Innholdsfortegnelse for August 11, 2016 i Beijing Review

PMI Data The manufacturing sector posted a slight drop in July due to the effects of the flood season and weak demand, according to official data released on August 1. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) came in at 49.9, slightly lower than June’s 50, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. A reading above 50 indicates expansion while below 50 reflects contraction. NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said that floods that hit much of the country during July disrupted manufacturing activities and transportation. In addition, slowing market demand and weak investment sentiment in the private sector contributed to the contraction in the manufacturing sector, he added. The sub-index measuring production stood at 52.1, 0.4 percentage points lower than a month ago. The…

Comments to yulintao@bjreview.com ‘We all pass each other by. If one day I leave, please do not miss me. All of this is my choice, without regret.” Days before he lost his life in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, 22-year-old Li Lei had written the aforementioned sentences in his diary. The young Chinese man had been assigned to a UN peacekeeping operation in the conflict-ridden country. On July 10, a mortar shell struck the vehicle carrying Li, killing him and his comrade-in-arms, Sergeant Yan Shupeng, 33, in the incident, and injuring five other Chinese personnel. The attack was the second time within two months that Chinese soldiers had been fatally hit in peacekeeping operations, following the terrorist attack on a UN camp in Gao, north Mali, on June 1…

Comments to liuyunyun@bjreview.com Limpopo Province in the far north of South Africa takes its name from the mighty Limpopo River, which forms the natural border with Zimbabwe. It’s a region teeming with wildlife, bountiful historical and cultural treasures and spectacular scenery. Now the province, and its northernmost town, Musina, are on the verge of bigger things. The Shenzhen Hoi Mor Resources Holdings Ltd. (SHMRH), a Chinese company specializing in mineral benefication, will invest over $3.8 billion to establish an energy and metallurgical industrial cluster in the Musina Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Richard Zitha, a project executive of the Musina SEZ under Limpopo Economic Development Agency, is pleased with the positive outcome of his recent trip to China, where he signed an agreement with SHMRH at the Seminar on China-Africa Business…

Comments to yuanyuan@bjreview.com Electric tricycles zipping through the streets carrying couriers and stuffed with goods have become a common sight in China. This is especially true in urban centers, where the food delivery industry has recently experienced turbo-charged growth. Behind their curtains, droves of people— cooped up at home or in offices—regularly swipe through apps, placing orders via their computers, tablets and smartphones. Wei Yanfeng works as a software developer at the Zhongguancun Hi-tech Science Park, an incubator for technology startups in Beijing. Except for daily trips of about an hour each way between home and work, Wei spends very little time outdoors and usually orders three meals online per day. Every morning, Wei orders breakfast before leaving home, and the food is already on his desk, when he arrives…

Comments to yushujun@bjreview.com China is the maker of the world’s goods, however, the idea of “Made in China” denoting innovative, efficient products might seem like fantasy. The same entrepreneurial spirit that has driven the country’s meteoric rise in the global marketplace is now driving a wave of innovation supported by the deep pockets of the Central Government. Some 2,500 “innovation centers” have popped up in cities across China, and that number is set to double in the next five years, according to Internet research firm iiMedia. Meeting the consensus annual GDP growth forecast over the coming decade (5.5-6.5 percent) will require China to generate 2-3 percentage points of annual GDP growth through innovation, according to a study released last fall by McKinsey Global Institute. That transition—from “innovation sponge” to global…

Comments to panxiaoqiao@bjreview.com A video featuring a Chinese emperor dancing, rapping, taking selfies and texting imperial concubines via instant messaging services WeChat and QQ recently went viral on the mobile platforms. The commotion was a result of a partnership between Chinese Internet giant Tencent and Beijing’s Palace Museum, otherwise known as the Forbidden City, announced in early July. Emperor Yongle (1360-1424), the third ruler of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and the video’s protagonist, could never have imagined that today’s youth would become so obsessed with the Forbidden City, which was constructed under his reign during the 15th century. “It’s a bit surprising to see Emperor Yongle singing and dancing and using WeChat. It’s funny and impressive,” said Wang Xinyi, a graduate from Beijing Foreign Studies University. “Historical and cultural figures…

Comments to yanwei@bjreview.com Travel, as the old saying goes, broadens the mind. It’s one of the reasons I decided to come to China in the first place, some five years ago. So whenever I have the chance, I grab every opportunity I can to discover more of this amazing country. I had often thought about going up to Inner Mongolia to see what the area was like. Not for anything specific—it has just always intrigued me in an odd kind of way. Maybe the stories I’ve heard of Genghis and Kublai Khan and their ilk sweeping across the plains of Asia during the 13th century had something to do with it. One day, out of the blue, comes an invitation from a company with whom I work with occasionally, asking…

The Chinese delegation holds a flag-raising ceremony at the Rio Olympic Village on August 3, two days ahead of the opening of this year’s Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Over 400 Chinese athletes are set to compete in 210 events across 26 sports during the games, which last from August 5 to 21. China is expected to win a number of gold medals, particularly in sports in which Chinese athletes traditionally excel such as table tennis, badminton, gymnastics, weightlifting, shooting and diving.…

