News in review

Monday

Childhood obesity accelerating

One in four Chinese children age 7 or above will be obese in 2030, according to a report issued by Peking University's School of Public Health and other organizations' forecasts.

The Report on Childhood Obesity in China predicted that the prevalence of overweight and obese students aged 7 to 18 will reach 28 percent in 2030 without intervention.

The report, developed from data collected in nine cities, showed that in 2014, 28.2 percent of boys and girls aged 7 to 18 were overweight while 16.4 percent were obese by standards adopted by the United Nations.

While genetics play an important role, the rapid growth of obesity in the last decade was mainly caused by behavioral and environmental factors, including changes in consumption and the food supply, as well as in physical activity, the report said. (Photo 1)

Retail sales up 10.7% in April

Retail sales rose 10 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, 0.4 percentage points less than the whole of last year, official data showed.

Retail sales of consumer goods totaled $1.25 trillion (8.5823 trillion yuan) during the January-March period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

In March, total sales of consumer goods rose 10.9 percent year-on-year, 1.4 percentage points faster than the first two months, which rose 9.5 percent year-on-year, the first time for growth to fall below 10 percent in 11 years.

The data showed strong consumption potential in rural areas, with retail sales expanding 11.9 percent during the period, outpacing urban areas, where retail sales climbed 9.7 percent year-on-year.

Online sales continued strong growth, surging 32.1 percent in the first two months. (Photo 2)

Tuesday____May 16

Ma replaces Wang as China's richest man

Jack Ma, chairman of China's e-commerce leader Alibaba Group, has surpassed Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, to become the richest mainland Chinese, according to Forbes magazine.

As of May 12, Ma's fortune was $30.9 billion, compared with $30.7 billion for Wang. Ma Huateng, chairman of Tencent, took the third spot with $29.7 billion, according to the magazine.

Ma took the crown thanks to a more than one-third rise in Alibaba's share price, which was $120.34 in New York on May 12.

Wang has made his wealth mainly from real estate and the entertainment industry.

In the past few years, Jack Ma and Wang Jianlin have rotated the No. 1 spot in China's wealth rankings.

However, the rankings may be poised for another shakeup as Ma Huateng's wealth increased rapidly following a run-up in the stock price of Tencent Holdings, which operates the country's popular WeChat online messaging platform. (Photo 3)

350,000 Chinese study along Belt and Road

More than 350,000 Chinese students have studied in countries along the Belt and Road since 2012, according to Vice-Minister of Education Tian Xuejun.

Some 11,900 of them were sponsored by the Chinese government, Tian said.

By the end of April 2017, China had signed 45 agreements on education cooperation with Belt and Road countries, he said. Diplomas issued by universities from China and 24 such countries are mutually recognized.

The Chinese government has also increased the number of scholarships for students from the Belt and Road countries to study in China.

In addition, 3,454 Chinese students have studied local languages in Belt and Road countries since 2012.

Wednesday____May 17

Hunan to encourage poor people to work abroad

Central China's Hunan province plans to encourage people living in poverty to work abroad to achieve its goal of poverty alleviation, according to Xinhua, citing information from the province's poverty relief authorities.

The workers in poverty-stricken families should be aged 18 to 40, in good health and have some skills. As long as they are one of the government designated poverty-stricken families in the province, they can volunteer to be an immigrant worker in another country.

The province aims to send more than 10,000 of these workers abroad in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), and therefore help more than 10,000 households escape poverty.

By 2016, Hunan had 49 counties designated poor and more than 3.3 million impoverished people.

Yum enhances delivery for KFC, Pizza Hut

Yum China Holdings Inc said it will acquire a controlling stake in food delivery company Daojia, to expand delivery services for its KFC and Pizza Hut chains in the country.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of this month, the company said.

Daojia, founded in 2010, is an online food delivery service provider focusing on orders in large cities. "The transaction is to accelerate digital and delivery growth by enhancing know-how and expertise in this growing segment," according to Yum.

According to Yum China, the fast-food company has a leading restaurant delivery network in China, with more than 4,400 of its 7,663 restaurants offering delivery services. Deliveries accounted for around 12 percent of Yum China's sales in the first quarter, the company said. (Photo 4)

Thursday____May 18

Real-name registration for civilian drones

China will require civilian drones weighing more than 250 grams to be registered under real names starting on June 1 to improve civil aviation safety.

The government is also working on systems to share and check civilian drone registration data.

Recent cases have indicated that unregulated civilian drones could pose a threat to the safety of civil aviation.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China will release information of areas surrounding airports that ban the flying of civilian drones and work with local governments and public security authorities to monitor and crack down on unregulated civilian drones. (Photo 5)

Chinese students rank US, UK top choices

US President Donald Trump's arrival in the White House and Brexit in the United Kingdom have not lessened the appeal of these countries among Chinese students choosing an overseas education destination, according to a new report.

A survey of 6,217 students who plan to study abroad, or their parents, found that the United States remains the top choice, with 50 percent preferring the US, up from 46 percent last year.

It is the third consecutive year the country ranked No 1 in the annual Report on Chinese Students' Overseas Study. It was conducted in more than 40 cities in February and March.

Some of Trump's policies, including visa restrictions, are thought to have influenced international students and prospective immigrants.

Although China was not directly affected by the travel ban, 25 percent of universities saw undergraduate applications from China decline and 32 percent had fewer Chinese graduate student applications, the report said.

Friday____May 19

Auto sales drop due to decreased demand, tax hike

Auto production and sales declined in April in the world's largest auto market due to a decrease in demand and higher sales tax, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

A total of 2.08 million vehicles were sold in April, down 2.2 percent year-on-year, CAAM said, while total output dropped 1.9 percent year-on-year to 2.14 million.

"Although currently stable, China's auto industry is approaching the critical turning point for a cooling market," said Ye Shengji, deputy secretary-general of CAAM.

In October 2015, China slashed the sales tax on cars with engines of 1.6 liters or below from 10 percent to 5 percent, helping increase total auto sales to a record high of 28.03 million last year. The tax was raised to 7.5 percent in 2017 and will return to 10 percent again in 2018.

Moody's 'stablizes' rating for currency bonds

Moody's Investors Service has kept its "stable" rating for China's foreign and local-currency bonds, citing the country's good economic fundamentals, but warned that systemic risks remain because of a credit surge and the opaque local governments' debt.

The credit ratings agency noted in a report that the contingent liabilities of local governments are still not transparent enough, and progress curbing the credit growth has been less than anticipated, which prevented it from raising the nation's rating level.

China's economic fundamentals are underpinned by robust economic growth, strong central government finances, and an exceptionally strong external-payments position, the agency said.

It said the country will maintain a 7 to 8 percent growth through 2017.

Inflation remains low to moderate and asset inflation is contained, which added to the positive outlook, it said.

(China Daily USA 05/19/2017 page12)