SUFE GETS NEW DEAN

SUFE GETS NEW DEAN

Liu Yuanchun， former Vice President of Renmin University of China （RUC） in Beijing， has become the new head of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics （SUFE）.

Born in Sichuan Province in 1972， Liu started his academic career at the School of Economics at RUC where he obtained his bachelors， masters and doctorate degrees. Since then， he has been dedicated to teaching at RUC： first as a lecturer， then as associate professor， and later as tenured professor and Ph.D. supervisor. In November 2016， Liu took office as vice president of RUC.

With macroeconomics and world economics as his main research fields， Liu has won dozens of awards and authored more than 10 books and 200 papers published in influential domestic and international academic journals.

Wrapped in Green

Peoples Daily May 16

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has recently hammered out a regulation that further standardizes food and cosmetics packaging， emphasizing greener modes in production and even overall lifestyles.

Over-packaging is a widespread issue， but the quality of the products remains the same. Excessive packaging is not only about wasting resources and causing environmental pollution， it also turns consumers into victims given they must bear the rising extra costs.

But whether a business can survive， or even prosper， in the long run depends on the quality of its products， not the packaging； though sometimes beautiful packaging does admittedly bring huge profits， given people may tend to judge a book by its cover. As far as the environment and resources go， businesses have enough reasons to “unwrap” their products， whereas consumers just need to look at their purchases from a greener perspective.

The Last Kilometer

Guangming Daily May 19

Express delivery terminals are still absent in much of Chinas vast rural areas. Villagers have to travel to nearby towns to collect their parcels. Far worse， even though green and fresh rural products are becoming more and more popular with urban residents， a lot of farm produce cant be moved out of the mountains due to a lack of express delivery services.

Recent years have seen Chinas delivery business swiftly expanding into the rural logistics market， but the “last kilometer” remains a nuisance—for several reasons.

First， the rugged landscape in remote mountainous regions simply block transportation； second， poor infrastructure in most rural areas makes it difficult to reach producers； third， the rural areas have a much lower concentration of express delivery services compared with towns and cities.

Smoother cooperation between postal and delivery services will effectively iron out these wrinkles. China Post has already established a vast delivery network that penetrates even the most remote hinterland in west China. By 2019， the national postal services had already realized direct delivery to 556，000 administrative villages across the country. When the express delivery business combines forces with China Post， it can take advantage of the 54，000 postal outlets as well as the latters vast postal delivery networks covering the broad rural areas.

New technologies， too， will tackle the “last kilometer” issue so that fresh agricultural products can make their way to urban consumers as quickly as possible.

Expanding Coverage

Workers Daily May 18

According to the National Healthcare Security Administration， Chinas national medical insurance system had recorded 41.2 million cases of patients seeking medical treatment in places other than their registered residence as of late April.

Nationwide， 96 percent of counties have at least one designated medical institution that supports inter-provincial services for outpatient medical care. These services comprise a full range of medical billing solutions， including an online billing system designed to fit the specific needs of a medical practice.

This trend bodes well for Chinas migratory population， particularly its migrant workers， most of whom choose to see a doctor in their local hospital.

In the foreseeable future， more small and medium-sized hospitals will be designated to offer inter-provincial direct billing services. This will not only save the migrant population the extra trouble of having to travel hours to get to a better hospital， but can also save them a lot of money because their insurance will be able to help shoulder the medical expenses even if they are outside their hometowns.

NEW WOMENS VOLLEYBALL CAPTAIN

The official website of the Chinese Volleyball Association on May 12 announced the members of the Chinese womens volleyball team participating in the World Volleyball League， with Yuan Xinyue serving as team captain.

The 26-year-old middle blocker has been on the national team since 2014. Standing tall at 2.01 meters， Yuans height advantage lends her a formidable presence at the net.

Yuan has so far won five consecutive championship trophies with Team China： the 2015 World Cup， the Olympic Summer Games Rio 2016， the 2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup， the 2018 Asian Games and the 2019 World Cup. She also helped the team land a podium spot at the 2018 World Championships.

“In a world in crisis， rescuing the Sustainable Development Goals is more important than ever.”

António Guterres， UN Secretary General， at an event during the 2022 UN Economic and Social Council session on May 17

“The developing countries will need to brace for the impact of the aggressive monetary tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve and put in place appropriate macroprudential measures to stem sudden outflows and stimulate productive investments.”

Hamid Rashid， Chief of the Global Economic Monitoring Branch， UNs Department of Economic and Social Affairs （DESA）， in a DESA report released recently

“For such an attempt to result in a fait accompli is irresponsible. The Japanese Government should immediately put a stop to it.”

Wang Wenbin， spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs， at a daily press briefing on May 18， urging Japan to revoke its decision to discharge contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea

“With the continuous expansion of Chinas free trade circle of friends， the dividends of the countrys further opening up will benefit more and more Chinese and foreign companies.”

Wang Shouwen， Vice Minister of Commerce， at a press briefing on May 12