Planetarium Under Construction

Guests attend the foundation-laying ceremony of the Shanghai Planetarium in Shanghai on November 8. Covering an area of 38，164 square meters， the planetarium will include a main building and ancillary constructions， such as an observation base for young people， a solar tower and an observatory.

Interpretation of Basic Law

Chinas top legislature on November 7 adopted an interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region （SAR） by a unanimous vote.

The interpretation was issued by the National Peoples Congress （NPC） Standing Committee following the behavior of some legislators-elect during the election of Hong Kongs Legislative Council （LegCo） and the subsequent swearing-in ceremony.

Article 104 of the Basic Law stipulates： “When assuming office， the chief executive， principal officials， members of the Executive Council and of the Legislative Council， judges of courts at all levels and other members of the judiciary in Hong Kong SAR must， in accordance with law， swear to uphold the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR of the Peoples Republic of China and swear allegiance to Hong Kong SAR of the Peoples Republic of China.”

According to the interpretation of Article 104， “to uphold the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR ” and to bear “allegiance to Hong Kong SAR” are not only the legal contents which must be included in the oath prescribed by the article， but also the legal requirements and preconditions for standing for election in respect of， or taking up， the public office specified in the article.

An oath taker must take the oath sincerely and solemnly， and must accurately， completely and solemnly read out the oath prescribed by law， according to the interpretation.

A spokesperson with the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council on November 7 issued a statement hailing the adoption of the interpretation as“absolutely necessary” and timely.

“The interpretation demonstrates the Central Governments firm determination and will against‘Hong Kong independence，” the spokesperson said. The spokesperson went on to say that the interpretation “underscores the authority of the Basic Law and the rule of law in Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong is a local administrative region directly under the Central Government， the spokesperson confirmed， and the LegCo is a SAR legislative organ set up in accordance with the Hong Kong Basic Law.

“The interpretation of the Basic Law given by the NPC Standing Committee is the same as the law itself，” the spokesperson added， stressing that relevant provisions in the Basic Law and its interpretation“must be implemented to the letter.”

Cybersecurity Law

Chinas top legislature on November 7 adopted a cybersecurity law to safeguard sovereignty in cyber space， national security and the rights of citizens.

The government will take measures to “monitor， defend and handle cybersecurity risks and threats originating from within the country or overseas sources， protecting key information infrastructure from attack， intrusion， disturbance and damage，” the law reads.

Efforts will also be made to punish criminal activities online and safeguard the order and security of cyberspace.

Individual users and organizations are not allowed to jeopardize security on the Internet or use it to“damage national security， honor and interests，” according to the provisions.

Online activities that are attempts to overthrow the socialist system， split the nation， undermine national unity， and advocate terrorism and extremism are all prohibited， according to the provisions， which also forbid activities including inciting ethnic hatred， discrimination and spreading violence and obscene information online.

The law was passed at the bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee， which concluded on November 7， after a third reading.

Tianjin Sentencing

On November 9， courts in north Chinas Tianjin Municipality sentenced 49 people to prison， including 24 company managers and staff members as well as 25 government officials found guilty of various crimes that led to the citys warehouse blasts， which killed at least 165 people in August 2015.

The suspects were tried by the Second Intermediate Peoples Court of Tianjin and nine other courts from November 7-9. As the rulings were made， all suspects agreed with the verdicts and expressed remorse， sources with the Higher Peoples Court of Tianjin said.

On August 12， 2015， a series of explosions ripped through a warehouse of Ruihai Logistics Co. Ltd. （Ruihai Logistics） in Tianjin Port， leaving 165 people dead， eight missing， and 798 injured. The blasts also damaged 304 buildings， 12，428 cars， and 7，533 containers， incurring economic losses amounting to 6.87 billion yuan （$1.01 billion）.

The court ruled that the blasts were an accident with “extraordinary seriousness，” with Ruihai Logistics bearing the main responsibility. The company ignored industrial safety rules and violated municipal district planning by illegally setting up a hazardous materials storage yard， the court ruling says. “Management was chaotic， and safety problems persisted.”

Officials of various government agencies involving transportation， ports， customs， industrial safety， city planning， and maritime affairs were also responsible due to dereliction of duty and abuse of power， the court added. The third responsible party was Tianjin Zhongbin Haisheng， a company that provided counterfeit safety evaluation papers to Ruihai Logistics.

