IN BRIEF (Page 2)

Chinese vessel rescues solo French sailor

A Chinese-operated cargo ship rescued a 72-year-old solo French sailor after his navigation equipment broke down in the Caribbean and left him drifting without food and water. The MV Winning Joy, an 87,417 metric ton bulk carrier operated by Qingdao Winning International Management Co, came to the rescue of Bernard Couvet, who had been adrift for 19 days. News of the rescue broke when the Winning Joy returned to Qingdao, Shandong province, on Jan 10.

Mozambique university to launch Chinese course

Eduardo Mondlane University, the oldest institute of higher education in Mozambique, will introduce a degree course in Chinese this year through its 3-year-old Confucius Institute. "We have been teaching Chinese locally, but only short courses. About 2,000 students have benefited from that. We now have decided to do more," said Xing Xianhong, executive director of the Confucius Institute, on Jan 15. He said lessons are expected to begin at the end of February, with room for 60 students.

Mainlanders among 62 richest in world

The wealthiest 62 people now own as much as half the world's population, according to a report by Oxfam. Among that 62 are five people from the Chinese mainland: Robin Li, founder of Baidu; Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, chief of Tencent Holdings; Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce company Alibaba; Wang Jianlin, chairman of real estate and entertainment conglomerate Wanda Group; and Li Hejun, chairman of energy corporation Hanergy Group.

Qualcomm pledges investment in Guizhou

Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc delivered a boost to the high-tech sector in Guizhou province on Jan 17 by pledging to invest 1.85 billion yuan ($281 million; 258 million euros) in a joint venture to produce server chips for the domestic market. The Guizhou government will own 55 percent of Guizhou Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology Co. As part of the deal, Qualcomm will also license its proprietary server chip technology and provide R&D processes.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/22/2016 page2)