Jing Shang Liu Zi [2024] No.8

All relevant units:

　　In order to implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, according to the requirements of the Notice of the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and other seven departments on Printing and Distributing the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Automobile Trade-in Subsidies (Shang Consumption Letter [2024] No.75), the subsidy policy for scrapping and updating automobiles is implemented, and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Beijing Automobile Trade-in Subsidies in 2024 are hereby issued for implementation.

Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce　　　　

beijing municipal commission of development and reform　　　　

Beijing Bureau of Economy and Information Technology　　　　

beijing finance bureau　　　　

Beijing Municipal Bureau of Ecological Environment　　　　

Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Administration　　　　

beijing traffic management bureau　　　　

State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China Beijing Municipal Taxation Bureau　　　　

May 31, 2024　　

Detailed rules for the implementation of Beijing automobile trade-in subsidy in 2024

　　In order to implement the State Council’s Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Trade-in of Consumer Goods (Guo Fa [2024] No.7) and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Automobile Trade-in Subsidy (Shang Consumption Letter [2024] No.75) (hereinafter referred to as the "Detailed Rules"), promote the trade-in of consumer goods in Beijing, promote automobile consumption, and do a good job in the trade-in of old cars in this city.

　　Passenger cars mentioned in these Rules refer to small and micro passenger cars registered in the public security traffic control department. According to the requirements of national documents, the vehicles registered before the national mandatory standard "Emission Limits and Measurement Methods for Light Vehicles (China III and IV)" (GB18352.3-2005)IV) is required to be fully implemented nationwide, that is, gasoline passenger cars registered before June 30, 2011 (inclusive), diesel passenger cars registered before June 30, 2013 (inclusive). Other fuel types include mixed oil, natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol, ethanol, hydrogen, biofuels and so on.

　　First, the subsidy object and standard

　　(a) the subsidy object is consumers who meet the following conditions at the same time

　　1. The subsidy applicant is an individual consumer.

　　2. The applicant scrapped the old car under his personal name, and obtained the Certificate of Recycling Scrapped Motor Vehicles within the specified time.

　　3. The applicant cancels the old car under his personal name and obtains the Certificate of Motor Vehicle Cancellation within the specified time.

　　4. The applicant buys a new car and obtains the Uniform Invoice for Motor Vehicle Sales within the specified time.

　　5. The applicant goes through the registration formalities and obtains the Motor Vehicle Registration Certificate within the specified time.

　　6. The above-mentioned Certificate of Recycling Scrap Motor Vehicles, Certificate of Cancellation of Motor Vehicles, Uniform Invoice for Motor Vehicle Sales and Motor Vehicle Registration Certificate shall be issued from the date when the Detailed Rules are issued (i.e. April 24, 2024) to December 31, 2024.

　　(2) Subsidy standards and methods

　　Subsidy standards are divided according to the types of scrapped passenger cars (new energy passenger cars and other passenger cars) and new car types. Subsidy funds will be distributed to the bank account of the eligible target by transfer.

　　Second, the processing time limit

　　(1) Implementation time

　　From the date of issuance of the Detailed Rules (i.e. April 24, 2024) to December 31, 2024.

　　(2) Time of subsidy application

　　April 24, 2024 to January 10, 2025. If it is necessary to change the relevant information, it should also be completed before 24: 00 on January 10, 2025. Those who fail to submit the subsidy application or make corrections to the relevant application information within the time limit shall not apply for subsidies.

　　Third, the application materials

　　(a) the applicant’s identity information, the need to upload photos of the front and back of the ID card;

　　(2) the bank account information of the applicant;

　　(three) the original photos or scanned copies of the certificate of recycling scrapped motor vehicles and the certificate of cancellation of motor vehicles;

　　(4) Original photos or scanned copies of the Uniform Invoice for Motor Vehicle Sales and Motor Vehicle Registration Certificate for new cars;

　　The owner who intends to apply for subsidy funds for automobile trade-in should upload the above materials to the website of the national automobile circulation information management system or the "automobile trade-in" applet within the time limit specified in the Detailed Rules.

　　Fourth, the specific process

　　(1) Scrapping old cars

　　The owner of the used car will hand over the scrapped old car to the motor vehicle recycling and dismantling enterprise, which shall issue the certificate of recycling of scrapped motor vehicles to the motor vehicle owner, recover the motor vehicle registration certificate, license plate and driving license, and timely cancel the registration with the traffic management department of the public security organ in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state, and transfer the certificate of cancellation of motor vehicles to the motor vehicle owner.

　　(2) New car purchase

　　Individual users who purchase a passenger car or a fuel passenger car with a displacement of 2.0 liters or less from the Catalogue of New Energy Vehicles with Vehicle Purchase Tax Exemption by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shall obtain the Uniform Invoice for Motor Vehicle Sales issued by the automobile sales agency of this Municipality, and go through the formalities of motor vehicle registration in the traffic management department of the Public Security Bureau and obtain a valid Motor Vehicle Registration Certificate.

　　The place where the owner accepts the purchase subsidy is the place where the new car "Uniform Invoice for Motor Vehicle Sales" is issued.

　　(3) Application for subsidies

　　There are two main ways to submit subsidy applications online:

　　1. The mobile phone can search for the "car trade-in" applet through the homepage of Alipay, Tik Tok, WeChat, China Unionpay Quick Pass and other platforms, or directly scan the QR code of the "car trade-in" applet (see the Q&A Manual of the Ministry of Commerce), enter the application page, fill in the application information and upload the required attachments.

　　2. The computer can log on to the website of "National Automobile Circulation Information Management System" (https://qclt.mofcom.gov.cn), click on the topic of "Automobile Trade-in", enter the application page, fill in the application information and upload the required attachments.

　　(4) Subsidy audit

　　The Municipal Bureau of Commerce shall, jointly with relevant departments, review the application information submitted by the applicant and feed back the audit results through the vehicle trade-in platform. Notify the applicant of the audit results by SMS.

　　After examination, the information is true and complete, which belongs to the scope of subsidies specified in these rules, and shall be examined and approved.

