Man-made,
Looking ahead
MONDAY, April 9, 2018
Leaders
at Boao
primed
on trade
By WANG YU and CHEN JIA
Protectionist measures will
never be rewarded and only
opening-up and mutually ben-
eficial policies can bring in
economic prosperity for the
Asian and global economies,
senior experts said on Sunday
before the opening of the Boao
Forum for Asia in Boao, Hain-
an province.
Free trade serves as the
engine for economic growth,
with openness expected to be
the fuel. Closing doors will
result in nothing but being left
behind, said Zhang Yuyan,
director of the Institute of
World Economics and Politics
with the Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences.
Zhang said China will abso-
lutely deepen its opening-up
and reforms to win more
Museum a success
natural beauty Istanbul Modern becomes
Bayern Munich takes sixth in Huzhou city’s symbol of 21st century
Bundesliga title SPORTS, PAGE 24 WORLD, PAGE 10
TRAVEL, PAGE 22

 www.chinadailyhk.com
Historic visit upgrades ties with Austria
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By ZHANG YUNBI
zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn
The top leaders of China
and Austria agreed on Sunday
to upgrade bilateral ties to a
friendly strategic partnership
as the European country
sends an unprecedented offi-
cial delegation to China.
President Xi Jinping noted
in his talk with Austrian Pres-
ident Alexander Van der Bel-
len that the delegation
includes Van der Bellen,
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz
and federal ministers.
Their visit marks the first
of its kind in the history of
bilateral exchanges and
fully shows the president
and his government value
developing ties with China,
Xi said.
On Monday, the visiting
president will place a wreath
at the Monument of the Peo-
ple’s Heroes in Beijing, a

 $7
ties, maintain the momen-
tum of high-level exchanges
and improve cooperation in
the fields of judiciary, securi-
ty, law-enforcement and anti-
corruption.
Kurz, the chancellor, also
attended the bilateral talks
and said the visiting delega-
tion, with such a high-rank-
ing contingent, shows the
enthusiasm of all walks of life
in Austria in developing ties
with China.
Xi said China appreciates
Austria’s open attitude to Chi-
nese investment and will con-
tinue to boost its market
opening and welcome more
Austrian enterprises to invest
in China.
Also, China welcomes the
Austrian side to take part in
the cooperation between
China and Central and East-
ern European countries, and
is ready to boost the synergy
of development strategies
growth opportunities. President Xi Jinpingì%2(ì,-7ì;-*)Aì)2+ì-=9%2Aì437)ì*36ì%ì4,383ì;-8,ì9786-%2ì6)7-()28ì0)<%2()6ì %2ì()6ì)00)2ì%2(ì,-7ì;-*)Aì36-7ì move Xi said shows his great with Austria, Xi added.
As to the white-hot Sino-US
trade disputes now on every-
one’s mind, Zhang said it
might be a US tactic to win
more bargaining power in
future trade talks.
In Zhang’s eyes, the current
US trade protectionist measures
will backfire on the US and will
hurt both sides. However, the
measures are designated more
to confine the development of
China’s high-technology indus-
tries, Zhang said.
Trade protectionism is the
wrong remedy for major eco-
nomic problems in the US,
such as low saving rate and
over consumption, Zhou
Wenzhong, secretary general
of 2018 Boao Forum for Asia,
said on Sunday.
The forum released three
annual reports on Sunday,
titled Asian Competitiveness,
Progress of Asian Economic
Integration and Development
of Emerging Economies. They
highlight the current econom-
ic environment in Asia and list
key challenges to regional
growth.
Asia did not and may not
move out of the shadows of vio-
lent external environments and
internal uncertainties in 2018,
and challenges include the
deceleration of global value
chains, the vacancy left by the
US exit from the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Agreement, the
narrowness of the internal
demand and lack of collective
efforts to reform the financial
system, according to the reports.
Wu Xiaoqiu, vice-president
of Renmin University of Chi-
na, said on Sunday at Boao
that if a trade war cannot be
avoided, it will definitely influ-
ence the capital markets —
and the US capital market will
suffer more than China’s.
Some of China’s industries
in the equity market that rely
on external demand will be
311)28 > p8
influenced more, he said.
“What I don’t expect is the
escalation of the Sino-US trade
conflicts, especially for any
financial retaliatory measure,
and I suggested the two sides
deal with the dispute within
the World Trade Organization
framework,” Wu said.
Against the backdrop of ris-
ing trade protectionism and
slower investment growth,
Asian countries have to reignite
the negotiation for a regional
comprehensive economic part-
nership, Lin Guijun, vice-presi-
dent of University of
International Business and
,-2%ì%-0=ìAì00ì-+,87ì)7)6:)(ìAì 30@ììRì3@ì
Economics, recommended.
Contact the writers at
wangyu@chinadaily.com.cn
',1-(%9)6Aì(96-2+ì%ì;)0'31-2+ì')6)132=ì%8ì8,)ì6)%8ì%00ì3*ì8,)ì)340)ì-2ì)-.-2+ì32ì92(%=@ìFENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY
Xi, UN chief discuss multilateralism
By HU YONGQI
huyongqi@chinadaily.com.cn
China will continue to safe-
guard the authority of the
United Nations and uphold
multilateralism, though major
countries should take respon-
sibilities for their actions,
President Xi Jinping told visit-
ing UN Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres on Sunday.
The key of multilateralism
lies in negotiations and coop-
eration between countries
around the world, especially
between major countries, Xi
said. China has been commit-
ted to promoting world
peace, global development
Li tells Singapore’s prime minister China will work with ASEAN
By ZHANG YUE
zhangyue@chinadaily.com.cn
China is willing to bring
benefits to surrounding coun-
tries through its own develop-
ment and build a community
of both shared interest and
shared destiny with countries
in the Association of South-
east Asian Nations countries,
Other motives behind tariffs, experts say
By ZHONG NAN
and JING SHUIYU
The escalating trade dispute
initiated by the Trump admin-
al Business and Economics in
istration is not meant to
address the trade imbalance
between China and the United
States, but to curb China’s
technological market expan-
sion, experts said on Sunday.
As China upgrades its man-
ufacturing base through the
Made in China 2025 plan, the
US, the world’s only super-
power, cannot accept this and
sees China’s fast development
as a threat to its global domi-
nance, said Zhou Mi, a senior
researcher at the Chinese
Academy of International
Trade and Economic Coopera-
tion, a government think tank.
“Therefore, it is inevitable
for the US to adopt unilateral
and protectionist practices to
stem China’s growth,” he said.
and international order and
would like to share its oppor-
tunities and experiences with
other countries, he said.
However, China will not
force its own path, model and
theory onto others, Xi said.
On welcoming Guterres to
participate in the Boao
Forum for Asia annual con-
ference in Hainan province,
the president said global gov-
ernance should be improved
to handle new challenges
confronting the international
community in recent years.
China is promoting eco-
nomic, political, cultural,
social and ecological aspects
of China’s modern civiliza-
Premier Li Keqiang said.
Li made the remark when
meeting with visiting Singa-
pore Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong in Beijing on
Sunday. Singapore is one of
the founding members of
ASEAN.
This year marks the 40th
anniversary of China’s reform
and opening-up and also is
Inside
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eì(-836-%0 > p7
eì
transfer practices essentially
The US government’s dis-
trust of China can be found in
its National Security Strategy
report issued in December,
which mentioned China 33
times and defined China as
its “competitor”. The Trump
administration claimed that
China attempted to challenge
the US status and poses a
threat to US prosperity and
security.
“The US has focused more
on the service sector and
spent over $5.5 trillion in
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
over the past 17 years. It didn’t
pay much attention to
upgrading its manufacturing
sectors, urbanization and
tion, which is also a vital part
of a community of shared
future of mankind, Xi said.
The country also pursues
high-quality development,
which targets giving the public
confidence and stable expecta-
tions, Xi said. Reform, opening-
up and innovation were all key
words used in the 19th Nation-
al Congress of the Communist
Party of China in October and
the two sessions in March,
which all aimed to bring happi-
ness to the people, he said.
China promotes the Belt
and Road Initiative, aiming to
align with other countries’
development strategies for
shared prosperity, Xi said.
the 15th anniversary of its
strategic partnership with
ASEAN, Li said, and China
stands ready to further deep-
en its reform and opening-up
while firmly safeguarding the
global free-trade system mov-
ing forward.
Noting that relations
between China and Singa-
pore are growing steadily
infrastructure,” said Tu Xin-
quan, director of the China
Institute for WTO Studies at
the University of Internation-
Beijing.
China, in the meantime,
made notable breakthroughs
in developing technologies
such as 5G, computer chips,
nuclear power, high-speed
trains, high-end vessels and
aircraft manufacturing.
It also deployed more
resources to promote the Belt
and Road Initiative and the
Asian Infrastructure Invest-
ment Bank to build a trade,
investment and infrastructure
network connecting Asia with
more regions in the world.
Tu said taking into account
its domestic political and eco-
nomic pressure, the US gov-
ernment has a motive to
deliberately propose tariffs on
Chinese imports. The so-called
Guterres congratulated Xi
on his re-election as the Chi-
nese president.
China has become a crucial
pillar for multilateralism and a
vital force in promoting world
peace and development, and it
is believed to play a bigger role
in international affairs in the
coming decades, Guterres said.
Premier Li Keqiang also
met with Guterres later on
Sunday. Li said China would
like to work with other coun-
tries to promote trade liberali-
zation and investment
facilitation in fight against
trade protectionism to make
globalization to a more open,
inclusive, balanced one.
and cooperation expanding
smoothly in many areas, Li
said China is willing to fur-
ther consolidate political
mutual trust with Singapo-
re, work together in third
market cooperation and fur-
ther cooperate in defense,
safety of law enforcement,
education, media and think
tanks so as to bring tangible
Section 301 investigation
launched in August into
alleged Chinese intellectual
property and technology
targets several key industries
identified by the Made in Chi-
na 2025 plan.
On Sunday, US President
Donald Trump raised some
hope in the trade dispute,
tweeting, “President Xi and I
will always be friends, no mat-
ter what happens with our dis-
pute on trade. China will take
down its Trade Barriers
because it is the right thing to
do. Taxes will become Recipro-
cal & a deal will be made on
Intellectual Property. Great
future for both countries!”
Ouyang Shijia contributed
to this story.
Contact the writers at zhong-
nan@chinadaily.com.cn
respect and friendship for the
Chinese people.
Van der Bellen is paying
his first state visit to China
and also will attend the 2018
Boao Forum for Asia annual
conference.
He told Xi that his coun-
try speaks highly of China’s
positive role in global
affairs, such as tackling cli-
mate change, and Austria
will further its cooperation
with China in areas includ-
ing trade, investment and
clean energy.
After assuming office in
December, the new Austrian
cabinet has been working on
developing relations with
China and cooperating with
the Belt and Road Initiative.
Xi has expressed China’s
endorsement of these efforts.
He has called for efforts to
strengthen political guidance
and top-level design over the
benefits to the people of
both countries.
He said China is ready to
work with Singapore to
jointly promote the con-
struction of the Southern
Passageway for ASEAN and
deepen cooperation with the
country in key areas such as
infrastructure, connectivity
and finance.
Slain diners mourned
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8-)7ì7%-(@ììJOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
See story, page 11
²ì2018ì
A member of the
Asia News
Network
This year marks the 15th
anniversary of the establish-
ment of the China-European
Union comprehensive strate-
gic partnership.
Van der Bellen noted that
his country will take presi-
dency of the Council of the
European Union this July and
play a great role in boosting
China-EU cooperation.
Xi said the European
Union maintaining united,
stable, open and prosperous
ties are in line with China’s
interests, and China will
not change its consistent
position of supporting
Europe’s integration.
After their talks, the two top
leaders witnessed the signing
of documents covering areas
such as the Belt and Road Ini-
tiative, judicial cooperation,
innovation, logistics, trans-
portation, culture, sports and
intellectual property.
He said he hopes Singapo-
re, taking the rotating chair of
ASEAN this year, will contin-
ue to play a constructive role
in improving China-ASEAN
ties and further contribute to
regional peace, stability and
prosperity.
Lee told his counterpart
See Singapore, page 3
 Monday, April 9, 2018

CH I N A DAI LY H O NG KO N G EDI TI O N

2 PAGE TWO
Looking ahead
Candid camera: Watery tussle
Events and stories coming up in the next few days

Information technology operator, the new plan includes adjust-

expo gets underway
The China Information Technology Expo
will be held in Shenzhen, Guangdong pro-
vince, from Monday to Wednesday. Under
the theme “Intelligent Era, Smart Life”,
leading electronics and technology compa-
nies from home and abroad will gather at
the event to showcase their latest products.
The event will include a main forum on the
digital economy, two high-level dialogues
for entrepreneurs and economists, and five
forums on sectors including artificial intel-
ligence, smart television and smartphones.
New train operating plan
takes effect on Tuesday
China’s operating fleet of Fuxing bullet
trains will grow rapidly, as a new operating
plan takes effect on Tuesday. According to
China Railway Corp, the national railway
ments to routes, speeds and train numbers.
With everything up and running, the total
number of Fuxing (or “Rejuvenation”)
trains running daily across the country will
reach 114.5 pairs, linking 23 municipalities
and provincial capitals. The Fuxing model is
a new bullet train developed primarily
using China’s railway standards and tech-
nologies, with a view toward improving the
country’s environment and rail transport
efficiency.
Registration opens for June
marathon in Jilin province
The Jilin International Marathon in Jilin
province will be open for registration start-
ing on Tuesday, in preparation for the race
on June 10. This year’s event offers 30,000
entries for runners in a 42-kilometer full
marathon, 21-km half marathon, a health
run and a family run.

On chinadaily.com.cn
Visit for breaking news and exclusive content
Revelers take part in a water fight to mark Thailand’s traditional Songkran Festival, also known as the water festival, outside D2 Place
in Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong, on Sunday. The carnival, held in the belief it would wash away bad luck, marks the start of Thailand’s tradi-
Photos: Older men strike a nese and foreign artists from 19 countries tional New Year. ROY LIU / CHINA DAILY
and regions to the capital this year.
pose in modeling classes
At the
beginning Heritage: Weaving of rattan
of the new
semester,
Harbin
revived in Guizhou province
The Dalou Mountain rattan-weaving tech-
nique originated in Guizhou province in the
Yearning for a glimpse of nomadic life
University 1960s. It was included on the Zunyi Intan-
for seniors gible Cultural Heritage List in 2006. Using The sun was about to set south, told me that most tions in their villages, told recall stories of the time
in rattan (bamboo), the weaving process over the grasslands of Ordos. such groups have settled me that visitors, including before they settled down.
Heilong- requires little mechanical support. Artisans It was the right setting for down over the years and the Japanese tourists, like to The 51-year-old Party sec-
jiang province welcomed its new students. need to process the rattan, shape the vines my first experience in a tra- handful remaining at best experience Mongolian cul- retary of a village, while
A new course in male fashion modeling to make a firm structure, and then thread ditional Mongolian tent lead seminomadic lives in ture in summer. speaking in Mongolian
attracted a lot of attention. Every Monday the thin fibers together. With proper train- house, except that the yurt I the northeast, along the Rus- The grasslands dry up in through a translator, said she
morning, 34 students — most over 60 — ing, they are able to build chairs, tea tables entered was far from the real sian border. winter and the frigid air then spent her teen years herding
enter the classroom wearing white shirts, and settees that are lightweight yet durable. deal. Back to the modern yurt: is unlikely to make horse- sheep. Her son, who is 30,
black trousers and black leather shoes. Visit our website to find out more about the It was a Its round base was a con- back riding much fun. has a different life, one sup-
“Some of my neighbors couldn’t under- technique. fancy com- crete structure on which a Although the region had ported by machines and cell-
stand why such an old man would choose mercial wooden frame had been many more horses in the phones. Many ethnic
to learn modeling. In their minds, models Conservation: 47 milu deer establish- inserted, and its outer top 1970s than it does now, visi- Mongolians speak Manda-
should be women in qipao,” said Feng ment that was covered by a white cloth- tors still pay for such thrills, rin, but some still use their
released into the wild had large like material, with printed unavailable readily in many mother tongue.
Yishun, 78, the oldest student in the class- China
room. “I don’t care. This brings me both banquet blue horse motifs, seemingly other places both in China Tourism would likely
released Satarupa tables and for an authentic effect. Air- and abroad. Equestrian become more important if
physical fitness and a good mood. That is 47 rare Bhattacharjya delicate dried (rather wind-dried) shows on average cost 100 Inner Mongolia’s reliance on
my goal.” milu Second chandeliers, salted mutton, Mongolian yuan ($16) in rural Ordos. coal declines in the future
deer Thoughts not a weath- tea (salted), flour snacks and “I want to protect the tra- owing to China’s stated desire
Rankings: Top 10 best into the er-beaten walnuts were offered. dition and present it to tour- to move toward cleaner fuel.
Chinese employers named wild last dwelling made of bamboo or Everywhere I looked I saw ists,” said a local resident, A local official said vast
Huawei, Alibaba and Haier were the top week in wood and felt, the way it sheep — grazing on fields who started to rent out the reserves remain under 80
three Chinese employers this year in a list the used to be when nomads outside and as meat on new yurts in April last year. million hectares of grassland.
jointly released by Fortune China and risk wetland roamed the steppes with plates indoors. Another pastoral herder,
management consultancy Willis Towers near Poyang Lake in Jiangxi province to their portable homes and The yurt is no longer in his early 40s, said he Contact the writer at
Watson. Some 31,000 analysts, senior execu- improve biodiversity and protect the livestock. emblematic of grassland life missed traditional Mongoli- satarupa@
tives or managers were invited to participate ecosystem of the country’s largest During my recent visit to in the region, at least not in an clothes. He only wears chinadaily.com.cn
in the survey, which evaluated nine catego- freshwater lake. It was the first release of the Inner Mongolia autono- the southern part. In today’s them during festivals or
ries, including brand, working environment, milu deer into the wild in a region where mous region for a report, I version, it usually serves as a weddings these days. His Online
management style, career development, the species vanished around 1,000 years had sought to interview hotel or homestay for tourists. grandparents were nomads, Scan the code
innovation and social responsibility. ago. Milu deer, also known as Pere David’s some nomads, but local offi- Two herders, who also he said, but his childhood to hear an audio
deer, are a flagship species of the wetland cials in Ordos, in the region’s manage similar accommoda- memories were too faint to version.
Culture: Arts from around ecosystem.
the world coming to festival
The Art: Hangzhou exhibit This Day, That Year
warm highlights rich Tang Dynasty
spring The exhibition Chang’an in Spring: Access
breeze is the Flourishing Tang Dynasty along the Belt brought together 12 large national — a
blowing and Road opened last week at the Southern years enterprises and institutes, project that pro-
in, and Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum in including the Commercial vides translation
art lovers Hangzhou, Zhejiang on Press, Zhonghua Book Co, and marketing
in Beijing province. A total of 128 China International Publish- support for pub-
are precious relics, mainly Editor’s Note: This year ing Trade Corp, China Book lishers to venture
expecting a colorful season to follow as the from the Tang Dynasty marks the 40th anniversary Import and Export Corp and abroad — was
18th Meet in Beijing Arts Festival is set to (618-907), are on display of China’s reform and open- the main Xinhua Bookstore, launched by the
begin on April 27. A symphony concert led — gold and silver vessels, ing-up policy. To better promote Chinese State Council
by celebrated Chinese conductor Tan Lihua jade and stone objects, culture, more than 10 editing Information Office. tional book fairs. The Beijing
and his Italian counterpart Andrea Molino bronzeware and ceram- To improve the country’s offices were established As of 2016, the project had International Book Fair is
at the National Center for Performing Arts ics. The exhibit, which Scan it! publishing sector in April overseas by the company. backed 2,676 agreements also becoming a key interna-
will open the festival — a monthlong cultur- runs through July 8, Read 2002, the State Council, Chi- The company also set up 100 with 603 overseas publishers tional book fair, as seen in an
al event running through May 31. As Asia’s illustrates luxury life more on na’s Cabinet, approved the shelves in bookstores in 21 in 71 countries for publica- item from Sept 2, 1988, in
biggest international spring arts festival, during the prosperous chinadaily. creation of China Publishing countries and regions to tion of 2,973 titles that were China Daily (above).
Meet in Beijing will draw nearly 800 Chi- Tang Dynasty. com.cn Group. introduce books by Chinese translated into 47 languages. Meanwhile, many interna-
The corporation was offi- authors to the world. Globally, China has been tional publishers are engag-
cially set up in 2003. It In 2004, China Book Inter- featured at 17 major interna- ing in China-related activities.

