Yang Weimin, deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs, answers questions from journalists at the news conference, on Oct 26, 2017. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily] China will not set a target to double its gross domestic product from 2021 on, and it will put more emphasis on quality of growth, a senior official said on Thursday.

Analysts said the country will deepen its supply-side structural reform, promote employment, increase incomes and strengthen environmental protection to improve the quality of economic development.

"China's main social contradiction has changed and its economic development is moving to a stage of high-quality growth from a high-rate of expansion of the GDP," said Yang Weimin, deputy head of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs. "The biggest problem facing us now ... is the inadequate quality of development," he said at a news conference.

In a speech at the start of the key National Congress of the Communist Party of China on Oct 18, Xi Jinping, CPC Central Committee general secretary, said China would deepen economic reforms as it transitions from high-speed to high-quality growth.

China has put forward a target of doubling its GDP and per capita income in the decade leading up to 2020. Chances are good it will meet that target based on the current rate of growth. Economists estimate an annual GDP growth of 6.3 percent is needed in the coming three years to meet the goal. GDP growth is widely expected to come close to 7 percent this year.

"It is not that we will no longer pursue (high) growth rates," Yang said. "What we want is ... to make efforts to solve the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development."

Analysts said that by prioritizing quality, China is set to deepen structural reforms, promote the job market, raise people's incomes and enhance environmental protection to try to make growth more sustainable.

"President Xi's opening speech at the 19th CPC National Congress was notable for the focus placed on quality and equality of development over the coming years, rather than specific growth targets," economists at UBS financial services group said in a research note.

"The supply-side reforms will be deepened and implemented further," said a research note from Nomura financial group.

The UBS economists expected China to implement tougher environmental regulations through production cuts and capacity closures this winter and push for faster State-owned enterprise consolidation and mixed-ownership reform next year.

A China-made tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells is put into commercial operation in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province, Oct 26, 2017. [Photo/Chinanews.com] SHIJIAZHUANG -- A China-made tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells was put into commercial operation Thursday in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province.

It is the first commercial hydrogen-powered tram in the world and made by China Railway Rolling Corporation (CRRC) Tangshan Co Ltd.

With water being its only emission, the tram emits no pollutants. No nitrogen oxides will be produced as the temperature of the reaction inside hydrogen fuel cells is controlled under 100 degrees Celsius.

The distance between carriage floor of the tram and the rail is only 35 centimeters thanks to the latest low-floor technology, which can remove station platforms and thus making boarding easy for passengers.

It can be refilled with hydrogen in 15 minutes and can run for 40 km at a maximum speed of 70 km per hour.

The tram operates on a 136-year-old railway in Tangshan city, one of China's earliest industrial cities, and links several of its industrial heritage sites.

A China-made tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells is put into commercial operation in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province, Oct 26, 2017.[Photo/Chinanews.com]

The inside of a China-made tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which is put into commercial operation in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province, Oct 26, 2017.[Photo/Chinanews.com]

A China-made tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells is put into commercial operation in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province, Oct 26, 2017.[Photo/Chinanews.com]

Passengers are seen in a China-made tram powered by hydrogen fuel cells that is put into commercial operation in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province, Oct 26, 2017.[Photo/Chinanews.com]

A mobile phone user uses the taxi-hailing and car-service app Didi Chuxing, Feb 22, 2015. [Photo/IC]

The Chinese ride-share giant Didi Chuxing is expected to reach the Russian market soon, said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund at the Future Investment Plan Forum held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dmitriev revealed the Russian-Chinese Investment Fund, a private equity fund formed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corporation, invested in Didi Chuxing as early as November last year, but didn't indicate the amount of investment.

"Sovereign fund has a lot of opportunities to invest in technology companies such as China's car-hailing service provider Didi, which we have invested in. We expect Didi will land in the Russian market soon, " Dmitriev said, according to a report by Sina citing Russian media Sputnik.

Didi Chuxing covers about 400 million users in more than 400 Chinese cities, accounting for 80 percent of China's private car-hailing market and 99 percent of the taxi preorder market, as reported by Sina.

The company completed a financing round of over $5.5 billion at the end of April to support its global strategy and continued investments in artificial intelligence, according to the official website of Didi Chuxing.

Didi intends to continue to work with global communities and partners to offer more innovative mobility services, and expand smart urban transportation programs to build an efficient and sustainable global mobility ecosystem, Xinhua reported, citing a statement by the company.

Didi has entered markets in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Brazil in partnership with local companies as a strategic move to intensify its overseas markets, according to the company's website. The company also launched Didi Labs in Mountain View, California earlier this year to attract more talent and explore new investment opportunities.

The Russian-Chinese Investment Fund was established by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corporation in 2012 and it was aimed to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation between China and Russia and realize profitable returns after risk adjustment.

Trainees learn to fly drones at DJI Innovation's unmanned aerial systems training center. [Photo provided to China Daily]

An array of organizations are swarming into the UAV training sector as demand for operators soars

Xu Li decided to go back to school so he could nearly triple his salary as a drone operator.

The 24-year-old engineer at a security monitoring company now earns about 200,000 yuan ($30,200) annually by taking photographs from unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs.

"After the training, I joined a local culture creativity company as an aerial photographer on a part-time basis," said Xu, who lives in Hubei province.

"I now take advertising photos for real estate companies," he added after graduating from DJI Innovation Technology Co's unmanned aerial systems training center or UTC.

Xu's passion for aerial photography comes at a time when China's authorities have tightened regulations regarding the use of commercial drones.

In May, the Civil Aviation Administration of China announced that commercial UAVs weighing more than 250 grams had to be registered under the owner's real name from June 1.

Tightening regulations were part of a move to improve civil aviation safety after a series of incidents involving low-flying drones in restricted areas around major Chinese airports this year.

Since 2015, the civil UAV industry has taken off and is expected to grow to 11 billion yuan in 2018, a report released by Analysys International, a consultancy in Beijing, revealed.

Up to 390,000 commercial drones were in operation last year in a range of sectors, including mineral exploration, traffic administration, disaster surveillance and agriculture.

Licensing UAV operators, or pilots, has become a priority, fueling demand for training schools with a variety of organizations springing up.

Last year, DJI established its UTC program in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai, as well as another 60 cities.

The country's largest commercial drone manufacturer accounts for almost 70 percent of market share worldwide with Europe and North America its biggest customers.

Founded in 2006, Shenzhen-based DJI has been a remarkable success story.

"In the past 10 years we were always thinking about how to optimize the operational experience of drones and never stopped updating the products in either their appearance or function," said Frank Wang, founder and CEO of the company.

"We hope users can tell an aerial photography story in an unprecedented way."

At its UTC centers, budding "pilots" undergo customized flight education and training for various industries, with safety procedures a crucial part of the program.

"We have more than 200 professional instructors across the country," said Zhu Linrui, deputy general manager of UTC.

"Seventy-four branch schools have been built and 6,500 drone operators were trained during the past year, which contributes greatly to the industrial application of UAVs," he added.

Training courses include aerial photography and filmmaking, agriculture, security, and surveying and mapping.

Each program consists of theoretical knowledge, flight operations and industrial applications, while costs range from 1,980 yuan to about 10,000 yuan.

Prices tend to vary depending on drone types and the length of individual courses, which are usually between four to 10 days.

UTC also operates with two independent partners, the General Aviation Committee of the China Air Transportation Association and the Aviation Service Education and Training Committee of China Adult Education Association.

They conduct tests and certify trainees following graduation.

"After that, graduates can work in various industries such as agriculture, aerial photography, filmmaking or security work," Zhu said.

"With the rapid development of drone technologies, training has become a vital part of the industrial chain," he added.

Data from research firm International Data Corp, or IDC, showed camera UAV shipments in China are expected to rise to three million units by 2019, compared to around 390,000 last year.

Naturally, salary packages for drone operators are rising. They can reach 30,000 yuan a month, according to media reports, while specialized operators of sophisticated, industry-level UAVs can pull in up to 15,000 yuan a day.

"The drone industry is an emerging sector," Zhu said. "We need the right teachers to improve operational standards. We must bring them along."

Graduate Xu admitted the program changed his life.

Now, he can earn 5,000 yuan for one shoot. "I have been invited to photograph many events, such as marathons," he said.

In response to the rapid development of the UAV industry, universities have rolled out departments and courses related to the sector.

Beihang University, previously known as Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, has already established an unmanned aircraft systems and engineering department, with an emphasis on scientific research and management.

Other educational institutions, such as Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) and Northwestern Polytechnical University, have set up similar departments or courses.

Indeed, NUAA has devoted millions of dollars to support drone research and encourage students to participate in UAV-related competitions.

"The majority of training schools focus on industry-level drones, which have a higher demand when it comes to technology," said Pan Xuefei, a senior analyst at IDC.

But then establishing specialized training schools will be beneficial in developing the industry, she added, pointing out that the sector has a bright future.

Photo taken on Sept 26, 2014 shows a real estate under construction in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province. The sales of commercial housing in Zhejiang province have slumped by 19.5 percent in the first three quarters of 2014, according to the data issued by the provincial statistics authority. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - China will launch a nationwide inspection on sale prices of commercial property in its latest effort to standardize the country's property market.

From Oct 30 to Nov 30, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the National Development and Reform Commission will jointly inspect irregularities of real estate developers and agents on commercial property sales.

Irregularities include fabricating information on housing sales, publishing fake advertisements and artificially inflating housing prices, market manipulation and hoarding unsold homes, according to a notice released by the two departments.

Irregularities will be punished severely and typical cases will be exposed publicly to ensure effectiveness of the inspection, according to the notice.

China's property market continued to cool as home prices faltered or posted slower growth in major cities amid tough policies to curb speculation.

Of 70 cities surveyed, home prices in 44 cities rose month on month in September, compared with 46 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The Chinese authorities have constantly reiterated that "houses are built for living in, not speculation," and analysts expect housing controls to last for the rest of the year at least.

Authorities are studying a "long-term mechanism" for real estate regulation and advancing legislative work on the development of the home rental market.

[Photo/VCG] China's e-commerce platforms have announced their promotional policies before the annual shopping spree on Nov 11, known as "Singles Day".

On Tuesday, Chinese online shopping mall Gome released a campaign that encourages customers to create their own online shops to help the company sell products on its shopping app.

Gome will provide more than 1,000 products to these people as well as will give them a total of 300 million yuan ($45.23 million) in commissions, according to a campaign representative at the company.

Gome's rivals, including Suning, JD.com, and Tmall, previously pushed out their operations to increase interaction with customers.

Online shopping platform JD has cooperated with tech giant Tencent to publish a program utilizing big data to help offline retailers increase sales during the upcoming shopping event.

Retail group Suning provides similar privileges to customers, no matter whether they buy goods at its online platform or offline shops. In addition, the company has launched a "big data sharing" program that will optimize data sharing with factories at every level of the supply chain, the Beijing Morning Post said, quoting Hou Enlong, president of Suning's e-commerce platform.

Gome also promised customers the same products with the same prices and quality at its offline stores and online markets.

As initiator of the shopping carnival, Tmall announced its pre-sell scheme early — last Thursday.

However, some customers complained on social platforms, saying the pre-sell scheme is too complex to understand.

"I need to re-study mathematics and reading skills to figure out Tmall's special offers this year", said one self-deprecating customer.

A poster shows Tencent's online reading platform at an expo holds in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 13, 2016. [Photo/IC]

China Literature Ltd, an online publishing and e-book company that was split from Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent, launched its road show for an IPO (initial public offering) in Hong Kong on Monday.

The move is expected to raise $1.1 billion, news agency Reuters said.

The company plans to issue 151 million shares at between HK$48 ($6.15) and HK$55 ($7.05) per share, news media Securities Times citing China Literature's files, said. The joint sponsors of the issuance are Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse.

After it is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Nov 8, China Literature's shares will be the most expensive new entry in the market this year, Securities Times said.

The capital will be used to expand its online reading businesses and marketing campaigns as well as invest in entertainment products developed on online novels.

Currently, Tencent holds 65.38 percent of China Literature's shares, while private equity firms Carlyle Group, 12.2 percent, and Trustbridge Partners, 6 percent, and others own the rest.

According to Securities Times, Tencent will seek to hold at least 50 percent of China Literature's shares after the company goes public next month.

As China's largest online literature-focused company, China Literature has more than eight well-known online literature websites in the country, and cooperates with 6.4 million authors to manage their 9.6 million works.

In the first half of this year, the company's revenue increased 92.5 percent to 1.9 billion yuan ($287 million), compared with the same period of last year, and its profit was 214 million yuan in the same time, according to China Literature's financial report.

However, the company warned investors in its prospectus that although the company runs many online websites, not all of them have official license that allows publishers to run online literature services.

Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike announced on Oct 20, 2017, it had signed a contract with the CCPIT Beijing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese bike-sharing company Mobike announced on Friday it had signed a contract with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Beijing Sub-council, as part of its efforts to enter the global bike-sharing market.

CCPIT Beijing said it will build a bridge for Mobike to work with local governments worldwide, through its relationships with international chambers of commerce. Mobike will promote its experience in technological innovation, big data analysis and urban traffic management internationally, with CCPIT Beijing's assistance via its global platforms.

Wang Xiaofeng, founder of Mobike, said that the company has been committed to innovating its business model, product and technology. Focusing on facilitating public travel and traffic planning, Mobike will pave its way to entering the global market, Wang added.

"With the support of CCPIT Beijing, we will accelerate our global strategy, striving to launch our bikes in more than 200 global cities in total by the end of 2017. By then, our intelligent platform will accelerate efforts to benefit other countries," Wang said.

Lin Bin, deputy director of CCPIT Beijing, said that the sub-council has built up business ties with a large number of well-known companies, but this is the first time it has cooperated with an innovation-driven company such as Mobike.

"We saw the power of innovation in Mobike and we are very happy to work with them. We will treasure this cooperation and will work together to develop China's Belt and Road Initiative and going-out strategies, making contributions to China's opening-up strategy and the globalization of outstanding companies in Beijing."

Since launching two years ago, Mobike has placed 7 million shared bikes in more than 180 foreign cities in nine countries. With more than 200 million registered users and 30 million rides per day, the company has become a major mobile app-based travel platform.

Mobike can monitor every bike connected to its platform through its internet-based and big data technologies, which is highly convenient for urban traffic managers. Hundreds of variables that influence traffic flows — such as the time, location, weather conditions — can be mined and analyzed from the data collected through its platform.

Mobike was founded in 2015 in Beijing, kicking off its first bike-sharing program in Shanghai in 2016. After that, the company promoted its shared bikes around China and foreign countries including Singapore and the United Kingdom. In June 2017, it was awarded the World Wildlife Fund's Climate Solver Sustainable Urban Mobility Special Award, in recognition of the impact of its innovative technology and promotion of sustainable transportation.

At present, CCPIT Beijing has established business ties with 192 chambers of commerce in 80 countries. It has also built up multilateral platforms, including the Beijing International Conference of Friendly Chambers of Commerce.

It was founded in 1978 under the support of the Beijing municipal government, to serve an array of different purposes, ranging from promoting foreign trade, exchanging advanced technologies and boosting economic cooperation. It now has 4,000 member organizations scattered across 14 Beijing counties and districts. Its staff members include representatives from Beijing economic and trade institutions, companies, associations and groups.

China banned imports of brie, camembert, roquefort, goat cheese and blue cheese in July because mould and bacteria found in the cheeses had not been approved by officials.

The ban was lifted on Friday following a series of meetings between European Union and Chinese officials, who were ultimately satisfied that the cheeses were not harmful to consumers.

The EU Delegation to China said in a statement it will hold a seminar later this year between European and Chinese experts to "facilitate the updating of the relevant standards, thus limiting the risk of such events re-occurring in the future".

Vincent Marion, co-founder of Shanghai-based importer Cheese Republic, had previously labeled the ban "catastrophic" in a WeChat post, and took to social media again on Friday to celebrate its reversal.

"Soft cheeses and blue cheeses are officially welcome again in China!" Marion said. "Thanks to the Chinese authorities and especially to the China Inspection and Quarantine of Shanghai."

Stephen Jones, director of UK cheese exporter Somerdale International, said he was "pleased to see the ban lifted".

"Cheese is a fairly unknown product in China so they are wary of dairy cultures and if they are in any doubt about food safety they stop it rather than take a risk," Jones told China Daily. "It's a very difficult market but there is a growing demand for high quality cheeses."

China imported more than $400 million of cheese last year, according to the China’s customs authority. Cheese consumption in China has been increasing at around 20 percent annually over the last few years, according to market researcher Euromonitor.

At this time of year Xinjiang's cotton growers would usually have started hiring workers to pick their cotton. However, 116,000 hectares of cotton fields in Shawan county have already been harvested by cotton-picking machines.

"In the past, the cotton picking season lasted at least 45 days from October to November. But now, the machines can harvest a 15-hectare cotton field in one day," said Lin Hongru, head in Caohu village.

A cotton-picking machine can do the work of 2,000 workers each day, he said.

"The cotton picking season was the busiest time of the year. Cotton growers in my village hired migrant workers from Gansu, Sichuan and Henan provinces to help. People worked in the fields from dawn to dusk," said Lin.

Now, roaring cotton picking machines move through in the fields, removing the cotton from the bolls and collecting it in a large container. Cotton picking season has become much easier for growers.

Xinjiang produced 3.594 million tons of cotton in 2016, accounting for 67.3 percent of China's total, up from 62.5 percent in 2015, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Although there was a decrease in cotton growing area last year, cotton yield per hectare increased by 151.5 kilograms in 2016, thanks to the increase in machinery and irrigation.

China accounts for about 30 percent of the world's cotton output, with only 15 percent of the world's cotton-growing land.

In Shihezi County, cotton farmer Bao Yucheng said he used to pay 160,000 yuan ($24,000) to hire more than 20 cotton pickers to harvest his 13,333 hectares of fields. This year he paid 50,000-60,000 yuan to hire a cotton picking machine.

Agricultural technicians took advantage of the harvesting season to demonstrate a new generation cotton-picking machine, which can pack the cotton into 2-ton bales while harvesting.

Gao Yongjian, an agri-technician, told farmers that the machine is more efficient than the older models.

He said large-scale farming is increasing in Xinjiang, as farmers became more interested in joining rural cooperatives to share machinery.

People attend a job fair in Hengshui, North China's Hebei province, Feb 13, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] BEIJING - The number of China's universities and colleges reached 2,596 by the end of 2016, according to a report released by the Ministry of Education.

The report said 4.05 million students were admitted to undergraduate programs in 2016, making the country a higher education powerhouse.

It showed that 28.53 million people graduated with a bachelor's degree from 2005 to 2015. Among those who obtained jobs in urban areas in 2015, those with bachelor's degrees accounted for 47.2 percent, 25 percentage points higher than 2005.

"Those with bachelor's degrees constitute the most important engine of the country's newly increased human resources who support the country's social development and economic drive," the report said.

Staff numbers are growing. The number of undergraduate university faculty rose from 1.065 million in 1995 to 2.369 million in 2015, the report said.

"The development of top-tier undergraduate education is well underway, while we should not overlook the people's demand for a higher-quality education and unbalanced educational resources in different regions," a ministry official said.

China's economy expanded by 6.8 percent in the third quarter of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.

GDP growth in the first three quarters was 6.9 percent and it was 6.9 percent in both the first and second quarter. Growth has remained within the range of 6.7 percent to 6.9 percent for nine consecutive quarters.

The NBS data show that China's industrial output grew by 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, up by 0.7 percentage point compared with the same period of last year.

Fixed-asset investment increased by 7.5 percent from January to September, down from 8.2 percent in the same period of last year.

Retail sales, meanwhile, expanded by 10.4 percent in the first three quarters, unchanged from a year ago.

The bureau said the trend of the economy stabilizing and improving had continued in the first three quarters and there have been more favorable factors supporting middle- and high-rate growth of the world's second-largest economy.

A high-speed train heads to Ulanqab from Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in August, marking the openning of the region's first high-speed railway. [Tang Zhe/For China Daily]

This year's fixed investment in the railway sector might exceed 800 billion yuan ($121.04 billion), a target set by China Railway at the beginning of 2017, Economic Information Daily reported Wednesday, citing unnamed industry source.

The source attributed his prediction to current construction progress and the fact that generally the fourth quarter is a peak season for railway building.

In the first eight months, fixed investment in the railway sector nationwide reached 453.6 billion yuan, up by 4.7 percent year-on-year, according to China Railway's data cited by the Economic Information Daily.

Currently, two major railway lines are under construction.

Construction on the Lianyungang-Xuzhou railway line, which is located in East China's Jiangsu province, has been underway since July 13. Construction on this line, which runs for 180.39 kilometers and is expected to cost 28.17 billion yuan, is projected to be finished by December 2020.

On Aug 8, construction on the Dunhua-Baihe railway started. This line, with a length of 113.5 kilometers, when finished four years later, will cut the travel time between Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, and the Changbai Mountain, a resort in Jilin province, to four hours.

Another railway line, the Chongqing-Kunming railway, with a length of 720 kilometers and an expected investment of 117 billion yuan, is expected to start within this year, according to the Economic Information Daily. The railway spans Chongqing municipality, Sichuan province, Guizhou province and Yunnan province.

A reader picks books at a sharing bookstore in Hefei, capital of Anhui province, July 18, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

China is embracing an era of sharing economy. After shared bikes, sharing books are the next trend.

The book-sharing program at Sanxiaokou Xinhua Bookstore in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, has been running for more than three months since its launch on July 16.

Customers are encouraged to borrow up to two books, from all books available in this store, for free via an app, pay 99 yuan online as the deposit and return the books within 10 days.

A survey of 601 app users conducted by the company in late July found that more than 90 percent of the readers said they may want to keep some of the borrowed books permanently, but they don't want to visit the store again to complete the purchase, Zhu Fei, a manager responsible for the book-sharing program at Anhui Xinhua Media, a State-owned company that runs the Sanxiaokou bookstore, told China Daily in September.

So, when another nine stores joined the book-sharing program in August, the ability to purchase the borrowed books was made available on the app.

Zhao Shiping, a manager of the Sanxiaokou store, said that the daily customer flow in the first week of the book-sharing program was about 7,000 while the figure for the same period last year was 5,000 to 6,000, Jianghuai Daily reported in July.

"Book-sharing will reduce barriers for book purchasing and increase customer flow, which will increase the business value of the bookstore, its brand value and increase its value as a partner for companies outside the book sales sector," according to an executive of Anhui Xinhua Media, who was unidentified by Jianghuai Daily.

In addition to bookstores, banks have also joined the trend of book-sharing.

Two branches of China Everbright Bank, the Wanliu branch in Haidian district and the Wangjing West branch in Chaoyang district, introduced book loan service at the end of this July.

The service is free for seven days and 0.1 yuan is charged after that and 0.5 yuan after 21 days. Readers can return borrowed books to any branch of the bank.

This book-sharing project, a cooperation between Everbright Bank and an app called Youshugongdu, which translates as "let's read books together", will be expanded to other outlets to turn each outlet into a small community library with 1,000 to 2,000 books.

Hu Xinyi contributed to this story.

Chinese video game giant Tencent Holdings Ltd has taken the top spot in the ranking of Newzoo's Top 25 Companies by Game Revenues list, generating $7.4 billion in the first half of this year, a 50 percent increase over the same period last year.

Newzoo said the popularity of Tencent's mobile game King of Glory, which attained 200 million players in China alone, has made big bucks for Shenzhen-based Tencent this year. Chinese gaming industry database Gamma Data Corp estimated that King of Glory raked in around 6 billion yuan ($911 million) in the second quarter in the domestic market, and its transactions would hit more than 22 billion yuan for the full year.

Chinese leading gaming outfit NetEase Inc continued to rank as seventh on the list, recording a staggering 53 percent year-on-year increase in revenues to hit $2.9 billion in the first half of 2017.

Newzoo forecasted that, driven by popular role-playing game Onmyoji and other mobile games, the Hangzhou-based gaming giant would be a strong contender for the global top five for the full year.

Due to the good performance in particularly PC and mobile gaming sectors, Chinese movie and gaming company Perfect World Co Ltd has made its first appearance on the list at 20th place, earning $442 million in game revenues in the first half this year with a 90 percent year-on-year growth.

Newzoo noted in the report that mobile gaming accounted for 42 percent of the total game revenues by top 10 companies, suggesting that the mobile gaming sector will play a more significant role in supporting total gaming revenues.

Dong Zhen, entertainment analyst at internet consultancy Analysys in Beijing, said powered by the large user base, China's mobile gaming sector has entered a new phase of rapid growth.

"By 2020, China's mobile gaming sector will evolve from a upstart emerging market to mature market."

The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn]

The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer -- CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16.

These trains will be the first China-made trains in the US and have been made strictly in accordance with US standards.

The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn] The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn] The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn] The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn] The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn] The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn] The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn] The first batch of subway trains manufactured by China for the Boston subway's new Orange Line is expected to be shipped to the city in December, announced the manufacturer, CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles -- on Oct 16. [Photo by Ding Luyang/chinadaily.com.cn]

Exhibitors take a close look at an air-conditioner compressor developed by Gree Electric Appliances at the China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Oct 15, 2017. The exhibition features more than 25,000 domestic companies. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China's foreign trade will continue to grow in the months ahead as overseas demand for domestic products strengthens steadily, according to a spokesman for the country's biggest trade event.

"More foreign buyers are expected to visit the Canton Fair as they look for innovative, quality products made in China," fair spokesman Xu Bing said.

The Canton Fair, or China Import and Export Fair, which is widely regarded as a barometer of the country's foreign trade, opened its autumn session on Sunday in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

The number of foreign visitors has increased steadily in the last three sessions, Xu said.

"China's trade has consolidated its upward trend this year as the country's efforts to optimize its industrial and trade structure have gradually paid off," he said.

According to the General Administration of Customs, China's trade increased 16.6 percent year-on-year to 20.3 trillion yuan ($3.1 trillion) in the first three quarters.

Exports increased 12.4 percent to 11.2 trillion yuan, while imports surged 22.3 percent to 9.1 trillion yuan, dragging the trade surplus down by 17.7 percent to just over 2 trillion yuan.

The Canton Fair, which is held twice a year in spring and fall, will display some 160,000 products from 25,000 domestic companies, demonstrating China's efforts to develop technology, brands, quality and service, Xu said.

Gree Electric Appliances, a major maker of home appliances based in Guangdong province, displayed more than 100 products, including home and commercial air conditioners, kitchen appliances, washing machines and mobile phones during the first phase of the fair.

"We are now developing from a manufacturer of air conditioners to a maker of more smart electric products," said Wu Bin, assistant general manager of Gree.

Gree's photovoltaic air conditioners and its solution for regional energy consumption are being displayed during the event and have been widely visited by foreign businesspeople.

The company has sold more than 5,000 photovoltaic air conditioners in 22 countries and regions in the Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia, Wu said.

Gree's total sales in the first three quarters increased 20 percent year-on-year, the company said.

"Sales in countries and regions linked to the Belt and Road Initiative will increase in the months ahead, as demand there has grown steadily," Wu said.

According to the fair's organizers, the number of buyers and exhibitors from countries and regions related to the initiative has increased significantly in recent years.

A total of 341 companies from countries and regions along the trade routes will display their products during the fair, organizers said.

The organizers also signed cooperative agreements with 45 industrial and commercial organizations from 32 countries and regions to facilitate trade.

"As more top Chinese brands are introduced to overseas markets, manufacturing of quality products will be strengthened," Wu said. "And a stronger overseas presence will help us improve quality and upgrade products."

Lin Hong, founder of Chinese steamed bread brand "Jinmaidou", showcases huabobo, a traditional Chinese food in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Lin Hong, a 46-year-old woman, has found business opportunities hidden in steamed bread in Internet Plus era and generated annual sale of 10 million yuan ($1.52 million) by selling popular Chinese food huabobo in Weihai, East China's Shandong province.

Different from normal steamed bread, huabobo is made in diversified artistic styles and can fetch as much as 300 yuan each.

Lin identified potential business opportunities in this traditional Chinese food with over 300 years' history, which is especially popular during Spring Festival, similar to turkey for Thanksgivings, and launched a business three years ago.

The sale of 7,600 huabobos in the first year of her business gave Lin confidence and she established her own brand "Jinmaidou" selling only huabobo and xibing, another traditional Chinese cake for wedding ceremonies in November 2014.

At the beginning of her entrepreneurship, Lin met many challenges in food preserving and marketing. Gradually, Lin realized that online marketing would be the key to make her business successful.

"(I should) take good use of online marketing so that people all over China can know huabobo in a short period of time," Lin said.

Thanks to e-commerce and online sales, Lin receives a great number of orders from all over China online every day and once she got a big order of 1,000 boxes at one time.

With quick expansion of her business in three years, Lin has established a 1,000 square meters' huabobo production base with over 40 fixed-contract employees.

Currently, Lin's business has about 36 franchisees and 200 agencies all over China and her second factory of 500 square meters has been rented and is under construction.

Lin is confident about her business, which has benefited a lot from the development of China's e-commerce and Internet Plus economy.

A traditional Chinese steamed bread huabobo, which can fetch as much as 300 yuan, is on display in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] A fish-styled Chinese steamed bread huabobo is showcased in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Staff members make traditional Chinese steamed bread huabobo in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] A staff member decorates huabobo with colorful flours mixed with vegetable and fruit juices which are more nutritious than other kinds of coloring food in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] A peach-styled Chinese steamed bread huabobo is showcased in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Diversified styles of Chinese steamed bread huabobos are put on shelves in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Staff members make traditional Chinese steamed bread huabobo in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Diversified styles of Chinese steamed bread huabobos are put on shelves in Weihai, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 12, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

China's central bank carried out mock transactions using digital fiat currency with some commercial banks in June and once the currency is introduced, China is likely to become the first country to use it. [Photo/IC]

China's central bank carried out mock transactions using digital fiat currency with some commercial banks in June, a step aimed at exploring tech challenges involved in using government-backed digital money, according to central bank officials.

Di Gang, a senior engineer with Institute of Digital Money of the central bank, confirmed the trials and said the bank has been trying to resolve tech challenges.

The bank has finished trials developing algorithm rules governing the supply of the digital currency, said Yao Qian, director-general of the institute.

Yao said in the future the central bank will be the sole regulator and policymaker governing the value of digital fiat currency.

There is currently no timetable for when the currency is expected to be deployed, but once introduced, China is likely to become the first country to use the digital fiat currency.

The digital fiat currency is a digital sovereign currency backed by the central bank, which will serve the same purpose as yuan.

Tencent Chairman and CEO Pony Ma Huateng attends 2017 China "Internet Plus" & Digital Economy Summit held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 20, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings has expanded its range of insurance offerings after an insurance agency backed by it got the necessary approval.

The internet giant of over 900 million users already has a presence in the life and property insurance sectors and an insurance agency.

According to analysts, the insurance sector is poised for more activity as there would be more services that would integrate internet-based technologies and insurance in the future. The rapid advent of financial technology and growing demand for protection in China would fuel more interest in the insurance segment, they said.

Weimin Insurance Agency, the Tencent-backed insurance agent firm, got the green light from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission on Wednesday. Tencent Holdings holds 57.8 percent stake in Weimin Insurance Agency, which has a registered capital of 200 million yuan ($30 million).

Users of Tencent's social networks tools, such as WeChat and instant messenger QQ, would soon find Weimin embedded in their frequently used applications.

Besides Weimin, Tencent has invested in Zhong An Insurance, which offers both life and non-life policies. Tencent Holdings holds some 12.1 percent of Zhong An, which got listed in Hong Kong on Sept 28. Tencent also holds a 20 percent stake in global life insurer Aviva and a 15 percent share in Hetai Life Insurance.

"Big internet companies will not miss the opportunities brought by fast expanding demand for fintech services, particularly internet-based insurance," said Chen Maochuan, an analyst with Analysis International, a consultancy and market information research provider.

"Internet companies aim to hold core assets, which are customer resources. They are not going to just stay as distributors. More moves will be made to fulfill demand in the entire supply chain of the insurance market," he said.

Other internet giants, such as e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd have been actively tapping the insurance market in recent years.

Alibaba-backed Ant Financial upgraded its insurance business group in 2016, creating an open platform that hosts some 80 insurance companies with more than 2,000 products. The company claimed that its insurance platform could reach 400 million people.

It also shares data with 18 insurers so that they can leverage these data for precise demand forecast and better risk control, said Xu Yan, operating general-manager of Ant Financial's insurance group.

For instance, the firm has launched a car insurance score ranging from 300 to 700, a range that is based on a car owner's user portrait and risk analysis.

"Demand for life insurance and non-life insurance will continue to expand fast in the next few years amid demographic changes, with more mobility and rising number of wealthy households that would need protection," said a research note from Zhongtai Securities.

A logo of Ant Financial. [Photo/VCG]

The cost of the new iPhone X may have caused furor around the world, but Zhao Qijun is not baulking at the $999 price tag.

"I hate to hesitate when I see something desirable. I need to have it now," said the 25-year-old.

"I regret not buying the iPhone 7 Plus. I really like how its camera is capable of making photos look much more professional. I cannot afford to miss the iPhone X now," she added.

Zhao can hardly be considered in the same league as Wang Sicong, the son of Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin, who made the international headlines last year when he bought, not one, but eight iPhone 7s－for his dog.

In fact, the iPhone X costs more than the 5,700-yuan ($870) monthly salary that she earns as an office assistant in Beijing.

But the prohibitive cost of big ticket items such as the new iPhone X has not been a problem for people such as Zhao because consumer credit services like Ant Check Later allow them to pay for their purchases through monthly installments. She even uses this service to purchase daily necessities.

Ant Check Later is a service by Chinese fintech, or financial technology, giant Ant Financial Services, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Zhao is just one of the many Chinese millennial consumers who are increasingly jumping onto the buy-now-pay-later bandwagon.

According to Ant Financial, one in four between the ages of 18 and 27 in China－these individuals form the backbone of the country's burgeoning consumer-credit landscape－use credit services offered by Ant Check Later.

"People born in the 1990s constitute 47.3 percent of the platform's registered users," said Hu Tao, vice-president at Ant Financial, who is also general manager of its credit-rating system Sesame Credit.

"That translates to 45 million young adults using the money of tomorrow for discretionary purchases," Tao added.

One of the common reasons behind this growing trend is the difficulty that young consumers face in getting a credit card as many do not meet the minimum wage requirements.

But the advancement of technology has now made it easier for mobile credit services to determine the risk profile of consumers who require credit.

Ant Check Later extends consumer credit ranging from 500 yuan to 50,000 yuan based on customer risk assessment that is determined by big data analysis. Credit is also interest-free for up to 41 days.

Another key factor is the central government's approach to use consumption to wean the economy away from a heavy reliance on investments and exports.

To encourage people to spend, regulators in 2014 opened up the online credit market, which today includes a growing range of services, including peer-to-peer, or P2P, lending and virtual credit deals offered by internet firms.

The internet credit scene is poised for further growth. While the sector was valued at 6 billion yuan in 2013, iResearch Consulting Group has projected the figure to swell to a whopping 3.4 trillion yuan in 2019.

With just a few taps on the screens of their mobile phones, Chinese consumers can sign up for an installment service option, which is available on virtual wallets, such as WeChat Pay and Alipay.

For instance, one can use Ant Check Later when shopping on Alibaba's e-commerce platforms Taobao and Tmall, while another credit provider, JD Baitiao, offers installments for up to 24 months if a consumer makes purchases on JD.com Inc.

Such credit services have been a blessing to retailers. For instance, the average basket size, or price per order, of customers using the Baitiao credit service is twice that of those who choose one-time payments, according to the company.

Users can also loan credit which is deposited to their payment accounts with Alipay or WeChat Pay.

Lexin is a fintech firm that offers installment shopping and helps users connect with financial institutions which offer loans.

Founded in 2013 by Xiao Wenjie, a former executive at Tencent Holdings Ltd's payment subsidiary Tenpay, Lexin owns installment shopping platform Fenqile, internet-based wealth management tool Juzi Licai, and Dingsheng Asset, an open platform for financial assets.

At the end of June, Fenqile boasted a membership of 16 million users who have an average age of 23. Xiao said the company's target audience are young adults with a good educational background, have high income potential, and are eager to get their hands on the latest products and services on the market.

When Zhang Chenguang, a graduate of the Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, wanted to start his own food company last year, he took two loans of 15,000 yuan and 13,000 yuan with the assistance of Fenqile.

The first loan was processed through conventional means but the other involved a much shorter approval process because the company relied on technology for the vetting process.

"For the first loan, an inspector carried out due diligence to verify my personal information and the whereabouts of my parents," he said.

"The second loan approval process was much simpler－I only had to answer a number of questions through a mobile app and I got the funds in three minutes," Zhang added.

Interest rates for loans vary based on the duration.

In his case, the rate was 11.7 percent for a six-month repayment period for the first loan, and 9.7 percent for a three-month repayment period for the other.

While these rates are higher than the benchmark bank loan rate of 4.35 percent for up to six months, Zhang said the convenience of such services and the flexibility of the loan amount is worth the extra cost.

In a survey conducted by Ant Financial, most young urban dwellers were found to be comfortable with borrowing money to fund their lifestyles, which include taking enrichment classes, attending gym sessions and even tipping online bloggers.

Oliver Rui, a professor of finance at the China Europe International Business School, felt that the younger generation are more eager to experience "instant gratification" instead of doing long-term financial planning.

"This phenomenon is largely due to the fact that Millennials of today are growing up in an environment of surplus," explained Mei Feng, vice-secretary-general of the Beijing Youth Chamber of Commerce.

"Furthermore, China is shaping up to be the world's second-largest economy. These people have not experienced material shortage and they have no intention to do so," Feng added.

Case in point: Zhao used up the 6,000 yuan quota in her Ant Check Later account after purchasing a handbag which wiped out her monthly income.

Zhao even admitted that she does not have enough money to pay her rent for the next three months. She claimed that her parents would step in and bail her out of the situation.

"They would understand," she said. "I treat bags as my life. I can live without my own house, but I can't discard my life."

Consumers such as Zhao would no doubt be a cause for concern for the authorities, especially in a time when household debt in the country is on the rise.

According to data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements and Thomson Reuters, Chinese household debt in 2017 is expected to soar to 45 percent of the country's gross domestic product, or GDP, up from the 10 percent in 2006.

But China still has a long way to go to catch up to household debt levels in the United States, where it reached more than 80 percent of GDP in the past few years.

Meanwhile, a report published by Deutsch Bank in August disclosed that China's short-term consumer credit is surging at a pace of 35 percent year-on-year, and may hit about 40 percent by the end of December.

Mintel, a global consultancy based in London, has also projected consumer loans in China to breech the 50 trillion yuan mark by 2020.

But though Zhao may be strapped for cash, she has never defaulted on her monthly Ant Check Later installments. According to Ant Financial, 99 percent of their users settle their payments on time.

Lexin's founder and CEO Xiao suggested that people such as Zhao are a minority group.

He pointed out that many young consumers today are not afraid to take on credit assistance because they would have to undergo a process of consumption upgrade due to the significant life events they have to undergo.

Yu Jiayue, from Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, paid for her part-time wedding hosting courses using online installments.

She said the rationale behind her decision is something people from her parents' generation would not understand.

"Borrowing money is regarded by people from the older generation as a 'bad thing' which keeps you awake in the middle of the night," she said. "Today, it's not a matter of survival, but an investment in myself."

Then there are customers who could well afford their purchases but decide to pay via installments.

"If you can get a loan, just get it," said Yin Ping, an IT engineer in Shanghai's Zhangjiang High-Tech Park, who earns 22,000 yuan per month.

"Money is worth less over time because of inflation. So it's always a good deal to borrow as long as you have your finances under control."

Yin added that the benefits offered by online credit companies are also attractive to those who use such services frequently and maintain a good credit record.

For instance, Ant Financials' Sesame Credit system uses algorithms to analyze purchasing habits and credit histories before determining a score that ranges between 350 and 950.

Generally, those with scores higher than 700 are able to enjoy privileges, such as the exemption of deposits when borrowing books and signing up for shared bike accounts, VIP services at select airports and even visa-exemptions to certain countries. Tencent is also testing a similar service.

Fan Feifei in Beijing contributed to this story.

Workers on a motor vehicle production line at a factory in Qinzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo provided to China Daily]

BEIJING - China will step up financial support for major projects of its "Made in China 2025" strategy, a blueprint for upgrading the country's manufacturing sector.

Sectors that boost manufacturing innovation, including the Internet of Things, smart appliances and high-end consumer electronics, are the major priority for funding, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The total funding is likely to exceed 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion), Xinhua-run Economic Information Daily reported.

Aside from central-level funding, local authorities will also increase financial support for "Made in China 2025" projects with over 10 billion yuan expected to be invested by local governments nationwide from 2016 to 2020.

The MIIT will also cooperate with China Development Bank to provide financial services including loans, bonds, leasing to support major projects, with an estimated 300 billion yuan of financing in place in the 2016-2020 period.

"The financial support gives a clear direction for future development in China's manufacturing innovation and boosts social confidence in economic restructuring and upgrades," said Wu Hequan, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The "Made in China 2025" strategy, a roadmap released by the State Council in 2015 to guide the country's advanced industrial manufacturing, has seen steady progress in industrial capability, smart manufacturing, innovation, as well as product quality and branding.

Average productivity was up by 38 percent for China's first 109 pilot projects in smart manufacturing, while operating costs dropped by 21 percent, according to the MIIT.

Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in a counting machine while a clerk counts them at a bank in Beijing, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

As the third batch of central State-owned enterprises to carry out mixed-ownership reform is likely to undergo process soon, a slew of funds backed by state capital sprang up to support the project across the country, China Securities Journal reported.

Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Research Institute, told the Journal that these specific funds are vital to expand capital investment and could best use market forces to inject vigor to the new round of SOE reform.

In August, the China Structural Reform Fund led by State-owned capital joined hands with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Beijing branch and Beijing Wealth Capital to establish a special fund, which aims to invest in mixed-ownership reform and restructuring of central and local government-controlled enterprises.

A similar fund was set up by Hebei State-Owned Assets Holding & Operation Co Ltd and CCB Trust Co Ltd in May with 50 million yuan ($7.59 million) registered capital, while such funds have also emerged in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

In addition, a hundred-billion-level special fund is being planned to boost the mixed-ownership reform, according to The Economic Observer. It is reported that the fund would probably be inclined to private capital.

It was made clear at the State Council's executive meeting on Sept 27 that the reform and restructuring of central SOEs welcomes participation of both private and foreign capital. The new round of restructuring will be a key opportunity to boost reform and the institutional innovation of central SOEs.

On Sept 28, Xiao Yaqing, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, said at a news conference, "We welcome companies of all ownership types, including foreign companies, to participate in China's SOEs mixed-ownership reform".

Up to now, the last two batches of 19 central SOEs have undergone mixed-ownership reforms, involving areas such as electric power, oil, natural gas, railway, and telecommunications.

One recent example of this reform is China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd, the country's second-largest mobile carrier by subscribers. The firm carried out the mixed-ownership reform scheme in August and received capital from private investors — among them domestic tech titans Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Baidu Inc, JD.com Inc and Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd — by selling a 35.2 percent stake.

The reform and restructuring of central SOEs is to boost efficiency and promote supply-side structural reform. Since 2003, the total number of central SOEs has sharply fallen from 196 to 98.

Two technicians inspect a high-speed train's wheels at a maintenance shed in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A research report released recently by UBS recognized the innovation development of China in past five years, and predicts that China will become a global innovation powerhouse thanks to improved education quality, input in research and development and policy support to innovation, Economic Daily reported on Tuesday.

The current economic model of China is seeking a rapid transition from "Made in China" to "Created in China", and China is expected to rule the technology realm in various fields.

China has been growing fast in education, the report said. China sees 2.8 million graduates majoring in science and engineering every single year, which is five times compared to the US. The proportion of science and engineering graduates per 1,000 people in 2015 is also five times compared to 2005.

According to the QS world university ranking, the average score of top three Chinese universities has exceeded that of German universities. China is narrowing down the gap of academic performance with the US and increasing the advantage over European countries. China has moved up five places in the ranking list from five years ago.

The report also said that China has shown increasing investment in scientific research investment and financing.

Input in research and development in China today takes up more share of GDP than the UK. Meanwhile, the government has stipulated the goal in the 13th Five-Year Plan that the ratio of R&D input in GDP must reach 2.5 percent by 2020. Therefore, UBS predicts that China is likely to surpass the US in terms of the overall scale of research and development investment by 2019.

China's CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of venture investment in innovation has been up to 41 percent since 2012. Unlike in the US, where financing in innovative industry mainly relies on venture capital, multiple Chinese technology enterprises make a great deal of investment in internet and AI with their own funds. This establishes a relatively loose financing environment for the development of domestic innovative industry.

With the support of developed fundamental education and optimized investment environment, the patent applications of Chinese firms and individuals at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, an agency that issues patents to inventors and handling trademark registration for products, saw a tenfold increase in the past decade, surpassing the UK.

UBS emphasizes the superiority that China has in exploring AI and fintech and in their view, Chinese enterprises have played a critical role in guiding the direction of global technology development. Its particular advantage in AI can possibly enable China to revolutionize the manufacture industry in respect of technology.

The key for innovation development is Chinese government's promoting and implementing the pro-innovation policies, the report said. Within the last five years, the government has dedicated itself to modernize the economic sectors and boost the industrial value-added and specified the ratio of innovation input in the national Five-Year Plan, which buoys UBS's confidence in China's economy.

An online celebrity uses live streaming to conduct online promotion for a clothing store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, May 20, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The love of cars has made the US a country on wheels, whereas the Chinese people's use of mobile internet has taken China on information superhighway.

"Americans' reliance on cars in daily life has made the US a country on wheels, meanwhile Chinese people's increased use of mobile internet [over the last five years] has made China a country on mobile internet," said Gao Hongbing, Alibaba vice-president and head of AliResearch, at the launch of a report on Monday.

The report used 10 key phrases to summarize major trends in China's internet development over the last five years, such as technological innovation, business innovation, consumption upgrade, employment, and poverty reduction with the help of e-commerce.

"All facilities in US cities, including road, traffic, supermarket and residence, are designed to help car drivers; however, in China, services, such as Mobike and Taobao, are managed thanks to mobile internet," he said.

The report citing data from China Internet Network Information Center, a government-backed industry body, and global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, showed that China's internet use on mobile phones presents growth momentum.

As of June, the number of mobile internet user has reached 723.61 million, increasing from 419.97 million in 2012. In 2015, the number of apps installed on mobile phones on average was 38, and in big cities this figure was as high as 46, far ahead of 33 in the US and world's average of 26.

A Chinese lifestyle in the information age - more online, more convenient, more green and more globalized - has been unfolding, the report said. And it called these changes "from toe tip to fingertip", or online shopping replacing trips to physical outlets.

According to AliResearch, China's mobile payment totaled $8.52 trillion in 2016, about 70 times as high as $112 billion in the US. Until June of 2017, 295 million people in China have registered on take-out platforms, along with 106 million shared bike users and 278 million hailing taxi through the internet.

In the aspect of online consumption, middle- and high-end expenses on Alibaba's retail platforms stood at 1.2 trillion yuan ($182 billion) in 2016, equivalent to Chinese people's whole year spending volume abroad.

The Ali quality consumption index, released by AliResearch, rose by 7.2 percentage points in the past 5 years to come at 34.4 as of March this year, against a drop in retail sales growth by 5.3 percentage points in the same period. The Ali quality consumption index is meant to calculate the proportion of midlevel to high-end products consumption among the total expenditure.

'Made in internet'

Some manufacturing enterprises have already started to transform in line with consumption-end data, which are called "made in internet", referring to production on the basis of internet, Gao said. He added that a huge change will happen in the supply and industry chains in this regard.

The statistics from Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that more industrial enterprises adopted e-commerce during 2013-2015, with the penetration rate of e-commerce in manufacturing up more than 40 percent in the three years.

EPEC.com is one of these cases. The e-commerce platform is supported by China's oil giant Sinopec's industrial resources and supply chain services and facilitates SC2B (supply chain to businesses) transactions. And the trade on the platform has accumulatively involved more than 127 billion yuan and more than 1.98 million commodities have been sold on it since EPEC.com started to run in April 2015.

A worker assembles a robotic arm at a factory in Foshan, Guangdong province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

China's GDP accounted for 14.8 percent of the world's total in 2016, up by 3.4 percentage points from 2012, said Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, on Tuesday.

The country made the largest contribution to global growth, averaging at about 30 percent annually, during the 2013-2016 period, larger than the total of the US, euro zone and Japan combined, he said at a news conference.

Models stand in front of a car on display at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Popular automobile show with 2,000 cars of 21 global brands attracted more visitors and boosted the economy in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, during the holiday break.

Many local people visited the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition to test and view their favorite cars during this year's National Day holiday and Mid-Autumn Festival.

The exhibition, which stimulated consumption and promoted development of holiday economy, was held between Sept 30 and Oct 5.

Visitors view cars during National Day holiday at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Models stand in front of a car on display at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A car is on display at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors view cars during National Day holiday at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A potential customer tests a car during National Day holiday at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors view cars during National Day holiday at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors view cars during National Day holiday at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors view cars during National Day holiday at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors view cars during National Day holiday at the 16th Nanjing International Automobile Exhibition in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Oct 3, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A German receives medical examination at a private hospital in Shanghai. China's existing healthcare system is open to foreign investors. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Private hospitals backed by foreign investors will supplement China's existing healthcare system by offering more complicated surgical operations and high-quality medical services, as well as further enriching the ways foreign direct investment gets used in the country.

The number of private hospitals in China surpassed 17,000 in the first half of this year, accounting for 57.5 percent of the total across the country, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Shanghai-based Delta-Health, funded by Eight Roads Ventures, is one such private hospital. It is marking its first anniversary in China by showcasing its experience in the private sector.

Its experience suggests private hospitals have a lot of potential to function as an alternative option for both patients and medical workers in a market that is still dominated by public hospitals.

For David Hoidal, chief operating officer of Delta Health, the core competitiveness of private hospitals lays in their advanced equipment, competitive salaries for professionals, attractive career growth and full-cycle services for patients.

"As an important partner of Columbia HeartSource in China, we can offer a chance for doctors and nurses to know about cutting-edge medical discoveries, gain world-class experience and deep knowledge from around the world," said Hoidal.

"I think a pure environment for doctors to learn and develop is very crucial for them," said Desmond Thio, chief executive officer of DeltaHealth. "Within a private environment, they can just do what they need to do without further worries about their livelihood."

For patients, private hospitals provide complete aftercare after surgery, Hoidal said.

Instead of being hostile to each other, private and public hospitals should efficiently work together and form a healthy collaborative relationship, he said.

"In the past, we've hosted academic seminars, forums with established doctors while also inviting public hospitals to join us," said Hoidal. "I believe in the future, when the private sector gradually grows in size, public hospitals will also show interest in how their private peers function."

Last year, the Chinese government released "Healthy China 2030", a blueprint that covers areas such as public health services, the medical industry, and food and drug safety, with the aim of improving the health of the Chinese people.

Thio thinks the future is bright for private hospitals in China. "This is a massive country, and Shanghai is fairly big with a population of over 26 million. One cardiac hospital cannot meet the demand, not to speak of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou."

The project will provide more effective communication between network users, including video conferencing, peer-to-peer, Internet Protocol (IP) telephony and online backup.

AT's CEO Adel Khemane told reporters that this "partnership project is set to deploy a very high-speed broadband network over a period of one year, in a bid to offer this service to more than one million customers."

Meanwhile, another Chinese telecom product manufacturer, ZTE, signed a partnership agreement with the Algerian Federation for Young Entrepreneurs (FNTE), as part of the deployment of an optical cabling network nationwide.

AT aims to strengthen its positioning in the telecommunications sector in Algeria amid competition from some prominent private operators.

China and Algeria, which established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2014, have expanded cooperation in several fields, such as infrastructure, engineering construction and telecommunications.

Chinese telecom equipment makers are stepping up efforts to expand their overseas presence. Huawei's products are services, for example, that are available in more than 170 countries and regions.

Xiang Ligang, a telecom expert and CEO of telecom industry website Cctime, said Chinese telecom players used to only focus on the domestic market.

"But now as they leaped from followers to leaders by constantly experimenting with cutting-edge technologies, they are aggressively venturing out into overseas markets," Xiang said.

The trend also is in line with telecom carriers' eagerness to participate in global telecommunication projects.

China Mobile Communications Corp, the world's biggest telecom carrier by subscribers, said in May that it would step up efforts to build key cross-border optical fiber cable projects to link China with neighboring countries, including Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.

It also plans to build eight internet data centers in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative within three years, and build new submarine cables and international communication services' gateways to Asia, Europe and the United States.

China Telecommunications Corp, the smaller rival of China Mobile, also said earlier this year that it would invest more than $1 billion over the next three to five years to expand its presence in countries and regions related to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Xinhua contributes to the story

Alipay has expanded its partnership with Adyen, the Dutch company which provides online or in-store payment platforms for more than 4,500 businesses worldwide.

From this week, in-store payment terminals operated by Adyen's clients are now capable of generating QR codes compatible with the Alipay mobile app.

Myles Dawson, UK country manager at Adyen, said the move was driven by Alipay's continued expansion into the European market as well as merchant demand.

Adyen's retail partners include fashion brands Mango, Superdry, Crocs and River Island. The company also runs online and mobile payment operations for large tech companies including Facebook, Uber, Spotify and Netfl ix.

Alipay opened offices in London and Milan in 2015, and last year signed partnership deals with Barclays in the United Kingdom, BNP Paribas in France, UniCredit in Italy and SIX Group in Switzerland.

"We've integrated it into our platform and offered it out to all of our retailers,'' Dawson said. "We've got a strong base of customers in luxury retail, and they obviously have a big Chinese consumer base, so opening up this payment method in store attracts those shoppers."

Alipay was established by e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2004, since when it has become one of the world's largest third-party online payment systems, with more than 520 million active users.

More than 10 million outlets accept Alipay in China, where mobile wallets have swiftly become the preferred form of payment among urban consumers.

Whereas most payment terminals in China are capable of scanning a QR code generated by a mobile app, Adyen has reversed the system so retailers in Europe and the US will not have to update their hardware.

Souheil Badran, president of Alipay in North America, said: "Europe and the US are popular destinations for Chinese tourists, so it's vital that retailers are able to cater to their needs."

Under the new system, payment terminals will prompt a customer to press enter for Alipay, generating a QR code on the terminal screen which users can scan with their phones. The shopper then authorizes the payment on the Alipay app, completing the transaction.

Retailers must opt into the new system, and Adyen is in the process of informing its clients.

Dawson said Adyen and Alipay are looking to expand the system to Singapore, Canada and Australia.

Solar power projects, such as this one shaped like giant pandas in Datong, Shanxi province, are now a common sight. [Photo/VCG]

China accounted for more than 40 percent of capacity growth in global renewable energy in 2016, which was a record year for worldwide clean energy additions, according to a new study.

The International Energy Agency, a Paris-based policy advisory organization also known as the IEA, found that renewables accounted for almost two-thirds of new power capacity last year. For the first time, solar additions rose faster than any other fuel, including coal.

Last year, new solar capacity around the world grew by 50 percent, reaching more than 74 gigawatts, with China accounting for almost half of that expansion. China is also the world market leader in hydropower, bioenergy for electricity and heat, and electric vehicles.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, estimates that renewable capacity will grow by about 1,000 GW－or half the current global capacity in coal power－by 2022.

"What we are witnessing is the birth of a new era in solar photovoltaics (panels)," Birol said. "We expect that solar photovoltaic capacity growth will be higher than any other renewable technology through 2022."

In its report, the IEA labeled China as the world's "undisputed renewable growth leader", driven by concerns about air pollution and capacity targets that were outlined in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan(2016-20).

The IEA report said China represents half of global solar photovoltaic demand, and Chinese companies manufacture around 60 percent of the world's panels.

The IEA states that, due to the size of the market, policy developments in China will have global implications for solar energy demand, supply, and prices.

The report identified the growing cost of renewable subsidies and grid integration in China as potential barriers to further growth, and noted that China's renewable energy policies are being modified in order to address these challenges.

China is moving away from its feed-in-tariff program to a quota system with green certificates. The IEA states that these new policies, together with power market reform, new transmission lines, and the expansion of distributed generation, are expected to speed up the deployment of solar energy.

Under an accelerated case -where government policy lifts barriers to growth－IEA analysis finds that global renewable capacity growth led by China could be boosted by another 30 percent, totaling an extra 1,150 GW by 2022.

Globally, falling auction prices for wind and solar projects have contributed to the rise in new renewable energy capacity.

Last month, the United Kingdom government held a wind farm auction at which two companies agreed to build facilities for 57.50 pounds ($76) per megawatt hour. The price is half what new wind farms were built for just two years ago, and means off shore wind power will be cheaper than nuclear energy in the UK for the first time.

Researchers from the UK and China recently announced five new projects to develop the"next generation" of technology in wind and wave power.

The UK's Natural Environment Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council have pledged 4 million pounds in funding during the next three years for the projects, which will also receive funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

BEIJING - Some 461 million Chinese tourists traveled around the country in the first four days of the National Day holiday, the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) said on Wednesday.

The figure represents an increase of 11.4 percent year on year, the CNTA said.

Domestic tourists spent 385.6 billion yuan ($57.55 billion) in that period, up 13.6 percent from the same period a year ago.

The National Day holiday, which runs from Oct 1 to 8, sees a surge in passenger flows as leisure travel has become a major holiday entertainment due to improving living standard, a CNTA official said.

Railway traffic was busy with at least 10 million trips made everyday in the past four days. On Oct 1, 15.03 million trips were made, an all time high, according to the China Railway Corporation.

Some 11.9 million trips were made on Oct 3, up 9 percent year on year.

