Post #103 2 June 2016

Gentlefolk

This post contains the News Summary for May 2016.

I compile a monthly summary of news items, with a focus on news on China.   This might be the last monthly News Summary – not sure if I’ll have time to compile one for June, before our departure from these shores on July 9 … let’s see how it goes.

There is so much competition for space in Western media outlets that usually only the unusual, sensational, or bizarre gets a mention. Hopefully this summary will give you a better idea of some of the things happening in China.

The events/items included are not necessarily the headlines, but rather things which caught my eye.

The second list shows international events reported in China.  There are so many things happening around the world (information overload!), that I find it useful to have such a list to look back at. 

These news items were all sourced from the China Daily newspaper 1 – 31 May 2016. 

Actual events usually occurred a day or two before they appeared in the China Daily newspaper. 

Currency shown is US$, and the exchange rate used this month is US$1 = Yuan 6.6.

Remember: the China Daily is a government newspaper whose main purpose in life is to make the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese Government look good.  But if one strips away the propaganda, there is still quite a lot of interesting stuff in the paper. 

Events which made the news in China in May 2016

(a) Domestic (in China) events and news

1 May	Xu Xiang (aka Hedge Fund Brother #1) and three managers from CITIC Securities were arrested for insider trading.
3	Beijing has introduced standard charges for its 580 ambulances. All have been fitted with taxi-like meters; charge $7.70 for the first 3 km, then $1.10 per km.
	China’s movie box-office took $8.6 billion in 2015.
	Li Hao Tong won the Volvo China Golf Open (part of the European Tour).
4	The case of 21 year old student Wei Ze Xi has been big news. He had a rare cancer, synovial sarcoma, and his family was desperate to try any treatment.  Searching on Baidu he found a clinic at the Second Police Hospital in Beijing offering immunotherapy. He signed up for a course of treatment (about $30,000) which ultimately didn’t help and he passed away.   Baidu came under the spotlight for running misleading advertisements, and the hospital was criticised for sub-letting the clinic to a private company which promoted unproven treatment. Baidu was forced to change its procedures, and the leaders of the hospital were punished.
	New book by Arthur Kroeber (founding partner of Gavekal Dragonomics) “China’s economy – what everyone needs to know”.
5	24 year old female teacher in Shenzhen was murdered by a Didi driver (China’s biggest car-hailing app).
6	Hebei Province closed 200 of the most-polluting companies.
	A couple in Inner Mongolia was detained for selling their two young sons, for $5,150 and $6,050 respectively.
	The govt banned children below 18 years of age from appearing in TV reality shows.  Some very popular shows, such as “Dad, where are we going?” cancelled.
7	New English language website launched, “Baopals” to help foreigners shop on online sites Taobao and Tmall. Usage fee is 5% plus $1.20 per product.
	In 2015 2,766  Chinese donors donated 7,785 organs for transplants, far less than the demand. China stopped the harvesting of organs from executed prisoners on 1 January 2015. The govt has streamlined delivery of organs (livers must be used within 12 hours; kidneys within 24 hours; lungs within 12 hours; heart within 8 hours).
	The Shanghai Composite Index fell to 2913, a seven-week low.
9	Despite the govt’s two-child policy, a survey found that 60% of working mothers did not want a second child; not enough time, and too expensive.
	41 workers missing feared dead following a landslide at a dam construction site in Fujian; the area recorded 192 mm of rain in 24 hours.
	China’s exports in April 2016 increased by 4%; trade surplus of $46 billion.
	China has an estimated 390,000 “core golfers” (play at least 8 times a year); a decrease of 5% on 2014.
11	29 year old Lei Yang was detained during a police raid of a foot massage parlour in Beijing; he died later that night. The police deny using excessive force, but many people are sceptical and an independent autopsy has been ordered.