MON - TUE APRIL 9-10

-1/8 Beijing 5/20 S 7/24 C Shanghai 12/26 S 17/28 S
4/14 -7/5 Changchun -2/14 S 5/10 D Shenyang 0/16 C 6/16 D
4/16 Changsha 13/27 S 15/28 C Shenzhen 17/27 S 21/29 C
Chongqing 14/27 S 17/27 C Shijiazhuang 8/24 C 12/27 C
5/20 Dalian 4/14 S 7/16 S Suzhou 6/28 S 11/20 S
7/24 Fuzhou 12/25 C 13/27 C Taipei 17/26 C 18/28 C
3/16 Guangzhou 13/27 C 16/28 C MONDAY
Taiyuan 5/28 C 9/23 S
10/20 Guilin 13/27 S 17/23 C Tianjin 6/22 C 9/23 C TUESDAY
7/18
9/17 Guiyang 10/23 C 14/24 C Urumqi 4/14 S 4/16 S
13/26 Haikou 17/26 C 19/29 C Wuhan 10/26 S 14/28 S
16/28 12/26
17/28 Hangzhou 10/27 S 14/30 S Xi'an 10/29 S 14/29 S
22/38 Harbin -4/13 S 1/9 C Xiamen 13/26 C 15/28 C Abu Dhabi 24/37 S 24/38 S BuenosAires 17/27 D 16/31 D
24/38 17/26 Hefei 9/27 S 15/29 S Xining -3/22 C 1/18 S
13/27 18/28 Bangkok 23/34 C 25/35 S Caracas 25/26 D 26/26 D
16/28 Hohhot 4/22 C 7/16 C Yantai 5/19 S 11/23 S Colombo 25/32 D 25/32 D Chicago -1/2 R/Sn 1/8 R/Sn
21/37 Hongkong 19/25 C 21/27 C Yinchuan 7/24 C 9/20 C Dubai 27/37 C 28/38 S Houston 9/22 C 17/21 O
19/25 Jinan 13/27 S 20/27 S Zhengzhou 11/28 S 16/31 S
22/38 21/27 Hanoi 12/29 S 14/32 C Las Vegas 16/25 S 15/25 S
Kunming 9/23 S 11/24 S Zhuhai 17/24 S 18/25 S Islamabad 20/27 D 20/29 D Los Angeles 13/19 S 14/17 C
Lanzhou 4/25 Du 7/21 Du Jakarta 25/32 D 25/33 D Mexico city 17/21 D 17/19 D
23/34 Lhasa 3/17 C 3/16 C
25/35 Karachi 26/38 O 26/38 C New York 0/5 C -2/5 O
Lijiang 8/21 C 9/22 C Kuala Lumpur 24/30 D 25/30 D Ottawa -3/-1 S -10/-2 Sn
25/32 Macao 17/24 S 18/25 S Rio De Janeiro 25/26 D 25/26 D
20/32 25/33 26/33 Manila 26/33 D 25/34 D
25/34 Nanchang 12/27 S 16/29 S Mumbai 24/34 D 23/31 D San Francisco 11/15 S 10/13 C
21/34 Nanjing 10/26 S 14/29 S Athens 14/20 S 13/21 S
Berlin 8/12 S 6/9 S New Delhi 22/38 S 24/38 S Sao Paulo 18/21 D 18/22 C
Nanning 14/26 C 19/28 C Pyongyang 1/17 S 6/20 O Vancouver 6/9 D 6/9 O
24/30 Qingdao 7/12 S 10/18 S Brussels 9/15 O 6/14 D
25/30 Geneva 6/9 O 4/9 D Riyadh 17/32 C 18/31 C Washington 0/7 R/Sn 1/12 R/Sn
Sanya 21/29 C 22/31 C Seoul 3/16 C 10/20 O
Istanbul 9/19 D 8/21 C
25/28 London 3/4 D 3/5 D Singapore 25/28 D 25/28 D
25/28 Madrid 3/7 D 3/6 D Sydney 17/30 C 19/23 D Cairo 15/27 S 15/28 S
Moscow 5/18 S 10/13 D Teheran 11/15 D 12/16 D CapeTown 14/22 D 18/22 D
25/32 Paris 11/13 D 10/13 D Tokyo 7/18 C 9/17 S Johannesburg 10/22 S 12/20 O
25/33 Rome 11/14 D 10/14 D Wellington 16/18 D 12/13 R Lagos 27/28 D 25/28 D
Vienna 8/12 S 6/14 S Yangon 21/37 D 22/38 C Nairobi 16/26 D 17/27 D
 CH INA DAILY HONG KONG EDIT ION Monday, April 9, 2018
TOP NEWS
Negotiation
is answer,
scholars say
Harvard China forum speakers
advise against starting trade war
By HONG XIAO in Boston
xiaohong@chinadailyusa.com
As the trade tension esca-
lates between China and the
United States, US experts are
calling for negotiations to
settle the disputes.
“The two sides need to sit
down and have serious talks.
We still have time before we
are actually in a trade war, “
said Ira Kasoff, former US
deputy assistant secretary of
commerce, at the annual
Harvard College China
Forum held in Boston, Mas-
sachusetts, on Saturday.
Kasoff said he believes a
trade war would have a very
negative effect on the two
countries’ economies and the
global economy as a whole.
He explained that because
the Section 301 tariff list for-
mally announced by the US
Trade Representative would
not take effect until the end
of May, there is a period for
public comment and discus-
sion.
“And what President
(Donald) Trump added yes-
terday (to impose tariffs on
an additional $100 billion in
Chinese goods) hasn’t even
been formally proposed yet,
so there’s some time, at least
six weeks, where the two
sides can still talk and nego-
tiate,” Kasoff said.
Anthony Saich, a professor
of International Affairs at
Harvard Kennedy School,
who joined the discussion at
the forum, said the impact of
a trade war has been under-
estimated.
“It’s such a step back into
the Dark Ages. I think it’s
going to be much more dam-
aging to the US economy
than the impression Presi-
dent Trump gives,” he said.
Jet setters
Water jet artists perform at the opening of Qintong Boat Festival,
a national intangible cultural heritage with nearly 1,000 years of
history, in Taizhou, Jiangsu province, on Sunday. More than 400
boats and thousands of boat festival participants attracted
nearly 100,000 visitors. TANG DEHONG / FOR CHINA DAILY
Amid friction, Philadelphia seeks direct flights to Beijing
By ZHANG RUINAN
in Philadelphia
ruinanzhang@
chinadailyusa.com
Despite the recent escala-
tion in tensions between Chi-
na and the United States, on
the sub-national level, there is
hope of more cooperation
between the two nations in
trade — the city of Philadel-
phia is looking for opening
direct flights with cities in Chi-
na to promote trade, educa-
tion and tourism.
“The direct flights between
Philadelphia and China will
bring more opportunities, and
it’s very important for the econ-
omy for the entire region,”
Chellie Cameron, chief execu-
tive of Philadelphia Interna-
Trump had spoken of his
concern about a large US
trade deficit, but Kasoff said
tariffs should not be taken as
a means to remedy a trade
deficit.
“The focus on the trade
deficit is misguiding,” said
Kasoff.
Saich, who agreed with
Kasoff, said “The trade
imbalance is a ridiculous set
of issues to fight over”. Tak-
ing into account all the value
added on the goods traded
reduces the actual trade defi-
cit, he said. “And the fact is,
trade deficits are a normal
part of global economy.”
Kasoff called on the US to
not focus on the short-term
trade deficit “because there
are many reasons for that
(deficit), including structur-
al reasons on the US side”.
He said he hopes the Chi-
nese side can address some
of the concerns from the US
regarding China’s longer-
term industrial policy —
Made in China 2025 — and
issues of technology transfer
and intellectual property
rights violation, which he
thinks are legitimate.
“I’m hoping there can be
discussions between the two
sides to address those
issues,” he said.
Saich said the damage will
be unparalleled if trade war
is triggered.
“If it goes ahead, it’s going
to have major ramifications
for global trading patterns,
which are huge and damag-
ing,” he said, adding “It’s
really a situation where no
one wins”.
China is no longer a weak
developing economy, he said,
but a significant, powerful
economy that is fulfilling its
responsibilities.
tional Airport, said at a
reception hosted by the airport
on Thursday. “And we have the
capability to achieve this goal.”
“Direct air link is not only
about commercial considera-
tions, it will really bond the two
peoples together. It will short-
en the distance between our
cities and states, and it will
change the images of our coun-
ties and enhance mutual
understanding,” said Zhang
Qiyue, consul general of China
in New York.
When it comes to the increas-
ingly tense back-and-forth
between Washington and Bei-
jing, Zhang said, “trade is not
just a cake that if you cut a half, I
will just have a half. Trade is the
opportunity to create a big cake
that is beneficial to everyone.”
Premier Li Keqiang talks with visiting Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during the signing of two documents on third market
cooperation and culture heritage protection between the two countries. WANG YE / XINHUA
Singapore: Documents signed,
signaling further cooperation
From page 1
that trade stands as the
foundation for Singapore,
and Singapore supports a
multilateral trade system,
liberalized trade and invest-
ment and a rule-based glob-
al trade system.
The two leaders witnessed
the signing of two docu-
ments on third market coop-
Dispute puts squeeze on US vintners
By LIA ZHU
in San Francisco
liazhu@chinadailyusa.com
California’s winemakers
are feeling the impact of Chi-
na’s recently announced tariff
on US wines as a retaliatory
measure against the Trump
administration’s proposed
tariffs on China’s steel and
aluminum.
Wente Vineyards, a winery
in Livermore, California,
recently ran into a major
hurdle after 23 years of
exporting to China. The old-
est continuously operating
family winery in the US sus-
pended the shipment of
5,000 cases of wine to China
because of the uncertainties
arising from the trade tariff
fight.
“We are disappointed that
California’s wine business has
become collateral damage for
a bigger picture that wine has
nothing to do with,” said
Michael Parr, vice-president
of international sales for the
vintner Wente Family Estates.
Some of the cases of wine
originally destined for China
have been prepared for ship-
ment and are awaiting fur-
“And when we talk about
trade between China and the
US, it’s not only about goods,
but also there is trade in service
which the US is in great sur-
plus,” Zhang said, indicating
there is growing potential in
e-commerce, investment, tour-
ism and education exchanges
between the two nations.
“China doesn’t want to get
into a trade war with the US;
China is not going to overtake
the US to become a superpow-
er. China just wanted to bring
a better life to all Chinese peo-
ple,” Zhang said.
“We are here to support the
direct flights because we
understand the value in trade
and businesses that could hap-
pen between the city of Phila-
delphia, the state of
eration and culture heritage
protection.
Lee is on a five-day work-
ing visit to China starting
Sunday, his second visit to
China since September.
During the visit, he will
attend the Boao Forum for
Asia’s annual conference in
Hainan. It will be his first
time at the conference and
he will deliver a speech at
ther instructions from
Chinese importers. Other
cases will be used to fill wine
orders to Europe, said Parr.
Chinese importers are
holding off because of the
uncertainty of how long the
tariff would be in effect and
potential backlash from Chi-
nese consumers, he said.
The 15 percent added tariff
on US wines, announced on
April 2, would increase the
total tariff and tax paid on a
bottle of US wine imported
to China from 48.2 percent to
67.7 percent.
Despite the short-term
negative effects, US wine-
makers are more concerned
about the long-term impact.
“My biggest fear is the
importers have alternative
countries that they can buy
from. There are wine regions
in the world that are lined up
to take advantage of this,”
said Parr. His winery saw 80
percent year-on-year growth
in the Chinese market in the
first quarter of this year.
Wines from Chile, Georgia
and New Zealand currently
enter China tariff-free and
pay only the 30 percent com-
bined tax rate. Australian
Pennsylvania and all cities in
China,” said state Representa-
tive Jordan Harris, a Democrat
representing Philadelphia. “We
have products that we would
like to get to the Chinese mar-
ket, and there are products in
China we’d like to get here. And
there are also many opportuni-
ties in tourism. So it’s impor-
tant to us that we do all that’s
necessary to keep that relation-
ship going on the state level.”
“The trade with China is very
important to our city. Over the
years, we’ve been fortunate to
have lots of good trade back and
forth with China,” said William
Keller, another Democratic
member of the Pennsylvania
House of Representatives serv-
ing the city. “And the city of Phil-
adelphia’s port has just
the opening session of the
forum.
During a group interview
on Sunday, Lee said China’s
economy has developed
greatly since 2001, when it
joined the World Trade Orga-
nization, and has both com-
mitted to and benefitted
from the organization’s mul-
tilateral rules, including sub-
mitting to dispute set-
My biggest fear is
the importers
have alternative
countries that they
can buy from.”
Michael Parr, vice-president of
international sales for the vint-
ner Wente Family Estates
wines will be tariff-free start-
ing in 2019, according to the
California Wine Institute, an
advocacy group representing
over 1,000 wineries.
Parr said California wine
can compete against Austra-
lian wine in price and quali-
ty. “But with 67 percent
(tariffs) on our wines, we
can’t compete with that,” he
said.
New tariffs target 128 US
commodities, most of them
on agricultural products pro-
duced in California. The
state’s farm industries have
been urging the Trump
purchased two brand-new
giant cranes from China, that’s
the kind of trade we like and we
want to keep going, and that
will create lots of jobs in both
countries. And the direct flights
will help us to fulfill this goal.”
“I’m optimistic about the dis-
pute (between China and the
US over trade), and I think It’s a
communication breakdown,
and if we all get together and
communicate in a mutually
beneficial way we can end the
perception that there is going to
be increased tensions,” said
John Sabatina, a Democratic
member of the Pennsylvania
state Senate. “I hope the situa-
tion won’t escalate and the cool-
er heads will prevail, and we can
establish a good trade relation-
ship through communication.”
tlements. He said that “if
unilateral and tit-for-tat
actions escalate into trade
wars, the multilateral trad-
ing system that has brought
countries prosperity for dec-
ades will be severely under-
mined”.
“There will be no winners
in a trade war,” Channel
News Asia quoted him as
saying.
administration to start nego-
tiations with China.
“California’s wine grape
growers believe negotiation
offers the best path toward
resolving disputes with our
trade partners,” said John
Aguirre, president of Califor-
nia Association of Wine-
grape Growers.
“At this point, we urge
members of the California
congressional delegation
and other farm state repre-
sentatives and senators
throughout the United
States to step up their efforts
and urge President Trump to
quickly resolve the current
trade dispute with China,” he
said.
Parr said the timing is per-
fect to go into China now.
“What the Chinese consum-
ers want is affordable luxury
and brand authenticity.
That’s exactly the positioning
of Wente’s wines in China,” he
said.
“We are committed to the
market. We trust the leaders
of China and the US will
eventually, after all the rhe-
toric, be able to sit down and
come up with a win-win res-
olution,” said Parr.
Brick by brick
Workers repair the ancient brick pavement at the Palace Museum
in Beijing on Saturday as part of the museum’s ongoing upkeep.
The museum remains open. FAN JIASHAN / FOR CHINA DAILY
3
Experts:
Questions
about IP
security
misplaced
China has the confidence
and capability to deal with any
challenges in the field of intel-
lectual property rights, an offi-
cial with the State Intellectual
Property Office said on Satur-
day.
“China’s achievements in
innovation were made not
through stealing or plunder-
ing, but based on the down-to-
earth efforts of the Chinese
people,” said Zhang Zhicheng,
the office’s head of intellectual
property rights protection and
coordination affairs.
On March 22, the United
States Trade Representative
issued a report outlining the
findings of its investigation
into China’s practices related to
technology transfer, intellectu-
al property and innovation.
It concluded that the acts,
policies, and practices of the
Chinese government are
unreasonable or discriminato-
ry and result in at least $50 bil-
lion in harm to the US
economy every year.
Zhang said the claims of the
US investigation on China’s
technology transfers and
innovations are groundless.
Following the US and Japan,
China became the third coun-
try in the world to receive more
than 1 million patent appli-
cants by 2016, according to sta-
tistics from the office.
Xiong Meng, secretary gen-
eral of China Federation of
Industrial Economics, said
China’s increasing investment
in innovation is the driving
force to the improvement in
the manufacturing industry
and its growing competitive-
ness globally.
He said that huge govern-
ment investment in scientific
research and development
guaranteed the rapid techno-
logical development of domes-
tic enterprises.
Wu Changqi, president of
the EMBA Center at Peking
University’s Guanghua School
of Management, said technol-
ogy transfers from the US to
China result from the free
market competition between
multinational corporations as
a way to fight for a bigger
share of China’s market.
“The enhancement of Chi-
na’s manufacturing capability
and international competi-
tiveness is attributed to the
country’s huge investment in
innovation,” he said. “Many
overseas companies have ben-
efited from China’s domestic
resources and its huge poten-
tial market in the past years.”
“The US allegation of ‘forced
technology transfer’ is a clear
excuse to suppress scientific
innovation in China and pro-
tect its domestic industries,”
Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambas-
sador to the United Kingdom,
said on Thursday.
XINHUA-CHINA DAILY
4
CHINA
Monday, April 9, 2018
CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION
Economy showing signs of
improvement; outlook good
By WANG YANFEI
wangyanfei@chinadaily.com.cn
The Chinese economy is
expected to see stable growth
this year as indicators in the
first quarter reflect improve-
ments in the economic struc-
ture, according to official data.
In the first three months, the
nation’s official Purchasing
Managers’ Index came in at
54.6, 52.9 and 54, respectively,
according to the National
Bureau of Statistics. A reading
above 50 indicates expansion,
while a reading below 50
reflects contraction.
As of the end of March, the
official manufacturing PMI,
which mainly focuses on the
economic activities of large
companies and State-owned
enterprises, had stayed within
expansion territory for 20 con-
secutive months, and the ser-
vices PMI held out above 54
for seven consecutive months,
the NBS said on Sunday.
The industrial structure has
been improving, with the non-
manufacturing sector grow-
ing faster than that of the
manufacturing sector in
Military quitters face heavy penalties
By ZHAO LEI
zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
Four men in Ningde, Fujian
province, were fined 50,000
yuan ($7,900) each and will
suffer repercussions in employ-
ment and education after they
quit the military, according to
the local government.
The four are residents of
Ningde’s Jiaocheng district
and voluntarily enlisted in the
People’s Liberation Army in
September.
Soon the men found they
couldn’t endure the stringent
training and were unhappy
with the military’s strict disci-
pline, and they repeatedly
asked their units to demobil-
ize them. They were not dis-
suaded by rounds of
counseling and persuasion
from commanding officers,
conscription officials and fam-
ily members, the district gov-
ernment said in a statement
on its website.
The men were clearly told
about the severe consequences
Briefly
BEIJING
Govt hits illegal
organizations
China has launched a cam-
paign to crack down on illegal
social organizations, especially
those improperly taking
advantage of national titles, a
statement from the Ministry of
Civil Affairs said on Sunday. In
recent years, many illegal
social organizations have used
words like “China” and “inter-
national” in their names and
claimed to be attached to gov-
ernmental organizations, it
said. Fraudulent organizations
have brought financial losses
to the public, it said.
13.3 percent
Year-on-year growth of elec-
trical consumption during
the January-February period
March, the NBS said on Sun-
day.
Recent economic activities
reflected an improving trend,
and economic conditions
remained favorable to support
further high-quality growth,
according to the NBS.
A stronger economic outlook
is consistent with higher
demand for power consump-
tion, data from the nation’s top
economic regulator showed.
During the January-February
period, China’s electrical con-
sumption grew by 13.3 percent
year-on-year to 1.06 trillion
kilowatt-hours, the National
Development and Reform
Commission said on Sunday.
The power consumption
growth of emerging industries,
such as communications and
electronic equipment manu-
of refusing to continue their
military service, including pos-
sible legal liability. However,
they insisted that they must
quit, the statement said.
They violated the Military
Service Law and the Fujian
Provincial Regulation on Con-
scription Work, it added.
Moreover, the men have
been disqualified for jobs in
government departments,
publicly funded organizations
and State-owned enterprises
for three years. They are also
banned from traveling over-
seas or enrolling in school dur-
ing the period, the statement
said.
Since January, eight men in
Ningde have been punished
for quitting military service,
local media reported, saying
that this would be recorded in
their residency documents.
Ningde is not alone in pun-
ishing military quitters. Chi-
nese media have reported
several cases nationwide
involving the punishment of
people who either quit or
HUBEI
Female university
presidents honored
The three-day World Women
University Presidents Forum
kicked off on Sunday in Wuhan,
Hubei province, with 12 female
university presidents, including
four from the Chinese main-
land and one from Taipei, Tai-
wan, receiving the Lifetime
Honorary Award. They were
joined by 150 female presidents
from around the world. The
award honors female university
presidents over 70 years of age
who have been consistently
involved in the development of
higher education and who have
facturing, was faster than that
of traditional sectors during the
period, the commission said.
The nation’s power genera-
tion increased by 10.04 per-
cent year-on-year in the first
six days this month, up by 4.62
percentage points over the
same period last year, it said.
With an improving econom-
ic structure, the economy is
expected to grow by around 6.8
percent in the first quarter,
which was forecast earlier by
Bank of China.
Tuan Huynh, Asia-Pacific
chief investment officer at
Deutsche Bank Wealth Man-
agement, said the government
can implement more reforms
to further adjust the economic
structure and stimulate more
balanced growth while pre-
venting financial risks.
Huynh said he believed Chi-
na can be expected to edge into
the high-income economy cate-
gory in the next five years. It is
capable of dealing with key
challenges — such as its grow-
ing population and overcoming
the middle-income trap — with
an expected continued rise of
per capita GDP, he said.
Time
for tea
Russian students from
Jiangsu University pick
tea leaves under the
instruction of a farmer
on a plantation in Zhen-
jiang, Jiangsu province,
on Saturday. Interna-
tional students gained
a better understanding
of China’s tea culture
through the event.
SHI YUCHENG /
FOR CHINA DAILY
refused to register with the
military for unreasonable
causes.
Professor Zhang Jiantian,
from the Military Laws
Research Center at China Uni-
versity of Political Science and
Law in Beijing, said the gov-
ernment should do more to
promote awareness of nation-
al defense and improve the
attractiveness of a military
career to draw young people
into the ranks.
He suggested that a military
unit should invite the media to
interview new recruits and
publish their stories in news-
papers or through television
programs in their hometowns,
because such publicity will
stimulate a sense of honor and
responsibility.
Zhang also said military
units should coordinate com-
manding officers, conscrip-
tion officials and family
members to encourage new
recruits to stand strong in
the face of difficulties in the
military.
contributed significantly to the
development of the forum.
GUANGXI
Border police hold
102 foreigners
In a recent operation, border
police in the Guangxi Zhuang
autonomous region detained
102 foreigners for illegally
entering China. During the
operation, police said they also
detained eight members of a
human trafficking gang that
helped people enter China ille-
gally to work at factories in
Guangdong province.
XINHUA—CHINA DAILY
On a roll!
The victorious Fiji team toast their success in the 2018 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens at the Hong Kong Stadium on Sunday.
Fiji claim a record fourth straight crown with a punishing 24-12 win over Kenya. PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY
5G goal: Running in 2019
China aims to take global lead in
wireless tech, vice-minister says
By CHAI HUA in Shenzhen
grace@chinadailyhk.com
China aims to have com-
mercial use of 5G technology
up and running in 2019,
according to a senior official
from the Ministry of Industry
and Information Technology.
Qiao Yueshan, deputy
director of the ministry’s infor-
mation technology depart-
ment, said telecom carriers —
including China Mobile, Chi-
na Unicom and China Tele-
com — will start to install
medium and low-frequency
bands in 2019 and 2020, while
some regions are expected to
test high-frequency bands in
2022 at the earliest.
Qiao said he also expects
that manufacturers will
launch commercialized 5G
production by the end of this
year, including base station
‘Seawater rice’ may help fill food gap
By XIE CHUANJIAO
in Qingdao
xiechuanjiao@
chinadaily.com.cn
Chinese agricultural
researchers have selected 176
strains of saltwater-tolerant
rice out of more than 1,000
candidates from experimen-
tal paddies and expect them
to be widely planted across
the country in further trials
this year.
Experts said this marks a
major step forward in the
development of resistant rice
strains in China.
Rice that can thrive in a
saline-alkali environment —
so-called seawater rice — is
designed to grow in tidal flats
or other areas with heavy
saline-alkaline content.
The selected strains, grown
in Hainan province paddies,
will be planted on five differ-
ent types of saline-alkali land
around the country.
Researchers aim to find at
least one type with nation-
wide applicability for future
use, said Zhang Guodong,
executive director of the Qing-
dao Saline-Alkali Tolerant
Rice Research and Develop-
ment Center in Shandong
province.
China has made a major breakthrough ... in the
era of 2G, 3G and 4G. There is a significant
opportunity for China to take the lead in 5G.”
Luo Wen, vice-minister of industry and information technology
equipment and terminal
devices.
He made the remarks at a
national meeting of the elec-
tronic information industry
in Shenzhen, Guangdong
province, on Sunday, a day
before the opening of the Chi-
na Information Technology
Expo, an annual exhibition
organized by the ministry
and local government to
showcase China’s latest tech-
nological gadgets.
In recent years, many
countries have scrambled to
manifest the magic of 5G.
Two major United States tele-
communication companies
— AT&T and Verizon —
intend to offer limited 5G ser-
vice this year, while Tokyo
promises to commercialize it
before the 2020 Summer
Olympic Games.
At the meeting on Sunday,
The center, led by Yuan
Longping — China’s “father
of hybrid rice” — was found-
ed in 2016 to help expand the
farming of resistant rice
around the country.
“China has a great deal of
saline-alkaline soil, but these
areas are located in various
climatic zones with different
sunlight conditions,” said
Zhang, the center’s director,
adding that researchers will
test the quantity and quality
of the selected strains under
different climatic and geolog-
ical conditions.
Previous studies found that
about 13 to 20 million hec-
tares of saline-alkali soil can
support rice — mainly in five
areas, including the Xinjiang
Uygur autonomous region,
North China and along the
mouth of the Yellow River.
The Qingdao center has
experimental paddies in
these areas.
The center uses desalinated
seawater to irrigate its experi-
mental paddies, with the
highest yield reaching 9.3
metric tons per hectare in
2017.
In addition to working
with the 176 selected strains,
researchers in Hainan are
also making efforts to use
$20 billion
Global market size of 5G
medium- and high-frequency
devices in 2020, according to
the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology
Luo Wen, vice-minister of
industry and information
technology, said: “China has
made a major breakthrough
— from following others to
developing side-by-side — in
the era of 2G, 3G and 4G.
There is a significant oppor-
tunity for China to take the
lead in 5G.”
In February, Huawei
Technologies unveiled its
Balong 5G01, which the
company claimed to be the
world’s first commercial
chipset that meets 5G stan-
dards. And last week, Chi-
nese telecom company ZTE
Group announced that it
Researchers harvest a variety of saltwater-tolerant rice in Qingdao,
Shandong province, in September. ZHANG WEI / CHINA DAILY
hybrid technologies and
genetic engineering to breed
more strains of saline-alkali-
resistant rice for further
trials.
“Saline-alkali-resistant rice
in China is still in the scientif-
ic research and observation
stage before full application,”
Zhang said.
Since 1970, the Interna-
tional Rice Research Insti-
tute has verified 10 tolerant
strains out of 9,000 strains of
the grain, providing a techni-
cal basis for breeding toler-
ant varieties. The institute
put forward its verification
had succeeded in making
the first phone call enabled
by 5G technology.
Still, Luo said, domestic
production capacity and the
technology level related to 5G
medium- and high-frequency
devices are lagging, so to pro-
mote the development of this
field will be one of the major
tasks of the ministry this
year.
Driven by the development
of 5G, the global market size
of medium- and high-fre-
quency devices will exceed
$20 billion in 2020, a minis-
try work report said.
Qiao said the bureau has
completed a draft of a three-
year plan in a bid to speed up
R&D of high-frequency devi-
ces for the development of
next-generation mobile com-
munication technology.
The nation also intends to
establish national 5G innova-
tion centers, he said. Sichuan
province, Chongqing munic-
ipality and Shenzhen have all
expressed interest, he said.
standards for saline-alkali-
tolerant rice in 1979.
Countries including Paki-
stan, Japan, the United
States, the United Kingdom
and Australia are also carry-
ing out rice research.
Yuan and his team plan to
develop a type of seawater rice
that can be planted on 6.7 mil-
lion hectares of saline-alkali
land around China, which they
estimate can yield 30 billion
kilograms every year, feeding
80 million additional mouths.
Yuan said growing more
seawater rice is vital to Chi-
na’s food security.
 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018
41 held for
unlawful
dumping
in Anhui
By ZHU LIXIN in Hefei
zhulixin@chinadaily.com.cn
Forty-one people have
been detained for storing
and dumping thousands of
tons of solid waste in areas
close to the Yangtze River in
Anhui province, local
authorities announced
recently.
Media reports said the
people were responsible for
five cases of storing and
dumping waste in the river-
side cities of Wuhu,
Tongling and Chizhou.
A joint investigation
launched by Xinhua News
Agency and the provincial
environmental protection
department in late March
found 60,500 metric tons of
solid waste in Qianjiang
Industrial Park in Chizhou.
The park lies on the south-
ern bank of the Yangtze.
Sharp odors rose from
the site, and water polluted
by the waste runs directly
into the river, according to
Xinhua.
Investigators concluded
that multiple enterprises
failed to meet pollution
control requirements for
storing industrial waste
and should be held respon-
sible for the pollution.
60,500
metric tons
of solid waste was found
in March to have been
stashed illegally at an
industrial park by the
Yangtze River in Chizhou,
Anhui province.
One of the companies,
Chizhou Xinmao Fine Min-
eral Technology, was
ordered by environmental
authorities in August to
suspend production, but
later it continued business
by receiving industrial
waste transported from
other provinces along the
river, according to Xinhua’s
March report.
Unnamed companies in
Shanghai were suspected of
being responsible for trans-
porting waste to the indus-
trial park and a team was
sent for further investiga-
tion, according to the
Anhui provincial govern-
ment.
The investigations will
cover all of the more than
20 enterprises in the park,
whose industrial output
was valued at 12.75 billion
yuan ($2 billion) in 2017,
one-sixth of Chizhou’s total
for the year, according to
the March report.
In another case, 62.9 tons
of industrial waste were
transported by boat from
neighboring Jiangsu and
Zhejiang provinces and
dumped on a riverbank in
Tongling in May last year.
After the dumping was
discovered in October,
Anhui police detained sev-
en boats carrying industrial
waste and another one car-
rying household refuse
from Jiangsu and Zhejiang
to Anhui.
The eight boats were car-
rying nearly 7,000 tons of
solid waste when they were
found, officials said on
Wednesday at a conference
addressing protection of
the river.
Three of the boats’ own-
ers confessed that in
November they dumped
more than 2,400 tons of sol-
id waste into marshland
close to the Yangtze in
Tongling.
“The serious pollution
cases revealed that there
are loopholes in our work,”
said Li Jinbin, Party secre-
tary of Anhui province.
After the conference, pro-
vincial authorities decided
to launch a monthlong sys-
tematic investigation into
illegal practices that are
polluting the Yangtze but
have yet to be discovered.
Feeling filial
Students sing a song of thanks to their parents during a celebration of their 10th birthdays at Jiangbei Primary School in Dongyang,
Zhejiang province, on Sunday. BAO KANGXUAN / FOR CHINA DAILY
Holiday saw more visitors at cultural sites
By CHENG SI
chengsi@chinadaily.com.cn
Travelers focused more
than usual on cultural experi-
ences during this year’s Tomb
Sweeping Festival holiday,
according to a report by the
China Tourism Academy and
online travel agency Lvmama
on Sunday.
The three-day holiday is a
traditional festival in which
Chinese people visit their
ancestors’ grave sites and ven-
ture out on spring outings.
Scenic spots highlighting
traditional Chinese culture
and attractions of historical
inheritance — the Palace
Museum in Beijing, for exam-
ple — were popular choices
for travelers during the holi-
day, along with traditional
activities such as camping
and appreciating blossoms,
the report said.
“Outing plans such as hik-
ing or camping are easily
affected by weather. I enjoy
visiting places with rich cul-
Green means happiness in Hainan
By MA ZHIPING
and LIU XIAOLI in Haikou
National surveys often
show that people from the
tropical island province of
Hainan are high on the hap-
piness scale. A healthy ecolo-
gy and green-themed
sustainable practices are the
key elements cited.
“I travel around the world
but Hainan is always home,’’
one survey respondent
wrote. The reasons the
respondent gave for choos-
ing Hainan as a permanent
place of residence were
many, but the island’s quali-
ty ecological resources were
at the top of the list.
Hainan has taken several
proactive steps to preserve its
lush rain forests, verdant
mountains and pristine
sandy beaches — both to pro-
tect ecological diversity and
to make sure the province’s
proud reputation as a tourist
haven remains unblemished.
An office in charge of over-
seeing protection of the prov-
ince’s rivers asked local city
and county governments ear-
lier this month to submit pro-
posals by the end of May on
how to better care for and
improve the major rivers’ eco-
logical health.
Last year, Hainan under-
took a comprehensive
approach to protect its rivers,
lakes, bays and small islands.
The new system requires offi-
cials from all levels of local
government to shoulder their
responsibility in protecting
the waterways in their juris-
dictions.
The Meishe River and the
terrace-style Fengxiang Wet-
land Park in the provincial
capital, Haikou, have become
popular gathering spots for
Tourists view a terracotta warrior exhibition at Emperor Qinshi-
huang’s Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, on
Friday. He was a unified China’s first emperor.
YUAN JINGZHI / FOR CHINA DAILY
ture and I’m overwhelmed by
it,” said Chen Luyao, a
26-year-old tourist from
Shanghai, during a visit to the
Palace Museum.
“The museum shows me a
whole picture of the lives of
the ancient royal families. It’s
more interesting to spend
time here.”
TIDES OF
CHANGE
IN HAINAN
locals thanks to ongoing
efforts to improve their eco-
systems.
“The city government
closed 31 discharge outlets
along the 23.8-kilometer
Meishe River, the main river
of Haikou, and built three
wastewater treatment facili-
ties with a total daily process-
ing volume of 7,500 metric
tons. Newly seen aquatic veg-
etation such as purple arrow-
root, water lilies and thalia
cover 405,000 square meters
and have helped purify the
river water to a higher quality
level,” said Zeng Weihua, dep-
uty director of Haikou’s water
resources bureau.
He believes the new water-
way protection system will
ensure that the benefits from
the river restoration cam-
paign will keep flowing in.
Shen Xiaoming, Hainan’s
governor, said the system of
appointing officials as
“chiefs” to protect rivers,
lakes, bays, islands and
mountains, will be strictly
implemented to safeguard
the island’s unique natural
resources.
Qizi Bay in Changjiang
county, on the western coast
of the island, was a barren
wasteland plagued by sand-
storms half a century ago. But
after a greening campaign by
the local government begin-
ning in 1992, landscapes have
been transformed and farm-
ers like Tao Fengjiao, along
with her neighbors, have
enthusiastically taken part in
the campaign.
Over a quarter-century lat-
er, the 59-year-old Tao doesn’t
So-called red tourist attrac-
tions, including commemora-
tive parks at revolutionary
sites, were also big among
tourists, thanks in part to tick-
et discounts and gifts, such as
bookmarks and other souve-
nirs.
The Memorial Hall for the
Victims of the Nanjing Massa-
Fengxiang Wetland Park, the largest of its kind in Haikou, Hainan
province, is situated along the Meishe River.
ZHANG MAO / FOR CHINA DAILY
remember how many trees
she and her sisters planted in
barren areas. But a forest of
Australian pine trees that
covers an area of 1,254 hec-
tares now stretches along
Qizi Bay and has become part
of the natural attraction of
the region.
As a result of the greening
campaigns, more than
130,000 hectares of trees have
been planted across the prov-
ince, extending the general
forest coverage rate to 62.1
percent, one of the top three
ratios among provinces
nationwide, officials with
Hainan’s forestry department
said.
Meanwhile, Hainan is
changing the way it measures
its GDP, and now places
greater emphasis on its cen-
tral counties, including
Qiongzhong, Baisha, Wu-
zhishan and Baoting, which
are considered core ecologi-
cal protection zones on the
island. Meanwhile, ecological
protection has been made a
top priority within overall
cre by Japanese Invaders in
Jiangsu province received
more than 40,000 visitors
over the holiday.
Nan Ping, a 35-year-old
woman who was born in Nan-
jing, said: “Tomb Sweeping
Festival is the traditional festi-
val to remember ancestors.
Those killed in the massacre
are also worth remembering.”
Domestic scenic spots
logged more than 100 million
visits during the three-day
break, a year-on-year increase
of 8.3 percent. Revenue gener-
ated hit a record high of 42.1
billion yuan ($6.7 billion), an 8
percent increase over last
year, the report said.
People born in the 1990s
have become the main driving
force of tourism during the
Tomb Sweeping Festival holi-
day, accounting for nearly 40
percent of the visitors, fol-
lowed by people born in the
1980s.
Lvmama said the report
was based on a survey of its
users.
economic development.
According to the compre-
hensive plan for the province,
2015-30 — which is consid-
ered a blueprint for overall
development and environ-
mental protection — more
than 11,535 square kilometers
of land, accounting for 33.5
percent of the island’s total
area, and another 35.1 per-
cent of offshore areas, have
been designated as areas for
special care and protection.
Liu Cigui, Party secretary of
Hainan, said the province is
on a path toward building an
even better living space for its
residents, including a four-
season garden getaway and a
holiday resort for Chinese
and overseas tourists under
the national strategy of devel-
oping the tropical island into
an international tourism
island destination.
He said ecological resour-
ces are Hainan’s “best capital”.
Contact the writers at
mazhiping@
chinadaily.com.cn
School says
scandal will
spark policy
Peking University pledges to stop
sexual harassment by employees
By ZOU SHUO
zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn
One of China’s top universi-
ties pledged on Sunday to
establish systems to prevent
sexual harassment, after a
former professor was exposed
online for a scandal dating
back two decades.
Peking University said it will
introduce reporting channels
and educational campaigns to
ensure a safe, harmonious
campus built on gender equali-
ty, vowing zero-tolerance for
teachers who violate the code
of ethics.
The move comes after Shen
Yang, a Chinese language pro-
fessor who worked at the Bei-
jing school until 2011, was
accused of inappropriate
behavior in the ’90s with a stu-
dent named Gao Yan, who
committed suicide.
The allegation came to light
late last week when Li Youyou,
a classmate of Gao’s who is
now in Canada, posted an item
about the case on social net-
working site Douban. It
became one of the hottest top-
ics online during the Tomb
Sweeping Festival break.
On Friday, Peking University
issued a statement that said
Shen had been given an official
warning in 1998 based on a
police report.
On Sunday, the school
issued a further statement, in
which it attached two files
regarding the warning. The
files say that Gao had sought a
relationship with Shen in
1997. Shen was divorced at
the time. Although Shen had
no intention of having a rela-
tionship with Gao, he still
said, “You can be called my
Adviser’s ‘oppression’
led to death, sister says
By JIANG CHENGLONG
jiangchenglong@
chinadaily.com.cn
Wuhan University of Tech-
nology said on Sunday that
there was a close personal rela-
tionship — like a father and son
— between a graduate student
who killed himself and a profes-
sor who served as his faculty
adviser.
The professor, Wang Pan, has
been accused by members of
the student’s family of miscon-
duct when guiding the younger
man’s study and career paths.
While the university admit-
ted that some misconduct had
occurred and suspended Wang
from advising more students, it
said some accusations were
false.
The sister of Tao Chongyuan,
26, attributed her brother’s
death to Wang and was quoted
in Beijing News on Sunday say-
ing that the university’s state-
ment evaded crucial points.
“It didn’t mention anything
about Wang’s teaching ethics,
which had obvious problems,”
said the sister, whose real name
was not used in Chinese media.
(She has been identified only by
pseudonyms.) “He at least
deserves being suspended now,
and I will sue him.”
Tao, a third-year graduate of
the university’s School of Auto-
mation, killed himself by jump-
ing from his dormitory on
March 26, the university said,
citing the police. The police had
ruled out foul play, it said.
Three days later, Tao’s sister
posted material on Sina Weibo,
including photographs and
what she said were Tao’s chat
records with Wang. She attrib-
uted Tao’s death to Wang’s
“long-term spirit of oppres-
sion”.
CHINA 5
girlfriend.” He then kissed
her.
Shen stopped seeing Gao
in June of 1997. Nine months
later, the student killed her-
self. She was 21.
A police investigation into
the case found that the profes-
sor had displayed “inappropri-
ate behavior” and violated
teaching ethics, the statement
said.
Shanghai Normal Universi-
ty, where Shen has been teach-
ing part-time, said in a brief
statement on Saturday that it
canceled his contract after
learning of the scandal. It did
not elaborate.
Nanjing University’s School
of Liberal Arts, where Shen is a
faculty member, has asked him
to resign. The school’s admin-
istrative department said it did
not perform a background
check during his transfer and
was unaware of the punish-
ment handed out in 1998.
“Online public opinion has
already severely affected the
school’s normal teaching order
and academic reputation,” the
school said in a statement.
“Shen is no longer suitable to
work here.”
Shen did not respond to
requests for comment on Sun-
day. However, in an interview
with Beijing News on Friday,
he denied the accusations as
“malicious defamation”.
The Ministry of Education
stripped Shen of his Chang-
jiang Scholars Award, the
country’s highest academic
honor for individuals, saying it
would not tolerate activity
that harms students.
It said it will look into set-
ting up a robust procedure to
prevent sexual harassment.
According to the chats, Wang
asked Tao to call him “father”,
and Tao did so several times.
The chats also indicate that
Wang asked Tao to buy lunches
for him, wash clothes at his
home and even provide wake-
up phone calls on many occa-
sions.
In addition, the chats suggest
that Wang required Tao to
“donate” part of his scholarship
to Wang’s research institute.
Wang also threatened to cancel
most of Tao’s positions and hon-
ors at the university to force
him to continue at the institute
as a doctor instead of studying
overseas or going to work, the
sister said.
On Sunday, the university
said on Sina Weibo that “inves-
tigations found that Wang had
a nominal father-son relation-
ship with Tao, which is not part
of teaching and research”.
It also said that Wang used
inappropriate methods in guid-
ing Tao’s further studies and
career. But the university did
not find other misconduct, such
as violating the student’s finan-
cial interests, obstructing Tao
from entering higher universi-
ties or asking him to perform
housework at Wang’s home.
The statement said Wang’s
qualification to enroll graduate
students under him has been
suspended.
Wang has not spoken to the
media.
According to Beijing News
and Southern Metropolis Daily,
Tao was of good character and
was an excellent student. He
had been rewarded with a
number of scholarships. Wang
was one of Tao’s undergraduate
teachers, the reports said, add-
ing that Tao had complained
many times to family members
about Wang’s behavior.
6 Monday, April 9, 2018

COMMENT C H I N A DA I LY H O N G KO N G E D I T I O N

Benny Tai may have committed

Tai must not be allowed to treasonable offenses, sedition
get off the hook this time
A
n associate professor of law at a
local university is supposed to know
the local laws well; he can make a
clear distinction between a criminal
offense and the exercise of political rights.

Tony Kwok argues that the recalcitrant academic However, Benny Tai Yiu-ting appears to be con-
fused; this affects his lectures and influences
Song Sio-chong
his students to follow him. But, of course, igno-
crossed the line and has to be made accountable rance of the law is no defense (Ignorantia legis
non excusat).
The author is a professor at the Research Center
of Hong Kong and Macao Basic Law, Shenzhen
University.
Tai gave a talk in a Taipei forum organized

T
he present Vice-
Chancellor of the
University of Hong
Kong, Professor Zhang
Xiang, worked at the
University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley, before
taking up his current post. Just imagine
him going to the Middle East to attend
an ISIS conference and giving a speech
inciting Americans to overthrow their
government to turn the United States
into an Islamic state! Do you think he
could get away with government and
university sanctions by claiming that
he was only exercising “freedom of
speech” and “academic freedom”? In all
probability, he would be handcuffed by
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents
upon returning to the US, while his
employer would launch disciplinary
proceedings to get rid of him.
Similarly, as vice-chancellor of HKU,
Zhang should now deal with his Asso-
ciate Professor of Law, Benny Tai Yiu-
ting, with equal severity for his recent
speech in Taiwan, where he argued for
an independent Hong Kong.
When Zhang took up his post in
HKU in January, he was asked by the
media whether he would allow “Hong
Kong independence” to be freely dis-
cussed on campus. He said bluntly
that academic freedom had its own
limits in that it must not contravene
the law. Benny Tai’s remarks clearly
violate the Basic Law and our national
Constitution. For him to defend his
comments as merely an exercise in
freedom of speech demonstrates both
his naivety and distortion of facts. By
the same token, a citizen who makes a
malicious verbal report to the Indepen-
dent Commission Against Corruption
which turns out to be false is liable to
imprisonment for 12 months. Freedom
of speech is irrelevant as a defense in
court.
As the vice-chancellor has stated,
academic freedom has its limits, hence
discussing “Hong Kong independence”
even in HKU campus is questionable.
But Tai’s case took on a different dimen-
sion as the conference he attended in
Taiwan is organized by a pro-“Taiwan
independence” group, and hardly an
academic forum. It claimed to be an
alliance of five political groups seeking
to overthrow the central government to
gain independence for Xinjiang, Tibet,
Inner Mongolia, Taiwan, and Hong
Kong. A few of these pro-independence
Tony Kwok
The author is an honorary fellow and
adjunct professor of HKU SPACE and
council member of the Chinese Associa-
tion of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
Benny Tai’s remarks
clearly violate the Basic
Law and our national
Constitution. For him
to defend his com-
ments as merely an
exercise in freedom of
speech demonstrates
both his naivety and
distortion of facts.
groups have been found to be respon-
sible for a number of violent terrorist
attacks resulting in the deaths of people
in different parts of China. Attending
such an alliance is no different from
participating in the meetings of the triad
societies or ISIS, and should be regarded
in law as instigating a criminal con-
spiracy. Such alliance meeting is unlikely
to be one-off. Liaison network is now
established to facilitate future coordinat-
ed criminal action. Hence there is more
than sufficient circumstantial evidence
to prove “seditious intent” and for the
police to prosecute Tai for sedition under
the Crime Ordinance. To reinforce the
evidence, police can check the full list of
the attendees of this alliance against the
international intelligence network and
it is quite possible that some of them
are on the international terrorists watch
lists. If so, evidence for sedition should
be more than prima facie.
Tai also knows very well the bottom
line set by President Xi Jinping in his
speech during the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region’s 20th anniver-
sary celebrations. Xi made it very clear
that the central government will adopt a
zero-tolerance stance toward any sepa-
ratist attempts on “Hong Kong indepen-
dence”. Yet Tai purposely ignored such a
warning as his actions indicate his sedi-
tious intent to mess up Hong Kong.
For the HKU, the big question is
whether Tai is still a fit person to teach
at the university. Although clearly he is
not, the university should be fair to him
in setting up an independent tribunal
to investigate Tai and allow him ample
opportunities to defend himself. The
terms of reference of the tribunal should
not be restricted to the current scandal
but also covering his actions in the last
five years. These include his role as an
initiator of the illegal “Occupy Central”
demonstrations, which paralyzed some
urban centers of Hong Kong for 79
days causing untold inconvenience and
economic damage. For his role, he is
facing a criminal charge of incitement
to cause public nuisance and for his
alleged manipulation of the last Legisla-
tive Council election. As an associate
professor of the university, he should be
accountable not just for his teaching but
also his conduct outside the university
as to whether it has brought the univer-
sity into disrepute and whether he is still
regarded in the eyes of the public as fit
and proper to teach at our prestigious
university.
Since the alleged misconduct is so
serious, he should be interdicted and
barred from teaching until the tribunal’s
decision is reached.
Given all this, it is reasonable to ques-
tion whether Tai has received the secret
financial support of some unnamed
quarter. The police should undertake a
full scale financial investigation on his
assets and possible funds held by oth-
ers on his behalf. Let’s remember that
the financial statements of the illegal
“Occupy” protests have yet to be pub-
lished. Were there any illegal monetary
transactions?
Soon after Tai’s separatist remarks
were published, the anti-China legisla-
tors promptly took to the streets to
protest outside the Liaison Office of the
central government in the HKSAR. By
supporting his remarks on “Hong Kong
independence”, are these legislators in
breach of their oaths of allegiance to
the Basic Law? The president of LegCo
should seek legal advice and consider
giving them a warning letter in the first
instance.
The pro-establishment legislators
should call for an urgent LegCo debate
and push for the above proposed action.
Tai should not be allowed to get off the
hook this time!
by the Taiwan separatist group “Taiwan Anti-
Communist Youth Corps” on March 26. He
urged various separatist groups fighting for the
“independence” of Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and
Inner Mongolia from the People’s Republic of
China to form a strategic alliance. He said they
should then prepare for the country to split
into smaller independent nations or members
of either a federal state or a confederation.
Without mentioning any details used to
achieve this aim, Tai’s behavior can still be seen
to be illegal. This is because the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region is an inalien-
able part of the PRC — a unitary nation — as
defined in Article 1 of the Basic Law and also in
the preamble of the nation’s Constitution. The
SAR comes directly under the central govern-
ment as stated in Article 12 of the Basic Law.
Tai and his supporters were obviously
allowed some space to maneuver in Taiwan.
This suggests that the Taiwan authorities
wanted to get some political extremists from
Hong Kong to do the dirty work for them.
Such an illegal forum could hardly be held in
the SAR even though it enjoys a high degree
of autonomy and academic freedom under the
“one country, two systems” principle.
In my opinion, what was said by Benny Tai
and his peers at the Taipei conference could
have constituted at least both or either of
two following criminal offenses: The first one
is a “treasonable offense” as defined in Sec-
tion 3(1)(a) of Crime Ordinance, in which any
person who has the intention of deposing of
Her Majesty from the style, honor and royal
name of the Crown of the United Kingdom
or of any other of Her Majesty’s dominions.
After the handover in 1997, “Her Majesty” in
the ordinance can be interpreted as the central
government of PRC. The intention to separate
the SAR from her motherland also amounts to
a treasonable offense.
This section was subject to repeal by Section
2 of the Crime (Amendment) (No 2) Ordinance
1997, before the 1997 handover, under the
administration of the last governor Chris Pat-
tern, but he failed to repeal it. This provision
had been preserved by the Standing Committee
of the National People’s Congress in its decision
on Feb 23, 1997 — effective from July 1, 1997.
Treasonable offenses may be committed
against a duty of allegiance by the betrayal
of trust. In reference to the common law of
England and other nations, the duty of alle-
giance should be considered to be one owned
by a national toward his or her state and in all
places; and also to a Chinese national to his or
her motherland.
This section of offense can be activated and
applied due to the statement that “such of the
laws previously in Hong Kong which have been
adopted as the laws of the HKSAR, as from
July 1 1997, be applied subject to such modifica-
tions, adaptation, limitation or exceptions as
are necessary to bring them into conformity
with the status of Hong Kong after resumption
by China of the exercise of sovereignty over
Hong Kong as well as to be in conformity with
the relevant provisions of the Basic Law” in the
NPCSC’s decision.
These modifications, adaptations, limita-
tions or exceptions are necessary. This means
the principle of substitution given in Annex
3 of the decision — the crime of “treasonable
offense” — with proper adaptation during
execution may be applied in Tai’s case retro-
spectively.
Another thing to consider is that “sedition”
is defined in Section 9 as “seditious inten-
tion” and in section 10 as “offenses” in the
same Crime Ordinance. Section 9(1) composes
seven items including bringing hatred or
contempt or exciting disaffection against the
government of Hong Kong; or attempting to
procure the alteration, otherwise by lawful
means, of any other matter in Hong Kong as
established by law; or to bring into hatred or
contempt or to excite disaffection against the
administration of justice in Hong Kong; or to
encourage discontent or disaffection against
the inhabitants of Hong Kong; or to promote
feelings of ill-will and enmity between differ-
ent classes of the population of Hong Kong;
or to incite people to violence; or to encour-
age disobedience toward the law or to lawful
order.
As to Section 10(1), it consists of four items
comprising, or attempting to do, or to make
any preparation to do, or conspiring with any
person to do, any act with a seditious inten-
tion; or to utter any seditious words; or print,
publish, sell, offer to sell, distribute, display, or
reproduce any seditious publication; or import
any seditious publication, unless he has no rea-
son to believe that it is seditious.
Readers of the law may find no difficulty
at all in matching any one of seven items of
the former section with any one of four items
in the latter section to produce the criminal
offense of sedition. But some in the media have
said that mere seditious intent does not suffice
for sedition — as violence and disorder have to
be proved.
As the last two items of Section 9(1) demand
the provocation of violence and disorder in
order to suffice, but this requirement may not
necessarily cover the remaining five items. As a
famous Latin maxim states: “The inclusion of
one thing is the exclusion of another.” (inclusio
unius est exclusio alterius). To follow Article 84
of the Basic Law, the precedents of other com-
mon law jurisdictions may be referred to, but
not blindly copied.

