Currently, residents and tourists in the bay area have to switch to different cards if they want to take public transport services in the other cities. The Yangchengtong (L) smart card is now used by Guangdong residents who have to switch to an Octopus card when visiting Hong Kong. [Photo/VCG] Yangchengtong, a major electronic payment company in Guangzhou, is negotiating with its Hong Kong and Macao counterparts to introduce a smart card that will be used in all cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area before 2022. Residents in the bay area cities will be able to use just one smart card to enjoy all the public transport services, including buses and metro lines, in the nine cities in South China's Guangdong province and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions after the final deal is inked before 2022, said a statement released by Yangchengtong on Monday. It plans to better serve residents and tourists in the bay area in public transport services, the latest move to meet the growing demands in boosting exchanges and cooperation among the bay area cities in the future, the statement said. Currently, residents in these cities have to switch to different cards if they want to take public transport services in the other cities. The bay area includes the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in Guangdong, and Hong Kong and Macao. Insiders believe the exchanges and cooperation among the bay area cities will be accelerated and the flow of people will be further increased in the near future, and one smart card plan will help locals achieve smart travel and a smart life in the bay area. As of March 21, Yangchengtong had issued more than 88.56 million public traffic transport cards that are now being used in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong, and Foshan, reported 21st Century Business Herald on Tuesday. order rubber bracelets cheappaw print silicone bracelets1 inch wide silicone wristbandswristbands for eventssilicone wristband manufacturer
China unveils plan for pollution treatment in rural areas. [Photo/IC] BEIJING - China unveiled a plan on Thursday to resolve crucial environmental problems in rural areas to foster sound ecological environment. Jointly released by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the plan aims to facilitate green development, improve the ecological environment and strengthen environmental supervision in rural areas. The plan listed several measures of rural pollution control by 2020. It called for more efforts on drinking water protection in the countryside through accelerating research, monitoring and assessment of drinking water and identifying relevant reserves. Household garbage and wastewater should be treated to ensure a clean, neat and orderly countryside environment, said the plan. It is also required by the plan to reduce the use of chemical fertilizer and pesticide in farming and overall agricultural water consumption. Besides pollution control, the plan also advocated the improvement of agricultural waste recycling, environmental supervision and rural residents' participation of environmental protection.