Outbound travel gained steam with the number of DIY (Do-It-Yourself) trips outnumbered that of the group travel.

According to Ctrip.com, a leading travel service provider, outbound trips are expected to exceed 6 million during the holiday.

One of China's two "Golden Weeks", this year's National Day holiday has been extended by one day as the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Oct 4.

Travel demand appears to be stronger this year, possibly because the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunion.

BEIJING - China's building materials sector remained weak as government restrictions on the property market continued to weigh on it, latest statistics from the country's top economic planner indicated.

Cement output fell 0.5 percent year on year to 1.5 billion tonnes in the first eight months, in contrast to the 2.5-percent gain seen during the same period last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its website.

Output of flat glass gained 5.6 percent, up 3 percentage points from the growth in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, compared with a month earlier, the factory price of cement edged down 0.9 percent in August.

The data came as the property sector, a major consumer of cement and flat glass, has stagnated in major cities due to government moves to prevent speculation.

Official data showed China's property investment rose 7.9 percent year on year in January-August, unchanged from the growth in the first seven months.

Home, sweet new home.

Hai Guobao's memories of his old home revolve around poverty and barely making ends meet. That was why he and his family and 60-plus villagers migrated 300 kilometers from Guyuan, an arid and impoverished mountainous area in the Ningxia Hui autonomus region.

Relocation of impoverished populations is one of the measures the government has adopted for its "targeted poverty-alleviation" program. Under the program, people are advised to move from areas that lack conditions that allow them to make a decent living. However, the residents themselves have to approve the measure.

Hai clearly remembers the difficult decision he had to make five years ago. "We Chinese farmers see our ancestral home as the root of our family," he said. "Leaving home is a final resort."

In 1972, Guyuan was recognized by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization as one of the places most "unfit for human habitation" on Earth. It was the first area covered by a resettlement program established by the government in the early 1980s.

Hai, a village head widely respected by his villagers, was entrusted to go and see what the villagers' new homes would look like. He recalled what he told his neighbors when he returned: "If you trust me, you have to listen to me this time. Electricity, tap water, jobs... the government has thought it all out for us. It will be a life from our dreams."

Because a great many people helped with the relocation process, Hai had no idea who he should thank specifically until July last year when he received a special guest, President Xi Jinping. It was Xi who kick-started the construction of Hai's new village 20 years ago.

Another unique measure the government uses to fight poverty is a program called "East-West Pairing-off Cooperation for Poverty Reduction", whereby a developed province in the east assists a less-developed region in the west.

As a provincial leader in the eastern province of Fujian, which was paired with Ningxia, Xi was shocked to see the plight of local farmers, and proposed building a new village called Minning (Fujian-Ningxia) village. The past 20 years have seen the resident's per capita incomes rise 20-fold.

It's little wonder that Xi, who has strong feelings about poverty relief, proposed the ambitious goal of lifting every impoverished person out of poverty by 2020, meaning 10 million people being freed from scarcity every year.

Hai said he thanked President Xi for his help, and later put a large photo of Xi with his family in the most prominent place in the living room.

Asked whether he misses his old home, Hai conceded that he did, and said the family visits their old home once a year. There, the infertile farmland has been planted with trees, and the mountains are gradually becoming greener.

Substance, not style, increasingly important for nation's shoppers

China's middle class is expanding at an unprecedented pace.

According to McKinsey & Co, by 2020 more than three-quarters of China's urban consumers will earn 60,000 yuan to 229,000 yuan ($9,037 to $34,495) per year. That translates into nearly 400 million people who are considered by the consultancy to fall into the middle-class category.

And thanks to a surging number of higher-paying jobs in service and technology industries, 54 percent of them will be classified as "upper middle" class, meaning they have an annual income between 106,000 yuan and 229,000 yuan.

Beneath the topline figures are some significant shifts in consumption dynamics. Using income as the only indicator of spending habits allows some information to slip through the cracks.

Research co-conducted by Chinese news service CBN Weekly and Japanese apparel brand Uniqlo uncovered the consumption pattern of the country's new middle class, who are able and willing to pay a premium for quality and consider buying discretionary goods.

The survey, released in August, polled more than 12,000 respondents aged 20 to 45 across the relatively wealthy first- and second-tier cities. Minimum monthly income was set at 8,000 yuan.

Respondents showed a preference for products with good craftsmanship, with 84 percent favoring quality over price.

That said, more than 70 percent believed they shop more "rationally", meaning that despite loyalty to established brands, they are open to a variety of schools of thought and not necessarily going for biglogo items.

Jin Liyin, marketing professor at Shanghai-based Fudan University, attributed the changing attitude toward brands to the evolving benefit structure: from more blatant status projection to more substance-driven.

"Gone are the days when people used to define a life of good quality through possession of certain items or conspicuous logos," Jin said. "The new middle class see consumption not as a badge of honor but as a source of value."

Quality life must be built around personal choices and filled with one's individual traits, the report said. Corporate social responsibilities borne by brands would be factored in when they shop.

Meanwhile, this group of consumers are more than ever seeking emotional satisfaction through better taste or higher status. For instance, a store's ambience may serve as a catalyst for an impulse purchase, according to the research.

China's new middle class tend to place health high up the ladder of priorities. More than 70 percent said they would develop sporting habits and adjust their daily routine for a balance of work and rest.

To be more specific, 73 percent said they have set aside money in their budgets for sports apparel, workout facilities and organic food.

Also on top of their radar are arts and leisure; two thirds reported allocating more money on the sector. About 72 percent said they saw "incremental" growth in travel spending.

And the increasing expenditure goes to more sophisticated and experiential activities, according to a report by consultancy Oliver Wyman, which showcased that overall trip spending surged against a precarious drop dedicated to shopping when the Chinese travel overseas last year.

"Chinese travelers continue to shift their spending toward more meaningful experiences, such as exquisite dining, extraordinary cultural journeys and even adventurous sports," said Hunter Williams, a partner at Oliver Wyman.

And they are among the most earnest to embrace digital wallets. An overwhelming 87 percent ranked e-payment as the top choice for purchases, while 83 percent use the payment method on a daily basis.

Newsfeeds provided by brands via mobile communication platforms are well received by the people, with four in five saying they are prone to making purchase decisions based on merchants' recommendations through precise marketing endeavors.

"You see a shifting definition of success from money, power and social status, to the pursuit of well-being and personal realization. That's what defines the new middle class," Jin said.

BEIJING - China's central bank Saturday announced a targeted reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cut to encourage inclusive financing at commercial banks, such as credit support for small and micro-sized enterprises, startups and agricultural production.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said commercial banks, whose annual outstanding or new loans in inclusive financing accounts for more than 1.5 percent of the total, will enjoy a 0.5 percentage point RRR cut from the central bank's benchmark level from next year.

The RRR will be cut further by a 1 percentage point if the ratio exceeds 10 percent, the bank said.

Inclusive financing will also cover credit support for small business owners, impoverished groups and students.

The cut, which goes into effect in 2018, is a structural adjustment that does not change the country's overall monetary policy stance, the central bank explained, stressing that it would continue to implement "prudent and neutral" policy to guide reasonable credit and financing growth.

On Wednesday, the State Council had flagged a possible move, saying the government will take measures, including tax exemptions and targeted reserve requirement ratio cuts, to encourage banks to support small businesses.

Li Qilin, chief macro researcher with Lianxun Securities, expected the targeted cut to release at least 700 billion yuan ($106 billion) of liquidity into the economy.

As the country continues to deleverage and defuse financial risks, the move will ease liquidity, especially for small businesses, but it does not mean a policy stance shift, said Zeng Gang, a financial researcher at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The PBOC has been seeking to manage market liquidity through more targeted moves rather than using across-the-board adjustments in interest rates and RRR.

The last cut to the benchmark RRR was in March of 2016, when the rate was lowered by 0.5 percentage point.

Saturday's targeted RRR cut announcement came after data showed the manufacturing sector in September expanded at the fastest pace in more than five years, easing concerns over a loss of momentum in the world's second-largest economy.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index for this month stood at 52.4, up from 51.7 in August and above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

It marked the 14th straight month of expansion for the country's manufacturing industry and the highest level since May 2012.

GDP grew 6.9 percent in the first half of the year, above the government's targeted growth of around 6.5 percent for 2017. Growth data for the third quarter is due for release on Oct 19.

A model takes photos with M7 at the product launch in Beijing. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shenzhen-based smartphone maker Gionee has unveiled its first-ever full-screen smartphone, in its push to scramble for a presence in China's fiercely competitive autumn smartphone war.

M7, as the new device is called, comes with a 6.01-inch AMOLED screen, which can deliver high-definition viewing experiences for consumers.

Unlike rivals such as Xiaomi Corp and Vivo, who are targeting young consumers, Gionee wants to impress businesspeople and professionals by highlighting its security functions.

The new handset, priced from 2,799 yuan ($421), comes with two built-in security encryption chips, one for protecting personal information and the other for ensuring mobile payment security.

M7 also features a large battery with a capacity of 4000mAh and a dual-camera setup, which the company said can take 3D photos.

A report from US telecom research company Strategy Analytics said that Gionee is among the top smartphone brands in China and ranked in the top 10 worldwide, with 30 million handsets sold last year.

Gionee is also stepping up efforts to expand its presence in India. It is one of five Chinese brands which collectively held more than half of India's smartphone market in the second quarter of this year, according to a report by Canalys.

Executive Associate Dean of PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University Liao Li makes a speech on the 2nd China Fintech Conference in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Since 2013, which is viewed as the first year of the internet finance era in China, Fintech has greatly changed people's life and altered established structures in finance sector.

The EY FinTech Adoption Index 2017 showed that Chinese consumers' Fintech service adoption rate reached 69 percent, well above the global average of 33 percent.

Another report by World Economic Forum said that China's innovation-friendly atmosphere and not consumer-focused traditional finance sector boosted such a remarkable development.

China Daily reporter interviewed Professor Liao Li, executive associate dean of PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, and also director of the school's Fintech Lab, which was set up in 2012. Here are the excerpts.

Q: What do you think are the main factors behind the internet finance boom in China in the past five years?

A: There are three driving forces, technology, market and regulation.

First, popularity of the smartphone and development in internet technologies, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain in China, have provided a technological base for various business models in internet finance and have enabled various products to run smoothly.

Second, with China's economy growing for more than 30 years since the opening-up and reform, the people's disposable income and needs to finance their consumption have both increased. The need of asset allocation have driven sales of financial products via internet and the need of consumer finance have ushered in a large number of online loan and even short-term cash loan platforms.

Small and medium-sized enterprises' difficulty in fundraising has also provided wide room for internet-based micro-loans.

Third, China has been undergoing a series of regulatory changes, including interest rates liberalization and allowing mixed operation in finance sector, similar to what happened in the United States.

In the United States, in 1975, the deregulation of fixed minimum commission at stock exchanges boosted the development of online discount brokers. In 1986, liberalization of interest rates gave a boost to internet banks and the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, which was passed in January 2012, also boosted equity crowd-funding.

These changes, combined with the government's long-term support for innovation, especially the mass entrepreneurship and innovation initiative, have jumpstarted the entrepreneurial and innovative activities in the internet finance sector.

Foreigners experience using mobile payments to buy vegetables at a marketplace in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on April 14, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

Q: What are internet finance's contributions to the whole economy in China?

A: First, internet finance has boosted efficiency of the whole economy.

As China's mobile payment value has exceeded 38 trillion yuan($5.69 trillion), 50 times of that in the United States, this credit mainly goes to internet-based third-party payment.

Mobile payment has lowered transaction costs and increased transaction efficiency and hence has improved the efficiency of the whole economy.

Second, internet finance has improved financial inclusion in China.

Right now, most internet finance is for individuals, or households, or small and micro firms, which are under-covered by traditional finance. Internet finance business models featuring low-cost, low-entry barrier and disintermediationusiness made serving these groups possible. Taking internet loans as an example, in the year 2016, loans lent on internet platforms neared 3 trillion yuan, most of which went to areas uncovered by traditional finance.

China's internet finance development in the past five years is well in line with the G20 High-level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion rectified on the Hangzhou Summit held between Sept 4 and Sept 5.

Third, China's internet finance has helped the country build its credit system.

Progress on the building of China's personal credit system used to be slow for a long time. However, as internet finance has enabled more individuals to get their loans via internet-based platforms and as there are no universal criteria for judging one's credit score, more and more big data companies or Fintech companies have increased their R&D on credit scores. Although there is a long way to go, these companies, which have aroused Chinese people's credit awareness, are the embryonic form of the country's credit sector.

Fourth, internet finance has boosted employment. According to Fintech Lab's database, the number of Fintech companies has exceeded 10,000 and the largest Fintech company has more than 40,000 employees. Fintech has become an increasingly important force in driving employment.

Visitors interact with a robot at the booth of China Construction Bank during an expo in Beijing on Oct 27, 2016. [Photo/VCG] Q: Banking sector seems to have been shaken the most by internet finance in the past five years. What do you anticipate the trends in internet finance in the next five years? Which sectors will be most influenced or revolutionized?

A: As internet finance serves sectors or people which are not covered by traditional financial service and traditional banks, it is hard to say internet finance has overturned the banking sector. But we have noticed that banks, which have been touched by fast development in the internet finance sector, have also turned to the internet and financial technologies to improve their efficiency. More and more banks are cooperating with internet companies or Fintech companies to seek mutual development.

The entire trend is that Fintech will penetrate more deeply in the traditional finance sector.

Enabled by big data analysis, precisely priced financial products, such as insurance policies and loans, will hit the market. And precise marketing of these products will also be possible.

As internet and artificial intelligence has made bricks-and-mortar outlets and some jobs redundant, numerous banks without outlets will appear and traditional banks will also downsize their outlets. In addition, robo-advisors will replace traditional financial consultants.

One-stop financial service platforms, whose traffic might be steered from various channels, will appear, making mix operation in the financial sector a reality and making super accounts a possibility for households.

Blockchain and digital Currency technologies will replace most of the procedures in financial transaction and payment.

ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance Co Ltd Chairman Ou Yaping (left) and Chief Executive Officer Chen Jin attend the debut of the company at the Hong Kong Exchanges on Sept 27, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] Q: According to your years of study on internet finance, what are the uniqueness of China's internet finance?

A: One of the uniqueness of China's internet finance is that it originated from serving a large number of population who were under-served by traditional finance. This population was so big that Fintech companies crossed their break-even point quickly. I call this the second demographic dividend of China.

Second, China's mobile payment, which is developed, has made and will make lots of Fintech company's business models possible.

In the year 2016, loans lent on internet platforms neared 3 trillion yuan, most of which went to individuals or companies uncovered by traditional finance.[Photo /VCG] Q: What contribution has China's internet finance made to the whole world?

A: In addition to mobile payment, which has expanded their presence overseas, we have noticed that Chinese cash loan companies, such as Wecash and Mint Quantum have brought their business models and risk-control technologies to emerging markets like the Indonesia and Brazil.

Hence, in the area of internet finance, China has made contributions both in technology and in business models.

A visitor tries out the facial recognition login function of Alipay at an Internet finance expo in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Nov 20, 2015. [Photo / IC] Q: Chinese tech companies like Alibaba have also invested in developing countries such as the BRICS. What are your views on Fintech development among these countries?

A: It is predictable that more Chinese Fintech companies will enter emerging markets and other underdeveloped regions. However, they will face great challenges in regulation. On the one hand, regulatory mindsets and ways are different from country to country. On the other hand, Fintech, which itself is a fast moving and changing industry, has raised lots of questions to regulatory bodies.

Chen Zhu (middle), vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, who is promoting cultural exchanges in Italy and France, and former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin have pledged on Wednesday to explore cooperation in beauty and fashion sector. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

French cosmetics companies are drawing up expansion plans to boost their market presence in China.

Chinese and French leaders met on Wednesday to explore future cooperation in the beauty and fashion sector.

Chen Zhu, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, said consumers in China and France are in the pursuit of beauty, though they have diverse ways to express it.

“We should respect this kind of diversity, and it is the diversity that provides possibility to communicate between China and France,” said Chen. “At the same time, we need protect and promote each own traditional beauty to keep cultural independence.”

Chen was speaking on the sidelines of the second Sino-French cultural forum held in the southern French city of Lyon.

The two-day event, under the theme of "The Cultural Silk Road, the Franco-Chinese Confluences", involved sharing insights and experiences in various fields, including culture, art, and education.

Lyon, which was one of the final stops of the ancient Silk Road trade routes, was chosen to host the forum to promote cultural exchanges and highlight the importance of the Belt and Road Initiative, which was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

Also in attendance was former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who earlier this month arranged a business forum in Paris to boost cooperation with China .

Raffarin said the beauty industry is not only a cultural element, but also closely linked with economy.

“Cosmetic consumption is not only a purchase behavior, but also related to local history, tradition and economic development level,” he said.

Evidens de Beaute, a French company in beauty sector, has already completed its registration in China, and plans to enter the market there by the end of the year.

Charles-Edouard Barthes, the company’s chief executive, said his cosmetic products would target China’s young female market, which tends to favor affordable cosmetics, compared with women over 40 who prefer luxury cosmetics.

Livia Stoianova, founder of the Parisian fashion house On Aura Tout Vu, acts as consultant for some Chinese fashion design companies.

“My company is too small to expand Chinese market by itself,’’ said Stoianova. “We tend to cooperate with Chinese designers who are already familiar with local fashion market, so there are less barriers to entering the sector.”

While China's cosmetics market has been booming in recent years, foreign brands are still the mainstream, with top names including L’Oreal, Olay and Mary Kay collectively accounting for 12.5 percent of retail sales in China, according to Research in China.

Chen Junyu in Lyon contributed to this story.

"The Chinese government will take a firm stand against irrational and dubious outbound investment behavior," said Gao Feng. "We will further curb fraudulent offshore investment and improve management and inspection for outbound investment."

Gao said the purpose of enhanced supervision is to ensure the authenticity of overseas investment and help the Chinese enterprises control risk.

In terms of inbound foreign investment, Gao said the country vows to guide and encourage healthy development for all industries, thus the foreign enterprises will enjoy the same rights as domestic ones.

"The policies in the Made in China 2025 strategy can be equally applied to both domestic and foreign companies and enterprises," he said. "This is just as the article on the use of foreign investment issued by the State Council this January has pointed out."

In the Thursday press conference, Gao also said the ministry and related departments are making progress on policy tackling intellectual property violation.

A joint venture will be completed by the end of the year and expand Alipay's presence in Hong Kong with the assistance of CK Hutchison and its affiliated companies, which have over 600 stores selling telecommunications, food, electronics, wine and health and beauty products serving over 6.6 million customers.

Alipay HK attracted over 100,000 active users in the first two weeks after its launch last May. The mobile app is now accepted in over 4,000 leading retail outlets in Hong Kong.

With a tech-savvy population and over 50 million visitors annually, Hong Kong is an ideal place to integrate digital innovation into traditional retail, said a statement of Ant Financial.

The new partnership will promote a more efficient and productive cashless society in Hong Kong, the statement said.

"One of our Chinese customers have told us that this is something very Chinese, and we have done so," Bernand, the general manager of Four Seasons Hotel, told Xinhua.

The tea, the congee and the Chinese menus are just some of the features the hotel has added to please Chinese visitors, which jumped a "astronomical" 59 percent from 2015 to 2016, according to Bernand.

Across the service sector in the US capital, businesses including hotels, restaurants, museums and tour operators are all feeling the boom in Chinese tourism industry, and many are taking a crash course on Chinese culture as they seek to tailor their services to meet the needs of Chinese visitors.

Destination DC, an organization that promotes tourism in the US capital, said that incoming Chinese tourists began to grow in double digits since three years ago and surpassed Britain as the city's number one market.

"We are at about 304,000 visitors from China that come over to Washington and of course that number is continuing to grow year over year," said Theresa Belpulsi, the group's vice president of tourism and visitor services.

Washington D.C., with its landmark buildings and wide-ranging sights of interest, attracts around 2 million foreign visitors each year, of which those from China make up about 15 percent.

To help Washington businesses better understand their Chinese patrons, Destination DC has launched in 2016 a "Welcome China" initiative, which offered education programs on how to appeal to Chinese tourists.

"In order to better serve our Chinese visitors because they are such a different cultural exchange, we wanted to take a program so we can educate our services here in Washington D.C," Belpulsi said.

"We've built a checklist of five to 10 things that each of the businesses needs to do in order to be accepted into the program itself," Belpulsi explained, "such as making brochures in Mandarin and having a Mandarin website."

Among the participants of the program is the International Spy Museum in Washington's Chinatown, which exhibits an unique collection of espionage-related items such as shiny sports cars featured in James Bond movies.

The museum's public relations coordinator Aliza Bran said, China jumped from the seventh to the fourth largest foreign market from 2015 to 2016, "which is a huge jump."

In response to the influx of Chinese tourists, the museum printed out guide booklets in Chinese to help visitors understand the stories and history, and collections displayed in the museum.

"Early on we did a few tours to make sure we knew what got the Chinese tourists excited, what spoke to them. And we found that a lot of our interactive exhibit were those items," Bran said, adding that compared with local visitors, the Chinese liked to immense themselves in the role of a spy with the more hands-on gadgets the museum has to offer.

Bran said that the museum has received positive feedbacks from visitors and tour operators, who were glad to find the effort the museum had made to accommodate them.

Seizing the momentum, Belpulsi said her organization is planning a Chinese New Year event in Washington in 2019.

"We are right in the beginning stages of that we are so excited, we've been doing research over the past year," she said.

Belpulsi said she is confident that the increasing number of Chinese tourists will not only bring back home fond memories from the United States, but also improve Americans' understanding of China.

"Tourism is like a bridge, whenever you meet people from strange places you're always kind of intrigued by that place and maybe plan to visit," she said.

Gourmet List, Ctrip's food and dining app, and Koubei, a similar service operated by Alibaba, reached a strategic cooperation agreement under which they will share their comments, ratings and discount activities, Ctrip said.

Many Chinese tourists have become gastronomes when travelling abroad, exploring fine local dining venues via online tools such as Gourmet List, and, very likely, making comments on Koubei and other apps.

The cooperation will make choosing restaurants more convenient and informed for consumers, said Liu Xiaozhou of Gourmet List.

Gourmet List users will be able to access comments, ratings and other information about a restaurant on Koubei. They can also get discount coupons, Liu said.

Gourmet List contains around 20,000 fine dining restaurants worldwide, among which 70 percent are overseas, while Koubei has a list of over 1.6 million restaurants in China. Over a million comments are generated on Koubei every day.

Lei Jun (right), chief executive officer of tech company Xiaomi, presents a full-screen smartphone with its French designer, Philippe Starck, at a new product launch event in Beijing on Sept 11. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

There is no denying that the full-screen design is now the biggest and most obvious trend in smartphones, and that it is also expected to become the major driver of smartphone growth this year, said industry experts.

James Yan, research director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said the full-screen design is distinctly futuristic and will be able to take the lead in the market.

"Smartphone users will always want bigger screens to have better views, and the full-screen trend will just cater to users' increasing need. And the sophisticated supply chain, both domestically and globally, encourages manufacturers to produce bezel-free smartphones."

To offer better user experiences, leading vendors are lining up to release bezel-free designs in an attempt to get at the forefront of the fierce competition.

Last Friday, Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd officially launched its first quad-camera full-screen smartphone Huawei Maimang 6 in Beijing. The brand, a joint effort by both Huawei and the country's third-largest mobile carrier China Telecommunications Corp, is particularly targeting younger consumers.

The new device features a 5.9-inch full screen, reaching an almost 83 percent screen-to-body ratio on the front. Priced at 2,399 yuan ($369), the product will be on sale on Sept 28.

He Gang, head of the smartphone division of Huawei, said the launch marked Huawei's first attempt to officially enter the full-screen handset era, which is deemed as a revolution in smartphone development.

"A good-quality full-screen smartphone should enhance the user experience. And I believe we will usher in a new trend in the market."

Vivo Mobile Communication Technology Co, the third-largest smartphone brand in China in the second quarter of this year, last Thursday announced its latest two full-screen display smartphones, the Vivo X20 and Vivo X20 Plus, right after it released the first full-screen smartphone the Vivo V7 Plus in India in early September. Priced from 2,998 yuan, the two new gadgets will go on sale in China on Sept 30.

Ealier this month, Apple Inc unveiled a new batch of smartphones to mark its 10th anniversary, the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. And the most eyecatching one will be the iPhone X, which is expected to compete with leading vendors Huawei and Samsung Electronics Co.

The bezel-less, OLED-equipped iPhone X is listed from 8,388 yuan in China, and was hailed by Apple CEO Tim Cook as "the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone".

Meanwhile, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus still stick to LCD.

According to statistics from global consultancy Canalys, smartphone vendors shipped 22 million full-screen smartphones worldwide in the second quarter in 2017, up from 700,000 in the first quarter of this year.

"While growth in China's smartphone market slowed in the first half of this year, the new trend of full-screen smartphones will drive consumers' replacement need and boost the whole market in the second half of this year and the first half of 2018," Yan added.

Jia Mo, an analyst at Canalys agreed, adding that the normal full-screen display smartphones will grow rapidly in the market.

"Full-screen designs once were deemed as the symbol of high-end smartphones. But in fact, the bezel-free design does not require such high-tech as artificial intelligence."

"OLED-equipped full screen designs, meanwhile, will be employed in high-end smartphones in the short term, due to the limited production capacity mostly from Samsung."

Children interact with Mento. [Photo/China Daily]

When Shenzhen-based robot maker Zige got its cute creation Mento to perform on the catwalk at this year's London Fashion Week, it attracted lots of interest.

Yet, behind the fun initiative is an emerging trend of China-United Kingdom collaboration in artificial intelligence. And, while it is still in its early days, analysts expect to see tremendous growth because of the complementary nature of the two countries' AI industries.

"China and the UK are natural partners to advance the AI sector," said Dai Jian, chairman of mechanisms and robotics at King's College London. "The UK leads on creativity and cutting-edge niche-sector technology ... and China's AI sector enjoys huge market access, available financing, and great commercializing capability."

Dai was speaking at the first China-Britain AI Summit in London on Friday, which attracted around 100 Chinese and British representatives from tech companies, consultancies and regulators.

Organized by the London-based consultancy China-Britain Business Fusion, delegates considered topics including bilateral investment and technology collaboration and saw live demonstrations of robotics technology.

Research is a key part of bilateral AI collaboration. Shenzhen-based drive-system maker Best Motion (formerly Nowforever Technology) established a 1.2 million pound ($1.62 million) research and development center at the University of Nottingham in 2014 to develop high-quality servo drive systems. The product is being prototyped, and will soon be mass-produced and launched.

"The servo drive system is a crucial component for AI robotics technology, but Chinese AI companies have relied on imported servo drive systems. The collaboration between Best Motion and the University of Nottingham has created a high-quality cost-efficient product," said Zhang He, who heads the R&D center in Nottingham.

Chinese AI companies also see the UK as a strategically important market. Zige, which plans to formally launch Mento in China in November, also will launch it in the UK in 2018. Mento was developed to teach language and general knowledge to children aged 4-12.

Jerry Huang, CEO of Zige, said his team is looking for UK universities and education consultancies to become partners in helping his team improve Mento's performance and to localize the product for the UK.

"Although China's domestic market is already huge, we eyed global growth from day one. Being able to succeed in the UK's mature market motivates us to set the bar high, and creates a strong base for our further international expansion," Huang said.

Earlier this year China's State Council unveiled a national AI guideline to grow the sector to a value of more than 150 billion yuan ($22.15 billion) by 2020.

The new subsidiary will make full use of the telecom carrier's advantage in cross-industry data collection and integration to offer a variety of services in information sharing, transactions, government management, risk control and travel.

Jiang Zhengxin, vice general manager of China Unicom, said the company welcomes external investment and wants to expand cooperation with strategic investors participating in China Unicom's mixed-ownership reform.

The State-owned telecom firm unveiled a plan to bring in private investors, including IT giants Alibaba and Tencent, to improve competitiveness more than a month earlier.

An agreement was signed between China Unicom and China UnionPay Monday to jointly use data resources, further technological cooperation and strengthen product research and development.

In the face of challenges in the broadband market and shrinking revenue from fixed-line voice services, China Unicom is swiftly expanding its business territory, with more energy channeled into sectors such as cloud computing, Internet of Things and big data.

Its 4G services, which once lagged behind China Mobile, the country's largest telecom operator, have been given priority and have contributed to substantial increases in business.

China Unicom's net profits surged more than 70 percent in the first half of 2017, mainly due to the transformation in business patterns, according to its mid-year report.

The ministry said on its website that the decision was "perplexing" as the downgrade came while China's economic growth had gained a firmer footing with improved quality.

S&P said Thursday that it had lowered China's long-term sovereign credit rating to A+ from AA-, because the country's "prolonged period of strong credit growth has increased its economic and financial risks."

Calling the reasoning "cliche," the MOF said it was a pity for S&P to focus on China's fast credit growth and debt issues, but ignore the country's distinctive financing structure, the wealth-creating effect of government spending and its support for growth, as well as sound development fundamentals and growth potential.

"The downgrade is a result of the international rating agency's long-standing mode of thinking, and misreading of the Chinese economy based on developed countries' experience," it said.

China's GDP grew faster than expected in the first half of the year, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier. The growth accelerated from 6.7 percent in 2016, above the government's 2017 full-year target of around 6.5 percent.

In the first eight months, fiscal revenue climbed 9.8 percent from a year earlier, up from the 6 percent rise registered over the same period in 2016. Fiscal spending rose 13.1 percent for January-August, providing strong support for stable growth and economic restructuring, the MOF said.

It said economic growth was expected to remain resilient as the supply-side structural reform and innovation-driven development strategy continued apace.

Addressing concerns over China's debt growth, the MOF said the government had always attached importance to the local government debt problem and would continue fiscal reform to ensure healthy finances.

As of the end of 2016, China's total outstanding government debts, including that of local governments, stood at 27.33 trillion yuan (around $4.14 trillion), or 36.7 percent of GDP.

The ministry said China was able to maintain stable and relatively fast economic growth while keeping credit at a reasonable level. Credit growth has actually been decelerating.

At the end of August, M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier, with the pace of growth decelerating for the seventh straight month to a new low.

"The S&P downgrade may be a good reminder of the existing inefficiencies in the economy, and the need for expedited reforms, but it's not a reflection of increasing credit risks or worsening economic fundamentals," said Liu Liu, an economist with the China International Capital Corporation (CICC).

Financial markets remained muted. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index Friday edged down 0.16 percent to 3,352.53.

Visitors examine the Huawei P10 devices during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Feb 27,2017.[Photo/VCG]

With more than 50 brands competing in the Russian market, Chinese brands control over 25 percent of the total smartphone market while share of Russian manufacturers dropped to single digits in Q2, according to a report by consultancy Counterpoint Research.

But the overall health of the Russian market isn't so rosy.The country's smartphone shipments fell 12 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year while they grew 2 percent sequentially,said the report.

Chinese smartphone brand Huawei took the third spot with 8 percent of Russia's smartphone shipments market share in the second quarter of this year,behind Samsung with 37 percent and Apple with 10 percent of the market during the same period.

While Samsung Electronics continued to be the market bellwether in the Q2 2017, Chinese smartphone vendors Xiaomi and Huawei became the fastest growing brands in the same period, according to the report.

"Xiaomi's go-to-market strategy involved expansion in both online & offline channels helped it to achieve growth within a year of its operations in the country," said Minakshi Sharma, research associate of Counterpoint.

During the second quarter of this year, about 25 percent of the Xiaomi sales came from online channels and the company is also planning to open offline stores in major cities of Russia in the coming year.

Huawei's growth can be attributed to its strong channel presence and promotional offers during the quarter, Sharma said.

Another Chinese company ZET ranked fifth with a 4 percent share of Russia's smartphone shipments market in the second quarter of this year.

In addition to taking large part of Russia's smartphone market, Chinese brands also grabbed over 50 percent of smartphone market share in Q2 in India.

The e-commerce company, which has 258.3 million customers,recently launched a fashion-specific division, JD Fashion,with the goal of expanding its global fashion presence and bringing more brands to China, which is the world's second-largest consumer and luxury market.

JD Fashion aims to help designers that are part of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund enter the Chinese market at a time when consumers in China are increasingly interested in British fashion.

"The Chinese market is extremely important to our designers," said Caroline Rush, the British Fashion Council's chief executive. "This partnership with JD Fashion is very exciting as it will enable us to offer to the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund expertise on how to best penetrate the Chinese market."

The BFC said JD.com has a reputation for protecting brands against counterfeits, which will ensure designers' creativity is protected.

The partnership will come into effect in January and benefit the winners of the 2018 Vogue Designer Fashion Fund competition.

To mark the launch of the partnership, JD Fashion supported the London Fashion Week shows of 2015 competition winner Mary Katrantzou and Chinese-born designer Zhang Huishan, who is about to opena store in Mayfair.

Ding Xia, president of JD Fashion,expressed her delight at the partnership, which will support top up-and-coming designers.

"We believe strongly in partnering with designers throughout their careers, from helping them get their start in the industry, to entering the Chinese market and building their brands, to protecting their IP," she said. "This marks a starting point for what we expect to be a deep, long-term relationship with the British fashion community."

Known for its focus on providing a luxury shopping experience for its upwardly mobile customers, JD Fashion has made significant improvements in the past year, bringing in dozens of world-class brands and rapidly growing its share of the Chinese luxury market.

Earlier this year, JD.com created what it said was the world's first luxury white glove service, through which online luxury fashion purchases are hand-delivered in electric vehicles by couriers clad in distinctive suits.

The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund was launched in 2008 and aims to discover new talent and accelerate the development of new British brands. Previous winners include Christopher Kane, Erdem, and Nicholas Kirkwood.

Thomas Cook China, a joint venture formed in 2016 between the United Kingdom-based travel company and Chinese conglomerate Fosun International, is on track to have handled 20,000 customers in its first year of operations.

"Over the next 12 months, we plan to grow this number by more than ten times," said Alessandro Dassi, Thomas Cook China's managing director.

Speaking at the 2017 FVW Congress in Cologne, Germany, Dassi said the unit has the full commitment of Fosun and Thomas Cook to support the future growth of the business.

"The ambition is to make China a sizeable market for Thomas Cook Group, comparable, over time, with our more mature source markets in Europe," he said.

The two-day tourism conference covered a variety of topics impacting the future of tourism, including the growth of China as the emerging power in the global travel market.

"Thomas Cook has looked at China for many years," Dassi said. "But it was not until we partnered with Fosun that we had the confidence to bring our brand and resources in to China."

The 176-year-old Thomas Cook is a recognized name for both European travel consumers and distributors in western markets, but is less well known among China’s consumers.

The company's Chinese arm has developed into a one-stop full service travel company. With offices in Shanghai and Beijing, it offers inbound travel to and within China, as well as holidays and tours for Chinese customers.

Thomas Cook China said that while the Chinese travel market is large and fast growing and represents the world's largest number of outbound visitors, it is also very competitive and fragmented.

Dassi said: "There is already huge choice in the market for the Chinese leisure travelers, and a great focus on price."

One of the biggest opportunities for the company comes from the rapid change in the behavior of Chinese travelers, with traditional group tours becoming less popular in favor of more independent and higher quality type of travel. 

According to a survey by booking site Hotels. com and Ipsos, shopping is no longer the major reason for international travel among Chinese tourists.

Instead, dining, sightseeing, and exploring the local culture have all become increasingly appealing.

"The industry is not yet keeping up with the pace of change in the behavior of Chinese consumers," said Dassi. "To exploit this gap we have focused on developing products that are truly unique and differentiated, leveraging Thomas Cook’s resources across key tourist destinations."

"One of the best things about facial recognition technology is that you don't have to carry your cards with you for petty deposits and withdrawals," said Xu Yanru, lobby manager of ABC's Heping Road outlet in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong Province.

ABC has introduced facial recognition technology at its automatic teller machines (ATM). Other banks, such as the China Merchants Bank and the Construction Bank of China, have also introduced similar technology in their ATMS.

"All you have to do is to press the facial recognition withdrawal button, scan your face in the camera, enter your phone number or ID number, and enter your transaction amount and password," said Zhang Baojing, a banking manager at ABC.

Zhang said that the technology can eliminate the risk of having bank cards illegally copied, and lower the possibility of cards getting eaten by ATMS.

"It can enhance the customer experience," Zhang said.

Technology staff at ABC said that facial recognition is safe because it also requires ID numbers or phone numbers and passwords. In addition, customers' photos will be compared with those in the public security system. The latest infrared cameras also lower the risk of illegal activities.

The ABC limits the daily withdrawal to 3,000 yuan ($457) via the technology. The bank plans to install the facial recognition technology at 24,064 outlets across the country, according to web portal Sohu.com.

ABC is not the first bank in China to introduce the facial recognition technology. In 2015, China Merchants Bank started using the technology in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen. Last year, it expanded the service to about 1,000 ATMs in 106 cities.

But the new service faces some difficulties, such as high maintenance costs.

"Many senior citizens might find it hard to trust or get used to this way of withdrawing money," said Yang Gan of the Smart City Research Institute in Southwest China's Guizhou Province.

But Yang said it will only be a matter of time before the technology permeates society.

"In the future, payment via facial recognition and mobile payment will be complementary," Yang said.

In China, the rapid development of facial recognition technology has led to its use in a number of innovative ways. Beijing's Temple of Heaven has used it in toilets to deter toilet paper theft. In Jinan City, traffic police have installed facial scanners at intersections to catch and shame jaywalkers. Supermarkets in some big cities have been using the technology at bag deposit areas.

Beijing Normal University debuted its first facial scanners in April and expanded their use in all dorms during the summer break. Currently, 70 percent of students have had their face recorded. A facial scan is required for new freshman students, according to the school.

Over 64,000 Chinese tourists visited Israel from January to July this year, up 66 percent year on year, outpacing the global average of 17 percent year on year, Yariv Levin, Israeli Minister of Tourism said during his first official visit to China.

Levin attributed the rapid growth in Chinese tourists to more convenient transportation as there are now direct flights to Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv from Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Israel's tourism ministry has stepped up cooperation with Chinese online tourism platforms. It signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China's largest online travel agency Ctrip earlier this month to promote the country's unique tourism resources in a targeted manner.

Travelling overseas has become a popular choice among increasingly affluent Chinese. Data from China National Tourism Administration shows that about 62 million overseas trips were made in the first half of this year, up 5 percent year on year.

To meet the demands of the growing Chinese market, the Israeli tourism ministry has increased training of tourist guides and is building a Chinese version of its official website, according to Levin.

A visitor looks at a drone made by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp at an industry expo held in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's defense industry conglomerate, has vowed to answer the government's call to complete key internal corporate reforms by the end of this year.

Wang Zhanyu, deputy director of the department of strategy management at CASC, said at a media briefing that in addition to responding to the State Council's timeline to complete its corporate reforms by 2017, it has vowed to accelerate the process of spinning off its social functions by 2018, which is an essential part of deepening the reform of SOEs.

It also plans to promote mixed ownership reform, through raising its asset securitization rate to over 45 percent by 2020.

The restructuring is included in the broader SOE reforms administered by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the top SOE watchdog.

Specifically, the reform of CASC has been boosted by innovation-driven development, as can be seen from its achievements, such as BeiDou, China's leading satellite navigation system, manned space projects and the lunar exploration program.

Its Earth Observing System satellite program has increased the nation's self-sufficiency rate of high-resolution remote sensing data to over 70 percent, playing an essential role in information security.

According to Wang, CASC is constantly fine-tuning its management system and is making various innovations in this field.

In the past five years, the company has launched over 80 Long March rockets, with the launch frequency growing over 22 percent year-on-year. In 2016, the firm's launch frequency already shared the first place with the United States.

The company owes these achievements to its innovation breakthroughs. Its guidelines in response to the nation's "Made in China 2025" Initiative reduced its launch cycle and product cycle by 30 percent and 40 percent respectively, while raising its launch success rate to 95.6 percent, which is in line with the international standard. Moreover, the costs were lowered by around 20 percent.

Dong Yan, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the reforms led by the government, benefit SOEs such as CASC, as they adjust their structure and operation system and are better equipped to face international challenges.

A stand from Georgia promotes wines at the International Investment Forum 2017 in Xiamen. [Photo/China Daily by Hu Meidong]

Investment in infrastructure and manufacturing will continue to be the key engine for the BRICS countries－Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa－to enhance regional connectivity and stimulate trade activities, business leaders said on Monday.

Concerning the asset amount, it may be a bit difficult for countries like India and South Africa to be very big investors. China, which accounts for two-thirds of the total economic aggregate among the five countries, should enlarge the investment scale to lay a solid basis for establishing the BRICS economic belt, Zhu Xian, vice-president of the BRICS New Development Bank, said at the International Investment Forum 2017 in Xiamen.

The forum is a major event of the China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen, Fujian province, held from Sept 18 to 21.

As one of the biggest annual international investment promotion events following the ninth BRICS Summit held earlier this month, this year's forum will focus on boosting investment in BRICS countries, as well as economies related to the Belt and Road Initiative, according to You Quan, Party secretary of Fujian province.

According to the 2017 World Investment Report released in June by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, China's outbound direct investment ranked top among the BRICS countries to reach about $183 billion in 2016.

However, the proportion of investment among BRICS members only took up 6 percent, the report said.

Zhu from the BRICS New Development Bank said the history of China's investment in those countries is still relatively short, and there is great potential for further cooperation.

Chen Jinghe, chairman of Zijin Mining Group, a Fujian-based mining company, said at the forum that resources can play a bigger role in boosting the country's overseas investment.

Founded in 1993, the company has invested in countries including Russia, Australia, Canada and South Africa.

It has invested more than 3 billion yuan ($454 million) in mine development in Tuva, a republic in Russia's southern Siberia which has rich bronze, gold and silver resources.

He said the area had no large-scale mining projects for around 20 years, but this together with the extreme cold posed major challenges in establishing the facilities.

However, it now has more than 1,000 employees, and it is expected to earn 600 to 700 million yuan this year.

He said the rich resources, good relations between China and Russia and support from the local government and communities all persuaded him to invest in the area.

Zhu Lianyu, chairman of Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Co Ltd, with more than 20 years of experience in marine equipment, said his company has branches and businesses in all the other four BRICS countries since it built its first shore bridge in Brazil in 1996.

The company has so far installed port cranes in 12 major ports in India.

An elderly woman dining at a nursing home in Hangzhou. [Sun Yidou/for China Daily]

SYDNEY - With an increasingly aging population expected throughout Asia over the next 100 years, a new report released Monday suggested that this will bring a wealth of future opportunities as well as some significant challenges.

The Deloitte Voice of Asia report suggested that the shifting demography in the Asian nations within this century towards a significantly larger percentage of aged citizens will see more people aged over 65 in Asia by the year 2042 than in the whole of Europe and North America combined.

Such a significant increase will be "challenging" to some nations, according to author of the report Chris Richardson, director of Deloitte Access Economics who told Xinhua on Monday that for China in particular, despite positive government actions, such as the introduction of the two-child policy in 2015, the markets continue to play a role in the shifting demography.

"When housing costs a fortune -- as it does in some key parts of China, but not all - then other things equal, that keeps the birth rate on a tight leash," Richardson said.

However, with the challenges comes great opportunity for China, particularly with its burgeoning groups of middle-class millennials. The report said that the generations of Chinese born after 1990 are a "force to be reckoned with" who will continue to drive consumption.

"It will be impossible to truly understand China's growing consumer spending without appreciating its confident young consumers, whose audacity of spending has provided a floor to growth against the backdrop of economic moderation," the report said.

Health care, a major new focus point for the emerging middle-class in China, extends to the ageing demographic as well, and as former Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson told Xinhua recently that this provides for opportunities for further partnership between China and the rest of the world.

"There is a real emphasis on services (in China), but an area I think has enormous untapped potential is in health, and aged care. As China's middle class continues to grow, and as the Chinese population continues to age, which it inevitably will, there will be interest in very high quality health and aged care services," Emerson said.

This sentiment was shared by another former minister Andrew Robb, who said that the increasingly prosperous Chinese citizens are "demanding" more and more infrastructure in order to address the needs of a wealthy, yet ever-aging population.

"These sorts of issues are large scale issues. The infrastructure is required to deal with the ageing population, the medical facilities now are being demanded by the middle class in China, the educational standards are required," Robb said.

"All of these things are needed now that China is re-emerging into a major global economy, these are all expectations that their population has now as China moves into a more normal role in the global economy."

The report also highlighted the recent push by China to emerge as a world-leader in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, saying that this would serve as a bigger "game changer" for China than it will be for other countries around the world.

"The rise of robots and AI will have its biggest impact by replacing jobs involving repetitive tasks rather than those involving personal interaction. This poses a particular challenge for China, whose great advances in recent decades have been relatively more focussed in areas such as manufacturing rather than service sectors," the report said.

"Other things equal, that says the rise of machines looms larger as a game changer for China than it does for many other nations."

With the report stating that the billion-strong workforce in China "is far and away the greatest workforce the world has ever seen", the shift towards an ageing economy is one which will remain in the crosshairs of those tasked with ensuring China's prosperity well into the future.

Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of IMF, makes a speech on the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Financial technologies have overhauled the entire ecosystem of finance from the supply side, to demand side and to basic infrastructure and have caused shockwaves to the regulation and legislation, said Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of IMF, on the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sunday.

"For deposits, Yu'ebao has appeared; for loans, there are numerous companies such as Ant Financial Service Group and JD.com; for payment, there are Alipay and WeChat Pay; for financing, crowd-funding has already drawn lots of attention; and furthermore, Fintech will overturn the insurance sector in a more 'ferocious' way," Zhu, also chair of the National Institute of Financial Research, Tsinghua University, told participants.

It's obvious that Fintech companies have shocked traditional financial institutions as they have forced them to open up their once internally controlled production process, from design to sales, allowing these tech savvy companies elbow in their way into the finance sector via different entry points, becoming the supply end in the finance sector, he said.

He added that Fintech has also empowered consumers by shortening the distance between them and financial services and by providing them more choices and improving their user experience.

"The third-party payment is a typical case of Fintech changing finance sector's infrastructure and blockchain is another example," Zhu said.

Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial, makes a speech on the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Eric Jing, CEO of Ant Financial, said that more than 7 million small and micro companies have got loans with a value less than 30,000 yuan each on a 310 model. This 310 model means it takes a firm three minutes to apply for a loan and the loan will be granted in one second with zero human intervention.

But the 310 model might mean three-month application, one-month waiting and zero result in Europe, Jing added, citing an unnamed peer in the continent.

Zhu Guang, senior vice-president of Baidu， makes a speech on the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Zhu Guang, senior vice-president of Baidu, said that Baidu Finance, since the end of 2015 when it was set up, has granted nearly 5-billion-yuan loans to 320,000 youngsters to help them get vocational training. They had failed in China's college entrance examinations and had no diplomas or degrees but showed enthusiasm for learning, based on their past records of using Baidu to search for more knowledge or skills via Baidu Tieba, or Baidu Knows. "Now, the design, production, control, allocation and sales of a financial product have become a supply chain and a purely market-oriented process," said Zhu. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, winner of A.M. Turing Award in 2000，makes a speech on the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, winner of A.M. Turing Award in 2000 and dean of Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences, Tsinghua University, said while Fintech in the United States is more for improving efficiency of current financial services, Fintech in China has come up with many totally new financial products. "Comparatively speaking, Fintech is progressing in a more conservative way in the United States' matured market , but in China, it has rocketed for years, into an unknown area," said Yao. In Zhu's opinion, the biggest shockwave from Fintech is for regulation and legislation as the entire ecosystem has been undergoing fundamental changes and this process is still unfinished. Zhu said that when finance's role can be played internally, regulations levied on financial institutions can deal with all problems, but under the premise of Fintech, regulation has to go from an institutionally based structure to a functionally based structure. In addition, regulation has to be evolved from being static, single region-based to being cross-region or even cross-border. "Rules-based regulation cannot give guidance to Fintech companies, while principles-based regulation cannot cover their development, so, previous regulation models seem rather helpless," Zhu added. "Furthermore, when regulation faces such an eco-system change, laws also need to change," said Zhu. Li Dongrong, president of National Internet Finance Association of China， makes a speech on the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Li Dongrong, president of National Internet Finance Association of China, who had warned the public of the fraudulent nature of Initial Coin Offering before the government's recent ban on it, said that financial innovation, if not guided by right value orientation, might lead to self circulation and inflation and might lead to financial crisis or even social crisis. Fintech companies, the trade unions, the regulatory body need to take into account three parameters, namely whether their activities could improve efficiency in serving the real economy and inclusiveness, improve finance sector's risk-control capabilities and improve protection for consumers in the finance sector. Aaron Karczmer, executive vice-president of Paypal， makes a speech on the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Aaron Karczmer, executive vice-president of Paypal, said they did not think regulation is contradictory or an obstacle to innovation; otherwise, they even took a step further to consider that regulation could lead to good innovation. Zhao Cen, associate dean of PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, moderates the 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda held in Beijing on Sept 17, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]  The 2nd China Fintech Conference Agenda was co-hosted by PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University and National Institute of Financial Research, Tsinghua University. Zhao Cen, associate dean of PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, and also moderator of the conference, said the aim of the conference was to bring wisdom and power to the Fintech sector to promote its healthy development.

A citizen checks house leasing information on Xiangyang Road, Shanghai.[Gao Zheng/for China Daily]

Mutual fund-like investment vehicle encourages residence construction

China's equity market regulators have stepped up the pace of introducing rules aimed at encouraging individual investors to finance development of residential leasing properties, a move that analysts said will be greatly helpful to long-term growth of the sector.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) of companies that operate residential leasing properties and public rental projects are likely to be included in the first batch of financial tools involving individual investors' funds, analysts said.

In China, some quasi-REIT products are offered among private equities, but no specific REITs supporting residential projects have been offered as no regulations have been made.

Companies that want to develop rental projects currently face hurdles: The return rate is too low and it takes too much time to realize positive cash flow; thus, a new mechanism for financing and income model is required to give companies incentives to operate residential rental projects, according to Li Yujia, analyst with Shenzhen Real Estate Research Institute.

"Market-oriented developers and operators would be reluctant to engage in rental projects when risk-free return rate is about 4 percent while return rate of leasing projects is about 2 percent, and it takes up to 60 years to break even. If land supplies and financing mechanism would help to reduce cost of land and give (the) developer and operator better return, more players would join the market," Li said.

In Shanghai, two parcels of land that were designated for residential rental projects in Jiading projects were transacted at less than 6,000 yuan ($915.6) per square meter, which was about 10 percent of the average market price for commercial residential projects in the city.

The move is also regarded as a start of enabling more financing mechanism to be piloted in rental project development.

"When cost of land for rental housing projects is about 10 percent of that in commercial properties, (the) return rate could be somewhere at 6 percent, which will work for operators," Li said.

REITs, which focus on stable income and long-term operation, actually match the nature of residential leasing market well, as long as the return rate is reasonable, according to a research note from Cushman and Wakefield, a real estate services provider.

"Diversities of housing products and services will help growth of leasing market, and return will be stable and steadily grow, too. When all these conditions are mature, REITs are likely to develop healthily in China," the Cushman & Wakefield research noted.

China's residential leasing market size is expected to grow from 1.1 trillion yuan in 2016 to 2.9 trillion yuan in 2025. It is expected to further grow to 4.6 trillion yuan in 2030, according to a research note by LPlus Research Institute, real estate information services provider.

Two units under internet giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd are working in tandem to test facial recognition technology that will allow users to unlock delivery drop boxes.

Cainiao Network Technology Co Ltd, an Alibaba-backed courier aggregator, is promoting such an application to its partner delivery firms and parcel pickup facility providers in a test run in Shanghai, the company said during a customer conference in Shanghai on Thursday.

The technology is provided by Ant Financial Services Group, Alibaba's fintech subsidiary, which since September has enabled customers to pay by literally flashing a smile in a KFC store in Hangzhou, where Alibaba is headquartered.

An army of specially equipped kiosks have been installed across five locations at Shanghai's financial district of Lujiazui, with cameras scanning people's faces to verify their identities. The companies plan for a nationwide rollout when the pilot projects mature in the city.

In the first instance, the machine would compare the detected face with the image logged by public security authorities, said Chen Jidong, director of biometric identification technology at Ant Financial.

To achieve that, users need to subscribe to a service embedded in the Alipay digital wallet, which gives the app the green light to capture their personal information to confirm their identity, he noted.

This is possible thanks to 550 million real-name users on Alipay, through which they pay bills, settle traffic fines, manage wealth and get small loans.

"The scanning system focuses on your face, so it doesn't matter if you change your makeup or wear a wig," Chen said, adding that multiple tests have been conducted under various environments such as under sunlight or in the dark to ensure a smooth and consistent performance.

A demonstration video displayed during the conference suggested the whole process takes roughly five seconds, significantly shortening the conventional method of parcel retrieval by typing in text codes, which normally takes 16 seconds, the companies said.

"I would expect this investment and new process to save a substantial amount of time and ensure security," said Zou Jianhua, CEO of Diyi Box, a parcel pickup facility provider. "Just in Shanghai, at least 10,000 parcel pickup locations will be equipped with such functionality in three years."

Chen said that the false-acceptance rate, or the chances that the system incorrectly accepts an unauthorized user, should be below 0.001 percent and be further lowered to ensure bank-level security.

Shenzhen-based SF Express, a leading Chinese courier that is competing with Cainiao's network, said it is also developing biometric-based technologies to apply to its own parcel pickup cabinets.

Chai Hua in Shenzhen contributed to this story.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone X, which were unveiled on Wednesday, are "precision‑engineered to resist water and dust," according to the company.

That specification was achieved by a university in Dalian, which says its smart robot system for spraying adhesive is key equipment that guarantees the water-proof ability of the new iPhones.

A team at the Dalian University of Technology, in northeastern Liaoning province, developed the smart robot controlling system based on technology it developed.

Unlike adhesives applied manually, the robots can automatically select the spray point and accurately calculate the coordinates of the precise location through image measurements.

The process greatly enhances the spray efficiency and ensures the waterproofing effect.

The system is utilized in most of the domestic factories operated by Apple supplier, Foxconn.

The total cost of the equipment has exceeded 170 million yuan ($25.9 million), sources at the university said.

The university team are focusing on the intelligent perception, deep learning, independent decision-making and other key technical problems of robot control in order to provide security and technical support for the application of robot in relevant industries.

"The decision was based on policies issued on Sept 4 by the People's Bank of China and relevant regulators over the risk of fundraising through issuing digital coins," said the statement.

Earlier this month, China ordered a ban on Initial Coin Offerings, a nascent form of fundraising in which technology start-ups issue their own digital coins, or "tokens", to investors to access funds as the rapidly expanding market spawned concerns over financial risks.

Prices of bitcoin plummeted after the announcement, according to a report by The Paper.

Bitcoin on Huobi, another major Bitcoin trading platform in China, was quoted at 21,100 yuan, down about 15 percent. On BTCChina, the quotation dropped over 20 percent to 19,100 yuan.

Financial regulators in Shanghai have instructed all trading platforms to halt all bitcoin transactions before the end of September, however Beijing-based Huobi said the company has not yet received such a notice from the regulator, said the report.

The FTA will expand trade market for Hong Kong via the platform of ASEAN, and also facilitate ASEAN to seek better accesses to the Chinese mainland and other areas via Hong Kong, said Edward Yau Tang-wah, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the HKSAR government.

ASEAN is a very important trading partner of Hong Kong, ranking the second largest trading partner in merchandise trade in 2016, and the fourth largest in services trade in 2015.

The FTA will cover trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical co-operation and dispute settlement mechanisms and will boost trade, investment and various exchanges between Hong Kong and ASEAN, said Choi Koon-shum, chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong.

With strengths in finance and professional services, such as law, accounting and management, Hong Kong can help improve professional services in ASEAN and become a base for the Chinese mainland enterprises which plan to explore ASEAN market, he said.

The FTA will sharpen Hong Kong's competitive edges as it has potentials to attract the Chinese mainland enterprises to build regional headquarters in Hong Kong in expanding business in ASEAN, said Huang Sihua, a researcher with the Bank of China (Hong Kong).

As each ASEAN member has its own social and cultural background, service sectors must be highly localized, and this will bring opportunities for Hong Kong professional service sector, Huang said.

The FTA negotiations between Hong Kong and ASEAN commenced in July 2014.

The total merchandise trade between Hong Kong and ASEAN amounted to $106.8 billion in 2016, and total services trade between the two sides was $15.5 billion in 2015, according to the HKSAR government.

The traditional competitiveness of the economy has been waning, and the issue of structural supply-demand imbalance has become prominent. With an insufficient supply of high-end products and services, great efforts will be required to improve quality, according to the plan released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

The focus of the plan is on improving the quality of services and products, especially farm produce, food, medicine, consumer goods and equipment.

The government will intensify quality supervision, strengthen control of intellectual property right infringements as well as the manufacturing and selling of fake and shoddy goods.

Businesses will be encouraged to uphold the "entrepreneurial spirit" and "craftsman spirit," and improve their quality management and core competitiveness through brand-building.

The country will continue a national quality award program, and provide more financial, credit and project investment support for enterprises.

In improving the quality of its products and services, China will also ensure closer cooperation with its major trade partners as well as countries and regions along the Belt and Road.

A woman chooses canned food at a supermarket in Qingdao, Shandong province, Sep 9, 2016.[Photo provided for China Daily]

BEIJING — China's consumer inflation picked up in August, driven by higher food prices, while the factory-gate prices also rose, fueled by rising commodity costs.

Consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, accelerated more than expected to a seven-month high of 1.8 percent in August, up from July's 1.4 percent, beating market expectation of 1.6 percent, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Saturday.On a monthly basis, the index was up 0.4 percent last month.

