UN biodiversity summit postponed over new Covid variant (China Daily)
2021-12-03
The second part of UN biodiversity summit COP15, set to take place in Switzerland in January, has been postponed over the new coronavirus variant Omicron, organisers said on Thursday.

Facebook removes Chinese network over fake 'Swiss biologist' coronavirus claims (SCMP)
2021-12-02

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China, ROK pledge to enhance bilateral ties (Xinhua)
2021-12-03

Beijing warns against 'politicising' sport after WTA pulls out of China over Peng Shuai case (SCMP)
2021-12-02

China, Benin agree to push ties to new high (Xinhua)
2021-12-02

Keeping big brothers at bay: why Lithuania is taking on China (SCMP)
2021-12-01

Xi, Thongloun to witness China-Laos Railway opening (China Daily)
2021-12-01

US in hypersonic weapon 'arms race' with China, says Air Force secretary (SCMP)
2021-12-01

Beijing, Moscow to strengthen energy security collaboration (China Daily)
2021-11-30

Is US-China struggle behind Solomon Islands riots – or 'just icing on the cake'? (SCMP)
2021-11-30

China to set up regional arbitration center with AALCO: premier Li (XInhua)
2021-11-29

Nation reaches out further to Africa (China Daily)
2021-11-29

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China's zero-Covid strategy shows speedy measures are vital, health commission chief says (SCMP)
2021-12-02

China to accelerate training of high-quality workers, skilled talent (Xinhua)
2021-12-02

China's national political advisory body hears special committee work reports (Xinhua)
2021-12-01

China Revises Insurance Group Regulations to Curb Disorderly Expansion (Caixin)
2021-12-01
China's insurance group companies will be required to have a clear equity structure and a reasonable level of equity ownership in subsidiaries, focusing on their core insurance business, according to revised regulations issued Tuesday by China's banking and insurance regulatory commission. The revision is part of a series of new rules to improve corporate governance in the insurance industry and curb disorderly expansion after a string of high-profile scandals and debt-fueled expansions that posed risks to the country's financial system. China had 13 large insurance groups with total assets of 22 trillion yuan ($3.45 trillion) under management as of year-end 2020, dominating the insurance market. Under the new rules, insurance holding companies should bear the main responsibility for corporate governance of the whole group, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said. The previous regulations dated from 2010 and no longer fit the industry's requirements, the commission said. Together with recently released regulations on financial holding companies, the new rules pave the way for regulating China's systemically important insurance companies, the commission said Tuesday in a separate statement. The equity ownership structure between an insurance group and its financial subsidiaries shall not exceed three levels under the new regulations. For nonfinancial subsidiaries, there shouldn't be more than four levels, the new rules specify. The limits won't apply to special purpose entities that do not conduct business and project companies established for investment in real estate, the CBIRC said. The new rules also set the scope and conditions under which insurance groups can invest in noninsurance units. Investments should optimize a group's resource allocation, provide synergistic effects, enhance the group's overall professional level and competitiveness, and promote the development of its core business, the CBIRC said. The CBIRC has been pursuing a cleanup of misconduct in banking and insurance companies over the past two years. The regulator doled out 140 million yuan ($23.3 million) in fines to 2,600 shareholders of banks and insurance companies allegedly involved in fund embezzlement or other misconduct since 2019, the CBIRC said in April. One notorious example was the failure of Anbang Insurance Group Co. Ltd. Led by its now-imprisoned founder Wu Xiaohui, the insurer started selling unconventional and risky high-yield investment products masquerading as life insurance, known as universal life insurance products. The proceeds were pledged as collateral for massive loans that were used to buy assets globally. Regulators seized insolvent Anbang in 2018 and managed to offload the bulk of its assets and restructure the company. But they have struggled to sell other assets, notably New York's iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel, and to find strategic investors for Dajia Insurance Group Co. Ltd., the company that emerged from Anbang's ashes.

