Museum Fun

Museum Fun

A child admires a cultural relic at the Hebei Museum in Shijiazhuang， capital city of north Chinas Hebei Province， on May 18， which was International Museum Day.

Wildlife Protection

Most Chinese respondents in a recent survey said they would not take part in any activities that may have a negative impact on animals during wildlife tours， China Daily reported on May 21.

The survey found that more than 90 percent of Chinese travelers who had participated in an overseas wildlife tour said they would take into account whether their activities negatively affected the animals before making future tour decisions.

“Wildlife-friendly travel plays a crucial role in the healthy growth of wildlife tourism. The survey showed Chinese travelers would like to be more responsible， which is very encouraging，” Zhao Zhonghua， chief representative of the World Animal Protection China offi ce， said to the newspaper.

The survey was jointly conducted by marketing company CVSCTNS Research and World Animal Protection， an international nonprofi t animal welfare organization.

Hundreds of thousands of wild animals across the world are taken away from natural habitats， forced into captivity and subjected to abuse， both mentally and physically， in the name of entertainment and profi t.

In 2015， World Animal Protection developed an initiative， calling for animal-friendly tours and for tour operators worldwide to keep wild animals in the wild where they belong.

By the end of last year， more than 200 companies had stopped wildlife-related entertainment services such as elephant rides， according to China Daily.

Private Hospitals

China will improve the development of private hospitals in a bid to increase medical service supply and improve peoples well-being.

The decision was made at a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang on May 22.

Deepening reform of the medical and healthcare system and promoting the development of private hospitals will help meet peoples needs for medical services， stimulate market vitality and unleash service consumption potential， said a statement released after the meeting.

Space for the development of private hospitals should be expanded， it said， adding that government departments should not impose restrictions on the aggregate volume or layout of private hospitals.

The meeting also called for enhancing approval effi ciency for private hospitals and establishing a cross-department approval mechanism at all localities by the end of the year.

China will beef up policy support for private hospitals and treat them equally as public entities in terms of the interprovincial on-thespot settlement of medical bills through basic medical insurance accounts.

Private hospitals will be encouraged to conduct cooperation with public medical institutions in developing Internet Plus healthcare models and carrying out remote medical care services， according to the statement.

In addition， private hospitals providing services in communities will enjoy a reduction or exemption of fees and taxes in accordance with related rules.

Food Safety

China unveiled a guideline in May to enhance the countrys food safety with a phased plan to build a modern governance mechanism in the fi eld.

More than 97 percent of the countrys major produce will need to pass quality and food safety tests by 2020， while over 98 percent of food will pass through spot checks， according to the guideline released by central authorities.

By 2035， China should have a world-leading set of food safety standards， a marked drop in illegal practices driven by profi t-seeking and globally advanced risk control capabilities.

Utmost efforts should be made in developing standards， conducting regulation， imposing penalties and seeking accountability， the guideline said.

It also called for joint contribution from all stakeholders including governments， enterprises and consumers.

Test Area

Beijings Haidian District， the capitals tech hub， is looking to enlarge its lead in self-driving vehicles with a plan to create more space for tests.

The district will build a demonstration area of 100 square km for self-driving vehicles， said Dai Binbin， head of the Haidian District Government， on May 19.

The area is part of an action plan issued by the district government to spur the development and innovation of driverless vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles （ICVs）.

It will be a place to develop ICVs and smart transportation by featuring multiple scenarios， cloud management， simulated tests and data support， Dai said.

Companies and researchers will be able to test technologies in commuting， logistics and delivery， and road cleaning， he said.

Haidian will step up international cooperation in the industry and plans to host a high-level competition of driverless vehicles， Dai said.

During the past year， Beijing granted road testing licenses to eight automakers： Baidu， NIO， BAIC， Pony.ai， Tencent， Didi， Daimler and Audi.

According to a government plan， test space for ICVs in the capital is expected to reach 500 square km by 2022， and a total of 2，000 km of roads will also be open for testing.

Many Chinese cities， including Beijing， Shanghai and Chongqing， have issued car plates for ICV road tests.

Heroes Remembered

Actors present a Peking Opera work which tells about a group of revolutionaries in east Chinas Jiangxi Province at a theater in Nanchang， capital city of the province， on May 5. The group， led by Zhang Longxiu， sacrifi ced their lives for the founding of the Peoples Republic of China in 1949. It will be staged in Beijing on June 13.