BRAZIL Athletes of the world’s first international refugees Olympic sports delegation attend a press conference in Rio de Janeiro on August 2 AFGHANISTAN People gather at the site of a truck bombing in Kabul on August 1 which killed one police officer and three militants, wounding three other police officers JAPAN Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his new cabinet members get ready for a group photo after a limited cabinet reshuffle on August 3 RUSSIA Warships participate in the celebration of Navy Day on the Neva River in St. Petersburg on July 31 SWITZERLAND People watch a bonfire on Rigi Mountain near Luzern to celebrate the country’s National Day on August 1 PAKISTAN Soldiers transfer the body of a road accident victim in Jamshoro on August 2. At least 12…

Comments to wanghairong@bjreview.com Yang Xitai was a happy man. His 23-yearold son, Yang Jie, had graduated and was waiting on a prime job offer from one of the local banks. It seemed after years of struggle that life had taken a turn for the better. And then tragedy struck the family in a rural area in central China’s Henan Province. On June 3, Yang Xitai noticed that his son seemed excessively pale after playing basketball and advised him to see a doctor Two days later, Yang Jie went to the hospital, where laboratory tests showed that his platelet levels had dropped to zero. He was later diagnosed with a severe form of aplastic anemia, and was hospitalized for treatment. Yang Jie’s bone marrow has stopped making blood cells. Because no…

Comments to zhouxiaoyan@bjreview.com They have been at loggerheads over fares for years, but now a white flag has been waved across the ride-hailing market in China. Didi Chuxing and Uber have finally agreed to bury the hatchet ending their costly fight for the largest on-demand transportation market in the world. Didi Chuxing, or Didi for short, is a homegrown juggernaut resulting from the merger of two Chinese ride-hailing companies— Didi Dache and Kuaidi Dache—in 2015. Uber, meanwhile, is the leading ride-hailing service in the United States and much of the world, except for China, where it has been a bleeding ground for the Silicon Valley-based startup. On August 1, Didi announced that it will acquire Uber’s brand, business operations and data in China. After the deal is completed, Uber will…

Comments to wangjun@bjreview.com Chinese grain and oil giants Chinatex Corp. and COFCO Corp. have merged following an announcement by the State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) on July 15. Both companies are centrally administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the supervision of the SASAC. The main reason behind the merger is the fact that both companies are engaged in the grain and oil industry. The union therefore accelerates COFCO’s growth as a major international grain trader and ensures China’s grain security, Li Jin, chief researcher with the China Enterprise Institute, told business news website Yicai.com. Chinatex focuses on two core businesses: textiles and grain and oil. According to a news release by COFCO, after the reorganization, its oil-processing capacity in China will reach 24 million tons,…

Army Day Officers and soldiers line up to form the number “89” on the Chni ese missile destroyerX i’an to celebrate the 89th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on August 1. The warship was part of a Chinese fleet participating in the Rim of the Pacific multinational naval exercises in the area of the Hawaiian sea. Maritime Jurisdiction The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on August 2 issued a judicial interpretation to clarify China’s jurisdiction over its territorial seas. The document, which took effect on August 2, is based on China’s laws, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and judicial practices. It states that Chinese citizens and foreigners will be pursued for criminal liability if they engage in illegal hunting or fishing…

Comments to yinpumin@bjreview.com After years of deliberation and calls from campaigners, animal rights and welfare have been highlighted in China’s newly revised Law on the Protection of Wildlife. The law was adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, on July 2, the first time that the law had been revised since it came into force in 1989. Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said that the law, which will take effect from January 1 next year, will play an important role in protecting biodiversity and ecological equilibrium, as well as coordinating the development of mankind with nature. Enhanced protection “The law establishes the principle of prioritizing the protection of wild animals. It is a big step in the country’s wildlife legislation,”…

As developing countries around the world continue to face harsh economic challenges, a new approach to changing the status quo has become imperative. Enter New Structural Economics (NSE), an enlightened theory put forward by Justin Yifu Lin, former World Bank chief economist and present honorary Dean of Peking University’s National School of Development. Lin says economic development is a process of continuous structural change. Whereas in the past, economic theories always used high-income countries as the reference, NSE proposes the opposite. He advises developing countries to look at what they have now, what they can do well, and how to create the conditions to scale that up. Lin shares his thoughts on his theory and how it can be applied to African countries in an exclusive interview with ChinAfrica, a…

The Dongbei Special Steel Group Co. Ltd., which has repeatedly defaulted on several bonds in 2016, reneged on yet another bond obligation in July. All parties involved are speculating as to whether or not the steelmaker is capable of reaching an agreement with its bondholders. As painful as it may be, a market-based approach should be adopted to solve the default crisis. More specifically, presumptions that the government will help pay off its debt should be abandoned. A healthy market environment is crucial to preventing debt risks of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from destabilizing the entire financial system. Since its first default on March 28, Dongbei Special Steel has missed payments on seven corporate bonds valued at 4.77 billion yuan ($717 million). The company and its majority shareholders have yet to…

Dear Readers, Forum is a column that provides a space for varying perspectives on contemporary Chinese society. We invite you to submit personal viewpoints on past and current topics (in either English or Chinese). yanwei@bjreview.com Please provide your name and address along with your comments Shenzhen’s newly opened Metro Line 11 features business-class carriages with comfortable seats and even window curtains. Reportedly, though, while passengers are packed like sardines into standard-class cars, the high-end compartments, which cost up to three times the price of their economy-class counterparts, remain almost empty. The striking contrast between the two types of carriage quickly triggered a heated debate on whether or not the “luxury” service should be offered. Those in favor say that the differentiated service can satisfy the various public transportation needs of…