In January and February, multiple indicators in China's transportation industry achieved growth

According to the Ministry of Transport, in January and February, the overall operation of the transport sector started well, and major indicators such as passenger traffic, freight volume, and port cargo throughput all showed steady growth. Inter-regional passenger traffic reached 11.72 billion person-times, up by 11.9% year-on-year. From January to February, the national business freight volume was 7.66 billion tons, up by 7.3% year-on-year. The national port cargo throughput was 2.61 billion tons, up by 8.1% year-on-year; and the port container throughput was 49.51 million TEUs, up by 12.1% year-on-year.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China’s funding for 2023 is approximately RMB31.879 billion

In 2023, the National Natural Science Foundation of China received 318,306 applications for various types of scientific research projects from 2,401 host institutions, an increase of 11,368 or 3.7% compared to the previous year. After rigorous review, the foundation selected 52,547 projects from 1,572 institutions for funding, with a total funding amount (including co-funding) of approximately 31.879 billion yuan, successfully completing the annual funding task.

250 million people in China received medical assistance in 2023

China's total number of medical assistance recipients surged from 9.69 million in 2005 to 250 million in 2023, a roughly 25-fold increase, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration. In recent years, China's medical assistance has expanded from covering only low-income households and the destitute to include members of families on the brink of poverty, those being monitored for poverty, and patients with serious illnesses who have fallen into poverty due to medical costs.

Airlines nationwide will implement the Summer-Autumn Flight Schedule starting from June 31

From 00:00 on March 31 to October 26, China's civil aviation industry will implement the 2024 summer and autumn season flight schedule. During the new season, a total of 188 domestic and foreign airlines plan to schedule 122,000 weekly passenger and cargo flights, and the number of international passenger flights will continue to increase.

Xuelong and Xuelong 2 pass the equator and return to the Northern Hemisphere

“Xuelong” and “Xuelong2,” which carried out China's 40th Antarctic expedition, have successively crossed the equator and returned to the Northern Hemisphere. It is estimated that the “Xuelong” will leave for Qingdao in early April and open to the public. The “Xuelong2” will stop in Hong Kong and host events like open days for the public and scientific exchanges.

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• 记者日前从中国民航局了解到，截至2023年底，国内现有实名登记的无人驾驶航空器1.267 million，同比2022年增加32.2%，持无人机操控员执照194,000 people。