has led its affiliated institutions to sign cooperative agreements with more than 10 countries in the study of Arctic and Antarctic regions.

The president of China Coal Energy Co., Ltd., Gao Jianjun, is under investigation for suspected serious violations of the Party’s disciplines, China’s anti-graft authority said Thursday.

The news was released on websites of both the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The Shanghai-listed company is a subsidiary of China National Coal Group Corporation, a major state coal producer in China.

The deployment of armaments on southern China’s Hainan Island is within the country’s sovereign right and the so-called no-fly zone is entirely fabricated by Japanese media, according to a spokesperson with the Ministry of National Defense Thursday.

Ren Guoqiang made the remarks in response to a question on a Japanese report that “China is apparently beginning to build a no-fly zone in the South China Sea,” for the deployment of a HQ-9 surface-to-air missile air defense system on Hainan Island.

“I was surprised at the large scale of the fabrication,” Ren said.

In response to a question on the Diaoyu Islands, Ren said that the Diaoyu island and its affiliated islets are China’s inherent territory since ancient times, and China’s official activities were within the country’s sovereignty.

“China’s armed forces will fully monitor Japan’s relative activities and take necessary measures,” Ren added.