	Hong Kong is expecting 54 million visitors in 2016, 5 million less than 2015.  Tourism from Mainland is down by 15%.
13	65 year old double-amputee Xia Bo Yu is 1,500 meters from the summit of Everest. He lost his feet to frost-bite in 1975.
	An estimated 19% of arable land in China is polluted, much with heavy metals.
	Zhengzhou City in Henan has introduced “women-only” buses on some routes.
	The Chinese subsidiary of Robert Bosch had revenue of $12 billion in 2015, 16% of its global revenue.
14	Apple announced an investment of $1 billion in Didi Chuxing, China’s largest car-hailing app (currently 11 million rides per day).
	Chen Man from Mianzhu, Sichuan, received $417,000 compensation for wrongful imprisonment for 23 years.
17	Q1 2016 market share of smartphones in China: Huawei 16%; Oppo 15%; Vivo 13%; Apple 13%.
	2015 China had 19,000 km of high-speed railway, which carried 2.5 billion passengers.
18	Movie “Mr Six” got the “2015 Ashtray Award” for 102 smoking scenes.
	A survey found that only 15% of LGBT people had “come out” to their families; 5% to their school friends; and 5% to their work colleagues. Attitudes are slowly changing, with more young Chinese accepting of diversity in sexuality.
19	The govt is pushing ahead with reform of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). SOEs in coal, iron and steel have been told to reduce over-capacity by 10% in each of 2016 and 2017. The 106 “Central SOEs” ordered to cut management staff by 50% and sell off 20% of non-core subsidiaries. Profit of non-financial Central SOEs in first 4 months of 2016 was $99 billion, down 8% compared to the same period in 2015.
	China Tourism Report for 2015 shows 130 million inbound tourists (135m in 2011); 807 five-star hotels (615 in 2011); 120m outbound tourists (70m in 2011).
	New 38 episode TV series “The 38th Parallel” about the Korean War (1950-53); According to Chinese figures 180,000 Chinese soldiers were killed, 383,000 wounded, 25,000 missing (Western scholars estimate the Chinese numbers could be doubled or more. Casualty figures of the UN Forces were 178,000 dead, 566,000 wounded, 33,000 missing).
21	Guangdong Province announced that about 10,000 children of migrant workers will be allowed to do the Gao Kao (National College Entrance Exam) in the province (previously they had to do the exam in their home towns).  To be eligible, students must have done all their Senior High School in Guangdong; at least one parent must have a job and legal residence in Guangdong, and have paid local social security for at least three years.
24	Beijing’s ground-level ozone reached 242 micrograms per square cm; it is set to overtake PM2.5 as the city’s main pollutant.
	Hospitals in China have reduced their use of antibiotics by 40% since 2012; concern that some microbes are developing resistance because of over-prescription of antibiotics.
26	Popular writer Yang Jiang died aged 104. Her best-seller was “Baptism”, about the life of intellectuals in China in the early 1950s.  She also published a book about the Cultural Revolution “Six chapters from my life down under”.
	The Govt has told the Telecom companies to achieve 100% ‘real-name’ registration of subscribers by mid-2017 (currently 92%).
	A recent survey found that ‘hot pot’ is China’s favourite restaurant food.
27	Adoptions are falling in China: 2010 adoptions totalled 29,618, while 2015 adoptions totalled 17,201.
	Beijing will include “smog” in its list of meteorological disasters, together with torrential rain, blizzards, sand storms, and droughts. In 2015 Beijing experienced 46 days of ‘hazardous’ air quality index.
	The yuan has devalued slightly; now US$1 = 6.6 yuan
	Starbucks announced the opening of its first roaster & tasting room in Shanghai.
30	19 year old singer-songwriter Dou Jing Tong’s new album “Stone Café” has been downloaded 40 million times in 3 weeks, a new record. She is the daughter of famous singers Faye Wong and Dou Wei.
31	Chinese researchers published more than 300 academic papers in international scientific journals Cell, Nature and Science in 2015 (sixty came from staff of Tsinghua University in Beijing).
	By 2020 China aims to supply at least 10% of the 200 new satellites launched p.a.

