1 May
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Xu Xiang (aka Hedge Fund Brother #1) and three managers
from CITIC Securities were arrested for insider trading.
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3
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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.
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China’s movie box-office took $8.6 billion in 2015.
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Li Hao Tong won the Volvo China Golf Open (part of the
European Tour).
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4
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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.
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New book by Arthur Kroeber (founding partner of Gavekal
Dragonomics) “China’s economy – what everyone needs to know”.
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5
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24 year old female teacher in Shenzhen was murdered by a
Didi driver (China’s biggest car-hailing app).
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6
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Hebei Province closed 200 of the most-polluting companies.
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A couple in Inner Mongolia was detained for selling their
two young sons, for $5,150 and $6,050 respectively.
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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.
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7
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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.
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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).
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The Shanghai Composite Index fell to 2913, a seven-week
low.
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9
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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.
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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.
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China’s exports in April 2016 increased by 4%; trade
surplus of $46 billion.
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China has an estimated 390,000 “core golfers” (play at
least 8 times a year); a decrease of 5% on 2014.
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11
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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.
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Hong Kong is expecting 54 million visitors in 2016, 5
million less than 2015. Tourism from
Mainland is down by 15%.
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13
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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.
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An estimated 19% of arable land in China is polluted, much
with heavy metals.
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Zhengzhou City in Henan has introduced “women-only” buses
on some routes.
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The Chinese subsidiary of Robert Bosch had revenue of $12
billion in 2015, 16% of its global revenue.
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14
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Apple announced an investment of $1 billion in Didi
Chuxing, China’s largest car-hailing app (currently 11 million rides per day).
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Chen Man from Mianzhu, Sichuan, received $417,000
compensation for wrongful imprisonment for 23 years.
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17
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Q1 2016 market share of smartphones in China: Huawei 16%;
Oppo 15%; Vivo 13%; Apple 13%.
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2015 China had 19,000 km of high-speed railway, which
carried 2.5 billion passengers.
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18
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Movie “Mr Six” got the “2015 Ashtray Award” for 102
smoking scenes.
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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.
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19
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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.
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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).
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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).
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21
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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.
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24
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Beijing’s ground-level ozone reached 242 micrograms per
square cm; it is set to overtake PM2.5 as the city’s main pollutant.
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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.
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26
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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”.
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The Govt has told the Telecom companies to achieve 100%
‘real-name’ registration of subscribers by mid-2017 (currently 92%).
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A recent survey found that ‘hot pot’ is China’s favourite
restaurant food.
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27
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Adoptions are falling in China: 2010 adoptions totalled
29,618, while 2015 adoptions totalled 17,201.
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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.
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The yuan has devalued slightly; now US$1 = 6.6 yuan
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Starbucks announced the opening of its first roaster &
tasting room in Shanghai.
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30
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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.
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31
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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).
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By 2020 China aims to supply at least 10% of the 200 new
satellites launched p.a.
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