　　If the information submitted by the applicant is unclear or unrecognizable, the applicant shall supplement the relevant information through the original channels before the deadline for application specified in these Detailed Rules.

　　V. Division of responsibilities

　　Set up a municipal special class for automobile trade-in in our city, and the office of the special class is located in the Municipal Bureau of Commerce. The specific responsibilities of each member unit are:

　　The Municipal Development and Reform Commission cooperates with the Municipal Bureau of Commerce to co-ordinate the work related to automobile trade-in.

　　The Municipal Bureau of Commerce is responsible for the organization and coordination of automobile trade-in subsidies, and in conjunction with the Municipal Finance Bureau, it entrusts a third-party agency to be responsible for the examination and payment of subsidies, and do a good job in the supervision and management of the whole process. Timely summarize the information of applicants who meet the subsidy conditions, determine the subsidy amount, and apply for subsidy funds to the Municipal Finance Bureau.

　　The Municipal Finance Bureau is responsible for raising the funds needed for the automobile trade-in policy, ensuring the funds well, and doing a good job in fund allocation and supervision according to the suggestions on fund arrangement put forward by the Municipal Bureau of Commerce and with the approval of the Beijing Supervision Bureau of the Ministry of Finance, in conjunction with the Municipal Bureau of Commerce and other relevant departments according to the current budget management system.

　　The Public Security Traffic Management Bureau of the Municipal Public Security Bureau is responsible for the verification and inquiry of subsidy-related information such as the registration of scrapped and updated vehicles in this city, and counting the data related to scrapped and updated vehicles.

　　The Municipal Bureau of Economic and Information Technology is responsible for promoting the passenger car production enterprises in this city to actively participate in the work of updating new energy vehicles.

　　The Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment is responsible for answering the questions about the emission standards of fuel vehicles, analyzing the updated data of the elimination of existing vehicles in the city, and evaluating the environmental benefits of promoting the emission reduction of motor vehicles.

　　Beijing Municipal Taxation Bureau is responsible for supervising and auditing the information of automobile sales invoices of automobile sales enterprises in this city, and verifying the price and date of automobile invoicing.

　　The Municipal Market Supervision Bureau is responsible for investigating and dealing with new car transactions and scrapping violations according to law.

　　VI. Supervision and Management

　　(a) the relevant units should be in accordance with the division of responsibilities, close cooperation, to ensure that in accordance with the relevant provisions of the audit, disbursement and use of subsidy funds, timely solve various problems encountered in the work, supervision and guidance of the stable operation of the policy.

　　(two) the applicant shall truthfully fill in the information in accordance with the relevant provisions of these rules, and be responsible for the authenticity and validity of the information. Automobile sales enterprises and their sales personnel shall not charge additional fees in the name of assisting in applying for subsidies. Upon investigation, it is found that automobile sales organizations and applicants collude with others to provide false information or set up false transactions to defraud subsidy funds, and the Municipal Bureau of Commerce has the right to recover subsidy funds. If the circumstances are serious violations of the law, the legal responsibilities of relevant individuals and enterprises shall be investigated according to law.

CCTV News:National Health Commission informed, September 21, 0— At 2400 hours, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 165 newly confirmed cases. Among them, there were 51 imported cases (13 cases in Guangdong, 9 cases in Shanghai, 6 cases in Beijing, 6 cases in Yunnan, 5 cases in Inner Mongolia, 3 cases in Fujian, 3 cases in Sichuan, 2 cases in Shaanxi, 1 case in Tianjin, 1 case in Heilongjiang, 1 case in Jiangsu and 1 case in Shandong), including 8 cases from asymptomatic infected people to confirmed cases (2 cases in Beijing, 2 cases in Guangdong, 2 cases in Sichuan, 1 case in Inner Mongolia and 1 case in Shandong). There were 114 local cases (42 cases in Guizhou, 41 cases in Sichuan, 13 cases in Tibet, 7 cases in Heilongjiang, 4 cases in Ningxia, 3 cases in Henan, 1 case in Tianjin, 1 case in Zhejiang, 1 case in Fujian and 1 case in Guangdong), including 23 cases from asymptomatic infected persons to confirmed cases (18 cases in Sichuan, 3 cases in Guizhou, 1 case in Zhejiang and 1 case in Guangdong). There were no new deaths. There are no new suspected cases.

On that day, 279 new cases were cured and discharged, including 45 imported cases and 234 local cases (Sichuan 113 cases, Tibet 27 cases, Guangdong 24 cases, Hainan 10 cases, Guizhou 8 cases, Liaoning 7 cases, Heilongjiang 7 cases, Guangxi 7 cases, Beijing 6 cases, Inner Mongolia 6 cases, Shandong 4 cases, Qinghai 4 cases, Chongqing 3 cases, Jilin 2 cases, Tianjin 1 case and Tianjin 1 case).

There are 577 confirmed cases (no severe cases) imported from overseas, and there are no existing suspected cases. A total of 23,578 cases were diagnosed, and 23,001 cases were cured and discharged, with no death.

As of 24: 00 on September 21st, according to the reports of 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, there are 3,183 confirmed cases (including 35 severe cases), 240,400 discharged cases have been cured, 5,226 cases have died, and 248,809 confirmed cases have been reported, and there are no existing suspected cases. A total of 5,865,543 close contacts were tracked, and 151,003 close contacts were still under medical observation.

Thirty-one provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) and Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 610 new cases of asymptomatic infections, including 98 imported cases and 512 local cases (Tibet 143 cases, Guizhou 134 cases, Heilongjiang 109 cases, Sichuan 26 cases, Hubei 19 cases, Guangxi 15 cases, Ningxia 15 cases, Tianjin 10 cases, Xinjiang 9 cases, Henan 6 cases, Chongqing 5 cases, and Chongqing 5 cases).

On that day, 1,331 asymptomatic infected people were released from medical observation, including 90 imported cases and 1,241 local cases (513 in Tibet, 186 in Guizhou, 110 in Heilongjiang, 82 in Liaoning, 80 in Guangxi, 56 in Sichuan, 34 in Jiangxi, 33 in Xinjiang, 32 in Shandong, 26 in Hubei, 14 in Hainan, 13 in Guangdong and 12 in Tianjin). On the same day, 31 cases were converted into confirmed cases (8 cases were imported from abroad); There are 14,776 asymptomatic infected people under medical observation (766 cases imported from abroad).