HK’s business giants need to speed up smart transformation

Last week, Hong Kong’s tech-
savvy netizens watched in dis-
may as Apple, in its latest iOS
update, rolled out support for
Monday Vibes transit cards in the mainland’s
two megacities — Beijing and
Luis Liu Shanghai. The effort was made
The author is while such services are already
an editor with available in cities in the United
China Daily
States, Britain, Japan and Rus-
Hong Kong.
sia.
This makes it possible for
people to use their iPhones and
Apple Watches to pay for the use
of subways and buses in Beijing,
while in Shanghai, for subways,
buses, ferries and maglev trains.
According to various online
videos, the speed is no different
from tapping the physical cards
and then passing the gate.
And you can recharge, check
your balance and transaction
records on the phone. If you lose
your phone, you can end the ser-
vice with your “find iPhone” app
immediately. People are substan-
tially a step closer to a “wallet-
free life”.
This latest news was just
more salt being rubbed into the
wounds of Hong Kong people.
Over a year ago, a number
of smartphone brands with
Android operating systems have
already realized compatibility
with transit cards in many cities
on the mainland. However, in
Hong Kong, which was one of
the world’s pioneer cities in tran-
sit card usage, people still have
to take out cards from their wal-
lets, everyday, just like 20 years
ago, to use the city’s transport
system.
“I don’t understand why the
Octopus Card Ltd, a powerful
private company, is even less effi-
cient than the governments of
mainland cities in pushing for-
ward mobile payment?” netizens
on a major local online forum
queried. So far, the Octopus Card
has only secured a cooperative
deal with Samsung on digitali-
zation.
However, according to online
statistics provider StatCounter,
Samsung only takes up some 27
percent of Hong Kong’s smart-
phone market.
Even with the deal, many
extra services and special offer
information stored in the Octo-
pus Cards are not transferable.
Thus many in Hong Kong are
still reluctant to use these inno-
vations.
I don’t know the rationale
behind the Octopus Card com-
pany’s decision. Neither do I
know if there are any principle
issues unable to be resolved
between the company and the
iOS or Android. But the current
situation is clear: Hong Kong is
being left far behind.
The Octopus Card system was
a groundbreaking invention,
and is still the fastest and most
widely used e-payment system.
I think part of the reason why
mainland people are so desper-
ate to embrace mobile payment
is because they don’t have an
Octopus-like service provider.
However, it is history now.
And to be honest, it is old tech-
nology. To maintain its competi-
tiveness, Octopus must make
bold changes to its strategies.
Minor improvements are simply
not enough.
The O! ePay peer-to-peer pay-
ment system may be one of the
moves toward smart transfor-
mation which the Octopus Card
company is most proud of. But
according to feedback online,
users are mostly reluctant to
choose it due to difficulties in
account application and in add-
ing friends. Moreover, iPhone
users have to plug in a separate
card reader before they do any
transactions and, what is worse,
they have to buy it!
This has also reminded me
of another Octopus card “inno-
vation” — Hu Tong Xing — a
transit card that can be used in
both Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
But it has two separate accounts
— RMB and HKD. You have to
recharge each account in each
city, not interchangeable. I have
been wondering about this for a
long time: What is the difference
if I buy two cards, respectively,
from each city and glue them
together?
To my delight, the company
is considering learning from the
mainland’s WeChat Pay and Ali-
pay by introducing a QR code
to payment scenarios including
transportation, stores and eat-
eries. But time goes very fast.
WeChat Pay and Alipay have
been very aggressive in the Hong
Kong market by putting forward
various discounts and special
offers to customers — especially
new users. If it stops at the “mull-
ing” stage and focuses solely on
short-term costs and profits,
then Octopus will lose the trust
and affection of its users.
The feelings are not just about
Octopus but also relevant to
many big companies in Hong
Kong. Buying movie tickets or
train tickets online charges you
extra fees in this city. That is
also the case when you make
immediate inter-bank money
transfers online. Don’t online
services save the companies
from human-resource costs and
lure new customers in the long
term? Why would you charge
even more?
I am not qualified to provide
these answers; this is probably
also the case with the angry neti-
zens. But at least, as customers,
we can give a clear answer to
the relevant big companies: In
terms of customer experience,
you have seriously failed. And
you have to speed up your smart
transformation.

COMMENT
EDITORIALS
China acting in defense
of international trade
I
t goes against the grain to repeat something already told
more than once, especially when it has been told so clear-
ly by so many. But it seems that needs must, for the Unit-
ed States continues to turn a deaf ear to warnings that its
unilateral actions risk damaging global trade and under-
mining the global trade system.
China is being forced to react to protect its legitimate
interests in the face of the unjustified provocations of the US, but
in doing so it is also championing rules-based trade, as the Trump
administration has resorted to domestic laws to target Chinese
goods with tariffs, a move that runs roughshod over the interna-
tional trade rules of the World Trade Organization. Those in the
world in favor of free trade should support China in its efforts to
counter the error of the US’ ways.
Jittery investors in the US have signaled the growing anxiety
around the world that the two largest economies are exchanging
range-finding fire ahead of a full-on trade war after China had to
state once again that its behavior is not malleable to the unrea-
sonable whims of the Trump administration.
That China has not capitulated to the US’ intimidation seems
to have put US President Donald Trump’s nose out of joint. For
after China responded to the US Trade Representative announc-
ing a proposed list of Chinese imports valued at an estimated
$50 billion as targets for additional tariffs with a similar-value
list of US imports that it had targeted in turn, Trump directed
the USTR to identify Chinese goods for an additional $100 bil-
lion worth of tariffs.
Yet Trump well knows that China is not bound to please him or
his administration with its responses. Should the Trump admin-
istration follow through on its latest threat, it should expect Chi-
na to announce immediate and vigorous countermeasures in
retaliation.
And China still has many cards to play. It could, for instance,
consider targeting the cross-border service trade in which the US
enjoys a huge surplus with China. And US multinationals in Chi-
na, which have pocketed tremendous profits in the world’s largest
consumer market and account for a major part of China’s nomi-
nal trade surplus with the US, could also be a target if the US
announces further tariffs targeting Chinese goods.
That would be a scenario that would prompt more in the US
to join in the chorus of criticism already directed at Washing-
ton. For the stock market reaction is not only about the tit-for-
tat tariff announcements; it also reflects the pessimistic
prospects for international trade if the Trump administration
refuses to stop making protectionist moves to pander to its
misguided designs.
The US administration should exercise some restraint instead
of trying to do injury to others out of unfounded fears or the need
to play to its domestic gallery of supporters.
Still striding forward
on the path of reform
F
our decades into China’s earthshaking reform and open-
ing-up, some outsiders wonder whether that 40-year-old
commitment will persist.
The apparently escalating trade friction with the Unit-
ed States, initiated by Washington alleging Beijing has failed to
honor WTO obligations, for one, has inspired conflicting read-
ings of China’s behavior and intention as a rising economic pow-
erhouse.
But one basic yet often-ignored truth is that China has an inher-
ent need for deeper and wider reform and opening-up in order to
move forward.
As the past 40 years have shown, little headway can be antici-
pated without the national leadership adhering to reform and
opening-up, which has been tried and tested and proven effective
since the late 1970s. That is precisely why the outside world to
which China means so much is preoccupied with identifying any
clue to a change in Chinese policy orientation.
Earlier this year at the World Economic Forum in Davos, now
Vice-Premier Liu He assured those unsure about China’s new era
policy orientation that there would be reform and opening-up
moves that go far beyond what people might imagine.
Measures of such extent are necessary, not because there is a
ceremonial need for them in commemorating the 40th anniversa-
ry of reform and opening-up, which fundamentally changed the
Chinese national economic landscape, but because there are too
many problems in the country crying out for more reforms and
greater openness to solve them.
This year’s Boao Forum for Asia is worth particular attention in
this respect, as President Xi Jinping is to deliver a keynote speech
in which he is expected to herald deepened reforms and expanded
opening-up, signaling to the world that China’s pursuit of
progress has not slowed, and that it will continue to stride for-
ward, strengthening its exchanges and cooperation with other
countries around the world so that its reform and development
benefits not only the Chinese people, but all humanity.
C O N TA C T U S
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Hao Yanpeng
OPINION LINE
Don’t exaggerate second-tier cities’
capabilities to attract graduates
ABOUT 8.2 MILLION COLLEGE STUDENTS will graduate in China this year, a record high. A sur-
vey of graduating students found that 60 percent want to work in second-tier cities, while 30 percent are
hoping to work in first-tier cities, with the remaining 10 percent planning to work in third- and fourth-tier
cities. Guangming Daily comments:
The results of the survey should be a soothing
balm to the mayors of some second-tier cities, who
have been racking their brains over ways to attract
educated young people.
However, the survey, which also explains the rea-
sons behind the young people’s choices, should also
shatter any sense of complacency, as it is not the
opportunities, career development prospects or liv-
ing environments of second- and third-tier cities
that appeals to young people, but the comparatively
lower housing prices in smaller cities.
Cheaper housing outweighs all the other three
aforementioned factors when fresh graduates are
making their job choices.
It means that once housing prices in big cities
such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, where Chi-
na’s best companies, schools and hospitals are con-
centrated, start falling, which has already been
Beijing sets good ecological burial example
ECOLOGICAL BURIALS, which refer to sea burials, tree burials or other burials that do not occupy
a special plot of land, accounted for 44 percent of the total burials in Beijing last year. Beijing News com-
mented on Sunday:
The annual Tomb-Sweeping Day, which fell on
Thursday this year, provided a good opportunity to
assess the effects of the ecological burial trend in the
capital that has gathered pace over the past 20 years.
In contrast with Beijing, ecological burials
accounted for less than 1 percent in Wuhan in Cen-
tral China’s Hubei province.
The difference stems from the two cities’ different
policies. The Beijing government awards families
that choose ecological burials for their deceased
5,000 yuan ($793) each, and offers them relevant
services and facilities for free. Also, the authorities
pay special attention to raise people’s awareness of
the environmental benefits of ecological burials.
The Wuhan government, on the other hand, just
reminds people that ecological burials are an availa-
HOT WORDS
Generic drug
supply guarantee
The General Office of the State Council, Chi-
na’s Cabinet, recently issued a document on
reforming and improving policies in the sup-
ply and usage of generic drugs, which aims to
further encourage research and development
of generic drugs in China.
The document points out that reforming
and improving the supply and usage policy of
Monday, April 9, 2018 7
*%("öLö%&$%$
China Daily Hong Kong Edition
News aggregators
must put content
‘firewalls’ in place
ON THURSDAY, the State Admin-
istration of Radio, Film, and Television
said via its official WeChat account that
it had talked with the heads of the Bei-
jing-based Toutiao and Kuaishou
happening over the past six months, or their govern- because the two news apps had pub-
ments begin to assign more subsidized housing and lished content contrary to social moral-
public rental accommodation to meet the needs of ity. Beijing News comments:
more newcomers, there will be a predictable brain
drain from smaller cities.
The first-tier cities have become more prudent
about the size of their populations, and they have
Having talked with the two news
aggregators, SARFT required them to
strengthen their review process and
become more picky in selecting only the badly-
needed talents, and their high housing prices
make sure their employees reviewed
every piece of news before it was
have, to some extent, become a screening thresh- released via their platforms.
old. That move is considered a correction
The second-tier cities should realize that if they to a mode popular among many news
only count on providing cheaper houses to attract aggregators, namely allowing artificial
young people, something that has already evolved intelligence to do the selecting. Toutiao,
into a fierce competition among some of them, the for instance, has been famous for auto-
talents they finally secure will mostly be second-tier matically picking news from popular
ones as well, as the top ones still value opportunities news websites and pushing what they
more than simply a place to live. consider the most “interesting” to the
users of their smartphone application.
According to reports, “popularity” is
the primary principle for the selections
and there are hardly any reviews car-
ried out to check whether the content is
vulgar or improper.
That mode is quite popular among
many websites and applications. As a
result, several platforms, such as Touti-
ao and Kuaishou pushed lots of vulgar
ble option free of charge. content that spread quickly.
Although it is hard to change the traditional cus- Worse, that encouraged other media
tom of burying the dead in a fixed tomb, Beijing’s platforms to produce even vulgar stories
experience shows what a huge difference long-term to gain popularity. When readers are fed
efforts to raise awareness, and thoughtful services up with such stories, they might be cheat-
and economic incentives can make to people’s per- ed into believing this is true journalism.
ceptions and behavior. By requiring the websites to review
If 44 percent of the burials in China can be con- their content before publishing it,
SARFT is trying to establish a firewall
ducted in an environmentally friendly manner, a lot
of land would be saved. Local governments should inside them to prevent the spreading of
learn from Beijing’s experience, and demonstrate vulgar and other improper content.
sufficient patience in promoting ecological burials. The move is also good for the two
The ecological and environmental gains will websites because improper content will
dwarf the subsidies the government pays in the long eventually hurt their image among
run. More important, it is an effective way of raising readers, which in turn will curb their
the people’s environmental awareness. development in the long run.
generic drugs relates to people’s health as well property rights.
as the healthy development of China’s medical The document requires that the quality and
industry. efficiency of generic drugs should be super-
The government will encourage the devel- vised and improved, and it also calls for more
opment of generic drugs, improve the quality policy support to expe-
of drugs, introduce supporting policies, pro- dite the process of put-
mote supply side structural reform in the ting more high-quality
medical industry, in order to reduce the pub- generic drugs into clini-
lic’s medical costs, meet the public’s health cal use.
demands and promote the construction of a From 2011 to 2015,
healthy China. 323 “innovative” drugs
According to the document, the medical were approved for clini-
authority should regularly publish lists of cal research and 139
generic drugs in need, bring related research new generic drugs Online
projects into national plans, and improve the entered the market in Scan it for
current protection system for intellectual China. more hot words.
8 VIEWS
Lin Guijun
Trade conflict: Speaking truth from facts
U
S President Donald
Trump’s unilateral and
high-handed actions
have soured China-US
relations and almost ignited a
trade war. On Tuesday, the Trump
administration announced 25
percent tariffs on about $50 bil-
lion worth of Chinese exports to
the US. This is in addition to the
high tariffs he has already
announced on Chinese imports
under Section 301 of the Trade act
of 1974.
First, Trump wants to punish
China for the so-called damage
caused by its alleged theft of US
intellectual property and forced
technology transfers. Second, his
aim is to hamper China’s efforts to
upgrade its manufacturing sector.
And third, it seems the US wants
to shift the global value chain
from China since the tariffs cover
many typical global value chain
goods such as electronics, tele-
communications, machinery, and
transportation equipment.
In response, China announced
similar tariffs on some 106 US
items worth $50 billion.
The US has resorted to the beg-
gar-thy-neighbor policy, and now
it wants to punish China for
responding to its action. And on
Thursday, Trump instructed the
US Trade Representative to con-
sider an additional $100 billion
tariffs on Chinese imports.
The two countries’ actions con-
form to the game theory, in which
two parties are forced to follow
each other’s actions. The current
situation reminds one of the irre-
sponsible government actions
leading to the Great Depression in
the 1930s. I believe misinforma-
tion has played a big role in creat-
ing this lose-lose situation. I say
“misinformation” because the US
public has been misled by percep-
tions, not by truth, about China’s
investment environment. The fact
is, China’s investment environ-
ment is not unfavorable to the US
companies, though improvements
can be made.
China a favorable
location for US investors
Is China an important country
for US direct investment abroad?
Considering the size of US direct
investment in China, the answer
is “not so important”, because US
direct investment in China lags
behind that in countries such as
the Netherlands, the United King-
dom, Luxembourg, Ireland and
even Japan. By the end of 2016,
US total direct investment in Chi-
na was only $93 billion, similar to
that in Mexico, with about 67,000
US companies in operation, while
in the Netherlands and Ireland,
cumulative US direct investment
amounted to $847 billion and
$387 billion. China is only the
15th largest recipient of US direct
investment.
US companies prefer to invest
in European countries and other
economies rather than in China,
perhaps because American inves-
tors are wary of China’s economic
system. Which, to say the least, is
unfounded, especially because US
Zhao Changwen
A China-US trade war will hurt everyone
C
hina hopes to address the
trade dispute with the
United States through
dialogue and consulta-
tion. But if the US insists on start-
ing a trade war, China is ready to
take any necessary measures to
defend its legitimate interests.
Sino-US economic ties entered
a difficult period after US Presi-
dent Donald Trump signed a pres-
idential memorandum on March
22 that could impose tariffs on up
to $60 billion of imports from
China, despite warnings from US
business groups and trade experts
not to do so.
Last week, the Office of the US
Trade Representative published a
report on an investigation under
Section 301 of the Trade Act of
1974 that could lead to an addi-
tional 25 percent tariff on listed
imports from China worth about
$50 billion in annual trade value.
Later, Trump suggested an addi-
tional list of imports from China,
worth about $100 billion, be sub-
jected to 25 percent tariff hikes
under Section 301.
The US’ trade deficit with Chi-
na — $375.2 billion by US calcula-
direct investment in China has
outperformed those in other
countries. According to US
Bureau of Economic Analysis
data, the total sales of the US com-
panies operating in China
amounted to $356 billion in 2015,
and ironically the figure was more
than the US trade deficit of $335
billion with China that year.
What implications does this fig-
ure have? Although the US com-
panies invest relatively less in
China than in the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, Japan, Australia
and Mexico, they have sold more
goods in China than in those
seemingly more favorable econo-
mies. China is the 15th largest
recipient of US direct investment,
but it is the 6th most favorable
location for the US investors —
after the UK, Canada, Singapore,
Ireland and Germany. In terms of
value added produced by the US
companies, China’s investment
environment is highly competi-
tive, as the US companies pro-
duced $68 billion value-added in
China in 2015. This would put
China alongside the UK, Canada
and Germany — the four highest
value-added producing countries
for the US companies.
Besides, if China is a country
where intellectual property theft
is common and if the US compa-
nies were unable to protect their
trade secrets without the US gov-
ernment’s interventions, they
should have ceased their research
and development activities in Chi-
tion and $275.8 billion by China’s
computing in only the trade in
goods — is cited by the Trump
administration as the main cause
of its protectionist ploy. But sen-
sible analysts would not miss the
huge gap between the two fig-
ures.
The US has not included its sur-
plus of $50 billion in its service
trade with China. Also, a consider-
able part of China’s surplus in the
goods trade with the US is the sur-
plus secured by the Republic of
Korea, Japan and Germany in
their trade with the US, as many
of their companies export to the
US from their manufacturing bas-
es in China. So, China’s surplus is
only nominal.
According to the Ministry of
Commerce, 59 percent of China’s
surplus in goods trade comes
from processing trade. Last year,
the ROK’s surplus in its trade of
goods with China was nearly $75
billion.
The US’ trade deficit with China
shows the decline of the US’
industrial competitiveness, which
happened during the period when
China’s production efficiency
na long ago.
Investment in China
offers US higher returns
But what is the truth? The US
companies, not surprisingly, have
performed more R&D activities in
China than in those countries
highly valued by the US public
and officials, such as the Nether-
lands, Luxembourg, Ireland, Aus-
tralia, France, Singapore and
Japan. In 2015, the R&D activities
of the US companies in China
were worth $31 billion (similar to
the top three countries — Germa-
ny, the UK and Canada).
If you look at the average sales
of per dollar of investment (equiv-
alent to average return of invest-
ment in economics), the US
companies in China are most suc-
cessful — compared with all those
economies favored by the US pub-
lic and officials — with 1 dollar of
investment generating up to $4.7
in sales in 2014 and $4.2 in 2015.
The corresponding figure for the
UK was only $0.99, Canada $1.6,
Ireland $1.1 and Luxembourg
$0.12.
Now let us look at the profita-
bility ranking of the US compa-
nies in China relative to other
locations. Taking net income from
each dollar invested as a measure
of profitability, in 2014 the US
companies enjoyed the highest
profitability in Ireland for their
investment — each dollar invested
could generate $0.42 in profit.
And second on the list was China,
Tit-for-tat actions
can only escalate
trade disputes.
And such disputes
can only be
resolved through
negotiations on an
equal footing
between the two
sides.
greatly improved. The US is
stronger than China in service
sectors, and China stronger than
the US in manufacturing indus-
tries.
The US accomplished its indus-
trialization a long time ago, so
most of its manufacturing indus-
SHEN TIANCHENG / FOR CHINA DAILY
with a rate of return at $0.35 per
dollar invested — significantly
higher than Canada at $0.19, the
UK at $0.13, the Netherlands at
$0.20 and Japan at $0.19.
And what about the effective-
ness of value added and invest-
ment income generated by the US
companies for each invested dol-
lar? The US companies generated
an average of $0.92 value added
for each dollar invested in China,
while the average of seven major
economies — Canada, the UK, Ire-
land, the Netherlands, Germany,
France and Japan — was only
$0.41.
Besides, the US companies
received the highest investment
income from each dollar invested
in China in 2014 — an average of
$0.15, that is, 200 percent more
than that in Germany and 67 per-
cent more than in Japan.
Country more suited
to R&D activities
What about R&D activities?
The latest figures show that an
average of $0.08 for each invested
dollar was used for R&D activities
in Germany, while the corre-
sponding figure for China was
$0.04. Comparing these numbers
with those in other favored econo-
mies, we see a striking difference.
In the UK and the Netherlands,
only $0.01 and $0.002 of each
invested dollar was committed to
R&D activities, while in Luxem-
bourg, one of the most favored
economies for US direct invest-
tries have relocated to other coun-
tries, and now the service sectors
account for nearly 80 percent of
the US economy. In contrast, Chi-
na has a comprehensive industrial
system that runs at lower operat-
ing costs compared with devel-
oped countries.
These basic facts cannot be
changed because of trade dis-
putes. Instead, they are the foun-
dation the trade policymakers
must take into consideration.
The US maintains a studied
silence on the fact that the trade
surplus is different from real prof-
its. China’s earnings, mainly from
processing fees, pale in contrast
with the profits the US makes
from designs, and the supply and
sale of spare parts. The founda-
tion of economic relations
between China and the US is win-
win cooperation. Otherwise, it
would have been impossible for
bilateral relations to develop into
the most important economic ties,
in both size and influence.
The other cause of the US’ defi-
cit is Washington’s discouraging
export policies. The US has taken
a series of measures to prevent the
Monday, April 9, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION
Gregory Daco
Trump’s actions
may not have a
happy ending
ment, an average of $0.0004 of
each invested dollar was allocated
to R&D activities.
Two main conclusions can be
drawn from these facts. First, the
US companies operating in China
have performed better than in
those economies favored by the
US officials and public. In terms of
sales, net income, value added,
investment income and R&D
activities, the outstanding per-
formance of the US companies in
China give the lie to the accusa-
tions of some US officials that Chi-
na’s so-called unfair practices
have inflicted substantial damage
to US business interests, and
therefore tariffs on $50 billion of
Chinese imports should be
imposed.
Second, with its market size
and vast pool of skilled labor, Chi-
na is a market characterized by a
high rate of return for investment.
China’s market is a boon rather a
curse for the US investors as it
provides highly profitable oppor-
tunities for the US companies.
To quote Adam Smith from The
Wealth of Nations: “Man is an ani-
mal that makes bargains: no other
animal does this — no dog
exchanges bones with another.”
And therein lies the answer to the
US riddle.
The author is chief economist at
the Academy of China Open Econ-
omy Studies of University of
International Business and Eco-
nomics.
export of high-tech products to
China. Statistics from US
researchers show that lifting the
high-tech ban could reduce the
US’ trade deficit by 35 percent.
Tit-for-tat actions can only esca-
late trade disputes. And such dis-
putes can only be resolved
through negotiations on an equal
footing between the two sides. All
countries are obliged to defend
the framework of the World Trade
Organization, and use it as a
mechanism to resolve trade dis-
putes and frictions.
As the world’s two largest econ-
omies, the US and China should
know that their trade ties are not
only the most important in today’s
world but also of great impor-
tance to global trade and the
world economy. The two countries
should therefore act more pru-
dently to resolve their trade dis-
putes, because it will directly
influence the growth of the global
economy.
The author is a researcher of
industrial economics in the Devel-
opment Research Center of the
State Council.
T
he war of words between the
United States and China has
escalated rapidly over the last
few days. On Thursday, US
President Donald Trump upped the
ante in the trade battle with China,
suggesting further tariffs on $100 bil-
lion of imported goods from China, on
top of the $50 billion announced on
Tuesday.
Cumulatively, the $150 billion of
threatened US tariffs represent 30 per-
cent of total imports from China and
roughly 5 percent of total US imports.
And the $50 billion of threatened Chi-
nese tariffs represent nearly 40 per-
cent of total Chinese imports from the
US.
If China responds to these $150 bil-
lion of threatened US tariffs in kind, the
cumulative loss of GDP in 2018-19 could
reach 0.3 percent in each economy with
the US potentially loosing more than
300,000 jobs. Importantly though, these
threatened tariffs will be subject to
negotiation, and therefore shouldn’t be
considered as final.
... it is nonetheless
encouraging to see the
international body is
still being used as a
medium of communi-
cation between differ-
ent parties to settle
trade disputes.
Where is the “reset” button when
needed?
An escalation of trade tensions repre-
sents a growing downside risk to our
baseline global forecast as the US
administration looks determined to
reduce the US trade deficit and curb
China’s strategic ambitions stated in its
“Made in China 2025” plan. With the US
international trade data showing a ris-
ing trade deficit in February — the wid-
est since 2008 — and a cumulative
deficit vis-à-vis China on the rise — the
deficit was $65.2 billion year-to-date, up
almost $11 billion than the same period
in 2017 — we (at Oxford Economics) fear
trade tensions will escalate further in
the coming weeks.
In this context, we see two potential
routes. The first assumes that similarly
to the steel/aluminum tariffs saga, we
will witness a gradual de-escalation of
tensions once the parties have renegoti-
ated trade terms — so that the final tar-
iffs represent only a small fraction of the
initial threats. The second route
assumes we are on a slippery slope
toward a trade war. Indeed, the recent
Cabinet reshuffle in the US indicates a
circle of presidential advisers who close-
ly adhere to Trump’s world view, raising
the risks of an all-out trade war.
How much damage could a trade con-
flict bring about?
The threatened US tariffs on imports
from China could cumulatively repre-
sent $150 billion, about 30 percent of
total US imports from China. But since
these threatened tariffs will be subject to
negotiation — a 60-day public comment
process which includes public com-
ments until May 11 and a public hearing
on May 15 — a trade war could hopefully
be avoided. But if a trade war does break
out, it will have a pronounced effect on
bilateral as well as global trade.
The US and China would suffer signif-
icant slowdown in real GDP growth — a
cumulative loss of about 1.0 percentage
point — and the global economy grow-
ing at 2.5 percent in 2019 versus 3.0 per-
cent in the baseline.
China may be tempted to again
respond in kind. But since it “only”
imported a total of $131 billion of goods
from the US in 2017, it may limit its
direct retaliation options. Nonetheless,
China can retaliate via other channels,
including sales of US Treasuries, or by
disrupting supply chains that are essen-
tial to US businesses.
Importantly, China has opened a
World Trade Organization challenge to
the US’ initial $50 billion proposed tar-
iffs, while the eurozone and Japan
joined a US challenge against alleged
intellectual property theft by China.
While we know the WTO arbitration
process is a lengthy one — measured in
months — it is nonetheless encouraging
to see the international body is still
being used as a medium of communica-
tion between different parties to settle
trade disputes. That indeed is a ray of
hope.
The author is head of US economics at
Oxford Economics.
 C H I N A DA I LY H O N G KO N G E D I T I O N Monday, April 9, 2018
World’s largest electronics
show to be a big draw
By CHINA DAILY
in Hong Kong
Global Sources will launch
this year’s spring electronics
fair at AsiaWorld-Expo this
month by showcasing key
technological achievements,
including voice recognition,
artificial intelligence and aug-
mented reality, with more than
65,000 buyers from 150 coun-
tries and territories expected
to attend.
The fair, comprising two seg-
ments — consumer electron-
ics and mobile electronics — is
the world’s largest electronics
sourcing show featuring more
than 6,600 booths with the lat-
est electronics products.
The consumer electronics
section will run from April 11
to 14. It has more than 3,800
booths exhibiting the latest
home, outdoor and auto elec-
tronics gadgets, plus gaming,
smart living, components,
commercial electronics, com-
puters and accessories.
The mobile electronics show
will be held from April 18 to 21
with more than 2,800 booths
displaying the latest mobile
devices and accessories, speak-
ers and headphones, VR/AR
and wearables.
According to the event orga-
nizer, prominent global tech
industry players participating
include Cisco, DELL, eBay,
Google, Huawei, Foxconn, NEC
and Panasonic.
Voice-enabled devices will
be among the hottest innova-
tions to be displayed at the
consumer electronics show,
including voice assistants of
Alexa, Google and Siri, secu-
rity products, lighting or even
earphones using their system.
As artificial intelligence in
electronics has become trendy
in the industry, an AI Experi-
ence Zone will be set up for
the first time, where partici-
pants can try out the latest AI
technologies and interactive
exhibits.
With the application of AI,
robots are more lifelike with
movements that depend on
users’ actions and emotions,
speakers and a lot of smart
home products that respond
better to follow-up commands
and habits from users. AI
security devices at the fair will
show that they can analyze real
threats from what is not, hav-
ing more accurate imaging and
biometric features.
Emerging products of
advanced driver assistance
systems and navigation, and
voice-activated devices will
also be highlighted in newly
created dedicated product
zones this year.
“The Global Sources Con-
sumer Electronics show is
now a UFI-approved event.
This important endorsement
recognizes the show’s proven
track record as one of the high-
est quality exhibitions in the
world,” said Tommy Wong,
president of Global Sources
Electronics Group.
“Twice a year, our show will
have the spotlight on new
technologies and ideas, while
providing the best sourcing
experience for buyers,” he said.
To provide the finest buy-
ing experience, Global Sourc-
es thinks forward and steps
ahead. Buyers can skip search-
ing for a needle in a haystack
simply by going to the Analyst’s
Choice Zone. Experts would
have picked the best prod-
ucts at the show for them in
advance. The zone consists of
a Product Launch Area and a
Product Gallery where attend-
ees can have a closer look at
new, innovative products with
cutting-edge technologies.
Electric personal transport-
ers (EPTs) have become more
portable and easy to use nowa-
exhibition special 9
days. While versatile unicycles
and mobility scooters can now
be transformed into luggage
and backpacks, innovative
EPTs from exhibitors are ready
for display at the Global Sourc-
es consumer electronics show.
The Outdoor Electronics
Pavilion will showcase EPTs,
drones, robotics and cameras,
while the Smart Living Pavil-
ion will offer an expanded
selection of smart security,
lighting, voice-enabled devices
and entertainment products.
With the development of
5G, personal transportation
and AI, there will be compre-
hensive conference programs
covering these topics with
speakers from ZTE, Huawei
and China Mobile sharing
their experiences and insights
in the industry.
There will also be a free-
style show featuring personal
transporter and on-site test
drives for participants to join
in. Pavilions for auto electron-
ics, computer and accessories, Above: Buyers search for ideal products at Global Sources 2017 fall show at AsiaWorld-Expo.
Below left: A buyer test a product at Global Sources 2017 fall show.
gaming, and personal trans-
Below right: An AI product is displayed at the show. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
porters are the largest in Hong
Kong.
For those interested in
components for automotive,
drones and robotics, medical
and industrial, smart living,
smart security and wearables,
the Next-Gen Components
Zone would be something you
can’t afford to miss.
The fair has also reserved
space for startups and new
innovations. For those wishing
to see the world’s most revolu-
tionary electronics ideas, the
Startup Launchpad will be a
must-see. Some 50 thought leaders trends in startup investment Sources has included products show. The organizer will also
About 200 startups from 14 will gather for the conference and the local Asian startup from exhibitors that accept provide newsletters with daily
countries, featuring new inno- program and share insights on ecosystem. New this spring is small orders and seminars fea- reports and live videos on the
vations covering IoT, wear- AI, block chain, machine learn- the Startup Launchpad Invest- turing online retail experts. hottest products.
ables, smart home, robotics, ing, investment trends, market ment Competition catering to A mobile application devel- The consumer electronics
VR/AR and other high-growth challenges, and future tech. startups seeking investors and oped by Globalsources.com show will open from 9:30 am
categories, will exhibit prod- More than 200 investors are investment strategies. will enable buyers to shortlist, to 6:00 pm between April 11
ucts at the Startup Launchpad attending the Startup Investors To better serve online buyers find booths, take pictures and and 13, and from 9:30 am to
session. Forum to discuss strategies and and sellers in Amazon, Global then follow exhibitors after the 5:00 pm on April 14.
10 WORLD
Aviation
ponders
electric
aircraft
OSLO — Will we someday
be able to fly without the
guilt of causing environ-
mental damage? A handful
of firms and regulators hope
that the electric revolution
in cars will also take to the
skies, helping the industry
cope with an expected
boom in travel and reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
“Many people say that we
must get rid of air transport
because we will never be
able to deal with emissions
and noise, but this is an
outdated approach,” said
Norwegian Transport Min-
ister Ketil Solvik-Olsen.
Norway, the largest oil
and gas producer in west-
ern Europe, is paradoxical-
ly a pioneer in the field of
electric transport. The Nor-
dic nation aims for all new
vehicle registrations to be
zero emission by 2025 and
launched a first electric
ferry in early 2015.
“In my mind, there is no
doubt: by 2040 Norway will
be operating totally elec-
tric,” said Dag Falk-Petersen,
head of the country’s public
airport operator, Avinor.
Air transportation’s
impact on global warming
is estimated at around 5
percent through CO2 emis-
sions and other substances,
including nitrogen oxide
and water vapor.
As the number of air pas-
sengers is expected to
almost double by 2036 to
7.8 billion per year, accord-
ing to the International Air
Transport
projections,
Association’s
aviation’s
impact is on a course to
increase substantially if
nothing is done.
‘Unrealistic’ goals
Meanwhile, the airline
industry aims to cut its
CO2 emissions in half by
2050 from 2005 levels.
While the international
umbrella group Climate
Action Network says these
goals are unrealistic, some
airlines are beginning to
look at electric-powered
aircraft as an answer.
The small regional carri-
er Wideroe Airlines, oper-
ating in Norway’s far north,
plans to renew its fleet of
twin-engine Bombardier
Dash 8 planes with electric-
powered aircraft by 2030.
“Aircraft producers see
that they have to do it
because otherwise there
will be a new Tesla taking
their positions,” said Falk-
Petersen, referring to how
the upstart US electric car
manufacturer has shaken
up the traditional automo-
bile industry.
Both of the major manu-
facturers of large passen-
ger aircraft, Airbus and
Boeing, are exploring the
viability of electric planes.
“One of the biggest chal-
lenges is electricity stor-
age,” said Glenn Llewellyn,
general manager for elec-
trification at Airbus.
As with cars, the per-
formance of batteries is a
critical element, with the
added problem that they
are heavier than fuel and
carrying them into the air
is the most-energy inten-
sive part of the flight.
“But at the same time
battery technology is prob-
ably the technology in the
world which has the most
investment. So it will
evolve,” added Llewellyn.
AGENCE FRANCE-
PRESSE
Feathers fly at pillow fight
People take part in the Annual Pillow Fight in Washington Square on Saturday in New York City. The event takes place in over 100 cities
around the world, where people attack each other in merciless pillow fights. EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
Japan alarm after errors
in earthquake alert system
Quake warning
mechanism
criticized over
technical glitches
TOKYO — On January 5, as
Tokyo’s commuters were strug-
gling back to work after their
long New Year break, blaring
sirens from every phone
pierced the sleepy atmosphere:
“strong” earthquake coming.
The message delivered via
the country’s alert system, part
of its much-hyped J-Alert
mechanism, warned of a big
one directly hitting the Japa-
nese capital — potentially on
the scale of the devastating
2011 earthquake that wrought
massive destruction.
Millions braced for impact
... but it never came.
It turned out that the sys-
tem, which aims to give a pre-
cious few seconds to find
shelter before a major earth-
quake strikes, had been
tricked by an unusual seismo-
logical coincidence.
Two minor tremors struck
at almost exactly the same
time in separate locations,
making the alert system mis-
takenly believe a massive jolt
was on its way.
Even Prime Minister Shinzo
Abe was caught off-guard —
with TV footage showing him
checking his phone as alarms
echoed in his office ahead of a
cabinet meeting.
It was not the first false
Actor nets millions from ‘divorce auction’
SYDNEY — Hollywood
actor Russell Crowe’s unusual
“divorce auction” of personal
items and movie memorabilia,
including Gladiator props and
a leather jockstrap he wore in
Cinderella Man, exceeded
expectations and raked in mil-
lions of dollars for the Austra-
lian star.
The Sotheby’s sale of more
than 200 items in Sydney,
titled “Russell Crowe: The Art
of Divorce”, was held late on
Saturday on his 54th birthday
Residents, office and shop workers at and around the Roppongi
Hills shopping complex taking part in a disaster drill in Tokyo on
March 9. KITAMURA / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Our system covers the entire
country with some 1,000 obser-
vation points across the nation.”
Issei Suganuma, a scientific officer at the meteorological agency
alarm for the system, a major observation points across the
component of Japan’s J-Alert nation,” he said.
launched with great fanfare in
2007 as a way to save lives in a ‘Safety tips’
country constantly under At the agency’s Tokyo head-
threat of earthquakes. quarters, at least seven uni-
Several countries have formed officers keep watch
introduced similar early warn- around the clock in the earth-
ing systems for major earth- quake observation room.
quakes, with most focused on Large screens hang on the
a particular, quake-prone area. walls showing real-time seis-
But Japan’s system is unique mic waveform data.
in its breadth of coverage, said In the case of a cataclysmic
Issei Suganuma, a scientific earthquake, they detect initial
officer at the meteorological minor tremors through seis-
agency. mometers and immediately
“Our system covers the warn local governments via
entire country with some 1,000 J-Alert seconds before the
and brought in A$3.7 million Among the items that were
($2.8 million). fiercely contested was a fully
“Not a bad hourly rate for a functioning replica Roman
5-hour shift,” Crowe tweeted chariot from Gladiator, which
after the auction. was estimated to fetch up to
Sotheby’s Australian chief A$10,000 but went for
executive officer Gary Singer A$65,000.
said the auction was “incredi- The breastplate he wore in
bly successful”, with the most the film sold for A$125,000
popular items from Crow’s while a wooden training
Oscar-winning film Gladiator. sword went for A$20,000 and
“People just went mad. It a metal one for A$70,000.
was Crowe-mania,” he told tel- The brown leather boxer’s
evision broadcaster Channel jockstrap from “Cinderella
Seven on Sunday. Man” was expected to attract
A$500-600 but sold for
A$7,000.
But some lots failed to reach
reserve, including a 2008 cus-
tom motorcycle that was
turned in on a bid for
A$35,000. It’s painted green
and red, the colors of the
South Sydney Rabbitohs, the
Australian Rugby League
team that Crowe part-owns.
Crowe made a surprise
appearance at the auction
ahead of bidding for a 1890
first strong jolt is felt.
The agency also directly
sends SMS messages and
whooping alarms to local resi-
dents’ phones.
Broadcasters receive signals
to flash breaking news alerts
and bullet train services are
immediately suspended.
When the magnitude-9
earthquake hit Japan in 2011,
the system successfully warned
residents between 6 and 40 sec-
onds before the first major jolt.
The J-Alert system also
warns of missiles, particularly
relevant during a rise in ten-
sions with the Democratic Peo-
ple’s Republic of Korea last year.
With the 2020 Tokyo Olym-
pics looming and 40 million
tourists expected to visit, the
government has started provid-
ing alerts in multiple languages
through a “safety tips” app.
But J-Alert has also faced
criticism. In addition to tech-
nical difficulties that can
result in false alarms, many
feel the warnings do not come
soon enough.
When DPRK missiles flew
over Japan in August and Sep-
tember, residents complained
there was no time to find shelter.
Some respondents said they
had no time or did not know
where to go, while others said
evacuation was pointless.
Following the false alarm
earlier this year, the meteoro-
logical agency has introduced
a new analysis tool to avoid
mistaking multiple smaller
quakes for a single big one.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
violin created by Italian crafts-
man Leandro Bisiach Snr,
which sold for A$135,000.
“It’s been a lot of fun putting
it together for you,” he told
bidders, adding that the violin,
which he used during filming
of the 2003 movie Master and
Commander, was “very dear to
my heart”.
Some of Crowe’s collection
of artwork also went under the
hammer with The Suitor by
Australian painter Charles
Blackman going for
A$360,000, along with jewel-
ry he had given to his ex-wife
actress Danielle Spencer and
sports memorabilia.
Singer said Crowe was “an
avid collector” and the items
had been kept by the celebrity
in his Sydney and rural homes.
“You wouldn’t even notice
we had been in the house and
taken the 227 items that we
have on display here,” he said.
AFP—AP
Monday, April 9, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION
Fans celebrate as
star is given bail
NEW DELHI — A court on
Saturday granted bail to
Bollywood superstar Salman
Khan while he appeals his
conviction on charges of
poaching rare deer in a wild-
life preserve two decades
ago, a welcome development
for thousands of fans who
greeted their hero with
songs and firecrackers.
Khan was convicted on
Thursday and sentenced to
five years in prison and was
immediately sent to jail. On
Saturday, Judge Ravindra
Kumar Joshi ordered him to
sign a surety bond of 50,000
rupees ($770) before he was
set free from the jail in Jodh-
pur, a town in western India.
Hundreds of Khan’s over-
joyed fans danced outside
the courtroom and chanted
“We love you, Salman”. His
sisters, Alvira and Arpita,
were present during the
hearing.
Carrying big garlanded
posters of Khan, the fans set
off firecrackers and sang
songs from his Bollywood
movies as some of them
chased his car heading to the
airport.
The scenes were more
intense outside his Mumbai
residence in India’s enter-
tainment capital. Thousands
of fans waited for hours and
lit up the sky with fireworks
as Khan reached his home.
Flanked by his father and
other relatives, he came to
the balcony of his apartment
with folded hands and
waved, thanking them for
their support. He retreated
Famed art museum
ushers in new era
ISTANBUL — It’s a busy
afternoon at Istanbul Mod-
ern, Turkey’s premier mod-
ern art museum, and the
gallery is packed with visitors
taking selfies or discussing
the artworks in hushed tones.
Some pause in front of a
massive canvas by celebrated
German artist Anselm Kiefer,
while others look in amaze-
ment at a masterpiece by
Turkish abstract painter Fah-
relnissa Zeid or gasp at iconic
black and white images of old
Istanbul by legendary local
photographer Ara Guler.
Since opening in 2004,
Istanbul Modern, spectacu-
larly situated on the Bospo-
rus with a view of the
Ottoman-era Topkapi Palace,
has become a symbol of 21st
century Istanbul, open to
outside influences but proud
of its past.
But within a few days of
the visit, all the artworks will
have been taken down, care-
fully cataloged and put into
protective cases.
The building, a maritime
warehouse known as Antre-
po No 4 in Turkish and belov-
ed by many Istanbulites
since the museum’s opening,
will be demolished.
However, it will not be the
end for Istanbul Modern.
After closing its doors on
March 18, the museum will
reopen in a historic mansion
in the central Beyoglu dis-
trict in May.
The mansion will be a tem-
porary home until a new
museum is built on the site of
the old Istanbul Modern to
showcase its collection to
even greater effect.
The new building will be
designed by Italian architect
Workers carry a painting at Istanbul Modern museum. The
facility closed on March 18, but is scheduled to reopen in May.
OZAN KOSE / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
after signaling his fans to go
home.
Khan insists he did not
shoot the two blackbuck
deer and alleges he is being
framed.
His lawyers claim the
black bucks died of natural
causes such as overeating,
insisting there was no evi-
dence they were shot.
Four other Bollywood
stars — Saif Ali Khan, Sonali
Bendre, Tabu and Neelam
Kothari — who were also
accused in the case were
acquitted due to lack of evi-
dence.
Soli Sorabjee, a legal
expert, said it was normal for
bail to be granted in such a
case, and didn’t see Khan
getting any special treat-
ment from the court. “This
has nothing to do with
Khan’s personality as an
actor,” he said.
Controversial figure
The 52-year-old Khan has
starred in more than 90 Hin-
di-language films. But he is
also a controversial figure
and has had a number of
run-ins with the law, includ-
ing a fatal car accident.
Khan spent a total of 18
days in prison in 1998, 2006
and 2007 in the poaching
cases, but was freed on bail.
He had been sentenced to
prison terms of between one
and five years in related cas-
es before being acquitted by
appeals courts for lack of evi-
dence.
AP—AFP
But a new future
is in front of us ...
This new building
will bring a new
vision to the art
world and to
Istanbul.”
Levent Calikoglu, director of
the Istanbul Modern museum
Renzo Piano, who was
behind London’s iconic sky-
scraper The Shard, and is
expected to be finished in
three years.
Istanbul Modern’s director
Levent Calikoglu admitted
there was some sense of huz-
un — the Turkish word for
melancholy — over leaving
the building that had been the
museum’s home for 14 years.
“But a new future is in
front of us and we have a
completely different aim.
This new building will bring
a new vision to the art world
and to Istanbul.”
On one of the museum’s
final opening days before its
temporary closure it was
filled with Turks as well as a
sprinkling of tourists.
Visitor Nesrin Aktar, a fan
of the museum, hoped the
revamp would go smoothly.
“We come to see the exhi-
bitions, to nourish our souls,
that really inspires us.”
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018
Fatal van attack kills two in Germany
Media reports said driver had been
suffering from psychological problems
MUENSTER, Germany —
Prosecutors said on Sunday
they still have no indication
why a 48-year-old German
man drove a van into a crowd
of people in the western Ger-
man city of Muenster, killing
two and injuring 20 before
shooting himself to death
inside the van.
“So far there are no indica-
tions of a possible background
for the crime. The investiga-
tions are being conducted at
UK aims to resettle
poisoned Russian
ex-spy in the US
LONDON — The United
Kingdom is considering offer-
ing poisoned Russian ex-spy
Sergei Skripal and his daughter
Yulia new identities and a fresh
life in the United States, the
Sunday Times newspaper
reported.
It said officials at the MI6
intelligence agency have had
discussions with their counter-
parts in the CIA about reset-
tling the victims poisoned last
month in the English city of
Salisbury.
“They will be offered new
identities,” it quoted an uniden-
tified source as saying.
The paper said its sources
believed the UK would want to
ensure their safety by resettling
them in one of the so-called
“five eyes” countries, the intelli-
gence-sharing partnership that
also includes the United States,
Canada, Australia and New
Zealand.
“The obvious place to reset-
tle them is America because
they’re less likely to be killed
there and it’s easier to protect
them there under a new identi-
ty,” it quoted what it called an
intelligence source familiar
with the negotiations as saying.
“There’s a preference for
them to be resettled in a five-
eyes nation because their case
would have huge security impli-
cations,” the source added.
The UK’s Foreign Office had
no immediate comment on the
report.
Relations between Russia
and the UK have plunged to
their lowest in decades since
the pair were found slumped
unconscious on a bench in
Mighty crash
A tanker crashed into a historic mansion on the Bosporus strait in
Istanbul on Saturday. The ship’s main machinery stopped, disabling
its rudder and causing it to lose control. No one was injured. AP
Briefly
UNITED STATES
Man killed in blaze
at Trump Tower
A raging fire that tore through
a 50th-floor apartment at
Trump Tower on Saturday
killed a man inside and sent
flames and thick, black smoke
pouring from windows of the
skyscraper. New York Fire
Commissioner Daniel Nigro
said the cause of the blaze is
not yet known but the apart-
ment was “virtually entirely on
fire” when firefighters arrived
after 5:30 pm. A 67-year-old
man who was in the apart-
ment was taken to a hospital
and died a short time later.
Officials said four firefighters
also suffered minor injuries.
full speed and on all fronts,”
said prosecutor Martin Botz-
enhardt.
Authorities have identified
the two fatalities of Saturday’s
crash as a 51-year-old woman
from Lueneburg County and a
65-year-old man from Broken
County. Their names weren’t
given as is customary in Ger-
many.
Media reports said the driv-
er, an industrial designer liv-
ing in Muenster, identified
Salisbury on March 4.
Yulia, a Russian citizen, had
arrived in the UK only the day
before to visit her father, who
has been living in Britain for
some seven years.
Both were found by the UK
to be suffering from the effects
of poisoning by a nerve agent
but they are now recovering in
hospital.
The attack prompted the big-
gest Western expulsion of Rus-
sian diplomats since the Cold
War as allies in Europe and the
United States sided with Lon-
don’s view that Moscow was
either responsible or had lost
control of the nerve agent.
Moscow has hit back by
expelling Western diplomats,
questioning how the UK
knows that Russia was respon-
sible and offering its rival inter-
pretations, including that it
amounted to a plot by the UK’s
secret services.
The Russian embassy in
London has sent a request for a
meeting of its envoy with UK
foreign minister Boris Johnson
to discuss the case, the RIA
news agency reported on Sat-
urday.
“We hope for a constructive
response from the British side
and are counting on such a
meeting in the very nearest
future,” the agency cited a
spokesman for the Russian
embassy saying.
The Foreign Office con-
firmed it had received the
request for ambassador Alex-
ander Yakovenko to meet
Johnson.
REUTERS
JAPAN
Father arrested for
caging son in box
A father who allegedly con-
fined his mentally ill son in a
small cage for more than two
decades was arrested on Satur-
day, police and news reports
said. Police arrested 73-year-
old Yoshitane Yamasaki on sus-
picion of imprisoning his son,
now aged 42, at their house in
western Japan, a police spokes-
man said. According to local
media, the son was forced to
live inside a wooden cage 1
meter high and 1.8 meters
wide. The suspect has report-
edly admitted the allegations.
AP—AFP
only as Jens R, had been suf-
fering from psychological
problems, but police wouldn’t
confirm those details.
All three bodies were taken
from the crash scene in front of
the well-known Kiepenkerl
pub early on Sunday night. The
silver-grey van was hauled
away hours later, after explo-
sives experts had thoroughly
checked it.
“The van is not at the crime
scene anymore, all kinds of
objects have also been
removed, waste of course, as
well as evidence that we’ve
found on the ground,” police
Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks players honor those involved in the Humboldt Broncos bus crash tragedy before NHL action
on Saturday at Bell MTS Place in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. JASON HALSTEAD / AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
15 die when truck, hockey team bus collide
HUMBOLDT, Saskatche-
wan — A semi-trailer
slammed into a bus carrying
a youth hockey team in west-
ern Canada, killing 15 people
and injuring 14 in a cata-
strophic collision that left a
country and its national sport
heartbroken. The crash sent
shockwaves through the
team’s small hometown.
Canadians were moved to
tears as they learned of the
identities of the deceased on
the bus that was driving the
Humboldt Broncos hockey
team to a crucial playoff game
on Friday against the Nipaw-
in Hawks.
“The worst nightmare has
happened,” said the league’s
president, Bill Chow, as his
eyes welled up with tears.
The Broncos are a close-
knit team from the small city
of Humboldt, Saskatchewan,
which has a population of
about 6,000. Since the horrif-
ic accident many have gath-
ered at the community center
at the hockey arena. A vigil is
scheduled for Sunday night.
“An entire country is in
shock and mourning,” Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Brazil’s former president Lula
turns himself in to police
SAO BERNARDO DO CAM-
PO, Brazil — Brazil’s ex-presi-
dent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
turned himself in to federal
police on Saturday, after sup-
porters initially tried to pre-
vent him from handing
himself over to the authorities.
Lula had spent the last two
nights in the building, where
he began his political career as
a union leader.
On Thursday, he lost his lat-
est appeal to avoid a 12-year
prison sentence for corrup-
tion, ending his hopes of run-
ning for re-election in October.
Earlier on Saturday, Lula
participated in a massive
political rally in the city and
spoke to thousands of sup-
porters for almost an hour.
The event, which was tech-
nically a religious service in
honor of his late wife, whose
birthday was on April 7,
spokeswoman Susanne Dirkor-
te said.
Inside the van, police found
illegal firecrackers which were
disguised as a fake bomb, a fake
pistol and the gun that the per-
petrator used to kill himself.
Inside the man’s apartment,
which was nearby the crash
scene and raided late on Satur-
day, police found more fire-
crackers and a “no longer
usable AK-47 machine gun”.
Police said some of the 20
injured persons were still in
life-threatening condition, but
did not release further details
on their identities.
“This is every parent’s worst
nightmare. No one should
ever have to see their child
leave to play the sport they
love and never come back.”
The bus had 29 passengers,
including the driver, when it
crashed at about 5 pm on
Highway 35, police said.
Among the dead are Broncos
head coach Darcy Haugan,
team captain Logan Schatz
and radio announcer Tyler
Bieber. Authorities earlier
said three were in critical con-
dition but later provided an
update to say that 15 have
now died.
Canadian police said the
truck driver was initially
detained but has since been
released and provided with
mental health assistance.
Royal Canadian Mounted
Police Assistant Commission-
er Curtis Zablocki said it’s too
early to state a cause for the
crash.
In a tweet, President
Donald Trump said he called
Trudeau to offer his condolen-
ces to the families of victims.
Hassan Masri, an emergen-
cy room doctor at Saskatoon’s
Royal University Hospital
became a magnet of support
for the former president.
In his 55-minute-long
speech, he reiterated his inno-
cence and admitted that he
did not want to turn himself in
but was finally convinced by
aides and advisers that evad-
ing justice would not be a good
option.
“I will get out of this strong-
er and innocent, for I will
prove (that) they were the
ones who (had) committed
crimes. I have no way to repay
the respect and gratitude you
have dedicated to me,” Lula
said.
“If it was up to me, I
wouldn’t go (to the police), but
I am going because if I don’t,
they will say ‘Lula is fleeing or
Lula is hiding,’” he said.
He also criticized the elite in
Brazil, reiterating that his
arrest is nothing more than a
The local daily Muenstersche
Zeitung reported that the per-
petrator had vaguely
announced his suicide plans a
week ago in an email to friends
and that he was known to the
authorities for previous vio-
lence and drug violations, but
police wouldn’t confirm any of
those details.
The 48-year-old had driven
his van into a crowd on Satur-
day afternoon in the historical
city center of Muenster. The
city was buzzing on one of the
first warm spring days of the
year and people were sitting
outside the Kiepenkerl when
An entire country
is in shock and
mourning. This is
every parent’s
worst nightmare.”
Justin Trudeau, Canadian
prime minister
who has done work in war-
torn Syria, said the crash
reminded him of an airstrike.
Photographs of the wreck-
age showed the twisted trailer
with most of its wheels in the
air and the bus on its side and
its back portion destroyed.
The force of the crash sent
both vehicles into the ditch at
the northwest corner of the
intersection.
Aerial footage showed the
bus on its side, its roof peeled
back and its front end
destroyed. The trailer of the
truck lay nearby in a shat-
tered mess, with bags of its
move to remove him from the
presidential elections, which
will be held in October.
Lula led the election polls,
despite accusations that he
had accepted bribes from a
major oil company, Petrobras.
Lula was alleged to have been
given juicy government con-
struction contracts, including
the use of a luxury beachside
apartment.
Prosecutors claimed that
the apartment was a gift from
the company, though they
never presented evidence
proving his ownership,
according to Lula’s legal team.
With Lula no longer on the
run, the chances of right-wing
candidates winning the elec-
tions increase significantly, as
the left has no other contender
nearly as strong as Lula,
according to political analysts.
In the end, Lula told sup-
he drove into the bar’s tables
with such a vengeance that the
vehicle only came to a stop
when it hit the wall of the pub.
Police quickly evacuated the
area and ambulances, firefight-
ers and helicopters rushed to
the scene to aid those who were
injured.
On Saturday night, long
queues of volunteers waited in
front of the city’s university hos-
pital to donate blood for the vic-
tims. At the city’s Aasee Lake,
people spontaneously came
together for a candlelight vigil.
AP—AFP—REUTERS
peat moss cargo scattered all
around. The tractor part of
the truck was intact, lying on
its passenger side.
The tractor-trailer would
have had to yield to a stop
sign before crossing over the
highway that the hockey bus
was travelling on. There is a
stand of trees on the south-
east corner of the intersec-
tion, limiting visibility of the
approach on both roads.
Police said a lot of issues
have to be investigated,
including weather conditions
at the time and any mechani-
cal issues with the vehicles.
The tragedy brought to
mind an accident in 1986,
when the Swift Current Bron-
cos team bus slid off an icy
highway and crashed in late
December, killing four players.
Humboldt Mayor Rob
Muench, wearing a green and
yellow Broncos team jersey,
hugged people on Saturday
morning as they came to the
Elger Petersen Arena in the
Saskatchewan town to com-
fort each other and learn
more.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brazilian ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva stands next to
ex-president Dilma Rousseff after attending a Catholic Mass in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Saturday. NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP
porters to keep fighting, say-
ing that “We are an idea. And
they cannot arrest the
dream.”
Following the nearly hour-
long speech, his supporters
locked hands and surrounded
the union building to block his
departure and prevent the
police from entering.
Later, Lula was seen getting
into a car that was presumably
WORLD 11
Syrian
govt slams
chemical
weapons
claim
DAMASCUS — The Syri-
an government on Saturday
evening slammed allega-
tions by rebel groups that
the army had used chemical
gas in the eastern Ghouta
town of Douma, east of
Damascus.
State media denied gov-
ernment forces had
launched any chemical
attack as soon as the reports
began circulating and said
rebels in Douma were in a
state of collapse and spread-
ing false news.
The United Kingdom-
based Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights said 11
people had died in Douma as
a result of suffocation caused
by the smoke from conven-
tional weapons being
dropped by the government.
It said a total of 70 people
suffered breathing difficul-
ties.
Medical relief organiza-
tion Syrian American Medi-
cal Society said a chlorine
bomb hit Douma hospital,
killing six people, and a sec-
ond attack with “mixed
agents” including nerve
agents had hit a nearby
building.
Basel Termanini, the
US-based vice-president of
SAMS, told Reuters the
total death toll in the
chemical attacks was 35.
However, Syrian State
news agency SANA said
the rebel group in Douma,
Jaish al-Islam, was making
“chemical attack fabrica-
tions in an exposed and
failed attempt to obstruct
advances by the Syrian
Arab army”, citing an offi-
cial source.
Meanwhile, the Syrian
Army on Saturday said it
stormed the front lines of
the Islam Army in the area
amid a state of collapse
and chaos among the rebel
group, according to SANA.
The Islam Army said on
its official social network
site that its militants foiled
the advance of government
forces from farmland on
the outskirts of Douma.
Local TV stations aired
footage of the targeting of
Douma, a day after
announcing that the Syri-
an Republican Guard units
had started operations.
The escalation of vio-
lence comes as the Islam
Army backed down on its
agreement to leave Douma
for rebel-held areas in
northern Syria.
Douma was supposed to
witness a similar evacua-
tion of militants as had
been seen in other areas in
eastern Ghouta, where
43,000 rebels and their
families withdrew under a
deal with the government.
XINHUA—REUTERS
going to take Lula to the
police, with his lawyer Cristi-
ano Zanin.
He later exited on foot, was
taken into custody and driven
to the Congonhas airport in
the state capital Sao Paulo,
from where he is to fly to
Curitiba, capital of southern
Parana state.
XINHUA
12 Weifang Hi-tech Monday, April 9, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION

Area builds up new economic drivers
Policy initiatives, including an ‘innovation coupon’, support emerging industries, Yuan Shenggao reports.
T h e We i f a n g H i - t e c h
Industrial Development Zone,
a national economic develop-
ment zone launched in 1991,
has established a strong posi-
tion among such zones in Chi-
na over the past 20 years.
The zone ranked No 22
among 147 national-level
development zones in terms of
comprehensive development
strength in 2017, an improve-
ment on its ranking of No 23
in 2015.
The zone focused on deep-
ening reform and promoting
innovation in the 12th Five-Year
Plan period (2010-15), vowing
to continue to strengthen its
economic position in China.
It has long been striving to
maintain regional competi-
tiveness. The zone has created
an atmosphere in which staff
members freely share opinions
and turn ideas into reality in
their daily work.
Over the past few years, the
zone initiated a series of proj-
ects to create an ideal environ-
ment for both residents and
businesses.
For instance, government
officials are required to estab-
lish direct contact with busi-
nesses to help companies to
solve problems in an effective
manner. In addition to this
commitment, efforts have
been made to promote urban
upgrades, as well as social
and industrial development,
to enhance security, quality of
life and government service
quality.
The zone has provided dif-
ferent types of support to busi-
nesses so they can be more
focused on technological inno-
vation.
Companies in the zone are
provided with an “innovation
coupon”, a form of financial
support, to reduce research
and development costs.
In 2017, the zone lent a hand
to support Shengrui Transmis-
sion’s hybrid transmissions
development projects by pro-
viding the company with the
coupon. The coupon helped
Shengrui to save significant
R&D expenses, according to
the company.
“The innovation coupon is a
form of financial support pro-
vided to companies for free to
encourage business innovation.
We have been providing more
support for more companies in
recent years,” said Chen Zhe,
deputy director of Weifang Hi-
tech Industrial Development
Zone’s technology bureau.
Chen said the innovation
coupon is tailor-made based
on companies’ real life needs.
It will help small and micro-
enterprises to grow rapidly,
help the zone to form an
industrial cluster and promote
industrial upgrading.
In return, companies in the
zone are striving to provide
strong support to the zone in
the process of replacing old eco-
nomic drivers with new ones.
Weichai Group is a heavy
truck engine and component
developer and manufactur-
er based in the zone. It sold
620,000 engines and achieved
more than 220 billion yuan
($34.99 billion) in sales rev-
enue in 2017. The company has
identified new energy as a new
sector to explore in the next
few years.
Tan Xuguang, president of
Weichai, who is also presi-
dent of Shandong Heavy
Industry Group, said that the
latter is responsible for Wei-
chai New Energy Industrial
Park’s construction. The park
is a key project in promoting
22nd
place
Weifang high-tech zone’s
ranking among 147 such
zones for comprehensive
development strength in 2017
13
projects
from the zone made the list
for provincial-level plans
to replace old economic
growth drivers
that the industrial upgrading
13 projects of companies such
as Shengrui and GoerTek,
have been listed in provincial-
level plans about replacing
old economic growth drivers
with new ones. Seventeen
projects have been included
in the first batch of 600 pro-
vincial-level key projects to
promote the replacement of
economic drivers.
The zone now has 337 big
projects with total investment
exceeding 200 billion yuan.
Sun Wenfeng, director of
the zone’s economic develop-
ment bureau, said that the
zone will continue to promote
the development of a mod-
ern industrial system that
allows coordinated develop-
ment among the real econo-
my, technology innovation,
modern finance and human
resources. The zone will focus
on replacing economic drivers,
accelerating smart industrial
upgrades, striving to build an
export-oriented economy and
developing new competitive
factors in the service sector.
Looking ahead, the local
authorities said the zone will
continue to seek develop-
ment opportunities, upgrade
Clockwise from top: A technician with Shengrui Transmission traditional industries and
assembles an 8-gear auto transmission unit. A resident who promote ne w emerging
benefited from the high-tech zone’s urban upgrade cleans industries, aiming for a
her new house. Visitors enter the GoerTek Green Town Living bright future in the upcom-
Museum, built by the Chinese acoustic company located in the ing years.
Weifang high-tech zone. A panoramic view of the fast-growing
Weifang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone. Zhou Jinjiang contributed to
PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY this story.
Shandong province’s effort to energy commercial vehicle
replace old economic develop- production base and a new
ment drivers with new ones. energy visual reality innova-
The industrial park is set tion center, according to the
to be the largest new energy local authorities.
motor production base, a Supported by big projects,
world-leading hydrogen-pow- leading companies and a pre-
er battery production base, mier business environment,
a commercial vehicle new the zone said it is confident
energy power train system about achieving outstanding
production base, a world- results in promoting industrial
leading new energy forklift upgrading and transformation.
production base, a light new Figures from the zone show
Better
services
improve
businesses’
satisfaction
By YUAN SHENGGAO
Weifang Hi-tech Indus-
trial Development Zone sent
representatives to visit Shan-
dong Newocean Software in
January, in order to find out
how the area could improve
and provide better services
for businesses located there.
“We had a long talk and
focused on discussing how
to better the zone’s business
environment,” said Wang
Shukun, chairman of the
board of Shandong New-
ocean Software. “Companies
do need this type of one-on-
one talk.”
Newocean is not the only
company to be visited by rep-
resentatives from the zone
this year. Staff members
from 18 government depart-
ments at the high-tech zone
spent two weeks visiting 328
companies to collect their
opinions on the local busi-
ness environment in Janu-
ary.
Statistics from the zone
show that 280 companies
were satisfied, while 35 com-
panies were not.
It is not the first time for
the zone to collect compa-
nies’ feedback on its business
environment. At the end of
2017, the zone, one of the first
national economic develop-
ment zones in China, carried
out a telephone survey and
an online evaluation to col-
lect opinions about its busi-
ness environment.
A total of 292 companies
participated in the telephone
interview, giving feedback on
seven sectors: policy, govern-
ment service, market, legal,
finance and social aspects
and the new business-gov-
ernment relationship.
The zone also invited 538
companies to participate
in the online evaluation to
assess the performance of 53
government departments.
The evaluation covered five
areas — working efficiency,
service quality, service atti-
tude, law-based administra-
tion and working style.
It was revealed that 73
companies expressed dis-
satisfaction through the tele-
phone interview and online
evaluation.
The heads of the relevant
government departments
were required to visit those
companies which expressed
dissatisfaction in 2017 and
2018 to learn more about the
businesses’ demands and
solve problems in the most
effective manner.
Shandong Newocean

Dynamic Weichai Group releases bus with latest powertrain system Software chairman Wang
was satisfied with the zone’s
efforts in creating such a
communication mechanism.
By YUAN SHENGGAO Weichai Group President compete with first-tier brands “The supporting activities

Weichai Group — a company

specializing in the design, man-
ufacturing and sales of diesel
engines — has just released
a tour bus equipped with its
new powertrain system that
meets exacting Euro VI emis-
sion standards.
The Euro VI standards were
issued by the European Union
to reduce levels of harmful
exhaust emissions, both from
petrol and diesel automobiles.
The powertrain of an auto-
mobile comprises the engine,
exhaust system, transmission,
drive shaft, suspension and
wheels.
The company, headquar-
tered in the Weifang Hi-tech
Industrial Development Zone,
in the city of Weifang in Shan-
dong province, released the bus
in Hong Kong on March 28.
It is Weichai’s latest efforts to
speed up its provision of cus-
tomized high-end products to
the international market.
The first tour bus, pro-
duced by its subsidiary Xia-
men Fengtai Bus and Coach
International, was delivered to
Hong Kong’s Great Leader Bus
Holdings during the release
ceremony.
Tan Xuguang and more than
100 international clients from
the public transportation, tour-
ism and long-distance bus ser-
vices sectors participated in the
ceremony.
Fengtai is the Weichai Group
unit which focuses on develop-
ing new energy hybrid coaches,
pure electric coaches and low
emission luxury coaches that
meet the Euro V and Euro VI
emission standards.
All its products are sup-
plied to developed countries
including the United States,
Australia, New Zealand and
Singapore.
Tan said his group developed
the first powertrain for com-
mercial vehicles in the world in
2005, and in so doing changed
a “difficult situation” for China
which up until then had no
control over the core technolo-
gies related to heavy-duty pow-
ertrains.
Tan said the debut of the new
powertrain system in Hong
Kong marked a new stage, in
that a Chinese company now
controlled the most advanced
powertrain development
technologies and would lead
the market in their develop-
ment in the coming years.
Tan Xuguang (left), Weichai Group’s president, hands a model
of the company’s tour bus with a new powertrain system meeting
Euro VI emission standards to Dick Yip, general manager of Hong
Kong’s Great Leader Bus Holdings. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
Tan said the three core com-
ponents in the powertrain —
engine, transmission and axles
— were all produced in China.
He said Weichai had paid
close attention to refining their
technologies over the past
decade, investing a total of 15
billion yuan ($2.39 billion) on
engine development.
In addition to that major
financial commitment, the
company has also strived to
improve its customer services.
The company has established
an effective automotive after-
market service platform that
undertakes to provide after-
sales services throughout the
life cycle of its products.
Weichai has established 31
overseas offices and 398 service
centers internationally, to pro-
vide repair and maintenance
services to global clients.
According to Weichai, the
12-meter tour bus delivered on
March 28 was tailor-made to
the requirements of its client,
Hong Kong bus services pro-
15b
yuan
Weichai Group has invested
on engine development
over the past decade
vider Great Leader Bus Hold-
ings Ltd.
The bus is lightweight, and
its other features include high
safety and reliability, fuel econ-
omy, and a big interior space.
“Weichai and Fengtai’s core
competitiveness is that we can
accurately understand our cli-
ents needs and provide a quick
response to their demands,”
said Lin Jian, deputy general
manager of Fengtai.
Dick Yip, general manager
of Great Leader, who drove the
bus at its March 28 release, said
that Fengtai’s buses had strong
competitiveness in overall per-
formance and were more cost-
effective compared with some
European brands.
“The tour bus was tailor-
made so it can perform well in
Hong Kong, which is known
for its hilly landscapes and
humid climate,” Lin said.
“They were produced to
such as Mercedes-Benz.”
Fengtai has established a
research and development
team consisting of experts
from the US, Canada, Austra-
lia and countries in Europe.
Those engineers not only bring
in advanced design idea, but
also bring the latest production
technologies to Fengtai, deputy
general manager Lin Jian said.
Nowadays, Fengtai has a
product portfolio covering 26
categories with 140 types of
vehicle models.
Lin added that Fengtai
plans to introduce 8 meter and
12-meter high-end tour buses
to Hong Kong in the upcoming
years.
In 2007, Fengtai delivered
500 customized buses to over-
seas markets and generated
over 20 million yuan in profits.
To commentorcontribute,
please email wangqian2
@ c h i n a d a i l y.c o m .c n
orcall+86-531-58775018.
offered us chances to share
our opinions. I hope there are
more such activities,” Wang
said. “We also hope the zone
will be more fault-tolerant of
problems emerging in our
development process.”
Deng Laiqing, deputy Par-
ty chief at Weifang Software
Innovation and Startups Ser-
vice Center, visited 12 compa-
nies in January.
“Market, finance and pro-
fessionals are the most com-
mon factors considered by
local businesses,” Deng said.
Companies have differ-
ent demands on services
and resources, requiring the
government to provide pro-
fessional services based on
firms’ real demand, he added.
“Better service brings bet-
ter development,” said Guo
Hui, deputy head of the
zone’s performance evalu-
ation office. “We launched
those visiting activities to
enable government depart-
ments to become aware of
their shortcomings so as to
create a first-class business
environment for companies.”
Liu Yinghong contributed
to this story.

The page is sponsored by the Weifang Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone.

