"Sinocism is the Presidential Daily Brief for China hands"- Evan Osnos, New Yorker Correspondent and National Book Award Winner
Today’s Links:
THE ESSENTIAL EIGHT
1. Readout from a Treasury Spokesperson of Secretary Mnuchin’s Call with Chinese Counterparts U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin held separate calls with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, Minister of the Office of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs Liu He, People’s Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, and Chinese Minister of Finance Xiao Jie. In each of these calls, Secretary Mnuchin underscored that he looked forward to fostering strong U.S.-China engagement during his tenure. The Secretary emphasized the importance of achieving a more balanced bilateral economic relationship going forward. He conveyed his commitment to working with the Chinese leadership on a comprehensive set of economic, financial, trade and investment, and illicit finance issues, in both bilateral and multilateral forums. He noted that demonstrated leadership by our two countries on critical issues will not only be beneficial to each country but also to the global economy. The Secretary commended Vice Premier Wang for the critical role that he has played as a partner in managing the bilateral economic relationship and expressed his desire to work closely together.// Comment: Any reason to think the phrase “achieving a more balanced bilateral economic relationship going forward” is noteworthy?
Related: Chinese Commerce Minister Warns of ‘Reaction’ if U.S. Imposes Tariffs – Caixin Global Chinese and U.S. economic interests are so interwoven that the consequences of a trade war would be too costly to afford, the Chinese commerce minister said Tuesday, but he also warned of a “reaction” if Washington were to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese goods. “If the U.S. introduces detailed plans, China will assess them in a serious manner and react in accordance with the result of the assessment,” Gao Hucheng said at a news conference in response to a question about whether Beijing is prepared to deal with a potential rise in tariffs.
Related: Trump Administration Considers Change in Calculating U.S. Trade Deficit – WSJ A larger trade deficit would give the Trump administration ammunition in arguing that trade deals need to be renegotiated, and might help boost political support for imposing tariffs. Career government employees objected last week when they were asked to prepare data using the new methodology, according to the people familiar with the discussions. These employees at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office complied with the instructions, but included their views as to why they believe the new calculation wasn’t accurate.
Related: What Does Trump Want? China Scours Twitter, Cocktail Parties for Clues – Bloomberg Since the election, Chinese officials have gone to considerable lengths to decipher Trump’s positions on key issues. Employees working overtime in the weeks after his November election win trawled through Trump’s Twitter account for clues on his policy positions, using VPN software to access the blocked website, according to officials at two government departments with direct knowledge of the matter.
Related: Trump Seen Winning Support to Declare China as Yuan Manipulator – Bloomberg “There’s bipartisan support to declare China a currency manipulator,” said Graham, whose stance was backed by Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire. “I don’t want a war with China; I want a better relationship. But what they’re doing needs to be pushed back against — and I think currency manipulation will be an issue that may unite the Congress.” While the U.S. has long accused China of undervaluing its currency to aid exports, Chinese authorities have actually been burning through foreign reserves to support the yuan amid an economic slowdown and capital outflows
Related: The renminbi sold short | Chatham House Comment: Geoffrey Yu reviews The People’s Money: How China is Building a Global Currency by Paola Subacchi
Related: Finding Wilbur Ross’s footprint in China-CNBC Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross has taken aim at China for what he describes as its unfair trade practices as well as stealing jobs, but at least one of Ross’s companies has sought to benefit from off-shoring jobs to China. In an industrial park in Jiaxing, CNBC went to find a factory in which Ross, who was chosen by President Donald Trump be the next U.S. commerce secretary, had invested.
2. China Focus: One year on, Xi’s speech injects vitality into media – Xinhua On Feb. 19 last year, Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, visited the People’s Daily, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television (CCTV), the nation’s three leading news providers. Later that day he presided over a symposium on the Party’s media work. During the symposium, Xi ordered all news media run by the CPC and the Chinese government to strictly follow the Party’s leadership and focus on “positive reporting.” According to Xi, the Party’s media work should unite and guide the general public, serve the country’s overall interests, tell right from wrong and connect China to the world. Calling for innovative concepts, content and methods, Xi told media groups to make use of new media’s edge in publicity, amplify their voices on the international stage, tell stories about China well and build flagship media groups with strong global influence. The People’s Daily ran an article Sunday that said the past year had seen great changes across all media outlets thanks to the “fresh vitality” following Xi’s speech. //Comment: 唱响民族复兴的时代强音——写在习近平总书记“2·19”重要讲话发表一周年之际 and 人民日报：永远牢记肩负的使命 both on the Sunday 2.19.17 People’s Daily front page
Related: 总书记和新闻工作者在一起–独家稿件-人民网 党性：党的新闻媒体永远姓党
Related: GreatFire: Chinese authorities don’t understand how the internet works Index on Censorship Smith: China has deep pockets and is really only getting started in terms of establishing their media footprint overseas. They can afford to lose as much money as is needed to get these operations up and running and then to keep them running. But at the moment, the actual content is so poor, it’s laughable. RT seems to at least have professionals working both in front and behind the cameras. I don’t think CCTV quite has the human resources aspect of this down pat yet, but in time, they will compete for talent. However, by the time they are really ready to challenge other media outlets, I believe that foreign governments will likely place obstacles in CCTV’s path if China has not reciprocated by loosening her own media restrictions.
