The first group of China's 41st Antarctic expedition team has arrived at Qinling Station in Antarctica, the country's fifth research station on the continent.
The station, located on the Inexpressible Island in the Ross Sea, was officially inaugurated in February. Covering an area of 5,244 square meters, the station is in a shape resembling the Southern Cross constellation, a unique design to honor Zheng He, a legendary admiral, navigator and diplomat in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
The first group of the team consists of 34 individuals with expertise in management, security, and construction. Upon arriving at the Qinling Station, they immediately began operations, deploying three excavators, two loaders, and two 100 kW generators. By the end of the day, the station's power supply function had been largely restored.
"After standing through the entire winter, the main building of Qinling Station remains intact, with its structure confirmed to be safe and reliable. Next, we will implement projects involving new energy systems and outdoor pipelines to make comprehensive preparations for the deployment of various systems," said Wang Zhechao, chief of the Qinling Station.
China's 41st Antarctic expedition team set off from Guangzhou City, south China's Guangdong Province, on Nov 1, taking the research icebreakers Xuelong and Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon and Snow Dragon 2, as well as cargo vessel Yong Sheng.
In the coming months, researchers will build the supporting infrastructure for the Qinling Station, investigate the impact of climate change on the Antarctic ecosystem, and conduct international research and logistics cooperation.
First group of China's 41st Antarctic expedition team arrives at Qinling Station
China's major cities have seen significant recovery in housing transactions following the adoption of new policies to lower costs for homebuyers, ease the
The four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen -- have all announced the cancellation of standards for ordinary residences and non-ordinary residences earlier this week.
Due to the distinction between ordinary residences and non-ordinary residences, in the past, home buyers would have differences in value-added tax, deed tax, loan interest rates, among other during transactions of larger houses.
After canceling this classification standard, the reduction of tax burden becomes a major highlight.
This marks another round of policies implemented after a meeting of the Political Bureau of Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in late September stressed the need to respond to public concerns by adjusting policies restricting housing purchases, lowering interest rates on existing housing loans, and promptly improving policies related to land, fiscal and tax matters, and finance to promote the establishment of a new model for real estate development.
The latest policies have greatly boosted confidence and sales in the housing markets nationwide.
"So far in November, we have averaged at around 20 deals a day. The figure was 15 deals in September," said Guo Zichen, manager of a real estate service center in Beijing.
In Shanghai, some homebuyers looking for better housing have raised their budgets after the standards for ordinary residences and non-ordinary residences were canceled.
"In October, a client said his budget was around 5 or 6 million yuan (about 690,000 or 830,000 U.S. dollars). Now (the new policy helps him) save the money and he added it into his budget, and eventually he bought a home at the price of 8 million yuan (about 1.1 million U.S. dollars)," said Du Qiaojun, manager of a real estate agency office in Xuhui District of Shanghai.
In Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, the number of new housing units sold daily reached 276 from November 1 to 17, a record high since December 2006.
"In general, the sales have increased significantly in the past one and a half months. Specifically, the sales of new homes have surged by 366 percent month on month," said Zhang Qingping, vice president for marketing of a real estate agency in Shenzhen.
In Guangzhou, the sales of new homes doubled month on month to 10,418 in October, covering a total area of 1.1147 million square meters, according to statistics.
"In November, the number of transactions in Guangzhou's housing market remains at a high level, further consolidating the trend of steady recovery. From November 1 to 18, new homes with a total area of 744,300 square meters were sold, an increase of 25.6 percent month on month. The daily average sales of new homes amount to 41,400 square meters, the highest in 20 months," said Song Jiaping, deputy director of the real estate management office of the Guangzhou Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau.
China's major cities see surges in housing sales following new policies
