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Ethnic Dong performers stage a traditional choral performance during a folk festival in Sanjiang Dong Autonomous County， southwest China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， on November 12. The performance， known as Ka Lau and featuring vocals without instrumental accompaniment， has a history of some 1，000 years.
Party Delegate Election
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） on November 9 released guidelines for the election of delegates to the Party’s 19th National Congress， marking the beginning of the election process.
A total of 2，300 delegates will be elected by 40 electoral units across the country. The election will be completed by June 2017， according to a statement from the CPC Central Committee.
There should be 15 percent more candidates than the number of posts. The delegates need to be “excellent Party members” and political and moral integrity will be their most important attributes.
During the election， intra-Party democracy and discipline should be given priority. The delegate structure should be improved and the election procedure standardized.
The quota of delegates from the working classes， such as those employed in the production sector， will be increased. Model workers， farmers and professionals should be recommended for election.
A proportion of the elected delegates should be female and from ethnic minorities， the statement said.
The CPC has more than 88 million members across the country， up from 80 million five years ago.
At its Sixth Plenary Session in October， the 18th Central Committee of the CPC decided to hold the 19th National Congress in Beijing in the second half of 2017. The Party convenes a national congress every five years to address policy issues and elect new leaders.
Disqualified Legislators-Elect
Hong Kong’s High Court on November 15 ruled that two legislators-elect， who used insulting language against the Chinese nation while taking their oaths last month， must be disqualified as lawmakers.
The ruling came after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region （SAR） Government and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying filed a judicial review on October 18 against the decision by the president of the Legislative Council （LegCo） to give the pair a second chance to be sworn in. Justice Thomas Au ruled in favor of the SAR Government， finding that the oaths purportedly taken by the two are invalid and have no legal effect. The two legislators-elect， Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching， insulted the Chinese nation with derogatory language while reading out their oaths at a swearing-in ceremony on October 12. Yau also waved a banner proclaiming “Hong Kong is not China.”
Their provocative behavior prompted the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress（NPC）， the country’s top legislature， to issue an interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR， clarifying the implications and requirements of oath taking by Hong Kong legislators-elect.
According to the interpretation， oath taking must comply with the legal requirements in respect to its form and content. An oath taker must accurately， completely and solemnly read out the oath prescribed by law. The interpretation is binding on all Hong Kong courts. If an elected LegCo member intentionally declines to take the LegCo oath as prescribed under the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance， he or she shall be disqualified from assuming office.
Leung Chun-ying welcomed the High Court’s decision and said the SAR Government would act in accordance with the law.
An anti-independence rally in support of the NPC Standing Committee’s interpretation of the Basic Law saw the participation of more than 40，000 people in Hong Kong on November 13.
Tokyo Trials Remembered
An international forum on the Tokyo trials and world peace was held in Shanghai on November 12-13， attended by 25 prominent jurists and historians from countries including China， the United States， Japan， Britain and New Zealand. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the convening of the trials.
“The Tokyo trials upheld civilization，” said Gao Wenbin， who was a translator and secretary to the Chinese prosecutors and turned 95 this month. “History should not be forgotten and facts should not be distorted.”After WWII， the Allied Forces tried Japanese war criminals at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. Known as the Tokyo trials， the proceedings played an important part in shaping the postwar Asia-Pacific order. Zhang Jie， President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University， said the Tokyo and Nuremberg trials were attempts to avert bitter wars by punishing war criminals.
“There are still regional disputes and tension in many corners of the world，” Zhang said. “Peace remains the one thing many people seek and hope for.”
