China’s Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft and Tiangong-2 space lab completed their first in-orbit refueling at 7:07 p.m. Thursday, another success of the Tianzhou-1 mission.

Mastering the technique of refueling in space will help the country to build a permanent space station.

China is the third country, besides Russia and the United States, to master refueling in space.

The in-orbit refueling, under control of technicians on Earth, takes about five days, as the propellant is transmitted from the cargo spacecraft to the space lab.

A second refueling in space will be conducted after the cargo ship’s second docking with the space lab in June, which aims to test the ability of the cargo ship to dock with the space station from different directions.

In the last docking, Tianzhou-1 will use fast-docking technology. Previously, it took China about two days to dock, while fast docking will take about six hours, according to Bai Mingsheng, chief designer of the cargo ship.

Tianzhou-1, China’s first cargo spacecraft, was launched on April 20 from Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan Province.

It completed its first automated docking with the orbiting Tiangong-2 space lab on April 22.

The Central Military Commission (CMC) sent a congratulatory letter to the staff of China’s manned space program on the success of the Tianzhou-1 mission, speaking highly of the contributions they have made to the country’s space industry.

“It means a lot in realizing our unremitting space dream, and will inspire us to break new ground,” the CMC said in the letter.

In 1992, the central authority approved a three-step manned space program, with the final step marking the ability to operate a permanent manned space station, which is planned to be put into orbit around 2022.

As the International Space Station is set to retire in 2024, the Chinese space station will offer a promising alternative, and China will be the only country with a permanent space station.

The number of Chinese rural migrant workers who worked outside their home provincial regions dropped last year amid government moves to encourage them to return home, according to data released Friday.

About 76.66 million rural people moved across provinces to work in towns and cities in 2016, down 1 percent year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report.

Cross-province workers accounted for 45.3 percent of all rural workers leaving their own hometowns to make a living, falling from a share of 45.9 percent in 2015.

The growth in migrant workers leaving their towns has seen a continuous decrease in the past six years, down from 3.4 percent in 2011 to just 0.3 percent in 2016, the report said.

The drop came amid government moves to encourage rural migrant workers to return to their hometowns and start businesses.

At the end of 2016, the number of rural migrant workers in China totaled 281.71 million, up 1.5 percent year on year.

China’s top legislature Thursday passed a revised surveying and mapping law, protecting geographic information security and raising public awareness of national territory.

The legislation was adopted after a second reading at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

Revisions deal with the use of safe, reliable technology and equipment, managing navigation and positioning reference stations and supervision of Internet mapping services.

The law will help protect the security of important national geographic information and boost the sound development of geographic information industry, said Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, at the closing meeting.

Raising awareness of national territory should be included in the curricula for primary and middle schools as it is an important part of patriotic education, according to the law.

In order to enable everyone to use maps that represent China’s territory correctly, the law states that regulations should be followed in formulating, publishing or exhibiting maps.

“The omission of sensitive information in maps breaks the integrity of national territory and harms national security and interests to some extent,” legislator Yue Zhongming told reporters at a press conference Thursday.

The law stipulates that Internet map providers should use maps that are legally authorized and protect the integrity of mapping data.

The revision has become more pressing as some extant clauses do not address current problems, such as the leakage of information of Internet map service users, due to new business models including bike-sharing services.

The bike-sharing system allows riders to locate the nearest bicycle through an interactive map in a mobile app, rent them by scanning a QR code on the bike, and leave them wherever they end their trip, with no need to return them to a fixed station.

According to the law, those responsible for the production and use of geographic information, as well as Internet mapping service providers, should abide by laws and regulations on personal information protection when they gather or use personal information.

Lawmakers called for intensified military-civilian integration in surveying and mapping activities to make better use of resources

Violators could face fines up to 1 million yuan (over 145,000 U.S. dollars) or have their business licenses revoked, and could face criminal charges. Foreign offenders may be deported.

The fine for those who release geological data without authorization about territory administered by the government will face fines of up to 500,000 yuan, compared with the current ceiling of 100,000 yuan.

The law was formulated in 1992 and amended for the first time 10 years later. The latest version will come into force on July 1.

China is willing to work with the United States to constructively manage risks and properly handle disagreements in order to propel mutual trust and seek more progress in promoting ties between the militaries, a Chinese defense ministry spokesman said Thursday.

Speaking to reporters at a regular press briefing, Yang Yujun expressed hopes that the U.S. military could make joint efforts with the Chinese side to “meet each other halfway and inject positive and constructive elements to Sino-U.S. ties, and contribute to world and regional peace and stability.”

Quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping who had just visited the United States earlier this month, Yang said military relations make up an important part of bilateral ties between China and the United States, adding that mutual trust in military and security areas forms the basis of strategic mutual trust between the two countries.

The Chinese military will resolutely implement the important consensus reached between Chinese and U.S. heads of states, Yang said.

It will work to maintain exchanges between the two militaries at all levels, bring into full play their dialogue and consultation mechanisms, carry out the annual exchange programs the two sides have agreed upon, and implement and improve the mutual reporting mechanism on major military operations and the code of safe conduct on naval and air military encounters, he said.

Peng Liyuan, the wife of President Xi Jinping, said the education of girls and women is a “noble and significant” pursuit.

Providing women and men with the same opportunities to reach their full potential is a key to promoting social development, gender equality and sustainable development of society, to which education plays a crucial role, Peng said.

Peng made the remarks during an exclusive interview with the UNESCO Courier magazine.

She was invited in 2014 to become the UNESCO special envoy for the advancement of girls’ and women’s education by Irina Bokova, the organization’s director-general.

Peng said she recognized both the great honor and immense responsibilities when Bokova gave her the special envoy certificate in March 2014 at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris.

“Education equality includes equality for opportunity, process and results. What we fight for is to make sure that women have the same opportunities to go to school as their male counterparts, that they are treated equally in education and that they have the same access to higher education, employment and social recognition as men do,” Peng said. “I would like to do whatever I can to reach this goal.”

Peng said she has visited many schools, institutions for the young, and organizations for women’s development in African and Asian countries during her more than two years of service as the special envoy. She hoped to get closer to the reality, learn from their wisdom and strength, and share experience.

The Chinese government has proposed and sponsored the establishment of the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education, for individuals and organizations that contribute to that goal. Last year, Peng and Bokova jointly presented the awards to two winners from Indonesia and Zimbabwe at the first official ceremony in Beijing.

Peng said the award is the first of its kind and by far the only one like it under UNESCO. It aims to encourage more people to devote themselves to the education of girls and women by rewarding individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions in the area.

Peng said it is a basic national education policy in China to promote education equality and grant everyone with equal access to education. China ensures girls’ and women’s right for education via various means, such as laws and regulations, financial aid and free food for students in poverty.

Women in China have made noticeable progress in self-choice and in personal development, Peng said.

Meanwhile, China is actively trying to spread international cooperation and aid in education. In 2015, Xi said at the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the United Nations headquarters in New York that the Chinese government will donate $10 million to the UN for the protection and enhancement of women’s rights.

The Chinese government also has set up funds and awards at UNESCO to support developing countries in promoting literacy campaigns and teachers’ training programs to facilitate education for girls and women.

Talking about teaching, Peng, who is a music professor, said a good teacher should be diligent and good at learning, should always have the drive and motivation for creativity, and should keep improving their abilities.

He or she should know how to use culture, aesthetics and arts to help students develop good personalities. They also should be an example for students to see what a kind and generous soul ought to be like, so the students can be better prepared for society, Peng said.

“I will carry out my duty as the special envoy to support UNESCO in improving education for girls and women all over the world. I will do whatever I can,” Peng said.