EU reality kicks in as haggling begins over UK's divorce

At midnight on New Year's Eve 1973, a British flag was raised in front of then-European Economic Community building in Brussels marking the start of the United Kingdom's full membership of the project. That day, British Prime Minister Edward Heath said membership would bring prosperity to his country.

Australia's groundswell of bias counterproductive

That Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull labeled China a "frenemy" at an event last year was leaked by Australia's Fairfax Media on Friday shows some in Australia are intent on trying to disrupt the generally rosy picture of bilateral cooperation by continuing to whip up anti-China sentiment.

U-turn to reassure Qatar

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and his Qatari counterpart Khalid bin Mohammad al-Attiyah recently signed an initial agreement for a $12-billion sale of US-manufactured F-15 fighters to Qatar.

Relationships between universities and their enterprises need clarifying

ON FRIDAY, THE CENTRAL INSPECTION GROUP ANNOUNCED the results of its inspections of 14 key universities. Of all the problems it found, corruption among university-owned enterprises was the most common - 13 of the 14 universities inspected were found to have this problem. Beijing News comments:

Basic eldercare is a government obligation

THE STATE COUNCIL, China's Cabinet, recently issued guidelines on care services for the elderly. Based on the needs of senior citizens, the document sets out principles for the eldercare industry, as well as the welfare the elderly should enjoy, ranging from basic services, public facilities, to health and cultural services. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

Vocational school's soft exam shows it's time for a shake-up

ONE OF the end-of-term test papers of a vocational school in Zhengzhou, Henan province, began with three questions that contained their answers. The municipal education bureau said that the school lacks quality control of exam papers and is investigating. Southern Metropolis Daily comments:

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Pilot zones for green finance reform and innovations

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MSCI can make A-shares a boon for investors

Since 2013, when MSCI, a United States-based provider of equity, fixed income, hedge fund stock market indexes, announced that it would consider the inclusion of China A-shares into its MSCI Emerging Market Index, China's equities market has undergone significant change.

Trump's Paris pact withdrawal puts US last

While US President Donald Trump has pulled the United States out of the Paris climate change agreement, the rest of the world is moving beyond fossil fuels toward sustainable, renewable energy. China has put a mandatory limit on coal consumption and has built the highest number of solar and wind power facilities of any country in the world. India's cumulative solar power capacity has increased 750 times from 2010. And Chile and other countries are harnessing solar power at half the price of coal power.

How Belt and Road can be 'future-proofed'

There are many reasons why China is pursuing the Belt and Road Initiative. However, one of the least discussed - but perhaps most significant - is related to population.

Panda cub raises fresh hopes of better China-Japan relations

Friendship may no longer be the catchphrase in China-Japan relations. But the black-and-white cuddly creatures from China continue to endear themselves to Japanese fans. In a notice announcing the birth of a giant panda cub posted at its entrance last Monday, Tokyo's Ueno Zoo has asked visitors to maintain silence in the panda enclave. The panda father, Ri Ri, is on solo show while the mother, Shin Shin, with her cub, is now on maternity leave.