For the first eight months of the year, CPI climbed 1.5 percent from one year earlier.

The stronger, yet still moderate, inflation remained well below the government's annual inflation regulation target of around 3 percent for 2017.

On a monthly basis, CPI was up 0.4 percent last month.

NBS chief statistician Sheng Guoqing attributed the faster CPI growth to higher food prices as adverse weather pushed up vegetable prices while falling output led to sharp growth in egg prices.

Food prices, the biggest component of the CPI, were up 1.2 percent month-on-month, NBS said.

Vegetable prices rose 8.5 percent from July as scorching summer and widespread heavy rains increased transportation costs. Egg prices climbed 13.5 percent from July while the prices of pork, a staple meat in China, rose 1.3 percent month-on-month.

Year-on-year, food prices edged down 0.2 percent in August, while non-food prices gained 2.3 percent.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI increased 2.2 percent year-on-year in August, up slightly from July's 2.1 percent. The core CPI has been holding steady at a little above 2 percent since March.

Analysts said the pick-up in consumer inflation is unlikely to continue because of a high comparative base in September 2016 and the fading effects of seasonal factors during the rest of the year.

Jiang Chao, chief economist at Haitong Securities, said the CPI increase would ease to 1.6 percent in September and remain subdued for the whole year.  

Producer price index (PPI), which measures costs of goods at the factory gate, rose to a four-month high of 6.3 percent in August, compared with 5.5 percent in July, according to NBS.

PPI growth, which was higher than the market forecast of 5.7 percent, was boosted by increases in the prices of steel, non-ferrous metals, as well as oil and natural gas.

On a month-on-month basis, the index was up 0.9 percent last month.

Producer prices accelerated upward, a significant positive sign for China's economy, which will help drive profits higher and enable companies to process their debt burden a little more easily, Bloomberg chief Asia economist Tom Orlik said.

However, Orlik said factory sector reflation remained vulnerable. The sector breakdown showed factory reflation was benefiting mainly upstream industries, with downstream industries squeezed.

PPI grew 6.4 percent year-on-year for January-August, unchanged from that in the first seven months.

Orlik expected the central bank to continue dealing with the deleveraging challenge, not to hasten monetary easing.

Night view of Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone of Pudong in Shanghai, July 8, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Shanghai is the most favorite Chinese city for international talents, followed by Beijing, South China's Guangdong Province and East China's Jiangsu Province, according to a report on regional international talent competitiveness released on Monday.

A comprehensive evaluation system was used to value a region's competitiveness of international talents in six dimensions – scale and structure of international talents, as well as innovation, policy, development and living environments. The report was conducted and released by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) and the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics' Institute of Development Studies.

"With rapid economic globalization, China has become international talents' new choice for long-term development and relocation and regional competition for international talents has begun," Wang Huiyao, president of CCG, said.

Shanghai beat other cities and scored 65.17 out of 100, or 3.91 out of 6 in global talent competitiveness index, due to the openness of the city, work environment, job opportunities and preferential policies, according to the report.

Beijing, with 3.67 out of 6 in global talent competitiveness index, ranked second in the report, and gathers most of international students due to prestigious universities, such as Tsinghua University and Peking University, available.

Although East China's coastal province Jiangsu ranks the fourth, it is home to many foreign companies due to the preferential policies to attract elite-level international talents.

Southwest China's Sichuan province, with 1.92 out of 6 in global talent competitiveness index, ranked 10th on the list; however, it was the top among regions in middle and western China, according to the report.

The international talents policy index is an important indicator for a region's competitiveness for international talents, and the policy incentives provide international talents in eastern coastal cities are more favorable than middle and western regions, according to the report.

For instance, a medical park in Taizhou city gives each PhD holder an additional subsidy of 20,000 yuan ($3,070) and 150,000 yuan to buy a house, Global Times reported citing Jiangsu's official newspaper, Xinhua Daily.

The Shanghai government began a pilot program in 2015 which also allows foreign students with a master's degree from Shanghai universities to start a business after graduating, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Regional innovative development has been a main trend for international competitiveness, and the increase of regional competiveness can bring new opportunities for a country in global development competition, according to Wang Huiyao, president of the CCG.

Lei Jun, founder of smartphone maker Xiaomi, presents an updated version of the company's "concept smartphone" Mi Mix, the Mi Mix 2, in Beijing on Sept 11, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese tech company Xiaomi launched an updated version of its "concept smartphone" Mi Mix, the Mi Mix 2, on Monday, one day earlier than the planned release date of iPhone 8.

The Mi Mix 2, with a screen aspect ratio of 18:9 like its predecessor, runs on a Snapdragon 835 processor and has a 5.99-inch screen, whose display looks almost as large as the 5.55-inch iPhone 7 plus screen.

Xiaomi's founder Lei Jun said this visual effect is because of its bezel-free screen or "full screen" technology, which rocked the smartphone sector when it was announced Oct 25, 2016 on the Mi Mix.

He revealed that the breakthrough in the ratio from traditional 16:9 to 18:9 involved a lot of communication between Xiaomi and Google, which later confirmed the workability of this change, setting off a new trend of "bezel-free" screens in the smartphone sector. Samsung's S8 has a screen aspect ratio of 18.5: 9.

In addtion, the Mi Mix 2 also features a ceramic body, which Lei called "Unibody." Lei also said the whole phone is like a whole jade.

The new "flagship smartphone", in Lei's own words, rather than the previous "concept smartphone", is priced from 3,299 yuan ($506), which is 200 yuan lower than the starting price of Mi Mix, to 4,699 yuan, depending on specifications.

Jin Di, a research manager with IDC China, said what surprised her most were the prices.

Jin said that Xiaomi has been making progress in breaking established standards in engineering and designs in recent years. Jin revealed that in the breakdown data of IDC's quarterly smartphone global shipments for the past several quarters, Xiaomi's devices priced above 2,000 yuan have seen sales growth, but not a markable growth.

"I think the management capability of its supply chain has deterred sales growth in Xiaomi's high-end handsets," Jin said.

"We could never reserve manufactured smartphones for the so-called ‘hungry marketing'", Lei said, adding that the Mi Mix 2 will be on sale Friday.

The Mi Mix won gold at the International Design Excellence Awards in September and has been collected by the Finnish national museum as it represents the future of smartphones, Lei said.

He revealed that as of now, 12 smartphones including the iPhone 1 have won the IDEA award.

Whether these efforts pay off still needs to be seen in the sales data, Jin said.

Xiaomi also lauched the Mi Air Pro, a notebook for professionals, and the Mi Note 3, another flagship smartphone, on Monday.

Entertainers and employees perform during the parade at the annual party to mark the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group held its grandest annual party celebrating the 18-year-old birthday at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang province, on Friday.

Around 40,000 Alibaba employees from dozens of countries and regions attended the event, where the Group's Executive Chairman Jack Ma performed classic dance of superstar Michael Jackson and displayed sophisticated magic tricks.

Meanwhile, entertainers and Alibaba employees played guitar, took out carnival floats parade and other activities.

Jack Ma, chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, performs classic dance of Michael Jackson with other business partners at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC]

Jack Ma, chairman of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, performs at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC]

Representatives of Tmall at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] Hema Xiansheng, an emerging online-to-offline supermarket operated by Alibaba, shows up at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] Representatives of Alibaba's online flea market Xianyu at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] Alibaba's employees show their support for the company at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] The Bodhisattva with thousands of hands made of balloons appears at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] Performers play guitar at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] Dancers in costumes perform at the Alibaba Annual Party celebrating the 18th anniversary of the founding of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC] After the party, 40,000 employees leave the stadium in order and carry away waste at the Yellow Dragon Sports Center in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 8, 2017. [Photo/IC]

The agreements involve agriculture and food processing, new materials, equipment manufacturing, bio-pharmaceuticals, chemical industry, textiles, industrial park construction and modern services.

The new cooperation is expected to forge closer ties between China and Arab states, and add momentum to the Belt and Road Initiative.

The expo, which kicked off Wednesday in Ningxia's capital Yinchuan and will run until Saturday, is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the regional government of Ningxia.

That led to a monthly trade surplus of 286.5 billion yuan ($44 billion), down 14 percent year on year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

A teller counts and arranges dollar notes at an Agricultural Bank of China branch in Qionghai, Hainan province. [Photo/China Daily]

China's foreign exchange reserves in August increased for the seventh consecutive month, adding evidence for a stabilizing trend of the country's cross-border capital flows.

The data showed an increase of $10.8 billion to a total of $3.09 trillion at the end of August, central bank data showed on Thursday.

It was the first time since June 2014 that the reserves climbed for seven months in a row.

The continued rise can be attributed to better than expected economic recovery since the beginning of the year and improved market expectations for the yuan's exchange rate, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in an online statement.

Rath Trombones produces around 500 of its handmade instruments a year.

Customers have included the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Military School of Music, the Count Basie Orchestra, the Berlin Opera and the US and Norwegian armed forces.

The company, founded in 1992 by Mick Rath in the West Yorkshire village of Honley, is looking to boost its export business and has set its sights on China.

"The trombone market is fairly small and we need to export to keep growing," Rath said. "We cannot rely on the UK alone to sustain business. Exporting enables us to take advantage of fluctuating economies and exchange rates."

The company currently generates around 60 percent of sales from overseas orders. It has sold instruments in 25 countries, and works with dealers in the US, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.

"We've been trying to get into China－a large and increasingly wealthy market with good arts funding－for some time," Rath said.

China's musical instrument market surpassed the US in 2012 to become the largest in the world, with domestic production and sales totaling $6.2 billion and imports worth $300 million.

"A lack of understanding of Chinese business culture, which is very different to ours, is holding us back," Rath said.

Rath estimates that orders from the Chinese market could boost sales by as much as 25 percent. He has enlisted the help of Bradford-based export-import service Chamber International to help gain a better understanding of Chinese business culture.

"Every country has its own culture when it comes to purchasing, and China is no exception,'' said Matthew Grandage, China affairs associate at Chamber International. "Understanding this is often the difference between success and disappointment in overseas markets."

Rath, who started playing the tuba when he was 11, works with his wife Nikki and nine other makers.

They build the trombones by hand, employing traditional techniques rarely used today.

"Visiting Rath Trombones' factory is a privilege," Grandage said. "You know you're meeting top craftsmen in their field. Professional musicians will recognize and value that quality as it transcends international boundaries."

"Ours are high-quality instruments made by British craftspeople," Rath said."The fact that a modular design enables customers to interchange components to ensure a perfect instrument for most trombone players gives us wide appeal to players and dealers overseas."

The five-day event drew more than 100,000 attendees from over 110 countries and regions, said Li Jinxiu, director of the expo's executive committee.

Domestic trade deals worth 2.45 billion yuan ($375 million) were signed during the expo, said Li, also vice governor of Jilin.

Some 235 investment projects, with combined investment totalling 224.3 billion yuan, were also signed at the annual event.

This year's expo attracted more international attention, as it highlighted topics such as intelligent manufacturing and the Belt and Road Initiative, according to Li.

The expo was jointly organized by the Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and Jilin provincial government.

Since the first meeting of their foreign ministers in 2006, BRICS countries have achieved 10 years of prosperity, with 42 percent of the world's population contributing 50 percent of global economic growth.

The five-member bloc has focused on promoting cooperation in such areas as trade and investment, currency and finance, connectivity, sustainable development, innovation and industrial cooperation.

Given a sluggish economic growth and rising protectionism, the world needs BRICS' unremitting efforts in the next decade to bring confidence and energize common development.

After assuming the rotating presidency this year, China, together with the other four members of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, has formulated a series of platforms within the BRICS mechanism to deliver tangible achievements.

The BRICS mechanism is based on results-oriented cooperation, and significant progress has been made in this regard.

While the bloc is dedicated to strengthening South-South cooperation, it is not intended to "move the cheese of anyone," as Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a three-day summit in China's coastal city of Xiamen, but to "make the pie of the global economy bigger."

Actions speak louder than words. Xi announced at the summit that China will offer 500 million yuan ($76 million) to facilitate practical cooperation in economy and trade, and another $4 million for projects of the BRICS New Development Bank, a Shanghai-headquartered body set up in 2015 as the bloc's major contribution to the world financial system.

It is worthy noting that the group has decided to invite more countries to participate in the mechanism, a move that will turn it into an engine for developing countries to stimulate mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.

As a stakeholder in shaping world order and safeguarding peace, the BRICS should further strengthen communication and coordination on major global and regional issues, and promote democracy in international relations so as to serve as a stabilizer for the world.

China aims to have full coverage of social insurance, steadily raise the level of social security pooling, establish a more convenient social insurance transfer and renewal mechanism, and implement social security card system to ensure that 90 percent of the population enjoys social security coverage in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

Since the first social security card was issued in Shanghai in 1999, about 72 percent of the Chinese population have received a card, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said.

Six major functions of social security cards including electronic vouchers, information records, self-service inquiries, medical settlement and payment, have been popularized and the functions are expanding, the Ministry said.

People with a social security card can settle their medical bills in over 90 percent of Chinese cities. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security is promoting direct settlement of trans-provincial medical expenses, according to the report.

The social security card has also been approved for other government public services such as civil affairs, health care, provident fund, disabled services and agriculture-related subsidies, the report said.

The Ministry started to distribute the third-generation social security cards on Friday. They have a new swiping function and support direct settlement of trans-provincial medical expenses in cooperation with the People's Bank of China, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The card is also expected to be used online and people can used it via mobiles to reduce the time it takes to register, skip long queues and pay for treatment, according to the 2020 internet plus action plan by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

K.V. Kamath, president of the New Development Bank (NDB), attends a groundbreaking ceremony at New Development Bank permanent headquarters building in Shanghai, Sept 2, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

President Xi Jinping called on the business leaders of BRICS countries to make contributions to the economic development and people-to-people exchanges amid the five countries' joint efforts to boost economic cooperation.

Xi was speaking on Monday at the dialogue between leaders of BRICS countries and the BRICS Business Council, as well as the BRICS-led New Development Bank. About 300 people attended the dialogue.

BRICS leaders have agreed to usher in a second "golden decade" of the bloc of emerging markets and developing countries, Xi said, adding that the BRICS Business Council and the New Development Bank should seize the opportunity to achieve more progress.

The president told the businesspeople to take a leading role in translating the consensus of the five countries' leaders into real action to gain common development among the nations.

In his speech, Xi encouraged the BRICS Business Council and the New Development Bank to contribute to the economic growth of BRICS countries and inject new impetus for the development of the emerging markets.

Xi also highlighted the important role that the business leaders are playing in boosting people-to-people exchanges, as "there are thousands of employees and their families behind each enterprise".

During the meeting, the BRICS countries' leaders were briefed by Xu Lirong, chairman of China BRICS Business Council, and K.V. Kamath, president of the BRICS-led New Development Bank.

Xi extended his congratulations for the progress made by the BRICS Business Council and the New Development Bank, saying that the achievement shows the vitality and potential of BRICS cooperation.

The BRICS Business Council has made great efforts in such areas as e-commerce, technological capacity development, standard-setting and experience-sharing in digital economies, while the New Development Bank has pushed forward its new projects steadily and opened its Africa regional center recently, Xi said.

Brazilian President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Jacob Zuma also delivered speeches at the meeting. All of them expressed recognition for the works and achievements of the BRICS Business Council and the New Development Bank.

Witnessed by the five leaders, the BRICS countries and the New Development Bank signed four documents to boost cooperation in such areas as the economy and trade, innovation, customs and development strategies.

Visitors are attracted by products at Huawei stand at the International Funkausstellung (IFA) 2017, the world's leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances, in Berlin, Sep 2, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Chinese telecom giant Huawei will launch Mate 10 smartphone powered by Kirin 970, a new chipset with built-in artificial-intelligence capabilities, unveiled at IFA, a consumer electronics show in Berlin on Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Huawei's new chipset Kirin 970 is the world's first smartphone artificial intelligent (AI) computing platform with a dedicated Neural Network Processing Unit (NPU), said Yu Chengdong, CEO Of Huawei Consumer Business Group.

Kirin 970, uses 10nm leading process technology and brings together classic computing, graphics, image and digital signal processing power, which typically required separate chips and took up more spaces.

Mate 10, the smartphone powered by Kirin 970, which enables stronger image-recognition, will be launched on Oct 16 in Munich, Reuters reported, citing Yu.

The device will have improved camera and battery life. The power consumption of the new chipset will be reduced by 20 percent than its previous generation and the energy efficiency can be increased by 50 percent, ifeng.com reported Saturday.

Although Huawei is a famous smartphone business ranked third, behind Apple Samsung and in the world, it is lesser known as a maker of chips for its own phones, said Wall Street Journal. The newspaper added that the Mate 10 is set to compete against Apple for more profitable high-end phone market.

While Huawei's rivals are likely working on chip upgrades as well, "making AI computation faster and more efficient will give Huawei an edge, if it can demonstrate improved performance or battery life when conducting everyday tasks," said Tim Coulling, analyst at electronics-research firm Canalys as cited in Wall Street Journal.

Canalys'statistics show that Huawei had 10 percent of the global market in the first quarter, behind Samsung's 23 percent and Apple's 15 percent. The sales of Huawei remains low in the US, although it is a major player in Europe.

However, the market share of Huawei in Chinese smartphone market has growing steadily, recapturing the top spot from Chinese brand Oppo in the first quarter, while Apple is losing ground, according to Canalys.

In addition to Huawei, Xiaomi is another Chinese company which has chip innovation ability, which has poured more than 1 billion yuan ($0.15billion) into its chip business and launched its own in-house chipset Surge S1 in February.

Visitors test phone models near Huawei stand at the International Funkausstellung (IFA) 2017, the world's leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances, in Berlin, Sep 2, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

K.V. Kamath, president of the New Development Bank (NDB), attends a groundbreaking ceremony at New Development Bank permanent headquarters building in Shanghai, Sept 2, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) signed $800 million loan agreements for three green development projects in China's Fujian, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces on Sunday, according to Xinhua News Agency.

The loan agreements were signed in Fujian's Xiamen, the host city for the 9th BRICS leaders' summit held from Sunday to Tuesday.

The loan will finance the Fujian Putian Pinghai Bay Offshore Wind Power Project, the Ecological Development Project in the Green Heart Center of the Hunan Chang-Zhu-Tan City Cluster and Jiangxi Industrial Low-Carbon Restructuring and Green Development Pilot Project.

The NDB President K.V. Kamath said at the signing ceremony that China invested $100 billion in renewable energy from 2015 to 2016, more than the investments of Europe and the United States combined.

With the increasing launches of huge investments, China is playing a leading role in the global green development, Kamath added.

China's Vice-Minister of Finance Shi Yaobin, who witnessed the signing ceremony, said the NDB has loaned 5.8 billion yuan to China so far.

He urged provinces that have secured loans to cooperate with the NDB to be strict in projects' qualities, carry out review of compliance, ensure the projects will be completed on schedule and play due roles as soon as possible.

According to the agreements, the NDB will loan 2 billion yuan to the Fujian wind power Project, the first of its kind in Fujian, to support the construction of 246 mW offshore wind turbines.

The first phase of the project has been put into operation and the second phase, which is expected to be completed in 2019, will reduce the carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 900 thousand tons annually.

The project in Hunan province will use the 2-billion-yuan loan to address problems along multiple tributaries of the Xiang River, a branch of the Yangtze River, the NDB said in a press release.

It will enhance flood control and improve water quality, benefiting 50 million residents of the area.

In addition, the NDB's $200 million loan to the Jiangxi project will be used in promoting energy conservation, resources recycling and pollutants reduction through technology upgrade.

Kamath said on Sunday the Board of Directors of the bank has approved 11 projects with loans aggregating over $3 billion to date and sustainable infrastructure development will be the primary emphasis of the bank's operations in the next five years, according to the press release.

Currently, four of the bank's loan projects are in China, while three in India, two in Russia, one in Brazil, and one in South Africa.

Shanghai Lingang Distributed Solar Power Project, the first project financed by the NDB last year, started operation Saturday in Shanghai, according to Xinhua News Agency.

It was a loan of 525 million yuan ($76 million) with a maturity length of 17 years.

The NDB, founded by BRICS, which is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, during the bloc's sixth summit in Fortaleza of Brazil in July 2014, was formally opened in Shanghai in July 2015.

Its permanent headquarters building, expected to be in operation in four years, started construction in the Shanghai Expo Park on Saturday, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Occupying an area of 12,000 square meters and with a height of 150 meters, the headquarters will have a total floor space of 126,000 sq m and is expected to become a new landmark building along Huangpu River.

A total of 3,341 listed companies on the country's two major exchanges reported combined revenue of 18.12 trillion yuan ($2.75 trillion), up 24.1 percent year-on-year, according to data compiled by eastmoney.com, a financial data provider.

Combined profits attributable to shareholders totaled 1.67 trillion yuan, up 21.12 percent year-on-year.

More than 600 companies saw their profit growth double, while 362 companies saw their profits up 50 to 100 percent.

The country's four biggest commercial banks all posted faster profit growth in H1, attributed to improved services and strengthened risk control.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest lender by market value, saw its net profit attributable to equity holders rise 1.8 percent year-on-year to 153 billion yuan in H1, higher than the 0.8-percent rise in the same period of last year.

The growth came amid tightened financial regulations this year that aimed to curb shadow banking and control risks arising from activities such as off-balance sheet financing.

Assets quality of the banks has improved notably. By the end of June, the non-performing loan ratio for ICBC stood at 1.57 percent, down from 1.62 percent six months earlier. The ratio for Agricultural Bank of China, another major bank, also dropped 0.18 percentage points to 2.19 percent.

While a stabilizing economy and the country's ongoing structural reform have contributed to high profits and better assets quality, the improvements were also a result of rising profitability of cyclical industries including coal and steel, which eased bad loan pressure on the banks, China Merchants Securities said.

When excluding nonrecurring items, sectors such as mining and steel were among the most profitable industries in H1. The mining sector, as classified by SWS Research, saw profits surge 442.92 percent year-on-year, while the steel sector went up 302.56 percent.

Shanxi Xishan Coal and Electricity saw net profit growth of 739 percent in H1 due to rising coal prices and expanded output.

Nanjing Iron and Steel witnessed a net profit surge of 730 percent, as China continues to slash excess steel capacity causing product prices to increase.

"The profit growth of coal and steel-related listed companies is the result of deeper supply-side structural reform, which improves the business environment and productivity," said Gui Haoming, chief analyst of Shenwan Hongyuan.

China has been implementing the supply-side structural reform to address outstanding issues like excess capacity, housing overhang, and "zombie" State-owned enterprises (SOEs) with poor profitability.

Amid the reform, combined profits of China's SOEs gained 23.1 percent year-on-year to 1.66 trillion yuan during January-July, according to data released by the Ministry of Finance.

New growth drivers also emerged. Companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector reported strong performance in H1, with half of them posting a rise of over 30 percent in net profits attributable to equity holders.

Companies related to the internet of things were also among the winners. Some 16 listed firms, including Qingdao Haier, a major household appliance maker, saw their earnings up more than 20 percent.

"Emerging industries such as the AI are where global investors are now putting their money, as these industries will replace many existing industries in the future," said Yang Zhonghua, a fund manager at Fortunegate Capital Management.

China's Vice-Premier Wang Yang delivering a speech at the 11th China-Northeast Asia Expo Opening Ceremony said: "Although China has run a trade deficit with several countries in the region, we do not engage in trade protection, and is willing to further expand our imports from these economies to meet diversified needs."

At the same time, China is ready to sign high-standard trade agreements with the parties, Wang added.

The expo, a biannual event, serves as an important platform to bolster economic and trade exchange among Northeast Asia countries.

Qian Keming, vice-minister of commerce, said: "All parties in this region should promote all-round interconnection of infrastructure, and explore opportunities for collaboration in sectors like internet, high-end and intelligent manufacturing, and modern service."

In 2016, trade amount between China and the five countries of Northeast Asia totaled about $605.9 billion, accounting for 16.4 percent of China's overall foreign trade, according to Qian.

During the same period, these five countries' investment in China reached about $7.85 billion, while China's total investment in the above countries also maintaining growth, Qian said.

E-commerce is set to prosper among the BRICS countries and become a major link connecting their residents, according to a report by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

By 2022, gross merchandise volume generated via online shopping portals will skyrocket 340 percent from last year to reach $3 trillion in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the research arm of the world's largest e-commerce platform, Alibaba, said in a report released on Tuesday.

That figure would represent 59 percent of global e-commerce transaction value in five years, up from 41.8 percent a year ago, according to AliResearch.

Meanwhile, the number of online shoppers is projected to nearly double from 720 million last year to 1.35 billion in 2022. That means an expanded share of total online shoppers from 47.2 percent to 61 percent.

Cross-border e-commerce among the five nations will also gain traction, with transaction volume predicted to jump six-fold to $553.6 billion in five years, accounting for 41 percent of sales generated from the entire cross-border shopping network.

The report found that the Chinese people are increasingly drawn to Russian candies and cookies, Indian handicrafts and spices, and Brazilian pine nuts and propolis, as well as grapefruit and wine from South Africa.

Meanwhile, customers in the four countries are most attracted to Chinese apparel, mobile phones and accessories, and consumer electronics, according to data from AliExpress, an Alibaba export subsidiary targeting overseas buyers.

AliResearch attributed the foreseeable e-commerce boom to the maturing IT infrastructure, the prevalence of smartphones, and enhanced payment and logistics capabilities.

For instance, AliExpress has been the biggest cross-border shopping site in Russia since 2014, according to researcher TNS. Its popularity is largely thanks to improved logistics efficiency by working with local vendors.

"Using algorithms and realtime analysis, we have cut the average delivery time from up to a month to just four days in Russia, and we plan to achieve 72-hour delivery in five years," said AliExpress General Manager Shen Difan.

Mobile payment is also picking up quickly in India as the country's largest e-wallet operator Paytm supports smooth mobile transactions and is on course to introduce a money market fund, a payment bank and a credit scoring system, similar to the architecture of China's Alipay.

A worker fastens a screw at a production line in a JAC Motors plant in Anqing, Anhui province. [Jiang Sheng/for China Daily]

China's JAC Motors said on Tuesday that it will produce autonomous cars with the country's internet giant Baidu Inc, with the first mass-produced model scheduled to roll off the assembly line in 2019.

The announcement came in Shanghai, as the automaker delivered 32 cars to Baidu to collect information for high-definition maps.

JAC Motors' share price rose to a six-week high of 10.29 yuan ($1.53) on Wednesday morning, but dipped a little to close at 9.95 yuan, a 4.08 percent rise from the previous day.

The cooperation came within two months of Baidu's launching its Apollo plan, which aims to provide open, comprehensive, and reliable software for the development of autonomous vehicles.

JAC Motors said that Baidu will offer a comprehensive solution that covers high-definition maps as well as location, sensing, planning and decision-making technology.

But the automaker did not reveal how it will acquire the important hardware required for such vehicles. Automotive suppliers, including Bosch, are currently involved in the Apollo plan.

According to Caixin magazine, Li Weibing, a senior executive at JAC Motors, said the two sides are planning to base their development on a new energy car and the first car is expected to be finished in early 2018 for testing autonomous functions.

When mass-produced in 2019, the model will be technologically prepared for Level 3 autonomous functions, based on the six-level framework defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers International.

Analysts said a key difference between Level 3 and Level 2 functions, like those found in Tesla cars, is that drivers will be allowed to take their eyes off the road and perform other activities under certain traffic or environmental conditions.

But Li added that whether the model finally available in the market has Level 3 functions will depend on a number of conditions, including whether such cars are allowed to hit the road.

China currently does not have legislation in this regard, but autonomous cars are currently not allowed to be tested on public highways.

Last month in Spain, Audi debuted an A8 sedan with Level 3 functions, which will reach the market in 2018. Meanwhile Ford and Volvo are planning to skip Level 3 to Level 4, at which a vehicle can drive itself without human intervention in most driving conditions.

A customer looks at the computer screen after scanning her face to pay at a self-service chain store in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Aug 28, 2017. [Photo/IC]

Customers using face-detection technology to make payments has become popular in China since Alibaba founder Jack Ma talked about it in Germany two years ago, Imagine China reported on Tuesday.

How this technology works is simple: Stand in front of a machine and it will scan your face and confirm your identity. Nowadays people are using this technology for just about everything, from shopping, withdrawing money to even getting toilet paper.

China has taken a leading role in face-detection technology and the application of this technology has become a magnet for entrepreneurs in the country.

Twin sisters use the face-detection machine in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, Oct 12, 2016. The machine can pick even subtle differences between faces. [Photo/IC]

Twin sisters use the face-detection machine in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, Oct 12, 2016. The machine can pick even subtle differences between faces. [Photo/IC]

One of the twin sisters stands in front of the machine in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, Oct 12, 2016. [Photo/IC]

A man withdraws money after machine scans his face at China International Finance Exhibition in Shanghai, Oct 15, 2015. [Photo/IC]

A student watches as a machine scans his face before the National Judicial Examination at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, Sept 24,2016. [Photo/IC]

A woman withdraws money after a machine scans her face at a bank in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Nov 17, 2015. [Photo/IC]

A woman stands in front of a machine as it scans her face before entering a train station in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, Aug 28, 2017. [Photo/IC]

A staff member demonstrates how to make payment at China Internet Finance Expo in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, Nov 20, 2015. [Photo/IC]

A woman carrying her child uses a facial recognition toilet paper dispenser in a public toilet in the Temple of Heaven Park in Beijing, April 4, 2017. [Photo/IC]

Logos of Apple's app store, and Wechat Pay. [Photo/VCG]

Apple Inc announced on Tuesday its iconic app store and music-streaming service Apple Music now accepts WeChat Pay in China, a clear sign of easing tensions with internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd amid an in-app purchase spat.

Experts said Apple had very few choices but to reconcile with Tencent, a bellwether of the mobile industry and a dominant social media force in China, as it tries to salvage falling sales and retain users in the world's largest consumer market.

In a statement, Apple said it is "excited" to introduce Chinese customers using WeChat Pay to purchase apps or subscribe to Apple Music, and will continue to offer payment options that are simple and convenient.

The inclusion of Tencent-backed WeChat as a payment option fills the void of having China's second-largest mobile wallet on board when 963 million WeChat users become accustomed to making purchases via the all-in-one app.

App store, which houses a number of mobile applications from gaming, entertainment to dining for the iOS system, is a main gateway for the US tech giant to earn fees from iPhone users. It previously supported credit card transactions, its indigenous Apple Pay, China's UnionPay, and Alipay, WeChat Pay's biggest rival.

The Chinese mainland has been a critical battlefield for Apple's app store. As of June, the region generated nearly one-third of the app store's worldwide revenue, according to App Annie, a firm that tracks metrics for apps.

With people awaiting the new iPhone lineups and Chinese brands elbowing into the premium phone market, Apple is in dire need of alternative revenue streams to make up for the sales slump, and that means doubling down on software, said Li Chao, senior analyst at iResearch.

"Apple has nothing to lose to include a familiar payment method to the Chinese. It can even boost sales in the short term," he said.

Li's remarks are backed by numbers. Alipay and WeChat Pay combined a whopping 94 percent of China's 18.8 trillion yuan ($2.85 trillion) mobile payment market in the first quarter of 2017, according to Analysys. Apple Pay, albeit being a hit in Western countries, has less than 1 percent of the market share.

"Despite that, the very last thing it (Apple) should do is to run afoul with Chinese tech players and treat them as competitors," Li said.

Ma Si in Beijing contributed to this story.

According to the company, which is better known as Sinopec, Global Epec serves as a bridge that connects trade in industrial products produced in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or BRICS.

More companies in BRICS countries have shown interest in joining Global Epec to sell or buy industrial products.

Over the past four months, 22 Russian companies, seven Brazilian companies, five South African companies and six Indian companies have joined Epec, Sinopec said.

Global Epec has been built along the lines of Sinopec's domestic industrial product system. It aims to introduce China's best products to the world and help connect trade chains worldwide.

Sinopec's domestic Epec has enabled deals worth 127 billion yuan ($19.1 billion) since its launch in 2015.

More than 1.98 million products from industries like coal, steel, petrochemicals and oil equipment are available on the platform.

After two years of operations, the product catalog has expanded by 381 percent, Sinopec said.

Some 39,000 enterprises have registered on Epec. Most of the purchases do not involve the Sinopec group, it said.

According to Jiao Fangzheng, Sinopec's deputy general manager, Epec conforms to China's ongoing supply-side reforms, which aim to sustain high economic growth on an increasingly bigger base through manufacturing upgrade, industrial restructuring, reduction of overcapacity in certain industries like coal and steel, innovation and thrust on high-tech industries.

"Epec will continue to serve enterprises, projects, partners and global industries, taking advantage of its global network," said Jiao.

Wan Donghui, deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Commerce Association, agreed. Epec will get more opportunities to serve as a bridge connecting the domestic market and the international market, he said.

Epec is part of Sinopec's efforts to transform itself into a market-oriented enterprise, further diversify its business and enhance profitability.

The company aims to build Epec into an industrial version of Taobao.com, the country's largest online shopping marketplace, which is owned by Alibaba, said Wang Yubing, president of Sinopec's procurement division.

Wang said while consumer retail business online is worth about 3 trillion yuan, the market potential for online sales of industrial products is much larger than that.

Alibaba provides services to Sinopec in terms of internet security, big data and technology upgrades.

Trimming red-tape and streamlining regulations for companies should help open up markets and boost the investment environment for the bloc's members, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

"Strengthening investment among BRICS countries will help explore (each nation's) potential and will (increase) cooperation to a new level," said Hu Yingzhi, deputy negotiation commissioner at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

Commerce ministers agreed on an outline document in Shanghai last month ahead of the BRICS Summit in Xiamen, the resort city of East China's Fujian province, from Sept 3 to 5.

A key element of the blueprint appears to be cutting red tape by streamlining regulations, which will stimulate cross-border company investment.

The outline document, Hu pointed out, reflected the common desire of BRICS countries to increase investment and boost economic growth, and was a major multilateral initiative.

It follows on, he said, from the global investment guidelines rolled out by G20 Summit leaders in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, last year.

"It will be an important reference for global investment and will allow BRICS countries to contribute their wisdom and strength in establishing future global investment rules and governance," Hu added.

The blueprint has gained widespread approval.

Mukhisa Kituyi, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, felt the outline document will help increase investment policy coordination among BRICS countries.

"(This will) push the transition of the growth model of emerging countries and their sustainable development," Kituyi said.

Marcelo Maia, secretary of commerce and services at Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, pointed out that boosting investment among BRICS countries would be an "effective weapon" to fight against trade protectionism.

Rob Davies, the South African minister of Trade and Industry said the investment outline (document) will help raise government efficiency and bring more investment opportunities for BRICS countries.

A rider uses a smartphone to unlock an Ofo shared bike in Austria. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Chinese bike-sharing titan Ofo Inc announced on Monday it has landed in Austria, as the company ramps up the its efforts to expand the booming cycle empire into the overseas market.

The move marks the firm's latest move to fulfill its ambitious goal to pedal to 200 cities in 20 countries by the end of this year, as competition with its top rival, Mobike Technology Co Ltd, intensifies in the global market.

Dai Wei, founder and CEO of Ofo, said they saw great potential for Ofo's environmentally-friendly and affordable dockless bicycle services in Austria.

"Station-free bike sharing is our pioneering concept and has changed both the sharing economy and transport options in cities across the world. We recognize the demand for this type of public transportation and want to solve traffic problems in urban areas,” Dai said.

Ofo said after reaching an agreement with the city of Vienna, capital of Austria, it would begin a one-month pilot phase in the city to allow all users to ride the yellow shared bikes free of charge.

After the pilot phase, the company will deploy a full fleet of 2,000 bikes across Vienna. Users will be able to ride the shared bikes by simply scanning a QR code printed on the bike via the downloaded app and paying 1 euro ($1.2) per hour online on their smartphones.

Martin Blum, managing director and representative for cycling matters, Vienna said the station-free bike-sharing service was "the biggest innovation to public bicycle transportation methods ever".

Founded in 2014, Ofo offers riders convenient bike-sharing services that allow users to rent and park the dockless shared bikes anywhere they prefer, while complying the local regulations.

The Beijing-based company, valued at more than $2 billion after it raised $700 million in its latest series E round of financing in July, currently operates more than 8 million bikes in over 170 cities across nine countries.

It has generated more than 25 million daily transactions and provided bike-rental services for over 100 million global users.

As in all other cities where it operates, Ofo will have a local support team in Vienna to manage bicycle distribution and maintenance. Employing an intelligent transport analytical system, the team is able to determine real-time traffic patterns and usage demands and then distribute the bikes to needed places.

The $700 million funding Ofo raised is the biggest known round of financing in the bike-sharing industry to date, surpassing Mobike's over $600 million round in June this year.

Martin Blum (left), managing director and representative for cycling matters in Vienna, and Fred Dong (right), Ofo launcher for Austria, pose with Ofo bikes. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Two residents ride bikes in Vienna, Austria. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A yellow Ofo bike is seen in front of the Vienna State Opera in Austria. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A life-size robot that looks like Chinese basketball star Yao Ming shoots hoops during the 2017 World Robot Conference at Beijing Etrong International Conference and Exhibition Center in Beijing, Aug 23, 2017.[Photo/IC]

A broad range of technology and scientific processes were on show at the World Robot Conference 2017 (WRC 2017), held at Beijing Etrong International Conference and Exhibition Center, which ran for five days from August 23.

A life-size robot replicating the appearance of Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming, which could shoot hoops, was an invention to lead by example, being one of the most popular robotic displays at the conference.

Wu Jinting, chairman of Shanghai Hefu Holding (Group) Co Ltd, the company which brought seven robotic displays to the show, said the "Yao Ming" shooting robot achieved a technical breakthrough.

"Many leading foreign humanoid robots can speak like humans and do facial expressions, but few of them can actually make movements like our 'Yao Ming' can," he said during an exclusive interview with chinadaily.com.cn on the sideline of the conference.

He added Chinese robotic companies have also started showing their advantages at this year's show.

"Two years ago, when the conference was held for the first time, we were not confident," Wu said.

"For us, it was more like an open platform where we could broad our horizon and learn from foreign companies. But since the second WRC, we have achieved more precise positioning of ourselves and become more mature."

Wu added China's huge market has also given domestic enterprises confidence.

"We've realized we are also leading in some areas, and we have broader applications and products," he said.

"The conference, which is no longer a one-way learning platform, is a chance for us to communicate with foreign leading companies and work together to find a direction for the industry."

Wu Jinting, chairman of Shanghai Hefu Holding (Group) Co Ltd. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Weakness and task

Despite the high cost of research and development in robots and artificial intelligence, Hefu has not had much return in its robot business, according to Wu.

"We can see a few billion yuan a year in revenue from our robot-related businesses, such as smart homes; but the revenue directly from robots is little," he said, adding the biggest threshold in the market was price.

"High costs lead to high prices and a stiff price blocks masses of consumers from buying service robots. However, as long as we rely on expensive imports of core components of service robots, the costs would not be able to be reduced."

Wu said the prices of some imported core components, such as reducers, are dozens of times more expensive than domestic ones.

"At present, the core components made in domestics are behind imported ones in technical indicators and durability," he said.

"We are trying to solve this problem with our technologies and intellectual property rights, but it takes time and will slow down our industrialization rate."

However, Wu said he believes bottlenecks can be solved in three to five years as the government has attached great importance to the industry.

"The development of robots and the AI industry needs a good environment of policies, funds and talents, as well as markets," he said.

"Don't think about achieving quick success or getting instant benefits. We can only achieve the industrialization of service robots step-by-step, from the simple and useful products that are affordable and reliable."

Wu's idea echoes those of Zvi Shiller, chairman of the Israeli Robotics Association, who said the industry needs to start with the small and simple products as consumers lose their patience if robots come too late in the market

In his speech at the main forum of WRC 2017 on Aug 22, Shiller said it was necessary to let people try the small robotic products first, and then small ones can be components of the big and complex ones in the future.

"As every single function becomes mature, a complex function will be achieved; as every single product becomes low-cost, a composite product will cost low. This is the gradual process of robot's industrialization," he said.

HFAI, a robot of Shanghai Hefu Holding (Group) Co Ltd, plays badminton with a human at the 2017 World Robot Conference at Beijing Etrong International Conference and Exhibition Center in Beijing, Aug 23, 2017.[Photo/IC] China, the chaser and potential leader Although his company was in the limelight at the conference, Wu said the charm of the robotic and AI industry was no one could predict who will be the real giants in the future. "The industry is new whether in China or developed countries. Everyone, even the global internet giants such as Google, is exploring how to open the market and achieve industrialization," he said. "With the deepening of industrialization, all companies, present or absent at the conference, have their opportunities." Wu added China, having a strong market and improving AI technologies, was both a chaser and potential leader in the industry. "While developed countries are leading the world in electronic information technologies and robot designs, we have broad applications and market feedbacks in China," he said. "A big market means enormous vitality, which then enables the industry to adjust orientation and upgrade products according to the real demand." Just like what has happened in mobile payments and online shopping, Wu said he believed China could overtake competitors on a bend in the application of an integrated technology of AI, big data and cloud computing. "For example, one of our core R&D directions is to use AI technologies to solve long-term problems faced by traditional industries, such as coal, chemical, petroleum and construction industries," he said. "We want the AI technologies to relieve the labor force from dangerous work environments, such as underground work, in the future to achieve production safety." In addition, the Shanghai-based company has already taken steps to expand global. At a large wine chateau purchased by Hefu in the region of Bordeaux, France, robots with AI technologies are involved in picking and screening grapes as well as brewing wine. "There are many kinds of ways for Chinese robotic companies to go global, and the one we adopt is introducing our robots into the properties we purchased in foreign countries," Wu said. "It can become our overseas base and serve as an example for other properties." He added there were two directions for Chinese companies to go global. "One is to introduce the low-priced robots that have simple but reliable functions to the markets in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative; another is to use the high-end robots with price advantages to enter developed market," Wu said, adding Vietnam will be Hefu's next foreign destination. Wu said he expects the robot business to account for more than 80 percent of the company's revenue in three years.

An image of a promotional video of China's green manufacturing development at the inauguration ceremony of the Green Manufacturing Association of China in Beijing, July 22, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

BEIJING - China is aiming high in pursuing green development and boosting its energy-saving and environmental protection industries, with green financing one of the key areas to be tapped.

The country is expecting output of its environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry to reach 1 trillion yuan ($150 billion) by 2020.

The goal is set in the guidelines on the development of environmental protection equipment manufacturing industry released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to solicit public opinions on Wednesday.

Describing the industry as an important technical foundation for environmental protection, the guidelines highlighted fiscal and financial support for the sector, including tax breaks as well as providing other financing instruments like green bonds and green credit.

The Chinese government has been pushing for the development of green finance in order to seek sustainable growth and honor its commitments on addressing climate change, and the market is still waiting to be explored.

There has been consensus ranging from the top decision-making level to related government departments to support the country's green financing and investment, Ma Jun, chief economist with the central bank's research bureau, said last year.

Detailed plans are being rolled out at local level after the central government set up pilot zones in June to explore replicable ways to boost green financing.

In Guian New District, Guizhou province, one of the country's five pilot zones, a brokerage firm for green securities, where companies will need to pass environmental inspections before they get listed or re-financing, is now in the planning.

Moutai Group, a renowned Chinese liquor maker in Guizhou, was one of the major players behind its establishment, according to the plan.

In Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, local authorities are discussing a system to provide green financial products such as insurance for wind or solar power generation indexes and special credit for green mines.

Despite fast progress, Ji Xiaonan, former chairperson of the Board of Supervisors for Key Large-Sized State-Owned Enterprises, said there is still a huge funding gap in China's environmental sector.

He estimated that investment demand in China's green industries totals at least 2 trillion yuan annually, but only 15 percent of that is fulfilled by government finance and the rest of it needs to be covered by other funding sources.

According to credit rating agency Moody's, green bond issues worldwide hit a record high of $93.4 billion in 2016, rising 120 percent from a year earlier, bolstered by China-based issuers.

China accounted for nearly 40 percent of new green bonds last year, followed by the United States, France and Germany, said Moody's.

Ji said there should be more green insurance products, as industries related to noise, light and nuclear pollution have yet to be covered.

Meanwhile, as investment returns from green projects are usually slower to come than from other projects, the government needs to work on how to encourage private investment into the green financial sector, he said.

Experts have also warned of possible risks from the fast development of green finance, and said that a risk prevention mechanism must be established to ensure its healthy development.

A system should be set up to check the details of green projects from project registration to how the funds are spent, according to An Guojun, an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Professional third-party agencies should step in and play a role to ensure that green funding goes to green projects, she said.

"China's current public debt level, by our definition, which is a broad definition, is still moderate in an international context," said Alfred Schipke, the IMF's senior resident representative for China.

Alfred Schipke, IMF's senior resident representative for China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The rapid rise in debt, rather than overall debt, has caused concerns, he said.

He said the key to ensuring more sustainable growth is to implement reforms and prevent debt from continuing to grow at the rapid pace it did in recent years.

Reform efforts include closing loss-making factories, as they may pose risks to the nation's banking system, according to Raphael Lam, the IMF's deputy resident representative for China.

Schipke said for the IMF the key is to implement reforms. In the short term this might have an adverse impact on growth. But China has some fiscal space to smooth the impact during the transition. This fiscal support should, for example, be aimed at strengthening the social safety net such as resettlement funds that might be needed in order to relocate laid-off workers from factories in the overcapacity sectors.

The remarks came after the IMF warned China over its swollen debt level in its annual review of China's economy released earlier this month.

The IMF raised its forecast for China's average annual economic growth for 2018-20 to 6.4 percent from 6 percent, but warned of piling up risks that may affect sustainable growth.

James Daniel, the IMF's mission chief for China, said during a teleconference earlier this month that efforts to implement reforms need to accelerate, and now, while growth is strong, is the time to do so.

China's GDP expanded at 6.9 percent in the first half of this year, beating market expectations.

Zhao Qingming, chief economist at the research institute of the China Financial Futures Exchange, said a higher debt level is expected in the future because the economy needs to be fueled to see continued growth.

"The key is to solve the structural challenges and tackle risky issues," he said.

The government has put solving debt issues high on its agenda and has implemented measures to resolve these.

China will strengthen efforts to reduce corporate leverage, especially at State-owned enterprises, a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided on Wednesday.

SOEs will face strict controls in investments from their main business portfolios and in programs that could increase their debt ratios, the meeting said.

Debt-for-equity swaps will be pushed forward based upon market principles and China will explore more ways to implement swap programs, the meeting decided.

Game of War: Fire Age's poster. [Photo from the game's Facebook]

Now is the best time for web game developers to switch to developing mobile games, according to UBS Securities' latest survey.

A large number of web games started to be adapted into mobile games in the second half of last year, Liu Zhijing, director of China media and internet research at UBS Securities, said. Game developers should make full use of the next three years, which he considered the best time to make the transition.

The large number of mobile game players, which is steadily increasing, is the major reason for game developers switching focus. Meanwhile, web game developers are encouraged by Chinese mobile game players' greater willingness to pay, with 68 percent prepared to pay to play last year, compared to 28 percent in 2014.

Liu said that web game developers who are equipped with research and development skills, as well as resourceful distribution channels will eventually make a successful transformation into mobile games.

Actress Zhao Liying and actor Deng Chao in Han Han's second feature, Duckweed. [Photo provided to China Daily]

UBS Securities has lowered its projection for the compound average annual growth rate for the Chinese box office income between 2016 and 2020 to 13 percent from the earlier predicted 21 percent.

The box office income growth rate has already dropped to single-digit level during the first half of this year, down from the 50 percent annual growth in 2015. It is largely due to the challenges the movie industry has faced in terms of both supply and demand, said Liu Zhijing, director of the China media & internet research at UBS Securities.

UBS Securities' survey in the lower-rung cities shows that the cinemas there will face contracted income for each screen. Although more screens have been built in the lower-tier cities, there are not enough viewers yet, said Liu.

He also said that the Chinese movie industry lacks an audience group made up of people of different ages. At present, the young people born in the 1980s and 1990s made up the majority of the audiences, with those born in the 1980s contributing 80 percent of the annual box office income. However, those born in the 1970s and earlier show less interest in movies.

Besides, the market is still short of good-quality domestically produced movies. Most of the domestically produced works are love stories and comedies, which require limited post-production.

"But in Hollywood, a large portion of the movies produced every year are motion pictures, cartoons, fantasy films and science fiction movies, which require high-level post-production ability," he said. "Chinese movie makers should devote more efforts on these genres for opportunities lie in them," Liu said.

Yang Zixuan, 8, a student at Beijing No 2 Experimental Primary School learns English through VIPkid online courses. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Online children English education startup VIPKID announced on Wednesday that it has finished the D round of financing and received an investment totaling $200 million.

Founded in 2013 and incubated by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, VIPKID focuses on teaching English through one-on-one video courses. It aims to integrate top language teachers from North America, and provide highly efficient English learning experiences to Chinese children aged between 4 and 12.

This has been the largest financing globally for the K-12 online education sector. The financing is led by Sequoia Capital, and other investors, including Tencent Holding, YF Capital, ZhenFund, Matrix Partners China and ZTwo Capital.

Tencent Holdings confirmed that it has invested in VIPKID, but declined to further comment on the issue.

Meanwhile on Wednesday, VIPKID launched its online Chinese education platform Lingo Bus. It is designed to provide Chinese language education to children around the world through one-on-one video courses.

China's booming mobile app market will continue to expand with rising smart device penetration and mobilization of more traditional businesses. [Photo/CGTN]

Social media is set to become a major gateway to shopping rather than a mere communications portal, as the younger generation is more inclined to make purchases while watching live-streaming shows, according to a latest survey.

Around 70 percent of those aged between 19 and 22 in China said they would place an order online via social networking sites, global consultancy Accenture discovered in a study based on 10,000 consumers in 13 countries, including China.

Calling them 'Generation Z', Accenture found that 31 percent cited social media as a popular source for product inspiration, while 58 percent have increased their use of social media for purchase decision-making in the past year.

One-third of the respondents in China claimed they prefer video and live-streaming sites as avenues for treasure hunting. This contrasts with just 12 percent from those between 23 to 29 years old and 8 percent from those in their 30s.

"Social media has emerged as a real disruptor in targeting true digital natives," said Koh Yew Hong, managing director and retail lead for Accenture Asia Pacific. "Internet celebrities are gaining traction because they grasp what the customers want."

Meanwhile they are seeking sophisticated shopping experience. Over 40 percent said they would search information directly from the brands' indigenous websites rather than third-party platforms, a percentage significantly higher than the millennial who are mostly 30 and above.

It also came as a surprise that young consumers are equally embracing in-store shopping. Compared with virtual shopping, 31 percent reported they prefer brick-and-mortar stores but heavily rely on digital means, such as chat tools and social media reviews, to facilitate the purchase.

Koh said physical stores are projected to enjoy remarkable renaissance as long as they are digital-ready. "It's because the Generation Z do value the shopping experience over the utilities of merchandise per se. Omni-channel sales are therefore critical to harness that trend."

China's internet giants including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc have ramped up efforts to deploy offline channels as pure-play e-commerce growth starts to stagnate. Alibaba has completed a series of buyouts including retail chain Intime Retail Group Co, while JD backed Yonghui Superstores and announced plans to open 1 million namesake convenient stores in five years.

Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in a counting machine while a clerk counts them at a branch of a commercial bank in Beijing, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - China will boost financing guarantee services for small and micro businesses and the rural sector, according to rules released by the cabinet Monday.

Financing guarantee companies should offer more services for small and micro businesses and the rural sector at relatively low rates, according to the rules published under a State Council decree signed by Premier Li Keqiang.

Local governments should increase fiscal support for such companies while information technology such as big data should be adopted to better meet the demands of small firms and rural development, the rules stated.

For the same purpose, government-backed financing guarantee companies will be supported, and cooperation between the government, banks and financing guarantee companies will be promoted, according to the rules.

The government is working to channel funding to small and micro businesses and the rural sector, which are usually less favored by banks due to higher credit risks than state-owned giants and other sectors.

Financing guarantee companies provide guarantees for borrowers or debt issuers and play an important role in helping small businesses and rural projects secure funds, according to a statement from the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council and the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The rules also required financing guarantee companies to improve business standards and risk control.

The financing guarantee industry has seen rapid development in recent years, but there has also been inadequate supervision and irregular operations, which has led to risks, according to the statement.

It said the industry needs strict regulation, noting that the rules have set thresholds for the establishment of financing guarantee companies.

Outstanding liabilities guaranteed by a company should not exceed 10 times of its net assets, according to the rules.

The rules will take effect on Oct 1, 2017.

A clerk counts Chinese 100 yuan banknotes at a branch of a foreign bank in Beijing Jan 4, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Issuance of China's credit debt declined sharply in the first half due to stricter regulation and rising financing costs, but the market is expected to improve in the second half, according to a leading Chinese credit rating agency.

In China's inter-bank bond market, 1,640 credit debts were issued worth 1.8 trillion yuan ($268 billion) in the first half of this year, decreasing 41 percent year-on-year, according to United Credit Ratings Co Ltd.

There are mainly three types of debt in China's debt market, government bonds, credit debt and convertible bonds. Credit debt includes corporate debt, short-term financing bills, mid-term notes and subordinated debt.

"A series of new regulations on the bond market and rising financing costs could be the reasons for the decline," said Ai Renzhi, vice-president of United Credit Ratings Co Ltd.

In the first half, China's banking regulator released regulations on interbank business, wealth management business and off-balance sheet activities, a move to encourage funds to shift to the real economy.

"In the second half, we expect China's credit debt issuance to improve and the nation's prudent and neutral monetary policy will not have a fundamental impact on this trend," said she.

According to United Credit Ratings Co Ltd, a total of 2.85 trillion yuan of credit debt matured in the first half of 2017, and the amount will decrease to 2.66 trillion yuan in the second half.

Benefiting from the supply-side structural reform, credit debt issuers in sectors suffering from overcapacity improved their cash flow and strengthened their profitability, so there were fewer credit default cases in the first half, said Ai.

"Although there will be fewer debts maturing in the second half, issuers with low credit ratings could face greater financing pressure," said Ai. "Investors should be cautious about issuers in sectors experiencing overcapacity and those in a downward cycle."

Huang Delong, asset management director at Citic Securities, said: "Chinese enterprises with credit defaults will positively seek ways to finance funds and many can repay the remaining principal and interest within a year," said Huang.

Huang agreed with Ai that debt issuers with low credit ratings will face financing pressures in the second half of this year.

"Companies with continuous losses and high debt-to-asset ratios will face risks, along with private construction, coal, logistics, real estate, and small thermal power companies," he said.

Xu Xinyu, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission, said the commission will strengthen oversight of industrial association involved in enterprises' monopolistic practices, at the time when a growing number of industrial association have been found to gain benefits from organizing enterprises to collude, driving up market prices.

The official's remarks came after the commission issued fines earlier this month on Shanxi Electric Power Association for asking local power companies to fix prices, infringing consumer rights.

Twenty-three local power companies caught colluding on price of power supply were fined 72.88 million yuan ($10.9 million), and the association was fined 500,000 yuan, according to the commission.

While higher market prices provide a temporary respite with sluggish demand pressures, entities in overcapacity sectors, both enterprises and associations, have no excuse to violate the anti-monopoly law, according to Xu.

"The government will strive to maintain a level playing field, treating all sectors equal," he said.

Deng Zhisong, a ‎senior partner at Dentons Beijing Office, said the penalties reflected the government's determination to improve market fairness.

He said fines would warn associations in other sectors, at the time when many lack legal awareness.

Taking its "hats off to WeChat Mini Program engineers", Alipay admitted copying some models of WeChat's development files, according to an apology letter posted Friday on the third-party payment's official account on question-and-answer website Zhihu.com.

This was in a response to Fenng, who first exposed this "copying" on Sina Weibo.

By publishing time, there have been 730,000 searches for "Alipay apologized toWeChat" on Sina Weibo.

According to Hemo, a coder, who is also a user of Zhihu.com, this was Alipay's " marketing" activity to draw attention to its light apps.

Two women walk inside Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's office area in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. PROVIDED TO China Daily

The norm of shopping online for everything from daily essentials to big ticket items in China has boosted quarterly sales to all-time high for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

The world's largest e-commerce operator by transaction volume on Thursday reported its revenue jumped by 56 percent to 50.2 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in the quarter ended June 30 for the fiscal year 2018.

That has beaten an annual revenue guidance frame of 45 percent to 49 percent given by its senior executives in June.

Net income nearly doubled to 14 billion yuan from the same period last year.

"Our technology is driving significant growth across our business and strengthening our position beyond core commerce," said Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba, told an investors' call on Thursday night.

The results represent "a sharp acceleration" for just this quarter, said Piyush Mubayi, an analyst at Goldman Sachs who maintained a buy rating for Alibaba.

Annual active consumers across all Alibaba platforms, including Taobao, the mom-and-pop online marketplace, to business-to-customer site Tmall, surged moderately to 466 million, or around one-third of the Chinese population. Mobile users reached 529 million, up by 22 million over March 2017.

Revenue from core commerce increased 58 percent year-over-year to 43 billion yuan, driven by increased traffic on its business-to-customer marketplace Tmall, as it continued to fend off rivals like JD.com Inc.

Tmall's 49 percent growth in physical goods gross merchandise volume is due to increased traffic led by new users and the effects of personalization and social commerce, said Chief Financial Officer Maggie Wu.

The adoption of artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing has started to pay dividends for Alibaba with the advent of uncannily precise product searches, and relevant and holistic product recommendations based on shopping habits.

"Digital media and entertainment and core commerce will continue to create more synergies," she told investors.