 GOING GLOBAL Zunyi Shenqu keeps guitar market on a string p14 ENERGY ON
SNOW, ICE

BUSINESS
DRIVING GROWTH Commercial banks focus on emerging segments p17
Jose Boisjoli
leads BRP’s
drive to give
adventure sports
fillip in China p15
CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018

Face reading gets AI touch

Talking Business

When public good,

Expected explosion of applications of
visual recognition tech promises to
profit spring from
bolster many industries, spin billions the same source
By MA SI the paper, media reports said.
masi@chinadaily.com.cn Conceivably, large-scale By MA SI

While checking in to a hotel

on a recent trip, bank employ-
commercial applications of
the facial recognition technol-
ogy will likely follow.
1
trillion yuan
10
trillion yuan
masi@chinadaily.com.cn

I assumed the avatar of a

ee Wang Liming, 29, suddenly
realized she was not carrying
her identity card.
The thought that she has to
return home back in Guiyang,
Guizhou province, about 500
kilometers away, just to fetch
her ID card upset her.
That’s when the front desk
receptionist at the hotel in
Kunming, Yunnan province,
told Wang the feared trip
would not be necessary as the
latest technology of facial rec-
ognition offers an alternative.
Wang merely had to recall
her ID card number. Next, she
stood in front of a computer fit-
ted with a 3-D camera, which
scanned her face and produced
a digital image. That data was
quickly matched online with
the database of the public secu-
rity bureau. In less than 10 sec-
onds, the system “verified” her
“identity”. The hotel reception-
ist checked Wang in. It was
business as usual.
The facial recognition sys-
tem, used in all hotels in the
Xishan district in Kunming
city, is part of a broader trend
sweeping across China. Rapid
advances in the computer
vision technology are enabling
banks, airports, hotels and
even public toilets in China to
verify people’s identities by
scanning their faces.
“The images captured by
cameras won’t be stored on
computers. They are encrypt-
ed and are just used for real-
time image matching with the
public security bureau’s data-
base,” said Zong Zhengyong, a
technical staff member in
Kunming responsible for
maintaining the system.
Though concerns about pri-
vacy exist and big efforts are
needed to protect personal
data, companies are eagerly
embracing the technology.
Coupled with consumer
cooperation, the technology is
making rapid inroads into
every conceivable industry
and sector, encouraging both
Chinese tech heavyweights
and startups alike to work
harder toward developing
more innovative applications.
For instance, university fac-
ulties are using face scanners
to check if students in class-
rooms are bored.
Mobile app providers
depend on software that
allows users to beautify or
transform their faces for fun.
A tissue roll dispenser at a
public toilet in Beijing uses
visual recognition technology
to keep people from stealing
There are about 15,000 com-
puter vision-related patents
worldwide. China accounts for
55 percent of that, far more
than that of the United States,
which is in the second spot
with about 17 percent, accord-
ing to a report late last year
from two venture capital firms,
the US-based Sequoia Capital
and China’s ZhenFund.
He Qian, an artificial intelli-
gence or AI expert at the Chi-
nese Academy of Information
and Communications Tech-
nology, said though the tech-
nology is still in its infancy, it
has already been used in many
sectors like security, finance
and healthcare.
“It can significantly boost
efficiency, simplify business
procedures and bring greater
convenience to consumers. It
will have bigger potential in
the future, but efforts are
needed to ensure information
security,” He said.
Data from the Qianzhan
Research Institute show that
the market size of China’s
facial recognition industry is
expected to hit 5.1 billion yuan
($812 millionmillion) in 2021
from over 1.7 billion yuan in
2016.
The technology is expected
to offer new impetus to a wide
range of industries as it is a key
part of China’s broader push to
cultivate a 1 trillion yuan AI
industry by 2030, which is
supposed to stimulate as
much as 10 trillion yuan in
related business.
Without doubt, the facial
recognition market in China is
taking off. It has already nur-
tured four unicorns, or start-
ups with valuations above $1
billion: SenseTime Co, Yitu
Technology, Megvii Technolo-
gy Inc, and Cloudwalk Tech-
nology.
Armed with graduates from
top American universities and
former employees of foreign
tech titans such as Google Inc
and Microsoft Corp, the four
startups are scrambling to
deploy their technology in
commercial applications
through in-house research
and development as well as
partnerships with established
players.
Security and finance are two
of the most important sectors
that the four firms are tapping
See GIANTS page 14
Inside
See related story > p16
Estimated market size Estimated market size technology reporter three
of China’s AI segment of China’s AI-related years ago, when Google’s
in 2030 businesses in 2030 “Don’t be evil” motto
impressed me no end.
After all, technology giants’
products and services are
omnipresent, which makes
them powerful. You want to
be careful — even an inad-
vertent mistake, like, say,
Facebook’s recent data
breach scandal, could land
one in potential legal trouble.
Over the years, as I deep-
ened my understanding of
the tech industry, I discerned
that forward-looking compa-
nies don’t just sit passively to
avoid mistakes.
Instead, they believe a bet-
ter option is to make use of
cutting-edge technologies
like facial recognition to
empower ordinary people
and make a difference to
their lives.
Like, it could bring about a
reunion of parents and their
long-lost children trafficked
27 years ago.
Mind you, that’s not an
example but a true story. Fu
15,000 Share of each country: Gui found his parents thanks
to AI and facial recognition
Total number of technology.
China 55%
disclosed Details: Both Fu and his
computer vision US 17% father started to search for
patents so far Others 28% each other several years ago.
They even registered their
information on Baobeihuijia,
or Baby Come Home, a volun-
The Big Four unicorns in China’s computer teer-run website dedicated to
finding lost young people.
vision segment However, what took their
reunion so long was that the
Money raised in the latest information they posted
Founded in
online was hugely different,
which could not result in
Megvii 2011 $460 million automated matching of their
Yitu 2012 Undisclosed requests.
Fu’s post said he was born
SenseTime 2014 $410 million in April 1986 and went “miss-
Cloudwalk 2015 $396 million ing”, kidnapped by human
traffickers in Fujian province
in 1991.
In his post, the father said
Market size of China’s facial recognition Fu was born in November
segment in recent years, and future projections 1984 and went missing in
1990 from a village in Chong-
units: billion yuan; “e” = estimated qing, about 1,700 kilometers
away from the location Fu
registered online.
Yet, against all odds, AI
brought about their reunion
by overcoming the inconsist-
1.7 2.2 2.8 3.5 4.3 5.1 ent information.
The facial recognition
2016 2017 e2018 e2019 e2020 e2021
technology can compare
images of a person over a
Sources: A report from venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and ZhenFund; period of time at different
the Qianzhan Market Research Institute. ages. An AI company called
MA XUEJING AND SU JINGBO / CHINA DAILY Baidu and Baobeihuijia fed
into their facial recognition
system tens of thousands of
pictures. Next, the system
95 percent
of missing people now
reunite with their sepa-
rated family members
with the help of AI tech-
nology
crunched all that data and
identified 10 groups of photos
that were possibly of the
same people.
Fu was one of them. DNA
tests followed. Fu’s identity
was established and he was
able to reunite with his par-
ents.
That’s just one example of
how facial recognition is
being used across China to
help track missing senior citi-
zens and kids sold by human
traffickers.
With the increasing use of
AI in China’s public security
bureaus, more and more fam-
ilies that had lost all hope of
finding their lost loved ones,
are again becoming hopeful.
A rescue management sta-
tion in Shanghai helps nearly
1,000 people every year with
crucial information leading
to their true identity. In the
past two years, using facial
recognition and other tech-
nologies, officials have
helped about 95 percent of
such people to find their lost
or separated family members
or reach their hometowns,
according to China Central
Television.
Every time I cover such
news or read such stories, I
get overwhelmed by joyful
tears all around.
It’s perhaps needless to say
then: if properly used and
privacy is well protected, new
technologies can make a pos-
itive difference to people’s
lives.
Nowhere could this be tru-
er than in China where about
500,000 senior citizens go
missing every year. Stated dif-
ferently, some 1,370 senior
people go missing every day
on average, according to a
2016 report from a rescue
organization affiliated to the
Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Of course, from technology
companies’ standpoint, this
spells business opportunities.
The security sector, which
includes the public security
bureaus, is now one of the
most active users of sophisti-
cated AI products and servi-
ces in China.
Who could possibly com-
plain when technology pro-
duces both public good and
profits?

Yitu’s apps give security the technological edge

By MA SI
masi@chinadaily.com.cn
Zhu Long remembers clear-
ly how he got the first order for
his company Yitu Technology,
a Shanghai-based startup
focusing on computer vision
technology.
That was 2012 when Zhu, a
postdoctoral fellow at the
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, just returned to
China. He chose the security
industry as the starting point
to build his own business.
But with no clients and with-
out any background in indus-
try, Zhu ran into trouble — until
he managed to have a three-
minute conversation with a
deputy chief of a public security
bureau in a Chinese city.
“He was too busy to listen to
what I had prepared, and just
said, ‘Now our computer sys-
tem can barely recognize 30
percent of false car registra-
tion plates. If you can boost
the figure to over 70 percent,
we will use your technology’,”
Zhu recalled.
Three months later, Yitu
clinched the deal. Yitu offered
a system that boasts recogni-
tion accuracy of 90 percent. Its
success highlights how impor-
tant technological superiority
is to crack open a traditional
sector dominated by estab-
lished players.
“Though difficult to make
the first step, the security
industry is the native soil to
nurture facial recognition
technologies, for police
... the security
industry is the
native soil to nur-
ture facial recogni-
tion technologies.”
Zhu Long, founder of Shanghai-
based Yitu Technology
departments often have a
huge demand for real-time
image-matching services, and
they deal with tons of data that
can help train our system,”
Zhu said.
That initial success helped
Yitu to get a foothold in the
multibillion dollar security
industry.
To better penetrate the sec-
tor, Yitu forged a joint venture
in 2016 with Synthesis, a firm
that specializes in identity rec-
ognition solutions and boasts
years of experience in the sec-
tor.
The joint venture will inte-
grate Yitu’s AI algorithms into
Synthesis’ hardware to offer
better services.
Xiang Yang, an AI expert at
the China Center for Informa-
tion Industry Development,
said application scenarios are
of vital importance for AI
companies, for differences
such as light in diverse envi-
ronments can affect the accu-
racy of facial recognition
systems.
“So, the key is to have deep
understanding of each appli-
cation scenario, and come up
with best solutions according-
ly. Teaming up with experi-
enced players is a way to
quickly achieve that,” Xiang
said.
Yitu is also marching into Consumers need to either scan a QR code using their smart-
other sectors such as finance, phones or pass through gates that use facial recognition technolo-
transportation and health- gy to enter JD’s X supermarket in Xi’an, Shaanxi province.
care. In May, it raised 380 mil- YUAN JINGQUAN / FOR CHINA DAILY
lion yuan ($60,000) in its
Series C round of funding, led
by Yunfeng Capital, a private its first such facility outside of startup to expand across the
equity firm backed by Alibaba China. world.
founder Jack Ma, and Sequoia The hub is expected to bol- “Singapore is a strategic
Capital. ster Singapore’s applications location for us to begin our
The company plans to set of AI in the areas of security overseas ventures,” Zhu said,
up a research and develop- and finance. Singapore will adding Europe and Africa will
ment hub in Singapore soon, likely act as a gateway for the be tapped next.
14 BUSINESS
GOING GLOBAL
Keeping guitar market on a string
Zunyi Shenqu’s
brand-building
proves music to
Zheng’an’s ears
By OUYANG SHIJIA
in Beijing
and YANG JUN in Guiyang
New York City’s Times
Square is home to one of the
most happening public-space
advertising hot spots. That’s
where Zheng’an International
Guitar Industry Park, from
Southwest China’s Guizhou
province, displayed its adver-
tisement on a giant electronic
billboard for a week in Janu-
ary. The ad highlighted the
park’s strong determination to
expand its business overseas.
Zunyi Shenqu Instrument
Manufacturing Co Ltd is
among a growing number of
companies based in Zheng’an
county that helped create one
of the largest guitar-making
hubs in western China. It is
now seeking to gain momen-
tum in its global expansion.
Currently, the industry park
is home to 19 guitar manufac-
turers and 10 enterprises that
support the guitar-making
industry.
Last year, 5.01 million gui-
tars were produced in the
park, generating an economic
output of 5 billion yuan ($792
million), according to official
data. The park exported 2.25
million guitars in 2017,
accounting for more than one-
third of China’s total guitar
exports.
Today, Zheng’an-made gui-
tars cover around 30 percent
of the US market, 40 percent
of the Brazil market and 20
percent of the Asian market,
said the local government.
Betting big on a further
boom in the guitar market
worldwide, Zunyi Shenqu and
other manufacturers are now
gearing up to build a world-
class brand for the park and
gain the top spot in the global
market. They aim to produce
10 million guitars and create
an economic output of 10 bil-
lion yuan in the next few years.
After years of development,
Zunyi Shenqu, a supplier of six
of top ten global guitar brands,
has now made a name and
money for itself.
Zheng Chuanjiu, a former
farmer and general manager
of Zunyi Shenqu, claimed the
company produced over
600,000 guitars last year and
the revenue rose to more than
200 million yuan.
Of the total output, over 90
percent were made for over-
seas markets, including the
United States, Brazil and Afri-
ca. The figure is expected to
surge to around 700,000 this
Facial recognition bolsters retail, banks
By MA SI and CHENG YU
Chinese consumers of beau-
ty products like masks and
skin care creams and lotions
may find in artificial intelli-
gence or AI technology a new
justification for indulgent
spending.
A consumer’s face is becom-
ing central to wider applica-
tions of the facial recognition
technology in sectors like
retail and finance.
A pretty face and a lovely
smile could make payments
quicker and easier at restau-
rants and other points of sale.
For, the facial recognition
technology works better when
a face has distinct features.
Take the KFC restaurant in
Hangzhou, Zhejiang province,
for example. Here, consumers
can process their payment
simply by smiling after plac-
ing their order at one of the
self-service screens. They
don’t need to bring cash and
credit cards.
The service was launched in
cooperation with Ant Finan-
cial, the finance affiliate of Ali-
baba Group Holding Ltd, and
Megvii Technology, a startup
specializing in facial recogni-
Clients from Brazil try out Zunyi Shenqu’s products at its factory in Zheng’an county of Guizhou province in October 2017.
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
Prospective customers from Russia visit the factory of Zunyi
Shenqu in Guizhou province in June 2017. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
year and the revenue is esti-
mated to exceed 400 million
yuan.
“In fact, we can’t really pro-
duce enough guitars to meet
the huge demand,” Zheng said.
“Recently, we added a new
production line and hired 300
new employees.”
Based in Zheng’an, one of
the poorest regions in South-
west China, Zunyi’s factory
employs nearly 900 workers,
and most of them were poor
neighborhood farmers not so
long ago.
“At first, people could hardly
believe that those profession-
al-grade brands were made by
a group of farmers in such a
mountainous rural area,”
Zheng said. “Actually, the
labor-intensive guitar manu-
facturing needs hardy, spirited
workers.”
Zheng himself is perhaps
the best example of unvar-
tion technology.
KFC’s self-service screens
are equipped with 3-D camer-
as that can scan a customer’s
face to verify identity. Con-
sumers can also input their
phone numbers to ensure
security.
Luo Na, a college student in
Hangzhou, said: “It’s really
cool. I often forget my wallet at
home. Occasionally, with a
beautiful smile, I can even get
a discount.”
That is the latest example of
how quickly consumers and
companies are embracing new
technologies in China.
The technology is finding
uses in financial services as
well.
Cloudwalk Technology Co
Ltd, a startup incubated by the
Chinese Academy of Sciences,
is helping banks to boost effi-
ciency by upgrading their
facial recognition technology
with machine learning.
“Artificial intelligence offers
us a good opportunity to boost
the accuracy of facial recogni-
tion, which can help banks
simplify procedures and
improve efficiency,” said Zhou
Xi, CEO of Cloudwalk.
When a customer walks into
nished genius that abounds in
the area. He has no idea how
to play a guitar; but he is famil-
iar with 186 procedures
involved in the production of a
guitar.
Back in 1995, Zheng, a jun-
ior high school graduate, left
his hometown Zheng’an and
went to Guangzhou, capital of
southern Guangdong prov-
ince, to work alongside his
brother at a local guitar facto-
ry.
The two brothers gradually
learnt the skills to produce
guitars. Their exquisite
craftsmanship earned them
promotions to managerial
positions.
In 2007, the brothers found-
ed their own factory; and in
2008, they received an order
for 2,000 guitars from Tagima,
the top brand in Brazil, via an
international guitar exhibi-
tion held in Shanghai. Since
A self-service machine incorporates facial recognition technology
and enables restaurant customers to order food in Hangzhou,
Zhejiang province, on Sept 1, 2017. LONG WEI / FOR CHINA DAILY
a bank branch, the company’s
facial recognition technology
can help bank employees
know whether he or she is a
VIP client, and what expres-
sions are on his or her face as
well as what meanings they
are suggesting.
Call it artificial emotional
intelligence, if you will.
Based on such information,
bank employees can optimize
their communication skills to
recommend appropriate
products to the customer.
Zhou said bank customers
can also withdraw money
Actually, the labor-
intensive guitar
manufacturing
needs hardy, spirit-
ed workers.”
Zheng Chuanjiu, general
manager of Zunyi Shenqu
then, their guitar business
kept growing and became a
runaway success.
Zheng said the key to their
success was the spirit of work-
manship, saying their produc-
tion lives up to a high
standard. And any defective
goods are destroyed, and nev-
er allowed to enter even the
discount-price sales stream.
Now he wants to take fur-
ther steps to improve the qual-
ity, working toward meeting
the highest international stan-
dards.
“To become an increasingly
influential player globally, we
aim to pursue high-quality
development in the future,”
Zheng said. “We will gradually
cut the low-priced guitars and
attach greater focus to mid-
dle- to high-end guitars so as
to better tap into the global
market.”
According to him, the low-
from ATMs using the system.
Consumers don’t have to bring
debit cards though phone
numbers or identity card
numbers are needed to ensure
security.
The company’s clients now
include big State-owned finan-
cial institutions such as Indus-
trial and Commercial Bank of
China and Bank of China.
In October, CloudWalk
inked a strategic deal with
Agriculture Bank of China,
which will deploy the
former’s facial recognition
technology at its about
end products are set to
account for less than 20 per-
cent of the total output this
year, compared to 30 percent
last year.
The original equipment
manufacturer or OEM busi-
ness has kept growing at a
high rate. Zheng is deter-
mined to build an own brand
called Benssica and develop
original high value-added
products.
In recent years, China has
been stepping up efforts in the
manufacturing sector to boost
productivity and economic
growth. Lei Jun, founder and
CEO of Chinese tech heavy-
weight Xiaomi Corp, recently
said that while quality repre-
sents hard power, product
design and user experiences
generate soft power — and
both are key to success in man-
ufacturing.
To cope with potential chal-
lenges, Zheng plans to orga-
nize a team of 20 senior
specialists to build the compa-
ny’s own brand. The company
will also recruit skilled college
graduates to use big data to
improve the operating effi-
ciently of the systems, in
terms of the supply chain,
pricing and the clients’
demand.
“I believe one day we will
build a national guitar brand
that is able to rival the top
international brands,” Zheng
said.
Contact the writers at ouyang-
shijia@chinadaily.com.cn
20,000 branches and outlets
in China.
Facial recognition technolo-
gy is also used in online bank-
ing. HSBC Holdings PLC, a
British multinational banking
and financial services holding
company, for instance, allows
customers to transfer up to
50,000 yuan ($7,515) per day to
new payees by combining facial
recognition with passwords on
the bank’s mobile app.
The app can perform an
instant scan of the current
user’s facial features, and the
user will be asked to make
some facial movements or
impressions, such as blink-
ing, eyeball rolling or a
swing of the head, chosen at
random.
This ensures the identity is
that of a real person not a pic-
ture in front of the camera,
which makes it safer than fin-
gerprint recognition. Accord-
ing to the data from HSBC’s
laboratory, the error rate in
facial recognition would be
around 1 out of a million, while
that for fingerprints is around
1 out of 50,000.
Contact the writers at
masi@chinadaily.com.cn
Monday, April 9, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION
Canon sharpens
focus on AI in
medical imaging
By JING SHUIYU
jingshuiyu@chinadaily.com.cn
Canon Medical Systems
(China) Co, the medical equip-
ment arm of Canon Inc, has set
up a research center in China
with over 100 laboratory tech-
nicians, and has plans to estab-
lish one more such facility.
Canon Medical executives
said they are driven by opti-
mism that the Chinese mar-
ket will offer many
opportunities to further
explore applications of artifi-
cial intelligence or AI in med-
ical imaging solutions.
They said demand for qual-
ity healthcare is rising among
China’s growing middle-in-
come earners and a section of
the population that is aging.
Matsuoka Shin, president
and CEO of Canon Medical,
said the company, formerly
known as Toshiba Medical
Systems Corp, is seeking
steady and sustainable
growth in the world’s second-
largest economy.
Camera producer Canon Inc
recently announced in Beijing
the official corporate name
change of its medical devices
unit, which was acquired from
Toshiba Corp for 665.5 billion
yen ($5.9 billion) in 2016.
The Beijing-based compa-
ny has the ability to enter
China’s medical market at a
fast pace, by maximizing the
combination of both its rich
management resources in
the local market and cutting-
edge technologies like sen-
sors and inkjet printing
techniques, Shin said at a
recent news conference.
Since its establishment in
1930, Canon Medical Sys-
tems has introduced a num-
ber of leading medical
Passengers enter the Beijing South Railway Station after pass-
ing through gates that use facial recognition technology on Feb
2, 2018. LIU GUANGUAN / CHINA NEWS SERVICE
Giants: Tech firms
see bright future
From page 13
into, for the market demand
is huge, and clients in the two
sectors are willing to write
big checks for good technolo-
gy as the data involved is
humongous, experts and
senior executives said.
SenseTime, for instance, is
using facial recognition and
crowd analysis to help public
security bureaus to analyze
and understand the moun-
tain of incoming video evi-
dence, to track suspects and
spot suspicious behaviors.
The Beijing-based compa-
ny, valued around $3 billion,
will also deploy its technolo-
gy at a new airport in Beijing,
which is under construction,
to simplify security checks.
“To leverage AI is like build-
ing a car. Advanced technolo-
gies function as an engine
while their applications are
the four wheels. It is the engine
that drives industrial revolu-
tion. But at the same time,
wheels are needed to push the
car to run faster,” said Xu Li,
CEO of SenseTime.
Claiming its facial recog-
nition error rate is 1 in 100
million, the 3-year-old com-
pany said its clients include
China Mobile, Union Pay,
and Huawei Technologies.
Currently, SenseTime has a
training database of 10 bil-
lion faces images and videos.
In March, the company
systems in partnership with
its customers worldwide.
With its global sales and
service network, it conducts
business around the world,
mainly providing diagnostic
imaging systems to about
140 countries and regions.
In China, Canon Medical
has been enhancing efforts to
stay at the forefront of apply-
ing AI in medical imaging
solutions, said Yue Changhai,
its senior vice-president.
According to Yue, Canon
Medical started to give prior-
ity to research and develop-
ment as early as four years
ago, and has set up in China a
R&D team dedicated to AI.
“We are planning to estab-
lish another R&D and train-
ing center in China, with
reach to Asian areas, in order
to meet the research and
clinical needs,” Yue told Chi-
na Daily on the sidelines of
the news conference.
The annual output of Chi-
na’s medical devices segment
rose 13 percent year-on-year
to 276.5 billion yuan ($43.98
billion) in 2016, according to
data compiled by the China
Association for the Medical
Devices Industry.
The growth rate of China’s
medical devices output was
much higher than that of the
global market, said Zhao
Changshan, chairman of
Zhongguancun Develop-
ment Group. He made the
remarks at the Design of
Medical Devices Conference
in Beijing last November.
China has become the
world’s second-largest medi-
cal equipment market, fol-
lowed by the United States,
Zhao was quoted as saying by
Stdaily.com, an affiliate of Sci-
ence and Technology Daily.
joined an initiative launched
by the Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology to
advance research into com-
puter vision, human intelli-
gence-inspired algorithms,
and medical imaging.
“AI is essentially to provide
an end-to-end solution,
which requires algorithms,
software, hardware, and
technology supporting each
other to form a complete
chain, in order to provide suf-
ficient value. This kind of
long-chain competition is
the greatest challenge for us,”
said Yin Qi, CEO of Megvii.
The company succeeded in
raising $460 million from
select investors in October
2017. It is best known for
offering facial recognition
technology to Alipay, the
country’s largest mobile pay-
ment app and an affiliate of
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Megvii is also expanding
its presence in the smart-
phone sector. Selfie app
developer Meitu uses it to
track facial features.
“The most important
aspect of AI is to combine
technology with application
scenarios. AI’s exploration
period will end this year. The
next five years will see an
explosion of commercial
applications. It’s possible
new tech giants will spring
from that explosion,” Yin
said.
 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018 BUSINESS 15

Energizing Chinese adventure spirit On the move

Meng, CFO, succeeds dad promoted to president for just

Jose Boisjoli leads BRP’s drive to introduce power products and leasing model for rough sports
By ZHONG NAN
zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn
Jose Boisjoli, president and
CEO of BRP, or Bombardier
Recreational Products Inc,
believes senior executives
must have outstanding ability
to manage their time well.
The head of the Quebec,
Canada-headquartered manu-
facturer of snowmobiles,
watercraft and off-road vehi-
cles, has a simple philosophy:
hard work and a balanced
approach are key to a success-
ful life.
Those three abilities — time
management, hard work and a
balanced approach — have
helped Boisjoli to push three
product lines into the China
market, where a consumption
upgrade and the run-up to the
2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
are proving to be timely
advantages.
Every time he visits China,
he can’t stop thinking about
how many Chinese cities
BRP’s products have yet to
reach. “We see China as a big,
big opportunity. We see it as a
must-have and not a nice-to-
have,” he said during an early
morning interview in Shang-
hai, after an overnight flight
from Xi’an.
An outdoor sports enthusi-
ast, Boisjoli said China is no
longer the distant outpost it
once was for BRP.
BRP is in talks with local
partners in Chongqing munic-
ipality and the three autono-
mous regions of Guangxi
Zhuang, Inner Mongolia and
Xinjiang Uygur to further
expand its dealership network
in China.
It also plans to introduce the
product leasing business in
China via tailor-made packa-
ges. Consumers can rent the
products on certain days or a
few weekends, instead of buy-
ing them. It’s a business model
that is fairly popular in North
Jose Boisjoli, president and CEO of Bombardier Recreational Products Inc, explains the company’s
China strategy during an interview in Shanghai this March. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
America and Europe.
“We will further expand
sales channels, develop new
products and sponsor well-
known sport activities to
enrich consumers’ need for
new lifestyles and holiday
choices, so they can know
more about our products,”
said Boisjoli, who is also a
board member of McCain
Foods Ltd, a Canadian food
company that operates 54
plants across the world.
The company supplied
snowmobiles to the Organiz-
ing Committee of the Pyeong-
chang Olympic Winter Games
in February and wants to
cooperate with the Organizing
Committee of the 2022 Beijing
Winter Olympics and Para-
lympics to offer its products
and expertise based on its
requirement.
The 2022 Games will be a
major step forward in China’s
winter sports and ice and
snow tourism sectors, said
Boisjoli, who joined BRP
almost 30 years ago.
Under Boisjoli’s leadership,
BRP saw its revenue jump 8
percent last year to reach $4.5
billion. It currently has
around 10,000 employees
worldwide.
BRP operates manufactur-
ing facilities in Canada, the
United States, Mexico, Fin-
land, and Austria, which pro-
duce motorized recreational
vehicles and power sports
engines, the kind often seen in
James Bond movies.
BRP has a global sales net-
work supported by 4,200 deal-
ers and distributors, including
31 in China. Boisjoli said this
figure will grow notably over
the next five years.
The company discovered
that the market demand has
been growing fast for personal
watercraft, as well as Can-Am
all-terrain vehicles in China. It
will export its Can-Am Spyder
three-wheel motorcycle prod-
ucts to China soon after receiv-
ing the necessary government
approvals.
As several ski resorts have
opened in northern China
over the past three years, more
snowmobiles will be needed in
those areas, Boisjoli said.
“We have constantly
deployed our resources and
manpower to develop differ-
ent products for each season.
This strategy is crucial to our
dealers, so they can sell differ-
ent products in different sea-
sons to maintain a promising
business.
“As the market competition
is still fierce in China, what
you need to succeed is reliable
local partners, great products
and to also ensure you have
good after-sales service.”
At present, BRP imports its
products into China, but if
China’s market is further
developed and generates
encouraging sales figures, the
company would consider set-
ting up manufacturing or
research facilities in the coun-
try, Boisjoli said.
“In overseas markets, espe-
cially in Europe and the US,
people have the adventure tra-
dition,” said Xia Hong, a mar-
keting professor at Beijing
Technology and Business Uni-
versity.
“We found a growing num-
ber of consumers, especially
middle-income earners and
millennials in China, have
adopted this (adventure-lov-
ing) lifestyle as they are will-
ing to pay more to enlarge
their experience in outdoor
activities and they want better
equipment,” she said.
The government is keen to
build a healthier nation and
eager to boost the outdoor
sports sector through infra-
structure and education. It
has already announced it will
build five national outdoor
sports centers, 50 mountain
trails with logistics facilities,
1,000 clubs for open-water
sports including canoeing and
sailing, and 2,000 aviation
camps for sports such as para-
gliding and skydiving by
2020.
So, high-end foreign pow-
ersports vehicles and pro-
pulsion systems, and
related investment, will be
consistent with the overall
trend and benefit China’s
economy in the long run,
Xia said.
as Huawei vice-chair
Ren Zhengfei, founder of
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a
Chinese smartphone maker,
stepped down as vice-chair-
man in late March. He was
succeeded by Meng Wanzhou,
chief financial officer. Inciden-
tally, Meng is Ren’s daughter.
Huawei said Meng helped
optimize financial manage-
ment and internal control in
recent years as the company
went global. Sun Yafang, who
has been the chairwoman for
19 years, also resigned last
month. She was replaced by
Liang Hua, former supervisory
board chairman.
Lei Fanpei steps into
Dong’s shoes at CSSC helm
Dong Qiang, 60, chairman
and Party chief of State-
owned manufacturing giant
China State Shipbuilding
Corp Ltd, stepped down last
month, along with the com-
pany’s general manager and
deputy Party chief Wu Qiang.
Lei Fanpei, until recently
chairman and Party chief of
China Aerospace Science and
Technology Corp, took Dong’s
post. CSSC was reportedly in
heavy losses in recent years
with its major listed branch
losing about 5 billion yuan
($800 million) in 2016 and
2017. Before the executive
appointments, during the
ongoing SOE reform, it con-
verted debt into equity by
offering eight investors stakes
to ease the tension.
Li in driver’s seat after JDB
sacks two executives
China’s non-alcoholic bever-
age producer JDB Group
sacked its president Wang
Qiang and deputy general
manager Xu Jianxin in March.
Senior manager Li Chunlin
was appointed new president.
In the past, Wang worked as
general manager for market-
ing at the company’s Guang-
dong branch. He was
seven months. Li said JDB will
save on costs, expand profit
and blend its resources in
order to get listed in three
years.
Meituan Dianping hires
Chen to lead retail, B2B
China’s dining information
website Meituan Dianping
appointed Chen Xudong (pic-
tured) as senior vice-presi-
dent, in charge of retail and
business-to-business or B2B
divisions. The
former
includes
fresh food,
takeout and
delivery,
while the lat-
ter mainly aims to facilitate
small and micro shop owners
with digital technologies.
Chen graduated from Peking
University, and was former
senior manager of tech giant
Lenovo, and also served San-
power Group, where he led its
computer, communication
and consumer electronics
business.
Wang Yajun leaves Longfor
for key Zhongnan role
Wang Yajun, 47, after
resigning as general manager
of strategic development of
Longfor Group, a property
operator, in February, has
joined real estate company
Zhongnan Group as chief
strategy officer in March.
Wang joined Longfor in 2012.
Before that, he worked with
Dow Chemical, the world’s
second-largest chemical
company, and global man-
agement consultant McKin-
sey & Co. Zhongnan moved
its headquarters from Nan-
tong, Jiangsu province, to
Shanghai in 2016, and hired
Chen Kai as its chairman,
who worked as a senior man-
ager at several property
developers in the past.
CHINA DAILY—AGENCIES