(b) International events

3 May	Australian Craig Wright admitted he was the creator of Bitcoin.
	In 2015 China’s outbound investment in property totalled about $30 billion; most popular destinations New York, London, Sydney, Chicago, and Seattle. 42% in offices, 18% in hotels, 8% in retail, 27% in development sites (mainly residential).
4	Emirates Air started 4x week direct flights between Dubai and Yinchuan, Ningxia.
	Reserve Bank of Australia cut the cash rate by 25 points to 1.75%.
	Leicester City (The Foxes) won England’s Premier League. At the beginning of the season bookmakers had them at 5000 – 1 odds. Jamie Vardy scored 22 goals. Manager Claudio Ranieri. Leicester City-born Mark Selby beat Ding Jun Hui to win the World Snooker Championship.
5	Russia and China announced first joint anti-missile military exercise.
	2016 The Times Higher Education World University Rankings included 5 Chinese universities in the top 100: Tsinghua (18); Peking (21); also Zhejiang, Fudan and Jiao Tong. The survey is based on 10,323 scholars in 133 countries.
7	DPRK’s ruling Workers Party held its first Congress in 36 years. Leader Kim Jun Un pledged to only use nuclear weapons for defence.
	US- FDA brought e-cigarettes under the same rules as tobacco products.
9	Aussie Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a “double dissolution” election to be held on 2 July 2016.
	Labour’s Sadiq Khan was elected Mayor of London with 57% of the vote; first Muslim mayor.
10	All the inhabitants of Fort McMurray (80,000), northern Alberta, evacuated because of a huge forest fire.
12	Indian woman, Daljinder Kaur, 70 had a baby by IVF. Her husband is 79; they have been married 46 years.
	Stephen Curry voted NBA – MVP for second year running. It was the first time all 131 selectors had him as their first choice – unanimous; second was Kawhi Leonard, 3rd LeBron James.
13	Brazil’s Senate voted 55 – 22 to begin impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff. Vice President Michel Temer is acting President.
	The USA – NATO activated $800 million missile shield in Romania; Poland next.
	COSCO Shipping bought 35% of the Euromax Terminal in Rotterdam for $47 million.
	Australian Sinologist Colin Mackerras, 77, is an Emeritus Professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
16	Alibaba, parent of Taobao and Tmall, was suspended from the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition for not doing enough to stop sale of fake goods.
	Taiwan / Mainland connections in 2015: 5.5m visits by Taiwanese and 4.1m visits by Mainlanders; Mainland’s export to Taiwan $45 billion, imports from Taiwan $144 billion; Taiwanese investment in the Mainland $95 billion, Mainland investment in Taiwan $3 billion.
18	Mr Duterte won the Philippine Presidential election; will be sworn in on 30 June 2016.
	ICBC Bank bought Barclay’s precious metals vault in London for $1.07 billion.
19	US imposed anti-dumping duties of 522% on Chinese cold rolled steel.
	NBA Finals Western Conference: Golden State Warriors play Oklahoma City Thunder; Eastern Conference: Cleveland Cavaliers play Toronto Raptors. Cleveland will play the Warriors in the final, beginning in June.
20	Egypt Air flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo crashed; all 66 feared dead.
	Google launched Google Assistant Allo and Google Home.
23	President Obama official visit to Vietnam; US relaxes previous arms embargo.
24	Bayer bid $62 billion for Monsanto.
	Barcelona won the Spanish League and Copa del Rey (28th Copa!); 7th time it has won both titles in the same season. Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid to win the UEFA Champions League.
27	G7 (US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan + EU) meeting in Tokyo. Afterwards President Obama visited Hiroshima, site of first atomic bomb 6 Aug 1945 (estimated 150,000 died with 24 hours).
28	Escalating strikes in France protesting proposed labour reforms.
	US National Spelling Bee co-winners Jairan Hathwar (13) and Nihar Janga (11). Third consecutive year of tied winners.  Final words were Feldenkrais and Gesellschaft.

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Tomorrow we fly to Hangzhou for the weekend.  I hope to do a post on that visit next week.

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Best wishes to you all; keep well and keep smiling.

Alex & Vera Olah

English teachers at the China University of Petroleum, Qingdao

www.upc.edu.cn

Thursday, 2 June 2016