A total of 6500010 confirmed cases were reported from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Among them, there were 408,844 cases in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (81,888 cases discharged from hospital and 9,917 cases died), 793 cases in Macao Special Administrative Region (787 cases discharged from hospital and 6 cases died) and 6,090,373 cases in Taiwan Province (13,742 cases discharged from hospital and 10,643 cases died).

Not long ago, Huawei released a new brand of smart car solutions with smart driving as the core-Huawei Gankun. In beijing international automotive exhibition in 2024, Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei’s smart car solution BU, accepted an exclusive interview with Liang Yi, general manager of Xinhuanet Automobile Industry Center, and gave a detailed introduction to the original intention of launching Gankun brand, as well as the advantages and intelligent direction of Huawei’s smart driving.

Interview the scene

Liang Yi, General Manager of Xinhuanet Automobile Industry Center:Hello, Mr. Jin. Huawei recently released the Gankun brand. What is the original intention of releasing this brand? What kind of innovative energy will Gankun brand bring?

Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei Smart Car Solution BU:Thank you. Gankun is a brand released on April 24th. The second half of electrification is intelligentization, which first happened in the cockpit field. Therefore, Huawei launched the HarmonyOS cockpit brand around the cockpit, which has reached the "ceiling" of the industry through continuous development.

Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei Smart Car Solution BU

According to our judgment, this year will be the first year of intelligent driving, and the China market will really start to adopt intelligent driving on a large scale. We Huawei are leading in the field of intelligent driving, and the English brand is very loud, ADS, Advanced Driving System, but we need a loud Chinese name, so we used this auto show to update its name, called "Gankun Intelligent Driving". The meaning of the word "Gan Kun" means that Gan is the sky, Kun is the Kun of Kunlun Mountain, and Kun means the mountain. Doing means that we should "pierce the sky upwards" in industrial development and lead the development of the industry; The meaning of Kun should be like a mountain, "down to the root" and build a hard-core technology. In this way, together with our partners, we can lead the intelligent second half forward, make China’s smart cars go better and let users get a safer intelligent driving experience.

Liang yi:In the first commercial year of intelligent driving scale in automobile industry, the brand of "Gankun" was launched at this node. What changes will Huawei bring in the field of intelligent driving? What is Huawei’s advantage in this field?

Jin Yuzhi:We have invested in intelligent driving for more than ten years, and ADS 2.0 released last year has created many firsts. The first one realizes the active safety of omni-directional anti-collision; The first released the function of parking service. In addition to the functions of auxiliary parking and automatic parking, it also provides a kinetic energy of parking service; The first one really realized that it did not rely on high-definition maps, and it could be opened all over the country. If there was a road, it could be opened, and the whole commercialization of intelligent driving was rolled out at once. In the past, when relying on high-definition maps, perhaps only five cities in China could realize intelligent driving, and not all roads in these five cities were covered. Huawei ADS 2.0 has realized that all countries can open and all roads can open, which has never happened in the past.

2024 Huawei Smart Car Solution Conference

Facing the future, our idea is to continue to be the first in the industry and continue to lead the industry forward. This is our original intention of intelligent driving and our mission. We will release ADS 3.0 this year, which will greatly improve the whole architecture. In the scene of parking, we will park faster than the old driver, and narrower parking spaces can be parked, which is higher than the old driver’s level. In terms of active safety, in addition to omni-directional anti-collision, many functions will be added to further enhance it. In the driving scene, our goal this year is to achieve the whole scene from parking space to parking space, that is, when navigating, we choose the parking space from one community to another, from the residential park or office park to the whole main road, which is the first in an industry. Therefore, the goal of the brand "Gankun" is to always lead the industry forward, to provide users with the best driving experience and the safest driving experience, as we have done in the past and will release it this year. This is the original intention of our brand.

"Gankun Zhijia" and "HarmonyOS Cockpit" have become two core brands of smart car solutions. About how to keep the advantage in the future, because Huawei is the only company in the whole industry that has all the training from chips, hardware, operating system, software and cloud, which is our unique advantage. Therefore, I believe that in the future, we will integrate the advantages of hardware, software and cloud to give full play to our strongest advantages. For example, if the chip is combined with the intelligent driving system, its delay will be lower, its response time will be faster, and it will be safer in the process of intelligent driving. In the industry, Huawei is unique in this advantage.

In the future, we hope to empower this advantage to the whole industry. Because the intelligence of the whole automobile is a great change in the next century in the automobile industry, we are open to cooperating with this industry, and can lead the century-long change of this industry together with our industry partners, so that the intelligence of the whole automobile can go faster and more steadily, and consumers can get a better experience.

Liang yi:This conference is your first appearance in front of the media as CEO of Huawei BU. Do you feel that your burden is heavier? Gankun brand will inject new energy into the intelligent track for China automobile. What’s your vision?

Jin Yuzhi:I am very excited to enter this industry. Because the intelligent transformation of China automobile is similar to the road we took in the communication industry more than 20 years ago.

Over the past 20 years, in the communication industry, from the initial "seven countries and eight systems" to various competitions, after the development of the past 20 years, we knew how to lead, and then we went all the way to lead the industry. We experienced the whole process. Today, China automobile and global automobile industry are in the process of becoming intelligent. We are very confident in this process, because we know that it is just the beginning. In the future, it will be like the 20-year history of our communication industry in the past, and it also needs a continuous lead and continuous progress. We are now at the leading starting point, and with a very focused and high-intensity investment, we are full of confidence in the future.

From the perspective of China’s automobile industry as a whole, I think we have a sense of mission. We have come with a mission, that is, to empower the key technologies we have accumulated in the ICT field over the past 30 years to the automobile industry and apply them to the intelligentization of automobiles, so as to bring intelligence to every automobile, help automobile enterprises to take the lead in the process of intelligent transformation, jointly revitalize China’s automobile industry, and help China’s automobiles to go global.