Advertorial

Zeiss launches latest solutions focused on eye care innovation

By LI YOU
liyou@chinadaily.com.cn
German precision optics manufacturer
Zeiss launched its latest innovations for
eyecare experts at the 18th China (Shang-
hai) International Optics Fair, including
the Zeiss Myopia Management and Zeiss
UVProtect technology.
“The North Star of Zeiss is the success of
our customers”, said Matthias Metz, presi-
dent and CEO of Zeiss Vision Care.
“Zeiss has been pioneering optics for
more than 170 years. Research and devel-
opment teams work intensively to deliver
solutions that are tailored to the needs of
our customers.”
As one of the world’s leading eyeglass
lens manufacturers, Zeiss Vision Care
combines medical and ophthalmological
expertise in a unique way. “Thus we serve
eyeglass lens wearers with innovations that
provide them with the best possible vision
experience and solutions for healthy eyes,”
Metz said.
Zeiss opticians are equipped with state-
of-the-art technology for eye exams, refrac-
tion, centration and lens consultation.
“The whole process from vision test, lens
calculation and manufacturing to fitting
the lens into the frame can be done with
Zeiss precision technology. So we ensure
that the consumer really gets his or her
individually optimized vision experience,”
Metz said.
In 2018, Zeiss will launch a myopia man-
agement lens portfolio and Zeiss UVProtect
for all clear lenses, both innovations for
clear sight and healthy eyes, demonstrating
the company’s ability to combine medi-
cal and optical expertise in state-of-the-art
products.
Myopia, especially progressive myopia,
has become an epidemic, especially among
young people below the age of 20 in China
and across Asia, negatively affecting quality
of life, education and well-being.
The causes of myopia are manifold, but
modern lifestyles and the extensive use of
digital devices and artificial light lead to
increased prevalence of the condition.
Zeiss invests heavily in the development
of myopia management solutions. Con-
sidering that children need special care
for healthy eye development and the good
development of their vision, Zeiss has
launched a portfolio of myopia manage-
ment lenses specially designed for children
aged 6 to 12 years. Zeiss MyoKids and Zeiss
Matthias Metz, president and CEO of Zeiss Vision Care, speaks at the 18th China (Shanghai) International Optics Fair.
Peng Wei, managing director of Zeiss Vision
Care China
MyoVision Pro were designed to help man-
age myopia and progressive myopia.
Peng Wei, managing director of Zeiss
Vision Care China, said that parents need to
be aware of their children’s quality of vision
and should have their eyes tested regularly
to prevent conditions such as myopia occur-
ring or becoming more severe.
For myopic children, the next step is to
make sure that they get the right, individu-
ally optimized glasses, Peng said.
It is scientifically proven that a lack of
time outdoors and exposure to natural light
in combination with the long use of smart-
phones and other digital devices are risk
factors for myopia. Therefore it is recom-
mended for children to spend some time
outdoors daily to reduce the risk of myopia
progression.
One of the biggest threats to long-term
eye health is ultraviolet radiation, which
can cause cataracts, glaucoma, macular
degeneration, and photokeratitis.
According to the company, common
industry standards for UV protection do not
cover the full range of exposure, extending
to only 380 nanometers, when 40 percent
of all exposure comes within the range of
380 to 400 nanometers. Many consumers
believe that UV is only a threat during sun-
shine, but UV rays reach the earth and eyes
also when it is cloudy or overcast.
Zeiss has integrated UVProtect technol-
ogy in all of its clear organic lenses so that
mized for car drivers, Zeiss EnergizeMe is
a special design for contact lens wearers
and ZeissDigital Lenses are designed for
the everyday digital life for the elderly with
pre-presbyopic conditions.
“Along with the changing needs of cus-
tomers in their daily work or entertain-
ment, we can tailor our products into vari-
ous fields such as learning, sports and fit-
ness,” Peng said.
Zeiss, founded in 1846, has long been
regarded as a global technology leader and
is active in semiconductor manufactur-
ing technology, industrial measurement,
microscopy, medical technology and vision
care.
Since 1912, the company has been devel-
oping and manufacturing medical technol-
ogy and vision care solutions. Many ground-
breaking innovations have been introduced
by Zeiss in this time, for instance precision
lenses, antireflection coating, wave front
technology for objective eye refraction and,
in 1992, the first digital centration device for
the optical store.
The Zeiss Group is 100 percent owned
by the Carl Zeiss Foundation, established
in 1889, which is committed to supporting
and funding societal and scientific progress.
Zeiss has been practicing responsibility
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY regarding products, value chain and cus-
tomers, but also fostering social and scien-
tific development as well as preserving the
consumers are fully UV protected anytime environment for more than 100 years.
they wear Zeiss lenses, be they clear or
tinted lenses.
Especially remarkable about Zeiss UVPro-
tect is the fact that the lenses are fully trans-
parent and ensure natural vision. This sets
a new standard for all clear spectacle lenses
and helps millions of people to protect their
eyes and to avoid the harm of UV rays on
their sight and eyes.
“Our solutions focus on enabling our
customers, the eye care professionals, to
provide consumers with individually per-
fect vision,
“Our solutions include a complete set of
devices and software platforms for subjec-
tive and objective refraction, for eye exam
and precise positioning of lenses into the
frame, which are supported by software
systems so that the eye care professional has
all data and consumer consultation tools at
hand on his tablet,” Peng said.
Zeiss develops and markets functional
lenses to meet different needs and help
people to see better. For instance, Zeiss
DriveSafe is an all-day lens especially opti-
16 BUSINESS
Chinese agri firms grow in B&R markets
Despite his reluctance to
leave his two-month-old son,
Chinese farmer Duan Lin flew
to Tajikistan in March.
It was the fourth time that
Duan, one of 16 Chinese man-
agers on a 1,670-hectare Tajik
farm, had flown to the Central
Asian country after the Chinese
Lunar New Year.
Before being sent to Tajikis-
tan in 2015 as a technical
adviser, Duan, 30, worked as
an agricultural technology
promotion employee at
Huangfanqu Farm, where his
grandfather and father had
also worked.
The Huangfanqu Farm
was established in 1951 based
on a large parcel of land in
Xihua and Fugou counties in
China’s central Henan prov-
ince. The land was flooded by
the Yellow River, China’s sec-
ond longest, in the 1930s due
to war and became unsuita-
ble for farming because of
high soil salinity.
After three generations of
efforts, the 6,670 hectares of
land became arable again. In
recent years, the farm started
to seek expansion opportuni-
ties along the ancient Silk
Road trade routes.
“The State-owned farm
could hardly support its work-
force of 30,000 people. New
growth drivers were urgently
needed,” said Zhai Jinzhong,
director of the farm’s overseas
investment department.
About 10 years ago, the
farm’s officials visited coun-
tries including Namibia,
Uganda, Cambodia and Myan-
mar to seek potential invest-
ment opportunities, said Zhai.
In 2013, the same year China
proposed the Belt and Road
Initiative, the farm established
subsidiaries in Tajikistan and
Ukraine. Now the farm grows
wheat, corn and cotton in
Tajikistan and raises cows in
Ukraine.
In Tajikistan, the farm has
invested more than 200 mil-
Employers put emphasis on hiring top AI talent
By CHEN MEILING
chenmeiling@chinadaily.com.cn
In 2017, after 11 years of
study in the United States, a
period topped by a master’s in
computer science from Har-
vard University, Tang Yuhan,
26, decided to return to home-
land China.
He said he was more than
satisfied to join an artificial
intelligence or AI startup in
Beijing. AI, he said, helped
realize his dream of being “a
surfer riding the waves of
China’s new era”.
“I already missed the
chance to see how the internet
reshaped the country in the
past decades. I don’t want to
miss this,” he said. “It’s a tech-
nology that will be seen in
every aspect of life in the
future.”
AI appeared in this year’s
Government Work Report for
a second time. The report said
China would strengthen
research and applications of
AI in fields like medical care,
education, culture and sports.
Globally, too, AI is making
waves, and creating a dire
need for skilled professionals.
There are only about 300,000
globally, while the demand is
for more than 1 million AI pro-
fessionals, according to a
report released by the Tencent
Research Institute and online
Communication skills, English lessons spur local traders to think global
GUANGZHOU — Ma Jieyao,
the owner of a small stall in a
wholesale market for garments
in the city of Guangzhou, south
China’s Guangdong province,
didn’t speak any English two
months ago.
But now, after a few lessons
in “Shop English”, she is no
longer afraid of facing foreign
buyers.
This particular variety of the
English language course is all
about price inquiries, bargain-
ing, payment and delivery
terms. The speakers pay little
An employee harvests wheat at the Huangfanqu Farm.
2013
Year when the State-
owned Huangfanqu Farm
established subsidiaries
in Tajikistan and Ukraine.
Yangling Agricultural
Hi-Tech Industrial Zone
has operations in Kazakh-
stan and Kyrgyzstan.
lion yuan ($31.6 million) in
improving infrastructure and
building cotton processing
plants. As a result, its average
output of cotton reached 3.5
tons per hectare, 50 percent
higher than local levels.
People visit the Baidu exhibition stand at the Light of the Internet
Expo in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
recruitment platform Boss
Zhipin in December.
Demand rose more than five
times from 2015 to 2017 since a
mass of companies began to
enter this field, the report said.
According to local media
reports that quoted govern-
ment officials, China alone
needs more than 5 million
workers with AI skills in the
future, to support the boom-
ing industry.
Tang, the Harvard graduate,
said when he was searching
for jobs last year, almost all big
names of corporate China had
attention to grammar or pro-
nunciation — it’s a language of
getting things done.
“Now when I want to greet
buyers, I say, ‘Please have a
look,’ and I know how to show
them new things. I can say
‘last price’ and numbers,” said
Ma. “And I just learned ‘deliv-
ery’ and ‘warehouse’ today.”
The evolution of language
always reflects changes in the
economic and cultural land-
scape. With accelerating glo-
balization, foreign languages
are becoming more accessible
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
The farm in Tajikistan has
achieved full mechanization
and two harvests of corn and
wheat per year, a shift from the
country’s “one harvest per
year” tradition.
“When Chinese agricul-
ture goes global, it is not just
renting land. It is quite com-
prehensive, including
exchanges in trade and tech-
nology,” said Han Yijun, a
professor with China Agri-
cultural University.
As the Belt and Road Initia-
tive pushes ahead, China is
encouraging its agricultural
firms to expand overseas and
promote agricultural trade
with countries and regions
along the Silk Road Economic
sought to make campus place-
ments, including Baidu Inc,
which launched a new round
of overseas recruitment from
March to April, the golden
months for job hunting.
It plans to search for talent
in nine top universities in the
US, to fill positions related to
machine learning, data min-
ing and computer vision algo-
rithms, according to the
company’s recruitment adver-
tisement.
However, according to Tang,
though more than 70 percent
of his classmates chose AI-re-
and approachable.
Simplified forms of business
language like the Shop English
course are becoming increas-
ingly popular among traders
in Guangzhou, China’s south-
ern trade hub and home to
about 1,000 wholesale mar-
kets.
Hundreds of thousands of
people are looking for busi-
ness opportunities there.
“If I can talk to a foreigner
directly, both of us will be hap-
py,” Xia Mingyue, another
shop owner, told Xinhua. Xia
Belt and the 21st-Century Mar-
itime Silk Road.
Many companies and agri-
cultural research institutes
have answered the call. The
Chinese Academy of Agricul-
tural Sciences has introduced
61 agricultural products and
technologies to countries par-
ticipating in the Belt and Road
Initiative.
Yangling Agriculture
Hi-Tech Industrial Zone, a
national-level high-tech devel-
opment zone in Shaanxi prov-
ince, has established modern
agricultural demonstration
parks in Kazakhstan and Kyr-
gyzstan and signed agreements
with over 20 countries to deep-
en agricultural cooperation.
Competition
among AI
firms has turned to
a scramble for
talent.”
Liu Wanqian, CEO and founder
of PlusAI
lated companies, only 10 per-
cent came to China.
“Competition among AI
companies has turned to a
scramble for talent,” said Liu
Wanqian, CEO and founder of
PlusAI, a startup specializing
in autonomous driving. It
boasts a road test license in
California.
Liu said the company
needs 50 to 100 new AI per-
sonnel every year, to take up
jobs involving examination
of driving conditions and
development of automatic
braking.
“Solid educational back-
ground in basic AI-related
subjects, including mathemat-
ics, computer programming
and statistics is a necessity,” he
said.
Liu did not share details
started taking Shop English
classes two years ago. “It will
save time and money. Hiring
an interpreter could be expen-
sive. Why not spend that mon-
ey making the quality better or
the packaging prettier?”
Xia doesn’t watch Holly-
wood movies or listen to
English songs, but she can sell
her clothes to Eastern Europe
or Latin America.
Xiao Wuwei, founder of an
English training school, said
that more than 2,000 people
took its “Shop English” course
“When we first came here,
there were only two Chinese
agricultural companies in
Tajikistan and now there are
at least five. The Central Asian
region has become a hot
investment destination for
Chinese agricultural firms,”
said Duan.
“As more countries recog-
nize the Belt and Road Initia-
tive, I believe more Chinese
agricultural firms will go out
and promote agricultural tech-
nology to benefit countries and
regions participating in the
Belt and Road Initiative,” said
Gao Fei, a professor at China
Foreign Affairs University.
XINHUA
about the salaries of his AI spe-
cialists, but said they are
roughly 20 to 50 percent high-
er than that of traditional
technicians.
According to recruitment
website Zhaopin, Meituan
Waimai, a food delivery firm,
offers 20,000 yuan ($3,164) to
25,000 yuan per month to AI
product managers.
For similar positions, Baidu
provides a monthly salary ran-
ging from 20,000 yuan to
30,000 yuan, according to
Zhaopin.
Du Lan, senior vice-presi-
dent of iFlytek Co Ltd, an AI
company in China, said it
trains former technicians to
become new AI profession-
als.
About 48 percent of its
9,000 employees are research-
ers in fields such as intelligent
voice recognition, machine
learning and natural language
understanding.
“Like water and electrici-
ty, AI will enter every indus-
try and family in the
future,” she said. “China has
already taken a leading role
in many innovations of this
technology.”
In order to meet the grow-
ing demand, Du said an educa-
tional system is required
covering primary schools to
vocational schools and univer-
sities.
in 2017. His oldest student was
a 73-year-old man who sells
glasses.
Xiao’s school introduced a
program called “Cross-border
E-commerce English” two
years ago to help stall keepers
do business with foreigners
online.
Liu Guodong is the teacher
who designed the new pro-
gram. He is also a part-time
businessman himself.
“When you do business at
your stall, you’re actually wait-
ing for the buyers to come,” Liu
Monday, April 9, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION
Short video
apps seek to
go overseas
Douyin’s ambitious plan, billions of
monthly views, millions of users
signal potential of emerging segment
By CHEN MEILING
chenmeiling@
chinadaily.com.cn
Douyin, a Chinese app
that publishes short videos,
announced it will go global
this year and cover markets
like Japan, South Korea and
Southeast Asia.
Its investor Jinri Toutiao,
a news aggregating app,
bought another domestic
short video app musical.ly,
which mainly covers the
United States’ market, in
November.
Douyin is a Vine-like app
that is popular in Western
countries. It allows users to
shoot videos no longer than
15 seconds. It provides basic
guidelines for production. It
boasts a massive music
library.
Users usually imitate
scenes in movies and TV
operas in an exaggerated
manner, or dance to music
with a strong sense of
rhythm — all to evoke a few
laughs among the viewers.
“Short videos can meet
young people’s demand to
follow the fashion, show
themselves in front of cam-
era and communicate with
others, with a low techno-
logical barrier,” said Ma
Shicong, an analyst with
market consultancy Anal-
ysys.
Backed by Jinri Toutiao
since 2016, Douyin now has
more than 62 million
monthly active users. It
received 3.8 billion video
views in February, data from
Analysys showed.
Wang Xiaowei, product
manager of the app, said at
an online news conference
in March that more resour-
ces would be invested to
offer content about travel,
fashion, sports, games and
pets, to attract international
audiences.
Toutiao had adopted the
same strategy this year.
Besides funny videos,
many netizens upload vid-
eos showing food at restau-
rants, scenery of tourist
attractions or experience of
learning some folk art.
Such videos help attract
visitors to those destina-
tions, Wang said.
“There is much space to
explore in the overseas mar-
ket too,” Wang said.
Douyin, the Chinese short videos app.
said. “But things are different
online. You have to promote
your goods, write attractive
product descriptions, and deal
with inquiries both before and
after sales, so there are many
things to learn.”
Xiao is planning to optimize
the school’s curriculum and
develop programs on “Logis-
tics English”, “Design English,”
and “Intellectual Property
Rights English”.
At the same time, he has
launched “Shop Spanish,”
“Shop Arabic” and “Shop Rus-
Market value of China’s
short videos segment
reached about 5.73 billion
yuan ($900 million) in 2017,
up 184 percent year-on-year.
It is expected to surpass 30
billion yuan in 2020, accord-
ing to a report from consult-
ancy iResearch.
Besides Douyin, Toutiao
also has other short video
apps, such as Xigua and
Huoshan.
Toutiao team’s biggest
competitor Kuaishou still
dominates domestic market
with more than 202 million
monthly active users,
according to Analysys.
Internet giants Baidu Inc,
Tencent and Alibaba Group
also have a presence in this
market.
Ma said the short videos
market saw a speedy devel-
opment in China from late
2016 through 2017 and the
market is still expanding
with more participants
expected from various
industries.
However, none of the apps
has broken even, according
to Ma.
“The costs in video indus-
try are very high with regard
to brand-building, traffic
attraction and promotion,”
she said.
She also said most of the
apps seek to make profit
through advertising reve-
nue, membership fee or val-
ue-added services.
Since a video is very short,
the medium is suitable for
high-impact advertising, she
said.
“Advertisers are showing
interest, although some-
times it’s hard to tell wheth-
er it’s pure content or
advertisements that you are
viewing.”
In terms of future devel-
opment, Ma suggested com-
panies should improve data
analysis to push more tailor-
made content for different
individuals as per their spe-
cial interests.
Besides, they should guide
users to produce more vid-
eos on their own instead of
just watching others’ prod-
ucts to strengthen interac-
tion.
She said the short video
format will welcome more
business potential in various
fields like e-commerce, social
media and entertainment.
PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
sian” for stall keepers, as well as
“Shop Chinese” and even “Shop
Cantonese” for foreign buyers,
as the Belt and Road Initiative
proposed by China has drawn
more people and capital.
Ding Hongchao, associate
professor at Guangzhou Panyu
Polytechnic, pointed out that
cross-border e-commerce will
soon become the major form
of international trade, and
small stall keepers must adapt
themselves to the trend.
XINHUA
 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018 Markets | BUSINESS 17

Banks foster new growth drivers NPL classification

Retail banking,
set to get accurate
consumer finance, By JIANG XUEQING
jiangxueqing@
green lending chinadaily.com.cn

receive emphasis
By JIANG XUEQING
jiangxueqing@
chinadaily.com.cn
Listed large and medium-
sized Chinese commercial
banks are trying hard to fos-
ter new drivers of growth.
They are putting greater
emphasis on retail banking
and emerging business divi-
sions like consumer finance
and green lending.
China Construction Bank
Corp, the country’s second-
largest commercial lender
by assets, recently
announced that its personal
consumer loans reached
192.7 billion yuan ($30.6 bil-
lion) as at the end of 2017, up
a whopping 157 percent
year-on-year.
Its green lending, which
aims to reduce pollution
through financial support
for environmentally friendly
businesses, also increased by
13 percent to more than 1
trillion yuan.
Wang Zuji, president of
China Construction Bank,
said at a news conference in
Beijing late last month:
“Consumption has become
an increasingly strong driv-
ing force for economic
growth, and we consider
retail banking, especially
consumer finance, as a very
important direction that
bank loans will head for.”
CCB highlighted the
importance of retail banking
as a way to acquire low-cost
funds, Wang said, especially
when commercial banks are
facing strong challenges in
finding sources of funds at a
low cost due to the booming
wealth management solu-
tions and fintech (financial
technology) companies.
Like CCB, many other list-
ed commercial banks also
enhanced their business
model of mega retail and
mega asset management.
A staff member of an ICBC outlet in Zhengzhou, Central China’s Henan province, serves a customer of wealth management products.
Large listed Chinese banks are putting greater emphasis on emerging business segments. SHA LANG / FOR CHINA DAILY
192.7
billion yuan
China Construction Bank
Corp’s personal consumer
loans at the end of 2017
3 ment business increased by
trillion yuan
Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China Ltd’s balance
of wealth management prod-
ucts at the end of 2017, up
11.4 percent year-on-year
Industrial and Commer-
cial Bank of China Ltd, the
country’s largest State-
owned commercial lender
by assets, registered a net
increase of 38 million retail
banking customers last year.
With a total of 88.59 million
credit card customers, ICBC
became the largest credit
card issuing bank in terms of
customer number in China.
Its balance of wealth man-
agement products exceeded
3 trillion yuan as at the end
of 2017, up 11.4 percent from
the previous year, and the
income from asset manage-
8.6 percent.
At China CITIC Bank Corp
Ltd, a Beijing-headquar-
tered national joint-stock
commercial lender, the con-
tribution of retail banking to
its net non-interest income
increased by 40 percent
year-on-year in 2017, as the
bank stepped up efforts for
business restructuring.
Last year, retail banking
generated 60 percent of Chi-
na CITIC Bank’s net non-in-
terest income, or 34.17
billion yuan. The bank’s
retail banking clients totaled
80 million, increasing at a
compound annual growth
rate of 17.1 percent from
2014.
Beginning this year, China
CITIC Bank is implementing
a new three-year develop-
ment plan. Previously, it
highlighted corporate bank-
ing as the main body and
retail banking and financial
markets business as the two
wings. But in the next three
years, the bank will strive for
balanced development of
corporate, retail and finan-
cial markets businesses.
“In particular, we will
transform from ‘One Body,
Two Wings’ to ‘Troika’, that is
to say, develop corporate
business by strengthening
its distinctive features and
cementing its competitive
advantages; develop retail
business by enhancing its
services and increasing its
value contribution; and
develop financial markets
business by activating mar-
kets and strengthening plat-
forms,” said its president
Sun Deshun in a letter to
shareholders on March 26.
Bank of China Ltd, the
country’s fourth-largest
commercial lender by assets,
also adjusted its credit struc-
ture, increasing loans to
domestic strategic emerging
industries by 48.7 billion
yuan from the previous year
to 493.1 billion yuan in 2017.
Chen Siqing, chairman of
BoC, said the bank will make
strides in the integration of
its banking institutes.
“Rather than competing
with other banks and fintech
companies by building up
our total assets, we’ll opti-
mize our assets, which cur-
rently stand at nearly 20
trillion yuan. We’ll reduce
capital occupation and
increase earnings from capi-
tal occupation by improving
the role of technology, so that
Bank of China will become a
bank on track for high-quality
development,” Chen said.
The recent move by China’s
top banking regulator to low-
er provisioning requirements
will encourage commercial
banks to classify nonper-
forming loans, or NPLs, more
accurately.
This will likely accelerate
loan impairment recognition
and help step up disposal of
distressed debt, said academ-
ics and agencies.
The requirements were
relaxed after the banking reg-
ulator increased supervision
over shadow banking and
interbank activities last year.
Nonbank credit channels,
including trust and entrusted
loans, are being tightened
along with nonstandard debt
products.
The tighter rules, along
with the implementation of
regulations on asset manage-
ment products, should lead to
continued unwinding of
financial sector leverage,
wealth management prod-
ucts and other businesses in
the sector, wrote Wang Tao,
chief China economist at UBS
Securities, in a recent report.
“Tight regulations on shad-
ow and interbank activities
are pushing credit back onto
banks’ balance sheets, which
is consuming bank capital
and dragging on profitability.
The asset migration scale
could be highly significant for
some banks over the coming
years, and may limit their
ability to lend. The latest
measures appear to be aimed
at providing some relief,” said
Fitch Ratings in a commen-
tary on March 9.
The regulator’s plans to
relax provisioning require-
ments and broaden the scope
of eligible capital instru-
ments provide greater scope
for banks to migrate non-loan
and off-balance-sheet assets
into loans. The lower provi-
sion requirement would also
allow banks to accelerate
loan impairment recognition,
said the international credit
rating agency Fitch.
The new rules ...
will help the bank-
ing sector present
a real picture of
financial risks.”
Xiong Qiyue, a research fellow
with the Institute of International
Finance, Bank of China
According to the regulator,
the provision coverage ratio
will be lowered to a range of
120 to 150 percent of NPLs,
from 150 percent. The loan
loss reserve ratio will also be
cut to a range of 1.5 to 2.5 per-
cent of loans from 2.5 per-
cent.
New requirements will
vary from bank to bank,
depending on the ratio of
NPLs to loans overdue for
more than 90 days, NPL
write-offs or disposals rela-
tive to new NPL formation,
and capital adequacy levels.
If a bank has calculated 100
percent of its loans that are
past due by more than 90
days as NPLs, the regulator
will lower requirements on
the bank’s provision coverage
ratio and its loan loss reserve
ratio to 120 percent and 1.5
percent, respectively.
“The new rules will encour-
age banks to count a larger
proportion of their loans that
are past due by over 90 days
as bad loans. This will help
the banking sector present a
real picture of financial risks,”
said Xiong Qiyue, a research
fellow with the Institute of
International Finance, which
is part of Bank of China.
Besides, banks’ annual NPL
write-offs or disposals will
need to be as large as the previ-
ous year to qualify them for a
reduced requirement.
“This implies banks would
need to actively resolve legacy
NPLs and recognize new NPLs
each year to stay compliant,”
Fitch said in its commentary.

Daily Stock Market Performance Gainers

Gainers
and and
Losers
Losers International Stock Markets
Daily YTD Daily Daily Daily YTD % Chg
Index Close % Chg % Chg GAINERS Close % Chg LOSERS Close % Chg Close % Chg –25% 0% +25%
Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index 3131.11 –0.2 –5.3 Hang Seng Index 29,844.94 1.1
Shanghai Stock Exchange
3600 Hang Seng China Ent Index 11,967.66 0.9
Gansu Dunhuang Seed Co 8.42 10.07 FangdaSpecialSteelTech 13.72 –16.39
3490 Xinjiang Bai Hua Cun 10.75 10.03 Wintime Energy Co Ltd 3.02 –10.12 TAIEX Taiwan Stock Index 10,821.53 –0.6
3380 Great-Sun Foods Co Ltd 33.19 10.01 Delixi Xinjiang Trans 35.60 –10.01 Nikkei 225 21,567.52 –0.4
Xinjiang Torch Gas Co 37.04 10.01 WuhanXianglngPwIndstry 6.57 –8.11 Sensex 33,564.52 –0.1
3270
Beijing Tricolor Tech 59.27 10.00 Bomesc Offshore Eng 19.71 –6.85 KOSPI 2,429.58 –0.3
3160 S&P/ASX 200 5,788.74 0.0
Wuxi Acryl Technology 47.74 10.00 BeijingJingchengMachEl 6.28 –6.82
3050 XuanchengValinPrecTech 25.64 10.00 ShanDngSwnCttnIndMchSt 21.73 –6.70 New Zealand 50 Gross Index 8,393.27 0.4
Yingkou Jinchen Mach 42.16 9.99 Cisen Pharmaceutical 25.48 –6.67 Straits Times Index STI 3,444.90 1.2
HeilongjiangAgricultre 12.77 9.99 Flying Technology Co 18.48 –6.10 Bangkok SET Index 1,739.92 0.9
ShanghaiHileBoTechnlgy 11.23 9.99 GuangdongChampionAsiEl 19.05 –5.93 Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index 1,835.43 0.0
Shenzhen Stock Exchange Component Index 10,684.56 –0.6 –3.2
VN-Index 1,199.96 0.6
11,700 Shenzhen Stock Exchange Dow Jones 24,505.22 1.0
11,200 Jiangsu Yanghe Brewery 111.44 6.98 Shaanxi J&R Optimum En 5.55 –10.05
Shandong Denghai Seeds 11.58 6.24 Beijing Kunlun Tech Co 22.80 –8.03
10,700 BoyaBio-pharmaceutical 36.52 5.46 Thunder Software Tech 34.61 –8.03 Commodities
10,200 Shenzhen Agriclt Prod 7.53 5.02 Hengyi Petrochemical 21.60 –7.73 Daily YTD % Chg
Vatti Corp Ltd 27.80 4.95 Beijing Thunisoft Corp 19.04 –7.12 Close % Chg –20% 0% +20%
9700 Zhuhai Port Co Ltd 9.32 4.60 Beijing VRV Software 5.16 –6.69 Brent Crude Oil (USD/bbl.) 68.16 –0.2
HenanShuanghuiInvst&Dv 25.60 4.36 HC SemiTek Corp 19.01 –5.89 Gold (USD/t oz.) 1328.50 –0.9
Henan Senyuan Electric 18.06 4.21 BeijingOrintNtCmmSc&Te 17.43 –5.83 Silver (USD/t oz.) 16.36 0.6
Wuliangye Yibin Co Ltd 69.90 4.14 Gosuncn Technology 14.00 –5.60 Copper (USD/lb.) 3.07 2.1
Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 Index 3854.86 –0.2 –4.4
Aluminum (USD/MT) 1991.75 0.8
Yealink Network Tech 129.83 4.09 Hangzhou Shunwang Tech 21.30 –5.12
4400 Corn (USD/bu.) 3.90 2.2
Hang Seng Wheat (USD/bu.) 4.65 2.0
4000 Sunny Optical Tech 143.00 3.55 WH Group Ltd 8.04 –3.37 Soybeans (USD/bu.) 10.31 1.6
China Unicom Hong Kong 10.02 3.09 Wharf RealEstate Invst 52.95 –2.13 Coffee (USD/lb.) 1.18 0.0
3600 Hang Seng Bank Ltd 184.00 2.79 Sands China Ltd 41.40 –1.19 Sugar #11 (USD/lb.) 0.12 –0.2
New World Development 11.26 2.74 China Mengniu Dairy Co 26.25 –1.13 Palm Oil (MYR/MT) 2501.00 1.2
3200 China Petroleum & Chem 7.20 2.56 Lenovo Group Ltd 4.03 –0.74

Cross Currency Rates ETFS

Shanghai B-Share Stock Price Index 325.36 –0.2 –4.8 Daily %
USD EUR CNY HKD GBP KRW BRL RUB JPY INR CAD EQUITY ETFs Ticker Close Change
365
USD 1.224 0.159 0.127 1.401 0.001 0.299 0.017 0.009 0.015 0.783 China 50 510050 2.69 0.04
355 China AMC CSI 300 Index 510330 4.17 –0.29
EUR 0.817 0.130 0.104 1.145 0.001 0.244 0.014 0.008 0.013 0.640
345 China CSI 500 510500 6.32 –0.82
335 CNY 6.303 7.713 0.803 8.829 0.006 1.886 0.109 0.059 0.097 4.932 China SME 159902 3.50 –0.91
HKD 7.850 9.604 1.245 10.993 0.007 2.347 0.136 0.073 0.121 6.142 China Universal CSI Consumer Staples Index 159928 2.21 2.26
325
GBP 0.714 0.874 0.113 0.091 0.001 0.214 0.012 0.007 0.011 0.559 E Fund ChiNext Price Index 159915 1.73 –1.81
315 E Fund CSI 300 510310 1.63 –0.06
KRW 1069.620 1307.370 169.692 136.266 1496.710 319.525 18.485 9.955 16.459 836.230
E Fund CSI 300 Financials ex Banks Index 512070 1.87 –0.59
BRL 3.346 4.096 0.530 0.426 4.684 0.003 0.058 0.031 0.051 2.617 E Fund Hang Seng China Enterprises Index 510900 1.22 –1.14
Shenzhen B-Share Stock Price Index 1147.58 +0.2 –1.4
E FUND SZSE100 INDEX FUND 159901 4.79 –0.06
RUB 57.815 70.732 9.169 7.366 80.967 0.054 17.288 0.538 0.888 45.238
1250 Fortune SGAM Xianjin Tianyi Money Market 511990 100.06 0.02
JPY 107.410 131.420 17.041 13.684 150.429 0.101 32.110 1.858 1.653 84.044
Guangfa CSI 500 510510 1.67 –0.71
1190 INR 64.989 79.506 10.310 8.279 91.013 0.061 19.427 1.124 0.605 50.850 Guotai Shanghai Stock Exchange 180 Financial Index 510230 5.96 –0.27
CAD 1.278 1.564 0.203 0.163 1.790 0.001 0.382 0.022 0.012 0.020 Harvest CSI 300 Index 159919 4.18 –0.29
1130 Huatai-Pinebridge CSI 300 510300 3.85 –0.26
Shanghai SSE180 510180 3.28 –0.06
Data provided by
1070 SSE Pledge Urban Investment Bond 511220 93.37 –0.02
A M J J A S O N D J F M Yinhua Traded Money Market Fund 511880 101.28 0.04
18 Monday, April 9, 2018
Motoring CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION
Regulations cement foundation for e-mobility
China to reduce the models eligible for purchase tax exemption and introduce stronger oversight to bolster long-term viability, Hao Yan reports.
S
tandards and regula-
tions are being intro-
duced in China’s new
energy vehicle sector to
provide a strong bedrock for
future growth and speed up the
popularity of electric cars.
To start, the world’s largest
car market is removing pur-
chase tax exemptions on new
energy vehicles that fail to be
put into mass production or
achieve import sales within one
year, according to an announce-
ment made earlier this month
by the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology.
The Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology said
that it will also enforce stricter
supervision and inspection on
new energy vehicle manufac-
turers, as well as penalize com-
panies that do not comply with
the new regulations.
These regulations have been
seen by industrial experts as a
move to clean up zombie com-
panies and those that are not
mass manufacturing vehicles
for the market.
It is believed that China is
laying down these fundamen-
tals in order to attract domestic
and foreign investment into the
new energy vehicle sector as
well as ensuring better develop-
ment in the future.
Zhang Junyi, a partner at Nio
Capital, a Wuhan-based new
energy industrial investment
enterprise, said that the stricter
regulations are welcome and
that obsolete production in the
sector needs to be dropped.
“The country is encourag-
A test driver removes his hands from the steering wheel of a Tesla Model S electric vehicle fitted with
self-driving technology. ANDREAS ARNOLD / BLOOMBERG
In self-driving cars, drivers and
standards are coming up short
Autonomous cars should be
required to improve their abil-
ity to detect potential hazards
and better ways are needed
to keep their human drivers
ready to assume control, auto
safety and technology experts
said after fatal crashes involv-
ing Uber Technologies Inc and
Tesla Inc vehicles in the United
States.
“Humans don’t have the
ability to take over the vehicle
as quickly as may be expected”
in those situations, said self-
driving expert and investor
Evangelos Simoudis.
In the Uber crash last
month, the ride services com-
pany was testing a fully driver-
less system intended for com-
mercial use when the proto-
type vehicle struck and killed a
woman walking across a road
in Arizona, the United States.
Video of the crash, taken
from inside the vehicle, shows
the driver at the wheel, who
appears to be looking down
and not at the road. Just
before the video stops, the
driver looks upwards toward
the road and suddenly looks
shocked.
In the Tesla incident last
month, which involved a car
that any consumer can buy,
a Model X vehicle was in
A representative shows how to charge up a BMW i3 electric car at an auto show in Shanghai. PEI XIN / XINHUA
ing the application of the latest
technologies and techniques
in producing green vehicles,”
Zhang said.
“The obsolete production is
based on out-of-date facilities
and many of them cost much
more to be upgraded or reju-
venated, than to build a brand
new plant.”
China has been the world’s
semi-autonomous Autopilot
mode when it crashed, kill-
ing its driver. The driver had
received earlier warnings to
put his hands on the wheel,
Tesla said.
Some semi-automated cars,
like the Tesla, employ different
technologies to help drivers
stay in their lane or maintain
a certain distance behind the
vehicle in front. Those systems
rely on alerts — beeping noises
or a vibrating steering wheel
— to get drivers’ attention.
Immature technology
Duke University mechanical
engineering professor Missy
Cummings said the recent
Uber and Tesla crashes show
the “technology they are using
is immature.”
Tesla says its technology
is statistically proven to save
lives through better driving. In
a response to Reuters on Tues-
day, Tesla said drivers have a
“responsibility to maintain
control of the car” whenever
they enable Autopilot and
need to be ready to respond to
“audible and visual cues”.
An Uber spokesperson said
“safety is our primary concern
every step of the way”.
A consumer group, Advo-
cates for Highway and Auto
largest market for fully-electric
and plug-in electric vehicles
since 2015.
More than 770,000 new
energy vehicles were sold in
China last year, up 53.3 per-
cent year-on-year, according
to the China Association of
Automobile Manufacturers.
Miao Wei, the minister for
Industry and Information Tech-
Humans don’t
have the ability
to take over
the vehicle as
quickly as may be
expected.”
Evangelos Simoudis, self-
driving expert and investor
Safety, says a bill on self-driv-
ing cars now stalled in the US
Senate is an opportunity to
improve safety, quite different
from the bill’s original intent
to quickly allow testing of self-
driving cars without human
controls on public roads.
The group has proposed
amending the bill, the AV
START Act, to set standards
for those vehicles, for instance,
requiring a “vision test” for
automated vehicles to test
what their different sensors
actually see.
The group believes the bill
should also cover semi-auto-
mated systems like Tesla’s
nology, called for the strength-
ening of policy and regulation
systems for new energy vehi-
cles, as well as an improved
development environment in
a speech made in January this
year.
At the end of March, the min-
istry issued the Key Working
Points of New Energy Vehicle
Standardization for 2018. The
Autopilot — a lower level
of technology than what is
included in the current pro-
posed legislation.
Other groups have also put
forth proposals on self-driv-
ing cars, including requiring
the vehicles and even semi-
automated systems to meet
performance targets, greater
transparency and data from
makers and operators of the
vehicles, increased regulatory
oversight, and better moni-
toring of and engagement
with human drivers.
Others want to focus on the
human driver. In November,
Consumer Reports magazine
called on automakers for
responsible labeling “to help
consumers fully understand”
their vehicles’ autonomous
functions.
Jake Fisher, Consumer
Reports’ head of automotive
testing, said human drivers
“are bad at paying atten-
tion to automation and this
technology is not capable of
reacting to all types of emer-
gencies.
“It’s like being a passenger
with a toddler driving the car,”
he said.
The Massachusetts Insti-
tute of Technology is doing
tests using semi-automated
vehicles including models
from Tesla, Volvo, Jaguar Land
Rover and General Motors.
The aim is to see how driv-
ers use semi-autonomous
technology — some watch the
road with their hands above
the wheel, others do not —
and which warnings get their
attention.
“We just don’t know enough
about how drivers use any of
these systems in the wild,”
said MIT research scientist
Bryan Reimer.
Timothy Carone, an auton-
omous systems expert and
professor at Notre Dame Uni-
versity’s Mendoza College of
Business, said autonomous
technology’s proponents must
“find the right balance so the
technology is tested right, but
it isn’t hampered or halted”.
“Because in the long run it will
save lives,” he said.
REUTERS
working points are aimed at
promoting and facilitating the
development standards for
batteries, charging interfaces,
recycling and reuse, as well as
standards internationalization.
It is the ministry’s first inte-
grated guideline looking after
the entire value chain of the
new energy vehicle indus-
try, despite related policies
BMW flagship store launched
on JD e-commerce platform
By HAO YAN
haoyan@chinadaily.com.cn
BMW has launched a target-
ed e-commerce store focused
on bringing customers a bet-
ter user experience, while also
directing online customers to
brick-and-mortar stores to ben-
efit the brand’s dealers.
The German automaker’s
flagship store on JD.com
launched on Tuesday, making
BMW the only premium auto-
brand to offer maintenance and
after sales services via e-com-
merce channels.
The online store has a wide
range of items and services
available, including car parts,
lifestyle collections, car care
products, and maintenance and
repair services.
“The e-commerce business
will help our dealers to gener-
ate more revenue,” said Sean
Green, senior vice-president of
sales and marketing at BMW
Brilliance Automotive, the Ger-
man carmaker’s Chinese joint
venture.
“BMW’s online channel has
become dealers’ another rev-
enue source, as it better main-
tains the customers in our net-
work instead of losing price-
sensitive users,” he said.
About 128,000 BMW service
coupons were sold by online
The launch ceremony of BMW’s flagship store on JD.com takes place on Tuesday, offering maintenance
and after sales services through e-commerce channels. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
The section is sponsored by BMW Brilliance.
Without
considering
installing a
private facility,
the users will
find their
demands are
more satisfied
when everything
is standardized.”
Zhu Lin, project manager
at consultancy firm Roland
Berger
53.3
percent
year-on-year increase of new
energy cars sales in 2017
and regulations having been
issued before. The industrial
standards are essential for the
country’s auto making indus-
try to develop towards a strong
enough industry to compete
internationally, according to the
ministry.
third-party platforms in 2017,
directing 500 million yuan ($79
million) in offline revenues to
dealers, according to the com-
pany’s data.
Green noted that BMW’s
dealers are not only important
partners, but also a major pillar
to support the brand’s develop-
ment in the Chinese market.
“By providing digital chan-
nels through the BMW JD
store, we can join hands to bet-
ter serve our customers and
achieve win-win results togeth-
er,” Green said.
The dealerships will benefit
from the digital management
system through the recently
launched BMW JD’s flagship
store for enhanced customer
satisfaction, according to the
company. BMW dealers can
now respond more quickly to
orders and improve customer
service efficiency by utilizing
big data based on JD’s analysis
of consumer preferences.
Online purchases are linked
with the nearest authorized
dealer and maintenance and
repair services will also attract
customers to physical dealers,
thus expanding their customer
base. When customers redeem
vouchers at BMW-authorized
dealerships, they will enjoy the
brand’s high-quality after sales
services, with benefits including
“China took the lead for its
early start in fully electric vehi-
cle development,” Zhang said.
“The top level competition is
the competition of standards,
and it is decided by the popular-
ity of the vehicles applying the
standards.”
The popularity of new energy
vehicles, in terms of sales vol-
ume, will in turn be boosted
by the standardization work,
according to Zhu Lin, project
manager at consultancy firm
Roland Berger.
Zhu said that the sales vol-
ume of electric vehicles will
receive a boost when the stan-
dards are implemented.
“The future customer will
make their electric car purchase
decision more easily, for won’t
have to face the current con-
cerns that hurdled the possible
purchase,” she said.
For example, the standards
will unify the plug-in positions
for charging interfaces so that
all new energy vehicles can
recharge easily at charging
poles, just as conventional cars
are refilled at service stations.
Research by Roland Berger
has found a low satisfaction
level among current users of
electric vehicles, caused in part
by a lack of charging compat-
ibility. “Without considering
installing a private facility, the
users will find their demands
are more satisfied when every-
thing is standardized,” Zhu
said.
Contact the writer at haoy-
an@chinadaily.com.cn
genuine parts and components,
professional services from cer-
tified BMW technicians and
an exclusive VIP environment,
according to the company.
These benefits are achieved
thanks to JD’s powerful tech-
nologies. Based on intelligent
supply and demand estimates,
the e-commerce platform is
able to help BMW to make
better decisions and so greatly
increase efficiency along its
supply chain.
The cooperation marks
the German auto brand’s lat-
est major move in digital
services and JD’s significant
breakthrough in the premium
automotive aftermarket. Both
companies said they expect the
online store’s enhanced cus-
tomer service experience to set
the benchmark for premium
auto brands’ online retailing.
“BMW needs to keep inno-
vating and meeting customer
needs and market demands
together with our partners,”
Green said.
The transparent pricing and
greater convenience of BMW’s
after sales services are among
the benefits the brand’s JD’s
flagship store can provide
customers, thanks to this new
stress-free digital shopping
experience, according to the
company.
 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018 Motoring 19

