“China needs to loosen its immigration policies， including giving citizenship to skilled foreign nationals， as Chinas population is aging quickly and its economic upgrading needs more skilled workers.”

Wang Huiyao， Director of the Center for China and Globalization， an independent and non-profit think tank， talking in Beijing recently

“Consumption， production and pollution are related. The purpose of the production of goods is to supply consumption， and at the same time it leads to pollution. We would like to look at air pollution from a consumption perspective， as an alternative to the previous production-based view.”

Lin Jintai， a professor at Peking University， on a recent study conducted by him and eight other scholars that shows manufacturing goods in China for export contributes significantly to the countrys severe air pollution

“The air quality in the temple has improved significantly， and so has visitorsenvironmental awareness.”

Hu Xuefeng， abbot of Beijings renowned Lama Temple， commenting on the temples policy of providing environment-friendly incense free of charge since December 10， 2013

“Compared with previous years， the flu virus is much more active this winter， especially in south China， with there being three major strains of the flu virus， H1， H3 and influenza B virus.”

Feng Zijian， Deputy Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention， talking to China National Radio on January 22

EYES ON THE PRIZE

Chinese tennis player Li Na won her first Australian Open womens singles title in Melbourne on January 25 after beating Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova in the final， becoming the first Asian to secure the honor. Li， 32， who won Asias first Grand Slam in 2011 at the French Open， made it into the Australian Open final twice in 2011 and 2013. She has won eight WTA （Womens Tennis Association） single titles.

MATH WHIZ

Zhou Wei， a contestant on Super Brain， a talent show that screens on Jiangsu Satellite TV， amazed the audience on January 17 by successfully solving a difficult math problem， while also being much faster than the professor and mathematician on the show. Zhou， 23， was born in a small village in north Chinas Shanxi Province and subjected to a strange disease that involved frequent seizures since he was six months old. Although his seizures miraculously stopped after he turned 9， Zhou has ended up having a mild difficulty in communicating with others and was diagnosed as moderately “mentally retarded” by a Beijing hospital. Zhou went to school at the age of 10 but he dropped out when turning 15. He showed his talent in complex calculations from a young age and has since helped with bookkeeping at his familys grocery store.endprint