China's property tax causing sleepless nights for homeowners as Beijing walks the 'tightrope' (SCMP)
2021-11-30

China targets online casinos in war on illegal gambling, authorities say (SCMP)
2021-11-30

Military urged to strengthen recruitment and training of top talent (China Daily)
2021-11-29

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2021 Belt & Road Trade and Investment Forum held in Beijing (Xinhua)
2021-12-03

Beijing gears up for green, sustainable Winter Games (China Daily)
2021-12-01

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Shanghai Offers Residency Rights to Graduates of Local Universities (Caixin)
2021-12-02
Shanghai has further relaxed its residency rules to allow non-local fresh college graduates to settle in the city, a move to lure more young workers and develop its talent pool. Starting this Wednesday for a period until Dec. 31, students who graduate from local universities and work in the city's five "new cities" and Lingang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone can apply for household registration, or "hukou," according to a notice issued by the Shanghai Student Affairs Center affiliated to the municipal education commission. As long as they meet some "basic requirements," they will be granted a Shanghai hukou, said the Monday notice. Household registrations are important for Chinese people as they are linked to various social benefits, including access to health care and education, and associated with the possibility of purchasing a home or registering a car license plate. Previously, the city has allowed postgraduates from several top schools, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, to apply for hukou immediately after graduation if they meet certain "basic requirements." According to the official Shanghai Daily, "basic requirements" include employment contracts with the party or government offices, public institutions or enterprises with a registered capital of at least 1 million yuan ($156,843) for one year or longer. The newly eased hukou rules came just days after Li Qiang, Shanghai's party chief, said at a conference that the city will be "more open" to talent, launching a series of measures to entice excellent people to stay. According to the Monday notice, the pilot program aims to help Shanghai grow into a powerhouse for "high-quality" talent by increasing efforts to attract people, especially those who can support the development of the five "new cities." Shanghai has stepped up development of its suburban "new cities" as the financial hub seeks to optimize its layout and boost growth. The new areas, namely Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang, Fengxian and Nanhui, were unveiled as part of Shanghai's latest five-year development plan in January. Around 3.6 million people are expected to live in the new areas by 2025 and 5 million by 2035, according to a government document issued in February. However, statistics show they're now home to just 2.16 million residents, meaning there's room for further growth. Prior to the rules, authorities in the "new cities" and the Lingang Special Area launched favorable policies for household registration. For example, it takes as little as three years for certain people working in Lingang to turn their residence permit into a hukou in Shanghai, while this period is seven years in other regions. Yao Kai, director of the global science and innovation talent development research center of Fudan University, said that although such policies have made breakthroughs compared with those in Shanghai's central urban area, they are less competitive than the policies of surrounding provinces and cities and some second-tier cities in central and western regions. As the "new cities" do not yet have characteristic industries, they cannot provide abundant "high-quality" jobs while the public service resources and infrastructure are weaker than those in the central urban area, Yao said, adding that the "cities" still need to strengthen their attractiveness to talent. In March, the neighboring city of Suzhou announced new policies permitting those with at least a college degree to receive a hukou directly without needing to first make local social security payments, Caixin has reported.

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Tibet reviews five years of progress (China Daily)
2021-12-02

China's Tibet sees faster foreign trade growth (Xinhua)
2021-11-30

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Xinjiang slams Western attempts to curb its photovoltaic industry (Xinhua)
2021-12-01

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"Hong Kong Health Code" system to be open for registration from Dec. 10 (Xinhua)
2021-12-02

Hong Kong consumers are feeling the pinch of rising costs from inflation, but with the world still gripped by Covid-19, is there light at the end of the tunnel? (SCMP)
2021-12-02

Schools to add empathy, law-abidingness, diligence and 'loving China and Hong Kong' to moral education (HKFP)
2021-12-01

