News in review

Monday____August 14

Industrial output sees slight fall in July

China's growth of industrial output, investment and retail sales fell slightly in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The country's industrial output growth stood at 6.4 percent year-on-year last month, down by 1.2 percentage points compared with June and 0.4 percentage point higher than last July.

Its fixed-asset investment growth rose by 8.3 percent year-on-year in the first seven months, 0.3 percentage point lower than the previous month and 0.2 percentage point higher than last July. But on a month-on-month basis, it rose by 0.6 percent, the NBS said.

Retail sales growth of the world's second-largest economy was registered at 10.4 percent year-on-year, 0.6 percentage point lower than in June. It rose by 0.2 percentage point compared with a year ago, the NBS said.

New license plates to identify energy vehicles

China will issue special license plates for new energy vehicles in every city nationwide, following the success of a pilot program in five cities.

"The initiative will make it easier for the public to recognize new energy vehicles, and it plays an essential role in the development and upgrading of the new energy industry," the ministry of public security said in a statement.

In the first half of next year, the new plates will be available in all cities across the country, the ministry said.

Since 2013, policies have been launched nationwide to promote the development of new energy vehicles. More than 1 million such cars are on the road in China, the ministry said.

The ministry said the new plates are wider than traditional plates and have an additional digit, signifying the vehicle is electric.

Smaller new energy cars will be issued green plates, and larger ones will get green and yellow plates. (Photo 1)

Tuesday____August 15

IMF forecasts increased growth for China

China is expected to see robust economic growth in the coming months, but needs to strengthen efforts to implement reforms to avoid risks piling up, the International Monetary Fund said.

The IMF raised its forecast for China's average annual growth for 2018-2020 to 6.4 percent from 6.0 percent, according to its annual review of China's economy. It maintained its forecast of 6.7 percent growth for this year.

China should continue to implement reforms to avoid risks accumulated that may drag down the growth pace in the medium-to-long period, the IMF said.

Markus Rodlauer, deputy director of Asia and Pacific Department at the IMF, praised China's commitment and efforts to deepen reforms, and urged China to broaden such efforts and rely more on market forces.

To see more sustainable growth, China needs to boost consumption as China's savings rate is twice the global average, the report said. (Photo 2)

Foreign direct investment drops 1.2%

Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland dropped 1.2 percent year-on-year between January and July to $72.66 billion, official data released by the Ministry of Commerce showed.

A total of 17,703 newly funded foreign companies were established in the first seven months, up 12 percent from the same period a year ago, according to a statement from the ministry.

"The FDI volume was basically stable from January to July, and the structure continued to optimize," said Lin Guijun, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

The high-tech manufacturing and service sectors were up 8.3 percent and 16.8 percent respectively year-on-year.

Wednesday____August 16

New coal-fired power plants being put on hold

China is putting on hold building new coal-fired power plants to avoid risks from overcapacity and promote a clean energy mix.

A total of 150 million kW of new coal power generation capacity will see construction halted or postponed from 2016 to 2020, the 13th Five-Year Plan period, according to a statement released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and other government agencies.

Meanwhile, more than 20 million kW of outdated capacity will be eliminated, and nearly 1 billion kW of capacity will be upgraded to produce fewer emissions, use less energy, and better coordinate with new energy development.

The country is gradually lowering the proportion of coal in its energy system.

Five maglev train lines planned by 2020

China will operate more than five magnetic levitation rail lines with maximum speed of 99 miles per hour by 2020, according to the manufacturer.

A new generation of Chinese medium-to-low speed magnetically levitated or maglev trains, manufactured by CRRC Dalian Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp, completed test runs in Shanghai this month. The vehicles are expected to enter the market within a year.

More than 12 Chinese cities are planning to launch maglev services by 2020.

"Maglev trains are quiet and can achieve high speeds because they don't actually ride on the rails with wheels but hover centimeters above the track through the use of magnets, avoiding the slower speeds caused by friction," said Sun Fuquan, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development in Beijing. (Photo 3)

Thursday____August 17

More Chinese universities are among top 500

More Chinese mainland universities than ever have been ranked among the world's top 500 universities in terms of research capabilities.

The annual Academic Ranking of World Universities includes 45 mainland universities, up from 18 in 2009, when not one made the top 200.

Tsinghua University broke into the top 50 for the first time, ranking 48th, making it the third-highest-ranking Asian university, behind Tokyo and Kyoto universities. The Beijing institution was in the top 200 in 2010. Peking University came in 71st.

The rankings are published by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy, an independent organization dedicated to research on higher education and consultation.

US universities continue to dominate the list, with 48 in the top 100 and 135 in the top 500. Harvard remains the world's No. 1, a slot it has occupied since 2003, when the rankings were first released. Stanford continues to be second.

Internet drug stores go after $6.8b market

The days of prescription drugs being only available in hospitals and healthcare centers in China appear to be nearly over as medical reforms open the market for online companies.

Statistics from the 2017 China Medical Market Development Blue Book showed the online drug selling market is expected to expand rapidly. By the end of this year, the business-to-consumer sector for China's pharmaceutical industry is predicted to reach $6.83 billion, an increase of 70.9 percent compared with 2016, the book reported.

China's aging population is expected to reach 250 million in 2017, while patients with chronic illnesses will also increase significantly.

"This will stimulate the development of the healthcare market, especially online drug stores," said Wang Licheng, CEO of Dingdang Medicine Express, a well known online-to-offline platform. (Photo 4)

Friday____August 18

Chinese travel overseas to escape summer heat

The continuous summer heat in many parts of China has caused large numbers of people to travel to cooler climates overseas.

Online travel agency Ctrip estimates that about 30 million Chinese people will travel overseas during the summer, with about 1 million making the trip to avoid the heat.

Data released by the China Meteorological Administration, China's weather authority, showed China just experienced the hottest July since 1961, with the national average temperature reaching 73.7 degrees Farenheit, higher than the 71.4 national July average in recent decades.

But the temperature in many places soared much higher in July. Shanghai sweltered under a new record high of 105 F on July 21, the hottest since the establishment of its weather station in 1872, the municipal weather bureau said.

China, Scotland create potato research lab

A Chinese potato processor is joining with Scottish potato experts to create a $3.87 million potato research facility in Shandong province that will breed new varieties of potatoes and conduct research into storage, processing, pests and disease.

Xisen Potato Industry Group - one of the largest processors of potatoes in China - and the Chinese government will fund the lab, which will be run in collaboration with potato scientists from the James Hutton Institute, an agricultural research center in Dundee, Scotland.

Xisen general manager Hu Baigeng said the potato is China's fourth most important staple behind rice, wheat and corn.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer of potatoes, though per capita consumption is below that of the US and Europe.

A commuter rides a boat to cross a flooded street in Rongshui Miao autonomous county on Monday as torrential rains hit the area and much of China on Sunday and Monday. Provided to China Daily

To solve the problem of illegally parked shared bicycles in China, municipal governments were asked to set up parking areas for bikes and severely punish violators. Hefei, capital city of Anhui province, has seen the highest number of illegally parked shared bikes impounded by local authorities - at least 10,000 since May. Provided to China Daily

(China Daily USA 08/18/2017 page12)