From a macro point of view, the current development potential of cross-border e-commerce is huge. Many friends who want to enter cross-border e-commerce are asking how to do cross-border e-commerce. Is there any skill? Today, we will take Alibaba as an example to sum up our thoughts.Do cross-border e-commerce in AlibabaWhat to do.

1. Incoming analysis. Before entering Alibaba, sellers need to know clearly why they want to be Alibaba instead of platforms such as Amazon and eBay. What we can get on Alibaba; What kind of people will visit our store in Alibaba?

2. Understand the characteristics and rules of Alibaba site. Watching more videos (Business Learning and Foreign Trade College) has a lot of rich experience in selling, so you can master some tips faster by watching videos; If you encounter different problems, you can also consult Alibaba customer service.

3. Join some cross-border e-commerce circles. The change of cross-border e-commerce industry is very fast. Sellers need to join more circles to do cross-border e-commerce, so that the information channel of this industry platform will be broadened, which is still helpful for novices.

4. crowd analysis. Analyze our store customers, including gender, age, income, position, education, hobbies, use of equipment (computer or mobile phone), etc. The purpose of analyzing customers is to tap more potential customers, as well as on which platforms and in which forms we should promote them.

5. Alibaba operates.

(1) According to the products of the store, find out the relevant keywords of the industry.

Newly opened platform: You can find more keywords from popular search words, Alibaba search box, P4P tools, peer keywords, etc.

There is already a platform: words can be accumulated through drainage words, word sources of products, P4P click words, and search words commonly used by customers in visitor marketing;

(2) release products according to keywords

Before releasing the product, prepare the required materials, such as text description, product pictures, product videos, etc. to release the product, decorate the store, and set the URL；;

Release good products, use P4P, window, top-level booth and other resources to expose, click and rank keywords, and get effective feedback;

(3) Reply to the customer at any time. If you are in front of the computer, you should reply in time. If you go home, you should log in to the Ali seller on the mobile phone and reply to the customer at any time.

(4) As far as possible, use credit insurance to take orders and accumulate online transaction data, which can stabilize the ranking and bring more traffic to the store, with the focus on improving customer conversion more easily;

(5) Every day, every week, every month, on the 3rd, we should timely count the daily data and weekly data, analyze the data, and optimize and increase according to the existing problems.

Alibaba is a B2B platform with more than two million visitors per capita. It is not a simple matter to do a good job in Alibaba’s cross-border e-commerce platform. It requires a clear analysis of the seller and the platform in the early stage of entry, plus the later operation. Taking this as an example, the seller can also make a plan according to the cross-border e-commerce platform he is trying to lay out. (Source: Network finishing)

Related recommendation: How about cross-border e-commerce selling furniture? Is furniture suitable for cross-border e-commerce

(Source: Brother K chats with the sea)

Recently, State Taxation Administration of The People’s Republic of China, the Ministry of Finance and China State Railway Group Co.,Ltd. jointly issued an announcement, making it clear that from November 1, 2024, all-round digital electronic invoices-electronic railway tickets-will be promoted and used in China’s railway passenger transport field. Then, what service measures are there for electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets)? Let’s watch together ↓

What services do railway transport enterprises provide to passengers about electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets)?

Passengers can log in to the account of Railway 12306 (including website and mobile client, the same below) within 180 days after the end of the trip or pay the refund or change fee, and truthfully obtain their electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets); More than 180 days, in accordance with the agreement between passengers and railway transport enterprises. Railway transport enterprises issue electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets) truthfully through railway 12306, download them through railway 12306 or deliver them to passengers by e-mail. Passengers can inquire, download and print electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets) through Railway 12306.

At present, railway transport enterprises provide electronic invoice (railway e-ticket) service for domestic passenger transport ticketing, refund and change through the railway ticket sale and reservation system, but they do not provide electronic invoice (railway e-ticket) service for non-real-name registration system tickets, emergency paper tickets, China Railway Yintong card /E cartoon tickets and other related businesses for the time being.

What services does the tax department provide to taxpayers and passengers about electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets)?

The tax department transmits the electronic invoice (railway electronic ticket) to the buyer synchronously through the tax digital account of the electronic invoice service platform (hereinafter referred to as the tax digital account). The buyer can inquire, check, download, print and confirm the use of electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets) through the tax digital account, and can also check through the national VAT invoice inspection platform (https://inv-veri.chinatax.gov.cn). Passengers can query and download electronic invoices (railway electronic tickets) through the personal income tax APP personal ticket folder.

　　On March 11th, in the zero-carbon factory in fengcheng city, Jiangxi Province-Faurecia Gele Electronics (Fengcheng) Co., Ltd., the staff rushed to produce automotive electronic products in the production workshop.
　　Photo by Zhou Liang (people’s picture)

　　On March 19th, employees maintained the hydraulic safety valve and mechanical breathing valve at the top of the oil storage tank at Haisi United Station in Shengli Oilfield, Dongying City, Shandong Province, to avoid air pollution caused by methane and other gases. Shengli Oilfield has implemented the special rectification measures for ecological environment protection in the Yellow River basin with high standards, and established a "waste-free oilfield" and a green factory, thus realizing green and clean production in the whole process of oil exploitation, pipeline transportation and storage.
　　Photo by Wang Guozhang (people’s picture)

　　On March 21st, in Hongde Primary School, Qingdao, Shandong Province, the narrator of the sewage treatment plant instructed the students to do experiments to cultivate children’s environmental awareness of saving water and protecting water in love the water.
　　Zhang Yingshe (Xinhua News Agency)

　　On March 15th, researchers conducted a liquid dye synthesis experiment at Zhejiang Modern Textile Technology Innovation Center (Jianhu Laboratory) in Keqiao District, Shaoxing City. In recent years, new green equipment and advanced technology have been introduced to promote the transformation and upgrading of textile printing and dyeing industry to low pollution, high technology and high added value.
　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Weng Yushe

　　Since 2022, the treatment of new pollutants has been written into the work report of our government for three consecutive years.

　　With the deepening of the construction of beautiful China, China’s ecological environment protection work is developing from the treatment of sensory indicators such as "smog" and "black odor" to the treatment of new pollutants with long-term and hidden hazards.