Wildlife Conservation
China will build two wildlife museums to store confiscated wildlife products and for research and education， a senior forestry official said. The two museums， one in Beijing and the other in the central province of Hunan， will be hubs for protecting endangered wildlife and showcasing the country’s achievements in cracking down on illegal wildlife trading， said Chen Fengxue， deputy head of the State Forestry Administration. A ground-breaking ceremony was held for the wildlife museum in Changsha， capital of Hunan， on November 10. The two museums will provide a professional platform for promoting wildlife protection， Chen said at the ceremony. Air Quality in Beijing
Beijing’s average density of hazardous fine particulate matter， or particulates with a diameter of up to 2.5 micrometers （PM2.5）， was 64 micrograms per cubic meter from January to October， a year-on-year decrease of 8.6 percent， the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on November 14.
PM2.5 is an air pollutant that causes smog and can affect lung function when inhaled. In addition， average densities of sulfur dioxide， nitrogen dioxide and PM10 （particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less） from January to October were down by 30.8 percent， 6.5 percent and 12.9 percent year on year， respectively.
But as Beijing enters winter， with indoor heating officially starting from mid-November， its air is likely to become foul again. However， Beijing is replacing its coal-fired boilers with clean energy to clear up the air. After the work is completed at the end of the year， the green equipment will help slash Beijing’s coal use by 2 million tons. That means an annual decrease of dust of about 30，000 tons， while reducing sulfur dioxide by about 16，000 tons and nitrogen dioxide by about 5，000 tons.
Record-Breaking Snowfall
People dig out a car stuck in snow in Altay， northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on November 16. Following more than 50 hours of snowfall， snow in the prefecture’s mountainous regions exceeded 1 meter in depth， the deepest to date.
Born to Be Beasts
Siberian tigers catch a cockrel at the Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin， capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province， on November 16.
China has been making efforts to increase the Siberian tiger population by strengthening protection and through artificial breeding in recent years.
TWAS-Lenovo Prize
Chinese scientist Zhao Dongyuan scooped the 2016 TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize for his works on nano materials on November 15.
The award， one of the most prestigious honors given to scientists in the developing world， was announced on November 15 at the 27th The World Academy of Sciences（TWAS） general meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali.
Zhao is credited for developing innovative nano-sized materials that can be used to clean water， deliver medicine and improve batteries.
Zhao， a chemistry professor at Fudan University in Shanghai， focuses on mesoporous materials—structures that feature tiny， microscopic holes. The annual prize， which includes$100，000， is provided by China’s largest computer maker Lenovo.
The TWAS-Lenovo Prize focuses on recognizing outstanding work in basic sciences， with the subject area changing each year—Physics and Astronomy in 2013， Biological Sciences in 2014， Mathematics in 2015 and Chemical Sciences in 2016.
Each year the Academy also awards individual prizes of $15，000 to scientists who have been working and living in a developing country for at least 10 years.
Foreign Investment
Foreign direct investment （FDI） into the Chinese mainland rose 4.2 percent year on year to reach 666.3 billion yuan （$97 billion） in the first 10 months of the year， official data showed on November 17.
The growth rate is unchanged from the January-September period， according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The service industry continued to attract massive foreign investment from January to October， said Tang Wenhong， head of the ministry’s foreign investment division.
FDI in the service sector， which accounted for 70.7 percent of all investment， increased 9.1 percent year on year during the period.
In particular， FDI in hi-tech services skyrocketed 90.2 percent from a year earlier to reach 79.18 billion yuan （$11.53 billion）.
In the first 10 months， FDI from the United States surged 79.8 per- cent， while that from the European Union soared 41.5 percent. The number of newly established foreign companies with investments of over$100 million totaled 600.
FDI in China’s western regions jumped 29.8 percent year on year to 49.27 billion yuan （$7.17 billion） during the 10-month period， while the more developed eastern areas attracted 582.82 billion yuan （$84.84 billion） in investment， up 6.9 percent.
China has long attached great importance to improving its business environment， pledging more measures to create a level playing field for domestic and foreign companies.
Some administrative approvals for foreign investors setting up businesses on the Chinese mainland have been scrapped in recent years. Investors are now only required to report business plans to local regulators， as long as their business is not on the negative list—a list that spells out which sectors are closed or restricted for foreign investment. To invest in sectors outside the list， foreign investors do not require government approval and enjoy the same treatment as domestic companies.