The contribution from its international retail revenue is also notable, expanding 136 percent to 2.6 billion yuan thanks to its increased stake in Southeast Asian e-commerce vendor Lazada Group.

Other highlights include a significant 96 percent in cloud computing, with sales reaching 2.4 billion yuan and paying customers hitting 1 million.

The display area of China Unicom at an industry expo in Beijing. WANG XINFENG / FOR CHINA DAILY

Experts sees it as breakthrough for involving internet firms, employee incentive shares, mixed-ownership

As it is the first in a batch of State-owned enterprises slated for mixed-ownership reforms, the plan disclosed by China Unicom is a great breakthrough, as it involves internet companies, employee incentive shares and enterprise governance, said Li Jin, chief researcher at the China Enterprise Research Institute.

"China Unicom has made a big step in its reform and laid a foundation for the subsequent reforms of other State-owned enterprises," Li said.

According to the plan, more than a dozen strategic investors, including tech heavyweights Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Baidu Inc and JD.com Inc, will buy a 35.2 percent stake in China Unicom's Shanghai-listed arm, in a deal that will raise around 78 billion yuan ($11.7 billion).

The unlisted, State-run parent will see its stake shrink to 36.7 percent from 62.7 percent, but remain the biggest owner. State-owned enterprises including China Life Insurance Co and China Structural Reform Fund Corp also participated in the share sale.

Unicom A share company shareholding structure after mixed-ownership reform LIU LUNAN / CHINA DAILY

Li said: "It is a breakthrough for China Unicom to take employee incentive shares into consideration, which is a good reference as the following batch of companies could consider granting shares to their employees in their reforms."

"The plan sets a good example for other State-owned enterprises and promotes mixed-ownership reform. It is also beneficial to break the monopoly in the telecom sector and encourage other telecom carriers to carry out reforms," said Shi Wei, a researcher at the Institute of Economic System and Management under the National Development and Reform Commission.

According to China Unicom, bringing in new investors will help the company improve its innovative capacity and allow it to transform from a traditional mobile carrier to an integrated information and technology operator.

"This ownership reform is a strategic move for all parties involved. The technical assets and experience of internet companies are crucial for China Unicom to improve its service quality and operational capabilities," said Charlie Dai, principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc.

"China Unicom's rich infrastructure resources and partner ecosystem will also help these new investors speed up their business expansion and penetration in different areas, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the internet of things, Dai added.

However, dealing with diversified shareholders is a complicated problem and raised concerns that State-owned assets may face losses, analysts said.

Moreover, two filings published on the website of the Shanghai Stock Exchange were no longer available at 8:30 pm on Wednesday. China Unicom was not immediately available for comment.

In terms of the reasons behind the withdrawal of the filings, a report by financial news website caixin.com, citing industry analysts, noted details regarding the pricing of the new shares and investors' shareholdings may have contradicted the new rules that Chinese security regulators issued in February.

Cheng Yu contributed to this story.

Photo taken on June 23, 2016 shows a container yard at the port of Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

HOHHOT - Oktyabrina does not know much about the Belt and Road Initiative, but she knows enough about money.

Located in the China-Russia tax-free trade zone in Manzhouli, Oktyabrina's company is doing well; very well. In July, high season in Manzhouli, 2,000 people visit her shop every day, most of them buying imported goodies from Russia.

"Candy and flour are our biggest sellers. Sales are up 20 percent from last July. Tax exemptions mean customers spend less and we earn more. It is the very definition of win-win," said Ding Yanping, Oktyabrina's Chinese business partner. Ding owns 50 percent of the company and is in charge of the shop's daily management.

Oktyabrina's shop is just one of over 50 Russian companies registered in the Manzhouli tax-free zone, attracted by good logistics and speedy customs clearance.

Since it was established last June, 170 million yuan ($25.4 million) - 22,000 tons - of Russian imports has passed through the port.

"The tax-free trade zone is a bridge linking China and Russia sharing the prosperity of both countries. That's what the Belt and Road Initiative is all about," said Zhang Jinzhu, manager of the trade zone.

With a population of 300,000, Manzhouli is important on Eurasian land passageways and the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC). Nearly 70 percent of trade between China and Russia passes through Manzhouli.

"We are integrating our plans with the Belt and Road. We are key to the northward opening-up of Inner Mongolia," said Xu Ailian, mayor of Manzhouli.

The idea of the CMREC emerged in September 2014 during the first trilateral meeting of the heads of state of the three countries in Tajikistan and, in 2016, CMREC became the first multilateral cooperation plan to become part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

The CMREC has two key arteries: one from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to Hohhot and on to Mongolia and Russia; the other from China's northeastern provinces through Manzhouli into Russia. The channels have improved connectivity and cooperation in border regions and have led to the overhaul of customs procedures.

In the first seven months of this year, 747 freight trains passed through Manzhouli, carrying goods worth 3.15 billion U.S. dollars, 25 percent more than in the same period last year.

Freight trains link Manzhouli with 28 international destinations, with trains originating as far away as Guangdong in China's deep south.

Manzhouli customs officers work closely with their Russian counterparts.

"We have round-the-clock clearance for goods trains. The faster we clear the cargo, the faster the trains are on their way," said Xu Xuemeng, a logistics monitor with Manzhouli customs. He sees more high-tech products heading to Europe, including computers, home appliances and manufacturing equipment.

As the bridgehead of northward opening-up, Manzhouli is a shining light of economic growth of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, which celebrated its 70th anniversary on Aug 8.

Over seven decades,the region's economy has expanded from 537 million yuan to 1.86 trillion yuan, first among the country's five autonomous regions.

Inner Mongolia's foreign trade has increased from 30 million yuan to 77.3 billion yuan since the beginning of reform and opening up.

"In the future, we will conduct more practical cooperation with Mongolia and Russia to invigorate the grassland Silk Road," said Manzhouli Mayor Xu Ailian.

Two passengers on a train leaving Cairo, capital of Egypt. XINHUA

A unit of China Railway Group Ltd said it will began preliminary work on a $1.24 billion-worth light rail project in Egypt within two to three months, marking China's debut rail project in the country.

China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co Ltd, as the prime contractor, said on Wednesday: "Upon completion, it will have the capacity to accommodate 340,000 passengers daily, and reduce traffic time between Cairo and the under-construction new administrative capital, as well as the 10th of Ramadan City, by about 30 percent."

The light rail system is expected to cover a distance of 66 km with 11 stops, connecting the capital Cairo with the under-construction new administrative capital, and distant districts of Greater Cairo including Al-Salam, 10th of Ramadan, Obour, Badr and Shorouk. It has a designed maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

That's according to an agreement recently signed between a consortium of Chinese firms and the Egyptian Ministry of Transport.

Han Bing, minister counselor for economic affairs with the Chinese embassy in Egypt, said: "The planned rail project shows that Egypt acknowledges China's advanced technology in rail construction."

Apart from easing the regional traffic situation, the light rail project will also create new jobs for Egypt and promote the local construction industry, Han was quoted as saying by China Radio International.

"Chinese companies will offer technology and equipment, while local companies will be responsible for the construction."

The Egyptian side attaches great importance to the project's construction and met with the Chinese consortium earlier to negotiate key issues in the contract, he added.

The Egyptian government put forward a plan in 2015 to build a new administrative capital, east of Cairo, covering an area of 700 square kilometers to relieve the great housing and transportation pressure.

Last year, bilateral trade in goods reached $11.3 billion, down 12 percent year-on-year, ranking Egypt as the third-biggest African trading partner with China, according to the General Administration of Customs.

In the same period, China's exports to Egypt dropped 9.92 percent year-on-year and imports decreased by 39.8 percent.

China mainly exports mechanical and electrical products, vehicles and accessories, and steel and steel products to Egypt, and imports crude oil, stone, lubricant, citrus and ore from the country.

Related story: Egyptians need trains － and training

CAIRO－Mohammed Shehata, head of the Egyptian Transport Association, said on Sunday that China can be a main player in developing Egypt's railway system.

"China is a leading country in this field," Shehata said, adding that China is always ready to help friendly countries improve their infrastructure.

The ETA is a leading Egyptian NGO that monitors and issues reports on the transportation systems in the North African country.

The NGO chief said that China has been helping numerous countries, including many in Africa, to build new up-to-date railway systems, stressing that the country will not hesitate to provide Egypt with its expertise in the field of railways and transportation.

On Friday, an Alexandria-bound train coming from Cairo crashed into the rear of another train on its way from the Mediterranean city of Port Said to Alexandria, leaving 49 people dead and more than 130 others injured.

Following the accident, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged the government to hurry up with the development process of the country's railway network, thereby avoiding more such crashes.

The president gave instructions to form technical committees charged with evaluating the maintenance processes and specifying the needed spare parts for the trains and railroad infrastructure.

Shehata said China is preferred over European countries to develop Egypt's railroad infrastructure because China offers both expertise and finance for development projects and the costs are usually lower.

"Unlike European countries, China does not decide the companies that will carry out the projects. It also provides finance through generous loans from Chinese banks," Shehata pointed out.

He also said China's participation in rebuilding Egypt's railway infrastructure will help boost the Belt and Road Initiative to link Africa and Asia.

"China is more a partner than an investor," he stressed.

The Egyptian railway system, Shehata said, is badly in need of renewal, using the latest available technologies. He said Egypt has been using very old methods, railway infrastructure and trains.

"The service that transports millions of Egyptians should be fully updated for the safety of passengers," Shehata insisted.

The ETA chief also said development should also include training those who will be running any new system, and that diesel locomotives should be replaced with newer electric trains.

Egypt has spent billions of US dollars to develop its railroad and train systems, but the development projects did not yield good results because "we did invest in an old infrastructure," Shehata pointed out.

"It is not a good idea to update an already old train or network. The whole network and trains should be modernized and I believe that we need a pioneer partner like China to make a leap in our railway system," Shehata said.

XINHUA

Jay got a chance to ask questions at 2017 Global Netrepreneur Conference in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, in July 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Charlie Erickson, Jay Thornhill and Tyler McNew are three American entrepreneurs who have realized their Chinese dream by helping foreigners buy products from Taobao, China's largest e-commerce company.

Charlie, who used to teach macro economics at Fudan High School, had to ask help from his students to buy things from Taobao.

Then he thought why not start a website to help other foreigners like himself, so he invited Jay and Tyle to establish Baopals, a website through which they translate foreign customers' address into Chinese and then use their Taobao account to buy things.

Baopals, which was founded in July 2015, helps international customers buy about 600,000 Chinese products from Taobao every year.

China is the leader in online shopping and products can be delivered in one day, which is unimaginable in the US. Even Amazon cannot do it so fast, Jay and Charlie said.

Many American friends asked Charlie why he had stayed in China for five years. He said, "When you return to the west, you realize that opportunities are still in China".

Three American entrepreneurs, who realized their Chinese dream by helping foreigners buy products from Taobao, pose for a photo in Shanghai, Aug 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Three American entrepreneurs have turned Baopals into a business employing 30 people in Shanghai, Aug 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Three American entrepreneurs turned Baopals into a business employing 30 people in Shanghai, Aug 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Three American entrepreneurs use Baopals to help international customers buy Chinese products from Taobao in Shanghai, Aug 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The three American entrepreneurs launched the website in 2015 in Shanghai. Photo taken on Aug 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The three American entrepreneurs launched the website in 2015 in Shanghai. Photo taken on Aug 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A $100 banknote is placed next to 100 yuan banknotes in this October 16, 2010 file picture illustration taken in Beijing. [Photo/Agencies]

China overtakes Japan as the largest foreign owner of US treasury securities after increasing its holdings for the fifth straight month to $1.15 trillion as of the end of June this year.

The China's June figure surpassed Japan's $1.09 trillion of US bonds, notes and bills in the same period, according to latest data from the US Treasury Department on Tuesday.

As of June, China owns long-term US treasury securities of $1.14 trillion and 2.35 billion short-term securities.

Thomas Simons, a senior economist at Jefferies LLC in New York, said to Bloomberg that China's holdings may continue to increase in the coming months, given strong trade flows between US and China boosting more treasury demand.

Year-on-year, the June figures also indicate that China and Japan decreased holdings by $94.3 billion and $56.3 billion respectively.

Japan became US biggest creditor in October, when it owned $1.13 trillion treasuries, and ranked second after eight month.

From the data, the rest of the top five US creditors by the end of June are Ireland, Brazil and Cayman Islands holding $302.5 billion, $269.7 billion and $254 billion respectively.

Tan Xinyu contributed to this story.

A total of 17,703 newly-funded foreign companies were established in the first seven months, up 12 percent from same period a year ago, according to a statement from the ministry.

"The FDI volume was basically stable from January to July, and the structure continued to optimize," said Lin Guijun, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

The high-tech manufacturing and service sectors attracted 37.39 billion yuan and 70.31 billion yuan of foreign investment, respectively, between January and July, up 8.3 percent and 16.8 percent year-on-year.

"FDI to China is likely to remain stable in the second half of this year, especially in areas such as consumer goods, software development, leasing and information services, as foreign companies are realizing that China's growing middle class will have higher levels of disposable income and that the country is shifting to a productivity-driven growth model," Lin said.

Attracted by China's strong market potential in cloud-computing and other technology-related businesses, Dell Inc pledged in 2015 to invest $125 billion in China by 2020 to boost innovation, research and development, and other areas.

Wang Wei (L) can make about 20,000 yuan ($3,003.31) per month by selling steamed bread in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Young couple Wang Wei and Zhang Yin, who are post-1990 generation, can make about 20,000 yuan ($3,003.31) per month by selling steamed bread in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province.

The price of each steamed bread is between 0.4 yuan and 1.0 yuan and the couple can make about 5,000 steamed breads every day. They get up at about 4 am and finish work at about 9 pm.

The steamed bread made by them tastes good and has a wide variety, so many customers come from afar and wait in a long line to buy them. Some customers even carry the products to Beijing, Tianjin and Jinan.

Wang Wei, who makes popular steamed bread, shows his business card which says "I make steamed bread with heart and you can eat it rest assured" in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province, Aug 13, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Zhang Yin, who makes popular steamed bread, prepares to make steamed bread with chocolate flavor in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Wang Wei, who makes popular steamed bread, prepares to steam corn fodder paste in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Wang Wei can make about 20,000 yuan ($3,003.31) per month by selling steamed bread in Liaocheng, East China’s Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Wang Wei and Zhang Yi make steamed roll in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

The steamed Chinese sponge cakes with dates are made by Wang Wei and Zhang Yi in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Wang Wei (R) can make about 20,000 yuan ($3,003.31) per month by selling steamed bread in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Zhang Yin, who makes popular steamed bread, arranges steamed corn fodder paste in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Villagers come to buy steamed bread made by Zhang Yin and Wang Wei in Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province, Aug 13, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Former World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin delivers a speech in Beijing on August 11. [Photo/Xinhua]

As China's economic achievement disproves the chatter stating the nation's economy is about to collapse, voices bullish on China's economy are increasing in the world, according to former World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin as stated in a report by ce.cn.

Lin, now director of the Center for New Structural Economics at the Peking University, said the country could sustain a 6.5 percent economic growth for some time to come in a speech on Friday.

"Since reform and opening-up, the development of China's economy has created a miracle in the history of human economy," he said.

"An average annual growth of 9.6 percent in the past 38 years is what had never been done in human history".

Lin said an economic slowdown since 2010 has raised questions on the sustainability of China's economy.

In 2016, China's economy grew 6.7 percent year-on-year, a relatively high pace in the world but the slowest pace of the country's growth in 26 years. Moreover, it marked the first time the country's economic growth had dropped for six consecutive years since reform and opening-up.

Therefore, some foreign scholars predicted China's economy might continue to slide.

Lin said, unlike "shock therapy" – getting rid of all kinds of contradictions and distortions in the economy at once - adopt by some countries, China's economic transformation has emphasized emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts since reform and opening-up, which means some of the distorted and structural problems in the economy are retained in the process of gradual transformation.

"Although China's economy has made unprecedented achievements in the past three decades, these retaining distorted and structural problems are still used to blow the argument of 'a Chinese economic collapse'," he said.

After China's economy entered the new normal, China has promoted the supply-side structural reform to strengthen the quality of its economy, Lin added.

"The fact that China's economy expanded 6.9 percent for the first half of 2017 is beyond anyone's expectation," he said.

"Foreigners are becoming more optimistic about China's economy."

Lin said he believed China's economy has broad space and wide margin for future growth.

"Some potential risks, especially those in the finance sector, can be avoided by promoting the supply-side structural reform and strengthening the quality of economy."

Ren Xinglei, senior vice-chairman of China Association for Small & Medium Commercial Enterprises, made a speech at the launch ceremony of Porter Novelli China Desk in Beijing on May 10, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]   More small and medium-sized enterprises are trying to grasp opportunities related to the Belt and Road Initiative, according to China Association for Small & Medium Commercial Enterprises (CASME) and public relations agency Porter Novelli.

"CASME used to be a grassroots association seldom participating in international activities. However, since the first half of last year, especially since May this year when the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held, more associations like CASME in countries such as United States, Russia and Singapore have contacted us for cooperation," said Ren Xinglei, senior vice-chairman of CASME, in Beijing Thursday.

"Founders of some Japanese companies want to sell their business to Chinese investors as their offspring are not willing to manage and they want us to help them," Ren added, sharing an example.

"On the other side, 60 percent of 150 companies we surveyed in China's Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta reported that they were willing to access overseas markets, among which, some medium-sized companies said they would like to set up plants or build industrial parks," he said.

In addition to SME's own willingness, Belt and Road Initiative, has not only generated more overseas opportunities for State-owned companies and large private companies, but also created such opportunities for SMEs as they are the major suppliers to large companies or get outsourced work.

Shen Guofang, former Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, made a speech at the launch ceremony of Porter Novelli China Desk in Beijing on May 10, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]  However, Shen Guofang, former Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, said that "due to lack of convenient and smooth information channel, many Chinese companies do not know what investment recipient countries need and likewise, investment recipient countries do not know what Chinese companies can provide."

Brad MacAfee, chief executive officer of Porter Novelli, made a speech at the launch ceremony of Porter Novelli China Desk in Beijing on May 10, 2017.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]  Brad MacAfee, chief executive officer of Porter Novelli, which has been in China for 13-plus years helping multinational companies do business in the country, said that his company has made it a strategy to help Chinese companies access and expand in foreign markets due to the Belt and Road Initiative.

Porter Novelli established strategic relationship with CASME, launching a China Desk, a platform to aid Chinese companies on Thursday in Beijing.

Before a Chinese company's entry into a foreign country, Porter Novelli can research policies, regulations and market, MacAfee told audience at the ceremony of the China Desk.

He added that his company can also help Chinese companies build key relationships with local officials, opinion leaders and help them build a good reputation and gain respect, based on Porter Novelli's years of experience in helping multinational companies do business in China.

Shi Weijie, chairman of sewage treatment company ShenmeiCheme Technology Company Limited.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] "We want to find companies with better technologies in developed countries and cooperate with them in China, which is a huge market, where environment protection has become a key issue," Shi Weijie, chairman of sewage treatment company ShenmeiCheme Technology Company Limited, told chinadaily.com.cn on Thursday on the launch ceremony of Porter Novelli China Desk.

"But we do not know where we could find ideal partners," said 38-year-old Shi, who left his work at a government body and started his chemicals trade company in 2006 and in 2011 launched another company ShenmeiCheme, a supplier for large water treatment companies located in regions as west as Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and as south as Guangdong province.

"I think companies need to develop step by step just as people need to eat one mouthful after another and now it's time for me to enlarge international vision and it's time for my company to seek more advanced technologies overseas due to competition at home," said Shi.

"Otherwise, if an entrepreneur's knowledge is outdated, his company will also become outdated," he added.

In fact, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade on July 27 jointly launched a special plan to facilitate SMEs's participation in Belt and Road Initiative, main tasks of which are helping SMES trade in countries along the Belt and Road, providing good service for SMES and helping SMEs improve competitive capacity in global markets.

This undated photo shows the Norwegian Joy, the largest cruise ship in the Asia-Pacific region was built in Germany. The 'Breakaway Plus' class cruise ship was designed specifically for the Chinese market.[Photo/VCG]

The first cruise zone, to boost the cruise tourism industry, was approved to be set up in Shanghai by the China National Tourism Administration in September 2012. Shanghai tourist authorities approved tax refunds for overseas tourists on purchases in designated shops, and opened duty-free shops at the arrival areas of the city's cruise terminals.

Liu Wei, general manager of the Dalian Port International Cruise Liner Center, said development of infrastructure in the city had progressed well since the Dalian Port Group began construction of a cruise liner center in 2015.

"Currently two 150,000-metricton berths are under construction and these are expected to be completed in 2019," she said.

During a recent tourism industry conference in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, the China National Tourism Administration issued membership plaques for the cruise pilot area to the cities of Shanghai, Tianjin, Shenzhen, Qingdao, Fuzhou and Dalian.

China's cruise ship sector has been developing rapidly in the past decade and in 2015 it became the world's fourth biggest cruise market. Analysts say international cruise ship giants are working hard to enter the Chinese market.

Statistics from the World Tourism Cities Federation show that Chinese ports accepted 955 visiting cruise ships in 2016, carrying more than 4.39 million passengers.

"This year, Dalian is expected to accept 33 cruise ships and more than 60,000 passengers," said Li Jingping, head of the Dalian Tourism Development Committee.

According to Li, Dalian was China's first port to accept cruise ships. In 1976, a luxury liner from Japan visited. Since then the port has accepted hundreds of cruise ships.

With its beautiful natural scenery featuring mountains and sea, Dalian is a well-known tourism city in China.

In 2016, the city accommodated more than 1 million international tourists and over 76 million domestic tourists.

Li said that with northeastern China as the hinterland, the city provided a convenient location to reach Japan, South Korea, and Russia. He said Dalian's cruise sector was expected to expand in the coming five years.

Zhang Tie, general manager of Dalian Port Group's passenger transport company, said the port had a suitable terminal to handle large-sized international cruise liners, with good water quality and complete facilities.

The port has established trade relationships with more than 300 ports in over 160 countries and regions around the world.

In July last year, Royal Caribbean International's Legend of the Seas cruise liner, carrying about 2,000 tourists, left Dalian for Sasebo and Kagoshima in Japan. It underscored that Dalian has become a port of departure for international cruise liners.

"The city's cruise sector has great potential and is enjoying rapid development. This year, some 50 cruise liners are expected to depart from Dalian," Zhang added.

A boy plays with a smartphone in an outlet of Apple Inc in Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo/China Daily]

Apple Inc, an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, has denied accusations of treating Chinese developers unfairly and stated iOS App Store guidelines apply equally to all developers across the globe.

Apple said, in a reply to China Daily, more than 1.8 million people work on its App Store ecosystem in China, and the company invests a tremendous amount of resources providing advice and training for entrepreneurial developers.

"The App Store team works to review more than 100,000 apps every week from around the world, and are proud that most submissions in China are reviewed and approved to be on the store within 48 hours or less," Apple stated, adding the company complied with local laws and regulations.

The response came after a Chinese law firm filed a complaint with regulators alleging Apple treated Chinese app developers unfairly by removing their apps from the company's iOS App Store without a good reason.

In a response, Apple said if an app is rejected or removed for violating App Store guidelines there is an escalation process for all developers to ask for another review of their situation and assistance getting their app quickly back on the store.

"We continue to expand our local developer relations team in China and are working hard to help developers be successful on the App Store," the company stated.\

A maintenance man checks the tire of an aircraft which just taxied to the parking apron in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. CHEN ZHONGQIU / FOR CHINA DAILY

The first batch of commercial aircraft tires made by a Chinese company is expected to roll off the production line by the end of this year, which will likely end the history of total reliance on imported tires for China's civilian aircraft.

Qingdao Sentury Tire Co Ltd, manufacturer of the home-made aircraft tire, has just poured 300 million yuan ($44 million) into the new facility, which covers 30,000 square meters and will reach a capacity of 150,000 tires per annum in the coming five years.

Lin Yilong, general manager from Qingdao Sentury, said bullish market needs have provided a huge opportunity for airplane tire producers.

According to Boeing's forecast, China's civilian aircraft fleet, including both passenger aircraft and cargo aircraft, will reach 7,210 by 2034, nearly three times that of 2014.

This will create a lucrative market for aircraft tires as the industry practice is to replace aircraft tires after 150 takeoffs and landings.

The aircraft tire market is dominated by Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear, whose market shares are 37 percent, 30 percent and 20 percent respectively, according to Lin.

Qingdao Sentury also plans to develop tires for defense aircraft. According to RUAG World Air Forces Special Report 2015, there are 2,787 defense aircraft in China.

Qingdao Sentury started its moves in this direction seven years ago, when a 53-member team was formed for the research and development of aircraft tires.

But producing a high-performance plane tire is not easy because it has to bear the weight of a plane full of passengers and cargo, resist the smash onto the ground, and remain stable on sun-baked ground as well as in skies under zero temperature.

"Our group was challenged by the strict and specific demand for the airplane tire. It requires dozens of times load capacity of traditional automobile tires, and some three and four times the speed of regular car tires," said Sheng Baoxin, vice-general manager with Qingdao Sentury.

After going through countless failures and tests, Sentury's tire team mastered the state-of-art technology and even received independent intellectual property rights. What is more, its low costs in logistics and delivery efficiency have gained a special advantage over well-known international peers.

In December 2016, Sentury received approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China for producing aircraft tires for use in China on four Boeing 737 aircraft models.

Later, Sentury sought to research and develop tires for the Boeing 777, Boeing 787, Airbus A320, Airbus A350 and the Airbus A380 models, as well as for China's homegrown passenger aircraft, the C919, and regional jet, the ARJ21, etc.

"Currently, we are preparing to apply for more airworthiness certifications from the US and Europe, as well as in other nations and regions. Meantime, we will also apply for approvals of the world's major aircraft makers for original installation in aircraft of Airbus, Boeing and COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China)," said Sheng.

Zhu Wenqian in Beijing contributed to this story.

A woman chooses canned food at a supermarket in Qingdao, Shandong province, Sep 9, 2016.[Photo/For China Daily]

BEIJING - China's consumer price index (CPI), a gauge of inflation, rose 1.4 percent year-on-year in July, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Wednesday.

It was slightly down from June's 1.5 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the index was up 0.1 percent, according to the bureau.

Consumer inflation was generally stable in July. Food prices, the biggest component of the CPI, were down 0.1 percent, the NBS said.

Vegetable prices rose 7 percent after declining for five straight months as scorching summer and heavy rain restricted output. Fruit prices shed 9.2 percent due to oversupply. Pork prices declined 0.7 percent as consumption fell in summer.

Year-on-year, food prices dropped 1.1 percent in July, while non-food prices rose 2 percent.

Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the core CPI increased 2.1 percent year-on-year in July.

China's producer price index (PPI), which measures costs for goods at the factory gate, rose 5.5 percent year-on-year in July, according to the NBS.

It was unchanged from the previous two months. On a month-on-month basis, the index was up 0.2 percent.

A pedestrian using a smartphone walks past stores selling mobile phones and accessories at the Nehru Place IT Market in New Delhi, India, May 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

India's smartphone market suffered its first downturn in history, as shipments to the country declined by 4 percent year-on-year to less than 27 million units in the second quarter of this year, according to a report by Canalys.

The global technology market analyst firm said while Samsung Electronics continued to be the market bellwether with a 25 percent share in Q2, Chinese smartphone vendors experienced their finest hour to date.

Xiaomi Corp, quadrupling its shipments to 4.8 million units in Q2 in India, took the second place of the market, the report said. In the same period, it got back to the fifth place of the global smartphone market with 23.20 million shipments, covering 6.4 percent of the market share, according to consultancy Strategy Analytics.

Vivo, gaining popularity in India's tier-two and tier-three cities, finished third with a record high 3.4 million shipments in Q2, Canalys's report said. It was followed by Oppo and Lenovo.

More than half of India's smartphone market is secured by Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Lenovo and Gionee collectively.

Indian market is strategically crucial for Chinese smartphone vendors, as their domestic market also suffered decline in Q2, Ishan Dutt, an analyst at Canalys, said in the report.

The report said the decline of Indian market in Q2 was affected by the launch of Goods and Services Tax (GST), a tax applicable from July 1 across all products and services.

Canalys analyst Rushabh Doshi said the market, confused over GST and worrying about its impact on prices, has adopt a wait-and-see policy.

"The market will emerge stronger post-GST. Vendors can look forward to leaner distribution, faster delivery and increased demand from local retailers and distributors," Doshi said in the report.

Ericson Chan, CEO of Ping An Technology PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Chinese financial giant Ping An Insurance (Group) Co will spend more than 7.77 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) on technology research and development this year, and artificial intelligence will be the focus of that R&D, according to a senior executive of the company.

"We want to build more platforms in finance and healthcare industries this year and in the near future," said Ericson Chan, CEO of Ping An Technology, a subsidiary and technology arm of Ping An Group. "We will continue to focus on providing technology services for the group as well as share more with the whole society."

Established in 2008, Ping An Technology has about 4,000 technology workers and has paid attention to R&D in cognition, robot advisory and cloud businesses. Their applications are mainly used in finance and healthcare industries; up to now, there have been more than 200 application scenarios.

Besides Ping An Group, Ping An Technology has developed more than 200 corporate clients－most of them banks including Standard Chartered Bank.

According to Chan, artificial intelligence has been its focus as they it seeks to benefit from encouraging policies and the sector's huge development potential.

The State Council, China's Cabinet, in July issued a national artificial intelligence development plan, with a goal of making China one of the world's foremost AI innovation centers by 2030.

"I think the national strategy is absolutely the right direction and we do not need to wait till 2030," Chan said. "China's fast speed of technological revolution, a large number of talents and particularly high penetration of new technology application can be the reasons."

Chan said Ping An's AI technologies is facial recognition, which has been used 300 million times by last month.

For example, individuals can borrow money through an app of Ping An Group within three minutes. A user can submit his documents, and with the facial recognition and voice authentication technologies provided by Ping An Technology, Ping An Group can confirm his identity and even know his credit to determine how much money to lend.

Besides finance and healthcare, Chan said Ping An Technology is also stepping up the pace of applying artificial intelligence technologies to the automotive and housing industries.

For example, he said, consider that a Ping An customer's car is damaged during a typhoon. As long as he uploads his car's pictures on Ping An's platform, the pictures can be analyzed with AI technologies and the insurance reimbursement amount will be calculated quickly.

Chan said compared with other competitors, the advantages of Ping An Technology can be its richness of data and a lot of application scenarios, and its challenge is competing for talents, adding that Ping An Technology has reached cooperative arrangements with world-leading universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tsinghua University.

Internet giants are fiercely competing in the artificial intelligence area. In June, Tencent Holdings Ltd unveiled Xiaowei, an intelligent voice computing platform developed on the basis of WeChat's voice recognition technology. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Baidu Inc have also launched similar open voice computing platforms.

Data from Chinese research firm CCID Consulting showed that the value of China's artificial intelligence market will total 40.6 billion yuan in 2018.

Zhuang Qiange contributed to this story.

A boy interacts with a robot from Agricultural Bank of China at the 25th China International Finance Exhibition in Beijing on July 28. LEI KESI / FOR CHINA DAILY

Move will help contain risks that might emerge in battle to combat debt levels

China is likely to slightly loosen its credit policy in the second half of the year.

This will help to contain risks that could emerge during the process of economic deleveraging and disposing of loss-making "zombie" companies, analysts said.

Li Xunlei, chief economist at Zhongtai Securities Co Ltd, said that the monetary authority will likely guide more on-balance sheet bank loans into the markets to ensure sufficient credit supply after the regulators moved to contain surging risky off-balance sheet financing by banks.

"Things will become more transparent and risks will be better managed by bringing the financing back onto the banks' balance sheets," Li said.

Monetary officials and policymakers in Beijing have maintained that China will continue with a prudent monetary stance. But they have also emphasized the importance of policy fine-tuning to "provide a good credit and financial environment" for the structural reforms.

Market interest rates have been on the rise as the regulators pushed financial deleveraging to curb risks and increased the crackdown on irregularities in the shadow banking sector.

The weighted average lending rate has climbed above 5.5 percent since the second quarter of the year, according to data from the People's Bank of China. Companies have also been canceling their bond issuance plans due to higher interest rates.

Ba Shusong, chief economist at the China Banking Association, said in an article published in Financial News, the PBOC-affiliated newspaper, that higher interest rates could undermine corporate profitably, which will harm the deleveraging effort.

Ba said easing credit policy could help offset the negative impact of higher interest rates on smaller businesses.

The Chinese government has made economic deleveraging a top policy priority. Cutting the debt ratio of State-owned enterprises, accelerating the disposal of the zombie companies, and stabilizing the rise of economic leverage have been the short-term targets. This long-term goal is to improve corporate efficiency through market-oriented reforms.

Yu Pingkang, chief economist at Changjiang Pension Insurance Co Ltd, said that a slightly loosened monetary policy to prevent any substantial economic downturn can be expected as the government has limited leverage in its fiscal policy.

Li at Zhongtai Securities said that policymakers would take the step in the second half of the year to accelerate the deleveraging of SOEs as private investment had picked up in the first half and will offset the potential decline of SOEs' investment.

Jack Ma practices tai chi in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, May 10, 2013. [Photo/VCG]

China's billionaires and successful entrepreneurs are embracing tai chi, a homegrown gentle exercise or martial art characterized by rhythmic circular movements, to boost not just personal well-being but company profits, launch new products and services, and transform corporate cultures.

For instance, Guo Guangchang, president of Fosun Group, and Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, are among the prominent personalities championing the cause of tai chi.

Elite tai chi clubs comprising business-people are not uncommon in China these days. Well-known entrepreneurs in white silk garbs can be found going through the slow motions at private parks.

After practising it for over three decades, Ma has made tai chi part of Alibaba's organizational culture. Tai chi workshops are part of staff training.

In his 2009 "State of the Union" address, US President Barack Obama called tai chi one of the best aerobic exercises of the world.

For long, tai chi has been practised by senior citizens as a morning or evening ritual as it is believed to help practitioners to balance positive and negative inner energies. That philosophy is now being applied in business to boost profits.

"It is a nice trend that influential entrepreneurs are doing tai chi, since it plays a positive role in promoting inner peace," said Li Longxin, a Brazilian startup owner in Beijing.

"I also think that in terms of cultivating a good character, tai chi is better than activities like muay thai."

Ary S, a Russian public relations manager in Beijing, said: "Tai chi is typical 'Eastern stuff ', and I'd like to learn it. I see foreign media love to write about Chinese CEOs performing tai chi with their employees."

In just a few years since its commercialization, tai chi has acquired the status of a management technique that can help better manage oneself, one's team and business, potentially boosting profits.

Besides, tai chi is seen as a potential revenue booster for the tourism industry. Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, explorers of foreign cultures and backpackers alike have been taking to it with gusto.

On Trip Advisor website, a US tourist shared his experience of an introductory tai chi session in Beijing. He wrote the teacher initiated the tourist group into tai chi slowly, and patiently explained its meaning and benefits. "We loved every minute. What a great experience."

Tai chi presents a contrast to other combat sports like kick-boxing, kung fu or muay thai that require speed and strength.

Although it was designed to be a self-defense skill, tai chi's modern practitioners feel it can help reduce stress and calm the mind.

The philosophy of balancing inner energies is similar to managing a company, Ma once said. He also said he developed leadership abilities from Taoism, management skills from Confucianism and inspiration to live a normal life from Buddhism. "And tai chi is what combines all separate parts together."

Fosun Group's Guo, another Chinese billionaire, is also passionate about tai chi. "It doesn't require large spaces or a whole set of equipment like golf. It is a more sustainable exercise. I used to be very irritable and constantly yelled at my team. We've that anger in our belly and we need to calm it down."

So, Guo applied tai chi in his work. "It doesn't teach you how to be fast but how to react faster. In investing, one can never always stay ahead of the market reaction. But tai chi made me react more spontaneously to change."

In 2011, at a Fosun branding event on Wall Street, Guo pitched tai chi to entrepreneurs. Ever since, he has been performing tai chi at the group's annual dinner in New York.

He also introduced tai chi to his friends such as Dai Zhikang, founder and chairman of Zendai Group.

Tai chi itself has become an intellectual property and has spawned many businesses, products and services.

In April 2012, famous kung fu actor Li Lianjie, known in the West as Jet Li, and Alibaba's Ma jointly founded Taiji Zen International Culture Co Ltd by investing 50 million yuan ($7.3 million). Taiji Zen developed tai chi-related cultural products and services.

Four years later, it set up a cultural institute that provides not only martial art tutorials but 18-day courses in philosophy for entrepreneurs that can cost up to 99,800 yuan.

"Promoting tai chi is not only a challenging career for me but a way to show my gratitude and give back to my predecessors, teachers and the whole martial arts world," said Jet Li.

"Tai chi can provide a guideline for those running a business," Alibaba's Ma said. "Copying Western management system isn't enough to run an enterprise in China, it needs supports from its deep Eastern cultural roots. That's why, we set up the tai chi school."

Huang Zhongda, the first person to commercialize tai chi and founder of i-Tai Ching, said he realized tai chi has huge potential when he was studying for his senior management consultant certificate.

"Entrepreneurs usually suffer from suboptimal health, so practising tai chi can help improve mental and physical health," said Huang.

"But those entrepreneurs don't like hanging out with senior citizens in a public park. Instead, they need exclusive high-end spaces to practise," he said.

Soon after he picked up the martial art, Guo invested in i-Tai Ching and co-founded i-Tai Ching Sports Development Co Ltd in 2010. The i-Tai Ching elite clubs have spread across China's top-tier cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

Monthly memberships of such clubs can cost 35,000 yuan. In a sense, this turns the tai chi schools into elite social clubs that are becoming popular among even expatriates.

"Tai chi can help people to relax and harmonize their life, bring peace and balance, which transcends elegantly into company management. I would recommend trying it to everyone," said David B. Allen, CFA, a Canadian in Shanghai.

Lin Shuyun, a Thai student of the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, said: "Tai chi can calm people down, and it's not too difficult to learn. There are no limitations related to space and time. I think tai chi helps practitioners, including entrepreneurs, to keep healthy and to learn some values of life."

Indonesia's Bagas Deka Kurtianto, Lin Shuyun's university mate, said: "Many entrepreneurs appear to be under too much stress. Tai chi can eliminate their bad emotions and pressure. It can also help them to cultivate patience and inner calm, which should help in company management. An even-tempered manager can win respect of employees while a short-tempered manager would terrify staff."

The bottom line is, Chinese martial arts are becoming popular across the world. The Mei Quan Academy of Taiji, a London-based tai chi club, now has 48 branches from hipster center Camden Town to affluent Chelsea and central district Russel Square. It also has a presence in Australia, Japan, the US and Europe.

Contact the writer at renxiaojin@chinadaily.com.cn

A senior visitor enjoys walking on a treadmill at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

In China, more than 230.8 million people, or 16.7 percent of the total population, were aged 60 or above at the end of 2016, according to a report released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. Among this group, about 150.03 million people were 65 or above.

Over 220 companies and organizations from about 20 countries gathered to tap the sector in Beijing at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo from Aug 4 to 6. The event showcased health products targeted at senior citizens.

A senior visitor learns to play a smart piano at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A senior visitor enjoys walking on a treadmill at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A senior visitor looks at a smart piano at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A robot attracts attention from international exhibitors at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 6, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A staff member demonstrates use of an intelligent care machine for those who cannot go to toilet at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Two staff members show healthy diet for senior people in summer at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Smart watches for senior people are on display at the 6th China International Senior Services Expo in Beijing, Aug 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors watch a screen showing smart sorting technologies at a JD.com booth at an expo during World Intelligence Congress in Tianjin, June 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

JD.com Inc, China's second-largest e-commerce player, said it has launched the first unmanned sorting center in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, as part of its strategy to build intelligent logistics system.

The whole process of the sorting, from parcel selection to loading the truck, could realize automatization in the Kunshan center, which is also the first of its kind around the world, JD said in a statement.

Compared with traditional automatic sorting centers, the Kunshan center is more "smart". The coverage rate of automated equipment has reached 100 percent and about 9,000 parcels could be sorted every hour.

The parceling efficiency can be enhanced by about four times. It is also using unmanned automated guided vehicles for loading and unloading operations.

JD is increasingly betting on its intelligent logistics operations to differentiate itself from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Last year, it successfully used drones to deliver online purchases to rural shoppers in Jiangsu province, kicking off the e-commerce giant's use of unmanned aircraft for last-mile distribution.

In November, it finished its first drone delivery in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. On June 18 it began using drones to regularly deliver packages in Xi'an. It also says it will build 150 operation sites for a drone delivery in Sichuan province.

Moreover, robots and driverless cars for deliveries have been applied during the June 18 shopping festival.

An exhibitor demonstrates a Hover Camera Passport drone at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, US, Jan 6, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Snap plans to buy Chinese drone firm as it eyes smart hardware

US-based camera company Snap Inc, well-known for its messaging app Snapchat, plans to buy Chinese drone maker Zero Zero Robotics, a tech media site The Information reported.

The Information said Snap held talks with Zero Zero Robotics as the drone maker launches new round of fundraising. Previously, Zero Zero Robotics had completed two rounds of fundraising totaling $25 million.

The Zero Zero Robotics's best known product is Hover Camera Passport, a 242 gram selfie drone that can follow its controller wherever he goes.

Earlier this year, the Chinese drone maker announced it had signed a deal with Apple Inc to sell the Hover Camera Passport at Apple stores in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, US, Canada and UK.

Snap prides its computer vision techniques, and also has ambition on smart hardware. In 2015, it launched smart glasses Spectacles, and received good market response. This year, the camera company acquired Venice-based drone manufacturer Crtl Me Robotics.

However, as investors worry about Snap's corporate structure, the company's share price fell 22 percent during last month. On Tuesday, its share price on the New York Stock Exchange closed at $13.1, dropping 4.17 percent. The price share has fallen below its initial offering price of $17.

Snap carries out dual-class voting structure which means the company issues two types of shares with, or without voting rights.

As Standard & Poor's 500 stock will not accept new members that issue multiple classes of shares, Snap will not be included in the S&P 500 stocks pool,according to Los Angeles Times.

A little girl receives gifts from Alipay staff in Tianjin. [Photo/VCG]

GUANGZHOU - WeChat and Alipay, two major online payment platforms in China, will call for consumers to go cashless and cardless in their daily life through promotions in August.

Cashlessness is a new Chinese characteristic. In a Monday report by Tencent, the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, and French market research firm Ipsos, 84 percent of Chinese were "comfortable" going out with only mobile phones, no cash.

Gao Jingwen, in her 20s, can hardly recall when she last paid in cash.

"I do not need cash in a restaurant, seeing a doctor, paying electricity and water bills. I cannot think of any place I cannot pay with my smart phone," she said.

Zhang Shucui, 67, always used to take a large amount of change when going to the wet market near her home in Beijing's Haidian district, but that time has gone.

"The QR code replaced the change basket in front of the stalls," she said. "Gone are the days when I had to search all my pockets for a coin."

Monday's report also showed more than 70 percent of the 6,500-plus respondents saying they could live more than a week with only 100 yuan ($15) in cash, and 52 percent only use cash for 20 percent of their total monthly consumption.

Mei Houdui, an electronic products dealer in Shenzhen, shared a recent "awkward" experience - he wanted to borrow some cash as pocket money for his child at a party, and failed as no one had any cash in their pockets.

A big cake 

The new payment pattern has won over Chinese consumers with its convenience and flexibility, squeezing the market share of card and cash payments.

"Alipay or WeChat?" This is the most often question posed up when a purchase is made in China. Cards and cash, the once dominant purchasing methods, have become a second option in less than half a decade.

"Mobile payment companies were worried about their future just four years ago, but the spread of technology has exceeded the imagination of almost everyone," said Li Gang, a professor at the Tencent Research Institute.

Data from the People's Bank of China showed a total of 157 trillion yuan of payments were made on mobile devices in China last year, more than 200 times that in the United States in the same period. The figure is expected to continue expanding by 50 percent each year, it said.

No big surprise

It is no accident that mobile payment have expanded so fast in China. According to a report by eMarketer, China's lack of "credit card culture" has somewhat fueled the popularization of mobile payments, especially in small cities and underdeveloped areas.

In a remote mountain village of central China's Hunan Province, one can easily buy a hen or groceries by scanning a QR code.

Payment and Clearing Association of China said in a report that mobile payment users in small towns and the countryside account for half of the total in China. The percentage of mobile payment users in the countryside is even higher than in provincial capitals.

"Mobile payment has become the norm and companies and brands cannot afford to ignore that fact," said Li.

WeChat Pay has recruited several million offline vendors. Alipay announced 10 million brick-and-mortar shops have signed for their cashless life promotion.

Mobile payment has also helped improve the outdated, time-consuming services at government offices and public sectors.

In Xi'an, nearly 70 percent of the northwestern city's drivers pay their traffic fines via WeChat instead of wasting time queuing in long lines in police departments.

Patients in Guangzhou are used to making an appointment with a doctor and paying by smart phone.

Statistics from WeChat showed that over 300 cities have public service platforms that accept WeChat payments.

Both the Internet giants have actively expanded their services overseas since last year. Alipay can be used in several hundreds of thousands of shops in over 70 countries, while Wechat has landed in 19 countries and regions, including Japan, Thailand and Republic of Korea - most popular destinations among Chinese tourists.

"The door to a new world has opened, and an infinite future awaits," Jia said.

Various 3D technology equipment models are on display at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Various cutting-edge 3D technology products showing the latest trend in China's 3D technology development were displayed at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017.

The three-day conference not only showcased China's additive manufacturing or 3D printing enterprises' development trend, but also innovations in business model.

About 300 companies and organizations such as Sinopec Group and China Aerospace Science & Industry Corp brought the latest 3D printers, 3D printing materials and 3D printing technologies to the event.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) refers to the technologies that build 3D objects by adding layer-upon-layer of material.

A visitor looks at a nylon mask at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors attend interactive activities at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Two women use 3D printing pens to draw toys at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors appreciate 3D printing statues at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A manufacturing 3D printer is on display at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Aircraft components produced by 3D technology are on display at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

An aircraft connection frame is on display at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Orthopedic rehabilitation protectors are on display at Additive Manufacturing Conference of China 2017 in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, on July 30, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Deputy head of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Finance and Economic Affairs, Yang Weimin, said that the fundamentals of the Chinese economy remain solid and corporate and market confidence has improved.

Yang stressed that the government's major tasks in the second half of the year include resolving risks associated with local government debt, addressing chaotic activities in financial markets and stabilizing the property market, as well as private and foreign investment.

China's industrial profit grew 22 percent in the first half of the year, much faster than the 8.5 percent increase in 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Yang said that the government will maintain the stability of its macro-economic stance with a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy to stimulate growth in the second half of the year.

Contact the writer at lixiang@chinadaily.com.cn

China's smartphone shipments hit 226 million during the period, more than 66 percent of which used domestically made screens, up 14.1 percent compared with the same period in 2015, according to a report released by the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology.

China's Tianma Micro-electronics, surpassing Japan Display Inc., topped the country's phone screen market during the period.

China's domestically produced screens also gained momentum in the high-end cellphone market in the first six months. About 19 percent of Chinese smartphones worth more than 3,000 yuan ($445) used homemade screens, up 10 percent year on year.

Screen technology is a weak part of China's mobile phone industry. Domestic brands have been devoted to screen innovation in recent years and actively involved in the expansion of new production lines, the report said.

A worker walks past a gas circulator in the turbine hall at EDF Energy's Hinkley Point B Nuclear Power Station in Bridgwater, southwestern England. [Photo/Agencies]

Energy giant China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) is in talks to build Poland's first nuclear power plant, the company said in a statement on Monday.

A Polish delegation headed by Andrzej Piotrowski, deputy minister of energy visited the Shenzhen-based company earlier this month. Piotrowski met his Chinese counterpart Li Fanrong in Beijing. The two countries signed a memorandum on nuclear cooperation for civil use.

The Polish delegation visited Dayawan nuclear plant and Hualong One reactors project, according to the statement released on CGN's website.

The discussion heralds the State-owned energy giant's increasing interest in the European market, trailing its project in Britain.

CGN signed the 18-billion-pound Hinkley Point C power plant agreement last September with French energy firm EDF and the British government. The project has been hailed as a gateway to promote Chinese nuclear technology.

"The UK has a very high standard for nuclear energy, especially in the aspect of its safety. If Hualong One could enter the British market, it means that the nuclear technology of China comes very close to those of developed countries," Zhao Chengkun, former director of China's National Nuclear Safety Administration, told China Business News.

Poland government plans to build two nuclear power plants with a total capacity of six million kilowatts, the statement noted.

Companies including France's Areva and EDF, the US' Westinghouse and Canada's SNC-Lavalin Nuclear are also eyeing to take part in the race, according to Polish media.

Tan Xinyu contributed to this story.

Local citizens try different fitness equipment at the second China Body Building Association (CBBA) China Fitness Exhibition in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on July 21, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The second China Body Building Association (CBBA) China Fitness Exhibition kicked off in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Friday.

People actively try new fitness equipment to stay fit as they pay more attention to body building and a healthy lifestyle.

The fitness industry and its technology are developing and virtual reality technology is starting to be used with sports equipment, as smart fitness becomes a trend in China.

Healthy food has also been promoted due to the fast development of the fitness industry in China.

Local citizens try different fitness equipment at the second China Body Building Association (CBBA) China Fitness Exhibition in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on July 21, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Local citizens try different fitness equipment at the second China Body Building Association (CBBA) China Fitness Exhibition in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on July 21, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Local citizens try different fitness equipment at the second China Body Building Association (CBBA) China Fitness Exhibition in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on July 21, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Local citizens try smart fitness equipment under the guidance of trainers at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) 2017 in Shanghai, March 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A local citizen tries smart fitness equipment with virtual reality technology at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) 2017 in Shanghai, March 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A local citizen tries smart fitness equipment with virtual reality technology at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) 2017 in Shanghai, March 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A staff member introduces healthy food to a local citizen at the second China Body Building Association (CBBA) China Fitness Exhibition in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, on July 21, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The cut in coal-fired energy is a significant progress for the region, experts say.

Elion Resources Group and Beijing Energy Company are pouring billions into the sector, making green power hit new heights in the northern Chinese region.

In 2013 the Chinese government imposed a ban on the construction of new coal plants in three industrial regions, and in 2014 it set a national objective of reducing the use of coal in 12 provinces and regions before the end of 2017.

Without hydro power supply, the autonomous region relied only on coal power until the emergence and success of its renewable energy projects. In 2016, the total output of coal power production amounted to 845.5 million metric tons.

The local government said 30 percent renewable energy now compliments the total energy grid with wind power accounting for 25.56 million kilowatts installed capacity from a total output of 46.4 million kilowatts. This is 17 percent of the total wind power capacity of the entire country.

A wind power farm located in Khuitenxil, 135 km from Hohhot, contributes 260 megawatts to the region's power grid.

The project by Beijing Energy Co was launched last November, and has 144 giant wind fans covering more than 50 square kilometers.

The technicality of its power generation system is monitor on sight, converted into 3.5 kilowatts and then to 220 kilovolts before supply to end users, an engineer working for Beijing Energy Co told a group of African journalists during a recent tour of the facility.

Meanwhile, the region's installed photovoltaic power capacity has also reached 6.36 million kilohertz from an output capacity of 8.3 billion kilohertz.

By the end of 2016, Elion Resources Group said, it had invested about $146.9 million in the project with 650,000 solar panels covering 9,000 hectares in the Khubchi Desert.

The solar energy project by the private Chinese firm, also heavily investing in ecological restoration in Khubchi Desert, has the potential to generate 1,000 megawatts of solar energy, but for now 310 megawatts is being generated with 350,000 kilowatts produced per hour.

"This is part of our poverty alleviation project here because we sub lease the land from the owners for this solar panel field and also create 1,000 new jobs for them－households are contracted to clean under these solar panels," said Zhao Yong, vice-president of Elion Resources.

"We are looking to install more solar panels across more land space to supply more power to the national power grid but this will be based on the government's approval," Zhao said.

It took Inner Mongolia almost 10 years to acquire this amount of renewable energy, and experts working in the sector said a complete transition to green energy must be done meticulously.

The shift to cleaner energy in Inner Mongolia is part of China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). The momentum now epitomizes the impact of cleaner energy on reducing the capacity of coal power plants at 1,100 GW by the end of 2020.

Ten major environmental targets have been set in the strategy, including energy consumption per unit of GDP and emission levels of Co2 per unit of GDP.

The country's coal energy consumption also dropped by 4.7 percent by the end of 2016, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, while the central government pledged to further reduce it by 50 million kilowatts and shift to more renewable and clean energy.

Alpha Daffae Senkpeni is a journalist with FrontPage Africa, based in Liberia, who is visiting China Daily as part of a 10-month China-Africa Press Centre fellowship.

A service robot rolled out by China Construction Bank interacts with visitors at a financial fair in Beijing. [Photo by Lei Kesi/For China Daily]

Global financial investment management company Principal Financial Group Inc has partnered with China Construction Bank to seek opportunities in the country's huge but developing pensions market, which is currently worth more than $700 billion.

Daniel Houston, chairman and CEO of Principal Financial Group, said his company had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CCB for a potential pension partnership in China and the two sides would assess what role the Iowa-based company would play.

"We have great confidence in the nation's huge pension market, and we remain optimistic that we can evolve the memorandum of understanding into a more meaningful long-term relationship," said Houston, adding that they are considering a second joint venture with CCB Pension Management Co Ltd.

CCB and the National Council for Social Security Fund set up the nation's first professional pension management company－CCB Pension Management Co Ltd－in 2015, in which CCB holds 85 percent of the stock, with SSF holding the balance.

Despite major growth since then, industry players believe China's pension potential remains enormous.

A report by the China Aging Finance Forum said that the country's pension funds were worth more than 5 trillion yuan ($741.3 billion) at the end of 2016 and the market is estimated to exceed 10 trillion yuan by 2020.

Yet that would account for less than 20 percent of the nation's GDP, which is far smaller than the average proportion of 80 percent among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries.

With an ever-growing population, leading to higher payouts nationally, the country's pension system has been facing a potential long-term funding shortage.

Under China's three pillar pension system, the first pillar is basic pension led by the government and it has the characteristic of wide coverage and low security. The second pillar involves enterprise annuities and the third pillar is commercial endowment insurance.

According to data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the pension of each retired citizen has to date been borne by the contributions from 2.8 wage-earners, but by 2050 only 1.3 wage-earners will feed one retired person.

"It is an issue that China's Pillar One for the basic pension is going to be under stress," said Luis Valdes, president and CEO of Principal International, part of Principal Financial Group.

Valdes said with regard to Pillar Two and Pillar Three, voluntary markets needed to be developed in China to meet the financial security requirements of the middle class.

A report released by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found that the country's enterprise annuities totaled 134.3 billion yuan by the end of 2015, only accounting for 3.5 percent of the nation's entire pension funds.

It found that the basic pension insurance totaled 3.2 trillion yuan, accounting for 82.7 percent.

Renee Schaaf, chief operating officer of Principal International, said China has good conditions to develop its enterprise annuity market. That was because China had a more formal and regulated labor force compared with other developing markets.

"China is very well positioned to develop its Pillar Two and Pillar Three pension systems, which can lower the pressure on the government and help people lead better lives after retirement," Schaaf said.

CEO Daniel Houston said the challenges for the Principal Financial Group to develop its business in China included the need to persuade employers to adopt enterprise annuities, making Chinese people comfortable about using the sector's products to invest for the long term, and forming a good working relationship with the industry regulators.

Principal Financial Group started in China in 2005, setting up a joint venture asset management company with China Construction Bank.

CCB Principal Asset Management Co Ltd is now the sixth biggest fund management company in the country.

Besides Principal Financial Group, heavyweight international players including AMP Capital, Fidelity and Vanguard are stepping up their presence in the Chinese pension market.

Contact the writers at caixiao@chinadaily.com.cn

The number was a 6.1 percent rise on a yearly basis, as 209,000 invention patents were issued, according to the statistics.

As of the end of June, the Chinese mainland held more than 1.22 million invention patents, with 8.9 such patents per every 10,000 people on average.

Also, more than 20,000 applications for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) were submitted by Chinese applicants via the SIPO over the first six months of the year, an increase of 15.3 percent on a yearly basis, said Hu Wenhui, spokesperson of the SIPO.

Moreover, up to 15,411 patent cases were solved in China in the same period, up 23.3 percent year-on-year, according to Hu.

Of the cases 8,837 involved patent disputes, while 8,666 related to patent infringement, he continued.

According to Shanghai Customs District, the total import and export volume reached 1.6 trillion yuan ($236.5 billion) during the first six months, up 18.7 percent year-on-year.

That was only just behind Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces.

Total exports rose 12 percent year-on-year to 626.6 billion yuan while total imports jumped 23.7 percent to 926.7 billion yuan.

Shanghai Customs Deputy Director Zheng Jugang said the city has seen a better result in imports mainly because of the increased price of bulk commodities globally and city dwellers' increased demand for quality of life.

Passenger cars and medical and healthcare products were the most popular import categories. The imported consumer goods value totaled 160.6 billion yuan in the first half, up 24.5 percent year-on-year compared to an 8.2 percent growth rate in the first half of 2016. The import value of passenger cars surged 40.2 percent to 40.9 billion yuan while that of medical and healthcare products soared 53.5 percent to 39.3 billion yuan.

"We have seen a robust domestic demand in Shanghai," Zheng said. "As people have a higher demand for their quality of life, the import volume of overseas products is increasing rapidly."

Integrated circuit was the largest import category in Shanghai in the first half, with the total volume reaching 101.3 billion yuan, taking up 10.9 percent of the city's total import value.

A rendering shows what Shoudi City Terminal in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, will look like when completed. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In a few years people flying out of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, will be able to check in before they arrive at the airport.

