Chinas 5G communication industry expected to reach value of 503.6 billion yuan in 2020

(Peoples Daily Online)11:24, December 03, 2020

A staff member demonstrates a VR device supported by the 5G network at the booth of telecom giant China Mobile during the 22nd China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen, south Chinas Guangdong Province, Nov. 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Mao Siqian)

It is estimated that Chinas 5G communications industry will reach a value of 503.6 billion yuan (about 76.75 billion dollars) in 2020, an increase of 128 percent over the same period last year.

Chinas 5G communications industry reached a value of 225 billion yuan in 2019, an increase of 133.2 percent over the same period last year, according to a White Paper recently released by China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID).

The White Paper predicts that by 2030, the number of 5G base stations in China will reach 15 million, the cumulative direct investment in 5G infrastructure will reach 4 trillion yuan, and the cumulative GDP driven by 5G infrastructure construction will reach 1.7 trillion yuan.

According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it is expected that by the end of 2020, the total number of 5G base stations in China will exceed 600,000. It is estimated that Chinas 5G communications industry will reach a value of 503.6 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 128 percent over the same period last year.

76-year-old man donates over 10,000 books purchased from recycling stations

(Peoples Daily Online)11:16, December 07, 2020

Qian Yutian selects books at a waste recycling station. (chinanews.com/Sun Tingting)

Over the past 10 years, Qian Yutian, 76, has purchased more than 30,000 books from waste recycling stations, donating more than 10,000 of them to children or people in need.

Sharing that he enjoys collecting historical materials, Qian frequents waste recycling stations.

I used to frequent three recycling stations every day, and I was able to pick up more than 50 jin (25kg) of books, he said, adding that that there is a standard for his choice of books: at least 80 percent of them should be new, there should be no graffiti, and the content of books should be positive.

The number of books I can purchase each time is not certain. I usually donate 60 or 70 books at a time every 7 to 10 days, Qian noted.

Qian Yutian shows his personal collection. (chinanews.com/Sun Tingting)

In Qian鈥檚 view, many books can be recycled to avoid waste. Through his practical actions, he wants to allow more children to have access to books and form the good habit of thrifting. Qian said that he will always insist on going to the waste recycling stations to buy and donate books.

I will continue to donate 1,000 books a year, and I will just keep going, Qian revealed.

Chinese city to ban collection of personal bioinformation

(Xinhua)10:41, December 08, 2020

TIANJIN, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) — North Chinas Tianjin Municipality will prohibit businesses and institutes from collecting personal bioinformation starting next year, amid heightened public concerns over the uncontrolled use of facial recognition, now employed in mobile payment, test-taking, and even public toilets.

According to a regulation passed by the citys legislature on Dec. 1, market credit information providers will be banned from collecting information needed for biorecognition and other personal data, including religion, blood type, and medical history.

Personal income, savings, and tax records are also protected from information harvesting unless the collectors sought the permission of clients, according to the legislation. It will target credit service agents, industry associations, as well as enterprises, and public institutes.

Tianjin is among the Chinese cities that have moved to regulate the overwhelming applications for facial recognition, which have increasingly sparked controversies in Chinese society and raised fears of personal data leaks.

In October, the city of Hangzhou, east Chinas Zhejiang Province, issued a regulation stipulating that the gathering of bioinformation, like fingerprints and facial recognition data, shall not be required to enter residential communities.

In what was known as the countrys first legal case on facial recognition, a court in Hangzhou last month ruled that a local zoo compensate a customer and delete his facial information. The customer filed a lawsuit against the zoo after the latter demanded facial recognition as an entry requirement for all its annual cardholders.

On Oct. 1, China released a new version of the national standards on personal information protection, requiring that before the collection of personal bioinformation, the individual whose personal information is being collected should be separately notified of the purpose, method, and use, as well as the collection scope and storage time.

Shanghai tightens cold-chain transport control to fight COVID-19

(Xinhua)10:43, December 08, 2020

SHANGHAI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) — The Shanghai Municipality has strengthened port, airport, and cold-chain transport control to fight against COVID-19, authorities said on Monday.

Apart from a series of documents issued for the prevention and control of the epidemic, the citys commission of transport released a guideline on Nov. 26 to prevent infections caused by personnel as well as goods at the Shanghai Port, Liu Bin, deputy director of the commission, said at a press conference.

