The draft law on national supervision was submitted for review at the ongoing bi-monthly session of the top legislature, according to a statement issued after a plenary meeting of the session Friday.

Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, attended Friday’s meeting.

“The legislation is aimed at deepening the national supervision system and forming a unified, authoritative and efficient supervision system,” said Li Jianguo, vice chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, while making an explanation of the draft at the meeting.

China has begun to pilot the supervisory system reform in Beijing Municipality and the provinces of Shanxi and Zhejiang.

The pilot sees the establishment of local supervisory commissions at three levels — provincial, municipal and county — in order to form an integrated supervision system.

The draft was formulated based on pilot experience and in-depth research by the NPC Standing Committee and the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, Li said.

A chairpersons’ meeting decided to submit the draft to lawmakers for review at the ongoing session, Li said.

Chinese lawmakers on Friday called for the prompt revision to the Product Quality Law at the ongoing bi-monthly session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

The current law was first adopted in 1993 and amended in 2000.

The law lags behind development and does not address the emerging problems in online shopping, said Huang Huahua, a member of the committee, while reviewing a report on the law’s implementation at a panel discussion.

The report said that a series of problems such as low-quality products and outdated standards had remained, especially in rural areas and online purchases.

New business models such as the sharing economy, e-commerce and internet economy are challenging the existing supervision model, which require new tools, said Wang Minwen, also a member of the committee.

Wang suggested that a punitive compensation rule and product tracing mechanism be introduced in the new amendment.

Huang Qifan, vice chairman of the NPC’s Financial and Economic Affairs Committee, said the revision should be carried out as soon as possible or it could constitute a barrier to the country’s development.

Huang also called for the integration of the country’s product quality requirements with international standards.

China’s Sunway TaihuLight [File Photo]

China is developing a third prototype exascale computing machine — also known as a super supercomputer — and plans to launch it by June 2018, according to the developers.

The Sunway exascale computer prototype is being developed by the National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering and Technology (NRCPC) and the National Supercomputing Center in Jinan, east China’s Shandong Province.

The NRCPC led the team that developed Sunway TaihuLight, crowned the world’s fastest computer two years in a row at both the 2016 and 2017 International Supercomputing Conferences held in Frankfurt, Germany.

An exascale computer is able to execute a quintillion calculations per second, around eight times faster than Sunway TaihuLight. The increase in computational speed will advance research in climate change, space science, medicine and oceanology among others.

China and the United States are currently leading exascale computer development. In China, prototypes are being developed by three teams led by the NRCPC, Dawning Information Industry C. (Sogon), and National University of Defense Technology (NUDT).

The three have been spear-heading China’s supercomputer efforts with their respective brands: Sunway, Sogon, and Tianhe.

The NUDT, partnering the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin, announced in January that their prototype will be ready by the end of 2017.

Sogon said it had begun developing the prototype late last year.

After the prototypes have been developed, exascale supercomputers are expected to hit the market by 2020.

Sunway supercomputer’s developers said they are eyeing applications in fields such as high performance numerical simulation in marine environments, to be used by State Oceanic Administration’s First Institute of Oceanography in Qingdao. The city is at the forefront of China’s marine scientific research as the base for the deep-sea manned submersible Jiaolong.

People who distort or disrespect China’s national anthem, such as maliciously changing the lyrics, could face up to 15 days in detention if a new law is approved.

A draft of the country’s national anthem law, which was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Thursday for first reading, also bans the use of the song in advertisements, as background music and at private funerals.

It states that the song should be played during important diplomatic or sporting events, and that people should stand and face the national flag when the song is played, and military officials should salute.

March of the Volunteers was composed in 1935 by Nie Er, with lyrics from poet Tian Han.

“It’s a key symbol in the Constitution,” said Shen Chunyao, director of the committee’s Legislative Affairs Committee, who introduced the draft law. “It’s good to regulate its use, as it will increase citizens’ awareness of patriotism and uphold national dignity.”

The draft is being discussed at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which lasts until Tuesday. It follows similar laws on China’s national flag and national emblem.

Zhang Wenxian, deputy director of the China Law Society, applauded the draft, saying it is necessary to regulate how to play the song “because some people sang or recomposed it, I think, in an entertainment-oriented fashion”.

“I also felt uncomfortable when I saw some people running back and forth while the song was being broadcast. They were not serious enough about it,” he said.

In addition to regulating the use of the national anthem, he added that popularizing it is also important. The draft says the official version of the song should be on the website of the State Council, and that it should be taught in primary school.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, said Thursday its upcoming nationwide inspection would focus on the implementation of measures to reduce corporate burden.

The central government will review efforts to reduce or scrap businesses administrative fees, and whether arbitrary administrative charges were imposed on enterprises, it said in a statement.

The central government has pledged to reduce corporate costs by 1 trillion yuan (about 147 billion U.S. dollars) this year.

Recent measures to cut administrative fees and lower the financial burden of companies have supported stable economic growth, but the efforts of some local governments and departments have been lax, noted the statement.

The State Council last month decided to start a new round of reform inspections to ensure tasks for this year’s economic and social work will be achieved on schedule.

This is the fourth such nationwide inspection since it began in 2014.