News in review

Monday

Construction boom sparks industrial profits

China's major industrial firms ended their days of profit losses and reaped good returns in 2016 on the back of a construction boom, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

Those companies reported an 8.5 percent profit increase in 2016, reversing a 2.3 percent decline registered in 2015, the NBS said in a statement.

NBS statistician He Ping said industrial firms showed remarkable improvement in performance, featuring a rise of 5.97 percent in their profitability.

In December, their profits grew 2.3 percent year on year, slowing down by 12.2 percentage points from the November figure. (Photo 1)

SOE profits edge up 1.7% in 2016

Combined profits of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) rose 1.7 percent year-on-year in 2016, a sharp contrast to the 6.7-percent drop in 2015, official data showed.

Last year, total SOE profits were $338 billion (2.32 trillion yuan), the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. Profits of SOEs under central government control fell 4.7 percent, while those for locally administered SOEs climbed 16.9 percent year-on-year.

Building materials, transport and real estate companies posted strong increases, while textile, oil, tobacco and petrochemical SOEs reported major drops. Losses were reported in the steel, chemical and non-ferrous metal sectors, the statement said.

SOE revenues increased 2.6 percent year on year to 45.9 trillion yuan. Operating costs were up 2.5 percent to 44.99 trillion yuan. Tax receipts from the companies dropped 0.7 percent.

Tuesday____Jan 31

Online cult activity faces tougher punishments

China has stepped up efforts to punish those who promote cults online and via social media.

Chinese law defines a cult is an illegal organization that tries to control people by deifying the sect leader; deludes members under the guise of religion or in other names; and engages in activities that harm society.

According to the judicial interpretation, which will take effect on Feb 1, those who use online chat rooms and social media platforms such as WeChat for cult-related activities may face imprisonment, as can those who print cult messages on bank notes.

Cult members who have foreign connections, recruit people in other areas, carry out cult activities at key festivals, preach to minors or work as civil servants will be severely punished, the judicial interpretation stated.

Meanwhile, people who repent joining cults will be handled leniently. Those who were tricked or forced into joining a cult will be exempt from punishment.

Shanghai mulls red line for jaywalking

Shanghai is considering drawing a red line, or many of them, to combat jaywalking.

The lines on the edge of sidewalks like in Hong Kong were suggested by some local legislators to curb jaywalking.

The red lines are marked where people can never cross the street, and violators face severe punishment, Yu Guoqiang, a deputy to the Shanghai People's Congress, the city's legislative body, said.

"Under the current law, jaywalkers are fined 10 yuan ($1.45), which is too little to work as a deterrent," said deputy Liu Mingang.

Jaywalking impedes traffic safety in many Chinese cities. In Dalian, Liaoning province, jaywalking caused 155 traffic accidents involving death from the beginning of 2015 to April last year. In Chongqing municipality, nearly half of all traffic accidents involving injury or death were triggered by jaywalking in 2015. (Photo 2)

Wednesday____Feb 1

Auditor: Environment funds'not effectively used'

China's top auditor has found that $2.56 billion (17.6 billion yuan) of fiscal funds earmarked in 2016 for pollution control and resource management was not used effectively.

The finding was part of the results released after the National Audit Office (NAO) sent inspection teams to 18 provincial regions to review the use of fiscal funds for water pollution prevention and control.

The NAO inspectors also found that a total of 397 water pollution protection projects had failed to achieve desired effect, and some environment funds were not distributed in accordance with special protection plans.

The NAO noted increasing pressure from regional water environment protection, adding that in some regions, environmental protection laws were not enforced strictly.

In response to the audit, local authorities in the 18 provincial regions have improved the distribution and use of more than 3 billion yuan of environment funds, and pushed forward the progress of 77 water pollution control projects.

Chinese authorities have punished 3,229 government officials for fiscal violations found when auditing the central government's 2015 budget.

Welfare lottery sales grow in 2016

China's welfare lottery sales topped $30.1 billion (206.5 billion yuan) in 2016, an increase of 2.47 percent year-on-year.

National welfare funds obtained via the sales of tickets amounted to 59.1 billion yuan last year, up 4.97 percent year on year, according to a statement by the welfare lottery distribution and management center.

According to current rules, half of the welfare proceeds go to the state coffers, and these funds are mainly used to supplement social security and special aid projects. The other half supports social welfare and charities managed by local governments.

Thursday____Feb 2

Luxury hotels for furry guests boom

Businesses providing accommodations for pets left behind by owners who traveled for Spring Festival are enjoying their busiest time of the year.

Securing a suitable temporary home for a pet can be as difficult as getting a train ticket during the year's most important festival. It can be even more costly.

Luxury "pet hotels" in Beijing and Shanghai can be more expensive than hotels for people, and they were fully booked at least a month before the weeklong holiday.

VAC Cat Hotel and Spa in Beijing has 15 individual modern and spacious suites with catwalks, multilevel platforms and "fun" nooks. Each room only allows one feline guest. The normal room rate is $50 (350 yuan) a day, including daily feeding and grooming services. (Photo 3)

Fujian orders paid leave to care for elders

Adults in Fujian province who are members of a single-child family will be guaranteed paid leave of up to 10 days annually if they need to care for older parents who are hospitalized, according to legislation passed by the province's top legislature.

The measure is intended to protect residents at age 60. It says that wages and benefits for those without siblings who take time off for the specified purpose should continue to be paid, and employers who refuse to continue paying wages and benefits will be punished.

There were 5.15 million seniors aged 60 and above in Fujian by the end of 2015, representing 13.4 percent of the province's population. For the whole country, the number was 222 million, or more than 16 percent of the population.

Friday____Feb 3

Smog returns to Beijing area

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and neighboring regions were forecast to see heavy air pollution starting on Thursday and lasting for three days as a result of climatological conditions and holiday fireworks, officials said.

The density of PM2.5, particulate matter with a diameter smaller than 2.5 micrometers, will peak on Friday in the region, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said on its website.

Conditions were worsened by the traditional setting off of firecrackers on the fifth day of the first month in the lunar calendar, which fell on Wednesday this year.

Many large companies, especially steel mills and petrochemical factories, do not stop production during the Spring Festival holiday in that area. Authorities found that some companies in Hebei province were discharging emissions above the amount allowed.

Report: Outbound investment targeting know-how

Chinese companies have shifted the focus of their overseas acquisitions from natural resources toward innovative technology and robotics, according to a report.

The annual M&A Trends report by the London-based law firm Clifford Chance firm noted that Chinese private and State-owned enterprises were increasingly interested in technology companies to gain commercial and technical know-how.

Neeraj Budhwani, a Clifford Chance partner in Hong Kong, said: "Technology companies are actively seeking out opportunities in the fintech sector, with a view to bringing more innovative technology back to the country."

The report found Chinese outbound mergers and acquisitions rose 114 percent globally in 2016 in comparison with the previous year. Chinese bidders spent $208.6 billion last year. The report said that Chinese investment into Europe was up 201 percent, and in North America, it rose by 412 percent.

(China Daily USA 02/03/2017 page12)