Quotable

"The possibility of a US-China trade war is slim. ... The US has done that, as before, mainly to pressure China to toe its line but, given the two countries' intertwined economic interests, such a war would be detrimental to both."

YU YONGDING, economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and a former member of the central bank's monetary policy committee.

"There are tremendous opportunities for voice computing in the IoT sector. I believe machines will beat humans in terms of voice recognition within five years."

HARRY SHUM, executive vice-president of Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence and Research Group. Microsoft Corp has unveiled its latest generation of smart chatbot, which can now voice-control 35 smart home appliances made by Xiaomi Corp, as part of its broader push to tap into internet of things opportunities in China.

"Facing the continued increase of metal futures these days in China, regulators introduced several regulations and policies to stabilize prices, so as to ensure the sound development of related sectors. ... The notice has a large deterrent effect on the hot metal futures markets, reducing the market hype and cooling down their prices."

WANG GUOQING, research director at the Lange Steel Information Research Center.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/25/2017 page24)