　

　　"Hard bones" that must be chewed.

　　What are new pollutants?

　　At present, the new pollutants widely concerned at home and abroad mainly include persistent organic pollutants, endocrine disruptors and antibiotics controlled by international conventions. The production and use of toxic and harmful chemicals are the main sources of new pollutants.

　　The reason why new pollutants are called "new" is that on the one hand, compared with conventional pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and PM2.5; on the other hand, there are many kinds of new pollutants, and the number of new pollutants that can be identified will continue to increase. At present, there are more than 20 categories of new pollutants of global concern, and each category contains dozens or hundreds of chemicals.

　　Jiang Guibin, an academician of the China Academy of Sciences and dean of the School of Resources and Environment of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that "unconscious contact, persistence, and imperceptible harm to human health and environmental systems constitute the common characteristics of new pollutants". With the deepening of understanding and the continuous development of environmental monitoring technology, the types and quantities of new pollutants will continue to change.

　　Literature shows that high levels of environmental endocrine disruptors, antibiotics, microplastics and other new pollutants have been detected in air, water and soil in some areas of China. It is generally believed that new pollutants are gradually becoming a new difficulty that restricts the continuous and in-depth improvement of the environmental quality of the atmosphere, water and soil, and it is also a "hard bone" that ecological environmental protection must tackle after smog and black and smelly water bodies.

　　The treatment of new pollutants is not easy.

　　At present, China is the largest producer and user of chemical products in the world, and also the main supplier of chemical raw materials, with more than 50,000 kinds of chemical substances in production and use. These chemicals are consumed and used in many industries, and some chemicals are closely related to agricultural production, daily necessities, aerospace products and other important fields.

　　Hu Jianxin, a professor at Peking University Institute of Environmental Science and Engineering, wrote that China’s annual production of short-chain chlorinated paraffins can reach millions of tons, and chlorpyrifos (note: a pesticide) involves agricultural production and food security. It is difficult to develop their substitutes, and there may be conflicts in availability, performance, cost, environment and safety, so it is difficult to achieve perfection, which brings great challenges to the treatment of new pollutants in the future.

　　The treatment of new pollutants mainly involves the chemical industry and its downstream industrial chain. In recent years, China’s industrial technology and management level have greatly improved as a whole, but some enterprises are still at the low end of the industrial chain, and their technical level and management ability are uneven. In cities with rapid industrial development and urbanization, improper waste treatment will lead to organochlorine compounds residues, and industrial activities such as mining and smelting will lead to heavy metal emissions and residues. Frequent use of pesticides and fertilizers in some agricultural areas will cause the emission and residue of organophosphorus compounds.

　　The weak foundation of detection is also a difficult problem to be solved urgently. Jiang Guibin found that the key point of new pollutant control is "newness" and the difficulty is "newness". Because it is "new", there are some problems, such as the monitoring method can’t keep up, the pollution base is unclear, the environmental process is unclear, the environmental hazards are not mastered, and the conventional prevention methods don’t work.

　　The unclear toxic mechanism of new pollutants and the lack of efficient purification technology also hinder the treatment process of new pollutants. Jiang Guibin suggested that the establishment of "Science and Technology Special Project for New Pollutant Control" should be accelerated, interdisciplinary integration and high-tech application should be promoted, theoretical and technical systems for prevention and control of new pollutants and risk early warning should be developed, and technical support for new pollutant control should be strengthened.

　　China is also facing the outstanding problem of coexistence of new pollutants and traditional pollutants.

　　There is a clear deployment

　　The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to the treatment of new pollutants.

　　In November 2021, the Opinions of the State Council City, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Deepening the Fight against Pollution made clear arrangements for the treatment of new pollutants, requiring the formulation and implementation of an action plan for the treatment of new pollutants. Half a year later, in May 2022, the General Office of the State Council issued the Action Plan for New Pollutant Control (hereinafter referred to as the Action Plan). This plan puts forward requirements for the treatment of new pollutants from the aspects of overall requirements, action measures and safeguard measures.

　　What are the goals for the treatment of new pollutants?

　　According to the Action Plan, by 2025, China will complete the environmental risk screening of chemicals with high concern and high yield (use), complete a batch of environmental risk assessment of chemicals, dynamically release the list of new pollutants to be controlled, and implement environmental risk control measures such as prohibition, restriction and discharge restriction on new pollutants to be controlled. The regulatory system and management mechanism for environmental risk management of toxic and harmful chemicals have been gradually established and improved, and the ability to control new pollutants has been significantly enhanced.

　　How to deal with new pollutants?

　　The Action Plan has made 18 specific arrangements from six aspects: improving laws and regulations, conducting investigation and monitoring, strictly controlling the source, strengthening process control, deepening terminal governance and strengthening capacity building. For example, in terms of improving laws and regulations and establishing a sound new pollutant control system, the Action Plan proposes to improve laws and regulations, establish a sound technical standard system, and establish and improve a new pollutant control management mechanism. It is required to establish an inter-departmental coordination mechanism for new pollutant control led by the ecological environment department, with the participation of development and reform, science and technology, industry and information technology, finance, housing and urban construction, agriculture and rural areas, commerce, health, customs, market supervision, drug supervision and other departments, so as to promote the new pollutant control work as a whole.

　　In terms of investigation, monitoring and assessment of environmental risks of new pollutants, the Action Plan proposes specific measures such as establishing an environmental information investigation system for chemical substances, establishing an environmental investigation and monitoring system for new pollutants, establishing an environmental risk assessment system for chemical substances, and dynamically publishing a list of new pollutants under key control. It is explicitly required to formulate "one product, one policy" control measures for chemicals listed in the priority control chemicals list, antibiotics, microplastics and other key new pollutants, carry out technical feasibility and economic and social impact assessment of the control measures, identify the main environmental emission sources of the priority control chemicals, formulate and revise the emission standards of relevant industries in a timely manner, and dynamically update the list of toxic and harmful air pollutants, the list of toxic and harmful water pollutants and the list of toxic and harmful substances in the soil under key control.

