China expects a good harvest of summer crops as a slew of agricultural measures have overcome unfavorable weather conditions, the Ministry of Agriculture said Monday.

Over 70 percent of China’s summer grain has been harvested, according to the ministry.

The ministry said the good harvest was due to proper adjustment of the grain-growing pattern, improved production quality and application of green and high-yield technology.

In addition, the government has kept stable wheat purchasing prices to protect farmers’ income and interests. Disaster prevention measures have also been put in place to ensure a good harvest, according to the ministry.

Nobel laureate in economics Thomas J. Sargent has been tapped to head a Chinese university institute to conduct teaching and research on economics including the use of artificial intelligence and big data in financial analysis.

The Sargent Institute of Quantitative Economics and Finance was set up at the Peking University HSBC Business School (PHBS) in the southern Chinese economic hub of Shenzhen, said PHBS Dean Hai Wen.

He said with the institute the school will start offering a Ph.D. program in quantitative economics and a Master’s program in finance specialized in financial technology.

Sargent, an American economist, was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics for his empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy. He teaches at New York University.

Hai said Sargent will be personally involved in the new Ph.D. program, teaching the course of advanced macroeconomics. The institute will also host a number of summer and winter projects to encourage wide participation of students in the financial research and academic debates.

Hai said the Sargent institute, among other researches, will study the use of artificial intelligence and big data in quantitative investing, asset pricing, and other financial analysis.

It will partner Shenzhen-based financial institutes and firms to provide them with tools to make better investment strategies.

China’s national observatory on Monday issued a blue alert for typhoon Merbok, which is expected to hit the southern Guangdong Province on Monday night.

At 8 a.m. Monday, the eye of Merbok, this year’s second typhoon, was above the South China Sea some 295 km to the south of Shenzhen, packing winds of up to 20 meters per second, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement.

The NMC forecast that Merbok would move northwestward at a speed of 20 km per hour toward Guangdong and make landfall on the coast between Zhuhai and Shantou on Monday night.

But the center expected the typhoon to weaken gradually after its landfall.

From Monday to Tuesday, parts of South China Sea and the eastern coast of Guangdong will experience strong winds, while storms with up to 180 mm of precipitation are expected to affect parts of southeast Guangdong.

The NMC suggested local governments take precautions against possible geological disasters, and ships in affected areas should go back to ports.

China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.