During port operations, crew members should be under special management for epidemic control. Port workers should regularly undergo nucleic acid testing, disinfect the working environment and receive closed-off management, Liu said.

An airport regulation for COVID-19 control was also released, which requires full coverage of prevention and control measures in both cargo and passenger transport sectors.

Liu said cargo terminals would have qualified third-party companies for disinfection, subject to related procedures.

The control of cold-chain transportation also improved, said Liu.

According to Liu, the city has a total of 2,184 companies engaged in cold-chain transport.

Sun Xiaodong, deputy director of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said among the six locally-transmitted COVID-19 cases diagnosed between Nov. 20 and 23, four worked at two logistics companies at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, and the other two were the wives of two of them.

Epidemiological surveys showed two of the workers had been exposed to the cabin environment or the crew members of cargo flights from overseas, and the others were all their close contacts.

According to the press conference, a residential community in Zhuqiao Township of Pudong New Area, where no new COVID-19 cases have been reported for 14 days, will be adjusted as a low-risk area on Tuesday. It will bring the number of medium-risk areas of the city to zero.

Hong Kong to further tighten social distancing measures to contain COVID-19 HKSAR chief executive

(Xinhua)13:25, December 08, 2020

HONG KONG, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) — Carrie Lam, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said on Tuesday that in view of the worsening COVID-19 epidemic situation in Hong Kong, social distancing measures will be further tightened including the banning of dine-in services in restaurants after 6 p.m..

Lam said to the media before attending the Executive Council meeting on Tuesday that the recent epidemic has been worrying, with 661 new cases of COVID-19 reported over the past week. Patients in critical and serious conditions involved not only the elderly but also the younger people.

The situation is more complicated than the last wave as infections scattered across Hong Kong and a number of clusters were involved, Lam said, adding that the number of untraceable cases has been rising which indicated that there is a lot of silent transmission in the community.

The HKSAR government will adopt more stringent measures to reduce people flow in public places to contain the spread of the virus. Dine-in services in restaurants will be banned after 6 p.m., and work from home arrangements among civil servants will be strengthened. Business premises including fitness centers, beauty parlors, massage establishments need to be closed, according to Lam.

To prevent importation of cases, visitors who arrived in Hong Kong are subject to a 14-day compulsory quarantine in designated hotels and they need to do another COVID-19 test five days after finishing the quarantine, Lam said.

Hong Kong reported 78 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Monday, taking its total tally to 6,975. As of Monday, 1,122 COVID-19 patients are being treated in public hospitals and the community treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo, and a total of 36 patients are in critical condition.

Biden nominates former Fed Chair Janet Yellen as treasury secretary

(Xinhua)10:49, December 01, 2020

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Monday unveiled his economic team, nominating Janet Yellen, former Federal Reserve chair, to lead the Treasury Department.

If confirmed by the Senate, Yellen would be the first woman to serve as U.S. treasury secretary in the departments 231 years of history. She would also be the first person to have served as treasury secretary, chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, and chair of the Federal Reserve.

Biden also selected Neera Tanden, who currently serves as president CEO of the Center for American Progress, as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and named Cecilia Rouse, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, to lead the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

The two selections also will make history, as Tanden would be the first woman of color and first South Asian American to lead the OMB, and Rouse would become the first African American woman to lead the Council of Economic Advisers.

The president-elect also selected Wally Adeyemo, president of the Obama Foundation, as deputy secretary of the Treasury. If confirmed, Adeyemo would be the first Black deputy secretary of the Treasury.

Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey were appointed as members of the Council of Economic Advisers. Bernstein served as chief economist to then-Vice President Biden in the Obama-Biden Administration before joining the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Boushey is a long-time economic counselor to Biden and currently serves as president CEO of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.

President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris have chosen an accomplished, crisis-tested team, made up of historic trailblazers and representing a broad diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences, who will get to work on day one to build our economy back better – and ensure that every single American is in on the deal, Biden said in a statement.

SCO urges further cooperation to promote open world economy

(Xinhua)10:49, December 01, 2020

NEW DELHI, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Monday underscored the importance of further deepening cooperation to develop a transparent, open, inclusive, fair, non-discriminatory multilateral trading system and to promote an open world economy.

