IN BRIEF (Page 6)

Heineken sees F1 link revving up beer buzz

Dutch premium brewer Heineken NV, a sponsor of the Formula One race in Shanghai, said it is bullish on attracting more Chinese consumers and revving up interests in its products, following its sponsorship.

China Mobile Q1 profit up 4% to $3.6b

Show boosted by higher revenue from telecoms services and demand for data

State-owned firms pledge more cuts to production capacity

BEIJING - China's central State-owned enterprises have pledged to continue to cut production overcapacity in some industrial sectors, aiming to reduce steel capacity by 5.95 million metric tons and coal by 24.73 million tons.

No party can fulfill peninsula peacemission single-handedly

Even as US Vice-President Mike Pence reiterated the era of "strategic patience" is over. Even as Pyongyang pledges to conduct another nuclear test "at any time", and carry out missile tests on "a weekly, monthly and yearly basis". The most impressive progress so far regarding the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear/missile threats is the United States' latest indication that it, too, prefers a peaceful solution.

Easing tax burden on firms

At an executive meeting presided over by Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday, the State Council, China's Cabinet, announced a series of new tax cut measures to ease the tax burden on businesses and so boost the real economy.

Cultivate awareness that picking endangered wild plants is a crime

A FARMER IN LUSHI COUNTY, Henan province, was reportedly given a three-year suspended prison sentence and fined 3,000 yuan ($436) for illegally collecting endangered plants. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Thursday:

Class sizes betray educational fairness

A RECENT REPORT on China's educational development says that the average size of a primary school class across the nation has declined in recent years, while the average size of many junior and senior high school classes in cities has grown. China Youth Daily commented on Thursday:

Joy of reading is being lost in the digital age

THE CHINESE ACADEMY of Press and Publication's annual survey found that Chinese adults read 7.86 books on average last year, 0.02 more than 2015. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

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What Belt and Road mean for the world

In less than a month's time, President Xi Jinping will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation - his landmark program to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa and Europe. The vision of the Belt and Road Initiative (the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) projects is essentially about connectivity - facilitated by infrastructure.

Journey to the West inspires theories

Yang Jie, director of the TV series Journey to the West, passed away on April 15 at the age of 88 years, triggering nostalgia, especially among those born in the 1970s and 1980s. Yang's series was adapted from Wu Cheng'en's novel of the same name. Written in the 16th century, the Chinese classic chronicles the legendary pilgrimage of a Buddhist monk, Tang Sanzan, and his four disciples: a monkey (Sun Wukong), also known as the Monkey King, a pig (Zhu Bajie), a former court official (Sha Wujing) and a dragon prince (Bailong) who can transform into a horse.