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Macao Casino Junket King Alvin Chau Detained (Caixin)
2021-11-30
Macao gambling tycoon Alvin Chau Cheok Wa was detained on allegations of criminal association, illegal gambling and money laundering, police in the special administrative region said Sunday. Chau, chief executive and controlling shareholder of Macao's casino operator Suncity Group Holdings Ltd., confessed to establishing overseas gambling platforms and carrying out illegal virtual betting activities, Macao police said Sunday at a press conference. Several of Chau's associates were also arrested. The 47-year-old was transferred to Macao's Coloane prison early Monday morning after 14 hours of questioning, following a recommendation by the prosecution, local media reported. Chau's Suncity is Macao's biggest junket operator, accounting for 40% to 45% of the market. Junkets service high rollers and extend credit to them. Suncity suspended trading of its Hong Kong shares Monday. The news sent shares of Maocao's casino operators tumbling. MGM China Holdings Ltd. sank 10%, while Wynn Macau Ltd. closed 7.8% lower. Sands China Ltd. and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. lost more than 5%. The detention came after authorities of eastern China's Wenzhou city issued an arrest warrant for Chau on suspicion of operating casinos on the Chinese mainland, where gambling is illegal. Chau was last seen in public Sept. 23, when his wife posted a photo of him in a Macao coffee shop on her social media account. Wenzhou police said an investigation since July 2020 found Chau headed a gambling syndicate involving 199 shareholder-level representatives and more than 12,000 agents for gambling promotion. The group had developed more than 80,000 mainland Chinese gamblers. Chau has been operating casinos in Macao since 2007 and launched online gambling platforms in the Philippines in 2016. He organized mainland gamblers to bet in Macao casino rooms or on cross-border online platforms, according to Wenzhou police. Chau also set up an asset management company in the mainland that provided cash settlement, debt collection and underground bank services. In July 2020, Wenzhou police launched a probe of Zhang Ningning, a shareholder of Chau's mainland operation. Zhang and several affiliates face prosecution for illicit operation of gambling. According to China's newly revised Criminal Law, overseas casino operators could face up to 10 years of imprisonment for organizing mainland Chinese in cross-border gambling activities. Chau is the best-known junket operator in Macao's gambling industry, which developed the service in the 1980s to lure high rollers to VIP rooms apart from the mass gambling halls. The junket operators are responsible for attracting customers, helping them open accounts and deposit funds and introducing them to loan sharks. High rollers played a vital part in Macao's once-prosperous casinos. In 2013, when Macao's gaming industry was at its peak, gambling revenue from the VIP segment was as high as $238.5 billion patacas ($29.7 billion), accounting for 66% of total gambling revenue. But the VIP segment has become less important to casinos in recent years amid tightening restrictions and the mainland's crackdown on cross-border gambling. High rollers accounted for just 15% of earnings in Macao casinos in 2019 according to Citigroup Inc. Apart of the gambling business, Chau is also a high-profile investor in Hong Kong's entertainment industry. Sun Entertainment Culture Ltd., a Hong Kong-traded subsidiary of Suncity, has invested in, produced and distributed more than 100 films since 2011, including several blockbusters. Total box-office sales of the films exceeded 14 billion yuan. Sun Entertainment plunged more than 30% Monday following the news of Chau's arrest, although the company said Sunday that his detention won't affect business operations and financial conditions. In 2020, Sun Entertainment posted a net loss of HK$30.8 million as revenue slumped by HK$29 million amid the pandemic. The company's 2019 revenue was HK$126 million, but it also ran at a loss.

Macao police transfer suspects to procurators over gambling crimes (Xinhua)
2021-11-28

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China summons Japanese envoy over ex-PM Abe's Taiwan remarks (SCMP)
2021-12-02

China 'hunting' Taiwanese abroad through deportation: rights group (HKFP/AFP)
2021-12-01

French parliament's Taiwan resolution 'conforms to US pressure, won't have real impact on policy' (GT)
2021-11-30

Beijing tests flying oil tanker near Taiwan, in show of extended air force range (SCMP)
2021-11-30

Lithuanian MPs go further down the wrong path over Taiwan question (GT)
2021-11-29

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China urged to strengthen 'all possible' global trade bonds to counter US pressure (SCMP)
2021-12-03