Cruise Terminal Opens The inauguration ceremony of the Prince Bay cruise liner home port in Shenzhen， south China’s Guangdong Province， takes place on November 12. The port， the largest of its kind in south China， can accommodate luxury liners with a displacement of up to 220，000 tons.
Information Economy Pioneer
China has approved its first national information economy demonstration area in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang. A ceremony was held in Wuzhen， home of the annual World Internet Conference， on November 15 to mark the start of work on the demonstration area.
The area will explore new mechanisms and models for innovative growth of the information economy. It will integrate the Internet with traditional industries， and focus on big data， smart city development， crossborder e-commerce， the sharing economy as well as cultivating new entrepreneurs.
Zhejiang is home to e-commerce giant Alibaba. In the first three quar- ters of the year， the core industries of the information economy in the province realized added value of 273 billion yuan （$40 billion）， up 14 percent year on year.
China-Malawi Internet Deal
China and Malawi， one of the smallest countries in Africa， have signed a$23-million framework agreement which will see China providing a concessional loan to build a national optic fiber network for Internet connectivity in Malawi.
Chinese Ambassador to Malawi Wang Shiting said the project will create an important engine of the Malawian economy. An Internetbased economy can change the structure of production and improve the traditional method of doing business.
Malawian Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe， hailing the concessional loan， said the optic fiber backbone will improve the connectivity of government systems. Malawi lags behind due to poor Internet connectivity， with a large part of the population still unreached by Internet services.
The network will be constructed by Huawei， the Chinese telecom equipment maker that has become a global leader.
Didi Branches Out
Chinese car-hailing app Didi Chuxing is partnering with global vehicle rental giant Avis Budget Group to offer overseas car rental services.
An announcement on November 15 said the two companies will coordinate product， technology and local marketing resources to provide Didi’s over 300 million registered users traveling abroad with convenient car rental services in about 175 countries. Registered users will be able to book Avis vehicles at airports and neighborhood locations in those countries.
“Internationalization is a clear mission for Didi. The partnership is a key step in our broader initiative to go global，” Fu Qiang， Didi’s Senior Vice President， said.
China has been the world’s top outbound tourism consumer. Around 120 million outbound tourism trips were made by Chinese people in 2015， according to the China National Tourism Administration.
Didi inked a partnership with its U.S. peer Lyft last year for crossplatform services.
Boost to the Service Trade
China will extend tax breaks to outsourcing service providers in more cities to promote service trade， the Ministry of Finance said on November 14.
Service firms with advanced technology in 10 cities， including Shenyang， Urumqi， Qingdao and Ningbo， will have their corporate income tax lowered from 25 percent to 15 percent， from 2016 to 2018.
The firms’ staff education expens- es will be tax deductible provided they account for no more than 8 percent of total wages， the ministry said.
The measure comes after tax breaks for similar firms in 21 other cities.
The Chinese Government plans to speed up service trade development to optimize foreign trade structure， foster new growth drivers and increase employment. China’s service trade rose 24 percent year on year to 3.5 trillion yuan （$511.6 billion） from January to August， continuing the double-digit growth trend since the start of the year.
Bottoms Up
A tea farmer （left） familiarizes a client with the local tea ceremony at the 10th Cross-Straits Tea Exposition in Wuyishan， a renowned tea-producing area in east China’s Fujian Province， on November 16.
The annual event， jointly launched by mainland and Taiwan organizers， attracted some 500 companies from a number of countries including India， Sri Lanka and Japan this year.
Economic Confidence
Chinese enterprises’ confidence in the domestic economy has been restored as it shows more signs of stabilizing， according to a recent survey.
The survey， conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and several other departments under the State Council， covered 1，960 enterprises nationwide.
