Rural development China has laid out its 2022 priorities for rural development, pledging concrete measures and great efforts to consolidate agriculture and advance rural vitalization amid challenges ahead. The annual central rural work conference, held from Saturday to Sunday in Beijing, analyzed current situations and tasks facing issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers and mapped out the plan for the next year. President Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on issues related to agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and delivered an important speech before the two-day conference. Second spacewalk Two Chinese astronauts, or taikonauts, at the country’s first space station started their second spacewalk on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Ye Guangfu went outside of the space station first, followed by Zhai Zhigang, while their teammate Wang Yaping remained inside to support their operations. Spacewalk, or technically extravehicular activity (EVA), is an operation in space in which astronauts get away from their spacecraft and perform tasks including repairing and installing external hardware. Number of examinees The country annual postgraduate entrance exam wrapped up on Sunday. A total of 4.57 million people participated in it, 800,000 more than last year. In fact, the number of candidates has been rising for some time. In December 2016, 2.01 million people took the exam – the first time it had passed the 2 million threshold. In 2019, that number passed the 3 million mark. Zhang Xuefeng, an experienced postgraduate entrance trainer and an online influencer in the education sector, said one of the biggest reasons for the increase is the competitive job market. “One reason for this is higher requirements in various industries. For example, in many big cities, junior and senior high school teachers are required to have a master’s degree, but this was not the case five years ago,” Zhang said. Students’ physical fitness The country’s students have shown gradual improvements in physical fitness as efforts have been made to ensure their time for physical activity, according to the Ministry of Education. According to data released by the ministry at a press conference last week, 33 percent of Chinese primary and middle school students were evaluated as “good” in physical fitness currently, compared to 26.5 percent in 2016. China has also seen downward trends in the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and in the incidence of vision impairment among students of various school ages in recent years, the ministry added. (SD-Agencies) | 