Yu Xuewei， Chairman of Ruihai Logistics， was found guilty of bribing port administration officials with cash and goods worth 157，500 yuan（$23，333） to obtain a certificate to handle hazardous chemicals at the port.

Yu was convicted of illegal storage of hazardous materials， illegal business operations， causing incidents involving hazardous materials， and bribery. He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 700，000 yuan （$103，704）.

The deputy chairman and general manager of Ruihai Logistics and three other company employees were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 years to life. Seven Ruihai Logistics staff members directly responsible for the incident were sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison.

Eleven people with Tianjin Zhongbin Haisheng， the company that provided Ruihai Logistics counterfeit safety reports were also jailed.

Twenty-five officials， including head of Tianjin Municipal Transportation Commission Wu Dai， were sentenced to prison terms lasting from three to seven years for dereliction of duty， abuse of power， and accepting bribes.

Dancing in the Rain

Square dancing lovers in Wuhan， central Chinas Hubei Province， exercise together on November 7.

More than 50，000 people in 14 cities including Tianjin， Beijing， Shanghai and Wuhan joined the activity on the morning of that day， breaking the Guinness World Record.

Priceless Treasure

An artisan works on a piece of mulberry bark to make paper in Moyu County， Hotan of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on November 4.

Handmade mulberry-bark paper， originating thousands of years ago in Xinjiang， is on the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Big Data Zone

China unveiled on November 7 a big data zone being built in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The Inner Mongolia zone， centered at regional capital Hohhot， is one of the seven under construction in China and will focus on analyzing data on energy， meteorology and geology to help energy conservation and cooperation.

Xu Shaoshi， Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission， said the commission will draw up policies to bring big data products， industry， and technology to the zone. Businesses， research institutes， and universities are also encouraged to participate.

A number of information industry heavyweights including Alibaba， Baidu， China Telecom and Tencent have offices in the zone.

The authorities aim to make the autonomous regions big data zone north Chinas big data center and a leading global big data base by 2020.

According to a previous estimate， China will account for 20 percent of the worlds data capacity by 2020.

Foreign Trade

Chinas exports in yuan-denominated terms fell by 3.2 percent year on year in October， while imports grew by 3.2 percent， customs data showed on November 8.

Foreign trade volume reached 2.05 trillion yuan （$302.3 billion） in October， with the trade surplus narrowing to 325.25 billion yuan（$48.04 billion）， according to figures from the General Administration of Customs （GAC）.

Trade volume for the first 10 months dropped 1.9 percent from a year earlier to 19.56 trillion yuan（$2.89 trillion） while the trade surplus shrank 2.6 percent to 2.88 trillion yuan （$425.4 billion）.

Foreign trade with Chinas larg- est trade partner—the European Union—rose 2.3 percent in the first 10 months year on year.

In the same period， foreign trade with the United States， Chinas second biggest trade partner， fell 3.2 percent， while trade with the ASEAN， its third largest trade partner， gained 0.1 percent.

Machinery and electronic products as well as goods in laborintensive sectors like textiles and toys posted growth declines in the first 10 months， and private firms still led the countrys exports.

Meanwhile， imports of large commodity goods including iron ore and crude oil continued to grow in the January-October period featuring general price drops， GAC data showed.

CPI and PPI

Consumer price index （CPI）， a main gauge of inflation， grew 2.1 percent year on year in October， up from Septembers 1.9 percent， the National Bureau of Statistics （NBS） announced on November 9.

The October data ended previous drops in the past five consecutive months starting from 2.3 percent in April， when the CPI hit its highest level since July 2014.

On a month-on-month basis， the CPI fell 0.1 percent in October.

NBS statistician Yu Qiumei attributed the stronger growth of inflation in October largely to a low comparison base last year.

The price of vegetables and fruit rose 13 percent and 6 percent， re- spectively， year on year in October， compared with 7.5-percent and 6.7-percent increases in September.

In addition， the price of services also increased in October， with education service prices rising 4.8 percent year on year， compared with 3.2-percent rise in September.

On the other side of the equation， Chinas producer price index（PPI）， which measures costs for goods at the factory gate， beat market expectations to reach a 55-month high in October.

The reading increased 1.2 percent year on year， the highest reading since March 2012， according to the NBS.

On a month-on-month basis， it increased 0.7 percent amid warming prices as more industries were surveyed， Yu said.