Related: Trump’s media attacks play into China’s hands, says Beijing press | The Guardian “His war with mainstream media makes it difficult for Trump to ally with the media on [the] ideological front against China,” the state-run tabloid said, adding: “Many have predicted that Trump’s presidency would exacerbate the recession of liberalism.”…As part of a sweeping crackdown designed to tighten the Communist party’s grip on power, China’s authoritarian leader, Xi Jinping, last year demanded “absolute loyalty” from the press, telling Chinese news outlets their “surname should be party”. “Trump’s vision would be, ‘the media’s surname is Trump’,” said Bishop. “I’m surprised he hasn’t started referring to journalists as ‘news workers’ like the Communist party does. It could be next: ‘fake news workers’”.
3. No, China’s Trademark Decision On Trump Wasn’t A Favor For Accepting “One China” Policy – BuzzFeed News Posts alleging that Trump convinced the Chinese government to switch positions on Trump’s trademark case by agreeing to accept the “One China” policy — the principle that the US recognizes Beijing, and not Taipei, as the Chinese capital — were shared thousands of times on Twitter last week. But there’s only one problem — China had already decided to do this months ago. // Comment: Decision made right after the election, though there appears to be some suspicions that the process was short-circuited in this case
Related: Dozens of Chinese firms apply to use ‘Ivanka’ as their trademark | South China Morning Post At least 65 applications have been submitted for products ranging from supplements to alcohol and wallpaper
4. Dick Clark Productions Sale to Dalian Wanda Is Dead-The Wrap The deal has fallen apart over problems getting currency out of China — and passing regulatory muster with the Chinese state, the insiders said. Speculation that Donald Trump’s administration would not approve the deal was not the primary reason for its breakdown, according to both individuals. // But Reuters says TheWrap report is incorrect-Wanda’s Dick Clark deal shaky, but not yet dead: sources
Related: Chinese investors find their cash is losing its cachet | Reuters “Clients were asking if it would be possible to make sure they are involved. Now, we are seeing the reverse: some clients are asking if we can do it without Chinese bidders because of the domestic challenges they face,” he said. Dealmakers said many Chinese firms are unable to close deals because they can not secure official permission to transfer yuan into foreign exchange.
5. Chinese Banks’ Off-Book Wealth Products Exceed $3.8 Trillion – Bloomberg The expansion of this form of shadow banking, with money eventually being diverted to quasi-loans and bonds, outpaced the 10 percent growth for normal lending during the same period, raising risks for the broader economy and undermining the country’s “deleveraging” efforts, the People’s Bank of China said Friday in its quarterly monetary policy report.
Related: China to Draft Rules to Rein in Asset Management Risks – Bloomberg The draft rules would apply to products issued by banks, insurers, brokerages and other financial institutions, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. New rules will be phased in after existing products mature, and would only apply to new issues, they added.
6. The Coal Ban: Has China Turned on North Korea? | PIIE – Stephan Haggard But before we get too excited, the outcome of this episode will depend not only on whether China follows through, but on the politics of the move. If China is squeezing North Korea, it is for one purpose and one purpose only: to offer a cooperative gesture to the incoming Trump administration in return for an initiative on negotiations. The key question is whether the US can pick up on the offer given the transition and the answer could well be “no.” // Comment: Not sure anyone can be this definitive about this. It is certainly possible, it is also certainly possible Beijing is extremely unhappy with the missile tests and the Kim Jong Nam assassination, or as the MoFA spokesman said Monday “because China fast approaching UN sanction import limit.”