Cargo flights connect London and China's Zhengzhou (Xinhua)
2021-12-02

Sanpower Wins Creditor Backing for Restructuring Plan (Caixin)
2021-12-01
China's debt-laden private conglomerate Sanpower Group Co. Ltd. won creditors' approval to carry out a long-discussed restructuring to address its nearly $10 billion of debt. State-owned bad asset manager China Huarong Asset Management Co. Ltd. will provide 8 billion yuan ($1.25 billion) of fresh funding for the rescue, according to the plan. Sanpower's restructuring proposal won 89.91% backing from creditors, the company's Shanghai-traded retail unit, Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store Co. (600682.SH), said Tuesday in a filing. Sanpower, based in the eastern city of Nanjing, is known for its high-profile 2014 purchase of storied British department store chain House of Fraser, which it sold four years later. With businesses ranging from technology and property to retail and pharmaceuticals, Sanpower ran into trouble in 2018 after loading up on debt to finance its aggressive expansion. In December 2020 Sanpower proposed a draft restructuring plan involving asset sales and capital injection from Huarong as a strategic investor to repay its debts, Caixin reported. The plan pledged not to force creditors to take a haircut on principal, which Sanpower plans to repay over the next eight years with an annual interest rate of 2%. Sanpower originally was scheduled to submit the draft plan to creditors for a final vote Jan. 31, Caixin learned. A Sanpower executive told Caixin that the company has been in close contact with creditors over the past year to settle details of the restructuring plan. "The creditors include large state-owned banks, small and medium banks as well as nonbank financial institutions, each with different mechanisms and demands," the executive said. Several people close to the matter said the approved plan is largely in line with the draft proposal. A Sanpower spokesperson confirmed that the final accord will not force a haircut on creditors' principal and the company will gradually repay the debts by selling noncore assets and reviving core businesses with help from Huarong. According to the latest disclosure, Sanpower has interest-bearing debt owed to more than 130 financial institutions, including several units of state-owned financial conglomerate Citic Group. As of June 30, debts of Sanpower's entities covered by the restructuring plan totaled 62.4 billion yuan. Sanpower's two listed arms, which are not included in the restructuring plan, have an additional 5.2 billion yuan of financial liabilities. According to the draft plan, Sanpower will sell 38 assets including properties in the International Financial Center in Nanjing and its holdings in Beijing Wangfujing Department Store Co. Ltd. The company will retain its core businesses mainly in health care and its controlling shareholdings in Nanjing Xinjiekou Department Store and electronics manufacturer Jiangsu Hongtu High Technology Co. Ltd.

China's factory activity rebounds as energy crunch eases (Xinhua)
2021-11-30

AIIB approves 1 bln USD to support post-disaster recovery in China (Xinhua)
2021-11-30