Higher trade tariffs could hit

Short Torque

AAM car parts joint Electric car maker Tesla Inc said it

United States auto exports

Tax on imports to
China set to affect
marques that have
not yet localized
By LI FUSHENG
lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn
Cars imported from the Unit-
ed States might soon lose their
appeal, as China has decided to
impose an additional 25 per-
cent tariff on a list of 106 items,
which includes automobiles, in
a retaliatory response to the
Trump administration’s tariff
proposals.
With an overall 50 percent
tariff, cars originating from the
US would see their competitive
edge undermined in the world’s
largest car market, where some
28 million cars were sold last
year, according to analysts.
China imported 280,000 cars
valued at $13 billion from the
US last year, accounting for
more than a fifth of China’s
total car imports, according to
statistics from the China Passen-
ger Car Association.
Imported marques include Tes-
la, Lincoln, Chrysler, Ford, GM, as
well as some models from BMW
and Mercedes-Benz.
Ford’s premium arm Lincoln
and Tesla would be affected most,
as they do not have local pro-
duction facilities in China, while
other brands already manufac-
ture some models in the country,
said Li Yanwei, an analyst at the
China Automobile Dealers Asso-
ciation.
Tesla sold 17,030 cars in Chi-
na last year, accounting for 16.5
percent of its global sales, while
Lincoln, as one of the fastest-
growing premium brands in the
country, delivered 54,124 cars to
Chinese customers, according
to Li.
GM Cadillac CT6 V-Sport is displayed during the 2018 New York International Auto Show.
MARK KAUZLARICH / BLOOMBERG
We continue to believe
both countries value a
vibrant auto industry
and understand the
interdependence
between the world’s
two largest automotive
markets.”
GM China
Tesla did not comment on the
possible effects on its China per-
formance, but told China Daily
that there has been no change
to its plan to start localization
efforts in China around the end
of the decade.
Ford, GM and the latter’s
luxury arm Cadillac will stand
almost unscathed as the abso-
lute majority of their cars sold
in China are locally produced.
Ford sold some 1.2 million
cars last year in China, with 8
percent of them imported, while
GM and Cadillac together sold 4
million vehicles in the country,
almost all of them locally pro-
duced, according to the China
Passenger Car Association.
Yet, both the major US car-
makers have called for efforts
to settle the matter in a peaceful
way. GM China said it supports
a positive trade relationship
between the US and China, and
urged both countries to con-
tinue to engage in constructive
dialogue and pursue sustain-
able trade policies.
“We continue to believe both
countries value a vibrant auto
industry and understand the
interdependence between the
world’s two largest automotive
markets,” the carmaker said in
a statement.
Ford China said it encourages
both the governments of the
US and China to work together
to resolve any issues between
these two important economies.
venture announced
Leading auto parts manufacturer
American Axle & Manufacturing
has announced it will launch a joint
venture with China’s Liuzhou Wuling
Automobile Industry Co to make
components despite protectionist
rhetoric coming out of Washington. The
joint venture will start production later
this year and is expected to achieve
yearly revenue of 300 million yuan
($47.6 million) by 2020. The rear axles
and other components the joint venture
will manufacture are to meet the
needs of the fast-growing segments of
multipurpose vehicles and crossovers,
including vans, mini vans and SUVs in
the Chinese automotive market.
Regulator greenlights
CATL’s IPO plans
China’s securities regulator has
approved an initial public offering
application submitted by lithium
battery producer CATL, which supplies
batteries for new energy vehicles.
The China Securities Regulatory
Commission gave the application
the green light at a meeting held on
Wednesday, according to the CSRC
website. The approval came less
than a month after CATL updated its
prospectus, as the CSRC is encouraging
new listings by unicorn companies —
startups valued at more than $1 billion.
Toyota and Suzuki to share
models in India expansion
Toyota and Suzuki have confirmed an
agreement to cooperate in providing
hybrid and other vehicles for the Indian
market. Specifically, Suzuki will supply
its Baleno and Vitara Brezza models
to Toyota, while Toyota will supply the
Corolla model to Suzuki, the companies
said. The vehicles will be sold by the
respective subsidiaries of Toyota and
Suzuki based in India through their
sales networks. The companies said
the move is aimed at invigorating the
Indian automotive market to further
enhance their respective products and
services.
Tesla Model 3 production
rises, but misses targets
produced just under 9,800 Model 3s
from January through March, four
times the figure achieved in the fourth
quarter of last year, but it’s still only a
fraction of the 20,000 per month that
CEO Elon Musk promised when Tesla
first started making the car. Tesla says it
made just under 35,000 vehicles in the
quarter, including the Models S and X,
a 40 percent increase from last year’s
fourth quarter. But the Model 3, with
a starting price of around $35,000, is
the car that’s most important to Tesla’s
future.
Mercedes-Benz reports
record global sales
Mercedes-Benz reported the past three
months marked its best quarter yet,
with its global sales growing 6 percent
to 594,304 vehicles. The carmaker said
the biggest sales driver worldwide was
China, with a new record of 169,932
deliveries from January to March,
up 17.2 percent year-on-year. More
than two thirds of all the cars sold
in China were also produced locally.
The company said SUVs constituted
the most popular segment in the first
quarter. In March, more than 80,000
SUVs were sold in one single month for
the first time, up nearly 14 percent.
Chery launches 1st fully
electric SUV, Tiggo 3xe
The Chinese
automaker
began offering a
battery electric
Tiggo 3xe
400 at a price
tag starting
from 89,800
to 102,800
yuan ($14,250-$16,320) from the end
of March. As the pure electric version
of the Tiggo 3x, the new model is
driven by a 90 kilowatt electric motor
outputting 276 Newton meters of
peak torque. The 4.2-meter-long sub-
compact SUV has a wheelbase of 2,555
millimeters, with a ground clearance
of 150 mm. The 49-kilowatt-hour
lithium battery enables the vehicle to
run 351 kilometers on one charge in
comprehensive driving conditions,
and 445 km at a constant speed of 60
kilometers an hour.
MOTORING - AGENCIES

Advertorial

Volkswagen’s New e-Golf sets tone for future green energy plans
By YUAN SHENGGAO
Volkswagen Import has
introduced the New e-Golf
into China as new energy
cars are gaining traction in
the world’s largest car mar-
ket.
China sold 777,000 new
energy cars in 2017, accord-
ing to the China Association
of Automobile Manufactur-
ers. The association esti-
mated that sales will exceed
1 million this year.
“We have always believed,
and are now witnessing,
that China is and will con-
tinue to be the world’s great-
est new energy car market,”
said Axel Schroeder, manag-
ing director of Volkswagen
Import.
The company used its Elec-
tric Up! model in 2014 to
gauge the market response
and later introduced its first
plug-in hybrid, the Golf GTE,
in 2015.
“Today we have the New
e- Golf, heralding a new
dawn for us to understand
the market more deeply, and
for the public to know more
about Volkswagen e-mobili-
ty,” Schroeder said.
“The New e-Golf is critical
in setting the tone for our
future brand strategy, with
new energy cars as our key
product offerings in the com-
ing years.”
He said the model will
help the company to better
understand the market and
will herald more new energy
vehicles from the German
carmaker.
Volkswagen Import will
introduce the Volkswagen
Variant GTE into China later
this year, which is set to be
followed by the Touareg GTE
in the near future.
From 2020 onward, it
will start to offer models
based on the more advanced
MEB platform, which was
designed specifically for the
Axel Schroeder, managing director of Volkswagen Import, is optimistic about China’s new energy car market. PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
drive of electric cars only.
“Our strategy is very much
in line with the Chinese gov-
ernment’s policies regarding
the promotion of such cars,”
Schroeder said.
China overtook the United
States as the world’s largest
new energy car market in
2015 and has set itself ambi-
tious goals.
It expects annual sales of
new energy cars to reach
2 million in 2020 and to
account for 20 percent of
all new cars sales by 2025,
according to the Ministry of
Industry and Information
Technology.
By the end of 2017, China
Volkswagen Import has introduced the New e-Golf into China, the world’s largest car market. had around 1.8 million new
energy cars on its roads,
about half of the total num-
ber of such cars worldwide.
Brand’s best-selling e-car
The e-Golf is Volkswagen’s
best-selling electric model
globally, according to the
company.
With its design efficiency
and impressive performance,
as well as cutting-edge digi-
talization and connectivity,
it’s clear to see why, Schro-
eder said.
The model — which has
a top torque of 290 Newton
meters — delivers premium
German engineering and
matches the needs of Chi-
nese consumers on afford-
ability without sacrificing
performance or quality.
“Speaking of performance,
the New e-Golf ’s is quite
impressive: as an electric car,
it has a great capability for
everyday driving,” Schroeder
said.
“In terms of handling, it
offers much more than you’d
expect from a Golf. The XDS
Differential, often used in
sports cars, enables a safer
and more precise drive, espe-
cially when cornering.”
According to Volkswa-
gen Import, the model has
a 255-kilometer range and
can reach 80 percent of its
charging capacity within 40
minutes using a fast charg-
ing network.
With a 7.2 kilowatt charg-
ing box, it takes five hours to
fully charge.
“From the exterior, you can
tell this model is a very spe-
cial Golf,” Schroeder said.
Its all-LED lights, includ-
ing the C-shaped daytime
running lamps, make the
model instantly recogniz-
able.
Blue trim extensions and
sharp body lines reinforce
its young, sporty and eco-
friendly identity.
The company said these
design elements don’t just
look good — they are also
aimed to ensure greater
energy efficiency.
The 16-inch “Astana” alloy
wheels use optimized aero-
dynamics with rolling resis-
tance contact surfaces.
The rear spoilers and side
flaps reduce air resistance
to enhance the New e-Golf ’s
aerodynamic performance.
Besides its design and per-
formance, the New e-Golf
is also distinguished by its
digital innovations and con-
nectivity.
The company said it is the
only car in its segment with
a 12.3-inch digital display.
There is also all-new 8-inch
touch screen.
In terms of connectivity,
the New e-Golf features a
system called “Car-Net”
function, which allows the
driver to see the car’s con-
dition via his or her smart-
phone.
The system also helps driv-
ers to easily find available
charging stations and pay
through Alibaba’s mobile
payment tool Alipay.
Volkswagen Car-Net offers
several other functions as
well, such as online services
and call center services.
The model also features
App-Connect, which allows
customers to mirror their
smart mobile devices on the
touch screen, for greater
convenience.
App-Connect is compat-
ible with a range of mobile
platforms, including Mirror-
Link, Apple CarPlay and Bai-
du CarLife, offering custom-
ers a range of ecosystems.
“Put simply, this is our
most innovative and eco-
friendly Golf ever,” Schro-
eder said.
“And with all of these great
features, I’m sure that it will
be very competitive in Chi-
na’s compact new energy car
segment.”
20

LIFE
Monday, April 9, 2018

CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION

A NEW HOME FOR THE PAST

The Shanghai History Museum has If you go
reopened in two historical buildings
9 am-5 pm, Tuesday to Sun-
to display many items related to the day. 325 Nanjing Road
West, Huangpu district,
city’s legacy for the first time. Shanghai.
021-6323-2504.
Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.
(1840-42). Other displays

T
he Shanghai History
Museum’s (Shanghai
Revolution Muse-
um’s) most impor-
tant exhibits are the buildings
that house it, director Hu
Jiang says.
The museum, which offi-
cially opened downtown on
March 26, consists of two
structures built in the 1920s
and ’30s as the Shanghai Race
Club in the former interna-
tional settlement.
The race courses in People’s
Square have been replaced by
high-rise buildings and public
institutions over the decades.
But the two buildings have
survived and are recognized
among the city’s important
cultural relics.
“My grandma used to live
nearby, and we used to walk
by the gate all the time,”
recalls Zhang Beifen, a wom-
an in her 50s who was among
the museum’s first visitors on
the opening day.
“I’ve witnessed it become the
Shanghai Library, the Shanghai
Museum, the Shanghai Art
Museum and now the Shanghai
History Museum.”
The buildings became pub-
lic assets after Shanghai was
liberated in 1949.
The mayor at the time, Chen
Yi (1901-72), decided to repur-
pose them as the Shanghai
Library and Shanghai Muse-
um. The Shanghai Museum
moved away 1959, and the
Shanghai Library relocated in
1997.
The buildings became
home to the Shanghai Art
Museum until 2012, when it
moved to the former Chinese
pavilion at the World Expo
2010.
The Shanghai History
Museum dates back to the
1950s. It was initially located
on Huqiu Road and later
moved to several different
locations.
The two-year restoration of
the buildings started in 2015,
when the municipality decid-
ed to move the history muse-
um to the site.
Workers used the same
materials as the original struc-
ture.
Visitors to the newly
opened Shanghai History
Museum start from the east
wing, where permanent exhi-
bitions portray the city’s histo-
ry.
An elaborately decorated
A huangbaoche pedicab is shown at the newly reopened Shanghai History Museum.
sedan chair commissioned by
a merchant from nearby Zhe-
jiang province greets them in
the lobby.
He hired 10 experienced
wood carvers, who took 10
years to complete the piece. It
features hundreds of tradi-
tional Chinese opera charac-
ters rendered in wood,
painted glass, lacquer and
embroidery. It was then the
showpiece of his Wuhua Leas-
ing Shop for Wedding and
Funeral Articles.
Many of the craftsmanship
genres used to make the chair
have been lost amid rapid
modernization.
The ground floor exhibition
hall features a giant LED
screen as well as interactive
electronic games that visitors
can play to learn about Shang-
hai’s past.
Two bronze lions created by
British artist Henry Poole
occupy the central space in
GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY
front of the big screen. They
were commissioned to adorn
the Bund-facing entrance of
the Hong Kong and Shanghai
Banking Corp in 1923, when
the financial institution
opened its new Shanghai
office. The creatures guarded
the bank until 1966, when the
Shanghai History Museum
added them to its collection.
A 77-year-old visitor, who
only gave his surname, Tang,
recalls seeing the lions when
he played on the Bund as a
child.
“Every edge, crack and cor-
ner on the lions is so familiar
to me,” he says.
“This is the museum of our
own city’s history. Lots of tour-
ists will come. We locals
should, too.”
The upstairs area’s displays
chronicle Shanghai’s changes,
starting with relics from 6,000
years ago. It features a cannon
used in the first Opium War
reveal the development of art,
culture and industrialization
over the centuries. About four-
fifths of the items are on pub-
lic display for the first time.
The west wing’s exhibits
open with over 50 displays
about the former mayor Chen,
donated by his children.
“My father spent the happi-
est years of his career in
Shanghai,” his son Chen Dan-
huai says.
On show are the piano,
desk, gramophone and other
objects Chen Yi and his wife,
Zhang Qian, used during their
stay in the city.
He later served as China’s
foreign minister. The qipao
dresses made by Shanghai’s
Hongxiang Fashion Co that
she wore for official overseas
visits are also displayed.
The museum is also hosting
two temporary exhibitions
that will run until June 24.
One is about how The Commu-
nist Manifesto ignited the Chi-
nese revolution, while the
other details the history of the
museum buildings.
Contact the writer at
zhangkun@
chinadaily.com.cn

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong
Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make
no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any
liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the
whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.

(Incorporated in Bermuda with limited liability）

(Stock Code: 1045)

CLOSURE OF REGISTER OF MEMBERS

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN IN RESPECT OF THE CLOSURE OF
REGISTER OF MEMBERS
1. The register of members of APT Satellite Holdings Limited (the “Company”)
will be closed from Thursday, 17 May 2018 to Wednesday, 23 May 2018
(both days inclusive), during which period no transfer of shares will be
registered.
In order to qualify for attending and voting at the Annual General Meeting of
the Company to be held on Wednesday, 23 May 2018, all properly completed
transfer forms accompanied by the relevant share certificates must be lodged
with the Company’s branch share registrar in Hong Kong, Tricor Tengis
Limited, at Level 22, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong
not later than 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 16 May 2018.
2. The register of members of the Company will be closed from Wednesday,
6 June 2018 to Thursday, 7 June 2018 (both days inclusive), during which
period no transfer of shares will be registered.
In order to qualify for the proposed final dividend, all properly completed
transfer forms accompanied by the relevant share certificates must be lodged
with the Company’s branch share registrar in Hong Kong, Tricor Tengis
Limited, at Level 22, Hopewell Centre, 183 Queen’s Road East, Hong Kong
not later than 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 5 June 2018.
By Order of the Board
APT Satellite Holdings Limited
Lau Tsui Ling Shirley
Company Secretary
Hong Kong, 9 April 2018
* For identification purpose only

As at the date of this announcement, the directors of the Company are as follows:
Executive Directors:
Cheng Guangren (President) and Qi Liang (Vice President)
Non-Executive Directors:
Li Zhongbao (Chairman), Lim Toon, Yin Yen-liang, Fu Zhiheng, Lim Kian Soon,
Ba Risi and Tseng Ta-mon (Alternate Director to Yin Yen-liang)
Independent Non-Executive Directors:
Lui King Man, Lam Sek Kong, Cui Liguo and Meng Xingguo
 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018 Fun | LIFE 21
Language tips
Horoscope
BETTER CHINESE
Crossword Capricorn (DEC. 22-JAN. 19)
Quiet and comfort should be your goals. Refuse to let anyone 败北
upset you, goad you into an argument or persuade you to make a


decision that you don’t feel good about.
Suffer defeat; lose a battle
Aquarius (JAN. 20-FEB. 19) 例：他身经百战，未曾败北。
Being open and honest about your feelings will help you cut 
 
 


through any tension that’s building between you and a friend, He has fought countless battles and has never been defeated.
relative or loved one.

半夜三更
Pisces (FEB. 20-MARCH 20)


Show compassion when dealing with people less able than your- Late at night
self. Taking on extra responsibilities will be satisfying and reward-
ing. What you learn will help you excel in life.
例：半夜三更的，别再大声说话了。




  
Aries (MARCH 21-APRIL 19) It’s very late. Don’t talk so loudly.
Take care of your responsibilities. If you fall short, you will face
complaints and criticism. If you want to excel, use your intelli-
gence and control your temper. 拌嘴


Taurus (APRIL 20-MAY 20) Quarrel
Don't think out loud. Keep your opinions to yourself and seek out
like-minded people to get the most out of your day. Learn from
例：两口子时常拌嘴。
your experience and mistakes.   !

The couple often quarrels.
Gemini (MAY 21-JUNE 20)
安康
Share your experience and skills, and help those in need. What
you do for others will encourage the same in return. A physical 
act will do more good than a cash donation. Contented and in good health

Cancer (JUNE 21-JULY 22) 例：祝全家安康。

Tread carefully when dealing with sensitive issues at home or
 "#!
work. Be aware of how others feel, and grant everyone the right Wishing your family happiness and the best of health!
to have an opinion. Focus on your own behavior.
白茫茫
Leo (JULY 23-AUG. 22)
!$!$!
Share your feelings and take an intellectual approach when voic- (Of cloud, mist, snow, floodwater, etc.) vast expanse of
ing your opinion or asking for something. Living within your whiteness
means will help you avoid stress when the bills arrive.
例：雾很大，四下里白茫茫的。
Virgo (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22) " %&
!$!$!
You’ve got the right idea, so don’t let insecurity stand in your The fog is very heavy, and everything is white.
Across 23 Wise one 39 Tearing up, say 11 Suffix in lin- way. Speak up and participate to gain experience as well as con-
1 Genre akin to 26 Go through the 42 Tolkien’s Pranc- guistics fidence. Physical improvements are encouraged. 摆动
indie rock roof ing Pony, for 12 Popular word
'
7 Fellow 27 Where bows one game Libra (SEPT. 23-OCT. 23) Swing; sway
12 Co-organizer of may be made 43 3, 4, 5 and 13 Soap box?
Make the most of what you have. Discuss your intentions with
the 1970 Wom- 28 It’s described occasionally 14 Bolt (down) someone you share responsibilities with or care for. Being open 例：树枝迎风摆动。
en’s Strike for as fine and more 15 Like Tom about your situation will help alleviate stress.  "  (

'
Equality flakelike in Exo- 44 Opposite of Thumb
dus doddery 19 Wired The tree branches swayed in the breeze.
14 Modern topic in Scorpio (OCT. 24-NOV. 22)
race relations 29 Piece of glib 45 Quite off 21 What someone
journalism 47 Lover of histo- may be holding The voice of reason is the best antidote to someone showing 榜尾
15 Sci-fi natives of overly emotional tendencies. Offering stability, support, love and

the planet often written ry? while waiting understanding will be appreciated and reciprocated.
Kashyyyk under a tight 51 Field in which a 23 Kind of roe Last place on a list
16 Little monsters deadline helmet and 24 What had a
32 Theatrical gloves are often double stan- Sagittarius (NOV. 23-DEC. 21) 例：在这次邀请赛上，该队只能名列榜尾。
17 Programming
keyword hybrid worn dard in the Connect with an old friend to pick up where you left off. Creating  %)# % $ 

18 Longtime TV 34 Insect that’s 53 Award-winning Bible? more homely atmosphere in your place of residence will make a 
difference to someone who depends on you.
tavern born pregnant Cartoon Net- 25 Try to win This team ranks last in this invitational competition.
20 To whom Duro- 35 8, e.g. work series 26 Uniform
cher was refer- 37 “Are you blind, with Finn the 27 Ruckus From The Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (Chinese – English Edition),
ring when he ump?,” e.g. Human and 28 Fashion design- Bridge Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
said “Nice guys 38 Course on Jake the Dog er Ecko
finish last” courses, for 54 Repeated lyric 29 Traveler to a Richard Powers, a novelist
22 Little wriggler short in the Who’s certain whose works explore the BETTER ENGLISH
“Tommy” 27-Across effects of modern science
55 Twist and turn 30 Request at the and technology, wrote, 2017年消费者投诉举报十大热点
Wednesday’s solution dentist’s “What was acrophobia any-
Down 31 “How dare way, if not the half-acknowl-
1 Uniform they!” 3月14日，国家工商总局发布全国工商和市场监管部门
33 Regret edged desire to jump?”
2 “There’s not a Some players suffer from 2017年处理消费者投诉举报咨询情况分析。
___ can do” 36 “Apologies”
3 Word with fami- 38 Rushed bridge acrophobia: a fear of
39 Rush the six- and seven-levels. The State Administration for Industry and Commerce
ly or Christmas dealt with 1.2 million complaints about merchandise last
4 Main, say 40 Red ___ What do you need for a good
5 Sculler 41 Red ___ slam when your side does year and 1.19 million about services.
6 Wave function 43 Cut back not have heaps of high-card
denoter in 44 Snail trail points? 2017年，国家工商总局处理商品投诉120万件，服务投
quantum 46 Paragraph in Ideally, you have a good 诉119万件。
mechanics the newspaper, trump fit and controls in the
7 Some say side suits. In this deal, what Last year, consumers filed more complaints related to
Vietnam War 48 Look the wrong do you think of the auction? used Roman Key Card Black- online shopping, services and upscale merchandise —
protests way?
I like strong jump shifts at wood and settled into six dia-
goods that signal a desire for higher quality and a better
8 Disney’s “___ & 49 Subject of a living standard, such as those related to culture and enter-
cellphone cap the two-level. Also, I keep monds.
Stitch” tainment, cosmetics, computers and electrical appliances.
9 Corresponding 50 Move like a fairy them well-defined: either a West, with an unappealing
exactly 51 Biological duct long, strong one-suiter, or a lead, chose his trump. South 2017年，消费者在网购、
服务以及升级类消费品中的投
10 Frat party stunt 52 Palooka good two-suiter with the won that and drew another 诉量增加， 升级类消费品指体现更高质量和更高水准
responder’s suit and the round, which caused West 生活品质的商品， 比如，文化娱乐、化妆品、计算机以及
opener’s suit, as in this deal. I considerable discomfort. He 电子产品。
Comics believe 13-17 high-card wanted to keep all of his spa-
DILBERT points is ideal. Responder des and, because South had 2017年全国工商和市场监管部门共受理消费者投诉24
shows enough to insist on rebid in the suit, clubs. So he 0.04万件， 同比增长44.0%。投诉热点主要集中在服装
game, but needs opener to threw a heart. Declarer drew 鞋帽(clothing, shoes and hats)、家居家装(home deco-
decide about slam prospects. the last trump and played a rating merchandise and services)、家用电器(household
Here, South was not fond club toward his king. When appliances)、通讯器材(communications equipment)、
of his singleton and only four East took the trick, South 交通工具(transport)、居民服务(residents service)、
diamonds, so backpedaled had 12 tricks: one spade, four 餐饮住宿(catering and accommodation)、互联网服务
over three diamonds with hearts, four diamonds, one (internet services)、文体娱乐(culture and entertain-
three no-trump. But when club and two club ruffs in the ment)、租赁服务(rental services)等十个方面。
North did not pass, South dummy.
数据显示， 2017年网络购物类投诉68.57万件， 同比增长
184.4%， 投诉量增幅较大。农村消费投诉增速超城镇
F-MINUS
Kakuro 消费投诉。2017年，农村相关消费投诉量(complaints
from rural areas)达7.35万件，同比增长66.4%，
高于城镇
消费投诉20.5个百分点。质量和售后服务(quality and
after-sales service)是农村消费投诉的焦点。

2017年3月15日，全国12315互联网平台正式上线运营。
全国12315互联网平台，网址是“www.12315.cn”，手机
APP名称和微信公众号都是“全国12315互联网
平台” 。

消费者通过电脑或手机进行实名注册(real-name regis-
tration)以后， 登录平台就可以在主页上看到“我要
投诉” 、“我要举报” 这两个按钮。消费者在举报、 投诉
时， 可以上传文字、 图片、视频等证据材料， 比12315专
PEANUTS 用电话平台更加便捷地消费维权(deal with consumer
complaints more conveniently)。截至2017年12月底， 该
平台共受理消费者投诉38.59万件、 举报4.91万件，共
43.50万件。

To learn more hot words,

please log on to http://language.chinadaily.com.cn/
A Kakuro consists of a playing area Follow us on weibo at http://weibo.com/languagetips
of filled and empty cells similar to a
crossword puzzle. Some black cells
DRABBLE contain a diagonal slash from top
left to bottom right with numbers in
them, called “clues”. A number in
the top right corner relates to an
“across” clue and one in the bottom
left a “down” clue. The object of a
Kakuro is to insert digits from one
to nine into the white cells to total ChinaDaily 中国日报
the clue associated with it. However Wednesday’s solution 手机报免费体验 双语新闻微信
no digit can be duplicated in an entry.
22 LIFE | Travel
“K
eep your back
straight and clench
your buttocks,” says
Tintin, my Filipino
horse guide whom I was allotted
just 30 seconds earlier.
It’s the first time I have ever rid-
den a horse and my director tells me
to “relax” and look “more profes-
sional” as I deliver my lines to a cam-
era some 50 meters away.
We’re at Mogan Mountain, out-
side the city of Huzhou in East Chi-
na’s Zhejiang province, to shoot a
film about how eco-tourism is reju-
venating local communities. This
mountain is a place where people
come to chill out and forget about
their worries, but horse riding isn’t
really my relaxing cup of tea.
But the scenery is.
Deep within the mountains, I am
embraced in a sea of bamboo that
stretches to mist-covered peaks. The
air is cool and fresh with the earthy
smell of nature.
Dotted about the green landscape
are small villas, some with distinctly
Western architecture, more and
more of which have been converted
into homestays or nongjiale.
Located 200 kilometers from
Shanghai and about 60 km from the
provincial capital, Hangzhou,
Mogan Mountain forms part of the
greater Tianmu mountain range
and has for years been a place where
Micronesia: Scenic island-hopping and a lesson in letting go
By NICOLE EVATT
POHNPEI STATE, Micronesia —
I’m panicked and soaked as smiling
locals fish me out of the bay on the
island of Pohnpei in Micronesia.
“Trip of a lifetime”, I sarcastically
thought as we made our way back to
land with an upside-down kayak,
our cameras and cellphone ruined.
How did I end up drenched, emo-
tionally drained and out a few thou-
sand dollars in electronics in this
remote island nation, one might
ask? More importantly, here’s why it
was totally worth it.
Majuro
My husband and I traveled to
Micronesia on United’s Island Hop-
per route from Honolulu to Guam.
First stop, four and a half hours from
Hawaii: Majuro, a coral atoll in the
Republic of the Marshall Islands.
We shopped for groceries for a stay
on a nearby private island but ended
up mostly with items like pasta and
cereal; fresh produce was scarce and
overpriced. After a 30-minute boat
ride to Eneko Island, we spent a few
days completely alone, kayaking and
chasing colorful fish through tur-
quoise water. Evenings offered
breathtaking sunsets, stargazing and
cooking our carbohydrate-rich meals.
Highlights of Majuro included the
tiny Alele Museum featuring Mar-
shallese folk art, history and stick
charts used for nautical navigation.
Handicraft stores downtown sell
intricately traditional woven baskets
and bags. Hotel Robert Reimers offers
decent restaurant and accommoda-
MOGAN’S MAGIC
Natural splendors and historical legacies endow a slice of the Tianmu Mountains
with wild and man-made allure, Owen Fishwick discovers.
city folk come to unwind.
There are numerous hiking and
biking trails that meander through
the bamboo, strafe streams and
wander past waterfalls.
As I walk along these rising and
falling paths, I, too, begin to forget my
city problems — the work commute
combat and putting out the bins.
As well as being endowed with
natural beauty, Mogan Mountain
has more than its fair share of histo-
ry. It’s said that in the Spring and
Autumn Period (770-476 BC), Chi-
na’s most gifted sword smith, Ganji-
ang, cast a pair of unique swords
here for Emperor Wu. Sword Pond is
one of the mountain’s must-see
attractions.
More recently, Mogan Mountain
has been home to a villa owned by
Chiang Kai-shek, and Mao Zedong
once took a nap here.
Foreign businesspeople, mission-
aries and customs officials have
been coming to Mogan Mountain
for its pristine views and fresh air
since the 1880s.
Their influence can be seen in the
many European-style guesthouses,
villas and restaurants that peek out
above the tree line to survey the
landscape.
Today, these buildings are now
characteristic homestays run by
local families for both Chinese and
overseas tourists.
Left: The thin strip of coral atolls separates the ocean from the lagoon in Majuro, Marshall Islands. Right: Colorful floral skirts are for sale in Pohnpei’s capital
city of Kolonia in Micronesia. The skirts are a fashion staple throughout the island. AP PHOTOS
tion starting from $45.
For a pampered vacation, the pri-
vate Bikendrik Island offers two
charming bungalows stocked with
cognac and Grand Marnier, three-
course meals and occasional visits
from the lagoon pet, Oscar the octo-
pus. Rates start at $570.
Pohnpei
A short flight west took us to
Pohnpei, a lush, mountainous island
and one of four states making up the
Federated States of Micronesia.
Pohnpei’s capital, Kolonia, has
souvenir shops, remnants of a histor-
ic Spanish wall and a helpful tourism
office. Don’t leave without a colorful
floral skirt, an island fashion staple.
An hour’s drive took us to Pohn-
pei’s crown jewel: the ancient city of
Nan Madol. Picture 13th-century
From top: An aerial view of a hydro-electric power plant in the Tianmu
mountain range; mist covers Mogan Mountain in the early morning; Naked
Castle commands spectacular views of the landscape.
PHOTOS PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
ruins rivaling the splendor and lore
of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat or Peru’s
Machu Picchu, minus the crowds.
As with most of this trip, we were
the only tourists.
Kepirohi Waterfall is a gorgeous
cascading pyramid near Nan Madol.
A hard-to-spot sign on Circle Island
road marks a turn-off where you pay
a $3 entrance fee.
The waterfront Mangrove Bay
Hotel has scenic views and a restau-
rant serving exclusively sushi and
chicken wings. The onsite Pohnpei
Surf Club can arrange water excur-
sions and guided tours of Nan Madol.
To reach some of the 100-plus
man-made islets, you can pay local
families a few dollars per person to
cross their land. But we opted to
navigate Nan Madol’s shallow chan-
nels by kayak. After winding
through dense mangroves for about
30 minutes, the dark, twisty jungle
opened out into the vast, clear-blue
ocean. Massive shadows darted
around our wobbling vessel — sting-
rays from a nearby sanctuary.
At this point, I noticed the kayak
inching lower into the sea. But we
were by then an hour from the
marine institute that runs the small
boat rental business. We had no
choice but to carry on.
On shore we found walls of
stacked basalt columns, an engi-
neering feat still shrouded in mys-
tery. We traipsed through megalithic
ruins by foot for a few hours before
starting our doomed return to civili-
zation. The hull of our punctured
kayak was slowly flooding.
My panic grew exponentially after
nearly capsizing a few times. My hus-
Monday, April 9, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION
The combination of residing in a
quaint European villa, complete
with a wonderfully ornate oak spiral
staircase, overlooking a towering
mountain range, and eating noodles
and a steamed bun seems a little
strange at first, but I soon get used to
it.
Cheng Zhilan, a homestay owner
in Mogan Mountain, says that the
most popular time for tourists to vis-
it is during spring and summer,
when the cool mountain air and
canopy of bamboo provides wel-
come respite for those from the
sweltering cities nearby.
We’re here in early March a week
after considerable snowfall, but the
sun is out, there is warmth in the air
and the mountain is coming to life.
Mogan’s more recent rejuvena-
tion in the past 10 years has been
spearheaded by South African
entrepreneur Grant Horsfield, who
fell in love with the area after getting
lost among the bamboo in the early
2000s.
He has built a series of luxury
resorts and hotels in the area under
his Naked brand.
Grant says Naked’s whole con-
cept is to be sustainable and have as
little impact on the environment as
possible. He describes to me in
great detail about how he built his
first villa himself, digging the earth
by hand and refusing to use any
band paddled gently as I clutched
the phone, drone and fancy camera
we purchased a few days earlier.
The water was calm and we are
both fine swimmers. But I was
upset: This was not the plan.
With the dock in sight, the boat’s
sway became unmanageable. In the
blink of an eye, we were underwater.
Chuuk
If Pohnpei was an exercise in rolling
with the punches, Chuuk State was a
master class in relinquishing control.
Another hour on the Island Hopper
gets you to this large atoll known for
world-class wreck diving. The US sank
more than 50 Japanese ships here
during World War II and most remain
preserved in its shallow lagoon.
None of our stops offered much
tourist infrastructure, but Chuuk
heavy machinery.
Grant is passionate about sustain-
ability and has a unique outlook on
the local area.
“If the local community is not part
of your development, you’ll fail,” he
says.
“Or at least you are only winning
for yourself, and that’s not a success.
Success is if everyone can benefit
and be improved.”
It’s the pioneering work of the
plucky South African. His resorts
and approach to the environment
have inspired almost a thousand
smaller homestays to pop up all over
the mountain. The tourism industry
here has never been better.
Our driver, with the skill of a
mountain goat, takes us from one
breathtaking view to another. Natu-
ral beauty abounds. A shimmering
emerald lake here, followed by won-
drous rock formations contorted by
nature and time. We are tracked con-
stantly by the wavering ridge line of
the mountain, which looks a little
like my heart rate on a cardiograph.
There is a saying in Chinese that
roughly translates as “lucid waters
and lush mountains are invaluable
assets”. Having spent some time at
Mogan Mountain, with everything
it has to offer, I couldn’t agree more.
Contact the writer at
owenfishwick@chinadaily.com.cn
was the most challenging. The hand-
ful of tour companies claimed to be
fully booked. The hotel had lost our
reservation. We couldn’t get answers
to questions like “can we take this
tour?” or “do you have a hotel shut-
tle?” Infrequent taxis stopped run-
ning at 5 pm.
I quickly realized you have to
show up in person and keep asking
until you get what you need. When
we finally reached the Blue Lagoon
Resort dive shop, the previously
unavailable wreck trips were mirac-
ulously available and, it turned out,
well worth the effort.
Chuuk’s underwater world is sim-
ply incredible. We swam through
massive schools of tropical fish to
find a sunken Momi-class destroyer
and coral-encrusted cargo ship.
There’s plenty for non-divers to
see, too, like a downed Mitsubishi
Zero fighter and a 1937 coastal
freighter nearly 3 meters down. We
spent an afternoon on the private
Jeep Island with unbelievable coral
reef snorkeling and shark spotting.
The airport-adjacent L5 Hotel
offers the newest accommodation,
but the Blue Lagoon and Truk Stop
Hotel are the best bets for arranging
wreck tours.
As we boarded the plane for our final
stop in Guam, sunburnt and still reel-
ing from our adventures, my boat-flip-
ping hysteria was a distant memory.
It was a small price to pay for an
unplugged, truly unpredictable
journey and a much-needed lesson
in letting go.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Monday, April 9, 2018 SPORTS 23
ICE HOCKEY
Keeping her crown

