World Wide Fund China designated Oct 27 as International Panda Day on Friday in Shanghai, hailing the global integrated conservation efforts of the bamboo-munching, black-and-white bear as an example to be followed in protecting other wild species.

“Hope is the biggest meaning of International Panda Day,” said Lu Siping, the CEO of WWF China, at the launch ceremony. “That hope will promote the society and people to protect other species.”

Lu said that the giant panda, which has been WWF’s logo since its establishment in 1961, is also a symbol of the global conservation movement. The achievements they’ve made in the past decades make people believe that the environment can be improved and rare species can be saved by integrated efforts.

As one of the largest independent nongovernmental environmental protection organizations, WWF started to protect the giant panda in 1980 when the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province was established.

At that time, the population of the black-and-white bear had reached an estimated low of fewer than 1,000 due to poaching and deforestation. Ever since, WWF has been working with the government on initiatives to save the rare species and its habitat, including helping to establish an integrated network of giant panda reserves and wildlife corridors to connect isolated panda populations as well as working with local communities to develop sustainable livelihoods and minimize their impact on the forests.

Decades of intensive conservation efforts have seen the number of panda reserves jump to 67 and the area of protected forests reach 2.58 million hectares.

The population of the wild panda gradually rebounded, jumping to 1,864 in 2014 from 1,596 in 2004.

As a result, the International Union for Conservation of Nature downgraded the animal from being “endangered” to “vulnerable” in 2016.

The WWF celebrated the panda’s reclassification, saying it proved that aggressive investment does pay off “when science, political will and engagement of local communities come together”.

Despite the achievement, Lu said threats to the giant panda’s survival and reproduction remain.

“The biggest threat to the giant panda is habitat fragmentation,” Lu said. “We are trying to build corridors to connect natural reserves to reduce the impact of human activities such as infrastructure projects.”

WWF China now has more than 110 employees and eight local offices. While the organization will continue its efforts to preserve the giant panda, it also focuses on projects to preserve other endangered species, such as the Eastern gorilla and the Yangtze finless porpoise, among others.

Lu said the establishment of International Panda Day can serve as a reminder of what can be achieved through integrated efforts from all walks of life, home and abroad.

During the recently concluded 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping announced the country’s determination to return 2 percent of the land to nature.

“It is very impressive to hear Xi’s proposal on protecting the environment and we will continue to help the government to achieve ideal harmony in the environment,” Lu said.

A total of 1,140 primary and secondary Hong Kong students played against a Chinese chess artificial intelligence (AI) system at the Chinese Chess Challenge “1K VS AI” Battle Day on Friday, competing for championships and setting a world record.

Witnessed by the World Record Association, the primary and secondary students at the event together set a world record for “The Most People Battling Against the Artificial Intelligence Chinese Chess System on the Spot Simultaneously”.

Xavier Wong of St Joseph’s Primary School and Li Zi-hui of Yan Chai Hospital Lan Chi Pat Memorial Secondary School were awarded the championships of the primary and secondary categories respectively.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government Information Officer Allen Yeung said he hoped the event would arouse students’ interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, thus inspiring them to pursue education and development in the field.

The Chinese Chess Challenge “1K VS AI” Battle Day was organized by the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited as the strategic partner and the Hong Kong Chinese Chess Association as the strategic advisor.

The event was held in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.

The report delivered by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, to the 19th CPC National Congress on Oct 18, has been published by People’s Publishing House.

The report, “Secure a decisive victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and strive for the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era,” was available at Xinhua Bookstores across the country from Friday.

China had a total of 950 million 4G network users as of the end of September, figures from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) showed Friday.

Chinese mobile Internet subscribers have also increased their use of data services, with an average of 2 gigabytes of data consumed by each subscriber last month, up 140 percent from the same period last year, said MIIT spokesperson Zheng Lixin.

Also by the end of Q3, China had 280 million users of fiber-optic broadband, accounting for 82.7 percent of fixed-line broadband network users.

China has the world’s largest 4G network and is aiming to add 2 million 4G base stations, mainly for townships and villages, by 2018.

China began a campaign aimed at faster and more affordable Internet connection in 2015.

Since September this year, fees for domestic roaming and long-distance calls have been waived as data services have become a major source of revenue for mobile service operators.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said technological breakthroughs are propelling China’s march as a global hub.

“By devoting great energy to implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, we have seen much accomplished toward making China a country of innovators, with major advances made in science and technology,” Xi said when delivering a report to the 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in Beijing.

The evidence he cited included the successful launch of the Tiangong-2 space lab, the commissioning of the deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong and of the 500-meter aperture spherical telescope (FAST) Tianyan, the launch of the dark matter probe satellite Wukong and the quantum science satellite Mozi, as well as the test flight of the C919 airliner.

The following is a list of technology breakthroughs the country made in 2017.

1. Tianzhou-1 unmanned cargo spacecraft

Launched on April 20, 2017 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan Province, the Tianzhou-1 unmanned cargo completed automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab on April 22. As China’s first self-developed cargo spacecraft, it constitutes an important part of China’s manned space mission.

2. China’s domestic-made aircraft carrier

China’s first home-built aircraft carrier was transferred from the dry dock to the water on April 26, 2017. It marked a major achievement in the independent design and construction of an aircraft carrier.

3. Fuxing bullet train

Officially named on June 25, 2017, the Fuxing bullet train was developed by the China Railway Corporation. Capable of running at a routine speed of 350 km/h and a top speed of 400 km/h, it travels between Beijing and Shanghai in only four-and-a-half hours. China owns exclusive intellectual property rights to the trains.

4. C919 airliner

The C919, China’s first self-produced large plane, completed its first test flight on May 5 at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport. It was a historic breakthrough in China’s aircraft manufacturing, proving that China has acquired core competencies in developing modern aircraft.

5. Detection of pulsars by FAST

China’s 500-meter aperture spherical telescope (FAST) has identified two pulsars, the National Astronomical Observatories announced on October 10, 2017. It was the first time a radio telescope independently developed by Chinese scientists had found pulsars. Launched last September, FAST, the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope, can receive electromagnetic signals from 13.7 billion light years away.

6. Mining of combustible ice

On May 18, the China Geological Survey announced the successful mining of combustible ice in the Shenhu area of the South China Sea. It was the first successful mining of the argillaceous-silt type natural gas hydrate, a substance extremely difficult to extract, which accounts for over 90% of the world’s total reservoir of combustible ice.

7. Mozi quantum satellite

On Aug. 10, Mozi, the world’s first quantum science satellite, realized the world’s first quantum key distribution from a satellite to the ground and quantum teleportation from the ground to a satellite.