IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Dutch king pledges to push free trade

The Netherlands has vowed to promote free trade and people-to-people exchanges between Europe and China when it assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union next year.

King Willem-Alexander made the remarks during a meeting with President Xi Jinping on Oct 26 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

He also said his country will participate in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, of which the Netherlands is one of 57 prospective founding members.

The Netherlands will also push the Belt and Road Initiative and the 315 billion euros ($347 billion) EU Investment Plan so both sides can benefit and achieve common goals, the king said.

Dutch expertise stokes soccer hopes

Experts from the Netherlands' renowned youth soccer training system are helping China to produce its own future stars, with more Dutch coaches and junior programs likely to be imported by China.

Eighty-two Chinese students trained with former Dutch international goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar at Beijing Shijia Primary School on Oct 25.

Such junior clinics, which feature the advanced Dutch youth system that has produced an abundant supply of international stars has reached out to almost 400 schools across China thanks to an initiative launched by Sport8 International this year.

Interest rates cut to spur economy

The People's Bank of China cut interest rates on Oct 23, the sixth time in a year, and reduced the reserve requirement ratio for all banks.

The "double cut", as Chinese media described it, came four days after it was announced that GDP grew 6.9 percent in the third quarter, lower than the government's annual target of 7 percent.

The central bank lowered the one-year benchmark bank lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.35 percent and the benchmark rate for one-year bank deposits by the same margin to 1.5 percent, effective from Oct 24. The bank also cut the reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, taking it to 17.5 percent for the country's biggest lenders.

Nations set date for key summit

A summit between government leaders from China, South Korea and Japan will be held in Seoul on Nov 1, the latest sign of thawing ties between Beijing and Tokyo.

Discussions on a long-awaited free trade agreement and strategies for deeper economic integration will be on the agenda.

The summit will be the first of its kind between the three countries in three years after they were halted due to disputes over wartime history and territorial issues.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that Premier Li Keqiang would make an official three-day visit to South Korea from Oct 31 and will attend the summit.

Watchdog targets cloud storage piracy

China's copyright regulator has strengthened regulations to combat piracy involving cloud storage services.

Despite a previous crackdown, Internet users have continued to use cloud services to illegally download movies and TV shows. Now service providers have now been ordered by the National Copyright Administration to blacklist, suspend or delete the accounts of users who upload, store or share files that may infringe copyright.

As jet awaits takeoff, another is planned

China has begun developing its C929 wide-body jetliner, as its predecessor, the C919 narrow-body airliner, prepares to make its maiden test flight, insiders say.

Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, which develops the nation's large civil aircraft, is working on key technologies that will be used on the C929, Wang Jian, chairman of AVIC Electromechanical Systems Co, said at an industry forum in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

He said the aircraft will be capable of carrying more than 300 passengers.

Grain imports to grow as farming focus shifts

China expects to increase grain imports during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) rather than continue to increase its farming capacity, Agriculture Minister Han Changfu said.

After increasing domestic production for the past 11 years, the country will aim for stable output and quality products rather than ever-increasing supplies, he said. Scientists see the move as a major shift.

TV rights for soccer sell for $1.26 billion

Amid high expectations of improving soccer's profile in the country, China Sports Media Co Ltd announced on Oct 28 that the purchase of broadcasting rights for the Chinese Super League, China's top-tier professional soccer league, for 8 billion yuan ($1.26 billion; 1.15 billion euros) over the next five years.

The TV rights for the 2015 season fetched a mere 50 million yuan.

Ma Chengquan, chairman of CSL, said the increased revenue will be put into youth training programs, improving club facilities and upgrading broadcasting technology to improve every aspect of the league.

World's most powerful particle collider planned

Chinese scientists have completed an initial conceptual design of a super giant particle collider that will be bigger and more powerful than any other particle accelerator.

"We have completed the initial conceptual design and organized international peer review recently, and the final conceptual design will be completed by the end of next year," said Wang Yifang, director of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The institute has been operating major high-energy physics projects in China, such as the Beijing Electron Positron Collider and the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino experiment.

Now scientists are proposing a more ambitious new accelerator with seven times the energy level of the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva.

Grasshopper wing is 120 million years old

A student at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has discovered a 120 million-year-old fossil that belonged to an ancestor of the modern long-horned grasshopper.

The fossil, found in Yumen, Gansu province, preserved a 3-centimenter section of the ancient insect's wing.

Zhang Haichun, a paleontology professor at the institute, said fossils of the orthopteran family Prophalangopsidae have been found only in a few regions around the world.

Pace of reform 'needs to quicken'

Wu Jinglian, a researcher at the State Council Development Research Center and a veteran economic adviser to the central government, has made a strong call for leaders to speed up China's reform ahead of a major meeting to map out the development path for the next five years.

Wu blamed what he called "institutional barriers" for the slowdown in China's overall rise in productivity and the failure to meet the demands of its newly rich middle class citizens.

The only solution is to forge ahead with reform rather than to introduce continual financial stimulus measures, he said. He criticized attempts to use such measures to increase the speed of growth as being the wrong way to ease the nation's economic woes.

New center to fight cross-border crime

China plans to set up a comprehensive law enforcement center in southwestern Jinghong, Yunnan province, late next year to strengthen intelligence exchanges with Laos, Myanmar and Thailand and curb drug-trafficking and illegal immigration along the Mekong River.

Liao Jinrong, director of the Ministry of Public Security's International Cooperation Bureau, said the center's director - yet to be appointed - will serve for a year and come from one of the four countries on a rotational basis.

Couples apply to have second child

About 53,000 couples in Beijing have applied to have a second child since the city changed its family policy early last year. Of the applicants, 48,392 were approved.

Of the potential mothers, 57 percent were aged 31 to 35.

It is estimated that the city's permanent population of more than 20 million will grow by 270,000 by 2019 and then begin to decline.

Temple visits free for teachers

China's 15 million teachers may soon be able to visit the Confucius Temple, family mansion or cemetery free of charge, authorities in Qufu city in Shandong province have announced.

A draft proposal has been drawn up to exempt teachers from the 150 yuan ($23, 21 euros) admission fee starting next year. Teachers will have to verify their occupation. Four million people visit the site every year.

Yangzhou's fried rice record is revoked

Guinness World Records Ltd said on Oct 26 that it has revoked the record awarded to Yangzhou, a city in East China, for the largest serving of fried rice due to a breach of its food wastage rules.

"Guinness received a statement from the organizer to show that the food of more than 4 (metric) tons had been distributed to five recipients," the company said in a statement. "However, the organizer disposed of 150 kilograms of fried rice improperly and violated the rule that food must be consumed by people and cannot be wasted in any food-related record events."

According to the Guinness World Records website, the record remains with Turkey Culinary Federation in Bolu, Turkey, which served 3,150 kilograms on Sept 27 last year.

Stress, depression cool the passion for sex

More than 70 percent of Chinese people are not satisfied with their sex lives because of stress and depression, according to a national survey released on Oct 25.

Nearly 90 percent of interviewees said satisfaction with their sex lives contributed greatly to their marital happiness and self-confidence. But more than 40 percent said they had reduced their sexual activity because of depression or stress. The survey, based on more than 72,000 questionnaires, focused mainly on people aged 26 to 55. About 60 percent were men and more than 50 percent were office workers.

About 90 percent of Chinese men with erectile dysfunction had turned to traditional Chinese herbs or folk remedies, the survey found.

China Daily

(China Daily European Weekly 10/30/2015 page2)