Today humanity is faced with unprecedented challenges in all spheres of life, the severity of which is steadily increasing due to the ongoing spread of coronavirus infection, said a joint communique issued after the 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments of SCO member states.

High turbulence persists in global politics and economy, said the communique, adding that the process of economic globalization is hampered by the growth of unilateral and protectionist measures, instability of financial markets and other risks for the international trade.

The communique stressed that one of the primary tasks of the SCO is to improve the welfare and living standards of the population, and it is important to continue the consistent implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals until 2030 and to strengthen cooperation in various areas of mutual interest.

The announcement noted the relevance of reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO), including by improving its key functions-negotiation, monitoring and dispute resolution functions.

When reforming the WTO, it is necessary to ensure that the key values and fundamental principles of the WTO are preserved, said the communique.

The 19th meeting of the Council of Heads of Governments of SCO member states, chaired by Indian Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, was held Monday in a videoconference format.

BRICS media can help promote cultural exchanges, says expert

(Xinhua)11:03, December 01, 2020

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) — Media outlets play a significant role in promoting people-to-people exchanges among BRICS countries, an expert has said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, Trust Matsilele, journalism lecturer at Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa, said while trade and economic cooperation among BRICS countries has received adequate coverage in the media, the coverage of cultural exchanges remains insufficient.

Matsilele said the media play a role in highlighting for the public the cultural uniqueness of the BRICS countries, which include Brazil, China, India, Russia, India and South Africa.

The promotion of cultural exchanges among BRICS countries also has its economic benefits, he said.

I think one of the most important things is that people-to-people cooperation can translate into improved economic trade, the expert said.

Matsilele also pointed out that recent years have witnessed deepening media cooperation among BRICS countries, adding that a growing number of Chinese and Russian media outlets have sent their reporters to South Africa.

The call for increased media coverage of cultural exchanges came ahead of the virtual fifth BRICS Media Forum on Monday.

U.S. losing support in international community over political bullying

By JiPing (Peoples Daily Online)10:39, November 10, 2020

Gross interference in other countries’ domestic affairs is a distinctive feature of American hegemony and diplomacy.

Taking advantage of its economic, military, scientific and technological strength, the U.S. has long been notorious for adopting every possible means and exerting all its authority to meddle in other countries’ internal affairs, posing serious threats to global political security.

Since the end of World War Ⅱ, there hasn’t been one large-scale war in the world that was not directly or indirectly connected to the U.S., and no continued unrest in the world that it has not manipulated.

The country’s acts of seeking hegemony through wars have only intensified over time, along with its unscrupulous intention to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries.

In 2001, U.S. troops entered Afghanistan in the name of fighting terrorism. However, after 13 years of continuous war, on which the U.S. spent $900 billion and several thousand U.S. soldiers lost their lives in a foreign land, the situation has only become worse.

In 2003, under the pretext that Iraq was in possession of ”weapons of mass destruction”, the U.S. bypassed the United Nations (UN) and overthrew Saddam Hussein’s regime through a massive offensive, eventually seizing control of the country’s oil reserves. Nine years of war in Iraq resulted in several hundred thousand deaths in the country.

In 2011, the U.S. imposed sanctions against Syria in the name of the UN. Rumors that Syria had used chemical weapons gave Western countries justification to intervene with the use of force. However, the issue turned out to be another unjust and unresolved case.

By launching or directly taking part in wars, as well as taking advantage of the UN or bypassing it to go its own way, the U.S. has, in fact, wantonly interfered in other countries’ domestic affairs, adopting a high-handed approach of using force to further its own interests.

All the reasons it gives for meddling in other countries’ internal affairs have been proven to be lame excuses, and even pure lies and tricks. The U.S. has acted in a way that is no different than that of a robber.

While frequently resorting to the use of force to directly interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, the US has never stopped manipulating the global political situation from behind the scenes.

History will never forget the color revolutions in the former Soviet Union and the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa, which were all inflicted upon the world at the beginning of the century.

From the Orange Revolution and the Velvet Revolution to the Tulip Revolution, Rose Revolution, and the Jasmine Revolution, and even the turmoil in China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, all these events have an evil backstage manipulator: the U.S.

Through open interference from its government and behind-the-scenes manipulations by its so-call “non-governmental organizations,” the U.S. has spared no effort to bring about political changes in some countries, and even in their regimes.