It showed 20.3 percent of the respondents think the economy is running well， 2.7 percentage points higher than the previous year. Another 43 percent describe the economy as average， 4.9 percentage points higher. Those thinking the economy is bad account for 36.7 percent， 7 percentage points lower compared with a year ago. Respondents’ median forecast for GDP growth is 6.5 percent in 2016 and 6.3 percent in 2017.
Several industries appear more optimistic about the economy. They include agriculture， power supply， information technology， leasing as well as drug， auto and electronic equipment manufacturing.
Debt Emergency Plan
To address rising concerns over local government debts， on November 14 China introduced a four-grade emergency plan for “fiscal rebalancing.”
The State Council announcement said city and county governments will fiscally rebalance if their annual interest payment on general debts accounts for more than 10 percent of their public spending budget， or if interest payment on special debts is more than 10 percent of their government fund budget.
Fiscal rebalancing would involve measures such as clearing up overdue taxes and fees， reducing expenditures and disposal of government assets. The Central Government will not be involved in bailouts. Local government officials involved will be held accountable.
Experts said the plan is a precautionary arrangement rather than a crisis alarm. “We should make it clear that no crisis has occurred. The plan is more like a barrier against risk，” said Zhao Quanhou with the Research Institute for Fiscal Science at the Ministry of Finance.
Local government debts soared during an investment and construction binge after the global financial crisis in 2008. Data from the ministry showed total local government debt in China stood at 16 trillion yuan（$2.35 trillion） at the end of 2015 with a 38.9-percent debt-to-GDP ratio—lower than the 60-percent alert line of the European Union and other major economies.
The Power Of the Mind
A representative introduces Baidu’s artificial intelligence（AI） technology at the Third World Internet Conference in Wuzhen， east China’s Zhejiang Province， on November 16. This year’s conference took place from November 16 to 18， with the theme，“Innovation-Driven Internet Development for the Benefit of All—Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace.” Over 1，600 Internet entrepreneurs， opinion leaders， experts and officials from around the world attended the event.
Party Delegate Election
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China （CPC） on November 9 released guidelines for the election of delegates to the Party’s 19th National Congress， marking the beginning of the election process.
A total of 2，300 delegates will be elected by 40 electoral units across the country. The election will be completed by June 2017， according to a statement from the CPC Central Committee.
There should be 15 percent more candidates than the number of posts. The delegates need to be “excellent Party members” and political and moral integrity will be their most important attributes.
During the election， intra-Party democracy and discipline should be given priority. The delegate structure should be improved and the election procedure standardized.
The quota of delegates from the working classes， such as those employed in the production sector， will be increased. Model workers， farmers and professionals should be recommended for election.
A proportion of the elected delegates should be female and from ethnic minorities， the statement said.
The CPC has more than 88 million members across the country， up from 80 million five years ago.
At its Sixth Plenary Session in October， the 18th Central Committee of the CPC decided to hold the 19th National Congress in Beijing in the second half of 2017. The Party convenes a national congress every five years to address policy issues and elect new leaders.
Disqualified Legislators-Elect
Hong Kong’s High Court on November 15 ruled that two legislators-elect， who used insulting language against the Chinese nation while taking their oaths last month， must be disqualified as lawmakers.
The ruling came after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region （SAR） Government and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying filed a judicial review on October 18 against the decision by the president of the Legislative Council （LegCo） to give the pair a second chance to be sworn in. Justice Thomas Au ruled in favor of the SAR Government， finding that the oaths purportedly taken by the two are invalid and have no legal effect. The two legislators-elect， Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching， insulted the Chinese nation with derogatory language while reading out their oaths at a swearing-in ceremony on October 12. Yau also waved a banner proclaiming “Hong Kong is not China.”
Their provocative behavior prompted the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress（NPC）， the country’s top legislature， to issue an interpretation of Article 104 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong SAR， clarifying the implications and requirements of oath taking by Hong Kong legislators-elect.
