http://www.bjreview.com AUGUST 1, 2019 BEIJING REVIEW 5
THIS WEEK
million smokers in China, and over 1
million people die of smoke-related
diseases annually.
As of the end of 2018, Beijing,
Shanghai, Shenzhen in the southern
province of Guangdong and Xi’an
in the northwestern province of
Shaanxi had banned smoking in
indoor public spaces.
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A campaign to promote standard
Mandarin nationwide will be con-
ducted from September 16 to 22,
said the Ministry of Education in a
circular on July 21.
Launched in 1998, the weeklong
annual campaign aims to boost
people’s awareness of the value of
Chinese culture and enhance the
role of language in passing it down.
It is also meant to further the
use of Mandarin in the country’s
impoverished areas and lift the
language barriers impeding poverty
alleviation, according to the circular.
In addition to traditional promo-
tional means such as handing out
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efforts will be made to promote
Mandarin through online channels
and social media this year.
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Sports facilities including a standard
basketball court and two table tennis
tables will be available in villages
across China, in an effort to promote
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Nearly 570,000 villages
throughout the country currently
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coaches and provide extra funding
and policy support.
In the past four years, local
education departments have trained
about 40,000 soccer teachers and
8,000 of them have obtained coach-
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By September of last year,
schools across the country had
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sizes. From 2015 to 2018, the country
built and upgraded about 32,
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29,000 more by 2020, according to
Wang.
In addition, outstanding playerswill also have the chance to join
interschool teams for regional
competitions and national summer
camps.
This year over 8,000 students,
2,000 coaches and 200 experts
from home and abroad are taking
part in a two-month national sum-
mer camp which kicked off on July
14, Wang said.
The country has stepped up its
efforts to promote soccer in schools
since it set up a seven-department
joint task force, including the
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authorities and the Chinese Football
Association, in 2015.XIN
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Ahave access to such facilities, but
the remaining 50,000 are not
covered yet by the program, said
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Administration of Sport.
According to a recently unveiled
action plan to implement the Healthy
China initiative, the per-capita area
dedicated to sports venues will reach
1.9 and 2.3 square meters by 2022
and 2030, respectively.
The action plan also proposes
6,000-10,000 footsteps of walking
or running as the recommended
amount of daily exercise, and en-
courages the public to include more
physical activities in their daily life.6RFFHUóLQó6FKRROV
Notable progress has been made in
promoting soccer in schools through
enhanced training, more school
matches and upgraded facilities,
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conference on July 23.
Currently, there are 24,126 pri-
mary and middle schools across the
country serving as soccer specialist
schools to spearhead youth soccer
development, said Wang Dengfeng,
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Education (MOE).
The schools are required to offer
at least one soccer class per week
and encourage their students to par-
ticipate in training and competitions,
Wang said.
China aims to have 50,
schools specializing in youth soccer
by the end of 2025, said Wang,
adding that the MOE plans to build/LWWOHó3HUIRUPHU
A Chinese student performs Peking Opera during the 2019 China-ASEAN
Education Cooperation Week in Guiyang, capital of southwest China’s
Guizhou Province, on July 22.7Ró7KHó5HVFXH
Rescue workers gear up after a landslide hit a village in Shuicheng County,
southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on July 23. As of July 26, 20 people were
found dead.