Ovie primed for

Caps’ Cup run
WASHINGTON — Alex
Ovechkin heard the chants
loud and clear.
“We want 50! We want 50!”
He didn’t need any extra
encouragement.
Ovechkin scored twice to fin-
ish the regular season with an
NHL-leading 49 goals and
played almost the final two
minutes of the Washington
Capitals’ 5-3 victory over the
New Jersey Devils on Saturday
night, trying to reach 50 for the
eighth time in his career.
The Russian superstar will
have to settle for his seventh
Rocket Richard Trophy as the
top goal scorer, while Edmon-
ton Oilers captain Connor
McDavid takes the Art Ross
China’s Zhu Yuling successfully defended her Asian Cup table tennis women’s singles title by defeating teammate and world No 1 Chen Trophy with a league-leading
Meng 12-10, 12-10, 10-12, 11-3, 11-4 in Yokohama, Japan, on Sunday. MA CAORAN / XINHUA 108 points.
The Metropolitan Division-
champion Capitals will open
BASKETBALL the Stanley Cup playoffs
against the Columbus Blue
Jackets this week.
Alex Ovechkin celebrates his
49th goal of the season in
Washington’s 5-3 win over New
Jersey on Saturday. AP
season starts right now.”
Washington won 12 of its
final 15 games, and Ovechkin
strengthened his case for the
Hart Trophy (league MVP)
with nine goals and six assists
over that stretch.
At 32, he’s the oldest player
ter Evgeny Kuznetsov, who
assisted on Ovechkin’s 48th
goal.
Losing in regulation sends
New Jersey to the Atlantic
bracket in the Eastern Confer-
ence playoffs to face the divi-
sion champion: either the
Boston Bruins or Tampa Bay
Lightning. It’s the Bruins if
they beat Florida on Sunday
night, and the Lightning if
Tampa Bay wins.
“We like our matchup
against anybody,” Devils cen-
ter Brian Boyle said.
“I think we match up well
against anyone. It’s been a
good season. Now the fun
starts.”
Meanwhile, the Colorado
Avalanche became the last
team to qualify for the playoffs
by dumping the St. Louis Blues
5-2 in Denver on Saturday.
Jonathan Bernier stopped 32
shots for Colorado, which fin-
ished with 95 points, one more

OKC snaps Houston’s home streak
HOUSTON — With their
playoff fate still up in the air,
the Oklahoma City Thunder
adopted a simple mantra for
Saturday’s game against the
Houston Rockets.
“We just better not lose,”
Paul George said.
For one night at least, it
worked.
George and Russell West-
brook each scored 24 points,
as OKC snapped Houston’s
20-game home winning
streak with a 108-102 victory.
The Thunder trailed by one
with about seven minutes left
before scoring the next 11
points.
Oklahoma City (46-34) is
tied with San Antonio and
New Orleans for fifth in the
loaded Western Conference, a
half-game behind idle Utah.
The Thunder can clinch a
playoff spot with a victory at
Miami on Monday.
“This game was important
but the Monday game is just
as important as this game
because if we don’t take care
of business on Monday then
this game doesn’t really mean
anything,” said Carmelo
Anthony, who had 22 points.
The Thunder took two of
three in the season series
against the NBA-best Rock-
ets.
James Harden had 26
Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets upends Oklahoma City Thun-
der’s Russell Westbrook during Saturday’s NBA clash at Toyota
Center in Houston. TROY TAORMINA / USA TODAY SPORTS
points for Houston and Chris
Paul added 17.
“I thought we tasted the
playoff atmosphere because
these guys are fighting for
their lives and we’re not,”
Houston coach Mike D’Anto-
ni said.
Paul hit a step-back jumper
and Gerald Green scored to
give the Rockets a 92-91 lead
with 7:09 left. But Westbrook
scored five quick points to
start an 11-0 run by OKC that
made it 102-92 with about
four minutes remaining.
Houston went scoreless for
more than four minutes,
missing seven shots and com-
mitting three turnovers as
Oklahoma City pulled away.
The Thunder also blocked
three shots in that span.
“We’re just doing what
you’ve got to do to win, hon-
estly,” Westbrook said.
The Rockets scored five
straight points with less than
a minute left to get within
five, but George made two
free throws to help secure the
win.
Anthony made three of the
Thunder’s 10 3-pointers. He
said it was important for
them to be in attack mode
right from the start.
“It was one of those days,
understanding the situation
that we’re in and just trying to
be aggressive out there on
both ends and go after it from
the beginning,” he said.
The Thunder led by as
many as 11 in the first half, but
Houston used a 5-1 spurt take
a 62-61 lead at halftime.
‘Great place’
“We’re good. We’re in a
great place right now. We
have two more games to close
it out and be ready for the
playoffs,” Harden said, com-
menting £on if the Rockets
are where they want to be
with the playoffs starting in a
week:
Saturday was just the third
time this season Houston has
lost when Harden, Paul and
Clint Capela all played.
The Rockets are 41-3 when
each member of the trio plays
and their three losses have
come by a total of 11 points.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The effort was there, and
you can see I’m ready for play-
offs in pretty good shape,”
Ovechkin said after a playing
6:04 of the final 8:10.
“I had a pretty good chance
at the end, but it is what it is.
The most important thing is
still ahead of us. The second
GOLF
Xiao eyeing Open glory
By CHINA DAILY
China’s Xiao Bowen will be
looking to impress on home
soil when he makes his third
appearance at the prestigious
Volvo China Open at Beijing
Topwin Golf and Country Club
from April 26-29.
The 28-year-old Xiao, who
joined the play-for-pay ranks
in 2012, claimed his first pro-
fessional win in his Asian Tour
debut five months ago when
he prevailed on the second
extra hole in a playoff against
Australia’s Bryden Macpher-
son
Xiao will spearhead the
local charge alongside past
champion Li Haotong, as well
as Liang Wenchong and Wu
Ashun at the $3.1 million
event, tri-sanctioned by the
China Golf Association, Asian
Tour and the European Tour.
to lead the NHL in goals since
Phil Esposito of the Boston
Bruins in 1974-75.
His teammates did their
best trying to get him to 50,
and Ovechkin fired 18 shots in
pursuit of the milestone.
“We looked for him a little
bit more than usual,” said cen-
“The Volvo China Open is
one of the oldest and most
prestigious tournament in
China,” said Xiao, who hails
from Shandong.
“It’s a tournament every
Chinese player wants to play.
It feels different because you
get to play alongside some of
the top golfers in the world,”
Xiao tied for 17th at the
Asian Tour’s season-ending
event in Indonesia two weeks
after his breakthrough victory.
Despite missing three cuts in a
row this season, he’s deter-
mined to bank on home com-
fort as he takes aim at another
good showing.
“This course is a good test
for every aspect of your game
— tee shots, iron play and put-
ting.,” he said.
“You need to hit your irons
well to get good placement on
the greens.
than St. Louis.
The Avs, who managed an
NHL-worst 48 points last sea-
son, will travel to defending
Western Conference champion
Nashville for the first round of
the playoffs.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
“I’m confident, but I won’t
set a fixed target for myself; I
just want to play my best.
“I will not give myself any
pressure to do well, just as I
managed to do in Xiamen
when I won last year. That
helps me to play to my best
capability.”
India’s Shubhankar Sharma
and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of
Thailand, who sit first and
third respectively on the cur-
rent Asian Tour Habitat for
Humanity Standings, will also
feature in the storied event.
Also up for the challenge are
former Asian Tour Merit
champions Gavin Green of
Malaysia, Scott Hend of Aus-
tralia and Thai veteran Thong-
chai Jaidee, as well as up-and-
coming Thai Phachara
Khongwatmai and defending
champion Alexander Levy of
France.

Scoreboard
BASEBALL Phoenix 20 60 .250 44 Anaheim 3 ARIZONA 0 Leicester 1 (Vardy 84) Newcastle 2 (Shelvey 18, Borussia Moenchengladbach 2 (Hazard 75, Girona 30 12 8 10 44 43 44
x-clinched playoff spot EDMONTON 3 Vancouver 2 (SO) Perez 75) 79-pen) Hertha Berlin 1 (Kalou 40) Celta Vigo 31 12 7 12 50 43 43
Results of the Major League Baseball games on CALGARY 7 Vegas 1 Augsburg 1 (Suele 18-og) Bayern Munich 4 (Tolis- Eibar 31 11 7 13 36 45 40
y-clinched division Manchester City 2 (Kompany 25, Gundogan 31)
Saturday (home team in CAPS): Dallas 4 LOS ANGELES 2 Getafe 31 10 9 12 35 30 39
z-clinched conference Manchester United 3 (Pogba 53, 55, Smalling 69) so 32, Rodriguez 38, Robben 62, Wagner 87)
NY YANKEES 8 Baltimore 3 Minnesota 6 SAN JOSE 3 Athletic Bilbao 30 8 12 10 30 34 36
Stoke 1 (Diouf 57) Tottenham 2 (Eriksen 52, 63) Hamburg 3 (Kostic 17, Holtby 52, Hunt 85) Schal-
BOSTON 10 Tampa Bay 3
GOLF Watford 1 (Pereyra 61) Burnley 2 (Vokes 70, Cork ke 2 (Naldo 9, Burgstaller 63) Espanyol 30 8 12 10 26 37 36
Detroit 6 CHICAGO WHITE SOX 1
EASTERN 73) Played Friday Leganes 31 10 6 15 26 39 36
Seattle 11 MINNESOTA 4 US Masters CONFERENCE West Brom 1 (Rodriguez 54) Swansea 1 (Abra- Hanover 2 (Harnik 16, Klaus 42) Werder Bremen 1 Alaves 31 11 2 18 28 45 35
Kansas City 1 CLEVELAND 0 Third-round scores on Saturday from the 82nd Atlantic Division ham 75) (Belfodil 74) Real Sociedad 30 9 7 14 51 52 34
HOUSTON 1 San Diego 0 (10 innings) Masters at par-72 Augusta National Golf Club: GP W L OT Pts GF GA Levante 30 5 13 12 26 44 28
TEXAS 5 Toronto 1 202 - Patrick Reed (USA) 69-66-67 GP W D L GF GA Pts P W D L Gf Ga Pts
x-Tampa Bay 82 54 23 5 113 296 236 Deportivo 31 5 8 18 29 63 23
Oakland 7 LA ANGELS 3 205 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 69-71-65 Man City 32 27 3 2 90 24 84 Bayern Munich 29 23 3 3 76 21 72
x-Boston 81 50 19 12 112 268 210 Las Palmas 30 5 6 19 21 61 21
NY Mets 3 WASHINGTON 2 207 - Rickie Fowler (USA) 70-72-65 Man United 32 22 5 5 63 25 71
x-Toronto 82 49 26 7 105 277 232 Schalke 04 29 15 7 7 45 33 52 Malaga 31 4 5 22 19 48 17
ST. LOUIS 5 Arizona 3 208 - Jon Rahm (ESP) 75-68-65 Liverpool 33 19 10 4 75 35 67
Florida 81 43 30 8 94 244 244 Bor. Dortmund 28 13 9 6 54 39 48
Chicago Cubs 5 MILWAUKEE 2 209 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 69-70-70 Tottenham 32 20 7 5 64 27 67
Detroit 82 30 39 13 73 217 255 RB Leipzig 28 13 7 8 43 37 46
SAN FRANCISCO 7 LA Dodgers 5 (14 innings) 210 - Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 72-72-66, Bubba Chelsea 31 17 5 9 53 30 56 B. Leverkusen 28 12 9 7 47 35 45
TENNIS
PHILADELPHIA 20 Miami 1 Montreal 82 29 40 13 71 209 264
Watson (USA) 73-69-68, Marc Leishman (AUS) Arsenal 31 15 6 10 58 41 51 Eintr. Frankfurt 28 13 6 9 39 32 45
Cincinnati 7 PITTSBURGH 4 Ottawa 82 28 43 11 67 221 291 WTA Charleston
70-67-73 Burnley 32 13 10 9 31 28 49 Hoffenheim 28 11 9 8 52 41 42
COLORADO 3 Atlanta 2 (10 innings) Buffalo 82 25 45 12 62 199 280 Results on Saturday (x denotes seeding):
211 - Justin Thomas (USA) 74-67-70, Jordan Spieth Leicester 32 11 10 11 48 45 43 Bor. M‘gladbach 29 11 7 11 38 43 40
Metropolitan Play was postponed on Saturday after heavy
(USA) 66-74-71 Everton 33 11 8 14 38 53 41
BASKETBALL Division VfB Stuttgart 28 11 5 12 26 31 38 rains swept through the Charleston area.
212 - Dustin Johnson (USA) 73-68-71 Newcastle 32 10 8 14 33 41 38
y-Washington 82 49 26 7 105 259 239 Hertha Berlin 29 8 12 9 33 34 36
Results of the National Basketball Association 213 - Cameron Smith (AUS) 71-72-70, Justin Rose Bournemouth 33 9 11 13 41 53 38
x-Pittsburgh 82 47 29 6 100 272 250 Augsburg 29 9 9 11 38 40 36 WTA Monterrey
games on Saturday (home team in CAPS) (ENG) 72-70-71, Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 71-71-71 Watford 33 10 7 16 42 59 37
x-Philadelphia 82 42 26 14 98 251 243 Werder Bremen 29 9 9 11 33 35 36 Results on Saturday:
Denver 134 LA CLIPPERS 115 215 - Jason Day (AUS) 75-71-69, Bernd Wiesberger Brighton 32 8 11 13 29 43 35
(AUT) 70-73-72, Jimmy Walker (USA) 73-71-71, x-Columbus 82 45 30 7 97 242 230 Hanover 96 29 9 8 12 37 43 35 Semifinals
Milwaukee 115 NEW YORK 102 West Ham 31 8 9 14 39 57 33 Freiburg 29 6 12 11 26 48 30
Matt Kuchar (USA) 68-75-72, Charley Hoffman x-New Jersey 82 44 29 9 97 248 244 Timea Babos (HUN x4) bt Sachia Vickery (USA x7)
Brooklyn 124 CHICAGO 96 Swansea 32 8 8 16 26 45 32
69-73-73, Tony Finau (USA) 68-74-73 Carolina 82 36 35 11 83 228 256 VfL Wolfsburg 29 5 14 10 30 37 29 1-6, 6-2, 6-2; Garbine Muguriza (ESP x1) bt Ana
New Orleans 126 GOLDEN STATE 120 Huddersfield 33 8 8 17 26 54 32
216 - Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) 75-74-67, Kim NY Islanders 82 35 37 10 80 264 296 Mainz 05 29 6 9 14 30 47 27 Bogdan (ROU x6) 6-0, 7-5.
Oklahoma City 108 HOUSTON 102 Crystal Palace 33 7 10 16 33 52 31
Si-Woo (KOR) 75-73-68, Kevin Kisner (USA) 72-75- NY Rangers 82 34 39 9 77 231 268 Hamburg 29 5 7 17 23 46 22
SAN ANTONIO 116 Portland 105 Southampton 31 5 13 13 29 47 28
69, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 72-74-70, Satoshi Cologne 29 5 6 18 28 56 21 Davis Cup
WESTERN Stoke 33 6 9 18 30 63 27
Kodaira (JPN) 71-74-71, Russell Henley (USA) CONFERENCE West Brom 33 3 12 18 26 52 21 World Group quarterfinal results on Saturday:
EASTERN 73-72-71, Adam Hadwin (CAN) 69-75-72, Hideki Central Division Italian Serie A At Genoa (clay)
CONFERENCE Matsuyama (JPN) 73-71-72
z-Nashville 82 53 18 11 117 267 211 Results on Saturday: Italy 1 France 2
W L Pct GB 217 - Li Haotong (CHN) 69-76-72 English Championship
x-Winnipeg 82 52 20 10 114 277 218 Benevento 2 (Diabate 24, 51) Juventus 4 (Dybala Friday
z-Toronto 57 22 .722 — 218 - Paul Casey (ENG) 74-75-69, Adam Scott Results on Saturday:
x-Minnesota 82 45 26 11 101 253 232 16, 45-pen, 74-pen, Costa 82) Lucas Pouille (FRA) bt Andreas Seppi (ITA) 6-3,
x-Boston 54 25 .684 3 (AUS) 75-73-70, Daniel Berger (USA) 73-74-71, Barnsley 3 Sheffield Utd 2
x-Colorado 82 43 30 9 95 257 237 Roma 0 Fiorentina 2 (Benassi 7, Simeone 39) 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1; Fabio Fognini (ITA) bt Jeremy
x-Philadelphia 49 30 .620 8 Ryan Moore (USA) 74-72-72, Jhonattan Vegas Birmingham 1 Burton 1
St. Louis 82 44 32 6 94 226 222 SPAL 1 (Cionek 39) Atalanta 1 (de Roon 78-pen) Chardy (FRA) 6-7 (6/8), 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
x-Cleveland 49 31 .613 8½ (VEN) 77-69-72, Zach Johnson (USA) 70-74-74 Brentford 1 Ipswich 0
Sampdoria 0 Genoa 0 Saturday
x-Indiana 47 33 .588 10½ 219 - Webb Simpson (USA) 76-73-70, Bernhard Dallas 82 42 32 8 92 235 225 Derby 3 Bolton 0 Nicolas Mahut/Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) bt
x-Miami 43 37 .538 14½ Langer (GER) 74-74-71, Fred Couples (USA) 72-74- Chicago 82 33 39 10 76 229 256 Hull 4 QPR 0
Fabio Fognini/Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-4, 6-3, 6-1
x-Milwaukee 43 37 .538 14½ 73, Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP) 69-76-74 Pacific Division Leeds 1 Sunderland 1 Scottish Premiership Spain 1 Germany 2
x-Washington 42 38 .525 15½ 220 - Tiger Woods (USA) 73-75-72, Bryson y-Vegas 82 51 24 7 109 272 228 Middlesbrough 2 Nottingham Forest 0 Results on Saturday: Friday
Detroit 38 41 .481 19 DeChambeau (USA) 74-74-72, Branden Grace x-Anaheim 82 44 25 13 101 235 216 Millwall 2 Bristol City 0 Hearts 2 (Naismith 18, Milinkovic 20) Aberdeen 0 Alexander Zverev (GER) bt David Ferrer (ESP) 6-4,
Charlotte 35 45 .438 22½ (RSA) 73-73-74 x-San Jose 82 45 27 10 100 252 229 Norwich 3 Aston Villa 1 Partick Thistle 0 Kilmarnock 1 (Findlay 35) 6-2, 6-2; Rafael Nadal (ESP) bt Philipp
New York 28 52 .350 29½ 221 - Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA) 79-70-72, Xan- x-Los Angeles 82 45 29 8 98 239 203 Reading 1 Preston 0 Rangers 4 (Miller 39, Morelos 68, Murphy 79, Can- Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Chicago 27 53 .338 30½ der Schauffele (USA) 71-78-72, Martin Kaymer Calgary 82 37 35 10 84 218 248 Sheffield Wednesday 0 Fulham 1 deias 90) Dundee 0 Saturday
Brooklyn 27 53 .338 30½ (GER) 74-73-74, Kyle Stanley (USA) 72-74-75 Edmonton 82 36 40 6 78 234 263 Played Friday Ross County 1 (McKay 28) Hibernian 1 (Shaw 90) Tim Puetz/Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Marc
Orlando 24 55 .304 33 222 - Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 74-75-73, a-Doug Ghim Vancouver 82 31 40 11 73 218 264 Cardiff 0 Wolves 1 St Johnstone 0 Motherwell 0 Lopez/Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7
Atlanta 23 57 .288 34½ (USA) 72-76-74, Chez Reavie (USA) 76-71-75 Arizona 82 29 41 12 70 208 256 (4/7), 7-5
223 - Phil Mickelson (USA) 70-79-74, Ian Poulter NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for over- French Ligue 1
WESTERN Spanish La Liga Croatia 2 Kazakhstan 1
(ENG) 74-75-74, Brian Harman (USA) 73-74-76 time loss. Top three teams in each division and Results on Saturday:
CONFERENCE Results on Saturday: Friday
224 - Vijay Singh (FIJ) 71-74-79 Monaco 2 (Falcao 42, Lopes 45) Nantes 1 (Tho-
z-Houston 64 16 .800 — two wild cards per conference advance to play- Alaves 2 (Laguardia 48, El Haddadi 75) Getafe 0 Marin Cilic (CRO) bt Dmitry Popko (KAZ) 6-2, 6-1,
offs. masson 32) Celta Vigo 4 (Arana 38-og, Aspas 57, 60, 78) Sevil- 6-2; Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) bt Borna Coric
y-Golden State 57 23 .713 7 ICE HOCKEY
x-clinched playoff spot Amiens 3 (Dibassy 20, Gakpe 30, Konate 53) Caen (CRO) 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-2
x-Portland 48 32 .600 16 la 0
Results of the National Hockey League games on y-clinched division 0 Saturday
Utah 46 33 .582 17½ Betis 2 (Leon 21, Arbilla 50-og) Eibar 0
Saturday (home team in CAPS): z-clinched conference Angers 1 (Ekambi 6) Strasbourg 1 (Martin Ivan Dodig/Nikola Mektic (CRO) bt Timur Kha-
San Antonio 46 34 .575 18 Barcelona 3 (Messi 27, 32, 87) Leganes 1 (El Zhar
PHILADELPHIA 5 NY Rangers 0 70-pen) bibulin/Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) 6-7 (2), 6-4,
Oklahoma City 46 34 .575 18 68)
NY Islanders 4 DETROIT 3 (OT) SOCCER Bordeaux 2 (Kamano 42, 45) Lille 1 (Mothiba 14) 6-4, 6-2
New Orleans 46 34 .575 18 Guingamp 4 (Benezet 23, Blas 47, N’Gbakoto 79,
WASHINGTON 5 New Jersey 3 P W D L Gf Ga Pts USA 2 Belgium 0
Minnesota 45 35 .563 19 Briand 90+2) Troyes 0
WINNIPEG 4 Chicago 1 English Premier League Barcelona 31 24 7 0 79 16 79 Friday
Denver 45 35 .563 19 Toulouse 0 Dijon 1 (Kwon 10)
CAROLINA 3 Tampa Bay 2 (OT) Results on Saturday: Atletico Madrid 30 20 7 3 50 14 67 John Isner (USA) bt Joris de Loore (BEL) 6-3, 6-7
LA Clippers 42 38 .525 22
BOSTON 5 Ottawa 2 Bournemouth 2 (Mousset 65, King 89) Crystal Real Madrid 30 19 6 5 76 33 63 (4/7), 7-6 (10/8), 6-4; Sam Querrey (USA) bt Ruben
LA Lakers 34 45 .430 29½
TORONTO 4 Montreal 2 Palace 2 (Milivojevic 47, Zaha 75) German Bundesliga Valencia 30 19 5 6 58 31 62 Bemmelmans (BEL) 6-1, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5
Sacramento 26 54 .325 38 Brighton 1 (Loessl 29-og) Huddersfield 1 (Mounie Saturday
FLORIDA 4 Buffalo 3 Results on Saturday: Real Betis 31 15 4 12 52 53 49
Dallas 24 56 .300 40 NASHVILLE 4 Columbus 2 33) Ryan Harrison/Jack Sock (USA) bt Sander Gille/
Cologne 1 (Hector 7) Mainz 1 (De Blasis 50) Villarreal 30 14 5 11 40 34 47
Memphis 21 58 .266 42½ COLORADO 5 St. Louis 2 Everton 0 Liverpool 0 Joran Vliegen (BEL) 5-7, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4
Freiburg 0 Wolfsburg 2 (Didavi 2, 83) Sevilla 31 14 4 13 39 50 46
24

SPORTS
Monday, April 9, 2018

CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION

Soccer
BUNDESLIGA

Bayern’s title champagne still on ice

Bavarian giant will wait until after CL Best of Bayern
for full-blown celebration of success
BERLIN — Manager Jupp “For example, Frank Ribery Chairman: Karl-Heinz
Heynckes said on Saturday celebrates his eighth champi- Rummenigge
that Bayern Munich will keep onship, while for many others, Head coach: Jupp Heynckes
the champagne on ice — like Niklas Suele and Sebas- Current squad:
despite winning the German tian Rudy, it is their first cham- eì3%0/))4)67Bì%29)0ì
league title — as it turns its pionship. That’s something Neuer, Tom Starke, Sven
focus on the Champions very important. Ulreich, Christian Fruechtl
League. “For me as a player, the eì)*)2()67Bì%:-(ì0%&%A
A 4-1 comeback win at Augs- league title was always the Jerome Boateng, Juan Ber-
burg handed Bayern a sixth most important one.” nat, Rafinha, Mats Hummels,
consecutive Bundesliga title Augsburg grabbed the lead Joshua Kimmich, Niklas
and crowned it German cham- through an own goal by Niklas 9)0)Aì)0-<ì3)8>)
pion for the 28th time in the Suele, but Bayern roared back eì-(*-)0()67Bì%:-ì%68-O
club’s proud history. as Corentin Tolisso, James nez, Thiago Alcantara, Arturo
Bayern now has the Cham- Rodriguez, Arjen Robben and Vidal, Corentin Tolisso, Fabi-
pions League in its sights as it
looks to finish off Sevilla in
Wednesday’s return leg at Alli-
anz Arena, holding a 2-1 lead
in their quarterfinal.
It’s hard to believe there was
a time this season when Bay-
ern Munich didn’t look like a
champion side.
Less than two months into a
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lackluster start, Bayern officials
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pulled the trigger on manager
Carlo Ancelotti and persuaded
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Heynckes to come out of retire-

ment for a fourth stint in
charge.
Bayern started winning
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again, and didn’t stop. A
relentless, almost inevitable
march to the title ended on
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Saturday when it underlined
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its dominance of the Bundesli-
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ga with a record-extending
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sixth straight championship.
While the players partied on
the pitch in Augsburg, Heync-
kes said the serious celebra-
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tions must wait until the
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season finishes.
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“No — we don’t want to real-
ly celebrate, but everyone is
welcome to enjoy the title,”
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said Heynckes, who allowed a
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small celebration in Bayern’s
dressing room.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Paul Pogba is airborne after scoring Manchester United’s first goal in Saturday’s 3-2 comeback victory
over Manchester City at Etihad Stadium. RUSSELL CHEYNE / REUTERS
Pogba’s quick pair spares
United fans grim spectacle
MANCHESTER — Man-
chester United midfielder Paul
Pogba expressed his relief at
preventing rival Manchester
City from sealing the Premier
League title on Saturday,
claiming watching City cele-
brate would have been “like
death” for United fans.
Pogba shrugged off a turbu-
lent season and speculation
over his future by scoring twice
in as many minutes just after
halftime to spearhead a stun-
ning United comeback that
was completed by Chris Small-
ing 21 minutes from time.
Victory for City would have
seen Pep Guardiola’s squad
crowned champion and take a
United record in the process
by winning the title with six
Sandro Wagner all scored.
The result leaves Bayern 20
points clear with five league
games left and underlined its
total dominance of the Bun-
desliga.
Heynckes, who also steered
Bayern to the 2013 treble, has
turned the club’s fortunes
around since his return in
October for a fourth stint at
the helm.
Bayern was five points back
of the lead when Ancelotti was
fired.
Praise for Carlo
Heynckes could yet cap a
fairytale return by winning
the European Cup for the sixth
time in Bayern’s history in the
Champions League final in
Kiev on May 26.
Nevertheless, he singled out
Ancelotti for praise in Bayern’s
title victory.
“I want to send a greeting
and congratulations to Carlo
Ancelotti — he coached the
team in the first seven games,”
said Heynckes, who only has a
contract until the end of the
season.
“I think he is not only a great
coach but also a great person.”
games to spare.
“If they won they are cham-
pions, but for all the fans it
would be like death,” said the
Frenchman.
“To lose against City and to
see them celebrate, I couldn’t
let that happen. At halftime in
the dressing room we said we
have nothing to lose.”
Barring an incredible col-
lapse, City will still win the
league in the coming weeks as
it holds a 13-point lead over
second-place United.
However, Pogba issued a ral-
lying cry for United to win
back the battle for supremacy
in Manchester next season.
“After a second half like this,
we have to do that all the time.
If we did, we would be up
Bayern Munich's Juan Bernat, Rafinha, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez celebrate winning a sixth straight Bundesliga title with a repli-
ca trophy after Saturday’s 4-1 blowout at Augsburg. MICHAELA REHLE / REUTERS
Heynckes has left his future
open, meaning Bayern could
need a new head coach next
season.
However, he credited the
players and his backroom staff
for the title win.
“The coach is ultimately
responsible for the big picture,
but first and foremost, the
players are the protagonists,”
said Heynckes.
“I have a very well-function-
ing coaching team and every-
there with City ... and maybe
even in front.”
Guardiola added more spice
to an already hotly-anticipat-
ed clash when he claimed on
Friday he had been offered the
chance to buy Pogba two
months ago by the player’s
agent, Mino Raiola.
Pogba has often been
dropped by United manager
Jose Mourinho for the biggest
games this season, despite cost-
ing the club a then world record
$126 million when he returned
to United from Juventus in
2016.
However, restored in his
favorite position on the left of a
midfield trio, Pogba showed
why he was once one of the most
coveted players in the world.
one does their job excellently.
“That’s why I think it’s a suc-
cess for everyone, not just me.”
Heynckes understands the
way Bayern ticks, and another
treble is still available with the
Bavarian giant due to face Bay-
er Leverkusen in the German
Cup semifinals on April 17.
Robben, out of contract in
June, has now won the Bun-
desliga seven times since join-
ing Bayern in 2009.
“It’s always nice to win the
“With City they love to
attack, they don’t like to
defend, so I had to get more in
the box. I knew I had Nemanja
Matic behind me and Ander
Herrera with me,” he said.
Mourinho has been stinging
in his criticism of Pogba at
times during the campaign,
but hailed his contribution to
the victory.
“Two goals from a midfield
player in a big match like this
one stays in the memory of the
people, especially for the fans,”
said Mourinho.
“He needs that confidence
because he knows, I know,
everybody knows he had some
performances not at the level
we expect from Paul. But he is
improving.”
Liverpool mission
City has to shrug off the
memory of blowing a two-goal
lead to raise itself for a Cham-
pions League rescue mission
against Liverpool on Tuesday.
“Congratulations to United.
Now we will try, if we are brave
enough, to stand up again and
focus on Tuesday,” said Guard-
iola.
The manager also said the
way his side is built to play on
the front foot could leave it
exposed to an away goal that
would almost certainly seal Liv-
erpool’s place in the last four.
“In today’s match United
didn’t shoot one time in the
first half. In the second half
they arrived twice and scored
two goals,” he said.
In a recurring theme of his
near two-year reign in charge of
City, Guardiola also lamented
his side’s inability to take its
chances at the other end as Rah-
eem Sterling missed two glori-
ous opportunities to extend
City’s lead with the score at 2-0.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
title, but to be honest, we knew
it was coming. It was almost
impossible for things to go
wrong,” said the Dutchman.
“People from outside always
say, ‘They have the best squad,
they have to be champions’.
But we have to do it first our-
selves. Nothing is given away
in the Bundesliga.
“We have to enjoy the
moment, but it’s important to
keep our focus on football.”
Ribery, also out of contract
LA LIGA
Messi tricks his way to yet
another dominant effort
MADRID — Barcelona tied
the record for longest unbeat-
en run in La Liga history on
Saturday as a Lionel Messi
hat-trick inspired the runa-
way leaders to a 3-1 win over
Leganes to make it 38 league
games unbeaten.
The Catalan giant will look
to break the record that Real
Sociedad set in 1979-80 when
it hosts Valencia this week-
end, with Ernesto Valverde’s
side now just seven matches
from becoming the first La
Liga side to go through a cam-
paign without tasting defeat.
Messi was the star of the
show at Camp Nou with a
magnificent treble, as Barca
stretched its lead at the top to
12 points ahead of second-
place Atletico Madrid’s derby
against Real Madrid on Sun-
day.
“This unbeaten record has
not only been achieved this
season, but also last year
under (former coach) Luis
Enrique,” said Barca coach
Valverde.
“It’s a shared record, because
it crossed over between sea-
sons. It has been quite difficult,
because of the fact it’s an old
record.”
Valverde named a strong
side despite having a Champi-
ons League quarterfinal sec-
ond leg on Tuesday at Roma,
with Messi, Luis Suarez and
Philippe Coutinho all starting.
Suarez passed up two good
early chances to put Barca
ahead, prodding wide and
then seeing visiting goalkeep-
er Ivan Cuellar deny him with
at the end of the season,
marked his 35th birthday with
a late cameo appearance off
the bench.
“It’s a special moment,
because we now know we’re
champions,” said Ribery, who
has now won the Bundesliga
eight times since joining in
2007. “We have worked for this
since the start of the year and
we have a super squad.”
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Lionel Messi scores Barcelona's third goal to complete his hat-
trick in a 3-1 win over Leganes on Saturday. ALBERT GEA / REUTERS
an excellent save.
But the host moved in front
in the 27th minute through a
trademark Messi freekick.
The Argentine superstar
stepped up and curled the
ball over the ball and into the
bottom corner from 25 yards
to score his 27th league goal
of the season.
It didn’t take the 30-year-
old long to double his tally for
the day, latching onto Coutin-
ho’s through ball and firing
low into the corner.
Barcelona eased off in the
second half, perhaps thinking
of the upcoming midweek
clash at the Stadio Olimpico,
and Leganes hit back midway
through the second half.
Former Liverpool winger
Nabil El Zhar cut inside and
fired into the bottom corner
from the edge of the box
despite losing his footing as
he shot.
But the home side finished
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James Rodriguez, Sebastian
Rudy
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dowski, Kingsley Coman,
Thomas Mueller, Franck Rib-
ery, Arjen Robben, Sandro
Wagner
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off the match with a late tally
by Messi, completing his
third hat-trick of the season
in style.
The five-time Ballon d’Or
winner chested down Ous-
mane Dembele’s pass and
chipped the ball over Cuellar
with consummate ease.
“To score goals is always
good. We think that Messi has
to stay active so that he
avoids any muscular prob-
lems,” said Valverde.
“He’s doing well and we
saw that tonight. Looking for-
ward to the next matches, the
way he played is good news
for us.”
Barca will now turn its atten-
tions to avoiding a disaster in
Italy as it defends a 4-1 first-leg
lead, still bidding to complete
the treble with a Copa del Rey
final against Sevilla in two
weeks.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE