Cross-Straits ties A mainland spokesperson said on Sunday the mainland will continue to enhance solidarity with Taiwan compatriots and follow a path of peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. “We have noticed the results of the elections,” said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, adding that the results reflected the strong will of the public in Taiwan in sharing the benefits of the peaceful development across the Taiwan Straits, and desires to improve the island’s economy and people’s well-being. Smartphone ban All elementary and middle school students in Xiangtan, a city in Central China’s Hunan Province, are forbidden from using smartphones and personal tablets at school, in a bid to prevent students from vision loss and being subject to harmful information. The regulation, published by the education bureau in Xiangtan, has sparked huge controversy. The provision* bans primary and middle school students around the city from using cell phones and tablets at school. And the overall usage time of smart electronic products should be controlled strictly and limited to less than half an hour per day, pearvideo.com reported on Friday. HIV/AIDS rate Around every nine in 10,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in China, a low rate compared to other countries, according to the National Health Commission. Sexual intercourse is the main channel for contracting HIV in China, the health authority told a press release on Friday. However, China has essentially prevented the spread of HIV through blood transfusions, with nearly zero cases of infection recorded through this channel and through using other blood products. Female tourists Women are showing a stronger interest in traveling overseas without using a travel agent compared to their male peers as the outbound tourism market burgeons* in China, a newly released travel report found. Females made up about 46 percent of total independent overseas tourists in 2016, while the number climbed to 58 percent in the first three quarters of this year, according to an industry report. (SD-Agencies) | 