According to the interpretation， oath taking must comply with the legal requirements in respect to its form and content. An oath taker must accurately， completely and solemnly read out the oath prescribed by law. The interpretation is binding on all Hong Kong courts. If an elected LegCo member intentionally declines to take the LegCo oath as prescribed under the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance， he or she shall be disqualified from assuming office.
Leung Chun-ying welcomed the High Court’s decision and said the SAR Government would act in accordance with the law.
An anti-independence rally in support of the NPC Standing Committee’s interpretation of the Basic Law saw the participation of more than 40，000 people in Hong Kong on November 13.
Tokyo Trials Remembered
An international forum on the Tokyo trials and world peace was held in Shanghai on November 12-13， attended by 25 prominent jurists and historians from countries including China， the United States， Japan， Britain and New Zealand. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the convening of the trials.
“The Tokyo trials upheld civilization，” said Gao Wenbin， who was a translator and secretary to the Chinese prosecutors and turned 95 this month. “History should not be forgotten and facts should not be distorted.”After WWII， the Allied Forces tried Japanese war criminals at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East in Tokyo. Known as the Tokyo trials， the proceedings played an important part in shaping the postwar Asia-Pacific order. Zhang Jie， President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University， said the Tokyo and Nuremberg trials were attempts to avert bitter wars by punishing war criminals.
“There are still regional disputes and tension in many corners of the world，” Zhang said. “Peace remains the one thing many people seek and hope for.”
Wildlife Conservation
China will build two wildlife museums to store confiscated wildlife products and for research and education， a senior forestry official said. The two museums， one in Beijing and the other in the central province of Hunan， will be hubs for protecting endangered wildlife and showcasing the country’s achievements in cracking down on illegal wildlife trading， said Chen Fengxue， deputy head of the State Forestry Administration. A ground-breaking ceremony was held for the wildlife museum in Changsha， capital of Hunan， on November 10. The two museums will provide a professional platform for promoting wildlife protection， Chen said at the ceremony. Air Quality in Beijing
Beijing’s average density of hazardous fine particulate matter， or particulates with a diameter of up to 2.5 micrometers （PM2.5）， was 64 micrograms per cubic meter from January to October， a year-on-year decrease of 8.6 percent， the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on November 14.
PM2.5 is an air pollutant that causes smog and can affect lung function when inhaled. In addition， average densities of sulfur dioxide， nitrogen dioxide and PM10 （particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less） from January to October were down by 30.8 percent， 6.5 percent and 12.9 percent year on year， respectively.
But as Beijing enters winter， with indoor heating officially starting from mid-November， its air is likely to become foul again. However， Beijing is replacing its coal-fired boilers with clean energy to clear up the air. After the work is completed at the end of the year， the green equipment will help slash Beijing’s coal use by 2 million tons. That means an annual decrease of dust of about 30，000 tons， while reducing sulfur dioxide by about 16，000 tons and nitrogen dioxide by about 5，000 tons.
Record-Breaking Snowfall
People dig out a car stuck in snow in Altay， northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， on November 16. Following more than 50 hours of snowfall， snow in the prefecture’s mountainous regions exceeded 1 meter in depth， the deepest to date.
Born to Be Beasts
Siberian tigers catch a cockrel at the Siberian Tiger Park in Harbin， capital of northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province， on November 16.
China has been making efforts to increase the Siberian tiger population by strengthening protection and through artificial breeding in recent years.
TWAS-Lenovo Prize
Chinese scientist Zhao Dongyuan scooped the 2016 TWAS-Lenovo Science Prize for his works on nano materials on November 15.
The award， one of the most prestigious honors given to scientists in the developing world， was announced on November 15 at the 27th The World Academy of Sciences（TWAS） general meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali.
Zhao is credited for developing innovative nano-sized materials that can be used to clean water， deliver medicine and improve batteries.
