News in review

Monday

China launches satellite navigation system

China launched a national satellite navigation and positioning system. It is the largest in the country and boasts the widest coverage.

Li Weisen, deputy director of the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, said that the system launched on Saturday consists of 2,700 base stations, a national database center and 30 provincial level database centers.

The system, featuring faster speed, higher accuracy and wider coverage, will be compatible with other satellite navigation systems, such as the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and Global Position System (GPS), Li said.

According to the administration, the system is able to provide positioning service to transportation, emergency medical rescue and city planning and management.

Alibaba invests more in food-delivery service

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd plans to lead an investment round of at least $1 billion in Ele.me, one of the largest players in China's food-delivery service sector.

Alibaba is already the biggest shareholder of Ele.me, which it uses to complement a separate service called Koubei that provides restaurant bookings and spa treatments.

The move will help Ele.me compete with a rival service backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd, people familiar with the deal said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private. Tencent holds only a minor stake in Ele.me after a $1.25 billion fundraising from Alibaba and Ant Financial in April 2016 diluted its holdings.

While food-delivery businesses around the world have struggled to make profits, China's two largest internet companies see on-demand services as a way to promote their lucrative online payments services.

Tuesday____May 30

New cybersecurity law aims to protect privacy

A new cybersecurity law bans online service providers from inappropriately collecting and selling users' personal information.

To protect individuals' privacy, internet service providers are forbidden by the new law that takes effect on Thursday from collecting user information that is irrelevant to the services provided, and they should handle the information they do collect in line with laws and agreements.

The law makes it clear that no one can use the internet to conduct fraud or sell prohibited goods. Those who violate the provisions and infringe on personal information will face hefty fines, it stipulates.

Several other regulations will also take effect on Thursday. A regulation on online news requires government permission before releasing news on instant messaging apps or social websites.

Women's table tennis coach is suspended

Former Olympic champion Kong Linghui has been suspended as head coach of the Chinese women's table tennis team following a lawsuit over a gambling debt filed by a Singaporean hotel, the Chinese Table Tennis Association announced.

Kong was ordered on Tuesday to return home from the World Championships in Dusseldorf, Germany, to aid an investigation into the matter.

A Singaporean hotel where Kong and his family and friends had stayed in 2015 filed a lawsuit against Kong in a Hong Kong court. Media reports said Kong borrowed $721,200 from the hotel, but failed to pay back the debt in full.

Kong admitted on Weibo that he had borrowed the money but didn't participate in gambling.

Wednesday____May 31

Beef imports will resume on July 16

US beef exports are set to resume as part of the Sino-US economic cooperation 100-day action plan unveiled in mid-May.

Vice-Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao disclosed that China plans to resume imports of US beef by July 16, exactly 100 days after President Xi Jinping met US President Donald Trump in Florida.

Statistics showed that last year the gap between supply and demand in the domestic beef market was 830,000 tons, which is expected to be filled as US beef re-enters the Chinese market.

Due to the low cost of raising cattle, the final retail price of US beef in China is still lower than domestically produced beef even plus tariff and added-value tax. (Photo 1)

Airbus builds first helicopter plant in China

Airbus Helicopters is moving forward with its strategic partnership with China, with construction now underway of its first helicopter assembly line in the country.

Guillaume Faury, CEO of Airbus Helicopters, said the new final assembly line for its H135 chopper in Qingdao, Shandong province, is the first for the company in China.

Costing more than $11.21 million, the plant is expected to be completed by 2018, he said at the weekend groundbreaking ceremony.

Under a framework agreement signed in June last year, 100 Airbus H135s will be assembled over the next 10 years, and the first aircraft rollout from Qingdao is planned for mid-2019. The production line will have a total installed annual capacity of 18 helicopters, which can be extended for future growth. (Photo 2)

Thursday____June 1

An app for bereaved parents is developed

A smartphone app is being developed that links bereaved parents with volunteers offering emotional support or help with everyday tasks.

Li Gan started working on Love Hula Hoop last year and said the app should be available to download on Apple and Android devices as early as October.

The 49-year-old customs officer lost his 4-month-old son in 2008 to an acute illness that doctors were unable to diagnose. Since then, he has offered support to other bereaved parents, setting up an NGO and hotlines and organizing home visits and get-togethers. His efforts are mainly aimed at helping parents who have lost their only child.

The app has cost about $145,000 (1 million yuan), financed with Li's own money and donations from the public.

"This is like I'm fostering new 'children' to look after us," he said. "I no longer have my son by my side, but I can still help myself and others to have a better life." (Photo 3)

Campaign to clean up cosmetic surgery industry

China has launched a yearlong campaign to clean up the cosmetic surgery industry and ensure public health.

The campaign, from May to next April, covers areas like the production and application of drugs and appliances, and staff training and advertising, with a focus on cosmetic injections.

The cosmetic surgery market was valued at over $58 billion in 2015 and was estimated to be increasing by 30 percent annually, said Qi Zuoliang, head of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' Plastic Surgery Hospital in Beijing.

He said cosmetic injections are among the most popular of such procedures in China and involve lots of irregularities.

There are tens of thousands of practitioners in China, but fewer than 3,000 are registered with health authorities, according to the Chinese Association of Plastic and Aesthetics.

Friday____June 2

First China-made cruise liner due in 2023

China's first domestically built cruise liner will be delivered in 2023, followed by a delivery rate of one vessel per year between 2024 and 2028, said a senior executive from one of the companies involved in the China cruise project.

China's cruise market is growing rapidly. Last year, more than 3.6 million trips were made, a 33 percent rise year-on-year, and that figure is expected to reach at least 10 million trips by 2030," said Zhang Xuewu, chairman of China Tourism Group Co Ltd.

To cash in on the nation's booming cruise market, a $3.33 billion agreement was signed in October 2015 between CSSC, China Investment Corp and Carnival Corporation & Plc. The three parties agreed to set up a joint-venture cruise operation based in Hong Kong, which would place orders.

C919 will need thousands of test-flight hours

China will accelerate the approval process for the C919, the country's first large domestic passenger plane, to obtain an airworthiness certificate, which may require thousands of test flight hours, the industrial regulator and the aircraft's maker said.

The C919 is scheduled to go through about 729 test projects and 4,200 hours of flight before it obtains the certificate from the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Such a step is mandatory for it to enter the commercial market, according to the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, the C919's manufacturer.

Lin Zhijie, an aviation industry analyst, said the C919 needs to prove it is safe to fly and can meet requirements for commercial use.

(China Daily USA 06/02/2017 page12)