　　The "Action Plan" proposes to carry out pilot projects for the treatment of new pollutants. It is required to focus on petrochemical, coating, textile printing and dyeing, rubber, pesticide, medicine and other industries in the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins and around key drinking water sources, key estuaries, key bays, key mariculture areas, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions, and select a number of key enterprises and industrial parks to carry out pilot projects for the treatment of new pollutants, thus forming a number of demonstration technologies for the green substitution of toxic and harmful chemicals, the reduction of new pollutants and the treatment of new pollutants in sewage sludge, waste liquid and waste residue. Encourage qualified places to formulate incentive policies, promote enterprises to try first and reduce the generation and discharge of new pollutants.

　　Overall, the Action Plan has designed a "three-step" governance work path. The first step is "screening", which screens out pollutants with high potential environmental risks and puts them into the scope of priority environmental risk assessment; the second step is "evaluation", and for the screened chemicals, the new pollutants with high risks to the environment and health are taken as key control objects; the third step is "control", and comprehensive control measures are implemented for the key control objects determined in the previous two steps.

　　The Action Plan defines several key time nodes for the treatment of new pollutants.

　　For example, in 2022, the first list of new pollutants under key control was released. During the "14 th Five-Year Plan" period, special treatment was carried out for a number of key new pollutants. By the end of 2025, a number of high-toxic and high-risk pesticide varieties will be re-evaluated. Local people’s governments at all levels should strengthen the organization and leadership over the control of new pollutants, and provincial people’s governments are the main bodies to organize the implementation of this action plan. Before the end of 2022, they should organize the formulation of the work plan for the control of new pollutants in their own regions, refine the objectives and tasks, clarify the division of labor among departments, and do a good job in implementation. All relevant departments in the State Council should strengthen the division of labor and cooperation, jointly do a good job in the treatment of new pollutants, and evaluate the implementation of this action plan in 2025.

　　In the year when the Action Plan was published, the work report of the Chinese government proposed to strengthen the management of solid waste and new pollutants, and promote garbage classification, reduction and recycling. The following year, the government work report of our country proposed to strengthen the treatment of solid waste and new pollutants. In this year’s government work report, the relevant statement is to strengthen the treatment of solid waste, new pollutants and plastic pollution.

　　At the beginning of this year, Xinhua News Agency published "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Promoting the Construction of Beautiful China in an All-round Way", which called for strengthening the control of solid waste and new pollutants. Accelerate the construction of a "waste-free city", continue to promote the action of controlling new pollutants, and promote the realization of "waste-free" and environmental health in urban and rural areas. Strengthen the comprehensive management of solid waste, limit excessive packaging of commodities, and control plastic pollution through the whole chain. We will deepen the comprehensive ban on the entry of "foreign garbage" and strictly guard against the smuggling and disguised import of various forms of solid waste. Strengthen the supervision, utilization and disposal capacity of hazardous wastes, and strengthen the pollution control of tailings ponds with emphasis on the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Yellow River Basin. Formulate regulations on environmental risk management of toxic and harmful chemicals. By 2027, the proportion of "waste-free cities" will reach 60%, and the intensity of solid waste generation will drop significantly; by 2035, the construction of "waste-free cities" will achieve full coverage, and the eastern provinces will take the lead in building "waste-free cities" in the whole region, and the environmental risks of new pollutants will be effectively controlled.

　　Also this year, many provinces in China mentioned the treatment of "new pollutants" in their government work reports. It is the common goal of many places to promote the construction of a "waste-free city" and strengthen the treatment of new pollutants.

　　Strengthen collaborative governance

　　The characteristics of new pollutants determine that coordinated treatment is needed.

　　The environmental risk of new pollutants is an environmental problem faced by all countries in the world.

　　DDT mentioned in Silent Spring is one of the chemicals with typical new pollutant characteristics. Its harm spans half a century and spreads to every corner of the world, and it is impossible to control it by one country alone. Professor Hu Jianxin pointed out: "The treatment of some new pollutants requires global action. In addition to being persistent, bioaccumulative, carcinogenic and teratogenic, some new pollutants also have the potential of long-distance migration, which can be transported across international boundaries with air, water or migratory species and deposited in areas far from their discharge points, causing worldwide environmental pollution problems. "

　　In terms of new pollutant treatment, China has an inter-departmental coordination mechanism.

　　Report to the 20th CPC National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly put forward the important task of "developing new pollution control". Shortly after the closing of the 20th National Congress, on November 4th, 2022, the first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group for New Pollutant Control was held in Beijing. The leader of the coordination group is Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment. In addition to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the members of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group include the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, the Health and Wellness Commission, the General Administration of Customs, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and other departments.

　　On February 2, 2024, the second meeting of the group was held. The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to give full play to the role of the new pollutant control promotion mechanism, strengthen cross-departmental joint actions, increase guidance and assistance to local counterpart departments and enterprises, strengthen supervision and law enforcement, and track down the effectiveness, and systematically promote the key tasks of new pollutant control to make breakthroughs. In addition, it is mentioned that it is necessary to speed up the legislation on the control of new pollutants, promote the implementation of major scientific and technological special projects, plan and lay out a number of major projects, strengthen fiscal, taxation, finance, price and other policy support, and lay a good combination of the rule of law, science and technology and policy.

　　In addition to inter-ministerial coordination, there is also inter-provincial cooperation.

　　For example, Sichuan and Chongqing have jointly promoted the treatment of new pollutants. On March 14th this year, the first joint meeting of new pollutant control in Sichuan and Chongqing was held in Chongqing. The meeting reported the development of new pollutant control work in 2023 and the work plan for 2024 in the two places. The meeting proposed to carry out joint investigation and monitoring of new pollutants in Sichuan and Chongqing, focus on finding out the current situation of new pollutants such as antibiotics and perfluorochemicals, jointly promote the risk assessment of chemical substances in Chengdu and Chongqing, and provide a basis for issuing a supplementary list of key new pollutants in Chengdu and Chongqing.

　　Some provinces are carrying out pilot work.