Zhao， a chemistry professor at Fudan University in Shanghai， focuses on mesoporous materials—structures that feature tiny， microscopic holes. The annual prize， which includes$100，000， is provided by China’s largest computer maker Lenovo.
The TWAS-Lenovo Prize focuses on recognizing outstanding work in basic sciences， with the subject area changing each year—Physics and Astronomy in 2013， Biological Sciences in 2014， Mathematics in 2015 and Chemical Sciences in 2016.
Each year the Academy also awards individual prizes of $15，000 to scientists who have been working and living in a developing country for at least 10 years.
Foreign Investment
Foreign direct investment （FDI） into the Chinese mainland rose 4.2 percent year on year to reach 666.3 billion yuan （$97 billion） in the first 10 months of the year， official data showed on November 17.
The growth rate is unchanged from the January-September period， according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The service industry continued to attract massive foreign investment from January to October， said Tang Wenhong， head of the ministry’s foreign investment division.
FDI in the service sector， which accounted for 70.7 percent of all investment， increased 9.1 percent year on year during the period.
In particular， FDI in hi-tech services skyrocketed 90.2 percent from a year earlier to reach 79.18 billion yuan （$11.53 billion）.
In the first 10 months， FDI from the United States surged 79.8 per- cent， while that from the European Union soared 41.5 percent. The number of newly established foreign companies with investments of over$100 million totaled 600.
FDI in China’s western regions jumped 29.8 percent year on year to 49.27 billion yuan （$7.17 billion） during the 10-month period， while the more developed eastern areas attracted 582.82 billion yuan （$84.84 billion） in investment， up 6.9 percent.
China has long attached great importance to improving its business environment， pledging more measures to create a level playing field for domestic and foreign companies.
Some administrative approvals for foreign investors setting up businesses on the Chinese mainland have been scrapped in recent years. Investors are now only required to report business plans to local regulators， as long as their business is not on the negative list—a list that spells out which sectors are closed or restricted for foreign investment. To invest in sectors outside the list， foreign investors do not require government approval and enjoy the same treatment as domestic companies.
Cruise Terminal Opens The inauguration ceremony of the Prince Bay cruise liner home port in Shenzhen， south China’s Guangdong Province， takes place on November 12. The port， the largest of its kind in south China， can accommodate luxury liners with a displacement of up to 220，000 tons.
Information Economy Pioneer
China has approved its first national information economy demonstration area in the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang. A ceremony was held in Wuzhen， home of the annual World Internet Conference， on November 15 to mark the start of work on the demonstration area.
The area will explore new mechanisms and models for innovative growth of the information economy. It will integrate the Internet with traditional industries， and focus on big data， smart city development， crossborder e-commerce， the sharing economy as well as cultivating new entrepreneurs.
Zhejiang is home to e-commerce giant Alibaba. In the first three quar- ters of the year， the core industries of the information economy in the province realized added value of 273 billion yuan （$40 billion）， up 14 percent year on year.
China-Malawi Internet Deal
China and Malawi， one of the smallest countries in Africa， have signed a$23-million framework agreement which will see China providing a concessional loan to build a national optic fiber network for Internet connectivity in Malawi.
Chinese Ambassador to Malawi Wang Shiting said the project will create an important engine of the Malawian economy. An Internetbased economy can change the structure of production and improve the traditional method of doing business.
Malawian Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe， hailing the concessional loan， said the optic fiber backbone will improve the connectivity of government systems. Malawi lags behind due to poor Internet connectivity， with a large part of the population still unreached by Internet services.
The network will be constructed by Huawei， the Chinese telecom equipment maker that has become a global leader.
Didi Branches Out
Chinese car-hailing app Didi Chuxing is partnering with global vehicle rental giant Avis Budget Group to offer overseas car rental services.
An announcement on November 15 said the two companies will coordinate product， technology and local marketing resources to provide Didi’s over 300 million registered users traveling abroad with convenient car rental services in about 175 countries. Registered users will be able to book Avis vehicles at airports and neighborhood locations in those countries.
