The IELTS test of English ability is no longer a must for Chinese students vying for top computer game institutes abroad thanks to new arrangements agreed with the Scottish regional government, according to a press briefing on Thursday in Beijing.

The rigid requirement for IELTS scores used to frighten many Chinese talented students away from prestigious universities abroad, said Wang Yuyun, president of Perfect World Education Investment Co. Ltd.

“Now, however, with an orientation program in China, which offers both English and computer games training courses, students can prepare for one of the world’s top postgraduate courses at Abertay University [Dundee], which, to some extent, bypasses the IELTS test requirement.”

Pixseed Institute of Digital Art, a state-of-the-art new learning space, is the brainchild of a cooperation agreement between Abertay University, the first one in the world to offer computer games degrees, and Perfect World, China’s online gaming giant. It was signed last December during the China-UK Creative Innovators Forum.

The five-month Master of Professional Practice in Games Development Orientation Programme (MPPOP) in Pixseed would provide Chinese students with the ideal preparation for entering Abertay, said Prof. Nigel Seaton, the university’s Principal and Vice-Chancellor.

“Pixseed is a fantastic resource and acts as a tangible marker of the growing collaboration between Abertay University and Perfect World, as well as reflecting the strength of collaboration between the United Kingdom and China in higher education,” he added.

The progress in internet and digital technologies in recent years has prompted the development of China’s digital cultural industry and created new business patterns, with industries like comics & animation-based games, digital movies, internet literature, internet music and online videos.

China’s game market has become the world’s largest, rising from some 10 billion yuan in 2007 to 160 billion yuan in 2016, a nearly 15-fold jump in a decade.

Figures from the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television also showed that China’s movie box office grossed 45.712 billion yuan in 2016, a 1,300 percent growth from 3.327 billion yuan in 2007.

The fast growth in the country’s digital cultural industry has caused huge demand for highly-qualified professionals. Surveys show China’s digital content production sector requires at least another 300,000 professionals by 2018.

Established on April 28, Pixseed is a talent incubator that focuses on digital art fields such as games, comics and animation, TV and movies to cultivate talents in design, research and development and management.

People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ground forces have been regrouped into 13 army corps from the previous 18, following a decision by the Central Military Commission (CMC), the Ministry of National Defense (MOD) confirmed on April 27.

“Their designations will be PLA Army No. 71, 72, 73 [up to] 82, and 83 Army Corps,” said Senior Colonel Yang Yujun, MOD spokesperson at a routine press conference.

The regrouping of army corps was an “integral remodeling of the army mobile combat troops,” and a key step forward in building a powerful and modern army, he said. “It represents a significant upgrade of the PLA from a military force based on sheer size to one based on high quality and efficiency.”

In the overall regrouping of all forms, a total of 84 corps-level units have been formed, including the afore mentioned 13 army corps.

Fabric artist Duan Yinkai (right) speaks to foreign guests who attended a meeting in Beijing on China’s poverty alleviation efforts on Thursday. [Photo/China Daily]

Foreign governmental and private representatives lauded China’s progress in poverty reduction as the International Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee hosted an event in Beijing showing how the country has done it.

The event, using the example of the CPC Yunnan provincial committee since 2012, attracted about 400 diplomats, foreign politicians and representatives of international organizations on Thursday.

“China’s tremendous success in lifting the majority of the underprivileged people out of poverty in over a little more than 30 years is a feat that is unparalleled and truly inspiring,” said Mark van den Boogaard, senior policy adviser for the United Nations Development Programme.

Van den Boogaard, who has recently returned from a research trip to Yunnan, said the country’s goal to pull all people out of poverty by 2020 is “ambitious” but “realistic”.

“From what we have seen in the north of Yunnan, under the leadership of the CPC, the Chinese authorities are clearly on the right track.” Van den Boogaard cited the “duel approach” of targeted poverty reduction and intervention on one hand, and the nation’s idea of leaving no one behind on the other.

Lennart Nilsson, counselor for agricultural affairs with the Swedish embassy, said the figures for China’s poverty relief are impressive.

“Yunnan province has a fantastic environment. It is also important for the authorities to preserve the ethnic culture and protect the environment during the poverty reduction process,” he said.

Song Tao, head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said at the event that the CPC is willing to share its experience in poverty reduction with the international community and help its neighbors and developing countries to explore their own ways to eradicate poverty.

“Facts have shown that the fundamental strategies by General Secretary Xi Jinping on targeted poverty alleviation are the golden key for China to realize its poverty eradication targets,” he said.

China lifted 55.6 million people out of poverty between 2013 and 2016.

However, more than 40 million still live in poverty, which means that in the coming four years, China would have to pull an average of 10 million people each year out of poverty to reach its target of eradicating poverty by 2020, according to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.