Shoudi City Terminal, which will have the same passenger check-in function as terminals at the airport, will be located in the city's Central Business District.

Investment in this terminal is expected to hit 1.8 billion yuan ($266.29 million) and is expected to be finished by June 2020.

The construction area is about 117,900 square meters. The completed project will include an aviation business complex containing a terminal, an office building and high-end business and leisure areas.

A rendering shows the plan for Shoudi City Terminal. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Liang Qishun (right) and Zhang Shengdi are good friends, as well as, mural painting business parners. [Photo/VCG]

Liang Qishun and Zhang Shengdi have been painting together for 10 years.

Liang and Zhang decided to quit their stable jobs at a decoration company this year, to run their own business.

Painting walls is not easy. The work needs skills as well as physical power. In order to complete their first order, they worked for three days straight, sleeping just five hours each day. The effort paid off. That first client was impressed and gave them more business.

Now, the two men have many orders.

Liang and Zhang run the business from their hometown in Tunchang, a county in South China's Hainan province. Laing said that returning to their hometown to start the business was not only to realize their art dream, but also to build their hometown.

They plan to create a series of murals based on Tunchang's features to promote their hometown.

Liang Qishun and Zhang Shengdi paint a mural at a school in Haikou, Hainan province, June 22, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Liang Qishun and Zhang Shengdi finish a mural in Haikou, Hainan province, June 22, 2017. [Photo/hnrb.hinews.cn] Zhang Shengdi paints on the wall of a school in Haikou, Hainan province, June 22, 2017. [Photo/hnrb.hinews.cn] Liang Qishun and Zhang Shengdi shows their work to a potential client in Haikou, Hainan province, June 22, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Wen Xiaoting, chairwoman of the soccer club Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng, explains her brand promotion idea during chat with three German Channel 2 television staff in a soccer stadium in Guizhou province. [Photo by Yang Jun/For China Daily]

For Wen Xiaoting, 27, a former fashion magazine editor, soccer club Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng is a brand-building opportunity.

Until Xiaoting's father, Wen Wei, picked up a 66 percent stake in the club in 2015 for an undisclosed amount, Guizhou HFZC was not a force to reckon with.

Not any more. As chairwoman of the club, Wen Xiaoting adopted a hands-on approach. All-round reforms kicked in with well-defined goals, often leading to spectacular results.

For instance, for the first time in its history, Guizhou HFZC got promoted from second-tier China League One to top-tier Super League this year.

"When the club got officially registered in early 2016, we set the goal to enter the Chinese Super League in three years. And we made it the first year," she said.

The team appears to be coasting on the momentum of seven straight wins in the China League One last year.

In May, she hired Spanish football coach Gregorio Manzano, 61, and fired his predecessor Li Bin, a former national football team member, as chief coach.

After Manzano took charge, Guizhou HFZC won three matches in the Super League. After 15 matches, it now ranks eleventh in this year's table.

But Wen Xiaoting believes both on-and off-field brilliance is key to a sports club's long-term success.

"The promotion of a football team is similar to that of a fashion brand in that they both need to be known and accepted by the market. That can be achieved by packaging the entire operation," said Wen Xiaoting.

Wen Xiaoting, chairwoman of Guizhou Hengfeng Zhicheng. [Photo by Yang Jun/For China Daily]

Packaged and publicized as a symbol of youth, energy and hope, Guizhou HFZC has gone from strength to strength, both on and off the field, leaving a trail of marketing, branding and management success that is new in China's sports industry.

To start with, the Guiyang Olympic Sports Center, the club's home stadium, received a makeover with its capacity expanding to 52,000 seats.

Wen Xiaoting believes cultural constructs around the club are key to sustainable development.

"I've spent years in the UK and learnt the football culture in that country. Many of the English Premier League clubs have more than 100 years of history. Whether or not people keep caring about the football club－well, that lays the foundation for development."

So, she tried several ways to keep people engrossed in the club's progress last year.

For one, cooperation agreements with media were forged to broadcast news, information and other forms of content about the club. For another, automobiles and radio became publicity vehicles. Advertisements at strategic locations like airports and host grounds created brand awareness.

That's not all. Twice a month, fans of Guizhou HFZC were invited to the home stadium. When the games ended, Wen would show up with the club's mascot.

In May 2016, a contest was held for fans to write the team song. The winner was awarded 10,000 yuan ($1,477).

The same year, the club has designed its team jersey for the fans. Earlier this year, she hired anchors to broadcast the team's games live.

"By constructing football culture, I expect to make more locals watch a weekend game, whether they love football or not," she said. "What I'm doing is attract more fans to the ground. With crowd support, players will feel encouraged to play to their full potential."

She also rationalized spends on players and expenses. "There is no superstar in our team. The salaries of club members are similar to that of other China League One clubs. The highest annual salary was several million yuan," she said. "We didn't pay tens of millions of yuan to hire players like others did."

For all of Wen Xiaoting's relentless efforts, Guizhou HFZC is yet to ring in profits.

About 200 million yuan were spent on operations last year, which included players' wages, bonus, brand promotion bills and routine expenses.

The club earned only 10 percent of that, mainly from in-stadium advertisements and sales of team-themed merchandise like apparel, footwear, accessories, she said.

"Receipts from ticket sales were low. Most of the tickets were given away free of cost to the fans, particularly primary and middle school students."

In China, owning a football club is more of a hobby and nonprofit activity than business, she said. Many Chinese football clubs exist because of their supporters' enthusiasm.

But Guizhou HFZC wouldn't burn money blindly, she said.

That nous comes from family background. Her father heads China Guizhou Hengfeng Real Estate Development Co Ltd, which focuses on the sale, rent and property management of high-end commercial real estate.

She graduated from the University for the Creative Arts in the United Kingdom before joining Harper's Bazaar China, a fashion magazine, in 2011.

Guang Yan works at his office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Guang Yan has been working as an algorithm engineer at Alibaba's cloud-computing arm Aliyun for seven years. The man's job is to provide solutions to manufacturing firms to improve productivity and lower production costs.

As more and more firms seek engineers to optimize their manufacturing processes, Guang and his colleagues are increasingly busy. They visited more than 30 firms in the past year in order to write program for production data problems. Sometimes, they had to stay in the factories for several days.

They always visited the factories to learn more about the actual manufacturing processes by taking to people who worked there. "In the past year, if I was not at a factory, I would be on my way to a factory", Guang said.

Guang Yan visits a factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG] As Chinese manufacturing firms carry out the integration of informatization and industrialization, they gathered big data from their manufacturing processes. However, the companies lack professionals who know what to do with data. In March, Aliyun released its ET Industrial Brain, an artificial intelligence system based on production data to control manufacturing processes. Now, the system has helped a photovoltaic enterprise to increase 1 percent of its yield, and save 100 million yuan in annual production costs. As one contributor of the ET Industrial Brain, Guang said, "writing code at factories is an efficient way to work ". Guang Yan seeks helps from a factory employee in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Guang Yan writes code at a factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Guang Yan works at a factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Guang Yan and his colleagues work at an office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Guang Yan watches a factory's production process video at home in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Guang Yan poses at home in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, June 29, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Speaking at the Rise 2017 conference in Hong Kong, its CEO Wu Tianhua said the new investors are guiding Tiger Brokers on content, internationalization and functional autonomy.

The firm will host a global investment forum in the next two to three months. The next round of fundraising will probably be within the next 12 months, he said.

Founded in June 2014, Tiger Brokers has so far received over $400 million in funding from more than 20 strategic investors such as Xiaomi, Zhenfund, China Growth Capital and celebrated Wall Street investment guru Jim Rogers (who is betting big on China's financial technology or fintech sector).

Wu said Tiger's younger investors in US stocks favor the TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) sector and are willing to take risks in their global asset allocations.

Emerging new-age tech companies seek to list in the US, suggesting a fresh bull run may be in the making there.

However, in China, investment allocations in the Chinese mainland are still relatively niche. But the situation will improve with growth in the local TMT sector, Wu said.

Online brokerages such as Tiger use technology to tackle challenges relating to cross-border stock trading, account opening and language.

Currently, online trading in US stocks accounts for a major part compared to trading in Hong Kong stocks and the A shares, he said.

Workers operate at a steel plant in Dalian, Liaoning province. [Photo/China Daily]

First-half financial performance strong on back of supply-side reform

China's ferrous metal industry is set to post a strong performance in the first half of the year on the back of government measures to cut overcapacity and optimize the industry's structure, experts said.

"With the reduction of excess capacity, there is a tight supply of iron and steel, leading to high prices, especially wires and rebars," said Wang Guoqing, research director at the Lange Steel Information Research Center in Beijing.

The government's thrust on supply-side reforms has produced positives, Wang said.

Around 20 listed firms in the iron and steel sector have forecast their earnings for the January-June period.

HBIS Co Ltd said its first-half profit will likely be between 1.15 billion yuan ($148 million) and 1.27 billion yuan, up 181-210 percent year-on-year.

If its forecast holds, that would be the third highest growth rate in the 20 years since the company listed on the A-share market.

Similarly, Fujian Sansteel Minguang Co Ltd said it expects its first-half profit to rise 200 percent year-on-year to 1.08 billion yuan.

"The main reason (for the good performance) is the government's efforts to eliminate outdated capacity, especially inferior steel," said Li Xinchuang, president of the China Metallurgical Industry Planning and Research Institute.

By June 30, China had shut all companies that produce inferior steel. More than 500 such companies whose combined capacity was 119 million metric tons were shut, according to a statement from the China Iron and Steel Association.

On Thursday, the Lange Steel Composite Steel Price Index reached 144.9, up 7.4 percent from the beginning of the year.

The Long Steel Products Price Index was at 159.8, up almost 19 percent from early January. The Flat Steel Products Price Index, however, was down almost 3 percent at 131.9.

Long steel products include rebars and wires, and flat plate steel products are hot-rolled steel plates, cool-rolled plates and medium plates.

The rebar price is 3, 928 yuan per ton, up by 676 yuan from the beginning of the year.

"Although data show that the total steel output has increased in the January-June period, the demand has shifted from informal products such as inferior steel to qualified steel made by major steel companies. That means, the supply is not adequate to meet the current demand," said Wang.

At the same time, iron ore prices are comparatively low thanks to rising output, oversupply, and high port inventories, Wang said. "Low material prices help keep steel production costs at relatively low levels."

China imported 539 million tons of iron ore in the first half, up 9.3 percent year-on-year, while the country's iron ore production was 508 million tons in the first five months, up 10.4 percent, according to data from the Lange Steel Cloud Platform. Low costs and high prices are expected to boost companies' profits.

Li said rising infrastructure investment, automobile production and machinery manufacturing in the first half of the year will also likely expand steel consumption.

Total profit of major iron and steel companies was 37.9 billion yuan in the first five months of this year, exceeding full-year combined profit of 33.15 billion yuan in 2016, according to the China Iron and Steel Industry Association.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the January-May operating income of the ferrous metal smelting and rolling process industry was 3.02 trillion yuan that generated a profit of 105.3 billion yuan, up 93.5 percent year-on-year.

Gan Yong, president of the Chinese Society for Metals, however, said overcapacity reduction should be continued with the same level of determination in spite of the current profits. "Once the companies increase their output production, prices will decline immediately."

A worker monitors container operation at Zhoushan port in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo/China Daily]

Editor's note:

A glimpse of how various media outlets look at the June figures has been listed below:

"Chinese trade growth accelerated for a second month in June in a positive sign for global demand and the country's own economy."

-China's export, import growth accelerate in June

AP, July 13

"China's overseas shipments rose from a year earlier, as global demand held up and trade tensions with the US were kept in check amid ongoing talks. At home, resilient demand led to a rise in imports."

-China June Trade Data Buoyed by Robust Demand at Home and Abroad

Bloomberg, July 13

"The Caixin China manufacturing purchasing manufacturers' index (PMI) for June beat expectations, offering another signal that the world's second-largest economy continues to defy expectations for a slowdown."

-Caixin PMI for June comes in at three-month high, beating forecast

CNBC, July 2

"Activity levels across China's manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors accelerated unexpectedly in June, ending a strong first half of the year for the world's second largest economy."

-China's economy continued to produce the goods in June

Business Insider Australia, June 30

Yang Peizhong, owner of Xinyi Family Farm, picks grapes in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei province, July 7, 2017. [Photo by Yang Yang/chinadaily.com.cn]

Xiantao city, Central China's Hubei province, is leveraging on this region's richness in selenium, one of the 14 essential trace elements that is good for human health, to promote agritourism, or agricultural tourism.

Yang Peizhong, a fruit planter in Chenchang county in Xiantao city, has benefited from the central government's policy to encourage new types of operators in the agricultural market and the development of Se-enriched industry since 2014.

"Thanks to the government policy, I had the opportunity to register Xinyi Family Farm in September 2014 and started to operate agricultural tourism. Because the fruits and vegetables growing in Xiantao are rich in selenium, which is good for people's health, the number of visitors who come to our family farm increases very fast."

In the past the farm has sold all their fruits and vegetables to supermarkets, sales people or customers. Now about one-third are picked by tourists. The market price of grapes is about 10 yuan per jin (half a kg) but the price can be as high as 20 yuan per jin on the farm. By operating Xinyi Family Farm, Yang has gained considerable economic profits.

However, it is not just about money but also mindset, according to Tian Xijiao, Yang Peizhong's wife.

"I used to be a merchant and couldn't accept becoming a farmer at the very beginning, but after learning [about clean] technology, I found planting green vegetables are of a lot of fun. Now I consider it my career."

Urban citizens come to the family farm to enjoy fresh air and a green environment while picking grapes.

Yang added they also have a lot of government support in getting loans, fertilizer, advanced technology and building agricultural infrastructure.

Xinyi is not the only family farm that benefits from selenium richness in Xiantao. A Er Di, another organic ecological leisure agriculture base, aslo promotes local economic development.

Li Xianmei, a staff member, speaks with chinadaily.com.cn on July 6, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Li Xianmei, a staff member at the A Er Di organic ecological base, said her life has improved a lot after picking Se-enriched peaches here.

"The work of picking peaches here is very busy and I can make about 2,000 yuan per month. Compared to planting rice in the past, my life has changed a lot."

Song Qixuan, owner of A Er Di, said it is very important to respect rules of nature as it is not only important for this generation but also future generations in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei province, July 6, 2017. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Song Qixuan, owner of A Er Di, said it is very important to respect rules of nature and use natural cultivation methods to plant fruits and vegetables, as it is not only important for this generation but also future generations.

"I plan to start a 'small hands in big hands activity' and provide more opportunities for children to learn natural scientific knowledge and experience agricultural life in our leisure agriculture base."

To satisfy tourists' diverse needs, some farmers transformed their houses into family inns for visitors to stay. Local villager Zhang Shaohua used to sell baby products in Guizhou, but was attracted to going back home because of the emerging opportunities brought by Se-enriched agriculture and the tourism industry.

Tourists enjoy the natural environment of Xinyi Family Farm in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei province, July 7, 2017. [Photo by Yang Yang/chinadaily.com.cn]

An Se-enriched peach at A Er Di agriculture base in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei province, July 6, 2017. [Photo by Yang Yang/chinadaily.com.cn]

A local villager cuts straw to welcome visitors in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei province, July 6, 2017. [Photo by Yang Yang/chinadaily.com.cn]

A local villager cuts straw to welcome visitors in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei province, July 6, 2017. [Photo by Yang Yang/chinadaily.com.cn]

A local villager enjoys some leisure time in Xiantao, Central China's Hubei province, July 6, 2017. [Photo by Yang Yang/chinadaily.com.cn]

An odor identifier sniffs a sample of material to be used for a plastic track to determine whether it meets environmental standards.[Liu Kun/China Daily]

At a laboratory in Wuhan, Hubei province, five certified odor identifiers－people with sensitive noses－were assigned a special task. Each of them, wearing a white gown, opened a bottle containing a 20-gram sample of synthetic running track material, and inhaled slowly for five seconds. Then they wrote down their results.

The sniffers, who are among the first such professionals in Wuhan, were testing whether the plastic, planned for use in a running track installation at a primary school, measured up to environmental standards. Another technician will give the samples a final score based on the scores given by the sniffers.

"It is very difficult to test products made of complex synthetic materials, such as plastic tracks, by physical or chemical instruments because most instruments can only test for a few substances at most, such as formaldehyde or toluene," said Wang Zhaohui of the testing and research center of the Sports Engineering Key Lab of the General Administration of Sport in Wuhan. "Smelling is a more direct and reliable way to determine whether a sample is poisonous."

After the work of the odor identifiers, other tests using physical or chemical instruments will be conducted to determine whether the samples are up to standards, Wang said.

Odor identifiers are usually employed to determine whether emissions of one kind or another are within a certain limit. The results provided by the certified sniffers have legal effects. Pollutant sources that emit excessive odors－as determined by the expert sniffers－are subject to punishment under laws and regulations, Wang said.

The center has 15 certified odor identifiers whose average age is 30, said the center's Shang Jianhua, who has been an odor identifier for three years.

Odor identifiers must be in good condition, and they must adhere to strict requirements, such as not using cosmetics or eating hot pot, which could affect their sense of smell, he said.

The center is planning to train odor identifiers specifically for plastic track producers so that better quality tracks can be made, Wang said.

Synthetic running tracks became a top concern for parents who have children in primary or middle schools after media reports about complaints about toxic tracks that sickened children.

In Sijing Third Primary School in Shanghai's Songjiang district, dozens of students displayed symptoms such as nosebleeds, coughs and sore eyes in September. Many of their parents blamed it on substandard plastic material used on the playground, saying it emitted a strong odor, according to a report in China Youth Daily in October.

Testing reports provided by the school showed that toxic gases emitted from samples－including formaldehyde, benzene and toluene－met the standards adopted in Shanghai, the report said.

Local standards for emissions of plastic tracks may not be reliable and may need improvement, the report said.

Before you conjure an image in your mind of me stalking the streets of Beijing with a 12-bore shotgun as I seek my quarry, calm yourselves, dear readers.

What I mean, in fact, is that living up to the old-fashioned stereotype of people from my native country of Scotland as being "careful with money", my hunting involves the search for a few extra pennies.

For most people, I am certain that the concept of "free money" is very appealing, and Chinese bike-sharing giant Ofo is well aware of this, as it now offers small financial incentives to its customers.

My "hunting", like that of many other users of the popular transportation app, involves searching for "red envelopes" that appear in some areas where Ofo bikes are available.

What adds to the allure of this offer, and the "thrill of the chase" is that these "red envelopes" could contain anything from a few jiao up to 5,000 yuan ($735).

All you need to do is hire a bike from one of the "red envelope" areas showing up on the app, use the said vehicle for at least 10 minutes, then, after you pay the fee for hiring the bike, a red envelope will appear on the screen.

Simply open it, and the financial gift will be revealed.

After you have "earned" 10 yuan from the envelope you are given the option of transferring it to your WeChat or Alipay wallet, transforming the virtual earnings into money you can spend on whatever you want.

Initially I dismissed this as just another marketing gimmick, but when I updated the Ofo app on my smartphone several weeks ago, and the "red envelope" option started to appear I caught the bug, and began seeking out these potentially lucrative offerings.

So, how much have I amassed since I started "hunting"? So far, about 27 yuan.

I will let you know when I have made my first 5,000.

Following the success of bike-sharing schemes in China, sleep-sharing has arrived. Whether you need a 30-minute power nap in the middle of the day or a good night's sleep, visitors can now rent a sleep capsule at a mini-hotel in Zhongguancun, a technology hub for startups in Beijing. When tiredness sets in, people simply scan a QR code on the outside of each capsule and pay 6 yuan per 30 minutes during off-peak times or 10 yuan per half-hour for peak times. [Photo/VCG]

Customers simply scan the QR code on their phone to open the capsule. [Photo/VCG] The inside of the capsule. [Photo/VCG] A man climbs into the capsule. [Photo/VCG] Wall sockets in the capsule allow nappers to charge their phone while they rest. [Photo/VCG] The inside of the capsule. [Photo/VCG] Earplugs are available as part of the sleep-sharing service. [Photo/VCG] There are rubbish bins at the sleep-sharing mini-hotel. [Photo/VCG]

A young "green" entrepreneur in England was grabbed by some statistics he came across.

China produces 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks a year, Xinhua News Agency reported. Bai Guangxin, chairman of Jilin Forestry Industry Group, estimates that amounts to 20 million 20-year-old trees.

According to The Huffington Post, based on 2004-09 statistics, it's more like 57 billion a year, accounting for the destruction of 3.8 million trees.

Any way you stack it, the numbers - and implicit deforestation - are staggering. There has to be a better way.

London resident Tudor Finneran, 20, has decided to try and get the message out - to younger people in particular - through a mobile game app. Chopstick Champion is what he's come up with.

"The basic idea is to educate users on the negative environmental factors of wooden/one use or disposable chopsticks, from the demand of wood to the manufacturing process," he said, "but through appealing and fun gameplay."

Players are presented with a historical character (Confucius, Ghengis Khan, Ho Chi Minh, Katsumoto) who they have to feed. They select three dishes from a menu that includes delicacies like exotic caterpillars and melon seeds. And the clock starts.

Using the two-finger zoom move on a pair of animated chopsticks to grab a piece of food from the plate, players move the eats piece by piece to the character's mouth.

The catch is that each character benefits most (more points) from dishes that are from their regional cuisine - so a little biographical research on the accompanying social media ups the rewards. So players learn about China's history. There are 39 levels.

The app features pop-ups such as: "Environmental Notice - Please think about the supply chains and production methods of all non-sustainable and non-renewable products." So players learn about the environment. (It's in multiple languages too).

Stage One of Chopstick Champion, which is already available in Apple and Android stores, is in the process of being reviewed by Chinese authorities to go in the iTunes store in China.

Finneran, who describes himself on LinkedIn as "the hardest working person you'll ever meet," is already looking ahead to Stage Two, "which will really focus on the case study of deforestation due to non-reusable chopsticks."

It's his first app on the "market", he said, but he is working on others over the next few months "to educate a massive audience on these problems and eventually lead to some positive change.

"Having a passion for the environment and still not seeing the necessary changes that need to be made," he said, "I am doing my best to utilize apps/tech to promote a necessary change and lay the foundation for my future business."

That business? A full-time "eco-entrepreneur" who leads "the world in the right direction through informative gameplay or tech services."

Tourists take shelter under umbrellas from scorching sun in front of the Tian'anmen Rostrum in Beijing on July 9, 2017. Beijing Meteorological Service predicted that the city would see temperature reaching 35 C from July 9 to 11. [Photo/VCG]

A visitor uses a fan to shield himself from the sunlight at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing on July 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The ground temperature reaches 88 C at the Flaming Mountains in Turpan, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on July 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A tourist tastes an egg boiled on the ground in Turpan, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on July 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Commuters hold umbrellas to protect them from the sunlight in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, where the highest temperature reached 39 C on July 9, 2017. Many places in Xinjiang saw temperatures exceed 40 C in recent days, and Turpan recorded 48 C. [Photo/VCG]

Visitors cool down by water mist from the mobile sprayers at a square in Shanghai on July 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A woman cools down by water mist from the mobile sprayers at a square in Shanghai on July 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

People play in the water to escape the heat in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, on July 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

People play in a swimming pool in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, on July 8, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

A girl plays in a fountain at a square in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on July 8, 2017. Temperatures in some places in Shanxi reached 37 C. [Photo/VCG]

People play in a water park in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, on July 8, 2017. The city's temperature reached 35 C. [Photo/VCG]

Parents bring children to a fountain at a square in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to escape the heat on July 7, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

An image issued by the National Meteorological Center of CMA shows the regions hit by high temperatures across the country on July 10, 2017. [Image/nmc.gov.cn]

Yin Shiming, vice-president of Baidu, presides over a cloud computing sub-forum at the Baidu Create 2017 conference on July 5, 2017. [Photo by Song Jingli/chinadaily.com.cn] Baidu's artificial intelligence not only makes driving hands-free possible, but could also let machines analyze video footages much better than humans, the company's executives shared on a developers' conference in Beijing Wednesday.

"It might be impossible for you to figure out whether your son said 'Daddy, I love you' when he was two-year-old in videos, but it is possible now," Yin Shiming, vice-president of Baidu, told audience at a cloud computing sub-forum of the Baidu Create 2017 conference.

Huang Jingbo, a research manager at Baidu Cloud's multimedia department, said that Baidu has rolled out video processing services such as video content analysis (VCA) and smart selection of video covers.

When the VCA service, enabled by deep learning, is applied on a footage, it will be tagged automatically and elements of the footage, including voice, characters, scenarios, faces will all be analyzed and displayed, Huang told the audience.

Huang Jingbo, a research manager at Baidu Cloud’s multimedia department, compares random covers and covers selected by Baidu's AI technologies, at a cloud computing sub-forum at the Baidu Create 2017 conference on July 5, 2017. [Photo by Song Jingli/chinadaily.com.cn]

He added that the smart cover selection function, partly enabled by machines' understanding of human feelings, could recommend a video to its possible viewers in the best way, rather than always the first frame of the video.

Yin, also the general manger of Baidu Cloud, said Baidu's advancement in visual sector will impact many sectors, with entertainment and education as the most possible.

The move came as LeEco continues to struggle with cash crunch and unpaid debt, which has prompted a local court to freeze almost all of Jia's shares in Leshi, the Shenzhen-listed unit. Leshi said in a filing on Thursday that Jia stepped down as the chairman and exited the board of directors.

He will focus on LeEco's automobile unit, which is not listed.

Sun Hongbin, chairman of real estate developer Sunac China Holdings, joined the board of Leshi. Sunac and other investors invested 16.8 billion yuan ($2.5 billion) into LeEco at the beginning of this year.

The performance gain was attributed to the priority employment has been given as the basis of inclusive growth, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the 2017 Summer Davos Forum in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

Started in 1989, IMD's World Competitiveness Yearbook produces annual rankings based on 260 indices, two-thirds of which are "hard" indices. The additional figures are based on the surveys of over 6,200 top executives working for global conglomerates. The list incorporates 63 economies with the full score reaching 100 points.

China's economic performance index ranked second among the economies surveyed. The country managed to create more than 13 million urban jobs for four consecutive years, despite downward pressure. The registered unemployment rate in Chinese cities stood at five percent over the past four years.

A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development highlighted the achievements of China's structural reforms, saying GDP growth in the country largely followed developments in labor productivity with the employment ratio being stable at a relatively high level.

An Airbus A380, the world's largest jetliner, takes part in flying display, during the 52nd Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 25, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Airbus has signed an agreement to sell 140 planes to China, in a deal worth $22.8 billion.

The agreement was signed during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Germany.

The planes will be purchased by State-owned China Aviation Supplies Holding Company, which will then allocate the planes to Chinese airlines.

Tom Enders, Airbus group CEO, said the group was also in talks with the Chinese over the A380 super jumbo, which has suffered slow sales.

"It won't happen overnight. It has to be intensively discussed," Enders told journalists.

Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp, the listed video-streaming unit of LeEco, said in a filing on Tuesday that a court has frozen Jia's 519 million shares, about 26 percent of Leshi's all stocks.

That equals to 15.9 billion yuan, given the market value of Leshi stands at 61.2 billion yuan.

That accounts for 99 percent of all shares Jia has in Leshi.

The account will remain frozen for three years. The Shanghai High People's Court announced the ruling because LeEco failed to pay interest due on bank loans taken out to fund its smartphone business. Jia used his shares in Leshi as collateral for the loans.

On Tuesday, LeEco confirmed that another 1.24 billion yuan ($183 million) in assets belonging to Jia, his wife and three affiliated companies have been frozen by the court because of unpaid debt.

A photo shows the building that has been moved 10 meters horizontally in Huaibei, East China's Anhui province, on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG] A four-story building has been moved 10 meters horizontally to give way for a railway line in Huaibei, East China's Anhui province.

The building, which houses government offices in Duji district of Huaibei, was built in 2001. It is 14 meters tall and has a total area of 1,200 square meters.

A railway line has been planned on the building's site. The line will connect the Lanzhou-Lianyungang Railway and the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.

After authorities considered the environmental impact and economic factors, they decided to move it instead of demolishing it.

Workers started to move the 1,000-ton building at 8 am on June 27, and completed the task of shifting it 10 meters north at 12:37 pm on June 28.

The photo shows the tools put under the building's foundation to move on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Workers reinforce the building's foundation through welding steel bars and pouring concrete on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Workers fasten the foundation of the building on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The photo shows the tools put under the building's foundation to move on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Workers reinforce the building's foundation through welding steel bars and pouring concrete on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Workers fasten the foundation of the building on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Workers reinforce the building's foundation through welding steel bars and pouring concrete on July 1, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Founded by disabled athlete Domonic Corradin and long-time China resident and world traveler Joshua Dominick, Krankin'thru China is a movement to introduce the sport of handcycling to China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Over the last three months, the team has cycled more than 5,500 kilometers through 10 provinces in China including Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui.

"We hope to reach every corner of China in the future, and to introduce the sport of handcycling to more people with disabilities, inspiring them to lead a positive and healthy lifestyle," Joshua Dominick, a team member from the United States, told China Daily after the team arrived in Shanghai over the weekend from Ningbo, Zhejiang province.

This is not the first time Krankin'thru China has attempted such a tour. The first was from Shangri-la to Hongkong in 2015 while the other was from from Dali to Jinghong, both of which are in Yunnan province, in 2016. The distance of this year's tour is the longest they have attempted.

Some of the team members have suffered injuries during the arduous journey. Pan Yifei, a handcyclist from Beijing, said he once got seriously injured after skidding on a slippery mountain road because his brakes had failed. But despite the challenges, the team is determined to complete this year's tour.

"Although the journeys are full of challenges, we will continue to cycle with disabled individuals and organizations and help people push their own limits," said another team member named Wang Feng.

Cao Chen in Shanghai contributed to this story.

Founded by disabled athlete Domonic Corradin and long-time China resident and world traveler Joshua Dominick, Krankin'thru China is a movement to introduce the sport of handcycling to China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Founded by disabled athlete Domonic Corradin and long-time China resident and world traveler Joshua Dominick, Krankin'thru China is a movement to introduce the sport of handcycling to China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Founded by disabled athlete Domonic Corradin and long-time China resident and world traveler Joshua Dominick, Krankin'thru China is a movement to introduce the sport of handcycling to China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Founded by disabled athlete Domonic Corradin and long-time China resident and world traveler Joshua Dominick, Krankin'thru China is a movement to introduce the sport of handcycling to China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Founded by disabled athlete Domonic Corradin and long-time China resident and world traveler Joshua Dominick, Krankin'thru China is a movement to introduce the sport of handcycling to China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Founded by disabled athlete Domonic Corradin and long-time China resident and world traveler Joshua Dominick, Krankin'thru China is a movement to introduce the sport of handcycling to China. [Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Representatives from GAC Group and Time Inc signed an agreement in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, June 30, 2017. The GAC Group becomes a premier partner of the Fortune Brainstorm Tech International, which is scheduled on Dec 5-6 in Guangzhou. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first-ever Fortune Brainstorm TECH International, an influential new conference on technology and innovation, will bring world leaders in the innovation economy together in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province.

For the past 16 years, the conference has been attended by the smartest, most innovative people in technology, media, entertainment and finance in Colorado in the United States.

The international version of the event, to be held Dec 5-6, will coincide with the 2017 Fortune Global Forum, which will also be held in Guangzhou and attended by the world's biggest companies and top leaders from China and beyond.

The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is going all out to develop emerging industries including new-generation information technology, artificial intelligence and biomedicine.

According to the organizers, the Brainstorm TECH International will become an annual event in Guangzhou.

On Friday, major carmaker GAC Group signed an agreement with Time Inc to become a premier partner in the Fortune Brainstorm TECH International in 2017 and 2018.

"The conference will help push forward development of the emerging industries in Guangzhou as it gathers resources from the world's technology space, providing an exchange and cooperative platform for local and international businesses," Time vice-president Steve Marcopoto said.

GAC's vehicles will be used as the official cars for the event.

"Priorities will be given to develop new energy vehicles with intelligent connection, which will be a trendy development in the automobile industry. We hope to develop and attract advanced technologies in the sector," Zeng Qinghong, chairman of GAC GROUP, said.

Dalian Wanda Group's Wanda Plaza building is pictured in Beijing, May 17, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

One of China's largest business conglomerates, Wanda Group, has opened its third theme park in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, in its latest effort to venture into the leisure industry.

Harbin Wanda City, the largest recreation project in the country's northeastern region, will include Russian-style theme park facilities, a movie theater and the world's largest indoor skiing and snow entertainment park spanning 1.5 square kilometers.

The 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) development in Harbin Songbei New District, is Wanda's latest commitment to the country's booming leisure industry.

The China National Tourism Administration expects the industry to grow to 10 trillion yuan in the years to come.

Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin spoke at the opening ceremony in his first public appearance since unconfirmed rumors spread last week suggesting the China Banking Regulatory Commission may be investigating the firm's offshore loans.

When opening its first Wanda city in Nanchang in May 2016, Wang Jianlin revealed his ambitious plan to develop as many as 20 Wanda Cities nationwide by 2020. Other destinations earmarked for Wanda cities include Chengdu, Wuxi, Guangzhou and Chongqing.

According to industry consultancy Aecom, a total of 59 new theme parks will open in China by 2020, serving an estimated 220 million park-goers and rivaling the United States in terms of scale.

Behind the wave of theme parks is China's growing middle class, which is fueling demand for leisure activities. There are about 300 parks in operation already in China, according to Macquarie Group.

Wanda group is reshuffling its business from real estate to become a conglomerate based on commerce, culture, internet and finance.

Income from Wanda's services businesses accounted for 55 percent of the company's total last year, exceeding its real estate sector for the first time, according to the company's annual report.

A new tailor-made bike by Ofo Inc. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

 Chinese bike-sharing giant Ofo Inc has announced its latest partnership with California-based Universal Pictures on Friday, rolling out new tailor-made bikes based on the image of Universal's little Twinkie-shaped Minions in China.

Ofo, backed by ride-sharing company DidiChuxing, unveiled its latest models in Beijing on Friday and said it would launch more bicycles in Shanghai on Saturday. The new product featured two big eyes on the front of the bike and yellow Minion images on its body parts.

"With the bike-sharing boom, there is a growing need for personalized user experiences," Ofo CEO Dai Wei said.

In early June, Ofo unveiled the Ofo Princess bicycle for women in a move to improve the riding experience for specific groups.

In total, so far, Ofo has deployed more than 6.5 million bikes in 150 cities globally. It has provided more than one billion rides since its debut in 2015, according to company figures.

New tailor-made bikes by Ofo Inc are seen in Beijing, June 30, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn A new tailor-made bike by Ofo Inc. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn New tailor-made bikes by Ofo Inc are seen in Beijing, June 30, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn New tailor-made bikes by Ofo Inc are seen in Beijing, June 30, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn New tailor-made bikes by Ofo Inc are seen in Beijing, June 30, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn New tailor-made bikes by Ofo Inc are seen in Beijing, June 30, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn New tailor-made bikes by Ofo Inc are seen in Beijing, June 30, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

]]> 2017-06-30 21:40:50 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/28/content_29925112.htm Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province has become the most economically competitive city in the country, followed by Hong Kong and Shanghai, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

Taipei, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Beijing, Macao, Suzhou and Wuhan were also on the list of top 10 most competitive cities in terms of economy, said the report by the CASS National Academy of Economic Strategy, which evaluated economic performance of 289 cities on Chinese mainland as well as Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

It showed the robust rise of middle and central Chinese cities in overall economy, as nearly 60 percent of China's total wealth was accumulated in the top 20 percent of cities. In comparison, the northeastern region saw a diminishing economic role.

City clusters in 10 regions including the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Sea Rim have formed China's dominant economic circles. Average economic growth in most city clusters is above the national level, suggesting that they are the main driving force of growth, according to the report.

Despite the economic slowdown in recent years, there's no evidence that China's urbanization has lost momentum. The population is increasingly migrating to cities in central China and those at a higher level in the country's administrative hierarchy.

Ni Pengfei, director of the academy, led researchers to finish the report after six months. In an index of livability, Hong Kong, Wuxi and Guangzhou took the top three spots. Macao, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Nantong, Nanjing and Shanghai also made the list.

]]> 2017-06-28 10:02:03 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/28/content_29925111.htm ]]>

Individual packages of ground beef are shown with labels at a food market in San Francisco, California. [Photo/VCG]

China's major e-commerce platforms are racing to be the first to put US beef under their online sales portfolio, with the arrival of the first commercial shipment of the meat and its products to China due over the weekend, marking the end of a 14-year import ban.

Womai.com, the online platform run by the country's largest food trader China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corp, has stood out as the champion with its offering of 301 kilograms of ribeye since last Friday.

Limited to residents of Beijing only, mainly because of the small amount, the beef is priced at 38 yuan ($5.6) for 180 grams as a group purchase special, almost 50 percent higher than a similar deal for Australian beef with the same cut and size. More than 1,500 orders have been placed over the past five days.

"The supply team of COFCO has been working closely with US partners and traveling to the US to guarantee the quality of the imported meat is in compliance with the regulations," said the company in a statement released on Monday.

According to the final trade deal agreed by the two governments in May, US beef exported to China must come from cattle no older than 30 months old and free of any hormone, ractopamine or other chemicals forbidden by Chinese law.

The management team of COFCO noted that the high standard has decided the US beef sold in China at the moment could be only of premium price range and cater to a niche clientele. That's also why the group, which also has an expansive retail network offline, chose to sell the meat on their e-commerce platform only, which is mostly visited by well-off office workers and middle-class families.

Yiguo.com, a fresh produce e-commerce platform backed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, is following as the first supplier in Shanghai with an offering of one metric ton of US beef, varying from Sirloin to ribeye. The meat is currently under the inspection and quarantine of local customs, and is expected to get approval and be available by the end of this week.

]]> 2017-06-28 07:53:13 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/23/content_29868309.htm ]]>BEIJING - Chinese lenders saw their bad loan ratio decline by the end of May, fresh evidence of improved bank asset quality, the top banking sector regulator said.

Their bad loan ratio stood at 1.99 percent by the end of last month, 0.16 percentage points lower than a year earlier, Liu Zhiqing, deputy head of the prudential regulation bureau of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said Thursday at a press briefing.

The value of outstanding non-performing loans (NPL) stood at 2.3 trillion yuan ($337 billion) by the end of May, said Liu.

NPL ratios at banks in coastal areas including Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong have declined substantially from a year ago, said Liu.

The bad loan ratio for Chinese lenders was 1.74 percent at the end of 2016, CBRC data showed.

]]> 2017-06-23 09:32:56 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/23/content_29868308.htm ]]>

Jack Ma (L), chairman of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is in a conversation with Charlie Rose (R), famous American television talk show host and journalist at Gateway'17 in Detroit, US, June 20. [Photo/Xinhua]

DETROIT - Air Traffic was jammed and hotels were full in the US city of Detroit on Monday when more than 3,000 business representatives flocked in for the Gateway 17 conference, Aibaba's biggest-ever public event, in the United States.

Addressing to thousands of entrepreneurs at the two-day session, Jack Ma, the founder and chairman of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, educated owners of US small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on marketing their companies to Chinese consumers.

"For me CEO has a different meaning -- Chief Education Officer," he joked.

Why Chinese market

"If you miss China, you miss the future," Ma told the group of entrepreneurs at Cobo Center in Detroit.

He emphasized in his keynote speech the importance for US businesses to tap into the huge Chinese market.

Indeed, Chinese consumers are shopping around the world. Cross-border retail e-commerce spending in China is expected to grow six-fold to $245 billion between 2015 and 2020, according to AliResearch and Accenture.

Meanwhile, China has the highest share of e-commerce sales and total retail sales in the world, according to eMarketer, a New York-based market research company. E-commerce sales in China are expected to account for 37 percent of total retail spending worldwide by 2020, data from eMarketer showed.

The more than 500 million consumers on Alibaba's platforms are upgrading their lifestyles and yearning for high-quality American products, resulting in a drastic increase in online shopping, with the majority of which conducted through mobile devices.

Ma said domestic consumption in China has played a leading role in boosting the country's economic growth which would drive the world economy in the next decades to come.

He is confident that Alibaba will be able to create 1 million jobs in the United States in the next five years by helping 1 million small US businesses sell their products to China and Southeast Asia.

In California alone, Alibaba has already helped create more than 20,000 jobs, said Ma.

"We are made in China but we are made for global," said Ma. Globalization and free trade rules that were designed for big companies and developed countries need to be changed to benefit small businesses, young entrepreneurs and farmers around the world, he added.

Ma pledged that Alibaba would be dedicated to helping SMEs to go global as it always did over the past 18 years.

Jack Ma, chairman of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is speaking during a Keynote Program at Gateway'17 in Detroit, US, June 20. [Photo/Xinhua]

Jack Ma's charisma

On the second day of the conference, Ma met with his old friend Bruce Thelen, a veteran attorney who left his post in Wall Street in 1980 for a trip around the world.

Nearly 40 years ago, a teenaged Ma greeted Thelen out front of the only hotel opened to foreigners in Hangzhou, China, offering to guide him to tour the city for free.

According to Ma, he spent about eight years offering free tours to foreign tourists just to practice English and listen to stories that were so alien to him at that time.

The audience burst into applause when Ma recalled his old days and what he did contrary to convention.

Ma said listed companies usually put shareholders' interest at the top of their priority list, but he reversed it by considering customers' interest first.

"If the customers are happy, the employees are happy, then the shareholders should be happy," he said, adding that it's unimaginable or even disastrous for a company when shareholders are happy but customers and employees are not.

Fighting counterfeits

Allegations from brands of widespread counterfeit goods on Taobao and Tmall Marketplace have long been the thorny problem for the company which Ma called a "cancer," and promised to do everything to solve.

Ma said Alibaba has invested heavily in technology, talents and resources to fight counterfeits.

"Afraid of our data tracking ability, people who make counterfeits are escaping from our platform," he said, elaborating that the company could now track who are buying, selling, and producing counterfeits.

To better protect intellectual property rights, Alibaba also plans to expand the scope of off-line cooperation with law enforcement agencies, and help identify and eliminate factories producing counterfeit goods.

US SMEs on Tmall

US SME forerunners have benefitted from the vast Chinese market. About 7,000 US brands, big and small, market and sell on Tmall today, including Nike, Apple, Starbucks, Victoria's Secret, Stadium Goods, LuckyVitamin, Jewelry.com and Real Techniques.

John McPheters, co-founder and CEO of Stadium Goods, said the company had its eyes set on China very early because collectible sneakers is a $6 billion industry and is particularly popular in China.

"We decided to partner with Tmall Global because it is a trusted platform and it is where Chinese consumers go to shop," said McPheters.

Sam Wolf, on the other hand, has just started to know about Chinese consumers. Having opened a Tmall Global store for around half a year, Wolf saw huge growth potentials for his products in China.

"Right now China is one of our top three overseas markets, and I won't be surprised if it becomes our largest market in the future," said Wolf, who founded LuckyVitamin, an online natural products retailer based in Pennsylvania.

]]> 2017-06-23 10:03:56 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/22/content_29851674.htm ]]>

A Vertu Aster luxury smartphone sits on a table. [Photo/VCG]

Vertu, one of the world's leading manufacturers of luxury mobile phones, has announced that it has signed an agreement with TCL Communication.

This is the first agreement signed by Vertu since the company was purchased by entrepreneur Hakan Uzan in mid-March of 2017. This agreement, worth $40 million, will enable Vertu to "use advanced and innovative technology from TCL Communication for 30,000 handcrafted Vertu phones".

Speaking from the new corporate offices of Vertu AK France in Paris, Hakan commented, "We are delighted to have signed this agreement with TCL Communication. It is the first of many, considerable investments we are making into the business. TCL Communication is a valued partner of Vertu and we hope that this will be the start of a prosperous new chapter in our relationship."

Today's announcement is seen as a first step in helping Vertu enable its full potential as a powerful global brand. Under new patronage and the leadership of Hakan, Vertu is going through a substantial restructuring and modernisation of all its business units, whilst preserving the heritage and craftsmanship it is renowned for around the world.

"Customers will have access to limited, special edition Constellation X products as soon as mid-July, with full ramp up by early September. The new generation of Vertu Concierge Services will start being introduced in mid-July in limited markets, with a new wide ranging portfolio of Vertu Life Style Products becoming available in Vertu Boutiques in early September," Hakan added.

"As a leading smartphone innovator, TCL Communication is very pleased to extend our successful relationship with Vertu," said Alain Lejeune, Senior Vice President of TCL Communication. "Combining our advanced smart phone technology with Vertu's superb craftsmanship and commitment to superior design and performance, it will help create an outstanding experience for its discerning customers."

Vertu AK France, the parent company, is aiming to launch new services and products in September, alongside announcing several exclusive luxury partnerships with leading global brands. The new products will be sold in the key luxury markets of France, UK, China, Asia, Russia, Western Europe and the Middle East.

While the company has moved its corporate offices to Paris, all Vertu products are designed and manufactured in the UK, with around 90 percent destined for export markets. The company has operated from its Hampshire base since 2000, shipping its first phone in 2002. To date, Vertu has sold more than 500,000 devices worldwide. The new Vertu phones have an entry selling price of 7,500 pounds and the company has more than 225,000 registered users.

One Vertu phone, the Signature Cobra, is on sale for $350,000. The highlight of the Vertu Signature Cobra feature phone is that it has been designed by a France-based jewellery brand, Boucheron. Other highlights of the new Vertu phone include the 439 rubies inlaid in the device, fitted in a cobra design. As the name suggests, the phone features a cobra design around the front and the eyes are 2 emerald stones.

]]> 2017-06-22 10:11:45 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/22/content_29851673.htm ]]>MSCI's decision to include China A-share big-cap stocks in its Emerging Markets Index and All Country World Index is a big shot in the arm for further opening-up of Chinese equity markets.

But there will be no major impact in the short term on Chinese or Asian shares.

"In the long run, the inclusion carries strategically important meaning for the China market, as it is a strong push for a more international-oriented market," said Liu Jipeng, dean of the Equity Market Research Center at China University of Political Science and Law. "But the short-term stimulus should be ignored, given the timing of inclusion and the limited size of capital inflow in the future."

Morgan Stanley Capital International, known as MSCI, is a leading provider of global equity indexes.

Inclusion of the 222 China A-share large-cap stocks won't begin for a year. Further, A-shares weighting in MSCI indexes will be limited early on.

Gao Ting, an analyst at UBS Securities Co, said in the short term the inclusion would not bring significant benefits to the A-share market considering how much capital would be channeled into A-shares compared with the size of the market. But in the long term, A-shares will be more appealing to international investors.

Gao estimates some $14 billion could be channeled into A-shares in the long run, which is about 25 percent of A-shares' daily transaction volume.

"After the inclusion, global investors will pay much more attention to A shares and seek more investment opportunities. In the longer term, there is great potential for more A-share stocks to be included in the indexes, and A-shares will weigh more in the indexes," Gao said.

"On a 10-year view, this decision is very significant. This marks the beginning of A-shares, the biggest emerging equity market by market size and trading volume, joining the pool of investable assets to global investors. Over the past year, more offshore investors have expressed interest in Chinese equities for relative valuation, superior growth outlook and China's economic, social and political stability," said Wendy Liu, head of China equity research and chief strategist of Greater China with the Nomura global investment bank.

According to Eric Lee, Seoul-based analyst with Daishin Securities, the move will have controllable impacts on the securities market in South Korea.

China has made several efforts to increase A-share market accessibility.

]]> 2017-06-22 08:06:19 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/19/content_29805689.htm ]]>

A platform is used to collect combustible ice in the South China Sea recently. GUO JUNFENG/CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: In the run-up to the 19th Communist Party of China National Congress, China Daily will cover a series of key projects of national importance, showcasing the country's huge improvement and relentless efforts in manufacturing upgrade and innovation.

Though still 15 years from commercial use, so-called combustible ice and its successful mining in China is seen as a breakthrough toward a global energy revolution.

Chinese researchers have explored some 210,000 cubic meters of combustible ice trapped in frozen crystals in the South China Sea in the 30 days since a test drilling and production operation in early May. Daily production reached 6,800 cu m.

It will be another energy revolution, led by China following the US shale revolution, reshaping the global energy mix, said Li Jinfa, deputy director of China Geological Survey, which is under the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Reserves of gas hydrate, as combustible ice or flammable ice is known, in the South China Sea are estimated at 80 billion metric tons of oil equivalent, he added.

The ministry said it would formulate policies to encourage participation in the exploration of various types of combustible ice, while aspects including exploration block delineation, granting of licenses for mining, mining registration and development will be given priority to pave a path for commercialization of the frozen fuel.

According to a report on China's energy and mineral geology survey in 2016, China's gas hydrate could last the country for 100 years and could well be China's next big opportunity in energy.

China's choice of vigorous expansion of flammable ice mining at the moment is due to its urgency to replace conventional energy to optimize the energy structure and relieve problems caused by energy shortages, analysts said.

The nation now relies heavily on crude imports. Successfully mining flammable ice will substantially boost its energy security while lifting the country's clean energy production technologies to a new level, said Lu Hailong, a professor at the Institute of Ocean Research at Peking University.

Han Wenke, director of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission, said environmental concerns had been pushing China to further upgrade its energy mix. Right now, China has a relatively high proportion of coal, which creates heavy pollution.

According to the International Energy Agency, China has been increasingly relying on imported oil as demand increases, and it is estimated that China's reliance on oil imports in 2020 could be even greater than the government's plan suggests.

All these are pushing China toward a cleaner fuel alternative.

A researcher shows off combustible ice in a laboratory in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. GUO JUNFENG/CHINA DAILY

Leader on global stage

China is not the first country to try mining flammable ice. Japan made headway in 2013 and again last month, while the U.S. government also been conducting research into the clean fuel for years.

However, no progress has been made mostly because of technological barriers.

The successful mining of gas hydrate has absolutely made China into a forerunner in the clean energy mining field, Han said, even though it has trailed behind international peers in the exploration of oil, gas, shale gas and coal mining. The lack of technology or experience to borrow or learn from makes China's success of even greater value, Han said.

The gas hydrate, which usually is located frozen deep in the Earth, requires advanced technologies and a comprehensive national strength, he said.

Once China comes up with a steady output of hydrate gas in the future, international cooperation would be needed, as much of the gas hydrate is frozen deep beneath international seas, he said.

According to Qiu Haijun, director of the trial mining headquarters, many countries along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road have a demand for flammable ice mining.

With advanced technology, Qiu said, the gas hydrate could help resolve the problem of energy resources and boost economic development and exchanges between countries.

Deep-sea capabilities

The test drilling and production operation conducted by China International Marine Containers Group and China National Petroleum Corp created a solid foundation for commercial use of the resource before 2030 and the test-drilling will help facilitate China's deep-sea exploration capability, said Li, of the China Geological Survey.

According to Jin Qinghuan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, China will complete the initial preparatory work for commercial production by 2020, including mining technologies and evaluation of seabed natural gas hydrate. By 2030, China will carry out commercial production.

Blue Whale 1, the ultra-deep-water semisubmersible drilling rig built by the nation's largest semisubmersible platform manufacturer, China Yantai CIMC Raffles Offshore Ltd, conducted the tests in the South China Sea.

Mai Boliang, president of CIMC, said Blue Whale 1 is the world's most advanced ocean drilling platform design and it was important practice for CIMC to further enhance China's high-end energy exploration equipment.

One step in long journey

Han, the Energy Research Institute's director, told China Daily that the success after 20 years of research and exploration is only a small step in a very long journey.

The potential risks for the environment and technological barriers soften all the optimistic outlooks, he said.

According to Han, collection so far is more of strategic concern with vast uncertainties, and whether the frozen fuel will replace regular oil and natural gas remains to be seen.

Gas hydrate also will face competition from other cleaner alternative fuels, including photovoltaic and wind power. And just like the early days of shale exploration in the United States, successful exploration depends on advanced technologies, reduced costs and environmental risks, he said.

The next step is more of research and trial exploration. Commercial production is unlikely in the next three years, considering storage and transportation costs, potential environmental concerns, the risk of marine pollution and technological barriers.

Being a strong contender to replace regular oil and natural gas, gas hydrate－like any fossil fuel－also raises significant environmental concerns.

According to the US Geological Survey, resources of flammable ice are located at sea bottom, making the collection challenging.

Li said an accident while exploring would lead to a massive leakage of methane gas and intensify the greenhouse effect.

Ye Jianliang, who heads the gas hydrate production field, said strict measures have been taken to protect the environment.

"We are monitoring the air, seawater, seabed and the exploration equipment. We also closely follow the amount of methane and carbon dioxide," he said.

"No pollution to the environment or geological hazards had happened so far."

]]> 2017-06-19 06:33:00 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/19/content_29805683.htm ]]>

Nurses pack the embryo containers.[Photo by Ma Xiaohui/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Nearly 40,000 frozen human embryos were moved from a lab to the Dalian Women and Children's Medical Center in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, on Wednesday.

The center, which freezes more than 2,000 embryos every year, is where Dalian's first test-tube baby was born.

The rate of pregnancy of frozen-thawed embryo transfer is 55 to 58 percent.

Currently, the center is offering services of freezing eggs and embryos for women suffering from malignant tumor in Dalian to maintain their reproductive capacity.

Liquid ammonia is used to preserve the embryos. [Photo by Ma Xiaohui/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn] Workers take the containers out of the lab. [Photo by Ma Xiaohui/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn] The containers are loaded onto a truck. [Photo by Ma Xiaohui/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]  An ambulance with doctors escorts the truck during the transportation. [Photo by Ma Xiaohui/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn] The plaque of the reproductive and genetic medical division is moved from the original location. [Photo by Ma Xiaohui/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

]]> 2017-06-19 15:46:01 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/16/content_29778780.htm ]]>

Tourists view a parade in Shanghai Disney Resort in Shanghai on May 17, 2017. The Walt Disney Company announced that the Shanghai Disney Resort welcomed its 10 millionth visitor recently. [Photo/Xinhua]

The general manager of the Shanghai Disney Resort has confirmed the attraction has a high possibility of breaking even in its first fiscal year which ends in September, making it one of the fastest attractions to become profitable within the year.

Philippe Gas made the comment in an interview with China Business News, as the joint-venture theme park between Walt Disney Company and Shanghai Shendi Group worth of $5.5 billion (37.5 billion yuan) embraced its landmark one-year anniversary on Friday.

The opening of the Shanghai Disney Resort also contributed to a growth in operating income during the first three months, as stated in the company’s latest quarterly report.

In regard to Walt Disney's global business, revenue and the operating income of its parks rose 9 percent to $4.3 billion and 20 percent for resorts to $750 million.

In May, the Shanghai Disney Resort announced the total volume of visitors also reached 10 million people, less than 11 months since the opening date.

As a result of the huge tourist flow and strong consumption, Shanghai Disney has had a boost in its upstream-downstream industries, which range from traveling, accommodation, catering and retailing, according to the newspaper.

The Home Inn hotels around Shanghai Disney, and those nearby to subway stations, also have had an average growth of more 30 percent year-on-year.

The resort has become home to the Shanghai Disneyland theme park which features six lands, two themed hotels, a Disney town for shopping, dining and entertainment, a Broadway-style theatre, a Wishing Star Park, and other outdoor recreational areas.

The seventh theme park, titled Toy Story Land, based on the Disney/Pixar film series Toy Story, should be open within the next year.

Tan Xinyu contributed to this story.

]]> 2017-06-16 17:35:06 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/16/content_29778779.htm ]]>

Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), speaks during the opening ceremony of the AIIB annual meeting in Jeju, South Korea, June 16, 2017.[Photo/VCG]

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea - The China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) on Friday approved the membership of Argentina, the Republic of Madagascar and the Kingdom of Tonga at its second annual meeting of governors.

The AIIB's board of governors adopted resolutions approving the three applicants to join the bank at the second annual meeting, which kicked off earlier in the day in South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju.

The first meeting was held in Beijing last year.

The approved applicants included one regional prospective member of Tonga and two non-regional members of Argentina and Madagascar.

"Well-integrated infrastructure and enhanced connectivity between Asia and the rest of the world has far-reaching benefits for the global economy," said AIIB President Jin Liqun.

Tonga was well known as the friendly islands in the South Pacific, while Argentina and Madagascar are important economies in South America and Africa each, said Jin.

The AIIB chief expressed his anticipation of the role the three new members will play once they fully join the bank.

The three prospective members will officially join the AIIB once they complete the required domestic processes and deposit the first installment of capital with the bank.

The shares allocated to the new prospective members come from the bank's existing pool of unallocated shares.

"Since launching only 18 months ago, the bank has welcomed 23 new members from around the world," said Sir Danny Alexander, vice-president and corporate secretary at the AIIB.

The vice-chief said interest in the AIIB remained high and that the bank's door remained open to new members that will be joining later this year.

Officially launched in January 2016, the Beijing-based AIIB is a multilateral development bank initiated by China and supported by a wide range of countries and regions, which will provide financing for infrastructure improvement in Asia.

The international infrastructure bank owned about $100 billion of subscribed capital, including some $20 billion in paid-in capital.

This year's annual meeting brought together about 2,000 participants, including delegations of both founding members and new members, international organizations and academia as well as businessmen, financiers and journalists.

The attendees included over 20 finance ministers of the approved AIIB members, according to South Korea's finance ministry.

The second annual meeting was held under the theme of "Sustainable Infrastructure," seeking strategic directions of the international infrastructure bank and making major decisions on the bank's management.

]]> 2017-06-16 16:38:07 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/16/content_29765019.htm An interest rate hike this week by the US Federal Reserve will have little impact on China since the nation has adopted measures such as capital flow management that will minimize the effects, a former central bank policy adviser said on Thursday.