　　For example, Jiangsu is a pilot province for environmental monitoring of new pollutants. The province monitors pollution points in water sources and air in two pilot industrial development zones. Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and other provinces carried out pilot investigation, monitoring and evaluation of new pollutants in key industries. Anhui province has focused on the whole process monitoring and environmental information investigation, conducted law enforcement inspection on the production, processing and use of new chemical substances, and carried out pilot investigations on basic environmental information of chemical substances. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has launched a pilot project of investigation and risk assessment of new pollutants in the Yellow River Basin and "one lake and two seas" in the whole region, and carried out non-targeted screening and quantitative monitoring of new pollutants. Shaanxi Province launched a pilot project of compensation for ecological and environmental damage involving new pollutants, which provided guarantee for promoting clean production and green manufacturing.

　　At present, various localities have carried out pilot projects in key industries, key fields, key river basins, process monitoring and result guarantee, forming a multi-level and multi-dimensional pilot network. These pilot projects are part of the work of controlling new pollutants. Some places also focus on improving legal protection, issuing regulations on the prevention and control of soil pollution, and clearly implementing and strengthening the control of new pollutants such as persistent organic pollutants.

　　According to the plan, in 2025, Jiangsu will initially establish a new pollutant environmental investigation and monitoring system, Shandong will initially establish a new pollutant control system, and Liaoning’s new pollutant control capacity will be significantly enhanced …

　　Time is tight and the task is heavy.

On August 21st, the roads in Shuimo Town of Wenchuan County were gradually opened, and the trapped vehicles were evacuated in an orderly manner. Xinhua news agency

Heavy rainfall caused damage to the bridge on Shouxi River in Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County. Xinhua news agency

In Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County, some buildings and vehicles were damaged by floods. Xinhua news agency

There is a lot of sediment on the streets of Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County. Xinhua news agency

Some people affected by the rainstorm in Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County were placed in the memorial hall of the epicenter of the Wenchuan earthquake. Xinhua news agency

　　Huaxi Dushi Bao-Cover Journalist Zhi Li Tianzhilu

　　Yaozishan Village Road, located between sanjiang town and Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County, has a narrow winding road, and few vehicles pass at ordinary times.

　　On August 21st, this ordinary village road became a life passage for sanjiang town to the outside world, and a large number of tourists trapped by floods were transported out of the mountain.

　　Sanjiang town, 80km away from Chengdu, surrounded by mountains and fresh air, is a summer resort for tourists in summer. A heavy rainfall in the early morning of the 20th caused local flash floods, with no power, water and gas, and no signal. The county road leading to Shuimo was interrupted by mudslides.

　　After the flood, the local government and fire rescue forces organized local villagers’ private cars to transfer a large number of tourists out of the mountain through Yaozishan Road.

　　A disaster

　　The flood struck in the early hours of the morning

　　Township streets are in ruins.

　　When the flood hit, people in sanjiang town were already asleep. "Who would have thought that there was such a big flood suddenly in the middle of the night?" Lao Zhou, the owner of sanjiang town farmhouse, is sad. His farmhouse is in a low-lying area and has been flooded.

　　In the memory of the local elderly, sanjiang town has never encountered such a fierce flood.

　　At 2 o’clock in the morning on the 20th, many tourists who were already asleep in the farmhouse were awakened by a fierce knock on the door. "The flood is coming, get up quickly and go to the town government to hide!"

　　The small river that crosses Sanjiang Town is a tributary of Minjiang River, which is called "Zhonghe" by local people. After continuous heavy rainfall, the water level soared and the river overflowed onto the highway beside the river, and people sought safe places to avoid danger.

　　On the morning of 20th, the reporter followed the rescuers of the provincial fire brigade from Chengdu, passed Dujiangyan, Shuimo and Yaozishan Road, and arrived in sanjiang town at 6 pm.

　　After the flood peak in sanjiang town, a thick layer of silt accumulated on the streets. Trees, sundries and stones carried by the flood piled up on the street, and many cars parked in low-lying places were washed away and overturned. The streets of sanjiang town are in ruins.

　　An embarrassing road

　　Take the baby to Sanjiang for the summer.

　　In the event of a rare flash flood

　　Uncle Zhao and his wife are from Shuangliu, Chengdu, and they are both over 70 years old. It was sweltering in Chengdu in August. On August 7th, they took their grandchildren and went to sanjiang town for the summer with their relatives. The farmhouse food and shelter, as long as 80 yuan per person per day.

　　Unexpectedly, most of the streets in sanjiang town were flooded in the early morning of 20th. They were awakened by the owner of the farmhouse and rushed to sanjiang town Primary School to avoid danger. Like Uncle Zhao and his wife, many tourists who came to Sanjiang for the summer vacation from Chengdu were caught off guard. Some tourists’ cars parked in the street were washed away or damaged, causing heavy losses.

　　Mr. Yang’s family, a Chengdu tourist, arrived in sanjiang town only one day before the flood. Unexpectedly, they were hit by the flood in the early hours of the next morning, and their car was washed away without a trace.

　　After the flood, sanjiang town was caught in the predicament of water, electricity, gas and no cell phone signal, and tourists were looking forward to leaving here early.

　　A rescue

　　Village road becomes life channel.

　　Tourists were transported out of the mountain.

　　Due to mountain torrents, mudslides and landslides, the county road from sanjiang town to Shuimo Town has been interrupted, making it impossible to pass. There is only one village road that can pass. The local people call it Yaozishan Village Road, which can lead to Shuimo Town. However, this village road is very narrow. At many corners, two private cars can’t get on the wrong bus. In addition, the continuous rainfall has brought great difficulty to the evacuation of tourists.

　　In order to transport tourists out of the mountain in time, the sanjiang town municipal government organized a large number of private cars of local villagers, and at the same time, traffic control was implemented on Yaozishan Village Road, allowing only local vehicles to transport tourists back and forth, but not foreign vehicles.

　　From noon on the 20th, some tourists with cars were evacuated by Yaozishan Road under the guidance. A large number of tourists who don’t have cars line up and get out of the mountain in villagers’ private cars under the guidance of the local government.

　　On the morning of the 21st, the trapped Uncle Zhao and his wife boarded a private car, walked through the village road for three hours, arrived in Dujiangyan city at 12 noon, and finally got out of danger.

