Positive hopes for meeting if everyone is reasonable

Although no one can tell whether or not the widely anticipated meeting between the Chinese and United States leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit will de-escalate the ongoing trade conflict, there can be little doubt that whatever the outcome is, it will have far-reaching consequences. Both Beijing and Washington know that. But to avert the less than desirable scenarios that have been talked about, both parties will have to be sensitive to each other's sensibilities. No party should count on the other side to do all the giving without getting anything in return.

Don't let public money benefit sticky fingered shareholders

SOME SHAREHOLDERS OF private enterprises have reduced their holdings by a large margin immediately after the enterprises received government bailout funds, which caused the slump of the stock price of the enterprises afterward. China Economic Weekly comments:

Still a tough battle to win fight against HIV

Thirty years after the first World AIDS Day was marked on Dec 1, 1988, HIV remains one of the world's major infectious killers.

Fines and fees fall heaviest on the smallest companies

Editors note: The State Council, China's Cabinet, has urged State-owned banks to lower the interest rate for loans to small and micro-sized enterprises by 1 percentage point in the fourth quarter. Columnist Qin Shuo comments in a post:

Keep watchful eye on tricks of the apps

ON WEDNESDAY, the China Consumers' Association released a report on 100 smartphone apps, which found that the majority of them are suspected of collecting privacy and personal information that is unnecessary for their use. Beijing News comments:

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G20 must promote fair climate governance

Climate change poses one of the biggest risks to sustainable development.

Moscow, Kiev should work to restore peace

Editor's note: The skirmish between Russia and Ukraine near Kerch Strait has further escalated tensions between the two sides. Russia seized three Ukranian ships near the Kerch Strait that separates the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov on Sunday, saying they had entered Russian waters ignoring warnings, while Ukraine warned the incident could lead to a full-scale war. Why has the Russia-Ukraine conflict intensified? And how will the incident play out? Two experts share their views on the issue with China Daily's Liu Jianna. Excerpts follow:

Law ought to ban smoking in all public places

Over the past half a year since I moved to Beijing to be the World Health Organization representative in China, I have seen for myself and have been encouraged by the progress made by cities to make public spaces smoke-free.

Cooperation has much more to offer than hostility

The mood I felt during my visit to Spain and Portugal the past week was quite different from the months covering the contentious China-US trade conflict before I was posted to Brussels in early November. The message from European officials and pundits is largely centered on how to expand and elevate cooperation with China, just as the Chinese often say: make a bigger cake so everyone has a bigger slice.

Insights from interior monologue of Mars

ON TUESDAY, InSight, NASA's Martian exploration device, successfully landed on its destination site. Guokr.com comments:

Strict oversight over use of funds to get real results

Editor's note: At Caijing magazine's annual meeting in Beijing on Nov 14, Dong Yunting, head of the expert committee of the China Information Technology Industry Federation, said that by the end of last year, China had a total of 7.14 million patents, among which 90 percent were probably only props to appropriate project funds or innovation bonuses. An editorial of 21st Century Business Herald comments: