FAQ · Economy & Work 17

China's onshore oil resources are mostly located in the Northeast and in Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Shandong, and Henan provinces. High quality light oil has been found in the Pearl River estuary of the South China Sea, the Qaidam Basin in Qinghai, and the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang. Regarding natural gas, Sichuan accounts for almost half of the known reserves and production. Most of the rest of the country's natural gas is associated gas produced in the Northeast's major oil fields, especially the Daqing oilfield. Other gas deposits have been found in the Qaidam Basin, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, as well as offshore to the southwest of Hainan.

Some companies in China use various measures to incentivize employees to work overtime. For instance, they may reimburse taxi fares for staff members who remain at the office late into the night. This practice is often seen in the culture of overtime work within Chinese IT companies. Such environments typically focus on speed and cost reduction. These measures are used to encourage long working hours among the workforce.

Higher education institutions and universities have gained more freedom to allocate funds within their state-approved budgets. They can use income generated from tuition and technical or advisory services for their own development. This includes the ability to use such funds for collective welfare and bonuses. Additionally, universities can now manage funds allocated by the state for capital construction. They also have the authority to decide how financial aid from work units is utilized.

The government has remodeled vocational education to focus on obtaining employment and meeting the demand for high quality, skilled workers. Major projects include cultivating workers for modern manufacturing and service industries and training rural laborers moving to urban areas. Vocational education encompasses various institutions such as higher vocational schools, job-finding centers, and adult skills training institutes. To address skill shortages, efforts have been made to divert students from academic to technical education. This approach aims to reduce competition for university enrollment while providing necessary training for the modern economy.

The service sector in China includes various industries such as hotels, banks, cellphone providers, and spas. This sector is a key part of the new economy, which encompasses investment banks, restaurant chains, and airlines. In 2014, the service industry increased to represent 44.6 per cent of the economy. During the first half of 2015, the GDP among services rose 8.4 per cent. This growth rate was approximately 2 1/2 times the growth rate seen in the primary or extractive sector.

There have been significant concerns regarding the conversion of protective shelter forests into vineyards in the Dunhuang region. Reports indicate that large areas of forest, part of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program, were cleared for agricultural purposes. This deforestation has reportedly weakened the area's defense against desertification. As a result, sand and dust from the Kumtag Desert can blow more easily into Dunhuang. These land use changes have led to legal actions and intense public debate regarding ecological mismanagement.

Shanghai hosts several significant Economic and Technological Development Zones including the Baoshan Industrial Zone and the Caohejing Export Processing Zone. The Caohejing Hi-Tech Park specializes in advanced fields such as computer software, microelectronics, and bioengineering. Another major area is the Caohejing Pujiang Hi-Tech Park, which focuses on aeronautics, new energy, and modern media. Additionally, the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park was established to host multinational companies producing polymers and other chemicals. These zones play a vital role in the city's technological and industrial landscape.

Business taxes in China date back to the Zhou dynasty. During the Han dynasty, a form of business tax called min qian was collected from merchants, businessmen, and handicraftsmen. Later, in 9 CE, the Xin dynasty established an income tax of 10% on net earnings from various activities including handicrafts and trading. Under this system, people were required to report their taxes to the government for auditing by officials. Evading these taxes carried severe penalties such as hard labor and the confiscation of all property.

In China, you have a legal right to ask for a fa piao, which is a sales invoice issued by the taxation department. It is against the law for a business owner to refuse to provide this document to you. You should be aware that scammers will generally refuse to give you one because it serves as legal evidence of their extortionate prices. Always remember that this receipt is your official proof of transaction. If you encounter issues, you can report scams to the police by calling 110.

China has utilized a sophisticated system known as sizhu jiesuan since the Tang dynasty. During the Song dynasty, this method was adopted as the standard procedure for government offices. By the mid-15th century, a combination of single and double-entry bookkeeping called sanjiao zhang was introduced. Later, the refined longmen zhang system emerged among bankers and spread to other commercial sectors. This dragon-gate bookkeeping utilized double-entry methods for all transactions by classifying operations into income, expenditure, receivables, and payables.

Healthcare in China is primarily provided by state-owned hospitals with insurance administered by local governments. Medical insurance is divided into two main categories which are employee insurance and resident insurance. Employee insurance covers the urban employed population while resident insurance covers the rural and urban non-employed populations. Public health insurance generally covers about half of medical costs, though this proportion can be lower for chronic or serious illnesses. Additionally, there are policies for critical illness insurance and a growing market for commercial health insurance. The country also maintains two parallel medical systems for Western medicine and Traditional Chinese medicine.

China produces almost all of its own food and non-soybean livestock feed as of 2022. Agricultural production has increased significantly since the adoption of the socialist market economy. However, arable land is particularly scarce, with little more than 10 percent of the total land area being cultivable. Most of this land is located in the eastern third of the country. Food security remains a prominent concern due to factors like droughts. Approximately 40 percent of the workforce is engaged in farming as of 2023.

In China, you have a legal right to ask for a fa piao, which is a sales invoice issued by the taxation department. It is against the law for a business owner to refuse to provide this to you. Scammers will generally refuse to give you one because it serves as legal evidence of their extortionate prices. If you find yourself being scammed, you should call 110 and report the incident immediately. Being aware of your rights regarding these official invoices can help protect you during transactions.

China is introducing new measures to make departure tax refund services more digital and convenient for overseas visitors. These measures enable the electronic transfer of tax refund applications and sales invoices to support paperless processing. Participating stores can upload valid identification documents to allow refund agencies to review documents online. At the point of departure, agencies will verify identity information and process refunds according to existing regulations. Additionally, pilot services for online stores are being promoted alongside a nationwide service code for checking refund details online.

The provided information does not mention any specific holidays or closures occurring in August. Major holiday periods in China include the Chinese New Year, which occurs in January or February, and the two Golden Weeks in early May and October. During these specific times, demand for travel tickets increases dramatically. Travelers should be aware that these major holidays cause significant shifts in transport demand. There is no mention of August-specific holiday impacts in the current records.

The provided information does not mention any specific surcharges related to public holidays. Taxi fares are determined by the government and are based on distance travelled and waiting time measured by a meter. Standard surcharges include luggage, tolled tunnels and bridges, and telephone-arranged ordering. A fare table must be clearly displayed inside the taxi by law. There is no mention of holiday-specific pricing in the available records.

In Xinjiang, Beijing Time and Xinjiang Time, also called Ürümqi Time, are used side by side, and Xinjiang Time is UTC+06:00, two hours behind Beijing. Stores and offices are commonly open from 10:00 to 19:00 Beijing Time, equal to 08:00 to 17:00 Ürümqi Time, and people who follow Beijing Time there usually begin daily activities two hours later than in eastern China. In most areas, local authorities also shift the morning session 30 to 60 minutes earlier and the afternoon session 30 minutes later. That change extends the lunch break to 60 to 90 minutes so workers can avoid the intense noon heat in summer. Because both standards coexist, a time mentioned between Han and Uyghur speakers must be labeled as Xinjiang Time or Beijing Time, or converted, and Xinjiang Television uses Beijing Time on its Chinese channel but Xinjiang Time on its Uyghur and Kazakh channels.