Online Legal Services

A growing number of Chinese people have received legal services on the Internet since a governmentrun website was oped a year ago.

After its launch by the Ministry of Justice in May 2018， the national legal service website has had 170 million log-ins and more than 6 million registered users， with about 700，000 cases handled online and about 5 million inquiries made， said Xiong Xuanguo， Vice Minister of Justice， at a press conference on May 20.

The website has pooled information from about 770，000 legal service agencies and 1.39 million legal workers， and has provided over 1.8 million answers to inquiries so far， Xiong said.

Moreover， it also collected law texts， government regulations and judicial interpretations for use by the public， Xiong said.

City Preference

Chinese college graduates increasingly favor second-tier cities over megacities such as Beijing and Shanghai due to the latters high living costs and competitive job markets， China Daily reported on May 21.

Data from Zhaopin， an online recruitment platform， showed that 44 percent of 2019 graduates hoped to fi nd jobs in second-tier cities， while only about 30 percent wanted to work in Beijing， Shanghai and Guangzhou.

According to the platform， college students also have higher expectations of working in secondtier cities like Chengdu， Hangzhou， and Wuhan， which have unveiled preferential policies for newcomers.

The newspaper cited a recent report by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission which said more than 231，000 college students graduated from universities in Beijing last year， and 37.5 percent of employed graduates chose to work outside the capital.

Tourism Peaks

People visit Pingyao Ancient City in north Chinas Shanxi Province on May 19， China Tourism Day.

Elderly Care Market

South Chinas Guangdong Province abolished an old regulation on the market access of elderly care institutions to boost the development of the industry， local civil affairs authorities said on May 20.

A registration and fi ling system will be put into practice to replace the previous license system， which was implemented on December 20， 2014， to lower the threshold for setting up senior care institutions.

The provincial department of civil affairs will issue relevant policy documents on the registration and supervision of these institutions to promote services for seniors in Guangdong.

Chinas elderly care system has improved， with 163，800 senior care institutions and facilities offering 7.46 million beds for senior citizens as of the end of 2018.

A bundle of measures are being taken to accelerate the development of the elderly care service industry， including fully opening up the senior care market by 2020.

Financial Openness

China has made remarkable progress in opening up its fi nancial sector and will continue to promote the process， the central bank said.

The country will adopt an approach of pre-establishment national treatment with a negative list and pursue coordinated progress in fi nancial opening up， reform in the exchange rate formation regime and the process of advancing capital account convertibility， the Peoples Bank of China （PBC） said on its website.

The country will also pay close attention to fi nancial risk control and make sure that the fi nancial oversight and regulatory capabilities are in line with the level of opening up， the PBC added.

As China enters a new era of development， further opening up the fi nancial sector is a path that it must follow to integrate into the global economy， according to the PBC.

From a domestic perspective， as the economy is transitioning from high-speed growth to high-quality development， expanding fi nancial opening up will help build a diversifi ed fi nancial system， promote fi nancial reform and better serve the real economy， it said.

The PBC also noted that opening up the fi nancial sector has drawn a positive market response.

As of the end of March， overseas investors bought a net of 1.77 trillion yuan （$260.3 billion） of bonds in the countrys interbank bond market， up 31 percent from a year earlier， and held 5.4 trillion yuan （$782.5 billion） of yuan-denominated fi nancial assets， up 19 percent year on year， according to the central bank.

Industrial Transfer

Villagers work in a garment factory in Yanshan County， north Chinas Hebei Province， on May 16. The factory is among a group of enterprises relocated from Xiongan New Area that will perform Beijings non-essential functions. They have created 17，000 job opportunities in Yanshan since 2018.

Lower Tax Burden

Import enterprises have seen their tax burden signifi cantly reduced after China lowered value-added tax（VAT） rates， according to the General Administration of Customs.

Starting on April 1， taxpayers subject to a 16-percent VAT rate on imported goods had it dropped to 13 percent， while those who were subjected to a 10-percent VAT rate would need to pay 9 percent.

Customs data showed more than 1，500 import enterprises in Zhuhai and Zhongshan in south Chinas Guangdong Province， enjoyed lower VAT rates in April， with their VAT reduction totaling 190 million yuan （$27.5 million）.