Related: China Monitors Assassination Probe Of North Korean Kim Jong Nam : NPR Commentator and former journalist Deng Yuwen argues that decades of supporting North Korea has been a losing deal for China, and the assassination of Kim Jong Nam is the perfect opportunity for Beijing to cut its losses. “In the past, whatever North Korea would do, China would pick up the tab for it. The cost was huge, but the pay-off was next to nothing,” Deng said.
Related: Chinese Media Denies Coal Import Ban Linked to Kim Death-RFA the Global Times said speculation in Western media that the move is a response to Kim’s death was “ludicrous,” suggesting instead that the move was linked to Beijing’s disapproval of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program. “The international community will never allow North Korea to possess nuclear weapons,” the paper said. “Pyongyang should be conscious of this reality.” “Its nuclear weapon program … has made the North the most unsafe country in the world,” it said.
Related: North Korean officials are preparing to come to U.S. for talks with former officials – The Washington Post Preparations are underway to bring senior North Korean representatives to the United States for talks with former American officials, the first such meeting in more than five years and a sign that Pyongyang sees a potential opening with the Trump administration.
7. Beijing Lowers This Year’s Goal for Cutting Excess Coal Production – Caixin Global “Coal capacity certainly remains excessive, (but) the annual-capacity reduction target cannot be set at a very high level every year,” He Yongjian, a deputy chief of the NEA’s planning department, which drafted the directives, told Caixin on Saturday. He added that the government plans to shutter more than 500 coal mines this year. Last year’s overcapacity reduction goal was exceeded by the actual shutdown of about 300 million tons in coal capacity. But many of those mines had already been producing less or had even suspended operation, officials have said.
Related: Will Trump force China to take lead on climate? – CNN.com On Friday, the US Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt will head up the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Republicans say Pruitt, a longtime critic of the EPA, will preside over a much needed shake up at the agency. Democrats and environmental activists were unable to block the confirmation. Ma has been following it all closely. He says China could offer some sobering lessons to the new US President. “More people in China thought that we should get rich first before even thinking of the environment. But now we are suffering,” he says. After decades of unbridled growth, the suffering is immense.
8. The Red Print Album | Big Daddy Dough is a 21-track parody mix of Sinohiphopfunkaliciousness written and recorded by Big Daddy Dough, a Beijing-based economist rapper. This album is dedicated to Sinophiles past, present and future, AND to the continuing strength of the US-China relationship. // Comment: including classics like “Beijing State of Mind”
BUSINESS, ECONOMY AND TRADE
Follow the Money » Why Did China’s 2016 Current Account Surplus Fall? – Brad Setser The means that China used to stimulate its economy in 2016 remain dubious. China would be better off with more fiscal spending and less crazy lending. It desperately needs a fundamental expansion of its system of social insurance. At the same time, the global economy would be weaker right now if China hadn’t turned open the taps and allowed domestic credit to flow in late 2015 and early 2016.
Alibaba in Online-Offline Tie-Up with Retailer Bailian – Caixin Global The announcement of the new tie-up with Bailian Group came just days after Chinese media reported that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. was in unrelated talks for a similar partnership with Sun Art Retail Group Ltd., operator of the RT-Mart supermarket chain.
Shenzhen Police Raid Four Companies in Futures-Fraud Probe – Caixin Global The raids were carried out against the backdrop of a renewed campaign by the central government to clean up hundreds of OTC markets backed by local governments that trade commodities as diverse as precious metals, stamps and wine.
China to further ease access restrictions for foreign investment – Xinhua China will continue to reduce access restrictions to facilitate the inflow of foreign investment, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said Tuesday. He made the remarks at a press conference when answering a question about concerns of “a rush of capital flight” from the country.
PBOC to Cut Reserve Requirement for Qualifying Banks – Caixin Global China’s central bank will ease capital requirements for qualifying financial institutions in an effort to direct more credit to rural and small businesses, according to a People’s Bank of China (PBOC) document dated Feb. 16.
Can China Become a Leader of Innovation? | ChinaFile Conversation
POLITICS AND LAW
CPC meeting discusses draft government work report – Xinhua Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Tuesday chaired a meeting which discussed the draft government work report. The meeting, attended by members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, discussed the draft report, which is scheduled to be submitted to the upcoming fifth session of the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC). Tuesday’s meeting also reviewed a special report on inspections of central Party and governmental authorities, and another document on a Party education campaign.