China does not need to follow suit by raising its interest rate, said Yu Yongding, former member of the monetary policy committee of the People's Bank of China. "China needs to keep its interest rates stable," said Yu, an economist of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "China has been able to resort to capital flow management to absorb the effect of the US interest rate hike, and the hike has been priced in by the market."

The Fed's move, announced on Wednesday, failed to have any major effects on China's capital market, as shown in the performance of its stock market, interbank market and currency exchange market.

Analysts said the Fed's hike of 25 basis points — a quarter of percentage point — was in alignment with market expectations, and the mild increase leaves little room for a significant market response.

Because China has been steadily deleveraging its capital market for healthy and sustainable development, it is not likely, nor is it necessary, for China's capital market to experience a similar hike after the Fed's action, analysts said.

The domestic benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3132.49 on Thursday, up 0.06 percent. Offshore renminbi went down 0.01 percent to 6.7856 against the US dollar. The overnight Shibor rate, a barometer for short-term interbank liquidity, ticked up slightly at 0.67 basis points.

China's central bank on Thursday left interest rates for open market operations unchanged by fixing the rate for seven-day reverse repos — money sold and quickly bought back — at 2.45 percent, with the 14-day tenor, or payment time, at 2.60 percent and the 28-day tenor at 2.75 percent.

China International Capital Corp's fixed income team said China's central bank had followed the Fed with an interest-rate increase in the past two Fed hikes mainly for maintaining the stability of the interest rate margin between the two markets, and to maintain stability of the exchange rate of the yuan against other currencies.

"This time, the decision to not follow the interest hike shows that market conditions have already reached a balance that is beneficial for the bond market to adjust to a reasonable level. There is still room for bond yields to go down a little bit, particularly for short-term bonds," the research note said.

Ming Ming, chief analyst with CITIC Securities' fixed income business, said macroeconomic data in China shows that debt reduction is happening and has been effective.

"M2 incremental growth data released on Wednesday posted a record low in May, showing that China's deleveraging efforts are working effectively. There is no need for an interest hike in China as the economy is gradually deleveraging the capital market in a mild manner," Ming said.

M2 is a measure of money supply that includes cash and some other holdings like short-term deposits.

For China's real estate market, which is experiencing gradually tightened currency and lending policies, overall market conditions in the medium term are stable and remain intact within the Fed's interest rate hike, said Andrew Kam, director of Savills Shanghai valuation.

"The pace of the interest hike is temperate, not too aggressive, so the market response is also mild. In the medium term, as another three hikes are expected, based on what the US Fed (Open Market) Committee has stated, the financing and currency market in China will also be stable," Kam said.

Contact the writers at ¬wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn

]]> 2017-06-16 04:32:41 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/15/content_29765018.htm ]]>

]]> 2017-06-15 17:17:22 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/13/content_29729777.htm ]]>

]]> 2017-06-13 16:35:52 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/13/content_29729776.htm BEIJING - Both production and sales in new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China soared in May despite a cut in government subsidies, while the growth of the overall auto market remained tepid, industry data showed.

A total of 45,000 NEVs were sold in May, up 28.4 percent year on year while 51,000 NEVs were produced, up 38.2 percent year on year, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed Monday.

Total auto sales remained stable, with 2.1 million vehicles sold in May, up 0.6 percent compared with that in April. The number declined 0.1 percent year on year.

Total auto production stood at 2.09 million in May, down 2.4 percent from that in April and up 0.7 percent on a year-on-year basis.

China's NEV market has been growing rapidly thanks to government support. Central and local officials have rolled out policies including offering subsidies and encouraging the construction of charging stations.

Local automakers including BYD and BAIC Motor Corporation have received a boost in sales, rivaling international competitors such as Tesla in the world's largest auto market.

The sales data in May came despite a cut in government subsidies this year, as officials vowed to support vehicles of higher quality and with longer driving ranges.

Subsidies for NEVs at both local and central levels will be capped, while the amount will be gradually lowered by 2020, according to an official statement.

China sold 507,000 NEVs last year, the most in the world for a second year and up 53 percent from 2015, CAAM data showed.

According to an official plan on auto industry development, China will see NEV output and sales hit 2 million annually by 2020, about four times the current level.

There should be several Chinese NEV firms that are strong enough to rank among the world top 10 by 2020, and their global influence should further increase by 2025, according to the plan.

]]> 2017-06-13 09:39:40 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/08/content_29677440.htm ]]>

A worker processes components for a power generation unit in Xuanhua, Hebei province. [Photo/China Daily]

China unveiled two national standards on Wednesday, to guide enterprises to efficiently leverage information technology in industries, as the country steps up efforts to boost the competence of its sprawling manufacturing sector.

The two standards, released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, outlined how to boost the integration of informatization and industrialization management systems.

The move aims to help enterprises lower operating costs and boost productivity. It is the latest move by China to push forward the Made in China 2025 strategy.

Xie Shaofeng, director of the ministry's information and software service division, said: "The standards will guide companies to take sustainable competitive advantages in the internet era, gaining new capabilities, such as improved technologies and the ability to analyze the collected data."

The new standards will pave the way for companies to use information technology, such as big data and cloud computing, to promote the development of data distribution, and then secure a foothold in the future market.

Zhang Feng, chief engineer of the MIIT, said more than 4,300 domestic companies had tested the standards in recent years. As a result, their operating costs dropped by 8.8 percent on average, and their profits increased by an average of 6.9 percent.

Fu Gang, deputy chief information officer of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp, said implementation of the standards had optimized the firm's organizational and management system.

"Guided by the standards, we've sorted out and optimized our internal management system, and integrated the standards into our existing management standard systems. In the future, we will explore more new modes with the focus on smart manufacturing, technological improvement and internet plus."

By the end of 2016, CRRC had established the assessment system and working platform for the integration of informatization and industrialization, which helped collect, analyze and assess the data online.

Wang Angeng, member of the Advisory Committee for State Informatization, said: "Companies can implement the standards, and then perfect the strategies that work best for them. This will help fix problems, such as clarifying each one's responsibility and promoting connectivity."

Zhou Jian, secretary-general of the China Service Alliance for Integration of Informatization and Industrialization, said the new standards will help firms boost productivity.

"Previously, those companies relied more on land, investment and labor. Instead, today technology and data play more important roles."

In 2016, the MIIT issued a development plan for the integration of informatization and industrialization (2016-20). It was expected that 30 percent of companies would enter the stage of enhanced integration and innovation by 2020.

Ma Si contributed to this story.

]]> 2017-06-08 07:14:25 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/08/content_29677439.htm ]]>

A visitor shakes hands with a robot during a science and technology week in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]

China is ramping up its efforts to develop artificial intelligence in manufacturing to boost its productivity as well as create new momentum in the future market, an official at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

The moves are part of the country's broad effort to integrate AI with the Made in China 2025 strategy, aiming to enhance efficiency and transform China into a global manufacturing powerhouse, according to Li Guanyu, deputy director of the information and software service division at the ministry.

The ministry plans to release a white paper to drive the development of AI and its application in industries, Li said at the China International Big Data Industry Expo last month in Guiyang, Guizhou province.

With its booming big data sector and mobile internet technologies, the nation has rapidly risen up the ranks of international AI research. The official said that now the country aims to use AI to drive the upgrade of its manufacturing, which is the backbone of the economy.

Zhou Ji, president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said that AI technology now plays a key role in the new technological revolution and the transformation of industry.

Supported by AI technologies, smart manufacturing is set to become the core technology for the next round of industrial upgrading, Zhou said.

Terry Gou, founder and chairman of Foxconn Technology Group, said that AI and big data technologies would help reduce costs and improve efficiency, paving the way for factories of the future.

"The new wave of application and revolution for big data have brought opportunities for the transformation and reconstruction of the manufacturing sector," Gou added.

Apple Inc supplier Foxconn already has five factories that can operate smoothly without the monitoring of workers, because production lines have been automated, and it is set to build a new one in Guizhou, said Gou at the big data expo.

Employing AI and deep learning technologies, Foxconn aims to build not only a smart manufacturing system but also a reliable network for the industrial internet.

"Our smart factories will collect data in the cloud platform via automatic detection and remote monitoring systems, ensuring timely repairs when problems occur," he said.

Currently, the company has 50,000 robots at assembly lines in five factories.

China launched the Made in China 2025 strategy in 2015, a 10-year national plan to transform the country into a worldwide high-tech manufacturing power, which is also echoed in China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20). Smart manufacturing is deemed as a significant development area in the two documents, which provides numerous opportunities for domestic manufacturers.

Vice-Premier Ma Kai called for further innovation and application in big data and AI to speed up transforming the manufacturing sector.

"Big data has become a fundamental resource," Ma said during a big data expo."

"The development of big data is driving profound changes in numerous areas, including social and economic fields. As a key entity of the real economy, the manufacturing sector will become a main application area," Ma said.

In 2016, industries directly related to the big-data sector had a market value of 16.8 billion yuan ($2.47 billion), up 45 percent from the previous year, according to a survey by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

]]> 2017-06-08 07:13:12 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/07/content_29659212.htm ]]>

A child talks with an intelligent robot "Xiaogui" at Yinghua Park Station of Subway Line 1 in Ningbo city, East China's Zhejiang province, June 7, 2017. The robot could greet passengers and help them get such information as ticket price, train schedule, and location of toilets and barrier-free elevators. [Photo/Xinhua]

A child is attracted by an intelligent robot "Xiaogui" at Yinghua Park Station of Subway Line 1 in Ningbo city, East China's Zhejiang province, June 7, 2017. The robot could greet passengers and help them get such information as ticket price, train schedule, and location of toilets and barrier-free elevators. [Photo/Xinhua]

Passengers interact with an intelligent robot "Xiaogui" at Yinghua Park Station of Subway Line 1 in Ningbo city, East China's Zhejiang province, June 7, 2017. The robot could greet passengers and help them get such information as ticket price, train schedule, and location of toilets and barrier-free elevators. [Photo/Xinhua]

]]> 2017-06-07 17:01:31 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/07/content_29659211.htm ]]>

A Chinese girl wears virtual reality glasses (VR) as she sits on a roller coaster simulator at the Wantong VR Park, which claims to be China's largest in Beijing, November 27, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Chinese consumers are leading the world in using rapidly expanding virtual reality and augmented reality tech functions on their smartphones and other devices when buying products, according to a report issued by Worldpay, a London-headquartered payments company with global reach.

The report said 95 percent of Chinese respondents said they had used VR or AR technology in the past three months, which was more than three times the rate of VR use internationally.

It found that nearly all Chinese consumers were willing to make a purchase in a virtual environment, while 36 percent said security was a primary concern. Some 84 percent of those surveyed believed that VR or AR technology was the key future trend for shopping and only 1 percent of consumers would never make a purchase in a virtual environment.

Moreover, 49 percent of Chinese respondents said the products or shopping advices that are shown in a virtual environment would stimulate their impulse to buy products. The report found that 92 percent of consumers would like to see more retail apps make use of VR or AR.

The company which released the report processes payments across 146 countries and regions and cover 126 currencies. To make its findings, its survey queried more than 16,000 consumers across eight markets.

"Chinese consumers not only use this technology in video games and entertainment, but also drive the application of VR or AR in new fields, such as shopping," said Worldpay China General Manager Tang Kok San.

Tang said Chinese consumers were spearheading the next generation of shopping experiences and were eager to integrate more VR or AR technology into their shopping.

The report said 96 percent of respondents were interested in using VR or AR technology to improve how they shop and 78 percent thought using a VR device was a fun way of shopping online.

Although there were some security concerns when it comes to shopping with VR technology, 60 percent of Chinese respondents said they thought their payment information was safe in a virtual reality environment.

"The merchants who are looking forward to standing out in China's vibrant retail market should study how to integrate AR or VR technology into their customer experiences, as an immersive VR experience may have the capability to increase sales," Tang said.

He added that he was bullish on the application of VR technology in the shopping experience, emphasizing it was vital to make the payment process both smooth and secure for customers.

According to industry consultancy iResearch Consulting Group, China's VR market revenues will soar from 5.66 billion yuan ($825.3 million) in the current year to 55 billion yuan by 2020.

]]> 2017-06-07 08:04:50 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/03/content_29611139.htm ]]>BEIJING - Chinese companies' merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in the Belt and Road region have grown rapidly in the past three years, a report showed.

China's M&A transaction volume in the region grew from $2.264 billion in 2014 to $9.755 billion in 2016, overtaking the United States and Japan to be the top acquiree in 2016, according to a report released by Thomson Reuters, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a research institution under Tsinghua University.

Globally speaking, the finance, energy and telecom service sectors are the top three sectors attracting M&A activities in the B&R region.

The energy, power and raw material sectors are major industries attracting China's M&A investment, while Kazakhstan, Russia, Israel, Singapore and Egypt are the top five destinations in terms of transaction volume.

China's M&A transaction volume in the Silk Road Economic Belt outweighs that in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, while the latter has more M&A cases, the report showed.

]]> 2017-06-03 15:43:13 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/03/content_29611138.htm ]]>

An employee works at a JD.com logistic centre in Langfang, Hebei province, November 10, 2015.[Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING - Online marketplaces in China are busy preparing for the mid-year online shopping event as they must work harder to woo affluent and sophisticated consumers.

Initiated by leading e-commerce platform JD.com, "6/18" was first launched in 2010 to celebrate the company's anniversary on June 18. It joins the Singles' Day sale on Nov 11 and has become one of China's largest online shopping sprees.

Other companies soon jumped on the bandwagon and began to offer special offers to get more customers.

Chinese tend to choose purchases based on quality and brands on 6/18,compared with price and delivery during Singles' Day, a survey from JD.com showed.

JD.com will use technology such as augmented reality and virtual reality to offer interactive shopping experiences and will also employ robots, driverless cars and drones for deliveries.

Xiaomi also started a promotion campaign offering discounts for most of its products, while Alibaba's Tmall decided to launch both online and offline activities to promote itself as a green, smart and ideal lifestyle platform.

Almost all Chinese e-commerce platforms are developing a "New Retail" model, which not only features online and offline (o2o) retail, but also one-stop and streamlined service from shopping to payment and delivery.

China is the world's largest online shopping market, with about 467 million online consumers spending about 26.1 trillion yuan ($3.83 trillion) last year, up 19.8 percent year on year.

]]> 2017-06-03 14:19:25 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-06/01/content_29584388.htm ]]>

Artist's rendering of the HXMT telescope. Provided To China Daily

Since the detection of gravitational waves, scientists have been eager to find electromagnetic signals corresponding to them. This will be an important task for China's space telescope, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope, which will be launched soon.

Gravitational waves are "ripples" in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the universe. Albert Einstein predicted their existence in 1916, saying that massive accelerating objects, such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other, would disrupt space-time in such a way that "waves" of distorted space would radiate from the source, like ripples away from a stone thrown into a pond.

These ripples would travel at the speed of light through the universe, carrying with them information about their origins and invaluable clues to the nature of gravity itself.

In February 2016, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in the United States announced the first observation of the phenomenon. It was the first direct detection of a binary black hole merger.

Xiong Shaolin, a scientist at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the positional accuracy of all gravitational wave events detected so far is still very poor.

If scientists can find electromagnetic signals happening at similar positions and times of the gravitational wave events, it will increase the reliability of the detection. Combined analyses of the gravitational wave and electromagnetic signals will help reveal more about the celestial bodies emitting the waves, Xiong said.

Scientists have yet to detect electromagnetic signals corresponding to gravitational waves.

Many scientists would regard detecting gravitational waves and corresponding electromagnetic signals as a major scientific discovery. Some suspect that mysterious gamma ray bursts could be exactly that.

Gamma ray bursts are extremely energetic explosions that have been observed in distant galaxies. They are the brightest electromagnetic events known in the universe.

About 0.4 seconds after the first gravitational event was detected on Sept 14, 2015, NASA's Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope detected a relatively weak gamma ray burst, which lasted about one second.

But scientists disagree on whether these two events are related, and no other probe has detected such a burst.

"We are not clear about many details of gamma ray bursts. For instance, how energy is released during a gamma ray burst," said Zhang Shuangnan, lead scientist of the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope and director of the Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Since gravitational waves were detected, the study of gamma ray bursts has become more important. In astrophysics research, it's insufficient to study just the gravitational wave signals. We need to use the corresponding electromagnetic signals, which are more familiar to astronomers, to facilitate the research on gravitational waves," Zhang said.

The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope's effective detection area for monitoring gamma ray bursts is 10 times that of the Fermi space telescope. Scientists estimate that it could detect almost 200 gamma ray burst events every year.

"It can play a vital role in searching for electromagnetic signals corresponding to gravitational waves," Zhang said. "If it can detect them, it would be its most wonderful scientific finding."

However, Zhang adds, if it cannot detect any gamma ray bursts related to gravitational waves, it may mean the model suggesting gravitational waves can generate such bursts is wrong.

Xiong says all the gravitational waves detected by LIGO were caused by mergers of black holes, which many scientists believe cannot generate electromagnetic signals. After the sensitivity of the observatory is improved in 2020, it is expected to be able to detect gravitational waves caused by mergers of two neutron stars, which could possibly generate gamma ray bursts.

]]> 2017-06-01 07:32:59 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/31/content_29567930.htm Cargo clearance procedures will be streamlined to smooth foreign trade and improve the business environment.

]]>]]>

Move to simplify administrative procedures, reduce costs for enterprises, and benefit world economy

Cargo clearance procedures will be streamlined to smooth foreign trade and improve the business environment.

The State Council's executive meeting on May 24 announced that a "single-window system" will be adopted at all ports nationwide by the end of the year, according to a statement released on Wednesday after the meeting, which was presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.

The "single window system", a metaphor to describe streamlined administration efforts, means that all export and import procedures can be done at one stop, a trade facilitation policy that enables faster and easier cargo clearance.

An information-sharing platform will also be set up to reduce documents needed from traders and help realize paperless customs declarations, examinations and tax payments, according to the statement.

Tu Xinquan, a professor at the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, said the new measures are the latest move by China to stimulate imports and exports amid a sluggish global economy, and is also part of the world's major trading nation's relentless efforts in streamlining administration in recent years.

"The government has been working out measures to reduce costs for enterprises in recent years, and the new move also aims to reduce costs for enterprises, especially since foreign trade started to face difficulties in recent years," Tu said. "Once fully implemented, it will save huge amounts in terms of finance, time and human resources for companies."

Tu calls the "single-window system" a key step toward realizing trade facilitation, adding that the current cargo clearance procedures in most cities are time consuming. For example, he said, companies need to get their goods to both cargo as well as the inspection and quarantine department to finish two examinations before the goods are exported.

"Sometimes companies need to wait in line to get their goods examined, which reduces trade efficiency," Tu said.

So far, a total of 17 cities in China have realized the "single-window system" in cargo clearance services, including Shanghai, which was the first one to adopt such services, in line with building the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in 2013.

Tu said the simplified procedures have greatly helped companies in Shanghai, but he believes the system must become nationwide to deliver tangible results.

"Currently, companies in many inland cities in China still have to bring their goods to harbor cities to finish all the required examinations," Tu said.

The May 24 meeting set the goal to expand the "single-window system" from the current 17 cities to a nationwide one. Tu points out that the key is to establish a comprehensive online data system to track all kinds of information related to trade of goods.

"For example, once the goal is realized, companies in an inland city, such as Guiyang, can finish all the required examinations in their local city. Customs in Shanghai will only have to track all their examination results before export clearance through the online system," Tu said.

He added that while the move will boost foreign trade, China is also embarking on measures to fulfill its obligation to investment convenience. WTO members concluded negotiations at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference on the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which came into effect in February.

"China, as a WTO member, needs to fulfill its obligations in effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues required by the treaty."

Figures from the WTO in April showed that China was still the world's largest exporter of goods last year. It marked the eighth consecutive year China has kept its position as the world's largest exporter of goods and the second-largest importer.

]]> 2017-05-31 07:35:50 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/31/content_29567928.htm ]]>

Visitors learn about e-commerce services at an internet-based experience center at the 2017 China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services.Photos By Li You / China Daily

New report reveals online shopping reached $3.81 trillion in 2016, with numbers expected to rise

The total trade turnover of China's e-commerce market in 2016 amounted to 26.1 trillion yuan ($3.81 trillion), an increase of 19.8 percent year-on-year, according to the 2016 China E-commerce Report released on Monday at the 2017 China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services.

Compared with the surge in e-commerce over the past five years that has averaged 34 percent annually, 2016 showed an obvious fall, indicating China's e-commerce entering a period of steady development, said Nie Linhai, inspector at the Department of Electronic Commerce and Information of the Ministry of Commerce.

According to the report, the users of online shopping applications and platforms reached 467 million, accounting for 63.8 percent of all Chinese netizens.

"But the growth rate of Chinese netizens is slowing down. New impetus in e-commerce consumption won't emerge unless the participants in e-commerce can break the bottleneck of the sluggish browsing volume," Nie said.

E-commerce in 2016 indeed indicated some new phenomena, however, according to Nie.

First, it facilitates supply-side structural reform. By precise calculation through real-time monitoring and big data analysis, information about demand can guide the volume of supply, for more efficient, personalized service.

As the digital economy shows rapid growth amid implementation of the Internet Plus strategy all over the country, e-commerce has become a significant part of it.

Second, the traditional retail industry is transforming. From the circulation channels and supply chains, to data collection and trading, the online and offline aspects are gradually opening up for each other, pointing to a convergence of their further development. In 2016, with social network e-commerce featuring web celebrities, WeChat business reached a new level.

Online retailers and social networking platforms have been integrated with pictures, video and live broadcasting.

In recent years, new formats and patterns of online retail are emerging. B2B experienced strong development. Increasingly efficient information exchanges between the demand and supply sides conducted through e-commerce platforms solved the issues of excess capacity, high circulation cost and invalid supply.

Finally, cross-border e-commerce has continued to thrive under new governmental regulations.

It plays a positive role in stabilizing foreign trade and promoting innovation.

"Online shopping's quality and customer experience should be improved by removal of technical limitations. Through technological innovation, e-commence can embrace new opportunities brought about by the upgrading of consumption," Nie said.

At present, the development of e-commerce has entered a new phase. The advantage of e-commerce, compared with traditional retail, is its digitized operation, as it can better process and analyze customers' appetites, said Xu Danxia, head of XBN, a crossborder e-commerce platform.

Pactera Technology International, a leading software service provider in China, has upgraded its technology to ensure greater convenience for its e-commence clients.

It provides solutions for e-commerce platforms in the fields of product display, search, order processing, logistics and payment methods through new online applications.

It helps to realize value-added services of online shopping platforms based on digital calculations.

"In the past six years, China's e-commerce has undergone extraordinary development. We have together witnessed China becoming the largest and fastest-growing e-commerce market in the world," said Wang Bingnan, assistant minister of the Ministry of Commerce.

At present, e-commerce is one of the most vigorous fields of China's economy, and the rapid development of various new formats and modes is an important highlight in China's economic development, said Wang.

The 2016 China E-commerce Report was compiled by the Ministry of Commerce who organized experts and industrial insiders to perform deep research on the industry.

The report was released at the 2017 China E-commerce Conference during the 2017 CIFTIS.

 

 

 

]]> 2017-05-31 07:36:23 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/27/content_29549759.htm ]]>BEIJING - China's major industrial firms posted double-digit growth in profits in the first four months of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday.

The companies reported a 24.4-percent profit increase in the four-month period from one year earlier, the NBS said in a statement.

In April alone, profits of major industrial firms rose 14 percent year on year, it said.

]]> 2017-05-27 10:21:09 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/27/content_29549758.htm ]]>

Package engineer Jonathon McWherter examines a mirror to see what damage it has suffered during rigorous package testing for a customer at a UPS testing lab in Addison, Illinois. [Photo/Agencies]

Courier major plans venture with UPS to forge link between the two logistics networks

SF Holding Ltd said on Friday it is speeding up its global expansion. It has firmed up plans to set up a joint venture with international delivery behemoth UPS Parcel Delivery Service Ltd.

The two parties said they are to establish Hong Kong-based Global Connect Holding Ltd, with each owning 50 percent of the equity. They said the total investment would be up to $10 million, with the deal subject to regulatory approval.

Starting from the China-United States route and then moving on to the global markets, the joint venture will combine SF's Chinese network of about 13,000 service points and UPS' global coverage of more than 220 countries and regions, the announcement said.

SF Vice-President Alan Wong said user demand for cross-border logistics services has become bigger and more varied as China's e-commerce market and mobile internet sector grew rapidly.

"To adapt to these new changes, it is imperative for logistics companies to collaboratively innovate new services," he said.

UPS Asia-Pacific President Ross McCullough said the two companies would launch new logistics products and services to simplify and accelerate B2B and B2C cross-border trade.

SF is one of the Chinese courier companies that have been vigorously exploring international markets. Shanghai-based YTO Express Group acquired a Hong Kong-listed logistics company this month, while major couriers STO Express Co and ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc also acquired US-based logistics service providers earlier.

Zhao Xiaomin, a logistics market consultant in Shanghai, said the SF-and-UPS combination would bring a new force to the industry and spur others to forge their own alliances, cross-shareholdings and acquisitions.

He predicted that SF's international business, which increased to record levels last year, would be the fastest-growing part of the business in the next three to five years.

However, Wang Guowen, director of the Center for Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the Shenzhen-based China Development Institute, said it would be a challenge to expand in such a mature market globally, although Chinese delivery companies were making various attempts.

Wang said he expected the upcoming joint venture would mainly focus on "asset-light" cooperation, such as hub-to-hub connections and more choices of delivery time for clients, given that the investment size was not large.

]]> 2017-05-27 09:26:48 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/29/content_29543974.htm ]]>

Yang Siyu crafts a structure using skills and knowledge passed down from generations before. Gong Pukang / For China Daily

Listed as one of the four most famous historical bridges in the world, Chengyang Shelter Bridge (Fengyu Qiao) in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has an elaborate timber design and structure, remarkably without any screws or metal bolts.

Yang Siyu, the designated rebuilder of the bridge, is the heir to this national intangible cultural heritage style of construction synonymous with the Dong ethnic group. It is called a shelter bridge because traditional dwellings are built on it.

"It's true in Sanjiang Dong autonomous county that when there is river there is a shelter bridge, as our Dong people believe that the timber bridge not only provides a shelter but also keeps bad luck away and brings wind and rain on time," said Yang.

Born into a carpenter family, he was soon exposed to a world of wood and craftsmanship.

Yang's grandfather was one of the key constructors when the bridge was built in the 1920s.

"I picked up woodworking skills under my father's watchful eye when I was just 12 years old", said Yang.

His routine and schedule was extremely strict and Yang started with the very first step, chopping wood. Gradually he mastered the basic skills and soon started making the buckets which Dong brides carry as their dowry.

"I visited villages to make numerous buckets for brides, that is how I came to know the structure of a shelter bridge," he said. "Woodworking provides the first basic principles."

In 1983 when Chengyang bridge was destroyed by floods, a group of experts was sent to help restore it.

However, the restoration soon faced problems as no one knew how to reorganize the thousands of wooden parts that were torn down even though each part was carefully marked.

The bridge team then turned to Yang and his father for help.

The father and son managed to collect the materials for reconstruction and relocate the beam and poles by mental calculation over a period of weeks.

The experts were stunned both by their efficiency and accuracy, and Yang's fame began to spread.

"The key lies in the mortise-tenon joint, where one piece of wood is inserted into another. Get that right and the rest will follow. Restoration is just like piling up the building blocks once the joints are secure and accurate," explained Yang.

Without calculators or blueprints, the 62-year-old craftsman has helped build 100 pillar-supported dwelling bridges, 12 shelter bridges, and more than 300 models.

"I went to primary school for one year and then dropped out," a regret he still harbors but he is now an honored Master of China Arts and Crafts.

However, he would rather call himself a craftsman, able to construct an intricate bridge from the simplest first steps.

"Buildings with steel and concrete are no doubt solid but the timber building of the Dong is more inspiring and beautiful because it's much closer to nature," said Yang. "I have a responsibility to pass the wisdom of our ancestors to the younger generations."

He offers training to young people and more than 100 apprentices are ready to inherit the skills.

He has raised money to start a customs and crafts museum which teaches local customs free of charge. The bridge builder is spanning the generations.

]]> 2017-05-29 08:23:54 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/29/content_29543973.htm ]]>

Four teams compete at the International Esports Tournament in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, on April 27. Lyu Bin / For China Daily

There are 170 million players and fans in China, surpassing any other regular sports, reports Ouyang Shijia

When Liu Zhenyan commentates live from the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, tens of millions of Chinese viewers tune in to watch the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational, one of the most important annual League of Legends gaming tournaments in the world.

Liu, known by her nickname "Su Xiaoyan", is one of many popular esports commentators in China catering to a rapidly growing audience of young fans.

China has become a key esports market. Last year, the country generated 50.46 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) in revenues, up by 35 percent from 2015, according to gaming research institution Gamma Data Corp.

With hundreds of millions of players and viewers in China, the esports industry is booming, fueled by prize money from local tournaments, and supported by investors seeing it as the future trend.

Now, young fans are aspiring to become esports professionals.

Just a few years ago, teachers and parents would regard teenage video game players as bad students who will bring harmful effects to others, blaming video games for their addictive nature, similar to drugs or gambling.

That's exactly what Chen Zhihao's parents thought. But the other day, they spent hours watching their son play. The 27-year-old Chen has won several local and international games.

In July 2014, Chen was part of the five-member Newbee team, which won the world's richest esports tournament - the $5 million International DOTA2 Championships in Seattle, Washington.

DOTA2, short for Defense of the Ancients 2, is a multiplayer game in which two five-member teams battle to break the other's stronghold. Known as "Hao", Chen now works for the esports club Vici Gaming in Shanghai. He fell in love with video gaming when he was little, around 6 or 7.After he graduated from high school, he stayed home for a couple of years, focusing on becoming one of China's leading player.

"During that time, I would spend more than 10 hours a day playing video games. Without the boom of esports and the chance to be a professional player, I would probably stay in Guangdong province to find a normal job, earning thousands of yuan per month," said Chen, who is preparing for the next round of DOTA2.

Chen told China Daily in a recent interview that the industry is growing fast.

"Before 2014, my annual income could reach 1 million yuan at most. After that, I was able to earn millions of yuan annually.

"Most of the money comes from the live-streaming platforms I signed with, the gaming prize money and the salary paid by the esports club I joined," he said.

A fan plays esports at an internet cafe in Qingdao, Shandong province, last June. [Photo by Yu Fangping/For China Daily]

Different from regular video or online games, esports is deemed as a contact sport, except that games are played in a virtual environment. There are 170 million esports players and fans in China, a number surpassing any other regular sports, according to a recent report by iReseach Consulting Group.

The popularity of the game has also spawned lucrative hosting and commentating jobs. The earnings of esports hosts and commentators are closely linked to their fan base.

Wanna get popular? A thorough understanding of the game, talking styles and even good looks are crucial.

Once one ticks all the right boxes, he or she can be as popular as Liu Zhenyan or Chen Juan.

Chen Juan, known as "AMS", is a commentator specialized in DOTA2.

After the tournaments, the commentators will also work as hosts on live-streaming platforms, earning extra money.

"In 2014, I got the chance to be an esports host and commentator right after I finished my undergraduate study. With the industry booming, now I can make more money than my college classmates", said the 25-year-old Chen Juan.

For Liu, esports ignited her inner passion, and that's the reason why she chose to be a commentator instead of finding a job in the media field, which she studied in college.

"High incomes always come along with high risks. And in all industries, the top talent will be able to earn fat salaries. And I just want to stick to the stuffs I am really into," Liu said.

Although the earnings are closely guarded, it is estimated that top hosts can learn millions of yuan in salaries alone.

Unlike a few years ago, when there were only a few professional events with small prizes, now the esports industry offers dozens of domestic and foreign tournaments with handsome rewards.

In 2011, total prize money for esports competitions worldwide was just under $10 million, according to a report from online news portal sohu.com. By the end of 2015, it had skyrocketed to $64.5 million, a 551 percent surge from four years ago.

Attracted by the fat rewards, esports lovers, including even middle school students, are yearning for a career in the industry. However, only few gaming players can reach the top of the pyramid in this field.

Chen Zhihao cautions young aspirants against focusing solely on becoming professional players, saying "the success depends on both talent and good luck sometimes".

Wang Xu, chief analyst at GDC, said: "Today, professional esports players' incomes are polarized, and most players are at the bottom. Since the age suitable for playing esports is quite young, the players are getting younger, of which most are not well-educated and usually lack life experiences."

Wang believes qualified esports professionals will be the key to the industry's future development.

"Just like many other fields, esports needs talent," Wang added.

"According to open internet data, the industry now needs 260,000 more professionals, including data analysts, competition operators, teachers for esports education and training, professional managers and content producers."

That's not all.

Xiao Hong, CEO of Perfect World Co Ltd, a leading Chinese movie and gaming conglomerate, says the industry is now in its early setup stages, which still need time to be more mature.

"Esports need regulations. There is still a long road to make the sports standardized," he added.  

 

The golden cup of the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational Finals is on display at Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro last week. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Delegations from several countries and regions attend the grand finals of the World Electronic Sports Games in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, in January. Provided to China Daily

Industry is bracing for exponential growth home and abroad

Esports, an umbrella name for organized competitive video gaming, is not what comes to mind when people think of sports.

That may change soon because esports is going mainstream, thanks to its recognition by international sporting organizations.

Last month, the Olympic Council of Asia announced esports will be included as an official medal event in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in Zhejiang province in partnership with Alisports, the sports arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

In announcing the move, the OCA said the decision reflects "the rapid development and popularity of this new form of sports participation among the youth".

In addition, demonstration events will be held at September's Ashgabat Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan and at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games in Indonesia.

Wang Guan, general manager at the esports division of Alisports, said the company would act as a technology provider and supporter to work with the OCA, helping plan and organize the competition as well as develop markets in Asia.

But he acknowledged there is a lot of work ahead.

"Take esports broadcasting for example. We will need people who really have a thorough understanding of the industry, not just experience in traditional sports broadcasting."

The Asian Games, recognized by the International Olympic Committee, is the world's second-biggest multisport event after the Olympics. In 2014, 45 countries and nearly 10,000 athletes participated in the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

Wang praised the OCA move as "a bold step", but warned it is not easy to achieve the ultimate goal of entering the Olympic Games.

Back in 2003, esports was officially listed as the country's 99th sporting event by China's General Administration of Sport, which distinguished between esports and regular online games.

With the appetite for online entertainment surging, esports is bracing for exponential growth both in China and abroad.

Seeing its potential, Alibaba invested more than 100 million yuan ($14.5 million) to organize the World Electronic Sports Games last year with a prize pool of more than $5.5 million, marking its ambitious goal to be an industry leader in the sector.

"The partnership with the OCA will help us better tap into the Asian market, making esports a widely recognized sport among those countries. Then we can better develop our esports brand in the global market," Wang added.

The global esports market will be worth $696 million by the end of this year, with a year-on-year growth of 41 percent, according Newzoo, a gaming intelligence provider headquartered in Amsterdam.

This year, the global esports audience will reach 385 million, consisting of 191 million enthusiasts and 194 million occasional viewers, Newzoo said in a report. And the number of esports lovers is expected to rise by another 50 percent to 286 million by 2020, it added.

Tang Hua, director of the esports division at the General Administration of Sport information center, said esports will play an important role in enriching traditional sports events.

"Esports is an emerging internet sports, which has gained popularity among youngsters. It will improve players' thinking ability, reaction capability as well as learning the team spirit. Simulating various environments in the real world, players are able to obtain abundant experiences," Tang said.

"I believe esports will be recognized by more people and be boosted further in the future."

]]> 2017-05-29 08:19:15 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/guizhou/2017-05/27/content_29526086.htm 2017-05-27 14:12:08 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/guizhou/2017-05/26/content_29507363.htm 2017-05-26 13:48:45 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/25/content_29502585.htm ]]>

Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, is about to dive into the Mariana Trench, May 23, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] ON BOARD SHIP XIANGYANGHONG -- China's manned submersible Jiaolong plans to descend to 6,300 in the Mariana Trench, the world's deepest known trench, on Thursday.

Thursday's mission will be Jiaolong's second dive in the Mariana Trench this year, which is expected to take less than 10 hours.

The submersible will collect seawater, rocks and samples of marine life,and also conduct observation, measurement and photography near the seabed.

Chinese scientists plan to carry out a total of five dives in the Mariana Trench.

The first dive took place on Tuesday, with Xinhua News Agency journalist Liu Shiping descending inside the submersible along with scientists to 4,811 meters below the sea's surface.

]]> 2017-05-25 08:53:11 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/guizhou/2017-05/25/content_29489858.htm 2017-05-25 15:41:32 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/24/content_29486505.htm ]]>

College students test their artificial intelligence devices in their new tech startup in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. LIU XIAO / XINHUA

Editor's Note: More than a year ago, China extended value-added tax reform to all industries, a measure that may have lessened corporates' tax burden by a staggering 680 billion yuan ($98.7 billion) by April-end. The State Council-mandated latest tax cuts and related benefits seek to give a leg-up to even startups and smaller innovation-driven businesses. For instance, the deductible share of R&D expenditure is up from 50 percent to 75 percent. Reforms will continue. This would mean still lower taxes-and a financially stronger industry can boost the economy. In this special report, China Daily captures the potential impact of the tax measures on various businesses.

Small firms set to underline human resources, innovation, new products

With tax liability lower now, small and medium-sized technology companies in China will likely increase their spending on human resources and research and development, thereby facilitating innovation and stabilizing growth, observers said.

According to a recent statement by the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation, and the Ministry of Science and Technology, pre-tax deductions for small and medium-sized tech companies, which were 50 percent of R&D expenditure last year, have been raised to 75 percent from Jan 1, and will remain till Dec 31, 2019.

Seblong Technology (Beijing) Co Ltd, a tech startup engaged in intelligent sleep products, said it supports the lower-tax policy. Gao Song, its CEO and founder, said: "The savings will be used for R&D, team expansion, purchase of top-end equipment and launch of new products."

Founded in 2011, Seblong has launched an app-controlled smart pillow that records sleep data and helps improve the quality of sleep.

"In the past several rounds of financing, the salaries of our employees haven't increased much as we wanted to control the wage bill," Gao said, adding most of the capital goes to R&D.

"Tax cuts are of great significance to SMEs as the latter are less profitable than large enterprises. Tax incentives are good. But what's more important is that we should curtail expenditure and reduce resource consumption, to increase profitability."

Tax burden on businesses would be reduced by around 350 billion yuan ($50.7 billion), a goal set forth in this year's Government Work Report in March. This was further emphasized by Premier Li Keqiang at a news conference on March 15, when he said the country would strive to reduce taxes and charges by about 1 trillion yuan this year.

"We welcome this policy. We'll beef up our R&D efforts, considering that we've excellent engineering talent and strong government support for enterprises," said David Zhu, founder and CEO of Vinci, a smart headphone manufacturer.

The Beijing-based firm has about 60 employees－80 percent are in R&D. Most of them graduated from top universities and had worked at big tech companies such as Baidu Inc and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd for five to 10 years.

"Thanks to tax cuts, our budget allocation will change correspondingly. We will put more money into machine learning algorithm and data processing, which will enhance the company's R&D further from the current level of more than 70 percent of total expenditure.

"We will continue to increase investment in R&D," Zhu said, adding Vinci will put emphasis on artificial intelligence-related areas and the recruitment of talent in key areas. Some expenditure will be for the development and application of intellectual property.

Ni Meng, founder and CEO of Xi'an-based Wingspan Technology, said tax cuts would mean the company could save 1 million yuan and spend it on experts and R&D.

Founded in 2009, Wingspan's businesses cover third-party medical imaging diagnosis and treatment, related R&D, and applications of AI technology.

"The most important thing for the continuous development of high-tech enterprises is talent. We tap into the medical diagnosis sector by virtue of AI technologies, and our urgent need is a large number of professionals who can carry out R&D work," Ni said.

]]> 2017-05-24 08:16:52 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/24/content_29486504.htm China's 37 listed banks realized a collective net profit of 1,453 billion yuan in 2016, up 3.65 percent year on year, growing by 0.8 percentage point as compared to 2015, according to the report Listed Banks in China – 2016 Review and Outlook released on Tuesday by EY, a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services.

The profit rebound was the first time for China's listed banks since 2011. Geoffrey Choi, Assurance Leader of EY Financial Services in Asia-Pacific, attributed this growth to the opportunities and challenges brought by China's continued innovation and transformation.

The report, EY's 10th annual report focusing on China's listed banks, shows that, in 2016, listed banks captured the opportunities arising from national and regional development strategies, including the Belt and Road Initiative and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration.

Yet both non-performing loan (NPL) balances and NPL ratios of the 37 listed banks continued to rise due to a combination of macroeconomic slowdown, increased risk exposure to industries burdened with overcapacity, and adjustments to commodity prices, the report said.

By the end of 2016, NPL balances of the 37 listed banks totaled 1,240.29 billion yuan ($180 billion), an increase of 184.08 billion yuan from the previous year.

"To address the lack of diversified disposal models in dealing with growing NPLs, listed banks are stepping up efforts in exploring and implementing new disposal models. For example, the securitization of non-performing assets and debt-to-equity swaps have gradually commenced market-based operations," said Geoffrey Choi.

According to the report, listed banks also accelerated application of Fin Tech to optimize branch network and personnel structure.

"Fintech such as big data, artificial intelligence, block chain, cloud computing, mobile payment and biological identification have changed and will continue to bring profound changes the products and service offerings, business models and operating concepts of the banking industry," said Steven Xu, Financial Services Partner of EY Hua Ming LLP. "It will drive the transformation and upgrade of traditional financial services industry and help financial institutions to achieve innovation in products and service offerings, and business models."

In 2016, the total number of branches of large commercial banks declined for the first time while the proportion of smart branches further increased. Listed banks have continued to promote the construction of digital channels such as mobile banking, online banking, WeChat banking functions and direct banks while optimizing physical branches.

]]> 2017-05-24 08:15:10 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/22/content_29450393.htm WFOE option increases products for domestic investors, deepens China's capital market

China's private fund management or PFM segment is seeing new entrants that are coming in through the wholly foreign-owned enterprise or WFOE route, heralding more investment avenues for domestic investors, said analysts.

There is no official data on the number of WFOEs that have registered as PFM firms in China. But knowledgeable sources said their number is estimated to be between 20 and 50, and growing.

"It is anticipated that an increasing number of qualified foreign institutions will seek to register as PFMfirms this year. We also believe that Chinese regulators will honor their commitment to welcome more foreign securities fund managers to the Chinese market," said Xie Qing and Zhang Chi in a briefing of Junhe Legal Updates earlier this year.

By the end of this year, PFM firms of the WFOE variety are expected to launch 30 investment products. More are said to be planned for the next few years.

Lawrence Au, executive advisor for Asia Pacific with BNP Paribas Securities Services, said the gradual establishment of for­eign­owned PFM firms in China would mean that investors will have more choices, and the entire capital market will get more diversified, which is a long-term positive.

In June 2016, China's securities regulator and asset management regulator had jointly announced the WFOE policy, allowing access to various Chinese markets to foreign businesses.

Since then, dozens of WFOEs have reportedly applied to establish PFM firms in China.

The WFOE option appeals to foreign companies that do not have representative offices or joint ventures yet in China. For, it gives them more power in terms of decision-making, branding, strategy execution and many other aspects.

On May 5, Fidelity International's Shanghai-based PFM firm, a WFOE, launched its first private fund in China. It is also the first global asset manager to launch a private fund in China.

Long-term commitment and potential for big demand in the China market are the major reasons for overseas PFM firms prefering the WFOE option, some industry insiders said.

"Undeniably, the renminbi bond market is key to the future of Asia's bond markets. It will play a big role in global financial markets for many years to come … The market offers tremendous opportunities to develop investment solutions for domestic investors, and play to our strength as an independent, research-focused investment house with best-in-class track record across cycles and across the globe," said Freddy Wong, fixed income portfolio manager, Fidelity International.

According to data of Wind, a financial information and technology services provider, the size of the onshore bond market is currently over 65 trillion yuan ($9.44 trillion), and is expected to reach 100 trillion yuan by 2020, surpassing the Japanese market.

Au of BNP Paribas Securities said: "WFOEs wanting to establish PFMfirms are going to be patient and they know it is a long-term effort. International players who wish to establish PFM firms (in China) hope to see more tools to hedge risks like currency volatility. Companies that have not operated in China through JVs or representative offices may need more assistance to adapt to the market and get familiar with regulations, compliance and administration procedures."

]]> 2017-05-22 07:59:25 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/22/content_29450392.htm ]]>

A representative of a real estate developer in Suzhou promotes an upcoming project to prospective buyers at a shopping mall, where a model of the property was kept on display at an industry event. WANG JIANKANG / FOR CHINA DAILY

Real estate investment trusts or REITs are becoming popular in China.

Analysts said in China, as more investors increasingly eye long-term income instead of quick money from the real estate market, demand for REITs is expected to grow fast.

REITS are a channel to securitize property assets and generate stable and steady yields for investors, they said.

REITs enable small investors to participate in, and earn income from, large-size investments in real estate projects such as a shopping malls and hotels, which are managed by professionals.

REITs help lower retail investors' threshold of investing in properties and offer better liquidity as they can trade their holdings in a property much more easily than trading a property itself.

For project owners and operators, REITs help raise funds from the capital market.

For example, in 2015, Shenzhen-based Vanke launched an investment product that was managed by Penghua Fund Management and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Minimum investment size was about 100,000 yuan at the time, and the project was a fully let office park.

Stephanie Zhao, a 36-year-old investor in Shenzhen, said she has been tracking REITs-related news, including product launches, since early 2015. So far, she has invested 4 million yuan in two REITs-backed projects.

"In Shenzhen, with the money I had access to, I could barely buy a decent apartment in central area, due to high prices and purchase limits. But REITs-backed products offer me long-term yields, help diversify my portfolio, and I can sell my holdings easily," she said.

"Strictly speaking, this REIT differs from many other REITs in mature markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States in terms of the portion of real estate assets in the investment portfolio, ownership of the property and dividends from rental yields ... Chinese investors and developers are embracing REITs as a channel for real estate investment," said a research note from DTZ.

In the US, a REIT must have more than 75 percent of assets related to properties or mortgage, and more than 75 percent of its income must be from rent or mortgage interest.

That's not all. More than 90 percent of taxable net income must be distributed as dividends, and investors must exceed 100. Five or fewer investors cannot hold a combined size of more than 50 percent of shares.

Enterprises are also playing an active role in the global REITs market. Many REITs listed in Singapore and Hong Kong own properties on the Chinese mainland, 69 of which have been included in 15 REITs listed in Hong Kong and Singapore by the end of 2016, according to DTZ research.

According to Hu Jianmin, valuation expert with Savills North China operations, China's REITs market needs further infrastructure development. A clear definition of REIT and relevant regulations to cover aspects like project quality, valuation and screening for investors are needed.

"Currently, retail investors are not fully engaged in REITs-like products. If these details are made clear in the near future, the REITs market in China could be significant," said Hu.

]]> 2017-05-22 07:58:08 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/20/content_29437310.htm ]]>

Liu Kun, chief technology officer of cloud service provider SSPASS, introduces the company's NAT64 at a press conference in Langfang, Hebei province, on May 19, 2017. [Photo by Zhu Lingqing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Domestic cloud service provider Beijing SSPASS Network Technology Co Ltd recently launched the NAT64, an IPv6 transition mechanism, to help Chinese iOS app developers update their code to support iOS App Store's IPv6-only networks. The move was made on Friday.

All apps submitted to Apple's iOS App Store have been required to support IPv6-only networks since June last year.

IPv6, the latest version of the Internet Protocol, provides an identification and location system for computers on networks, and routes traffic across the internet.

Compared to the IPv4, the first publicly used version of the Internet Protocol, IPv6 has a larger address space.

As the two protocols are not interoperable, for apps with IPv4 addresses, NAT64 can act as a translator between IPv4 and IPv6 to help them get approved by the iOS App Store.

"SSPASS is the first public cloud service provider which launched NAT64 in China," Liu Kun, the company's Chief Technology Officer, said at a press conference in Langfang, Hebei province, on Friday. 

"In general, there are three ways to facilitate communication between IPv6 and IPv4, among which NAT64 is the most cost-effective way.

"We will offer this service to all users for free."

Liu also said IPv6 was superseding IPv4 as the latter's addresses were almost exhausted.

"IPv6 is the future," he said.

"With IPv6, every application can be assigned with an IP address, which enables the internet of things."

China will officially deploy and build the IPv6 address project this year, boosting the development of a new generation of information technology, including the internet of things, the internet of vehicles and artificial intelligence, according to a report by Economic Information Daily.

]]> 2017-05-20 16:01:28 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/20/content_29437309.htm Economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have taken on an increasingly important role in China's import and export sectors in the past two decades, a recent report showed.

Meanwhile, China has become the largest trade partner for 25 countries involved in the initiative, and the second- or third-largest trade partner for 19 of them, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Trade last year between China and five countries involved in the initiative including Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and India exceeded $70 billion, indicating that China and these countries constitute a part of the global value chain system, according to the report.

Nearly 27 percent of China's foreign trade last year came from countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, and the proportion was almost double that two decades ago.

From 1995 to 2016, the total value of imports and exports between China and the countries grew from $38.43 billion to $978.28 billion.

China maintained a trade surplus with 52 countries involved in the initiative last year, and the largest surplus was with India, which reached $47 billion.

The report said the surplus mainly came from the exports of medium and high-tech products as India has a greater demand for imports of such products in the process of promoting industrialization.

China had a trade deficit with 12 countries, with the largest trade deficit last year of $10.9 billion with Malaysia, said the report.

"It's mainly because China needs to import large quantities of intermediate goods, especially electronic information products, from Malaysia and other countries in the East Asia regional industry chain and then export them after assembling and processing," reads the report.

Nearly 37 percent of China's imports last year from the countries were primary products, said the report, as China has a high demand for energy while many of those along the routes of the initiative are resource-based exporters.

Concerning exports, China mainly exported low-tech products, such as apparel and textiles, which accounted for 32 percent of the total, and medium-tech products, such as mechanical engineering products, which accounted for nearly 31 percent, to these economies mainly because most of them are developing countries and have a relatively low level of industrial development, said the report.

The trade structure is expected to change when the initiative is pushed forward, said Shen Yuliang, director of the World Trade Research Center under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

]]> 2017-05-20 07:45:20 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/19/content_29424960.htm ]]>WASHINGTON - Chinese companies invested a record $46 billion in the United States in 2016, triple the amount seen in 2015 and a tenfold increase compared to just five years ago, according to a report jointly released on Wednesday by the Rhodium Group and the National Committee on US-China Relations (NCUSCR).

The huge jump in total Chinese investment last year is attributable to a greater number of mega acquisition deals, while the scale of greenfield projects remained comparatively small, the report said.

Such large acquisitions by Chinese companies include HNA Group's purchase of US technology group Ingram Micro for $6 billion, Qingdao Haier's acquisition of appliance business from General Electric (GE) for $5.6 billion, and Anbang Insurance Group's purchase of 15 properties from Strategic Hotels for $5.5 billion.

"While megadeals of this scale are unlikely to become the norm, the GE Appliances transaction shows that moving closer to US and global customers through brands and local presence is an increasing commercial rationale for Chinese firms," the report said.

In contrast to the dominance of fossil fuel investments before 2013, more than 90 percent of Chinese direct investment in 2016 focused on services and advanced manufacturing, according to the report, reflecting China's growing appetite for high-quality investment to meet the growing domestic consumption demand.

More specifically, real estate and hospitality, information and communications technology, entertainment, consumer products and financial services stood out as primary targeted industries for Chinese investors.

Chinese investment in US real estate and hospitality reached a record high of $17 billion last year, making it the top sector by cumulative Chinese investment, the report said.

Meanwhile, the US entertainment industry has become a significant recipient of Chinese capital since 2012. Investors targeted existing assets in Hollywood, trying to connect the world's largest film production and distribution industry with its largest potential market, the report said.

Last year, one of the largest deals was the purchase of Legendary Entertainment by Dalian Wanda for $3.5 billion.

While US transport and infrastructure received the least investment from China of all sectors from 2000 to 2015, it became the second largest sector for Chinese investors in 2016, according to the report.

As US President Donald Trump has announced a $1 trillion infrastructure investment plan, there may be more room for Chinese investment in US infrastructure.

"Multiple Chinese construction firms already operate subsidiaries in the United States. State-related and private investors have also shown great appetite for conservative assets with a stable long-term return, making infrastructure a potential alternative to commercial real estate ventures," the report analyzed.

According to the report, Chinese investors further expanded and deepened their footprint in the United States. With coastal states such as New York and California remaining the major beneficiaries of the investment, the South and Midwest states also received significant capital in 2016.

Out of 50 US states, 46 had received direct Chinese investment in the form of a newly established greenfield project or the acquisition of a company headquartered in that state by the end of 2016, according to the report.

Meanwhile, private investors have become the major drive for the rapidly-growing investment, as data show that about 79 percent of the total Chinese investment in the United States was made by private sector companies.

The US-China economic relationship nowadays supports roughly 2.6 million jobs in the United States across a range of industries, among which about 104,000 jobs are created by Chinese investment, according to a study conducted by Oxford Economics and the US-China Business Council.

]]> 2017-05-19 14:05:40 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/19/content_29424959.htm ]]>

Majestic Princess will set sail on May 21 on a journey of 37 days from a port near Rome in Italy to Xiamen in East China's Fujian province. Provided to China Daily

TIANJIN - China's major port cities saw a growing number of inbound and outbound cruise ships in 2016, totaling 1,040, according to the China Cruise and Yacht Industry Association.

In 2016, the number of outbound Chinese cruise passengers topped 2 million for the first time, and is expected to reach 2.6 million this year, said the association.

Experts forecast Chinese people will make 3.5 million cruise trips annually by the year 2020, becoming the most dynamic cruise market in the Asia-Pacific region.

China has become the world's eighth-biggest cruise market. There were 18 cruise ships operating in China's major port cities as of 2016, a jump from just one ship in 2006, when China started vigorously developing its cruise industry.

"China's cruise market has huge development potential," said Li Qinggang, director of Tianjin Dongjiang Maritime Safety Administration.

Tianjin international cruise home port, the largest in Asia, received 138 voyages in 2016 and is expected to receive 150 in 2017.

]]> 2017-05-19 13:18:51 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/18/content_29407901.htm ]]>

Li Zongyin, Party chief of Guhe village.

Li Zongyin, the 57-year-old Party chief of Guhe village in Anhui province, prepared cured pork and steamed buns, asking his wife, "Do you want anything else?"

His wife, Wu Yunlan, was diagnosed with leukemia about two months ago and has been receiving treatment in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, for more than a month.

To save money, Wu has been living in Wuxi, where her youngest daughter works. During Wu's time in Suzhou and Wuxi, Li has been able to spend just four days looking after her.

Li's eldest daughter has being staying with her mother to take care of her, while leaving her two children in Li's care. "My wife persuaded me to stay in Guhe to take care of our grandchildren and the village, as there are now many businesses and poverty relief programs in the village," Li said.

A 400,000-square-meter photovoltaic generator will be put into operation in the village by end of this month, and Li is required to represent the villagers in negotiations with construction workers to protect agricultural land from being damaged.

"There are a lot of poverty relief policies to aid villagers, such as getting up to 30,000 yuan ($4,360) in funding to demolish an old house in critical conditions and build a new house, or being given 5,000 yuan after buying six ewes to help them breed their own," he said. "But they don't always understand the policies, so they require help from village cadres."

After Wu fell sick, Li realized he was not able to take care of the village and his family.

This month, his son-in-law, who is married to his youngest daughter, went to Wuxi to visit Wu. Busy with business dealings in the village, all Li could do to help was prepare some food to make his wife feel less homesick.

He has been working as a village official for nearly 30 years, and has been Party chief of Guhe for more than 20 years.

He attempted to quit his job three times in the past two years as he is aging and said the work makes him feel tired, but each time the Party chief of Lyuzhai township, which governs the village, has persuaded him to remain in his position.

With a population of 5,086, Guhe is one of the four key villages for poverty relief efforts in Lyuzhai. Village cadres are not classed as civil servants in the country's political system, with township governments being the lowest level of government.

However, administration of rural areas relies heavily on village cadres, especially the Party chief, who is elected by Communist Party of China members and is often the most reputable person among the villagers.

"There are few other village cadres in Lyuzhai who have remained in their position for so many years," said Li, who receives a monthly salary of 1,200 yuan from the township government.

"I owe nothing to the villagers or the government, but everything to my wife," he added.

]]> 2017-05-18 07:32:53 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/18/content_29407899.htm ]]>

A child receives EV 71 vaccine for hand, foot and mouth disease in Huaibei, Anhui province, in January.[Photo by Li Chunhui / China News Service]

Hand, foot and mouth disease has killed about 450 children a year in China over the past decade and remains a threat, according to a senior public health specialist.

Wang Huaqing, chief immunization scientist for the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said more than 13 million cases were reported on the Chinese mainland between 2009 and 2015, mostly in children under 5.

Since 2008, medical institutions have been required to report any instance of the infectious disease to health authorities. A national epidemic-surveillance network found more than 80 percent of the cases were among toddlers younger than 3.

In addition, the cost of treatment strains family finances. The annual medical cost to treat the virus is estimated at 2 billion yuan ($290 million) in China, Wang said, citing regional studies.

Given that the peak season starts in spring and runs to the end of summer, he urged parents to seek immunizations for their children.

China has three domestically developed vaccines against enterovirus 71, widely known as EV 71, which is the dominant strain of the more than 20 viruses that can cause hand, foot and mouth disease.

