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"The U.S. Department of Defense's latest assessment of the Chinese military provided new detail on China's land reclamation efforts on several of the islets that it occupies in the South China Sea.  These include Fiery Cross Reef, Gaven Reef, Johnson South Reef, Mischief Reef, and Subi Reef in the Spratly archipelago.  By December 2014, the report estimated that China had reclaimed as much as 500 acres of new land, creating full-fledged islands where only coral reefs or sand spits existed before.  Since then, China has only accelerated its efforts, expanding the total land area that it has reclaimed to 2,000 acres and building military facilities, ports, and at least one airstrip on the islands."

"China has fined popular film director Zhang Yimou more than one million dollars for violating the country's one-child policy. The director, who said he has three children, has 30 days to pay 7.5m yuan ($1.2m, £729,000), state media say."

" China has announced plans to expand its cities and improve public services to support economic growth by allowing millions more rural residents to migrate to urban jobs. The Cabinet plan issued Sunday calls for raising the share of China's population of almost 1.4 billion people living in cities to 60% from 53.7% now, a shift of about 90 million people."

"Outside Chengdu, in central China, a 78 million square foot site has been determined for an unconventional sort of construction project. It will be a city built from scratch, for 80,000 people, none of whom will need a car to get around. Click here to see the master plan > The "Great City" is a plan for an ambitious urban center designed to limit its residents environmental impact by producing clean energy, reducing waste, and promoting public transportation over individual car use."

"China will loosen its stringent regulations on urban residency to allow more people to enjoy public services such as housing, education and healthcare beginning next year."