Chen Hao, secretary of the CPC Yunnan provincial committee, said provincial authorities have prioritized the preservation of the traditional culture of ethnic groups and the protection of the ecology and environment while reducing poverty. Yunnan’s environmental efforts are crucial since it is the source of a number of important national and international rivers, he said.

The province has managed to reduce its impoverished population from 8 million in 2012 to 3.6 million in 2016.

Oysters wreak havoc on Denmark’s seashore. [Photo/Weibo.com]

Danish people would never expect that the oyster crisis confronting their country may turn into a food-lovers’ bonanza in China. The European country’s dilemma may be the last thing Chinese people would ever understand as they see the abundance of seafood as a treat, rather than a problem.

The Danish Embassy published a story on Monday evening on its official Sina Weibo account, China’s twitter-like social network, about the problems for their country caused by an invasion of the exotic oysters. Chinese internet users enthusiastically responded with much discussion about ways to address the issue on Weibo, then WeChat, another popular social media network.

The embassy makes a small joke in the post to invite Chinese people to eat oysters in Denmark which triggered heated debate. Apparently, when it comes to eating, Chinese people are very serious and they already started to make plans for their oyster journey.

The most popular comment came from someone suggesting oyster visas should be issued “with 10 years’ unlimited round trips and one-month-long stay and I can eat up them all in five years” received over 10,000 likes. There are people even recommending visa-free and oyster immigration policies in China.

The oysters, known as Pacific oysters, are a new species in Denmark and have caused huge damage to the seashore’s ecological environment. Their proliferation is unstoppable since they have no natural enemies there. People have to get across them in shoes before swimming. What’s worse, their occupation leads to the endangerment of the Limfjord, a Danish local oyster.

Scientists and fishermen made numerous complaints to the nation’s conservation authority but the thorny issue remains unsolved. They also encouraged local people to bring them to their dining tables and few were motivated.

The Danish Embassy is very grateful for Chinese people’s innovative advice such as building oyster sauce factories and organizing oyster-dining journeys. It also said as long as China permits, they’d love to export oysters to China.

China’s top graft buster said on Thursday that 946 corrupt fugitives are still at large in foreign countries, and China hopes those nations will support its war against corruption.

Thursday’s disclosure was the first time China has released the exact number of corrupt fugitives abroad.

Of the 946, most of whom are corrupt officials, Chinese law enforcement officers have a good idea of where 365 are. But the whereabouts of the other 581 are unknown, according to the Communist Party of China’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

“These corrupt fugitives used illegal means to grab a large amount of public funds and escaped abroad to avoid punishment, which has seriously harmed people’s interests and undermined our credibility and social justice,” said Liu Jianchao, director of the CCDI’s International Cooperation Bureau.

“We hope the public will provide clues about the fugitives, as well as report corrupt officials who intend to flee,” he said.

Liu also called for countries harboring such fugitives to adhere to international conventions on fighting corruption and actively assist Chinese law enforcement authorities.

Feng Jingyou, a senior official in the CCDI’s International Cooperation Bureau, said China respects different legal systems in other countries, but hopes that such countries would not shelter corrupt Chinese fugitives, nor facilitate their asset transfers.

“We urge some individual countries－which have ignored the suspects’ corruption crimes and issued them visas under investment immigration policies in return for economic benefits－to tighten the management of visas and revoke the visas already issued,” Feng said.

Liu said the fugitives should return to China to confess their crimes and seek lenient punishment as soon as possible. “We have the resolve and ability to uphold the law, … and we’ll make every effort to bring them back to face justice, and never will allow them to get away with no legal penalty.”

In recent years, a large number of corrupt Chinese officials have escaped abroad, especially to the United States and Canada, because of a lack of extradition treaties and legal differences, Liu said. Some of them have obtained permanent residence in those countries, he said.

“We hope that overseas Chinese and foreign friends recognize the nature of these fugitives and expose them to drive them away,” Liu said.

China launched a massive crackdown on corruption in November 2012 and in 2014 started an operation called Sky Net to hunt for corrupt fugitives abroad.

In April 2015, Interpol issued “red notices”－requests to locate and provisionally arrest an individual pending repatriation－for the 100 most-wanted corrupt Chinese officials. So far, 40 have returned from more than 16 countries and regions, while half of the remaining fugitives are still on the run in Western countries, CCDI figures show.

On Thursday, the CCDI also made public detailed information about 22 high-profile Chinese fugitives, 15 of whom are in the US and Canada. The information included suspects’ photos, ID numbers, passport numbers, suspected crimes, the date they fled China and their suspected current location.

The 22 people are considered high priority cases because of the difficulty that Chinese law enforcement authorities have encountered in their attempts to locate and return them, according to the CCDI.