News in review

Monday

Food, drugs get new safety targets

China has revised 2020 regulatory targets for food and drug safety to crack down on illegal activity and lax regulation.

The State Council in guidelines upgraded surveillance measures for imported and exported goods and raised the maximum acceptable limits of pesticide and antibiotic residues in produce.

The plan requires 50 countries that export a high volume of food products to China to make additional safety assessments and calls for the construction of 20 ports designated for food inspection and quarantine.

The revisions also require increased scrutiny of health food products and infant milk formula.

Mobike gets more funding to expand in China

Chinese bike-sharing startup Mobike announced it has received a strategic investment from Singaporean company Temasek Holdings, as it is locked in a fierce battle with ofo for dominance in China.

Beijing-based Mobike didn't disclose the specific amount. The three-year-old company has raised more than $300 million since the start of 2017.

"With the help of new investors, we will expand presence in China and the overseas markets," said Davis Wang, co-founder and CEO of Mobike.

In the first week of 2017, Mobike's mobile app had 5.85 million weekly active users. In comparison, the number for ofo is 1.4 million, data from the research firm iResearch Consulting Group show.

Users download the Mobike app and pay a deposit to start using the service. The rental cost, around 15 cents (1 yuan) for half an hour, is deducted from the deposit. All transactions are done on electronic payment platforms. (Photo 1)

Tuesday____Feb 21

Ma sets up private nonprofit bilingual school

Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, is establishing a private bilingual school that aims to have 3,000 students at full capacity.

He and other partners of Alibaba co-founded the Yungu School, or Cloud Valley, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, where the e-commerce company has its headquarters. The school will offer classes from kindergarten through high school.

For the upcoming September semester, it plans to enroll 60 students in first grade, and an additional 48 in seventh grade.

In November, China banned profit-centered private schools from the nine-year compulsory education system, which covers the years from primary school to junior high school, because it is a public service to be provided by the government.

Alibaba said its school is registered as a nonprofit organization and will comply with the law. It declined to disclose tuition fees. (Photo 2)

China extends economic aid to Mongolia

China will give an economic aid package to debt-ridden Mongolia.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced a number of measures, including favorable loan terms and extending a bilateral currency swap deal that is vital to Mongolia's foreign trade and currency stability.

He announced the steps at a joint news conference after talks with his visiting Mongolian counterpart Tsend Munkh-Orgil on Monday.

The International Monetary Fund said on Sunday that the country has agreed to implement an economic rescue package proposed by the IMF and refinance bond loans, easing concerns that Mongolia might default on a loan in March. (Photo 3)

Wednesday____Feb 22

Baidu raises $1.5 billion for video-streaming site

Baidu, China's leading search engine, said that it has raised $1.5 billion (10.5 billion yuan) to bankroll its video-streaming platform iQiyi.com amid increasing competition.

Baidu invested $300 million as part of a convertible bond issuance. Other investors include Hillhouse Capital, Boyu Capital, IDG Capital and Sequoia Capital China, the company said.

According to the company, iQiyi had 481 million monthly active end users as of December 2016, with an above-average growth rate.

The funding comes as video streaming has become hotly contested in China. The country's biggest internet companies including the trilogy known as BAT, namely Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, have either set up or backed major players.

Courts told to ignore insufficient, illegal evidence

China's top court has ordered every court nationwide to find suspects innocent when evidence is insufficient to prove their guilt, and to not accept evidence that is obtained illegally.

"When we looked back at wrongful cases corrected over the past few years, we found the mistakes were attributable to our undeveloped legal awareness, as well as improper legal procedures while tackling the cases," said Dai Changlin, a member of the trial committee at the Supreme People's Court.

A guideline stipulates that courts should review the legality of evidence before hearing a case and they are not allowed to continue with cases if evidence has been collected in an improper manner.

Thursday____Feb 23

Bao Bao back home in China

After an almost 17-hour flight from Washington, an aircraft with panda Bao Bao on board landed safely at Chengdu airport, in Southwestern China's Sichuan province on Wednesday.

Bao Bao, a 3 -year-old female giant panda that had lived at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, left the United States on Tuesday afternoon, aboard a FedEx Panda Express 777F airplane.

The 200-pound animal will spend one month in quarantine in a 100-square meter "apartment" for returning overseas pandas in the Dujiangyan Panda Base.

She may have the opportunity to meet her brother for the first time - 12-year-old Tai Shan, who returned to China from the US in 2010. Both are offspring of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. The parents still live at the zoo in Washington.

Bao Bao, which translates to "precious treasure", was born on Aug 23, 2013, through artificial insemination. At her naming ceremony when she turned 100 days old, China's first lady Peng Liyuan and then US first lady Michelle Obama sent video greetings. (Photo 4)

Tibet expects 25 million tourists this year

More than 25 million tourists are expected in the Tibet autonomous region this year, its tourism authority announced.

The visitors are expected to generate more than $5.38 billion (37 billion yuan) in revenue, according to the Tibet tourism development commission.

It is estimated that Tibet's tourism industry will lift 30,000 people out of poverty this year.

Last year, the region received more than 23 million domestic and overseas tourists, up 14.8 percent year-on-year. Total tourism revenue increased 17.3 percent year-on-year. (Photo 5)

Friday____Feb 24

Square dancers in Beijing may face punishment

Starting next month, square dancers in Beijing could risk legal problems if they are deemed to be disturbing the peace, Chinanews.com reported.

Beijing's newly revised regulation on the national fitness program stipulates that fitness activities should not disturb the public order, and violators will be subject to penalties or even criminal prosecution at the hands of public security departments.

With public square dancing becoming increasingly popular among Chinese citizens, and especially among senior citizens, disputes between dancers and residents have been on the rise, as the dancing is usually accompanied by loud music.

Central SOEs cut thousands of subsidiaries

China's centrally administered State-owned enterprises (SOEs), which manage the bulk of the country's State assets, cut 2,730 subsidiary legal entities last year, according to a senior official.

China's 102 central SOEs posted a narrower yearly loss and reduced management costs in 2016, said Xiao Yaqing, head of the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council.

Major problems with the bloated centrally administered SOEs include weakness in core business, too many sideline businesses, low efficiency and excessive layers of administration and management.

Excessive layers of hierarchy and redundancy persisting in the centrally administered SOEs are also part of the reason reform has not been easy to push through over the years.

(China Daily USA 02/24/2017 page12)