习近平首提“两个引导”有深意 – 今日头条 “仁者，以天下为已责也。”2月17日，习近平国家安全工作座谈会上指出，“要引导国际社会共同塑造更加公正合理的国际新秩序”“引导国际社会共同维护国际安全”。据“学习中国”大数据库统计，这是习主席首次提出这“两个引导”，并且是在第五十三届慕尼黑安全会议和今年二十国集团外长会分别召开之际提出的，其意颇深，请随“学习中国”小编一起学习。
China to improve government service in townships – Xinhua The central authorities have issued a document calling for improved public services at the township level. The document was issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council. 中办国办印发《意见》:加强乡镇政府服务能力建设
Former Beijing deputy Party chief sentenced to 13 years in prison -China Daily Lyu Xiwen, former deputy Party chief of Beijing, was sentenced to 13 years in prison for taking bribes on Monday.
China orders hundreds of thousands of private cars to have GPS trackers installed for monitoring | The Guardian Hundreds of thousands of vehicles affected by edict covering part of Xinjiang following outbreaks of violence – and no petrol for owners who don’t comply
今天的《新闻联播》，成立三年的中央机构首次出镜 Comment: Interesting analysis of the CCTV Evening News report last week on the national security seminar // 政知道（微信ID：upolitics）发现，有20名中央高层到会。 其中有12名中央政治局成员： 习近平、李克强、张德江、王沪宁、刘奇葆、孙政才、范长龙、孟建柱、胡春华、栗战书、郭金龙、韩正。 此外，还有8位中央和军委高层，分别是： 杨晶、郭声琨、房峰辉、张阳、杨洁篪、周小川、赵克石、张又侠。 就上述高层，政知君觉得有几点可说： 其一，本届中央政治局共有25名成员，就有近半数在今天座谈国家安全。可见国家安全在中央工作中的分量有多重。 其二，20名高层中，有4名兼任政治局委员的省市一把手——孙政才、胡春华、郭金龙、韩正，他们的重心在主政地方。从中央层面看，就有16名高层与国家安全工作密切相关。除了政治局常委，其他的分别在政策研究、宣传、政法、书记处、国办、外交、央行、军委等领域任职。
FOREIGN AND DEFENSE AFFAIRS
Trump proposes including Chinese visitors in social media checks – POLITICO U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials are proposing to ask Chinese visitors to disclose their social media “handles” or other identifiers on common social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. The question would be asked online as part of an electronic system Chinese holders of long-term U.S. business and visitor visas use to advise of upcoming travel. Answering the question would be “optional,” CBP said in a notice set for publication Tuesday in the Federal Register. Those who don’t wish to answer will have their travel requests processed “without a negative interpretation or inference,” the notice said.
Chinese ballet show draws protests for ‘glorifying Red Army’ | The Guardian The National Ballet of China is performing The Red Detachment of Women, created in 1964, , at the Arts Centre in Melbourne. The state minister for creative industry, Martin Foley, said staging the ballet was a “privilege”, but protest organiser Frank Ruan described it as “like putting salt on the wounds of some Chinese people”.
Chinese hackers can disrupt Indian Army’s communication network: Report | Hindustan Times The root of the problem is the armed forces dependence on imported equipment that heightens threat from an embedded virus or spyware. “This has been compounded by the fact that origin of a large amount of electronic circuitry being used in communication equipment is of Chinese origin,” says the report prepared by the army design bureau (ADB).
China boosts arms exports by 74pc, while cutting reliance on outside providers, report finds | South China Morning Post Beijing is becoming more self-sufficient for its military needs and now delivers major weapons to 44 countries, mostly in Asia and Africa, Stockholm institute finds
UCSD邀请达赖演讲暴露西方历史认知缺陷–国际–人民网 Comment: People’s Daily online goes after UCSD for inviting the Dalai Lama to be the commencement speaker. Have any of UCSD’s China programs been threatened yet?
Chinese FM pledges more coordination to prepare for BRICS Summit – Xinhua The summit, to be held in southeast China’s coastal city of Xiamen in September, will not only contribute to common development of BRICS countries, but also promote more inclusive and balanced economic globalization, allowing the BRICS mechanism to play its role of rebalancing globalization, Wang said.
EU sets collision course with China over ‘Silk Road’ rail project-FT $$ Probe of Beijing-funded Belgrade-Budapest link hits Xi’s hallmark scheme
Bye bye, Bao Bao – The Washington Post Bao Bao, the panda she and countless others fell in love with when she was born at the National Zoo 3½ years ago, is leaving. At 1:30 Tuesday, the bear will depart on a special flight from Dulles International Airport to Chengdu, China.
Mongolia to get help from China – China Daily Mongolia angered China in November by allowing a visit by the 14th Dalai Lama, who has pushed for separating Tibet from China. In January, during a phone call between Wang and his Mongolian counterpart, Mongolia said it had reflected deeply on the visit and promised to not allow the Dalai Lama to visit again. On Monday, Wang said the bilateral relationship “is ready for another start”.
世界何以走向“后西方”？（望海楼）–观点–人民网 Comment: Ruan Zongze writes the 2.20.17 People’s Daily Overseas Edition “Haiwang Lou” column, discusses idea of the world heading into a “post-West” era
ASEAN unsettled by China’s weapon systems, tension in South China Sea | Reuters Foreign ministers of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) were unanimous in their concern about Beijing’s reclamation and militarization of manmade islands, Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said.
China is warning South Korea’s Lotte Group against letting a country club become a THAAD missile defense site — Quartz Yesterday (Feb. 20) state-controlled newswire Xinhua published an editorial warning Lotte Group, one of Korea’s largest holding companies, that it must reject a deal that would allow the US and Korea to build a missile defense system on one of its golf courses, lest it face “consequences.” The piece follows several recent obstacles Lotte has faced in China, and marks the closest Beijing has come to openly declaring a trade war against South Korea.
HONG KONG, MACAO AND TAIWAN
The Economy Is Free in Hong Kong. Running a Food Truck Isn’t (See Annex C). – The New York Times This has long been a city of tycoons, with a few families holding sway over the supermarkets, drugstores and real estate market, limiting competition and keeping prices high. And in the past few weeks, four words have further shaken the story line that this former British colony is a free-market nirvana. Food Truck Pilot Scheme.
In ‘snub over one-China’, Beijing turns deaf ear to Taipei’s call to send back phone scam suspects | South China Morning Post With Spain sending 218 Taiwanese suspects and 51 of their mainland counterparts to Beijing over the weekend, the number of such suspects from Taiwan has grown to more than 400, according to various figures released by foreign governments since mid-June.
TECH AND MEDIA
Another Story by Chinese Sci-Fi Writer Liu Cixin to Hit Screens | China Film Insider Local media outlet Sina Entertainment reports that filming on an adaptation of the Hugo and Nebula-winning novelist’s short story The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) will begin in March and is expected to hit screens either in summer 2018 or at the beginning of 2019.
Alibaba Sues Amateur Journalist for $1.45 Million | Sixth Tone “I thought Tmall was part of Taobao, so I used Taobao in the title,” Feng, 30, told Sixth Tone. Shaken by the hefty sum demanded, the blogger apologized on his WeChat account, writing that the compensation is more than he can pay. “This is the first time I’ve been sued,” he said, adding that he never thought writing articles could get him into this kind of trouble. Shu Hai, a lawyer at Zhong Lun Law Firm, told Sixth Tone that the purpose of such suits is merely to apply pressure. “They don’t really want to get 10 million,” Shu said. “There’s only a small possibility that the court will support such a large claim for just one WeMedia article.”
雷军的孤独和小米的性价比 Comment: Keso takes an fascinating article about Xiaomi from behind his paywall. How much cash does Xiaomi have left, and will it need to do another financing round? It is hard to imagine the current valuation is anywhere near the $45 Billion they got in the last announced round
Ant Financial Announces Tie-Ups South Korean, Philippine Electronic-Payment Firms – Caixin Global The South Korean tie-up will see Ant, the former financial unit of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., invest $200 million in Kakao Pay Corp., the mobile finance unit of local social networking specialist Kakao Corp., the companies announced on Tuesday. // Comment: Isn’t Tencent an investor in Kakao?
SOCIETY, ART, SPORTS, CULTURE AND HISTORY
Noah’s Ark-Inspired Mega-Church Ignites Firestorm | Sixth Tone The curious and the devout had flocked to this corner of Changsha County — often referred to by its former name, Xingsha, and located on the outskirts of the provincial capital — to witness for themselves the steel-and-glass church that more closely resembles an airport terminal than a house of God. Topped with a colossal 80-meter-tall steeple, the church is set among parklands totaling 150,000 square meters that also include an institute for biblical studies and a lake. The cost of the project is estimated at 110 million yuan (around $16 million).
Chinese whistleblower granted political asylum | SBS News ‘Rebecca’ Jun Mei Wu has told SBS News she is relieved to have been granted asylum in Australia. Ms Wu worked for the digital arm of the People’s Daily state media empire from 2012 to 2016. She fled the city of Wuhan for Sydney after being detained and questioned by security officers over her affiliation with an underground Protestant church.
Long Zhenyang: The resignation that shook Hong Kong media – BBC News A devout Christian, the former journalist said he was also upset by a long-running campaign to remove crosses from churches in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. “I was very sad and devastated,” he said from the San Francisco Bay Area, where he has been living with his family since last year. “I felt the Cultural Revolution was coming back.”
Beheading of Chinese noodle shop owner ‘highlights crisis in psychiatric care’ | South China Morning Post The concerns over the treatment for people with psychiatric problems surfaced after police arrested a 22-year-old migrant worker over the death of the shop owner in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Saturday. The worker, identified only by his surname Hu, had spent six months in a psychiatric hospital before being discharged last year because his condition had improved, the West China City Daily reported yesterday. // Comment: The Beijing News on the case “武汉面馆杀人案”调查 疑犯行凶后蹲门口未逃 The full video of the beheading was going around, awful
ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND HEALTH
China’s H7N9 bird flu mutates, no immediate added threat to human – Xinhua The mutation was found in January in two people who had contracted H7N9 bird flu in Guangdong Province. Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) has lately confirmed the finding and reported the case to the World Health Organization (WHO), according to China CDC’s website.
CRISPR pioneer muses about long journey from China to pinnacle of American science – The Washington Post Feng Zhang occupies a corner office on the 10th floor of the gleaming, modern biotechnology palace called the Broad Institute. He is one of the most acclaimed young scientists in the United States, regularly mentioned, even at 35, as a possible Nobel laureate.
China to build monitoring network for ecological security – Xinhua This will include a space-ground ecological observation system and a ecological security monitoring system linked up to big data and the Internet, according to the ministry.
暗访地下代孕产业：最高90万“包成功”-新华网 Comment: CCTV investigates the underground surrogacy market. And a shorter English version
China criticizes several cities’ response to air pollution – Xinhua In an inspection on 18 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and neighboring areas, the MEP found several problems in their response to air pollution, including inadequate planning and poor implementation.
China to jump supercomputer barrier – People’s Daily Online This year, China is aiming for breakthroughs in high- performance processors and other key technologies to build the world’s first prototype exascale supercomputer, the Tianhe-3, said Meng Xiangfei, the director of application at the National Super Computer Tianjin Center. The prototype is expected to be completed in early 2018.
Nobel laureate, Turing Award winner become Chinese citizens – Xinhua Nobel laureate Chen Ning Yang and Turing Award-winning computer scientist Andrew Chi-Chih Yao have given up their foreign citizenship and become Chinese citizens, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced Tuesday. The two scientists were hired as foreign academicians of the CAS and have become full academicians in accordance with the academy’s regulations.
China Nuclear Push Stalled by Next-Generation Reactors – Bloomberg Plans to green-light eight reactors this year in the world’s fastest-growing nuclear market, announced last week, could depend on whether it’s able to complete some of the world’s most-advanced facilities, including Westinghouse Electric Co.’s AP1000 and Areva SA’s EPR
After OPEC cuts heavy oil, China teapot refiners pull U.S. supply to Asia | Reuters Chinese independent, or teapot, refiners are bringing in rare cargoes of North American heavy crude in a new long-distance flow that traders say has only been made possible by OPEC’s output cuts and ample supplies in Canada and the United States.
BOOKS AND LITERATURE
2,000-year-old classic becomes bestseller in China – China Daily The Analects Annotated sold no less than 450,000 copies over the past year, twice as much as the previous year, the Beijing-based Zhonghua Book Company, which is dedicated to humanities titles, especially classical Chinese works, said
BEIJING
[视频]【京津冀协同发展调研行】共享共建 公共服务均等化惠及百姓_CCTV节目官网-CCTV-1_ Comment: 2.20.17 CCTV Evening News top story on the progress in Jing-Jin-Ji plan over the last three years, first in a series of reports
Subway lines to link Beijing with cities in Hebei-China Daily The subway lines, together with other means of transportation, will cut the transfer time between the capital and cities in Hebei to less than 1 hour, according to a transportation plan released by the Hebei Development and Reform Commission for the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20) period.
【笑活不是笑话】老外北京话PK逼得北京大爷跳后海 Comment: Plastered’s-Dominic Johnson-Hill funny video from the Beijing hutongs, bring on the nostalgia
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