A white paper released on Thursday said China has fully implemented the policy of freedom of religious belief in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, protecting normal religious activities and ensuring the public’s freedom of religious belief.

Normal religious needs of local people have been satisfied, according to the white paper titled “Human Rights in Xinjiang – Development and Progress,” which was issued by the State Council Information Office.

Xinjiang has published translations of the religious classics of Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity in multiple languages, it said, adding 1.76 million copies of the Quran and Selections from Al-Sahih Muhammad Ibn-Ismail al-Bukhari have been printed and distributed.

Religious organizations have organized training courses on religious knowledge and etiquette for citizens with religious beliefs.

“Legitimate rights of religious organizations have been effectively safeguarded,” the white paper read.

Xinjiang has 112 religious organizations, which receive help from the government to improve their conditions and allow them to play a broader role, it said.

Steady improvements have been made in the training system to cultivate clerics, by offering them systemic training, enhancing their overall qualities, and raising religious organizations’ capacity of self-management, the white paper said.

It noted that overseas religious exchanges have been conducted in increasing depth. Xinjiang’s religious circles have sent delegations to international academic exchanges and seminars, and its clerics and students at religious institutes have won prizes in competitions for reciting the Quran.

Since 2001, Xinjiang has sent more than 70 clerics and students from the Islamic Institute to study at institutions of higher learning in Egypt, Pakistan, and other countries, and has set up scholarships to award those who achieve outstanding performance, said the white paper.

Moreover, the local government has implemented a policy for planning and organizing pilgrimages to Mecca, and has strengthened services to ensure that all such pilgrimages are safe and orderly, it said.

A fire that was raging at a paper company in north China’s Tianjin Port for 12 hours has finally been put out, the authorities said Thursday.

The fire started around 7:20 p.m. Wednesday in the goods yard of Xinnan paper company in Binhai New Area, Tianjin Municipality. No casualties have been reported so far.

Ninety fire trucks battled the flames, extinguishing the fire by 7:30 a.m. Thursday, as strong wind hampered their efforts, said a Binhai New Area spokesperson.

The goods yard is about 7,400 square meters and is the holding bay for nearly ten thousand tonnes of waste paper.

There are no residents and enterprises near the site of the fire, and no secondary disasters have occurred, according to local authorities.

An investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched.

The fire was just 3 km away from a chemical plant where a series of explosions ripped through the warehouse on Aug. 12, 2015, leaving 165 people dead, and nearly 800 injured.

China’s first home-grown fully-automated subway line Yanfang Line will undergo a test run in June after the construction of the route was completed on May 25. The line is expected to be put in operation at the end of 2017.

Yanfang Line, from Suzhuang to Yanhua, has nine stations and a total length of 16.6 kilometers and can run at a maximum speed of 80 kilometers per hour at the initial stage with a carrying capacity of 1,262 passengers.

The train’s every aspect — arrivals and departures, door opening and closing, cleaning, and more — will be entirely automated.

The automatic train operation system, built on the basis technologies of computing, communications, control and system integration, is a new generation of the urban rail network.

The train is driverless and the handling of emergency is fully automated without any on-train staff. Meanwhile, the staff of the train operation center will watch the running of trains, ensuring the safety of passengers.

According to the report by Beijing Municipal Commission of City Management, Beijing municipal government has planned to invest 2 billion yuan (US$292 million) in waste sorting and its infrastructure this year.

The capital city will establish demonstration zones for waste sorting, with each district having at least one demonstration street and the remaining streets having at least one demonstration community.

Measures such as “no sorting, no collection and transportation” will be taken to strengthen the implementation of sorting responsibility.

The amount of waste, however, has increased rapidly despite improved capacities of waste treatment. Other problems that need addressing include a sluggish market of renewable resources, shortage of recycling staff and surge in the amount of express packages and electronic trash.

The government will formulate a package of plans to further reduce the number of waste sources through measures involving importing clean or half-clean vegetables to the city, limiting packaging and the use of disposable goods, and promoting trade of used goods.

Additionally, four waste-sorting industrial parks will be built to ensure that household waste is recycled and treated without causing pollution.

According to the working plan, the system of waste sorting will become mature and the goals of less waste and more harmless waste will be realized by 2020.

The 2017 Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, which inaugurated on May 28, has drawn 42 countries and regions to exhibit their cutting-edge products and services in six key sectors such as science and technology, the internet and information, culture and education, finance, business and tourism, as well as health care.

The fair has attracted 42 exhibitors, eight more than the last one, of which 18 are the new faces. During the fair, 14 countries such as Ireland, Switzerland and Spain, as well as delegations from Africa, South Pacific countries and Caribbean countries will hold 19 special promotions to show the advantages, projects and investment environment of services in tourism, finance and telecommunications.

Meanwhile, various products like the intelligent security lock, VR glasses, smart cameras, which embody the scientific and technological innovation of Beijing, make their debut at the fair.

At the booth hosted by Zhongguancun Development Group, the mobile phones using the technology of eye-scanning payment have caught people’s attention. The mobile phones, developed by Beijing IrisKing Technology Co., Ltd., have the iris-scanning system for safety recognition that allows users to simply look at their phones for online payment.

Interactive experiences are more prominent in the fair of this year. At the 3D skiing simulation of Beijing booth, visitors wearing ski boots on the 3D skiing simulator move their bodies left and right while staring at the screen before their eyes, as if they were in a world of ice and snow, sliding forward rapidly.

This skiing simulator from Germany can help schools get access to winter sports through scientific and technological means, which enables students to master skills through daily learning at school. At present, the training platform is available in eight schools in Beijing.