Zhao Kai, a vaccine expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said EV 71 has a good protection rate among recipients and was safe.

In addition, to help protect children of other countries against the disease, China National Biotec Group, one of the three producers of EV 71 vaccine, "is seeking international approval and registration to make the vaccine available in foreign markets", he said.

Starting in May, the disease has been found at kindergartens and medical institutions nationwide, according to media reports.

"To avert severe cases and deaths, the health authority has beefed up routine epidemic surveillance and intervention at such sentinel facilities to ensure early detection and treatment," Zhao said.

According to medical experts, children younger than 3 are at greatest risk. The infection usually starts with a light fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet.

In serious cases, conditions such as myocarditis, lung edema, aseptic meningitis and encephalomyelitis can develop.

The virus spreads via the digestive and respiratory systems and through close contact.

Hainan, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hunan and Fujian provinces, as well as Beijing, take the brunt of the disease.

Zhu Fengcai, deputy director of the Jiangsu Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said there are no targeted treatments to eliminate the virus.

"The current therapy is mainly alleviating the symptoms," he said. "The best approach is vaccination and prevention."

]]> 2017-05-18 07:32:20 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/17/content_29390397.htm ]]>

An employee works in a clean room during the etching process of semiconductor wafer production inside the new Robert Bosch GmbH research and development center in Renningen, Germany. BLOOMBERG

The operations in China of a new joint venture－involving heat technology and hot water products－will help expand the market presence of Robert Bosch GMbH in the mainland, a senior executive of the German group said on Tuesday.

Bosch Thermotechnology, the European manufacturer of energy-efficient heating and hot water solutions, launched production at its joint venture with Guangdong Vanward New Electric Co, a leading manufacturer of gas appliances in China, in Foshan on Tuesday.

Bosch said the Foshan plant would produce about four million water heaters annually.

"Our Chinese partner has strong hot water heating technologies for the Chinese market," said Uwe Glock, global board chairman of Bosch Thermotechnology.

"The partnership will help boost Bosch's market presence and also bring about new growth opportunities for the Chinese home appliance industry," Glock added.

According to Glock, Bosch will transfer manufacturing lines for electric hot water storage tanks, heat pump water heaters as well as solar thermal collectors from different Bosch sites in China to two existing Vanward facilities in Foshan and Hefei of Anhui province.

"China is the world's biggest market for water heaters and this segment will be a cornerstone in Bosch's hot water business going forward," he said.

"The joint venture allows optimal use of both side's research and development and manufacturing resources, creating the conditions for further growth."

Bosch posted double-digit growth in the Chinese market last year, which meant China remained its second-largest market worldwide, according to company sources.

The German company also invested around 5.4 billion yuan ($782 million) in China in 2016, including the establishment of a research and development facility in Suzhou and another one in Nanjing of Jiangsu province.

]]> 2017-05-17 07:58:03 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/17/content_29390396.htm ]]>

Logos of KFC, owned by Yum Brands Inc, are seen on its delivery bicycles in front of its restaurant in Beijing, Feb 25, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Yum China Holdings Inc said it will acquire a controlling stake in food delivery company Daojia, to expand delivery services for its KFC and Pizza Hut chains in the country.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this month, the company said.

Daojia, founded in 2010, is an online food delivery service provider focusing on orders in large cities. "The transaction is to accelerate digital and delivery growth by enhancing know-how and expertise in this growing segment," according to Yum.

"Digital and delivery are long-term strategic drivers of our business, and I am pleased to build on our technological know-how and capabilities in this high-growth area," Yum China Chief Executive Micky Pant said in a statement.

According to Yum China, the fast-food company has a leading restaurant delivery network in China, with more than 4,400 of its 7,663 restaurants offering delivery services as of the end of its first quarter of this year. Deliveries accounted for around 12 percent of Yum China's sales in the first quarter, the company said.

Yum China is a licensee of Yum Brands Inc on the Chinese mainland and has exclusive rights to KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Yum China also owns the Little Sheep and East Dawning restaurant brands.

Yum has been under significant competitive pressure in recent years from delivery service platforms. By investing in Daojia, Yum China will boost its presence and enhance its service experience, said Jason Yu, general manager of Kantar Worldpanel China.

"Yum China will have to continue to utilize other platforms, as Daojia is a minor player in the delivery market," Yu said.

Leading fast-food giants have been competing in China to enhance their services. McDonald's Corp has upgraded its digital services in more than 1,000 restaurants in the country. By the end of this year, nearly 1,600 McDonald's restaurants will complete these upgrades.

]]> 2017-05-17 07:19:58 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/16/content_29374236.htm ]]>

Kirill Dmitriev, co-CEO of the Russia-China Investment Fund PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

The Russia-China Investment Fund, a private equity fund formed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund and China Investment Corp, will invest more than $500 million in 2017 in Russia and China in infrastructure, agriculture, technology and consumer sectors, according to its senior executives.

"The Russia-China Investment Fund has played a crucial role in showcasing that we can make very good returns by working together," said Kirill Dmitriev, co-CEO of the Russia-China Investment Fund and CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, the country's sovereign wealth fund.

Dmitriev said the RCIF will invest more than $500 million in seven to nine deals this year, and for every dollar they invest in, they will attract $3 to $5 from other investors.

Set up in 2012, the RCIF is a private equity fund into which each of the two nations has committed $1 billion. It has invested, with partners, in 19 deals in Russia, China and third countries totaling more than $5 billion. The RCIF has cashed out on one deal－Russian children's retailer Detsky Mir, and its internal rate of return was as high as 90 percent.

The latest investment is that the RCIF, along with the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Vi Holding and some Middle Eastern investors, invested 90 billion roubles ($1.6 billion) in building one of Russia's largest technology parks at the former Tushino airfield northwest of Moscow. Equity investment will be about $300 million and debt will be a big part for funding.

The total area of the project will be more than 1 million square meters, covering offices and residential property. It will also include the construction of sports and social infrastructure facilities as well as recreational and park zones. The term sheet was signed on Saturday in Beijing.

Russia's state-backed Rostec State Corp, which promotes development, production and export of high-tech industrial products for civil and defense sectors, will be a significant tenant of the office space.

"We will learn from Chinese experience and make it a beautiful technology park," said Dmitriev. "The project will start construction this year and finish within three years."

Hu Bing, co-CEO and president of the RCIF, said as relations between Russia and China continue to flourish, and cross-border trade is expected to increase significantly in the next couple of years, many Chinese companies and financial institutions are coming to Russia to bolster economic cooperation.

China is Russia's top trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $69.5 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 2.2 percent, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

"The Russian real estate market has become very attractive for Chinese investors. We would expect further interest from Chinese investors in the Russian real estate market and the RCIF will continue to play an active role in the sector," said Hu.

]]> 2017-05-16 07:29:14 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/15/content_29374235.htm ]]>

Bamboo forests in Anji, Zhejiang province, provide the background for a springtime footrace in April. People living in Nigeria might soon be able to use advanced technology to grow bamboo to deal with rising sea levels. XU YU/XINHUA

Climate change cooperation among the Belt and Road countries can achieve win-win results because the initiative helps address the challenge by improving climate policy coordination and providing opportunities for technology exchanges, according to officials and experts.

For instance, people living in Nigeria might soon be able to use advanced technology to grow bamboo to deal with rising sea levels if the initial cooperative goals agreed during a two-week seminar organized by the International Cooperation Center under the National Development and Reform Commission.

Hayatu Abdulkadir Shehu, a senior official with the National Emergency Management Agency in Nigeria, said he expected to bring bamboo-growth technology back home after visiting Anji county in Zhejiang province during the seminar in late April.

Together with officials from 18 countries, Shehu came to the small county famous for its bamboos but 11,600 kilometers away from where he lives.

"Both China and Nigeria have a long history in growing bamboo, but we grow and use bamboo in more traditional ways. We hope to improve the efficiency of the whole industry by borrowing experience from China, due to both economic and climate change concerns," said Shehu.

An 18-kilometer cycling route cuts through Anji's bamboo forests. Bamboo is able to mitigate the effects of climate change through rapid reforestation. XU YU / XINHUA

Nigeria has about 1.7 million hectares of bamboo, but production and utilization is largely uncoordinated with untapped potential, according to Yomi Ige, chief executive officer at the Bamboo Development Network.

Because bamboo is able to mitigate the effects of climate change, through rapid reforestation, improving growth technology and expanding its uses has become more urgent in recent years, according to Shehu.

Yu Hongyi, assistant director of Zhejiang Xinzhou Bamboo-Based Composite Technology, said capacity building in other countries can be beneficial for overseas development of the company, as branding costs are limited.

Humaid Kanji, an environmental economist with Integrated Environment Policy in the United Arab Emirates, a study tour participant, said he is also interested in growth technology.

"We share some similar challenges as Nigeria. Farmers living in coastal regions face greater challenges brought by floods and rising sea levels than before," said Kanji.

Bamboo products are the pillar of Anji's economy. Expanding bamboo's uses is more urgent in recent years, as the plant helps fight climate change. TAN KAIXING / CHINA DAILY

"But as a policy maker, I hope the country can enhance climate policy coordination with China and other countries along the Belt and the Road, " he said.

"Although we do not know what the initiative will be like in the future, it opens the door for green logistics, green transport and so on," said Kanji. "More efficient and green transportation will bring more opportunities to enhance regional collaboration."

For China, the initiative can expand the circle of a climate change cooperation framework that has already been established with many countries, such as the South-South initiative, according to Wang Yiheng, a senior official with the climate change department at the Zhejiang economic and reform commission, who was in charge of the study tour.

By expanding the circle with countries sharing similar concerns on tackling climate change, the Belt and Road Initiative promotes greater awareness and understanding of the urgency to together address the climate issue, he added.

]]> 2017-05-15 08:08:02 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/12/content_29327231.htm ]]>

How painful is it to give birth? With the Mother's Day around the corner, a hospital in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality offers would-be fathers a chance to experience the pain and stand in their pregnant wives' shoes. [Photo/VCG]

The would-be fathers experience the pain through a machine that grades the pain on a scale of 10. A man claimed it felt like "being stung by a mosquito" at the beginning of the test, but later he began begging them to stop the machine. [Photo/VCG] The would-be fathers rest after the test. A doctor said the actual labor pain is much more intensive and can last for hours rather than just a few minutes. [Photo/VCG] A man hugs his wife after the test. [Photo/VCG] Medical workers put on a "belly" on a man to help him feel the unconvenience caused by pregnancy. [Photo/VCG] A man goes through labor pain. [Photo/VCG]

]]> 2017-05-12 07:43:00 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/12/content_29327214.htm ]]>

Human-like chatbot. [Photo/CGTN]

How do you tell if the people you're chatting with online are real people, rather than text-generating robots? The struggle for bots to mimic idiomatic language means it can be pretty easy to spot. That shows how hard it is for researchers to develop a human-like chatbot.

But now, some researchers in China are moving one step closer, after creating a chatbot with five different mood types.

The moods include happiness, sadness, anger, disgust and loving. The bot can reply to people's words differently, according to the mood it has been set on.

A leader of the project, Professor Huang Minlie at Tsinghua University, calls the bot an "Emotional Chatting Machine" (ECM).

He typed a critical comment about Valentine's Day into the machine as a test. The machine replied "Happy Valentines Day!" when set on a happy mood, and complained "you're just showing off!" when set to angry mode.

"It's still an initial exploration in the area, as ECMs can only talk in text. It doesn't have a voice output or facial expressions," Huang told Xinhua.

"But researches are moving rapidly on creating human emotions," he added.

So how do ECMs work? The research team created an emotion classification algorithm, and used it to classify all kinds of comments on social media websites.

So words from an ECM could be lifted from something you said online last week, and that's why their reactions sound so much more human-like than other bots.

]]> 2017-05-12 09:28:27 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/12/content_29322451.htm ]]>

It takes a bottle of whisky, a great Britain-made specialty, almost 20 days to travel to China, while packaged on a newly-opened freight train linking London to China's Yiwu.

The cargo locomotive, the first rail freight service linking the UK directly to China, departed from Stanford-le-Hope in Essex on April 10, 2017, and then stopped in London and arrived in the eastern Chinese city on April 29.

Other British products packed in with the bottle of whisky on the 7,500-mile Trans-Eurasia journey included vitamins, soft drinks and pharmaceuticals.

Located in Zhejiang, a coastal province in East China, Yiwu is known as a small-commodity trade hub.

The Yiwu-London freight service now makes London the 15th European city to have a direct rail link with China.

It is part of China Railway Express (CR Express), also known as the China-Europe freight train service, which has seen rapid growth since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013.

So far, CR Express has opened three routes, 51 lines departing from 27 Chinese cities, and has reached 28 cities in 11 European countries.

]]> 2017-05-12 07:27:32 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/11/content_29311190.htm ]]>Mandarin signs are being added at airports and railway stations in Italy, and free Wi-Fi services are being set up at public venues to make Chinese tourists' visits to the country easier and happier, a senior Italian official said.

The Italian government is also encouraging hotels to provide more Chinese-friendly services in preparation for the 2018 European Union-China Tourism Year, Dorina Bianchi, the vice-minister of cultural heritage activities and tourism, said during an interview in Shanghai.

"Such services will include hotel staff who are fluent in Chinese, rooms with China Central TV channels, acceptance of China UnionPay cards and hot drinking water to cater to Chinese stomachs," she said.

China has become the seventh-largest source of tourists for Italy after years of continuous leaps since a wave of outbound travel to Italy began in 2004, Bianchi said.

Statistics from the Italian consulate general in Guangzhou show that Italy welcomed a record 900,000 visitors from the Chinese mainland last year, and the numbers have maintained double-digit annual growth for the past decade.

"Longer stays are being considered for Chinese with tourist visas, and now we guarantee that our visa application process will be completed within 36 hours for Chinese tourists," Bianchi said.

A direct flight linking Nanjing, Jiangsu province, with Milan, Italy, began operating on May 4, she said, and direct services to Rome and Milan are available from Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Chongqing and Wuhan.

She said visa offices in 11 Chinese cities, including Chengdu, Kunming, Xi'an and Shenyang, were opened a year ago to facilitate services for tourists.

"The number of visa applications from Chinese people has been increasing by 20 percent a year for the past three years," she said.

They hope Chinese tourists will go farther - to the Italian villages, rather than sticking to the big cities.

"Chinese should be guests instead of tourists, and can have more direct and in-depth communications with local residents," she said. "We're also promoting slow tours, such as a bicycle ride in a beautiful national park to enjoy the scenery and food in a leisurely way."

The tourism promotion department of southern Italy's Calabria region signed an agreement with China Tourism Academy on Wednesday in Shanghai to endorse the Welcome Chinese Certification established by the academy as the official certification signifying a high standard of service for Chinese tourists.

"All of the 400 hotels and resorts, as well as train stations and airports in the region must meet the criteria of the certification, including offering room service in Chinese, serving Chinese breakfasts and taking Chinese credit cards, by the end of this year," said Angela Vatrano, head of the department.

]]> 2017-05-11 07:37:36 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/11/content_29311163.htm ]]>

A woman sits in a transparent dome run by a hotel in the valley of the Meijiang River in Central China's Hunan province, May 10, 2017. The outdoor hotel with transparent tents offers tourists a spectacular view of the sky above. [Photo/VCG]

A woman takes a selfie in a transparent dome in the valley of the Meijiang River in Central China's Hunan province, May 10, 2017. [Photo/VCG] A woman enjoys the night view in a transparent dome in the valley of the Meijiang River in Central China's Hunan province, May 10, 2017. [Photo/VCG] A couple enjoys the night view in a transparent dome in the valley of the Meijiang River in Central China's Hunan province, May 10, 2017. [Photo/VCG] A night view of the outdoor hotel with transparent tents offering a spectacular view of the sky above, May 10, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

]]> 2017-05-11 08:45:34 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/10/content_29292759.htm ]]>

A full-size Titanic replica takes shape along a reservoir in a rural area in Suining, Sichuan province, May 9, 2017. Like the real cruise liner, which sank in 1912 and was made famous by a 1997 film, the replica will be 269 meters long and 28 meters wide. It will include all the features of the original one: from banquet hall, theater to luxury first-class cabin and swimming pool, but won’t sail. The project, jointly launched by teams from US and China, got under way at the end of last year, and aims to make the ship a tourist attraction. [Photo/VCG]

The replica ship under construction, May 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG] The replica ship under construction, May 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG] The replica ship under construction, May 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG] The replica ship under construction, May 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Aerial photo shows the replica under construction, May 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG] Aerial photo shows the replica under construction, May 9, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

]]> 2017-05-10 10:11:17 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/10/content_29292757.htm ]]>

Editor's Note: The bike-sharing industry has brought many lifestyle changes in China. But also importantly, the business has inspired entrepreneurs in other industries. From basketball to umbrella, let's take a look at what's hot in the booming sharing sector.

Ofo bikes are lined up outside a subway entrance in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, Jan 19, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

Bike-sharing

While bike-sharing is no rarity in other parts of the world, the Chinese version has given a whole new meaning to the concept, with customers able to pick a bike anywhere in the city (thanks to the GPS-enabled app) and leave it anywhere at the end of their journey.

The concept is all the rage among students and young professionals across the nation for being convenient, green and cheap. An average 30-minute ride costs 0.5 yuan ($7 cents) to one yuan.

Shared bikes have become the newest battlefield for global capital, with large amounts of investment flowing into the billing-on-time bike-rental mobile applications.

 

People rent Umbrellas at a metro station in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo/Weibo]

Umbrella-sharing

Molisan, a Shanghai-based start-up, has launched umbrella-sharing services in the metro in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province, and Fuzhou, East China's Fujian province.

Customers can rent umbrellas by paying a refundable deposit and scanning a QR code.

The scheme charges a 20 yuan ($2.90) deposit payable via WeChat. The rental period is 15 days, which renters can renew for three additional days after which they will be charged a late penalty of 0.5 yuan per day.

People can find nearby charging stations through app, as well as WeChat and Alipay accounts. [Photo/sina.com.cn]

Charger-sharing

Xiaodian, a phone charger start-up, recently announced a $50 million Series B financial round led by Sequoia China Capital and Banyan Capital, with Tencent as a participating investor.

People can find the company’s nearby charging stations through its app, as well as WeChat and Alipay accounts.

After scanning a QR code, users can start charging their phones. Payment is processed through WeChat Pay or Alipay.

A basketball-sharing locker is seen in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. [Photo/Weibo]

Basketball-sharing

A company in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, recently launched a basketball-sharing service.

The company has introduced several pilot lockers with basketballs at the city's public and campus courts. Users can borrow and return a basketball through the company's WeChat account after paying a 29-yuan ($4.2) deposit. One basketball costs 1.5 yuan for half an hour.

The lockers are equipped with a camera to ensure the process runs smoothly. According to the company, the lockers can also be used to store personal items.

]]> 2017-05-10 15:44:26 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/08/content_29258177.htm ]]>

Jan Rinnert, chairman of Heraeus, a family-owned German company engaged in precious and special metals, sensors, specialty light sources, quartz glass and medical technology PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Led by Jan Rinnert, Germany's Heraeus expects China's initiative to spawn digital infrastructure

Overseeing a business as tough as precious metal recycling, thick film pastes and water decontamination, Jan Rinnert, chairman of German technology company Heraeus, has long recognized the importance of adding a human touch to his management philosophy.

It may have been derived from his earlier experience as a local government spokesperson, where he grasped the art of articulating a view, or, later, as a management consultant role in which he learned a slew of business best practices.

"I've always believed in the power in people. My father once told me never to look for a job, but to search for the right individual that you report to and learn from," he said.

Since taking the helm of the one of the most renowned family-run companies in Germany, Rinnert strives to become the "approachable" leader and role model for his 12,500 employees around the globe.

His frankness in leadership is exemplified by a number of initiatives to engage with staff, such as the "open space dialogue" where employees get to raise thorny questions from the outlook of the European Union to personal distractions.

"I was once asked by a Chinese colleague if our businesses would be dragged down by the gloomy outlook of the European Union following Brexit. That's when you realize they are absolutely the most valuable assets of the company," he said.

Founded in 1851 in Hanau, a city near Frankfurt, Heraeus may not be a household name, but it has a sizable presence globally by virtue of its business, which is providing materials and solutions to markets like environment, energy, health and transport. It also provides industrial applications from power electronics systems to electric vehicles, and engages in trading in precious metals such as platinum and gold.

Like many of its German peers, Heraeus is a "Hidden Champion"－a term coined by management consultant Hermann Simon to describe smaller companies that are among the top three of a niche market－with the only problem being it has grown a bit too big to be invisible now.

Sales in 2016 topped $20 billion with a satisfying level of margin, according to Rinnert, whose company does not disclose financial details and chooses to stay private.

"As a family(-run) company, we've never considered an initial public offering. Diversification remains a route to long-term growth. Under one roof, we aim to run eight hidden champions that are all independent, all leaders in their respective niche markets, while leveraging the company's synergies to grow along," he said.

That vision, in part, was made possible thanks to an overhaul plan led by Rinnert in 2014 to turn Heraeus into a portfolio company, by making business units more market-oriented and eliminating several levels of hierarchy.

Today, its portfolio ranges from components to coordinated material systems used in a wide variety of industries, including steel, electronics, chemical, automotive and telecommunications.

But this does not indicate an inward-looking business strategy. Its latest acquisition of Swiss precious metal processor Argor-Heraeus in April would help kick up a notch in processing capacity for gold and silver.

The buyout accords with an earlier investment in China, where Heraeus broke ground for a plant in Nanjing last year to boost capacity in recycling precious metals and manufacturing chemicals, to grow its local market share to 20 percent by 2020.

As the largest precious metals company in the world and one of the very few companies licensed to trade in precious metals in China, Heraeus has been present in the country for 40 years and generates 30 percent of its entire revenue from here.

In the eyes of Rinnert, the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) has laid a solid ground for Chinese companies to embark on technological breakthroughs and shed over-capacities through the supply-side structural reform, guidelines that are in line with what his company could offer.

"Retaining existing technology is not an option－that's the key learning from my family business. That's not easy because you are challenging the status quo. But automation, advanced manufacturing, and other things Chinese are doing is the way ahead to make businesses sustain," he said.

The Belt and Road Initiative will lend new momentum to growth, he said. "It's a visionary initiative. Today, it's more focused on physical infrastructure investment, with substantial financial systems in place such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as the cornerstone. In the future, we look forward to the digital and data infrastructure building where there is a larger role for us to play."

Rinnert further said the initiative would require extra efforts and coordination for public-private partnerships. It is a subject where Europe has experience and can share that with China.

But it is still the forthcoming cultural and people-to-people exchanges that matter the most, he said.

"I often recall my first startup company that hosted a number of DJs prior to college. That experience helped me deal with pressure, and know my strengths and limits. Today, I see the younger generation in China who are well-educated, digital-savvy and understand the complexity of the environment. I've a lot to expect from you."

]]> 2017-05-08 08:04:19 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/08/content_29258176.htm ]]>

The United States is Chinese tourists' top destination for road trips overseas. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Chinese are increasingly preferring road trips overseas as the preferred way to travel and soak in sights and cultures. The United States remains their top destination with Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco being particularly popular.

The US is followed by New Zealand, Germany, Thailand, and the United Kingdom, in terms of popularity, according to a recent report Tuniu Corp, an online travel agency based in Nanjing.

Besides, the United Arab of Emirates, Belgium and France are growing in popularity as Chinese driving licenses are valid there.

The top five cities where self-driving outbound Chinese tourists come from are Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing. These cities have more than two million car owners, making them more likely to travel in their own vehicles in China and in rented cars abroad.

Currently, there are more than 360 million car drivers in China, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

"The growth of holidays marked by car drives is frequently associated with wealth, freedom, and choice, and a growing middle-class in China," said Alex Yan, COO of Tuniu Corp.

"Meanwhile, we found that Chinese road trippers prefer to stay at nicer hotels, but not motels near the roads. More than 80 percent of the them usually stay at four-star or five-star hotels."

The majority of tourists who prefer self-driving trips are aged between 21 and 40, with those aged between 31 and 40 dominating this group. Most of them are affluent and tend to pursue unique trip experiences. Besides, many of them have young children and road trips fulfil their demand for travel with kids.

Lily Min, 26, an office worker in Beijing, said she and her boyfriend last year traveled to Hawaii, where they rented a red convertible.

"Hawaii is large and it's inconvenient to travel around if you don't rent a car or travel with a group. It feels really cool to drive by ourselves, as we have greater control over our time. And it's not expensive to rent a car－it costs less than $100 per day," she said.

Overseas road trips tend to take longer than an average trip. About half of these trips last year lasted 11 to15 days.

Domestic road trips are also proving to be popular. Among the well-received weekend getaways are Zhuhai and Guangzhou in Guangdong province, and Changzhou in Jiangsu province.

Longer domestic road trips to Tibet, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang are also popular among Chinese tourists. About half of the domestic road trips last six to 10 days.

]]> 2017-05-08 07:56:48 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/04/content_29210358.htm BEIJING - Premiums received by Chinese insurers rose 32.45 percent in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year, official data showed Wednesday.

Premiums reached 1.59 trillion yuan ($230 billion) from January to March, said the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC).

By the end of March, the industry had combined assets totalling 16.2 trillion yuan, up 7 percent from the beginning of the year.

The commission attributed the steady growth of premium income to better regulation and risk protection.

Since the beginning of this year, financial regulators have worked to prevent systemic risks as the importance of financial security grows. Last month, the CIRC announced a targeted campaign against violations to restore market order, with measures against false capital contributions, chaotic corporate governance, irregular investments and fake data.

]]> 2017-05-04 10:13:19 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/04/content_29210357.htm ]]>

The logo of Sinohydro Corp is seen on a building in Beijing. [Photo/VCG]

DHAKA - The Bangladeshi government has signed three deals with Chinese and Thai firms on the country's first-ever metro rail project.

Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), a Bangladeshi state-owned enterprise founded to implement the metro rail lines across the Dhaka city, signed the separate contract packages (CPs) including CP-2, CP-3 and CP-4 worth over 58.26 billion taka ($719 million) with the firms, Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, a Thailand-based construction firm, and Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation Limited.

Under the deals, the firms will build metro rail tracks, stations and depot of the long cherished 20.1-km Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6 that will link north Dhaka with the south through 16 stations.

According to the project, the package CP-2 is for the civil and building works of the Depot, CP-3 and CP-4 is for the construction of metro rail tracks and elevated stations.

Officials of DMTCL, Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, a Thailand-based construction firm, and Chinese state-owned Sinohydro Corporation Limited signed the agreements on behalf of their respective sides at a ceremony on Wednesday in capital Dhaka.

Sinohydro signed the deal worth 15.96 billion taka for CP-2 while Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited signed deal for all the three packages.

]]> 2017-05-04 09:23:54 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/03/content_29192573.htm ]]>

The Zhenhua 30 crane ship (left) hoists the final section of the underwater tunnel for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge to its designated location on Tuesday. [Photo by Chen Jimin/China News Service]

Construction of the long-awaited Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge took a big step toward completion on Tuesday when workers began to install the final piece of an underwater tunnel.

The final joint of the last 5.6-kilometer section was lowered into the Lingding Channel, the central channel of the Pearl River, in ideal weather conditions, according to Wang Zhanggui, chief engineer at the National Marine Environmental Forecasting Center.

Completion of the tunnel will effectively end work on the road link between Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai, Guangdong province. It is scheduled to open to traffic this year.

Once in operation, the bridge will shorten the current four-hour drive from Hong Kong to Zhuhai to just 30 minutes. Insiders estimate that the bridge will open to traffic on Dec 20, when Macao celebrates the 18th anniversary of its return to China from Portuguese control.

Lin Jiang, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said the bridge will have great significance for economic cooperation and development in the greater Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao bay area.

"It is not only a bridge, but it will help accelerate the construction of networks of advanced expressways and intercity railways connecting the two special administrative regions with Pearl River Delta cities in Guangdong," Lin said.

The bridge will also help Hong Kong shift its industries to vast areas in western Guangdong, he said.

The final section of the underwater tunnel for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge is installed to its designated location on Tuesday. [Photo by Chen Jimin/China News Service]

Meanwhile, Macao and Hong Kong still have room for expansion and cooperation in tourism with the cities of western Guangdong province.

Zhongshan, the hometown of Sun Yat-sen, and Jiangmen, home to myriad overseas Chinese living around the world, are two major tourist destinations in Guangdong, he said.

"Furthermore, the operation of the bridge will encourage Guangdong to open wider to the outside world after the province further advances its cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao."

The 55-kilometer Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge includes a 6.7-kilometer underwater tunnel and a 22.9 km bridge above the water's surface, making it the longest cross-sea bridge in the world.

Construction of the Y-shaped bridge started in 2009 and will cost more than 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion). It is part of the country's planned national highway network linking the western and eastern banks of the Pearl River.

The service life of the bridge is expected to be more than 120 years.

Huang Zehui contributed to this story.

The final section of the underwater tunnel for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge is installed to its designated location on Tuesday. [Photo by Chen Jimin/China News Service]

]]> 2017-05-03 07:30:04 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/03/content_29192572.htm ]]>

Visitors line up to buy tickets for Shanghai Disney Resort.Zhang Peijian / For China Daily Shanghai police detained 177 ticket scalpers at the city's Disney Resort over the three-day May Day holiday.

On April 29 alone, the first day of the holiday, about 70 scalpers were caught, police said.

The scalpers, who flew to Shanghai from across the country, were selling fast passes for park rides for about 100 yuan ($15) to tourists unwilling to wait up to three hours in line.

"We try to catch these scalpers on peak days like May Day, while on other days police will figure out other ways to break the operation," said Shen Qing, public security chief at Shanghai Disney Resort.

The detained scalpers were lectured about the regulations during an eight-hour session, and promised they wouldn't engage in improper activities. They were also asked to write a letter of repentance.

Scalpers, commonly seen outside venues including hospitals, train stations and popular performances, buy tickets or book appointments in advance and then sell them at inflated prices.

At Shanghai Disney, one of the country's most popular holiday destinations, scalpers smelled an opportunity, both at the gate and inside the park, where the park gives priority passes for rides.

Police said scalpers have a clear division of labor: Some will identify target customers, while others stand in line inside the park to get fast passes to be sold later. These scalpers typically hold season tickets, so the cost of each entry into the park is low, police said.

However, many tourists found that they could not use the fast passes because they could only be used in conjunction with the gate tickets they bought.

To catch the scalpers, plainclothes police officers walked around the ticket office and the main entrance, and located scalping partners who lined up inside the park.

Shen said the number of scalpers at the resort is decreasing, but simply trying to control their behavior won't solve the problem.

"We now spend more time negotiating with Shanghai Disney Resort's representatives and asking them to strengthen their internal management, such as checking ticket information carefully," Shen said.

He Qi contributed to this story.

 

]]> 2017-05-03 07:36:04 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/02/content_29173700.htm ]]>

Ofo bikes along Beijing's East Third Ring Road. CHEN XIAOGEN / FOR CHINA DAILY

Fight by startups to be unicorn of emerging sector proving costly

Painting their bikes in highly conspicuous hues of yellow, orange or blue, China's 30-odd bike-sharing startups sport a parade of colorful branding and are striving to return the nation to its place of honor as the "kingdom of bicycles".

While bike-sharing is no rarity elsewhere in the world, the Chinese version gives wheels to the concept, with customers able to find a free bike anywhere in the city closest to you (located via GPS on an app) and leave them when they are finished in their journeys.

The concept is all the rage among students and young professionals across the nation for being convenient, green and cheap. An average 30-minute ride costs 0.5 yuan (7 cents).

But the fight to become the unicorn of the burgeoning sector has proven to be a rather costly one.

In the latest development, ofo, a leading player featuring iconic yellow bike offerings, was officially added to the line-up of Didi Chuxing, the nation's dominant riding hailing app.

Didi, which drove rival Uber out of the country after years of cash burning, has folded ofo's bike-sharing functions into its "hugely popular app with 400 million users", according to a company statement.

When Didi users want to revert to bicycles as a means of transportation, ofo's service is displayed as an option on Didi's platform, which is already laden with everything from buses and taxis to chauffeur services.

Aside from app integration, Didi said it will tap into ofo's data allowing it to design "more efficient bike-bus transfer options" on its shuttle bus service.

"Didi will involve ofo into its own algorithmic model via artificial intelligence techniques and provide real-time travel options to users," said Neil Wang, China president at consultancy Frost & Sullivan.

This marks a direct counter-punch to ofo's chief competitor Mobike, which in early April got linked into WeChat, the ubiquitous messaging-to-payment app owned by internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, taking the bike-sharing craze to new heights.

The tie-up allows Mobike to be at the immediate disposal of 889 million WeChat users starting a video chat, to browse news and conduct payment via the app. A Mobike icon is placed on the top of an array of e-wallet offerings, which also include Didi's services and ticket booking.

Ofo and Mobike, which are rekindling Chinese people's interest in a traditionally preferred mode of transport, are the latest darling of the capital market.

Following $450 million in Series D funding by a consortium including Didi, the cash-rich smart bike company announced a week earlier fresh strategic investment from Ant Financial Services Group, the nation's top e-payment provider.

Meanwhile, Mobike has attracted more than $300 million in investment so far this year from a list of prominent names including Temasek, Hillhouse Capital, and Tencent.

The landscape is getting red-hot as players compete to be the number one choice for bike riders. By working with Sesame Credit, a credit-rating system developed by Ant Financial, ofo waived a 99 yuan deposit fee for users in Shanghai whose Sesame Credit reached 650.

To fend off competition, rival Mobike is giving deep subsidies through random cash incentives to retain users.

Compared with the enormous input companies need to purchase huge fleets of bikes and make them accessible for rent through an app, the seemingly utopian model has already been subject to skepticism over its ability to turn a profit.

The business model followed by so many bicycle-sharing companies just doesn't appear (yet) to have any competitive advantage, according to Jeffrey Towson, a management professor at Peking University and a private equity investor.

"It doesn't create a superior service like taxi ride-sharing (more drivers means shorter waiting times). It doesn't create a much lower cost structure per unit," he said.

As bikes get fancier and more expensive, it would still take about a year to recoup the production expenses of a bike, not to mention maintenance, theft and vandalism, he added.

"While the market may well consolidate, there is no reason yet to think the business itself will generate any type of exceptional profitability," he said.

But the sector still encourages investors to plow in money and resources because of the huge traffic such apps bring in, said Lu Zhenwang, chief executive officer of Shanghai-based Wanqing Consultancy.

"The area is destined to be a fierce battlefield for internet giants as they strengthen online-to-offline deployment and race to become the prioritized cashless payment tool," he said.

Wang from Frost agreed, saying that the most direct support from Didi is the huge customer base and traffic it owns, which will stimulate the explosion of users as well as daily orders for ofo.

"The WeChat-Mobike linkup has proved that such strategic cooperation does boost the number of active users significantly. In the future, this is not simple investment in money, but in resource sharing in the long run," he said.

]]> 2017-05-02 07:50:52 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-05/02/content_29173699.htm ]]>

Workers at a Foxconn Technology Group plant in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. The tech giant will enhance its production capacity at its plants in Hengyang, Hunan province. WANG LEI / FOR CHINA DAILY

Firm to build precision-molding demonstration park, production center in the city

Foxconn Technology Group plans to open a production center in Central China's Hunan province for Amazon.com Inc, as part of its effort to diversify and reduce its reliance on Apple Inc, according to technology website Digitimes.

The center, based in Hengyang, will produce an array of devices for Amazon, the report said, citing unnamed industry sources.

Foxconn confirmed with China Daily on Monday that it had signed a cooperation agreement with the government of Hengyang, but declined to disclose further details. Amazon declined to comment.

The plan includes building a precision-molding demonstration park and Amazon production center in the city, Digitimes reported.

The report indicated that Foxconn will enhance the production capacity of its plant in Hengyang this year, adding 30 new production lines for audio equipment and tablets, and another 15 lines for smartphones, tablet mainboards and other components.

As a main assembler of Apple's iPhone, Foxconn's expansion plan may indicate that demand for the Amazon Echo, the voice-activated personal assistant, will increase this year, analysts said.

Foxconn and Amazon have been cooperating since 2007, and it is the sole manufacturer of the Amazon Echo.

In January, Foxconn posted its first annual revenue decline since 1991. The tech giant recorded $136.38 billion in revenue in 2016, down 2.81 percent year-on-year, after its biggest client Apple saw slowing iPhones sales.

Foxconn has launched a strategy to reduce its dependence on Apple. Last year, it acquired Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corp to rejuvenate Sharp's television business and increase its production of LCD panels, with an aim to expand its product portfolio.

James Yan, research director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, said Foxconn has a sense of crisis and is trying to reduce its heavy reliance on Apple as the sales performance of Apple's iPhone 6S and 7 is unsatisfactory.

"Foxconn hopes to ramp up its capacity and is unwilling to just rely on a single client," Yan said, adding that Apple is also reducing its dependence on Foxconn, cooperating with other contract manufacturers, such as Pegatron Corp.

Amazon has made efforts in artificial intelligence and machine learning in recent years and has become a client offering Foxconn huge growth potential.

]]> 2017-05-02 07:18:27 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/28/content_29151275.htm ]]>

Shi Xin, vice president of Transn IOL Technology Co Ltd speaks in Beijing on April 26, 2017. [Photo/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Companies have increasingly been encouraged by the Belt and Road Initiative for going global, said a senior executive of a leading information processing and service provider in China.

"Driven by the initiative, many more Chinese companies have participated in more projects in economies along the Belt and Road Initiative with more investment," said Shi Xin, vice president of Transn IOL Technology Co Ltd, a language service platform based on big data and mobile internet technologies.

"Their businesses expanded from the traditional international engineering sector to equipment manufacturing and cultural and media sectors," Shi added.

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, consisting of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims to promote the interconnectivity between Asia and the rest of the world through two ancient trade routes.

According to the Ministry of Commerce's latest data, China's trade with economies along the Belt and Road Initiative saw 26.2 percent growth year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017.

During the same period, China's non-financial outbound direct investment in 43 economies along the Belt and Road reached $2.95 billion, accounting for 14.4 percent of the country's total.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing, will mean an increase in this trend, Shi added.

"Actually, the forum itself has brought an outburst of our language service business since last year. The forum has great impact and a lot of companies and institutions are getting prepared for it, involving lots of translation and investigative work," Shi said.

Another new trend on Chinese companies' road towards going global is that more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been attracted to the overseas market, Shi added. "Although our service to SMEs accounts for only about 30 percent in our whole business, it grows 40 to 50 percent annually."

Compared with large enterprises, SMEs are more cost sensitive and care more about short-term returns. In order to facilitate their overseas operations and solve their concerns, Transn offers tailored products for SMEs, such as TransnBox, an interpreting device with 12 languages.

Packaged solutions are also available for SMEs, including market research, bidding, design, construction and acceptance services.

"The initiative is expected to involve more and more countries, which will be a great challenge for us to offer language services, especially for some unpopular languages. We will strengthen our cooperation with universities and institutions for more talents," Shi said.

]]> 2017-04-28 18:07:09 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/28/content_29151274.htm ]]>

Company logos of China Unicom are displayed at a news conference during the company's announcement of its annual results in Hong Kong, China, March 16, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

TIANJIN - Telecom giant China Unicom will lower international roaming charges in countries and regions along the Belt and Road starting May 1.

Roaming fees for calls made by China Unicom users will fall by an average 52 percent in 17 countries and regions, while data roaming fees will fall by an average 75 percent in 19 countries and regions.

The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China in 2013 consists of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond ancient Silk Road trade routes.

Earlier this week, China Mobile, the country's leading telecom services provider, announced that it would lower roaming charges in 64 countries and regions along the Belt and Road starting May 1.

]]> 2017-04-28 11:14:49 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/26/content_29101265.htm ]]>

A potential homebuyer checks out a property project in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Dec 17, 2016. [Photo by Long Wei / Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING - Wang Tao, 35, spent all his savings putting downpayments on three apartments in three separate counties in Hebei province, each more than 70 kilometers apart.

Before March, there was no shortage of property speculators like Wang, but as regulators reined in rocketing property prices, markets have since cooled.

In Beijing, a month after the Chinese capital rolled-out over a dozen property market regulations, many real estate agents are on vacation or leaving their jobs.

Starting from March 17, Beijing adopted 12 measures, including higher downpayments for second home buyers and tighter scrutiny of credit and tax payment records.

"If we compare two weeks before and after the policies, the number of people in Beijing who visited their target houses dropped more than 42 percent," said Yang Xianling, head of a research arm with Lianjia, China' s biggest real estate broker chain.

From last September to this April, at least 45 Chinese cities have adopted restrictive measures to contain runaway housing prices a total of 140 times, according to Centaline Property.

Most notably, controls have been intensified in three key regions of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in northern China, the Yangtze River Delta region in the east and the Pearl River Delta region in the south.

By April, more than 20 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and nearby areas have restricted housing purchase to tackle property speculation and rising house prices.

Restrictions taking effect

Home buyers readily quote latest the policies to endorse their purchase decisions, including the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, moving non-capital functions from Beijing to Hebei, and the promising Xiongan New Area,

"There has never been a golden time like this for 'Huanjing' (surrounding Beijing), so I banked all I have on this land of hope," Wang said.

Massive development plans outside Beijing have driven up housing investment interest. Parents buy houses for children at college. The elderly eye retirement residences, or people make purchases in anticipation of strong gains.

"However, when the property market gets too hot it will hollow out resources for development, much less for industrial restructuring in regions like Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei," said Zhang Dawei, a senior analyst with Centaline Property.

"Strong regulation must be in place to squeeze out the bubble and to make it difficult for those who buy and sell for quick cash," he said.

In Yongqing and Xianghe counties of Hebei, both an hour drive from Beijing, non-locals can only buy one apartment, with a downpayment of at least 50 percent.

"Restrictive measures have taken effect. The number of non-local buyers has been falling," said Li Jianle, deputy director of housing department in Zhuozhou city.

According to Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, in the week ending April 16, a total of 651 second-hand homes were sold, an 18.7 percent drop from the week ending March 17, when regulators first took action.

Of the 13 districts in Beijing, property prices have fallen in at least eight of them, according to Lianjia.

Supply-side reform

"Every six to eight months, a new round of tightening measures needs to be adopted. Otherwise, the effects would soon weaken, as demand is still strong," said Zhang Hongwei, chief researcher with Shanghai-based real estate consultant firm Tospur.

Observers have said that besides short-term policies on the demand side, regulators also needed to act on the supply side.

In a bid to stabilize market expectation, Beijing announced plans to increase land supply over the next five years. From 2017 to 2021, Beijing will add 1.5 million more homes, with 500,000 of them for rent.

According to a meeting Tuesday attended by members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, a mechanism ensuring the stable and long-term development of the property market will be introduced.

"The basic need for houses should be met, but speculative behavior will be discouraged. The rent market will be further developed," said Zhao Xiuchi, director of land resources and property management department at the Capital University of Economic and Business.

]]> 2017-04-26 17:27:23 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/26/content_29101264.htm ]]>

Workers load steel products at a logistics park in Yichang, Hubei province. [Photo/China Daily]

BEIJING - China's crude steel output grew 4.6 percent year-on-year to 201.1 million tons in the first quarter of 2017, an industry association said Wednesday.

In the first three months, China's steel exports declined 25 percent year on year to 20.73 million tons, the China Iron and Steel Association said in a press release.

Steel exports to the United States plunged 51.76 percent year-on-year in 2016 to 1.17 million tons, accounting for 1.08 percent of China's total steel exports.

Wang Yingsheng, deputy secretary general of the association, said the US stance on investigating steel imports would not exert much influence on China's steel industry.

In the first quarter, sales revenues of China's steel companies rose by more than 40 percent year-on-year to hit a total of 839.3 billion yuan ($122 billion).

China's over-supplied steel sector has experienced years of plunging prices and factory shutdowns due to a sluggish economy. However, with an upward trend in prices since the start of 2016, many steel mills are resuming production.

The central government has reiterated that cutting overcapacity is high on its reform agenda in 2017 as excess capacity in sectors such as steel and coal has weighed on the country's economic performance.

Its 2016 target to cut 45 million tons was achieved ahead of schedule.

China plans to reduce steel output by an additional 100 million to 150 million tons by 2020.

]]> 2017-04-26 17:27:09 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/25/content_29085206.htm ]]>

Zheng Suzhen. [Photo from Sina Weibo]

An 85-year-old granny in the Eastern Chinese city of Xiamen in Fujian province has caused an online sensation for her unusual, positive attitude towards life despite experiencing many difficulties, local media reported.

Zheng Suzhen, born in 1933 to a poor family, still likes riding the merry-go-round, not with her peers, but with her great-granddaughter.

Zheng lost her father at age 9 and received no education. From an early age, and to support her family, she tried her hand at all kinds of labor-intensive work usually reserved for men, ranging from raising pigs to farming and fishing.

At 40 years old and with her husband having passed away, she had to raise seven children by herself.

Though her children competed to invite her to live with them, Zheng prefers to live by herself and says she is still young enough to try new things. She had her eyebrows trimmed and bought facial masks after seeing they are part of life for young women.

At 80 years old, she travelled alone to Hong Kong. Two years later, she visited Taiwan by herself, taking a ship and various flights. To make her family members feel at ease, she lied that she was traveling with a group.

She now keeps a good routine every day, starting her morning with exercise and drinking tea. Sometimes she takes a bus for four hours to buy her favorite wine, making six stops on the journey.

Her curiosity about life and passion for exploring new possibilities have inspired many online.

]]> 2017-04-25 07:41:14 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/25/content_29085205.htm ]]>

A villager shows a cultured scorpion in Nongjingtun village of Qibainong township in Dahua Yao autonomous county, South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, March 21, 2017. Poverty-stricken towns in Guangxi region, such as Qibai, Bansheng and Yalong, are featured with harsh living environment due to water and cropland shortage in the karst landform. Local government has made efforts to carry out poverty alleviation projects, such as building water boxes, renovating thatched houses and developing poultry and livestock industry for local residents. [Photo/Xinhua]

Power workers renew electric transmission line in Nongjing village of Qibainong township in Dahua Yao autonomous county. [Photo/Xinhua] Villagers build a water box in Nongxiong village of Qibainong township in Dahua Yao autonomous county. [Photo/Xinhua] Photo taken on March 24, 2017 shows spiral terraced fields piled up by stones in Nongcong village of Bansheng township in Dahua Yao autonomous county. [Photo/Xinhua] Workers carry water pipes for building a drought resistance project on a mountain road in Nonglei village of Bansheng township in Dahua Yao autonomous county. [Photo/Xinhua] Photo taken on March 24, 2017 shows a village road in Nongxiong village of Qibainong township. [Photo/Xinhua] Villagers drink water at a break of building a road in Guzhu village of Qibainong township. [Photo/Xinhua] Villagers have their home relocated at places adjacent to a road in Nongteng village of Qibainong township. [Photo/Xinhua] Aerial photo taken on April 21, 2017 shows a village road under construction in Bansheng township. [Photo/Xinhua] Lan Zhiping (L), village secretary of Nongxiong Village, examines poultry growth in a poverty-stricken family in Nongxiong village of Qibainong township. [Photo/Xinhua] A villager sells pigs in Nonghe Village of Qibainong township. [Photo/Xinhua] Water boxes are built around villagers' houses in Nongxiong village of Qibainong township. [Photo/Xinhua]

]]> 2017-04-25 08:05:59 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/24/content_29066724.htm ]]> Nation's first passenger jet includes innovations beyond Boeing, Airbus

The C919, China's first domestically produced passenger jet, undergoes its fourth high-speed taxiing test in Shanghai on Sunday. YIN LIQIN/CHINA DAILY

The C919, the much-anticipated first commercial aircraft for passengers to be made in China, has taken another step closer to its maiden flight by completing its fourth high-speed taxiing test on Sunday in Shanghai.

It was the C919's first test with the front landing gear of the plane slightly lifted to simulate takeoff.

The single-aisle, 168-seat, twin-engine jet is now just one step away from its first flight, according to Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, the State-owned manufacturer.

Also on Saturday, the C919 received a flight permit from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. It has acquired all the necessary certificates to prepare for its first flight.

Wang Yanan, editor-in-chief of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said high-speed taxiing tests are usually conducted at speeds of 230 to 260 kilometers per hour. Judging from current progress, the C919 may need only a few more ground tests, if any, he said.

"Usually, every high-speed test on the ground will be conducted at a faster speed than the previous one, becoming increasingly similar to the real conditions of takeoff. It could be approved quickly if everything went right and no big technical faults occurred," Wang said.

Fu Qianshao, a researcher at an aviation magazine affiliated with the People's Liberation Army Air Force, said the airliner boasts a series of design and technology innovations based on in-depth research into its international counterparts－specifically Boeing's B737 and the Airbus A320.

For instance, the C919's front windshield consists of only four pieces, a design that is said to be more fuel efficient and stronger than designs with more panels.

"Do not underestimate the importance of windshield design," Fu said. "Compared with the Boeing 737's traditional six panels of windshield glass, it is a huge improvement when it comes to the strength of its body structure, air resistance and fuel efficiency."

Also, to accommodate more powerful turbofan engines, the C919's designers needed to strengthen the landing gear of the aircraft and make them taller.

The domestically manufactured plane, which uses a great deal of composite materials, is expected to be relatively light and fuel-efficient compared with its competitors, including the updated A320 and the new-generation B737, which currently dominate the market.

So far, COMAC had received 570 orders for the C919 from 23 clients, including domestic airlines such as Air China, China Southern, China Eastern, Hainan Airlines and Sichuan Airlines.

Overseas orders account for about 10 percent of the total, including airlines from Germany and Thailand, and others from the Asia Pacific region and Africa.

]]> 2017-04-24 06:46:29 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/24/content_29066722.htm ]]>

Liu Zhigang stands in front of his motor tricycle in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Heilongjiang Yunda Express awarded 5,000 yuan ($730) to Liu Zhigang on April 17 for his heroism.

The 47-year-old dispatch worker at a Yunda delivery-service station in Heilongjiang province's capital, Harbin, who had earlier lost an arm, helped an elderly blind man escape from a fire.

His story went viral online. Some netizens call him the "hero in the fire".

A first-floor convenience story in Harbin's Pingfang district caught flame, and the blaze swiftly spread to the balcony of a neighboring apartment while Liu was delivering packages nearby on April 12.

The heat had shattered the glass. Liu noticed the old man groping around in thick smoke.

Liu jumped up onto the balcony without hesitation and led the blind man outside.

"It was windy, and the fire could have easily spread into the room if it was not controlled," Liu said. "And I saw a fridge on the balcony. It could have been really dangerous if it exploded."

After ushering the man to safety, Liu kept taking water from the convenience store to toss on the flames.

He was able to keep the fire at bay.

But he left without a word after the fire trucks arrived.

"He didn't say anything about the fire after he returned," says Xiao Ya, a customer-service representative at the station.

"So we didn't know anything about it until local media reported it."

But colleagues were not surprised. "Of course, he'd rush in if faced with this scenario. He's very kind and willing to help others. He helps me finish my job before break time every day at noon," Xiao said.

He is also hardworking, she said.

"He delivers to three residential communities and one school. He once delivered 180 packages in one day. We've never received complaints since he joined."

Liu lost his right arm in an accident when he was working in a factory in Hebei province's Tangshan.

Heilongjiang Yunda Express manager Wang Xiangchun said: "I hope all Yunda employees can learn from Liu and help others."

Liu gave another 5,000 yuan that the Alibaba Foundation had earlier awarded him to his mother.

"She's the person I care about most. And she was really worried about me after she found out what I did."

]]> 2017-04-24 07:39:20 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/21/content_29035673.htm ]]>

An attendee at the Microsoft Ignite technology conference walks past the Hewlett-Packard (HP) logo in Chicago, US. [Photo/Agencies]

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc signed strategic partnership with HP Inc on Thursday, a move aimed at boosting its strength to compete in the growing enterprise market in the country.

Under the deal, the two sides will enhance cooperation in product development, sales, marketing and customer services, connecting the sales platform and brand to offer clients better services.

Hu Shengli, president of JD.com Inc's 3C business department, said the two companies aimed to offer high-quality products and services to meet clients' changing needs.

"Instead of simply copying the offline experiences, we will focus on industry exploration and networking. Supported by JD's technology capability and platform, it will be a win-win game."

"We two will especially work together to provide customer services, which will help reduce the cost and offer better user experiences."

With the help of JD.com's big data technology, HP Inc will be able to better target the enterprise market, introducing more customized products and industry solutions accordingly, the company said.

According to a report released by market research company IDC in April, HP Inc took back the top spot in the global PC market by shipment for the first quarter this year, followed by its rival Lenovo.

Zhuang Zhengsong, president of HP Greater China Region, said HP will take JD.com as its priority sales platform and will work with JD.com to bring more products for corporate clients.

]]> 2017-04-21 10:34:57 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/21/content_29035672.htm ]]>

Tencent said in a statement that it had to shut down the tipping service function to comply with new rules issued by Apple. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Tencent Holdings Ltd closed a popular service on WeChat which allows iPhone users to offer tips to content creators, signaling the tension between the Chinese social networking giant and US tech company Apple Inc.

The move came as Tencent aggressively builds its own ecosystem by promoting paid reading on WeChat, which has about 889 million users. Meanwhile, Apple banks on iPhone users spending more within its iOS ecosystem to boost its service revenue.

Tencent said in a statement that it had to shut down the tipping service function to comply with new rules issued by Apple, which banned developers from including buttons or links that direct customers to purchasing systems outside of its iOS ecosystem.

The Shenzhen-based company has more than 10 million official accounts run by individuals and enterprises which deliver news, comments and analysis to users. Tipping plays a significant role in boosting content quality as writers compete with each other for more cash rewards.

Apple said in a statement on Wednesday that the new rule applies to all app developers within its iOS ecosystem and WeChat can adopt the in-app purchase method to enable consumers to tip writers.

The US company can rake in 30 percent of every iOS in-app purchase as commission fees.

China gained the top spot for iOS App Store sales in 2016, with Chinese consumers spending more than $2 billion at the iOS App Store in the fourth quarter of last year, according to data from mobile analytics company App Annie.

Lu Zhenwang, CEO of the Shanghai-based Wanqing Consultancy, said the dispute stems from Tencent's attempt to develop mini apps, which can undermine Apple iOS App Store's presence in China.

"The two sides have conflicting interests at some point," Lu said.

Li Hanlin, writer of Si Jiu Cheng, a popular WeChat official account, said: "iPhone users account for over half of our official account subscribers, and they tend to tip because of their relatively higher salaries. The change may lead to a roughly 50 percent decrease in our tipping income."

But official accounts can also make money through advertisements.

Contact the writers through masi@chinadaily.com.cn

]]> 2017-04-21 08:15:28 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/18/content_28985081.htm ]]>

A couple in South China's Shenzhen has proved that bike-sharing also can be romantic. On Sunday-their wedding day, instead of limo convoy, the groom used bike brigade to pick up the bride, to evade the frequent road jams. [Photo/VCG]

The newlywed pose for a photo on their wedding day. [Photo/VCG] The groom and the bride ride sharing bikes on their wedding day. [Photo/VCG] Around 30 sharing bikes are put into use in the bridal procession. [Photo/VCG] The groom and his groomsmen pose for a photo. [Photo/VCG] The groom and the bride ride sharing bikes on their wedding day. [Photo/VCG] The newlywed pose for a photo on their wedding day. [Photo/VCG]

]]> 2017-04-18 08:06:19 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/17/content_28967779.htm ]]>

China's first domestically produced passenger plane completes a high-speed taxi test for the first time in Shanghai on Sunday. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's first domestically produced passenger plane completed a high-speed taxi test for the first time in Shanghai on Sunday, just one step away from its maiden flight, thepaper.cn reported.

The COMAC C919 rolled off the assembly line on Nov 2, 2015, and was delivered to the flight test center in December.

The Shanghai-based State-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd, its manufacturer, has completed most of ground-based pre-flight evaluations, including the low-speed and medium-speed taxi test, to examine the whole aircraft and its key components and connecting parts.

It will conduct more high-speed taxiing tests at a speed of up to 170 kilometers per hour before its first flight scheduled in the first half of this year.

With more than 150 seats and a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, the locally designed and built aircraft marks a significant milestone in Chinese manufacturing, as China moves up the global production chain.

The plane is expected to compete with the updated Airbus 320 and Boeing Co's new-generation 737, which currently dominate the market.

By the end of 2016, a total of 21 customers had placed orders for more than 500 C919 aircraft, and COMAC expects to sell at least 2,000.

]]> 2017-04-17 13:28:37 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/17/content_28967775.htm ]]>

A fisherman shows a Spanish mackerel during the Mackerel Festival in Qingdao, Shandong province, April 17, 2017. [Photo by Wang Yonghong/chinadaily.com.cn]

Qingdao, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, is rich in seafood, such as Spanish mackerel. Every April, crowds of mackerel swim to the fishing grounds in Qingdao's Laoshan district, and local fishermen enjoy the catch.

However, mackerel have a special and deeper significance for locals, besides being April's must-eat table delicacy. Legend has it that there was an orphan boy named Little Wu, who was later adopted by a kindhearted old couple. The couple was hardworking and righteous, and Little Wu grew up and also became an honest and benevolent man, so the old couple let their daughter marry him.

To repay the couple's kindness, Little Wu worked hard every day. One day his father-in-law was suddenly struck ill, and wanted to have fish before dying. However, a consistent strong wind prevented the launch of all fishing boats. The father-in-law's health became worse and worse, but Little Wu risked his life and went fishing.

When Little Wu finally came back home with a big, fresh mackerel, the father-in-law had passed away. Little Wu and his wife were sad and cried. They cooked the fish and sacrificed it at the father's shrine. Later, the young couple worshipped at their father's tomb with fresh mackerel every spring.