The turn is closely linked to higher prices in some key industries like coal mining and washing， Yu said.

Shopping Frenzy

Jack Ma， Alibabas founder and chairman， takes a photo of a giant screen showing sales data at a media center in Shenzhen， south Chinas Guangdong Province on November 11， also known as Singles Day， the largest shopping day in the country.

Chinas largest e-commerce group， Alibaba， set a new record that day， with 10 billion yuan （$1.47 billion） in sales volume in only 6 minutes， 58 seconds. Last year， it took more than 12 minutes to reach that sales figure.

Forex Reserves

Chinas foreign exchange reserves shrank for a fourth straight month in October， the Peoples Bank of China （PBOC）， the central bank， said November 7.

The worlds largest currency hoard fell to $3.12 trillion in October， down $45.7 billion from September， marking the lowest level since March 2011， according to data from the PBOC.

The result comes as China sold dollars to defend the yuan against depreciation caused by capital outflows.

However， the fall was milder than expected， which showed that the central bank didnt use too many reserves to bolster the yuan， said Larry Hu， head of China Economics at Macquarie Securities.

It shows that the central bank is more tolerant of the yuans fluctuations than people think， Hu said.

The yuan has depreciated over 4 percent against the U.S. dollar since the start of the year， due to growing expectations of an interest rate hike by the U.S Federal Reserve. However， experts believe that the sharp and persistent depreciation of the yuan is unwarranted because it is not supported by underlying fundamentals.

Online Live Streaming

China on November 4 released a regulation about online live streaming services， ordering service and content providers to act according to the rules.

For online live streaming of news， service providers are obliged to censor the content before releasing it， said the regulation released by the Cyberspace Administration of China （CAC）.

Service providers should be well-staffed and have the technical ability to stop live streams immediately， according to the regulation， which takes effect on December 1.

Online live streaming has grown rapidly， but some streaming platforms have been found to disseminate pornography， violence， rumors and fraud， which run counter to socialist core values and adversely affect young people， a CAC official said.

Some platforms stream news live without proper qualifications， thus disturbing the orderly dissemination of information， the official added.

China has more than 300 companies that provide online live streaming platforms， the official said， citing incomplete statistics.

Service providers should classify online live streams based on their content and number of users， and manage them accordingly， the regulation said.

It banned the use of live streams to undermine national security， destabilize society， disturb the social order， infringe upon otherslegitimate rights and interests， and disseminate obscene content.

It also stipulated that service providers should blacklist users who violate the regulation and other laws and regulations， and prevent them from registering again.

Trading and Exchanging

A visitor exchanges her business card with a Polish exhibitor at the 14th China International Agricultural Trade Fair in Kunming， southwest Chinas Yunnan Province， on November 5.

The fair attracted more than 3，000 companies from home and abroad to exhibit their farm products.

Global Fintech Rankings

Chinas financial technology （fintech） firms continue to lead globally， securing four positions in the top five in a recent industrial ranking.

Alibabas third-party payment platform Ant Financial tops the global ranking for the 100 best performing fintech companies， with micro-loan firm Qudian， wealth management company Lufax and insurance enterprise Zhong An entering the top five， according to a report by international accounting firm KPMG and investment firm H2 Ventures.

The firms are rated according to their capital-raising volume and ratio， geographic and sector diversity， and consumer and marketplace traction.

“It is no surprise to see four Chinese companies in the top five. Fintech in China has seen rapid development， fueled by the demand to address domestic needs，” said James McKeogh， Partner with KPMG China.“It is likely that we will see more of these players move to international markets in the future.”

A total of eight Chinese fintech companies are on the list， a remarkable rise from just one company in the top 100 ranking in 2014.

“We have seen significant investment in Chinas fintech sector in recent years， and an increasing appetite for innovative products， supported by the rapid pace of technology development，” said Raymond Cheong， another KPMG China Partner.

China pledged in October to improve supervision in online finance， including peer-to-peer platforms， to contain risks， improve competitiveness and increase risk awareness.

Symbol of Cooperation

The freight train from Yiwu of east Chinas Zhejiang Province to Riga， Latvia， enters the Central Station of Riga， on November 5.

That day， the first trans-Eurasia container train linking China and Latvia arrived in Riga， marking a milestone in the history of the two countriescooperation in transport and logistics sectors. The train departed on October 20 from Yiwu and finished a journey of over 11，000 km.