CHINESE FLAG BEARER FOR TOKYO OLYMPICS

　　The Chinese Olympic Committee （COC） announced late on July 17 that it has selected China’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo， Zhao Shuai， as one of the two national flag-bearers for the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Summer Games.
　　Born in 1995， Zhao began training in taekwondo at the age of 9. Today he is one of China’s top taekwondo athletes. At the Rio Olympics in 2016， Zhao made history by winning China’s first Olympic gold medal in men’s taekwondo when he triumphed in the 58kg category. Later he won gold medals at the 2017 World Championships.
　　In addition to Zhao， volleyball star Zhu Ting has also been named as a flag-bearer for the Chinese delegation， becoming the country’s first female flag-bearer at an Olympic Summer Games.

Natural Disaster Census

　　People’s Daily July 19
　　China has recently launched its first nationwide census on its overall natural disaster risks， which will be completed in two years. The census considers China among the countries most affected by natural disasters in terms of their variety， frequency and damage caused.
　　The census represents a comprehensive survey of the country’s natural disasters and the overall resilience to them. It will acquire 22 types of disastercausing information regarding seismic， geological， meteorological and marine disasters， as well as floods， droughts and forest and grassland fires. The population， housing， infrastructure， public service systems， industries， resources and environment and other disaster-bearing bodies are also key subjects for study.
　　The census is regarded as laying the foundations for improving the country’s ability to prevent and respond to natural disasters. It will also provide reference for the planning of national land use and help increase public knowledge on disaster prevention.

Comic Charm

　　Lifeweek July 19
　　In the 1980s， China Central Television and Guangdong TV introduced two Japanese cartoons， Astro Boy and Doraemon. Both stories achieved success in China with a high audience rating.

　　Another phenomenon was the rise of the so-called rent-a-book stores， a paradise for comic readers as comics accounted for half of the books on the shelves. Getting a store membership became the thing to do， allowing fans to rent any comic book for 0.1 yuan （$1.5 cents） a day. The new opportunity attracted many aficionados with a hunger for reading，especially students with little pocket money. 　　Some children would start creating their own stories， gaining them much attention from their peers. Some classmates would even ask those young artists to create characters based on their own looks. The creations basically became a tool for communication between comic lovers as well as a way of socializing on campus.
　　A major misunderstanding about comics is that they are all books for children. Usually， at the mere mention of the genre， people think of exaggerated expressions and bright colors in lots of pictures with very little text. Yet the comic classics are far more than that and can actually nourish the soul. The decoding of each picture is a complex process in which readers need to deal with the different components of comic book art.
　　Also， most comic books target adults， requiring people to have a high enough level of life experience. For instance， in the 1990s， when a bubble economy trapped Japan， many comic works took to describing society and politics.
　　Moreover， many cartoonists have also been widely exploring the fields of literature. Through accurate narrative rhythms and a visual language， they hope readers can really sense the change of space and time passing by.

Summer Grains

　　Guancha.gmw.cn July 19
　　China reaped a bumper summer harvest in 2021， with a 2.1-percent increase in total output， the National Bureau of Statistics said on July 14. Summer grains refer to grains， beans and potatoes harvested in summer.
　　Summer grain production totaled 145.8 million tons， an increase of 2.97 million tons from last year.
　　The output of wheat harvested this summer totaled 134.3 million tons， up 2 percent from that in 2020. The planting area of summer grain reversed from a declining trend to witness growth， while per-unit yield also increased.
　　The output of China’s summer grain accounts for about one fifth of the annual grain output， of which wheat production accounts for more than 90 percent of the overall summer grain output.
　　This year’s summer grain harvest marks another bumper harvest against a backdrop of high-yield and bumper grain harvests for 18 consecutive years. Achieving this type of growth at a high starting point comes courtesy of favorable natural conditions， targeted scientific and technological support， and policy efficiency.

SPENDING LIMIT ON LUCKIN COFFEE FOUNDER

　　Lu Zhengyao， founder of Chinese coffee retail chain， Luckin Coffee， has been named online after being found guilty of financial misconduct by the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court. The court’s decision on the case， which involved more than 935 million yuan （$144 million） in funds， led it to impose limited spending on Lu. 　　Born in Fujian Province， 52-year-old Lu was also founder of Ucar， a car-rental company.
　　This is Lu’s second order of limited spending this year. His first order resulted from a financial mismanagement case in January involving 1.3 billion yuan （$200.9 million）.
　　Lu founded Luckin Coffee in 2017 and launched it on the Nasdaq Stock Market in 2018. After opening approximately 4，500 stores in more than 40 cities across China， he was removed from chairmanship of Luckin Coffee in July 2020.
　　“Virology laboratories in the U.S. should be placed under international scrutiny. The next-stage investigation of the World Health Organization （WHO） should focus on Fort Detrick， and the U.S. should cooperate with the WHO like China did.”
　　Lu Shaye， Chinese Ambassador to France， in an interview with French newspaper L’Opinion
　　“China has been shoring up ties with its Central Asian neighbors to deal with possible security threats in the post-U.S. era. In this regard， the Shanghai Cooperation Organization [SCO] has some great potential to offer solutions.”
　　Wang Peng， a research fellow at Zhejiang International Studies University， commenting on the role of the SCO to CGTN on July 18
　　“Given that the Belt and Road Initiative involves a large number of countries and abundant capital， it is committed to better serving the developing world than the ‘Build Back Better World’program launched by G7 leaders…”
　　Liu Hui， a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences， in an article published on China Daily on July 20
　　“China today is a place where you can see that capitalism is not the end of history. There are other social and political regimes that should follow capitalism and imperialism， and this alternative is socialism.”
　　Issam Makhoul， former general secretary of the Communist Party of Israel， in an interview with Xinhua News Agency on July 20