Dancers perform during the Mackerel Festival in Qingdao, Shandong province, April 17, 2017. [Photo by Wang Yonghong/chinadaily.com.cn]

For hundreds of years since then, it's become a local tradition for married men to present mackerel to parents-in-law to show their benevolence.

In the 1980s Laoshan district government even set a day every April to celebrate the Mackerel Festival. The festival is aimed at raising more social awareness of caring for the elderly. The festival has been listed as a district-level intangible cultural heritage. This year the festival started Monday and runs till May 1.

Spanish mackerel are distributed in the Western Pacific and spread to China's shores via the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. At the Shazikou fishing port in Laoshan, mackerel is more highly prized than other fish due to its delicate and dense meat, caused by the fish's habitat in cooler waters.

]]> 2017-04-17 19:45:11 http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/guizhou/2017-04/14/content_28929391.htm 2017-04-17 10:57:07 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/15/content_28950445.htm ]]>

Workers pack bottles of liquor at the Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd plant in Maotai, a town in southwestern China's Guizhou province. [JIANG DONG/CHINA DAILY]

Leading liquor producer posts hefty first-quarter gains in production, sales

The share price of leading Chinese liquor producer Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd reached a new high during intraday trading on Friday, boosted by its pleasing business performance in the first quarter of the year.

The share price of Kweichow Moutai, listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, rose to the highest point of 399.88 yuan ($58.18) on Friday before profit takers moved in and it closed at 395.5 yuan, for a 0.7 percent retreat on its Thursday close.

Moutai produced 22,455 metric tons of the white spirit in the first quarter, increasing 15.6 percent year-on-year, and it sold 23,360 tons from January to March, increasing 27.3 percent year-on-year, according to its official website.

Moutai said its Q1 revenue totaled 16 billion yuan, increasing 24.3 percent year-on-year and profit came in at 7 billion yuan, up 13.1 percent year-on-year.

China Merchants Securities Co analyst Yang Yongsheng said in a report that domestic liquor consumption had recovered and Moutai was benefitting from the consumption upgrading and its strong brand influence.

Wholesalers have low inventories and demand is strong, Yang added.

"We believe Moutai will enter a more brilliant era and forecast its share price will reach 500 yuan in a year," Yang added.

Kweichow Moutai overtook Diageo Plc to become the world's top liquor producer by market value last week. Moutai shares rose to 392.9 yuan on April 7, taking its total capitalization to 493.5 billion yuan ($71.7 billion), surpassing Diageo's 57.4 billion pounds ($71.2 billion).

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.91 percent to close at 3,246.1 points on Friday. The Shenzhen Component Index declined by 1.26 percent, while the ChiNext startup index fell by 1.2 percent.

Stocks related to the newly announced Xiongan New Area in Hebei province performed weakly on Friday. Hesteel Company Ltd, Hebei Sitong New Metal Material Co Ltd, Jointo Energy Investment Co and Silvery Dragon Prestressed Materials Co Ltd led the decline on the day.

Listed companies in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region became popular as the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the autonomous region was drawing near. Inner Mongolia Eerduosi Resources Co Ltd, Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co Ltd and Inner Mongolia MengDian HuaNeng Thermal Power Corp Ltd led the rise.

]]> 2017-04-15 09:45:40 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/15/content_28950444.htm ]]>

PetroChina's petrol station is pictured in Beijing, China, March 21, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The 1,454-km Kazakh-China link will transport 5 billion cu m annually

A new strategically important natural gas pipeline running from southern Kazakhstan to China began operating on Friday, China National Petroleum Corp said in a statement.

The company said the pipeline, which has annual installed transportation capacity of 6 billion cubic meters of gas, will help ensure diversification of the nation's gas supplies.

The 1,454 kilometer pipeline is being jointly operated by CNPC Trans-Asia Pipeline Co Ltd and Kazakhstan's state KazTransGaz－and will provide China with 5 billion cu m of natural gas each year－according to Asia's biggest oil and gas producer CNPC.

CNPC said it is a key energy project between the two countries as well as a significant part of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline, which starts at Turkmen-Uzbek border city Gedaim and runs through central Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan before reaching Horgos in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

According to the State-owned CNPC, which provides more than two-thirds of the country's natural gas, the pipeline is a typical project along the Belt and Road Initiative and Kazakhstan is located in a prominent position.

Analysts said the new natural gas pipeline would further diversify China's sources of gas imports and followed the China-Russia crude oil pipeline, the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline as well as the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline, which started operations on Monday.

Li Li, energy research director at ICIS China, a consulting company that provides analysis of China's energy market, said there is also a chance that China might face a gas surplus.

Li said the growth of China's gas consumption had also moderated since the start of the economic slowdown.

A bonus was that the safety standards for pipeline transmissions were much higher and the project would also ensure a stable energy supply to China, she added.

A researcher at State-owned China National Petroleum Corp in November said the country could face a gas surplus of 50 billion cu m a year by 2020, due to long-term contracts for imports of liquefied natural gas and pipeline expansion plans, energy news agency Platts reported.

CNPC said the pipeline would also provide more than 2,000 jobs for locals and provide natural gas for more than 1.5 million local residents.

The start of gas flows at the southern Kazakhstan natural gas pipeline followed news that a CNPC unit specializing in oil engineering, manufacturing and construction－China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp－signed a contract with Russian gas giant Gazprom to take part in the construction of the Amur gas processing plant, a move to further secure domestic gas supplies.

]]> 2017-04-15 09:23:48 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/13/content_28919528.htm ]]>

A passenger buys a train ticket at a subway station in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, April 4, 2017. [Photo/VCG]

The ticket prices for high-speed trains shuttling between coastal cities in Southeast China will be raised for the first time from next Friday, according to a report by the China Business Network.

The price hikes involves bullet trains running from Shanghai to Hangzhou, from Hangzhou to Ningbo, and from Ningbo to Shenzhen.

Prices will go up by more than 50 percent for most first-class seats of bullet trains traveling on the 1,309 km route from Ningbo to Shenzhen, while the prices for second-class seats on this route will climb by 16 to 20 percent, the CBN cited information from the online customer service portal of China Railway Corporation.

The prices for second-class seats from Shanghai to Hangzhou and from Hangzhou to Ningbo will rise by more than 10 percent.

The markup shows an attempt towards market-oriented reform of the railway sector, and will help the railway operator reduce losses and make the railway sector more attractive to private capital, said analysts.

Earlier reports by the People's Daily show that high-speed trains in the coastal region of Southeast China have been suffering losses despite a daily schedule of 622 trains and a high average load factor of more than 80 percent.

Currently, the ticket prices of high-speed trains in the southeastern coastal area follow the standards for high-grade soft seats that were adopted in 1997, which are lower than highway fairs in the region, according to a source with the China Railway Corp.

Take the fare for the section from Xiamen to Shenzhen as an example. Traveling by highway takes eight hours and costs 372 yuan ($54), while traveling by second-class seat bullet train takes 3.5 hours and costs 150 yuan.

After the markup, bullet trains still enjoy advantage in traveling time and ticket price, an official of the China Railway Corp said earlier.

Sun Zhang, professor of the Institute of Rail Transit of Tongji University, said high-speed train prices should reflect both public and commercial benefits.

It is feasible for the southeastern coastal region to pilot the markup of bullet train prices as the region is more economically developed and high-income and business people place priority on fast and comfortable services and are less sensitive to price changes, he added.

Improvement in railway returns will help attract more private capital into the sector and serves the sustainable development of high-speed railway construction, he said.

Construction on the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou high-speed railway, China's first high-speed railway private-public-partnership (PPP) project, started December last year. Private investment in the project accounts for 51 percent of the total.

As the largest centrally administered Stated-owned enterprise (SOE), the China Railway Corp boasts total assets of 6 trillion yuan. The SOE said at the beginning of the year that it will give priority to mixed ownership reform this year.

The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of the last year called for pragmatic steps in the mixed ownership reform in the railway sector in 2017.

]]> 2017-04-13 14:19:43 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/13/content_28919527.htm ]]>

Tourists pose for a photograph in front of the Xiongxian government building in North China's Hebei province, April 8, 2017. The building has become a new attraction after an announcement came that the county would be part of the Xiongan New Area. [Photo/VCG] XIONGAN NEW AREA — Expansive economic zone in the making, Xiongan New Area is like a magnet for those seeking fortune.

Since an announcement was made April 1, people have crowded squares and streets in front of government buildings in Xiongxian, Anxin and Rongcheng counties, taking photos, exchanging information and looking for places to set up shop.

When a brief property craze died down, private entrepreneurs, internet engineers, scholars, restaurateurs and lawyers came here, joined by ministries and State-owned companies from Beijing. More than two dozen State-owned enterprises have pledged support for development of the new area.

Feng Chuan, 28, drove with his wife and a friend to the gates of Xiongxian county government on the weekend.

"I come to see for myself what Xiongan looks like now, and to understand why this area was chosen. I should be prepared for future opportunities here," Feng said.

Feng quit a well-paying post at Standard Chartered Bank to work with a software firm in Tianjin. "Xiongan will become the capital of innovation in the future. We are looking for opportunities in the internet industry," he said.

"I hope specific plans for the area will be made public as soon as possible," Feng added.

"We hope to start our own business and make the first bucket of money in our life," said his wife Bi Ying, giggling shyly.

A family from Changzhou, Jiangsu province, about 1,000 kilometers to the southeast, drove here overnight to look into the possibility of opening a branch of their restaurant business here.

"People have to eat, right?" said Yu Hongping, the father.

On April 1, China announced plans to create Xiongan New Area, a new economic zone about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing. The new area spans the counties of Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin in Hebei, and is home to Baiyangdian, a major wetland in northern China.

Chinese leaders hope the new area will help address severe "urban ills" of traffic congestion and air pollution in Beijing, by curbing the capital's population growth and moving non-capital functions out of Beijing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, called for efforts to build Xiongan into "a demonstration area for innovative development."

"General Secretary Xi has set the goal, we need to figure out how to realize it, how to innovate," an official with the preparatory committee of Xiongan told Xinhua.

"Xiongan is a move to adjust China's economic and spacial structure," said Xu Kuangdi, a renowned metallurgist and former mayor of Shanghai. Xu is also director of an experts council for coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

"Xiongan represents a strategic effort to seek coordinated development between big cities and small towns. It is a ground to test new economic growth models and push for supply-side reform," Xu said.

Growth based on innovation, new ideas and methods, not exports or investment, is seen as a solution to China's growth conundrum. Top Chinese leaders have called for efforts to eliminate barriers to innovation and unleash productivity.

Experts said new rules regarding household registration and real estate management may be enforced in Xiongan, which is expected to be an example of a future city in China.

Xiongan New Area will initially cover around 100 square km and expand to 2,000 square km in the long term. Location of the central area and industrial layout, among other details, have yet to be published.

An official with the preparatory committee said they might welcome hi-tech industries such as 5G communications, bio-medicine, artificial intelligence and internet finance industries.

"There will not be large communities like Tiantongyuan in northern Beijing, no broad streets, but a green, organically connected and well-functioning place, a forest city, you might call it," the official said.

According to a government circular on Xiongan, the three counties feature geological advantages, convenient transport, an excellent environment and ample room for development.

"There are never any traffic jams here," said Zhou Jinhua, a retailer who sells doors, in Rongcheng County.

 

]]> 2017-04-13 10:51:49 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/12/content_28902418.htm ]]>CHANGSHA - Coca-Cola, the global leader in the beverage industry, announced Tuesday that its biggest bottling plant in Central China began operating in Hunan province. The new plant is designed to accommodate nine production lines -- four for water products, four for sparkling beverages and one for juice and juice drinks. Four lines were put into operation Tuesday and another five lines are expected to be launched by 2020. As the first Coca-Cola plant in Hunan with non-sparkling beverage production lines, the annual production capacity is expected to hit one billion liters. Coca-Cola invested 320 million yuan (41 million U.S. dollars) to build the plant, a key part of the company's investment plan of four billion dollars in China between 2015 and 2017. "China is our third-largest market by volume, and we remain upbeat about the potential for growth throughout the market," said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola. "Over the past few years, China's consumer market has undergone significant structural change and we have continued to invest and adapt to ensure we are best serving our consumers and customers in a fast-changing market." The new plant will be operated by COFCO Coca-Cola Huazhong Beverages, a joint venture founded by Coca-Cola and China's COFCO Corporation.

 

]]> 2017-04-12 07:02:59 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/11/content_28885142.htm ]]> Ke Jie

Ke Jie competes in a match in Huaian, Jiangsu province, Dec 20, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Artificial intelligence program AlphaGo will compete against China's best Go players at the Future of Go Summit in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, between May 23 and 27.

Ke Jie, 19, who became the youngest champion in Go history to win three world titles within the space of one year between January 2015 and January 2016, will take on AlphaGo on May 23-27 in three rounds of regular games.

To turn the event more competitive, Chinese go players Gu Li and Lian Xiao will team up with AlphaGo separately, while five players - Shi Yue, Mi Yuting, Tang Weixing, Chen Yaoye and Zhou Ruiyang - will form a team to compete against AlphaGo.

Let's take a look at challengers ready to go head-to-head with AlphaGo.

Gu Li

Go player Gu Li at a competition in Lang Fang, Hebei province, Nov 5, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Gu Li, who ranks 18th among Chinese professional Go players, has won eight world titles since winning the first gold in 2006.

Lian Xiao

Go player Lian Xiao competes at the 2016 Nongshim Cup in Shanghai, March 5, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Lian Xiao,winner of the Richo Cup and the Nongshim Cup, ranks third in China and 11th in the world.

Shi Yue

Go player Shi Yue competes at the Samsung Insurance World Masters Baduk finals in Shanghai, Dec 9, 2015. [Photo/VCG]

Shi Yue, winner of the LG Cup and runner-up of the Ricoh Cup, ranks sixth in the word.

Mi Yuting

Go player Mi Yuting competes in Suzhou, Zhejiang province, April 24, 2015. [Photo/VCG]

Mi Yuting, who won the first world championship in 2013 Mlily Cup, ranks fourth in the world.

Tang Weixing

Go player Tang Weixing raises the Ing Cup in Shanghai, Oct 26, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Tang Weixing beat Lee Sedol in the 18th Samsung Cup in 2013. He ranks 20th among domestic players.

Chen Yaoye

Go player Chen Yaoye at a Tianyuan Competition in 2014 in Tongli, Jiangsu province, April 22, 2014. [Photo/VCG]

Chen Yaoye, winner of the Tianyuan Competition from 2009-2016, ranks 12th in the world.

Zhou Ruiyang

Go player Zhou Ruiyang draws a lot before a competition in Langfang, Hebei province, Nov 5, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

Zhou Ruiyang, winner of the Ricoh Cup in 2013, ranks fifth worldwide.

]]> 2017-04-11 15:13:38 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/11/content_28885141.htm ]]>

Visitors walk past of a Boeing Business Jet 787 aircraft during the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE) at Cointrin airport in Geneva, Switzerland, May 24, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

SHANGHAI - Boeing Business Jets (BBJ) has seen continuous growth in China and has a fleet of 29 BBJ aircraft in operation in the market, said Boeing at a business airshow in Shanghai Tuesday.

"The figure shows that the BBJ fleet has tripled [in China] over the last five years in this burgeoning market," said Greg Laxton, vice-president with Boeing Business Jets, at the 2017 Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition.

"We are confident that strong growth will continue in China. We expect the new BBJ MAX family to be very popular in this market with additional cabin space and significant range increases."

Boeing said the BBJ fleet in China would continue to expand in 2017 with two BBJs, one BBJ 2 and one BBJ 787 entering service. In 2018, two BBJ MAX 8s will be delivered to customers.

Boeing Business Jets has signed an agreement with Ameco Beijing to serve as an official BBJ Warranty Service Center. The agreement allows BBJ customers in China to receive customized support for their aircraft.

"We are committed to offering world-class customer support to customers in China. This new agreement is another way for them to access support that is fast and customized to their specific needs," Laxton said.

Boeing and GE jointly initiated Boeing Business Jets in 1996. To date the company has more than 400 jets in operation worldwide.

]]> 2017-04-11 17:07:42 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/10/content_28885083.htm ]]>

Xiang Junbo, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), adjusts his glasses during a news conference on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, on March 12, 2016.[Photo/VCG] Xiang Junbo, chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, is under investigation by China's top anti-graft authority, according to an online statement published on Sunday.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China said in its online statement that Xiang was being investigated for suspected serious violation of the Party's code of conduct.

The investigation began after China's top leadership vowed to contain systemic financial risks.

Xiang, 60, has headed the insurance commission and served as a member of the monetary policy committee of the Chinese central bank since 2011.

The insurance regulator under Xiang had stepped up the crackdown on the radical acquisition of listed companies by the insurers and their risky and highly leveraged investments using short-term proceeds from sales of high-yield policies.

Xiang told a news conference in February the insurance sector should not be the "club of the rich" or a "hideout for financial titans".

He also warned that the regulator will "severely punish" short-term speculation by insurers and their hostile takeovers of listed companies' stakes.

His agency also banned Chinese business tycoon Yao Zhenhua, chairman of the private conglomerate Baoneng Group, from the insurance industry for 10 years for illegal investments.

Xiang oversaw the rapid growth of China's insurance sector, with total assets reaching 15.1 trillion yuan ($2.19 trillion) at the end of 2016, tripling since its assets reached 5 trillion yuan in 2010.

Xiang, one of the most prominent financial regulators in China, served as deputy governor of the People's Bank of China between 2004 and 2007. Later he served as the chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China, one of the big five State-owned commercial banks. He oversaw the shareholding restructure of the bank, listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2010.

Xiang also had extensive experience in auditing and served as the deputy auditor-general of the National Audit Office.

Separately on Sunday, the top anti-graft authority also announced the investigation of Li Changjun, former Party chief and president of the Beijing Branch of the Export-Import Bank of China, for suspected serious violation of the Party's code of conduct.

]]> 2017-04-10 07:33:55 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/11/content_28884961.htm ]]>

An employee counts yuan banknotes at a bank in Huaibei, Anhui province, June 22, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

One hundred and five government agencies have disclosed their financial budgets for 2017 so far this year, according to Economic Information Daily, citing data from the Ministry of Finance.

Ten of the agencies are publicizing their budgets for key areas for the first time, including the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Science and Technology. This is also the first time that departments and commissions of the central government put up their annual expenditure through a single mutual platform.

Each agency disclosed a total of eight statement sheets, containing summary statements of revenue and expenditure, "three public expenses" -- overseas business trips, vehicle purchase and maintenance, as well as official receptions, among others.

This is the eighth consecutive year that central government agencies have pushed forward their budget openness. The timing of budget publication is a little bit different this year -- eight days earlier than last year.

The Supreme People's Court, the administration department of China's National Working Commission on Aging and the Central Institute of Socialism are among the departments this year that for the first time have disclosed their financial budgets.

As for the budgets for key areas mentioned above, there are 10 in total that have been publicized, including the Education Ministry's earmark fund for talent and the Environmental Protection Ministry's project for air, water and soil pollution prevention and control.

The agencies published the spending plans on their own websites and on the central budget and final accounts public platform that was established in 2016. These moves will facilitate supervision from the public, according to Xinhua.

]]> 2017-04-11 09:46:49 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/07/content_28840998.htm ]]>

Kevin Connelly, managing partner and CEO of Spencer Stuart, an executive search and leadership consulting firm. FILE PHOTO

Leadership expert excited about the 'extraordinary opportunities' for local recruitment

Kevin Connelly, a seasoned corporate headhunter and managing partner and chief executive officer of US-based global headhunter Spencer Stuart, said he felt quite excited about fresh developments in his industry. He and his colleagues have been successfully using their expertise to source professionals globally for Chinese State-owned companies.

Connelly said that a significant change in the mainland's recruitment industry in recent years was that Chinese companies were still sustaining high rates of growth while many leading mainland enterprises were looking to go global.

That development, he said, laid down the challenge for them to continue developing leadership teams at home to support both the domestic and global expansion of their businesses.

The executive search and leadership consulting firm has a global coverage of 59 offices in 29 countries. The company has been operating in the Chinese mainland for over 25 years, having set up offices in Beijing and Shanghai in the early 1990s. Its Hong Kong office was set up in 1976.

Recently, he talked with China Daily about industry changes and business opportunities they were observing and their market strategy, especially for the Chinese market. The following are edited excerpts from the interview:

How do you assess the role of the Chinese mainland market in your global business strategy? Do you intend to increase investments this year?

The China market is very important in our global business strategy and our business in China has changed from serving, in large part, multinational companies to much more State-owned and private enterprises－especially over the past 10 years.

We are very committed to the continued growth of our business in China and we are looking to add more people in our business, both in Beijing and Shanghai. In the future we may open additional offices in China.

What business opportunities do you see, as China promotes the Belt and Road Initiative?

Many of us outside China admire the project because the strengths of the investment China has made are real models for the rest of the world. From a business perspective, the initiative will encourage investment in infrastructure and that is essential for continued growth globally.

What do you think of the flows of management personnel in China, compared with Asia in general, the European Union and the United States?

The significant change is that many major Chinese enterprises are looking to go global, especially in recent years. That generates the challenge－how can Chinese companies continue to develop the leadership teams that they have in China, to support not only the business at home but also their global expansion?

If you consider other regions, the challenges are probably similar. But the bigger challenge in China is that although its economic growth has been slowing down, it continues to grow domestically far faster than elsewhere.

What are the challenges and opportunities facing your industry at this stage?

The pace and degree of restructuring that all organizations face has accelerated and is greater than it has ever been in the past, so the leadership of organizations has to be more capable either to adjust the culture of the organization or to align with the new imperatives the company needs to pursue, to remain competitive.

People working in the changing environment are deeply affected and leaders are required to help people get through that.

That continuous and rapid change fuels opportunities for us and also for client organizations, once they respond well.

How do you define and achieve the competitiveness of your firm in the industry?

We think people matter the most, given the nature of our business, and we do have lots of criteria on intellectual capital and great systems of processes.

We place a tremendous emphasis on attracting, retaining and developing the very best people in our profession.

How does your current focus vary from your strategy before?

Historically we have been much more focused on finding top professional staff, helping companies source people from outside the organization and bringing them into the organization, which remains our core business model.

But increasingly we are moving to leadership consulting, using our assessment capabilities, team effectiveness capabilities and culture fit capabilities to help our clients address many of the changes they are facing in their business.

What are the general criteria that employers focus on when hiring staff?

Most of the work we do has a pretty heavy leadership dimension. We generally look at a set of enduring criteria that include strategic thinking ability, the ability to deliver results, typically through leading people and change.

As a result of market dynamics, the pace of change is so quick, which has big implications for culture and the way that things get done.

What was your most unforgettable experience in finding a perfect candidate?

We have extraordinary opportunities to work with Chinese clients, particularly around sourcing global talents who they may not be able to access.

In one case recently, we were able to take one of the largest global bank's chief learning officer and move him into a Chinese State-owned institution. And the exciting part is that the access we have to talent pools means we can support a newer flow of clients like Chinese SOEs.

How do you usually identify candidates and introduce them to your clients?

As we focus on top executive searches, there is a significant amount of potential overlap between the candidates and our clients, so the process has to be very thoughtful and appropriate. We have a thorough and methodical process which we customize to our clients' needs. Things you might think would happen quickly take time, including sourcing in the dynamic market, so an entire project can take anywhere from 10 to 16 weeks on average.

Any advice to the younger generation on developing career and leadership skills?

Leadership is about treating other people as you would like to be treated and conducting yourself in a way that would be perceived favorably and positively by the people you are hoping to lead.

You can't go wrong as a leader by always trying to put yourself in the shoes of your team members.

How did you join this industry and how has been your journey so far?

I was actually recruited into this industry and in the beginning I was not necessarily that enthusiastic about it, but as Spencer Stuart is a skillful recruiter, I took the offer. Things have been great and I had a very wonderful and exciting career with Spencer Stuart.

Could you share with us your management experience and how you manage such a big institution?

One of the things I know more about now than ever before is that being a good leader, particularly at the more senior levels, is all about surrounding yourself with even better people than you are. And since we are in the business of finding great leaders, I am very blessed to have around me a whole group of very great leaders.

For work-life balance, what do you usually do in your spare time?

I am very fortunate to have a terrific wife who is a professional lawyer and prosecutor in the United States and two children and two grandchildren.

I am fortunate to have family time when not at work, which is very important to me.

I have also managed to play some sports to stay reasonably physically fit, given the travel schedule that I have. I like to read because learning is not only fun and essential but also a great way to relax.

CV

Career:

2012 onwards: Managing Partner and chief executive officer of Spencer Stuart

2006-12: Chairman of Spencer Stuart

1994-2006: Various leadership roles across geographical areas and practices

1989-93: Chief operating officer at Ganton Technologies

Education:

1977-79: The Booth School of Business, the University of Chicago,

1971-75: Marquette University

Family: Married with two children

 

]]> 2017-04-07 08:15:36 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/07/content_28840997.htm ]]>

Riders scan ofo bikes in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. [Photo/China Daily]

Chinese bike-sharing startup ofo Inc will equip its bicycles with BeiDou-enabled smart locks, as part of its efforts to leverage the nation's homegrown BeiDou navigation satellite system to offer better-positioning services.

Ofo signed a deal on Thursday with a local company－ChinaLbs International BV－which will see its bikes in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province become the first to have BeiDou-enabled smart locks.

Ofo CEO Dai Wei said: "The BeiDou locks are tailor-made for bicycles in the sharing-economy sector, which can help users better locate bikes in remote areas and boost operating efficiency."

Beijing Mobike Technology Co Ltd, the arch rival of ofo, is currently using GPS-enabled smart locks for its bicycles. GPS is a navigation satellite system developed by the United States.

"As we further venture into overseas markets, we will help bring the BeiDou navigation system to other countries in future," Dai said.

Currently, ofo operates a fleet of over 2.5 million bicycles, offering transportation to a total of 30 million riders in 47 cities around the world. The company said it handles more than 10 million bike-sharing trips a day.

Ofo said the two partners would also jointly build a big data platform which will help offer better smart transportation services.

"We are glad to cooperate with ofo to promote the development of the BeiDou navigation system in the bike-sharing industry, which is also one of the target areas of our company," said Cao Hongjie, general manager of ChinaLbs International BV.

Ofo is locked in a fierce battle with Mobike for dominance in China as a growing number of local consumers look to cycling for transportation.

]]> 2017-04-07 07:24:19 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/06/content_28825493.htm ]]>

Passengers wait to board a Finnair flight to Beijing in Helsinki Airport, Finland, Jan 25, 2017. Finnish airline Finnair opened a direct flight route between Helsinki and Beijing in 1988, which was the first from Europe to China. The project was a pioneer and many major European airlines followed suit. Nearly 30 years later, Finnair remains among the top five European airlines operating in China. It flies some 30 direct flights to six Chinese destinations per week on average. In January 2017, it started a pilot project installing Alipay on the flight from Shanghai to Helsinki. Alipay, launched by Alibaba Group in 2004, is one of the biggest digital payment systems in China and in the world. A month later, customers taking the flight to Beijing could also use Alipay on board.[Photo/Xinhua]

A Finnish passenger waves to Chinese people after landing on Jiangbei International Airport in Chongqing, during the first direct flight from Helsinki to Chongqing on May 10, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua] Workers of the Xianyang International Airport greet the crew members of the first direct flight from Helsinki to Xi'an in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, June 15, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua] Finnair cabin crew walk past a banner reads Alipay acceptable on board in Helsinki Airport, Finland, March 28, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] A customer uses China's Alipay at Helsinki Airport, Finland, March 28, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] A customer uses China's Alipay at Helsinki Airport, Finland, March 28, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] A Finnair stewardess uses China's Alipay on a flight from Beijing to Helsinki, March 29, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

]]> 2017-04-06 12:52:28 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/06/content_28825492.htm ]]>

The Tesla logo is pictured on Feb 5, 2014 in its first Chinese mainland show room in Beijing. [Hao Yan / chinadaily.com.cn]

TIANJIN - Tesla Motors China said Wednesday that Tesla delivered 25,000 electric cars globally in the first quarter, a quarterly record.

From January to March, Tesla produced 25,418 new cars, another quarterly record, the company said.

Of the cars delivered, 13,450 were Model S electric sedans and the remainder were model X utility vehicles. The two models are the two main existing models of the company.

The quarterly delivery marks a 69 percent increase over the same period last year, the company said.

The California-based car-maker plans to mass-produce Model 3, an affordable, entry-level model in September, the company said.

In March, Jon Mcneil, Tesla's head of global sales, said in Beijing that the company's Chinese market will continue to expand.

In 2016, Tesla took in $1 billion from the Chinese market, about 15 percent of its global revenue. China's internet company Tencent bought a 5 percent stake in Tesla for $1.8 billion.

Mcneil said Tesla will continue to increase investment into Chinese market, boost sales, service and build more charging stations.

]]> 2017-04-06 08:06:47 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/04/content_28792752.htm ]]>BEIJING - China will set a high standard in building the Xiongan New Area, a landmark new economic zone near Beijing designed to integrate the capital with its surrounding areas.

China will speed up the drafting of plans for building the new area, said He Lifeng, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), highlighting "international standards," "Chinese characteristics," "reform" and "innovation" as key words in making the plan.

Speaking to Xinhua after the country announced it would set up the new area on Saturday, He called for pooling talent from China and other countries and drawing on international experience to build the area.

A circular issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council described the move as a "major historic and strategic choice" that would be "crucial for the millennium to come."

City planning for the Xiongan New Area must reach the standard of a first-class international city, and architecture there should fully embody elements of Chinese culture, He said in the interview.

Located some 100 kilometers southwest of downtown Beijing, the new area is home to Baiyangdian, one of the largest freshwater wetlands in north China. With more than 140 lakes and covering 360 square kilometers, the wetland is known as the "pearl" of the North China Plain.

A specific plan for pollution control and environmental protection of Baiyangdian will be drafted as part of the blueprint, said He.

The decision to establish the new area is part of a greater strategy, which China initiated in 2014, to jointly develop Beijing, the port city of Tianjin and Hebei to improve the region's economic structure, environment and public services, and bridge the gap between the capital and the industrial and rural areas surrounding it.

Beijing, home to over 21 million people, is trying to curb population growth and relocate industries and other "non-capital functions" to Hebei in the coming years as part of its efforts to cure severe "urban ills."

Beijing's growing population, which is approaching the target of 23 million for 2020, has resulted in traffic congestion, soaring property prices and excessive burden on resources, said the NDRC head.

Establishing the Xiongan New Area is "a very important integral part" of measures to transfer non-capital functions out of Beijing, said He.

Beijing will focus on its "capital functions," serving as the country's political center, cultural center, and center for international exchanges and science and technological innovation, according to previous plans.

A number of wholesale markets in the city's central areas have been shut down or relocated, and some of Beijing's city administration will be moved out of the city center to the southeastern suburbs in Tongzhou, which is called Beijing's "subsidiary administrative center."

Innovation will be the fundamental driver in building and developing the Xiongan New Area, and policies will be put in place to bring innovative elements to the area, said He.

The new area will create a favorable environment for innovation and attract innovative talent and teams to help build it into a "high ground" for innovation and a new science and technology city, the official said.

The NDRC chief pointed to reform as a key to development, saying that new administrative, investment and financing models will be tried in the new area.

A long-term and stable funding mechanism will be put in place, and private funds will be encouraged to participate in building the new area, He added.

The central government is also mulling specific support policies and will provide policy and funding support for the new area's major projects in transportation, ecology, water conservation, energy and public services, said the NDRC head.

The New Area will span three counties that sit at the center of the triangular area formed by Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei's provincial capital Shijiazhuang. It will initially occupy 100 square kilometers and eventually cover 2,000 square kilometers.

The new area will be of the same national significance as the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, established in the 1980s, and the Shanghai Pudong New Area, set up in the 1990s, said the circular on Saturday.

Shenzhen has grown from a fishing village into a bustling cosmopolitan city, while Pudong has turned from a wetland into China's financial hub.

In the interview, the NDRC head didn't give a timetable for the building of the new area.

 

]]> 2017-04-04 21:22:17 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/04/content_28792751.htm International experts and media reports say China's new economic zone will help relieve the burdens of Beijing as a metropolis, promote regional coordinated development and create a new growth pole for China, setting an example for developing economies.

]]>]]>International experts and media reports say China's new economic zone will help relieve the burdens of Beijing as a metropolis, promote regional coordinated development and create a new growth pole for China, setting an example for developing economies.

China announced on Saturday that it would establish the Xiongan New Area in North China's Hebei province, as part of measures to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

Bambang Suryono, an Indonesian scholar and president of the Jakarta-based Nanyang ASEAN Foundation, said Beijing, a megalopolis with a history as capital of more than 800 years, is facing such "urban ills" as traffic jams that plague big cities.

Setting up the Xiongan New Area to build a creative and livable city will help ease Beijing's urban burdens, Suryono said.

The establishment of the Xiongan New Area is "the latest step in China's efforts to cure severe ‘urban ills', such as traffic congestion and air pollution in Beijing by curbing the capital's population growth and moving certain nonessential facilities, including manufacturing and logistics, to nearby regions," says a report from Press Trust of India.

Authorities intend to transform the region into a new growth pole, it said.

Ronnie Lins, CEO of Center China Brazil: Research & Business, said that avoiding over-development of mega cities is a common issue facing all developing countries.

The Chinese government is exploring new development models for big cities, diversifying their functions and easing their burdens, which will solve environmental issues, promote development of surrounding areas and provide references for other developing countries, Lins said.

Zhu Zhiqun, a political science professor at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania in the United States, said the establishment of the Xiongan New Area is an important measure that will greatly influence China's future development.

Zhu also said he believed Xiongan will make the integrated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region come true and promote the rapid and comprehensive development of North China.

China's current development should focus on quality, Zhu said, adding that Xiongan aims to see green, creative, high-quality and high-end development, which will become a role model for other regions in the country.

Huang Bin, a researcher at Thailand's Kasikorn Research Center, said setting up the Xiongan New Area is an important and strategic plan of the Chinese leadership.

The new economic zone and Beijing and the port city of Tianjin, with their diversified and complementary functions, form a "triangle" that will open a new space for the development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and North China and will explore a completely new model for China's urban development, Huang said.

The Xiongan New Area, along with other new economic areas, special economic zones and free trade zones in China, "will greatly contribute to the balanced development of the economy", South Korea's Asia Today said in a report on its website.

The report said the zone will also create "the necessary power" to promote the China-led Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.

Suryono, the Indonesian scholar, said establishing the Xiongan New Area forms an important part of China's strategy to further its reform and deal with the problems that have emerged during the rapid development of the nation's economy.

Xinhua

]]> 2017-04-04 05:33:50 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/01/content_28787746.htm ]]>

Farmers pick tea leaves at a tea garden in Anshun city, Southwest China's Guizhou province, March 30, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]

Farmers pick tea leaves at a tea garden in Anshun city, Southwest China's Guizhou province, March 30, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua] Farmers pick tea leaves at a tea garden in Haoping village of Wenxian county in Longnan, Northwest China's Gansu province, March 31, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua] Farmers pick tea leaves at a tea garden in Haoping village of Wenxian county in Longnan, Northwest China's Gansu province, March 31, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua] Farmers queue up to weigh the newly-picked tea leaves at a tea garden in Anshun city, Southwest China's Guizhou province, March 30, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]

]]> 2017-04-01 11:04:31 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/04/content_28787654.htm Tianjin Airlines plans to further expand its international reach this year by launching two long-haul routes: Xi'an-London, and Tianjin-Chongqing-Melbourne and the company started its first global recruitment operation in London last week, looking to hire 20 flight attendants in the United Kingdom.

]]>Tianjin Airlines plans to further expand its international reach this year by launching two long-haul routes: Xi'an-London, and Tianjin-Chongqing-Melbourne and the company started its first global recruitment operation in London last week, looking to hire 20 flight attendants in the United Kingdom.

Wen Ge, Tianjin Airlines spokesman, said the airline expects to hire 200 flight attendants during the coming two or three years.

After London, the recruitment campaign will move to Canada, New Zealand and Japan.

"With Tianjin Airlines' international development, we have more and more international passengers. We aim to offer first-class cabin services to all of our customers," Wen said.

Last year, Tianjin Airlines launched several new long-haul routes: Tianjin-Chongqing-London, Tianjin-Moscow, and Tianjin-Chongqing-Auckland. The Tianjin-Chongqing-London route is already profitable, Wen said.

Chen Dongsheng, general manager of Tianjin Airlines' London office, said the recruitment in London had attracted 360 candidates, with the "higher-than-average salary" a key attraction.

Around 100 non-Chinese pilots work at Tianjin Airlines, the company said.

Tianjin Airlines was established by Hainan Airlines Group and the Tianjin government in 2009. The company has a fleet of 90 aircraft and operates 220 domestic routes and 30 international ones.

Parent company Hainan Airlines is one of the largest airlines in China and has a workforce of more than 10,000, according to caacnews.com.cn, a website under China's civil aviation regulator the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Hainan Airlines has more than 400 foreign pilots and flight attendants. Last year, it launched direct flights between Beijing and Manchester.

]]> 2017-04-04 02:29:52 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-04/03/content_28787649.htm ]]>

Shi Ming shows a small fraction of his collection of miniature toy vehicles. [Photo/China Daily]

Avid collector Shi Ming tells of his love for amassing thousands of toy models from iconic brands like Matchbox and Hot Wheels

Miniature die-cast Matchbox vehicles were one of the most iconic toys for those born between the 1960s and 1990s.

Made by British manufacturing company Lesney Products, more than 3 billion toy vehicles have been sold by Matchbox across 12,000 model lines since the company's inception in the late 1940s, according to The Telegraph.

While the primary target audience of such toys are children, the brand does have its fair share of adult collectors in China.

Shi Ming, 41, the operations director of DHL Aviation Services in Shanghai, is one such avid collector who has a whopping 3,000 Matchbox cars in his collection. He can even name every car model that is on display in his home.

"It was so fascinating when my mom gave me my first Matchbox car during my elementary school year in 1986. It was very cheap, only 1.6 yuan ($0.25), but it was nevertheless very unique at the time," said Shi.

Shi, who has been collecting Matchbox cars for 31 years, said that the toys were more than just a form of entertainment－they were also his first foreign language teachers.

For instance, he remembered how he would excitedly read all the product descriptions that came with each vehicle, and this helped to improve his grasp of the English language. When children were only beginning to learn English during the fifth grade, Shi was already familiar with words such as "caution", "firefighting" and "refuse truck".

Shi added that these toys also gave him insights into another world beyond China. In the 1980s, China was home to just a handful of car brands, but Matchbox taught him that others such as Jeep, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Reynolds existed elsewhere in the world. He also recalled how he would get excited whenever he spotted familiar foreign car brands in imported movies.

A major milestone in the history of Lesney Products was when the company produced a miniature model of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation coach in 1953. A few months later, the company's co-owner Jack Odell designed an even smaller model that could fit in a matchbox for his daughter to take to school as a toy. This formed the foundation upon which Matchbox would build its success.

In the 1960s, Hot Wheels, a new line of vehicles by US toy giant Mattel, emerged to become Matchbox's fiercest competitor. To keep up with the competition posed by these new toy cars that had racing-style wheels, sleeker tires and brighter colors, Matchbox bolstered the quality of its toys and expanded the number of models.

In 1982, Matchbox was bought by American Universal Toys and gradually opened factories in Chinese cities such as Shanghai.

Shi said that Shanghai Universal Toys Company, which produced miniature car models from 1982 to 2004, was pivotal in igniting an interest in miniature toy vehicles in Shanghai, adding that he bought many Matchbox models from the brand's official store on Beijing West Road.

Matchbox was eventually bought by Mattel in 1997 and the combination of these two iconic toy companies resulted in several stylistic changes to the toy vehicles. Instead of obtaining authorization from automobile brands and designing scaled-down miniatures of the real cars, Shi said that Matchbox started to create "some weird models" after the takeover, the notable ones being a helicopter that looks like a dragonfly, trucks shaped like cows and jeeps equipped with oversized wheels.

Shi said that while children loved the new Matchbox models, adult fans like himself found them to be unsatisfactory.

In 2004, the same year it released a new batch of toys that Shi said were very impressive, Shanghai Universal Toys went bankrupt due to financial problems. He said that the new collection was what inspired him to continue his hobby of collecting cars.

He later developed a fondness for Hot Wheels cars as well and has since 2007 amassed more than 1,500 toys from the brand. Shi said that he spends around 5,000 yuan every year on new additions to the collection. Shi said that some collectors buy these toys as a means of investment, too. He noted how some people would buy two sets of a collection－one for playing and the other for investment.

"A model I bought several years ago cost me just 16 yuan. Today the same model could fetch up to 160 yuan," said Shi.

There are several others like Shi in Shanghai and they belong to a toy club that organizes activities every year. Shi said the club allows him to share his joy of collecting with like-minded individuals such as Chen Yunling, who is the founder of a website for Matchbox toys collectors to share news and memories. He also operates an online forum that facilitates research on various models.

In China, most Matchbox lovers are based in Shanghai and there are smaller fan groups in Beijing, Wuhan of Hubei province and Guangzhou of Guangdong province. Shi said that he knows of some Western counterparts who have even more impressive collections that span more than 60 years and comprise a more diverse range of models.

Shi said that his Matchbox collection allows him to calm the mind. He also lamented how his 10-year-old daughter is more interested in electronic games than his historic toys.

"Some electronic games, like crossword puzzles or car racing, may help to develop intelligence but the negative effects, such as the damage to the eyes and cervical vertebra, are more obvious. I'd rather she spend more of her leisure time on a toy collection or playing with Lego," said Shi.

When asked if he would ever consider giving up his hobby, Shi was quick to say no.

"These aren't just toys. They are a matter of emotional dependence."

Cao Chen contributed to this story.

A collection of miniature car models at Shanghai collector Shi Ming's home. [Photo/China Daily] A retro set of Matchbox's early car toys. [Photo/China Daily] A collection of miniature car models at Shanghai collector Shi Ming's home. [Photo/China Daily]

]]> 2017-04-03 06:58:38 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/30/content_28747078.htm ]]>

A researcher adjusts a sediment collection vessel in Changsha, Hunan province, in June, as part of efforts to monitor and restore the cadmium-tainted soil.[Photo/Xinhua]

Contamination called 'alarming' for endangering food security

China's leading scientific institute will invest 20 million yuan ($2.9 million) over the next 18 months in projects that tackle heavy metal pollution in soil, as part of efforts to safeguard food and water security, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said on Wednesday.

The soil restoration projects, spearheaded by the academy's Institute of Soil Science in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, will establish regional standards for cadmium, nickel, arsenic and other toxic heavy metals.

Two pollution control demonstration zones - one focused on mercury and the other on cadmium - will be built in Tongren, Guizhou province, and the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan area in Hunan province respectively.

Moreover, there will be a national research network for technologies such as extracting heavy metal using plants and making heavy metals less toxic.

The institute will also build a regional surveillance platform and industrialization park to monitor and recycle heavy metals during soil restoration projects, said Yan Qing, head of the academy's bureau of science and technology for development.

A 2014 survey by the ministries of environmental protection, and land and resources found that 36.3 percent of soil samples were polluted. China will conduct thorough surveys of soil pollution to get a clearer picture, Chen Jining, minister of environmental protection, said earlier this month.

China has 122 million hectares of arable land, but is losing 400,000 hectares of mostly fertile land each year to construction, pollution and natural disasters, said Shen Renfang, director of the Institute of Soil Sciences.

Soil pollution is "a very alarming matter" because "food security is unsustainable if we keep losing arable land to pollution, and polluted crops, like rice laced with cadmium, could undermine consumer trust and public health," Shen said.

In May, the State Councill, China's Cabinet, issued a national plan to improve the prevention and control of soil pollution, including strictly prohibiting the setting up of industries and farms that fail to meet standards.

"Local officials will now think twice when establishing an economically rewarding, but polluting, industry," said Zhou Dongmei, a researcher at the institute. "Sadly, there is no quick solution to cleaning up soil pollution on a large, cost-effective scale."

The short-term goals should focus on risk control and ensuring the safety of agricultural goods, as well as researching new solutions, Zhou said. "But the hardest part is balancing economic growth with ecological protection, especially at the local level."

The soil restoration projects are one of 11 major science programs planned this year. The programs, costing a total of 190 million yuan, aim to promote economic and social growth, Yan said.

"Previous pollution control projects were often on a case-by-case basis, because each area has its own complex geographical makeup and causes of pollution," Yan said. "The new projects will tackle the issue in a more wide-ranging, systematic manner, so the emerging standards and solutions are more universally applicable and effective on a greater scale."

 

]]> 2017-03-30 07:34:07 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/30/content_28747073.htm ]]>

An amphibious aircraft AG600 is displayed for the 11th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, Oct 30, 2016. The AG600 is by far the world's largest amphibian aircraft, about the size of a Boeing 737. [Photo/Xinhua] The world's largest amphibious aircraft, the China-made AG600, is expected to make its maiden flight over land in May, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) announced on March 29.

The state aircraft manufacturer said that engineers are finalizing preparations for the test flight. The plane has already passed a series of tests on its systems, equipment and engine.

AVIC has spent almost eight years developing the AG600, which is roughly the size of a Boeing 737 and is designed to carry out marine rescues and battle forest fires. It has a maximum flight range of 4,500 km and a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tons.

The aircraft was displayed at the Zhuhai Airshow, China's biggest gathering of aircraft manufactures and buyers in November last year.

]]> 2017-03-30 16:21:40 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/29/content_28730458.htm ]]>

Technicians take part in a plane repair contest at the China Southern Airlines' maintenance and engineering base in Shenyang, Liaoning province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China Southern Airlines Co signed an agreement on Tuesday to sell a minority stake to American Airlines Group Inc for $200 million, in a deal which links top carriers in the Asian and US markets.

China Southern will issue 270.61 million Hong Kong-listed H shares at HK$5.74 (74 cents) per share, or 2.68 percent of the enlarged share capital of the airline, to American Airlines. The price represents a 4.6 percent premium on the previous trading day's closing price.

The deal also means China's three biggest carriers have all tied up with overseas airlines, with Delta Air Lines Inc buying 3.55 percent of China Eastern Airlines Corp in 2015 and mutual stakes bought between Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways and Air China Ltd in 2006.

China Southern in a regulatory filing on Tuesday said that the two companies "may seek to increase cooperation in code sharing", as well as sales, passenger loyalty programs and airport facilities.

The agreement means cooperation between the two major economies in the aviation sector, linking up the world's largest aviation markets, said Wang Changshun, chairman of China Southern.

He said it was set to bring deep changes to the global aviation market.

Having American Airlines as a strategic investor would help meet China Southern's need for globalization and for exploring mixed ownership as a State-owned enterprise, he added.

American Airlines President Robert Isom said: "China Southern's extensive network within China touches the developing and thriving markets that only a Chinese carrier can reach.

"Those coming from China will get access to American Airlines' network of cities across the US. The customers flying from the US to China will be able to access 40 destinations beyond Beijing and more than 30 destinations beyond Shanghai."

Currently the fifth-largest source of foreign travelers to the United States, China is projected to become the third-largest after Canada and Mexico in 2021, said Wang Zhiqing, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

The International Air Transport Association predicts China will surpass the US to become the biggest aviation market in terms of passengers by 2024.

"As global airlines operate on a slim profit margin, they need to maintain revenue and minimize costs through mergers and acquisitions," said Li Xiaojin, a professor of aviation economics at the Civil Aviation University of China in Tianjin.

Daiwa Capital Markets analyst Michelle Wang said the partnership was part of China Southern's strategy to expand overseas, but she had reservations about the deal.

"If the deal completes successfully, American Airlines only has 2.68 percent shares of China Southern and that will not have much impact on China Southern," she said.

]]> 2017-03-29 07:27:00 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/29/content_28730457.htm ]]>

A man rides an electric bike, carrying children, near apartment blocks in Beijing. [Photo/Agencies]

A young colleague of mine told me the other day that one thing he is most proud of is his decision to buy an apartment in Beijing in 2012, two years after his graduation from university.

"In hindsight, housing price really hit a trough then," he said, referring to his purchase of a second-hand, 50-square-meter apartment within the city's Fourth-Ring Road at 26,000 yuan ($3,790) per square meter.

It turned out to be the most pivotal decision he had ever made. In less than five years, the price has nearly tripled, and the gain, though on paper, has made him the happiest man in the world.

A right decision can save you a lifelong struggle for a better life.

Despite rounds after rounds of cooling measures by the local government, such as higher down payment and stricter mortgage restrictions to curb speculative buying, housing prices in Beijing have been on a wild run. Average housing prices in the city reached over 60,000 yuan in February from 45,000 yuan a year ago, according to the China Real Estate Association.

But these figures hardly tell the real story of the red-hot sellers' market. To understand it, you need to look no further than my neighborhood. A moment of hesitation in sewing up a deal could make a difference of more than 1 million yuan.

A friend of mine, who had planned to move to my neighborhood, saw the price of a 105-square-meter apartment he wanted to buy surge from 8 million yuan before Spring Festival to the jaw-dropping 9.3 million yuan after the holiday!

Given that China's average disposable personal income was less than 24,000 yuan last year, it could serve as the most costly lesson a homebuyer could learn for procrastination.

"It's just absolutely crazy," he said.

No doubt.

Property prices in Beijing are skyrocketing at a rate that defies economic laws.

For economists, a price-to-rent ratio of more than 500 signals a property bubble that may bust at any time. It means one can recover the cost of investment in a property only 500 months (or more than 40 years) after it is rented out, without taking into consideration interest on bank loans.

But in Beijing, that ratio has surged above 1,000, with no sign of a respite, despite years of warnings of a coming market collapse.

China's property market is a conundrum beyond rational explanation. It has created an unbridgeable wealth gap between homeowners and non-homeowners. It has also transformed my outlook on life and success.

Enthusiastic about higher pay and better career prospects, my wife decided in 2001 to quit a government agency, even though that meant she had to give up a 60-square-meter apartment that her employer had just allocated to her.

She had my full support. We were young then, and both believed a place to dwell should never be an impediment to the pursuit of new life experiences and better future. The average housing price was 5,000 yuan per square meter then, less than our monthly salaries combined.

The following decade, my wife worked in Hong Kong for several years, graduated with a master's degree from a prestigious university in the United Kingdom, and resettled in Beijing, working for foreign-funded agencies and drawing a decent salary she had never imagined was possible when she decided to quit her first job.

For many, hers was a success story, as we also thought. But in terms of wealth, we actually missed a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get richer. The apartment she had abandoned 16 years ago is now worth nearly 6 million yuan, which dwarfs what she has ever earned.

Of course, there is more to life than just money. But had we known that this is how things might or would pan out, would we still agree on her decision to quit her job 16 years ago? I'm not sure.

In life, ideals, it appears, would crumble easily when confronted with harsh reality.

]]> 2017-03-29 07:08:44 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/28/content_28714500.htm ]]>

Cabin crew of China Southern Airlines prepare to board a flight in Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Potential tie-up could signify SOE reform, parity with 2 top carriers

China Southern Airlines Co said it is in talks to sell a stake to American Airlines Group Inc, betting big on the forecast of massive demand for travel between the two countries.

The negotiations are over "a possible major strategic cooperation with American Airlines Inc involving, among others, proposed issue of shares of the company and other business cooperation," China Southern said in an exchange filing on Sunday.

Share price of China Southern Airlines, which resumed trading on Monday, remained flat to close at HK$5.48 (70 cents), after hitting a three-month high at midday.

Trading in the Guangzhou-based operator had been suspended since March 23 after Bloomberg News reported that Fort Worth, Texas-based American Airlines will likely make an investment of about $200 million in China Southern's Hong Kong-listed shares through a private placement. American Airlines would nominate an observer without voting rights to the Chinese company's board, according to people familiar with the matter.

The companies have not reached a binding or definitive agreement, and the cooperation may or may not proceed, China Southern said in its statement.

American Airlines spokeswoman Polly Tracey declined to comment.

For American Airlines, a deal would strengthen its presence in the Chinese market after rival Delta Air Lines Inc acquired a minority stake in China Eastern Airlines Corp in 2015.

China Southern would be the last of the nation's top three airlines to bring in a non-Chinese mainland strategic investor. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, which is based in Hong Kong, owns about 18 percent of flag carrier Air China Ltd.

Geoffrey Cheng, head of transportation and industrial research at BOCOM International Holdings in Hong Kong, said the collaboration talks come as no surprise.

"Basically, given there are no slots left under the current bilateral air traffic rights agreement between China and the US, the strategic cooperation could enable China Southern Airlines to reach out to more second-tier US cities that it has no available routes to," Cheng said.

Jacob Zhou, a Hong Kong-based analyst with one of the "Big Four" accounting firms, believed the tie-up talks mark a bold move from China Southern Airlines to push for the mixed-ownership reform, which is highlighted as a critical pillar of State-owned enterprises' reform efforts in 2017.

BLOOMBERG-CHINA DAILY

]]> 2017-03-28 07:56:01 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/28/content_28714499.htm ]]>

Joggers take part in "naked pig run" in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in January. [Photo/China Daily]

Many underwear retailers have begun to expand their sports bra categories, and they are confident that the growth in the sports undergarments sector will flourish, as more Chinese women get into the 'keep fit' mindset.

Last year, sporting goods giant Nike Inc launched a measurement system for sports underwear to help consumers select the products that fit them. Other sports bra brands such as Shock Absorber, also provide similar services.

Meanwhile, some online underwear stores have launched offline departments to provide consultant services.

Liu Yupeng, chief operating officer of Miss Rhino, a domestic e-commerce company that specializes in female undergarment making, said: "With an increasing demand for sports bras among Chinese women, our offline consultants offer services such as measurement, and the examination of body shapes to help customers better select their sports underwear."

By 2020, the market volume of sportswear in China is expected to reach 280.8 billion yuan ($41 billion). Sports underwear will take a market share of about 20 billion yuan to 30 billion yuan, according to global market research company Euromonitor International.

Victoria's Secret, whose featured products are sexy underwear, has also started to eye the sports underwear and comfortable clothing sector after its sales revenues experienced a sharp decline.

Last April, L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret, announced plans to adjust its strategies to shut down its swimsuit business, and expand its sportswear category, which includes sports bra, shorts and leggings.

By 2025, the number of Chinese who take part in a keep fit regimen is expected to reach 500 million, and women would account for roughly 40 percent of that population. The figure indicated that women would become a new growth point for the sports goods market, and their spending on sports equipment would increase at a faster rate than men, according to data from the General Administration of Sport in China.

Neil Wang, president of market research agency Frost & Sullivan Greater China, said: "More women and young women have started to engage in sports activities. Besides functionality, women usually hope that the sports products they buy could look stylish, and more sporting goods brands have started to put in more fashionable elements into their designs, colors and tailoring of sportswear, including sports underwear."

From 2016 to 2024, the global underwear market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of 6.4 percent, fueled by the sales increase of sports bra and the rise of e-commerce, according to a report by global research company Transparency Market Research.

Some leading underwear firms such as L Brands, LVMH, Jockey International, Hanes International, and PVH Corp, are leading the market growth, the report said.

Zheng Yiran contributed to this report.

]]> 2017-03-28 07:20:20 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/27/content_28699602.htm WELLINGTON - China and New Zealand agreed to start talks on upgrading a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in late April.

The consensus was reached during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's ongoing visit to New Zealand, which puts upgrading the FTA that took effect in 2008 high on agenda.

At a joint press conference after talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English, Li said upgrading the FTA will promote the development of bilateral economic and trade ties and better benefit the two peoples.

Negotiations will touch on investment, service trade, quarantine of animals and plants, economy and technology, e-commerce, and competition policies, according to Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Lutong.

"The China-New Zealand FTA is one of the highest-standard signed between China and developed countries. Both countries have established long-term good trade relations, with bilateral trade growth outpacing our economic growth," Li said.

Li also called on the two countries to jointly protect open economy and free trade as well as regional stability and global peace.

As one third of New Zealand's dairy products are exported to China, English said the dairy products and any other products going to China will be of the quality Chinese consumers would expect to be.

Under the FTA, a wide range of products, typically health-related products are much sought after by Chinese consumers, English said, adding that New Zealand will work with the Chinese authorities in food safety to ensure all the New Zealand products exported to China meet the standards required.

China and New Zealand signed a series of cooperation documents on Monday, including an action plan for cooperation on climate change, granting new access for New Zealand chilled beef and meat to the Chinese market and deepening cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative.

Li arrived in Wellington on Sunday for an official visit to New Zealand after wrapping up his Australia tour.

]]> 2017-03-27 16:20:27 http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/2017-03/27/content_28699601.htm BEIJING - Authorities in Beijing tightened regulations on commercial real estate projects, aiming to strip them of housing functions and cool down the city's overheated housing market.

According to an official statement released late Sunday night by the city's housing, urban planning, industry and commerce, and banking authorities, new commercial projects shall only be sold to qualified enterprises, public institutions and social organizations, and the smallest unit for sale should not be less than 500 square meters.

Second-hand commercial housing can be sold to individuals who have paid income tax or social insurance for five consecutive years and have no houses under their names in Beijing, the statement said.

In the meantime, personal loans for purchasing commercial real estate have also been suspended.

Real estate agencies that mislead individual home buyers by falsely advertising housing function of commercial projects will be severely punished.

Due to Beijing's high prices of residential buildings and strict housing purchase rules, home buyers turned their eyes to small-unit commercial projects for transitional housing and investment.

Beijing has introduced a slew of policies over the past two weeks to rein in the surging housing price, including raising the down payment for second homes, imposing stricter tax regulations on residents without a local hukou (household registration), and shutting down real estate agencies for illegal operations.

]]> 2017-03-27 11:32:41