“Internationalization is a clear mission for Didi. The partnership is a key step in our broader initiative to go global，” Fu Qiang， Didi’s Senior Vice President， said.
China has been the world’s top outbound tourism consumer. Around 120 million outbound tourism trips were made by Chinese people in 2015， according to the China National Tourism Administration.
Didi inked a partnership with its U.S. peer Lyft last year for crossplatform services.
Boost to the Service Trade
China will extend tax breaks to outsourcing service providers in more cities to promote service trade， the Ministry of Finance said on November 14.
Service firms with advanced technology in 10 cities， including Shenyang， Urumqi， Qingdao and Ningbo， will have their corporate income tax lowered from 25 percent to 15 percent， from 2016 to 2018.
The firms’ staff education expens- es will be tax deductible provided they account for no more than 8 percent of total wages， the ministry said.
The measure comes after tax breaks for similar firms in 21 other cities.
The Chinese Government plans to speed up service trade development to optimize foreign trade structure， foster new growth drivers and increase employment. China’s service trade rose 24 percent year on year to 3.5 trillion yuan （$511.6 billion） from January to August， continuing the double-digit growth trend since the start of the year.
Bottoms Up
A tea farmer （left） familiarizes a client with the local tea ceremony at the 10th Cross-Straits Tea Exposition in Wuyishan， a renowned tea-producing area in east China’s Fujian Province， on November 16.
The annual event， jointly launched by mainland and Taiwan organizers， attracted some 500 companies from a number of countries including India， Sri Lanka and Japan this year.
Economic Confidence
Chinese enterprises’ confidence in the domestic economy has been restored as it shows more signs of stabilizing， according to a recent survey.
The survey， conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics and several other departments under the State Council， covered 1，960 enterprises nationwide.
It showed 20.3 percent of the respondents think the economy is running well， 2.7 percentage points higher than the previous year. Another 43 percent describe the economy as average， 4.9 percentage points higher. Those thinking the economy is bad account for 36.7 percent， 7 percentage points lower compared with a year ago. Respondents’ median forecast for GDP growth is 6.5 percent in 2016 and 6.3 percent in 2017.
Several industries appear more optimistic about the economy. They include agriculture， power supply， information technology， leasing as well as drug， auto and electronic equipment manufacturing.
Debt Emergency Plan
To address rising concerns over local government debts， on November 14 China introduced a four-grade emergency plan for “fiscal rebalancing.”
The State Council announcement said city and county governments will fiscally rebalance if their annual interest payment on general debts accounts for more than 10 percent of their public spending budget， or if interest payment on special debts is more than 10 percent of their government fund budget.
Fiscal rebalancing would involve measures such as clearing up overdue taxes and fees， reducing expenditures and disposal of government assets. The Central Government will not be involved in bailouts. Local government officials involved will be held accountable.
Experts said the plan is a precautionary arrangement rather than a crisis alarm. “We should make it clear that no crisis has occurred. The plan is more like a barrier against risk，” said Zhao Quanhou with the Research Institute for Fiscal Science at the Ministry of Finance.
Local government debts soared during an investment and construction binge after the global financial crisis in 2008. Data from the ministry showed total local government debt in China stood at 16 trillion yuan（$2.35 trillion） at the end of 2015 with a 38.9-percent debt-to-GDP ratio—lower than the 60-percent alert line of the European Union and other major economies.
The Power Of the Mind
A representative introduces Baidu’s artificial intelligence（AI） technology at the Third World Internet Conference in Wuzhen， east China’s Zhejiang Province， on November 16. This year’s conference took place from November 16 to 18， with the theme，“Innovation-Driven Internet Development for the Benefit of All—Building a Community of Common Future in Cyberspace.” Over 1，600 Internet entrepreneurs， opinion leaders， experts and officials from around the world attended the event.