Friday - December 26

Smartphone sales expected to drop

Smartphone shipment growth in China will plummet by more than half to 7.8 percent next year, the first single-digit level since 2009, according to an industry report.

A declining base of first-time buyers will be the major reason, and future sales will be driven by the replacement market, research firm International Data Corp said.

The estimated growth rate for 2014 is 19.9 percent, the report said, with 420 million units likely to be shipped.

Despite the slowing growth, IDC said China will continue to lead the global smartphone market in total shipments. The Chinese market is nearly three times bigger than the runner-up, the United States, in terms of shipments, it said. (Photo 1)

More than 13 million new jobs for 2014

More than 13 million new jobs were expected to be created in China in 2014, despite slowing economic growth, said a senior official.

China's registered urban jobless rate will remain at a "relatively low" level, Yin Weimin, China's human resources and social security minister, said at a work conference, without giving a specific figure.

The new jobs numbers will beat the government's full-year target of at least 10 million jobs. China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.4 percent year on year in the first three quarters.

At the end of September, China's urban registered jobless rate stood at 4.07 percent, lower than the annual employment control rate of 4.6 percent targeted by the government. China added 10.82 million jobs in the first nine months.

Monday - December 29

Deals sought with US, Australia on illegal assets

China will strengthen financial intelligence exchanges with the United States and Australia to track corrupt Chinese officials' illegal assets and fight money laundering, a senior official from the Ministry of Justice said.

The People's Bank of China is in discussions with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a bureau under the US Treasury Department that monitors financial transactions to fight crime, said Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director-general of the ministry's legal assistance and foreign affairs department. Preparations are being made for a bilateral agreement to target assets that Chinese suspects hold overseas, Zhang told China Daily.

The central bank will also sign a similar agreement with the Australian Financial Intelligence Unit.

More Chinese expected to attend US high schools

The number of young Chinese going to the United States to attend high school in 2015 is expected to increase even as competition for admissions gets increasingly fiercer.

Nearly 27,000 Chinese students were attending US high schools in the 2012-2013 term, up from about 22,000 the year before.

Li Fengna, deputy director of the US department of Chivast Education International, an overseas study consultancy in China, said there are two main reasons why more Chinese students will continue to head to the US: "Some parents believe that there will be greater opportunities for their children to be admitted by prestigious US universities if the children start receiving education in the US at early ages Others think that test-oriented education in domestic high schools is obliterating children's talent and personality."

Tuesday - December 30

Subsidies for 'green' vehicles extended to 2020

China will extend current subsidies for new energy "green" vehicles from 2015 to 2020, according to published draft rules.

The move is aimed at fighting severe pollution and snarling traffic, and is expected to be a boon to firms such as Warren Buffett-backed BYD Co Ltd, the country's biggest maker of electric vehicles.

Production of green vehicles in China jumped five-fold during the first 11 months of 2014 compared with 2013, but the industry still lags on Beijing's goal of putting 5 million new energy vehicles on Chinese roads by 2020.

Subsidies will be granted to buyers of pure electric, highly electrified plug-in hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, , according to the rules posted on the Ministry of Finance's website.

Alipay to offer loans for online shoppers

A financial affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd is launching a consumer financing service that allows shoppers to pay for online purchases the month after delivery.

Called huabei (just spend), it offers loans of 1,000 yuan ($161) to 30,000 yuan. It is intended to improve the experience of online shopping, said Ant Financial Services, the affiliate, in a statement.

Those who shop on the company's Taobao and Tmall platforms can use the service and repay their loans by the 10th of the month following delivery.

The service is only open to a limited number of active Alipay users at this stage. Ant Financial said that the official launch has not been confirmed yet.

The loans will be provided by a unit of Ant Financial.

Wednesday - December 31

China's two railway giants merge

China's two railway vehicle manufacturers, CNR Corp and CSR Corp will merge into one conglomerate.

Over the last three years, CNR and CSR often found themselves competing against each other for overseas orders. Though the Chinese train makers were rarely underbid by competitors from Germany, France, Canada and Japan, they often had to battle each other with lower prices to win international contracts.

CSR and CNR together once controlled China's entire high-speed rail market. They have produced about 80 percent of cargo trains in China and the majority of subway trains.

CSR will issue shares to CNR's shareholders to complete the merger. The new company, which will inherit all the assets, liabilities, businesses, staff, contracts, certificates as well as all other rights and obligations of the two companies, will be named CRRC Corp Ltd. (Photo 4)

Beijing starts trial runs for new subway lines

Trial operations have started for four new subway lines in the capital city, the latest effort to ease traffic jams.

The new lines have increased the total subway length of Beijing to 527 kilometers (327 miles).

The new lines are more passenger friendly, said Xu Chengyong, who is in charge of Beijing subway construction with the Beijing Urban Construction Design & Development Group. Xu said the new lines will provide more convenient transfer channels and room for passengers.

The city's subway system carries approximately 10 million passengers daily on workdays. By 2015, the number of subway lines in Beijing will reach 19. By 2020, the total subway length is expected to have increased to 1,000 km.

Thursday - January 1

Court upholds biggest pollution fine ever

China has imposed its biggest fine ever for pollution.

The Jiangsu provincial high court ordered six chemical and pharmaceutical companies to pay 160 million yuan ($26 million) for discharging waste chemicals into rivers. The court upheld a guilty verdict against the companies, finding they discharged 25,000 tons of waste acid into two rivers.

A public interest group, the Taizhou City Environmental Protection Association, had brought suit against the chemical and pharmaceutical companies.

China is under intense pressure to clean up its contaminated environment and earlier this year launched an environmental high court overseeing litigation in lower courts.

Xiaomi expanding home-products line

Xiaomi Corp is working on a water purifier as it expands its range of home products that can be controlled through the Internet.

The company has shown some backers a prototype of the new purifier, said Jenny Lee, managing partner at GGV Capital, an early investor in China's largest smartphone vendor. Xiaomi spokeswoman Joy Han declined to comment on products that have not been announced.

Xiaomi said on Monday that its valuation rose to $45 billion, following a $1.1 billion funding round that included investors such as billionaire Yuri Milner's DST, Singapore's GIC Pte and All-Stars Investment Ltd. Belief in Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun's ability to push from smartphones into home electronics was one reason investors valued the Beijing-based company so highly, Lee said. (Photo 5)

Actors perform the Hebei Clapper Opera, a traditional Chinese opera, at China's National Centre for the Performing Arts. The annual gala evening for traditional Chinese opera was staged to celebrate 2015. Pang Xinglei / Xinhua

People in Beijing's Olympic Park on New Year's Eve play at the "Ice and Snow World", which is promoting China's bid for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Zou Hong / China Daily

(China Daily USA 01/02/2015 page8)