The color revolution is the ugliest means the country has used to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and the most dangerous guise for bringing about so-called “peaceful evolution” in countries that have different ideologies, political systems, and development paths from that of the U.S., as it attempts to subdue the enemy without fighting.

Countries that have been listed as “evil forces” for saying “no” to the U.S. have suffered widespread interference and attacks from the country.

The U.S. has imposed extreme political pressure and cruel economic sanctions on these countries, isolated and cornered them using diplomatic means, intimidated these countries with its military strength, defamed them, and even plotted assassination against their political leaders. It has literally stopped at nothing to contain countries that don’t want to go along with it.

The US does not even make exceptions for its friends, and has been relentless in making carping comments on the foreign relations and national defense policies of its European allies.

The US is the world’s largest economy, but it doesn’t own the world. A country must control its own internal affairs. The U.S. cannot be allowed to decide everything and impose “long-arm jurisdiction” wherever it wants.

The country’s obsession with meddling in other countries’ domestic affairs, bullying the weak, ignoring the core values of the UN Charter and the norms governing international relations, and trampling on the morality and conscience of humanity has inflicted disasters on global security and the well-being of people around the world, and brought shame on the American people.

Nevertheless, history will give a just verdict on everything in the end. It will prove that misdeeds such as meddling, stirring up trouble, pursuing hegemony, and bullying will lead nowhere.

China urges the US to stop anti-subsidy investigations into the so-called Chinas undervalued currency

(Global Times)12:56, November 29, 2020

China urges the US to respect existing international rules and the multilateral trading system and stop its anti-subsidy investigation into the alleged undervaluation of the Chinese currency exchange rate, Chinese commerce authority said on Saturday, in response to the preliminary findings of the countervailing duty (CVD) case against China launched by the US Department of Commerce.

The US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced a so-called affirmative preliminary determination in the CVD investigation of twist ties from China on Tuesday.

The US commerce department preliminarily determined that exporters or producers from China received countervailable subsidies at a rate of 122.5 percent, said the announcement, claiming that among the subsidies preliminarily countervailed is Chinas undervalued currency.

This is the first time the department has countervailed the Chinese yuan.

This practice is a serious violation of relevant international rules, a Chinese commerce official said Saturday, responding to the US allegation.

The WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures clearly stipulates the essential elements of subsidies, such as financial support, exclusivity and benefit grant, whilst the US Department of Commerce did not conduct the investigation and demonstration in accordance with the requirements of relevant WTO rules, but made the ruling mainly based on the report of the US Treasury Department which lacked evidence, according to Chinas commerce authority.

It is simply wrong for the US Treasury report to conclude that the Chinese currency was 5 percent undervalued against the US dollar in 2019, the Chinese official said, hoping that the US Department of Commerce will correct the relevant wrong practices and conclusions.

The preliminary decision of the US on Chinese currency exchange rate is one of its usual measures, aimed at pressuring the Chinese government to meet the final demands of the Trump administration, experts said.

We say no intervention because there has been no significant change in the central banks foreign exchange reserves and the use of counter-cyclical factors has been suspended, so I dont think the Chinese exchange rate is undervalued, Tan Xiaofen, deputy head at the School of Finance at the Central University of Finance and Economics, told the Global Times on Saturday.

At present, the yuans exchange rate has risen from 7.2 in May to 6.5 at present, with a large appreciation rate. Meanwhile, it can be seen that the central banks intervention has also been greatly reduced, and the exchange rate is more determined by the supply and demand of foreign exchange, experts said.

Meanwhile, the US has accused China of being a manipulator of the currency exchange rate many times, and its motive is to pressure China to make concessions in other aspects, which can be about trade talks, Tan said.

The US conflation of countervailing duties and exchange rates is meaningless, since the US allegation about the subsidies for non-market behavior of Chinese companies is groundless, Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerces International Market Research Institute, told the Global Times.

In terms of exchange rate, the fluctuation of the yuan is based on the market supply and demand, which is often subject to the state of the economy, said Bai, noting that when the economy is slowing, China needs more rapid monetary easing like the US does on dollars.

Bai said that the Trump administration is on its way out, so it is making all the remaining noises before stepping down.

However, if the Trump administration continues its groundless moves on Chinese currency, countermeasures can be expected, noted Bai.