In northeast Chinas Liaoning Province， more than 4，000 enterprises benefi ted from the reduction， amounting to 958 million yuan（$138.8 million） in April.

According to earlier estimates by customs authorities， the total VAT reduction in imports is expected to reach about 225 billion yuan （$33.5 billion） this year.

Poverty Relief Funds

Chinas central budget has allocated an additional 35.12 billion yuan （$5.1 billion） for poverty relief， according to the Ministry of Finance.

This has increased the Central Governments assigned funds to 126.1 billion yuan （$18.3 billion） in total this year， fulfi lling the governments allocation target， the ministry said.

The fi gure marked a year-onyear increase of 18.85 percent from 2018 and an annual increase of 20 billion yuan （$2.90 billion） for the fourth year in a row.

China has vowed to eradicate absolute poverty by 2020. As the deadline approaches， the country is focusing on the nations poorest people， who mainly live in deep mountains with adverse natural environments and backward infrastructure， or have special needs.

The central budget also channeled funds to support sectors such as education， healthcare and social security by prioritizing povertystricken areas.

Frequent Upgrades

Chinese authorities will revise the negative list for market access on an annual basis and will unveil the 2019 version later this year.

To upgrade the negative list，China will set up a mechanism that combines annual revision with dynamic adjustments， the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement.

By doing so， the country will keep the list in line with its latest reform developments and respond to calls from market players to continue relaxing market access requirements， it added.

It will work to apply the same negative list around the whole country and ensure that all legal and effective management measures are included.

“We will resolutely eliminate illegal market access approvals， covert access thresholds and negative lists on access made by local authorities，” the statement assured.

The negative list for market access outlines sectors， fi elds and businesses off-limits for investors. Industries， fi elds and businesses not on the list are open for investment to all market players.

China announced the 2018 version of the negative list last December.

Face-to-Face Deal

A foreign exhibitor introduces products to visitors at the Expo Central China 2019 in Nanchang， east Chinas Jiangxi Province， on May 18. The event concluded on May 20.

Coffee on Board

Chinese coffee startup Luckin Coffee offi cially went public on Nasdaq on May 17.

The company priced its initial public offering （IPO） at $17 per American depositary share （ADS）， which is at the high end of its previously announced target range of$15-$17. The deal size of the IPO also came in larger with 33 million ADS instead of its originally planned 30 million. Each ADS represents eight Class A shares.

After fees， the company raised approximately $571 million from the IPO and concurrent private placement to Louis Dreyfus Company B.V.

As of March 31， Luckin， founded in 2017， had set up 2，370 stores in 28 cities in China in 18 months.

The company has placed its center of gravity on pick-up stores located in areas with high demand for coffee， such as offi ce buildings， commercial areas and university campuses.

AI Academic Ecology

The development of Chinas artifi cial intelligence （AI） industry is getting a strong boost from the academic fi eld， according to a report released by the Chinese Institute of New Generation Artifi cial Intelligence Development Strategies （CINGAI） on May 18.

As of February， 94 Chinese universities had set up AI schools or research institutes， with 40 of them inaugurated in 2018. Together they published 19，374 papers on AI studies in 2018， which surpassed the U.S.

In addition， there are 75 institutions nationwide engaged in AI basic research， technology development and talent cultivation， according to a report issued at the Third World Intelligence Congress held in north Chinas Tianjin on May 16-19.

Liu Gang， CINGAI chief economist， said Chinas academic communities are trying to construct synergistic innovation to bolster the AI industry.

Among 745 Chinese AI enterprises， 75.2 percent are involved in the application of related technologies. Only 2.8 percent are involved in basic knowledge study while 22 percent conduct technology research.

In the application sector， there are 18 varieties， including intelligent manufacturing， fi nancial technology， digital content and new media， new retail and intelligent security.

“Application-oriented academic research has played a big role in giving a technological boost to the development of AI enterprises，” Liu said.

CINGAI was established by the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Tianjin Municipal Government during the First World Intelligence Congress in 2017.

Bridge Over the Yangtze

The Qingshan Yangtze River Road Bridge in Wuhan， capital city of central Chinas Hubei Province， is completed on May 16. At 7，548 meters， it is the worlds longest cable-stayed bridge with a fl oating system.