　　According to the Propaganda Department of Wenchuan County Committee, as of 2 am on the 21st, there were 6,200 tourists to be transferred in sanjiang town. At present, the transfer of tourists continues.

　　Kunming, August 26 (Xinhua) The reporter learned from the Forest Public Security Bureau of Jingdong County, Yunnan Province that a national second-class protected wild animal, the Chinese gazelle, recently broke into the homes of local farmers, and the farmers called the forest public security bureau for help.

　　On the 22nd, a "monster" suddenly broke into the home of a villager in Wenjing Town, Jingdong County. Its horns were like antlers, the head of a sheep, the hoof was like a cow’s hoof, and the tail was like a donkey’s tail, which was a realistic version of the "four unlike".

　　It strayed into the pigsty after a while in the yard. The villagers quickly shut it up and called the local forest public security bureau for help the next day.

　　The police of the Forest Public Security Bureau of Jingdong County rushed to the villagers’ homes. After careful identification, it was confirmed that the monster that broke into the farmhouse was named Chinese gazelle, which belongs to the national second-class protected wild animal. The police analyzed that it may be due to the heavy rain in the local area. After walking out of the nearby forest, the Chinese gazelle mistakenly broke into the villagers’ homes.

　　It is understood that the Chinese gazelle, also known as the Ming-bristle sheep, belongs to the family Bovidae and is a typical forest-dwelling animal. It is one of the typical animals in the tropical and subtropical regions of southeast Asia, and mainly lives in mixed coniferous and broadleaved forests, coniferous forests or rocky miscellaneous shrub forests at an altitude of 1,000-4,400 meters.

　　After careful examination, the police did not find that this Chinese gazelle was injured and aggressive, so it was judged that it had the ability to survive in the wild and was suitable for being released into nature. Subsequently, the police took this Chinese gazelle to a suitable location in the wild and released it to nature. (Miao Chao Zhou Wei)

　　CCTV News:According to the website of the Central Meteorological Observatory, the Central Meteorological Observatory continued to issue a yellow rainstorm warning at 10: 00 on September 6:

　　It is estimated that there will be heavy rains in parts of eastern and southern Fujian, central and eastern Guangdong, southeastern Hunan, southwestern Jiangxi and western Taiwan Province Island from 14: 00 on September 6 to 14: 00 on September 7. Among them, there will be heavy rains (100-220 mm) in parts of southeastern Fujian, northeastern Guangdong and southeastern coastal areas, and southwestern Jiangxi. Some of the above areas are accompanied by short-term heavy rainfall (the maximum hourly rainfall is 30 ~ 50 mm, and the local area can exceed 70 mm), and there are strong convective weather such as thunderstorms and strong winds.

　　Defense guide:

　　1, the government and relevant departments in accordance with their duties to do a good job of rainstorm prevention;

　　2. The traffic management department shall take traffic control measures in heavy rainfall sections according to the road conditions, and implement traffic guidance in waterlogged sections;

　　3, cut off the dangerous outdoor power supply in low-lying areas, suspend outdoor work in open places, and transfer people in dangerous areas and residents of dangerous houses to safe places to shelter from the rain;

　　4, check the city, farmland, fish pond drainage system, take the necessary drainage measures.

　

　　▲ The branch of the District Urban Management Bureau launched a party day activity with the theme of "My Regulations, I will learn" at Jianning Station.

　　3. Conduct a round of publicity and interpretation.

　　The Organization Department of the District Party Committee will invite relevant experts to make a centralized presentation and interpretation of the Regulations, and through study and discussion, promote the formation of a good situation in the whole region that attaches importance to strengthening the construction of grassroots party organizations.

　　In order to help party member understand the connotation of the Regulations more vividly, the Organization Department of the District Party Committee has put forward a diagram of the Regulations with the theme of "How to do the work of the Party branch" on platforms such as "Think Tank Cloud" and "Zhuzhou New District Release", which has been actively forwarded and studied by party member.

　　4, to carry out a round of special test.

　　Party organizations at all levels actively organize Party branch secretaries, Party building specialists and party member to carry out relevant testing activities, so as to test and promote learning, test learning achievements and consolidate learning knowledge.

　　The organization department of the district party Committee will take the specific provisions of the Regulations as the main content, and organize some party branch secretaries to conduct knowledge examinations.

　　At the same time, the Organization Department of the District Party Committee launched the online knowledge self-test activity of "the Communist Party of China (CPC) Branch Work Regulations (Trial)", mobilized all party member to participate, and carried out the activity of "drying out the report cards and coming to PK together" in all party branches, making learning more efficient and interesting.

　　One week after the activity was launched, more than 3,200 party member participated in the knowledge self-test, and the cumulative number of participants exceeded 16,000, which set off a "learning craze" in the whole region. By 12:00 noon on January 11th, 587 party member had got full marks in knowledge self-test, among which the fastest answer took only 22 seconds.

　　▲ The Party branch of the District Disabled Persons’ Federation prepares its own test papers for the party member competition.

　　▲ party member, the party branch of Sanmen Town, participated in the self-test of the "Regulations" knowledge.

　　5. Do a good job in a round of publicity and exchange.

　　On the basis of concentrated study, party member in the whole region earnestly conducted self-study and wrote his own experiences around the topics of "How to be a Party branch secretary" and "Learning the Regulations from ordinary party member".

　　At the same time, all party organizations have stepped up their efforts to publicize the Regulations and created a good atmosphere through public party affairs columns, electronic display screens, WeChat WeChat official account and the issuance of publicity materials.

　　▲ party member, Party Branch of Nantang Community, learned from writing the Regulations.

　　Through various forms of study, party member, the branch, said in succession: In the future, he will use the Regulations as a guide and beacon to guide his work, and strive to be an exemplary follower, a firm defender and a strong practitioner of the Regulations.

　　"The wood that hugs, born in the last minute, is a nine-story platform, starting from the foundation soil". Party member is also like a scrap of wood, the foundation of Taiwan. From convergence to solidity, it is necessary to set up the steel bars of party branches to support the building of Socialism with Chinese characteristics.