How Will New Data Security Rules Reshape China's Internet Industry? (Caixin)
2021-11-29
A planned Hong Kong share sale by SenseTime Group Inc. is attracting close attention from investors looking for clues as to how Beijing's new rules on cybersecurity will affect overseas listings by artificial intelligence companies and other data-intensive businesses. An initial public offering (IPO) by SenseTime, China's largest artificial intelligence (AI) company, won clearance at a Nov. 19 hearing of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). That was five days after Beijing issued new draft rules that share sales outside the Chinese mainland are subject to heightened scrutiny on exporting data that could affect national security. It was also well before the broadened requirements might go into effect. An analyst at a major brokerage told Caixin that SenseTime was "decisive" in timing its IPO ahead of the proposed new rules. In an updated prospectus, SenseTime said it was not required to undergo a cybersecurity review and was not involved in any investigation. The company's products help governments and companies build up digital management operating systems such as smart cities. China's cyberspace watchdog issued the draft rules for public comment until Dec. 13. […] In the current regulatory environment, companies are worried about being put under the microscope, so they communicate with regulators before proceeding with any major deals such as IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and privatizations, a private equity fund manager told Caixin. Meanwhile, companies are also modifying their business practices in compliance with the new data security law, which imposes more specific requirements on collecting and using sensitive personal data. The new law, if enacted, will make marketing using facial recognition technology very difficult, an AI marketing salesperson told Caixin. His company sells marketing and security systems based on machine vision algorithms to banks. For example, by analyzing customers' faces and clothing, banks can quickly determine income and other personal data to help them carry out targeted sales pitches. In recent months, the company suspended sales of systems collecting people's facial data, he said. The programs can still collect images below the face, such as movements and clothing, but without facial recognition, the accuracy of the algorithm is significantly compromised, he said. AI products used in the health-care industry also involve sensitive personal data, such as patients' CT scan images, test results and medical history. A person at a healthcare AI company said his company is modifying data in its products that can be traced to a person's identification. The new data law also affects how large e-commerce platforms manage user information in logistics and marketing. In early October, Alibaba's Tmall and JD.com started to encrypt sensitive information concerning recipients of online orders. Software providers and merchants no longer can get recipients' names, cell phone numbers or addresses from the e-commerce platforms. Such information will be encrypted in a code. When a user visits a merchant's store on the platforms, the merchant can see only the code, which includes information concerning the user's location and consuming habits but not the precise address and contact information. The move means retailers, digital ad companies and merchants can no longer obtain customers' personal information to send targeted ads to them, a person familiar with Alibaba's ad business told Caixin. Another focus of regulation is enabling the free flow of data between different platforms. In September, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) urged internet operations to stop blocking each other's links, the so-called "walled gardens" technique used to protect their own digital ecosystems and stymie rivals. The new data security rules reaffirm the importance of interconnectivity among different platforms, specifying that internet platforms providing instant messaging should provide data interfaces for other operators of the services, support user data exchange between different instant messaging apps and prohibit blocking cross-platform access and file transfer. This further provides a legal basis for data sharing among social media platforms. Tencent and Alibaba have long erected walls between their platforms. Alibaba's e-commerce sites Taobao and Tmall do not allow shoppers to use Tencent's WeChat Pay system to complete transactions. Meanwhile, WeChat's 1.25 billion users can't send each other direct links to Taobao and Tmall products, and stores on WeChat do not accept payments via the Alibaba-affiliated Alipay service. In response to the MIIT, Tencent now allows WeChat users to access external services such as Alibaba's Taobao online mall or ByteDance's video app Douyin. But that applies only to one-on-one messaging, not group chats or Facebook-like Moments pages, while sharing external links via the two venues are usually considered more effective. Earlier this month, Douyin said users will soon be able to create and publish short videos based on Tencent's copyrighted clips, another step toward breaking the data walls between different platforms. Tencent told Caixin that it is getting in touch with many other third-party platforms to offer them access to its copyrighted content. But currently, Douyin users still can't share their videos on WeChat as they do on other platforms, such as Kuaishou and Bilibili. Tencent stressed that sharing video links from third parties poses risks of harassment, fraud and inducement. The new data rules clearly state that internet platforms shall bear the responsibility for data security management of third-party products and services linked to them, and users may demand compensation from the platforms for damages caused by these products and services. The rules will increase the burden and cost of reviewing external links by platforms. Data regulation will undoubtedly cause short-term pain to many new-economy companies, but it will also create new opportunities. The first to benefit is the cybersecurity industry. The new rules require that companies dealing with important data or seeking overseas share sales should conduct data security reviews annually on their own or hire external data security service providers. Large internet platforms with more than 100 million daily active users should be evaluated by CAC-certified third-party organizations when establishing platform rules and privacy policies and making revisions that have a significant impact on users' rights and interests,. All of this will create new business opportunities for third-party organizations. In August, China released new regulations on the security and protection of critical information infrastructure, requiring operators to establish solid network security systems. Analysts at Huatai Securities said this means industries such as communications, energy, transportation, water conservation, finance, public services and defense technology will significantly increase investment in data security. Chinese cloud services provider UCloud Technology Co. Ltd. is one of the companies benefiting from the demand. The Shanghai-based company provides a data storage platform called safe house, which uses data sandboxing, blockchain and encryption technologies to ensure data security. Since its launch in 2017, the safe house concept has been widely used in government, finance, medical and other fields. Clients include the Shanghai and Xiamen municipal governments. UCloud solution director Xiong Hui told Caixin that more and more companies have come to inquire about safe house products this year amid compliance pressure. When he pitched the concept to companies in 2017, most of them didn't understand it at all, he said. "Now I don't need to explain it," he said, citing the new round of data regulation.

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DPRK to discuss new year's work plans in December meeting (Xinhua)
2021-12-02

North Korean fugitive recaptured in China after more than 40 days on the run (SCMP)
2021-11-28

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D.Amarbayasgalan: MPP will work for building a fair society that respects and protects human rights (Montsame)
2021-12-02

Mining sector income will increase from USD 5.3 billion to USD 12.5 billion (Montsame)
2021-12-01

IMF Executive Board Concludes 2021 Article IV Consultation with Mongolia (Montsame)
2021-11-30

Prime Minister receives Russian Deputy Prime Minister (Montsame)
2021-11-29

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Embassy of Switzerland