LAST THIRD-GEN BEIDOU SATELLITE FIRED INTO ORBIT

The final satellite to complete the third-generation network of China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System was launched on Tuesday morning, marking a new milestone in the nation's space endeavors.

As the countdown ticked to zero — 9:43 am — at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, eight engines on the first stage and four boosters of a Long March 3B carrier rocket spat orange flame as they lifted the 19-story vehicle and satellite into cloudy skies.

The launch marked the completion of the in-orbit construction of Beidou, the country's largest space-based system and one of four global navigation networks, along with the United States' GPS, Russia's GLONASS and the European Union's Galileo.

Some medical workers from across Sichuan province who have fought against the COVID-19 were invited by space authorities to witness the landmark launch mission at the center.

The launch was broadcast live by China Central Television, the national broadcaster, becoming the first Beidou mission to go live on TV and also the first televised launch at the Xichang center in a decade.

After a period of in-orbit tests, the new satellite will start formal operations and work with other Beidou satellites, allowing users around the globe to access high-accuracy navigation, positioning and timing services according to the China Satellite Navigation Office.

The spacecraft, which was transported by rail to the Xichang center on April 4, was designed and made by the China Academy of Space Technology, a subsidiary of State-owned space conglomerate China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. Based on the DFH-3B satellite platform, it is designed to work in orbit for at least 12 years.

The drive to establish a domestically developed satellite network for navigation and positioning was initiated by Chinese scientists in 1983, and the country began research and development of its own space-based navigation and positioning system in 1994, aiming to mitigate its reliance on foreign networks.

In 2000, China launched the first two Beidou satellites to establish an experimental system. In 2003 and 2007, another two experimental satellites were sent up to join the trial run.

Beidou's first mass-production satellite, also the first in its second-generation series, was launched in April 2007. The first two third-generation satellites were launched in November 2017.

The deployment of Beidou's space-based assets accelerated in the past two years, with 17 launches placing 28 satellites into orbit.

By now, 59 satellites, including the first four experimental ones, have been launched from Xichang on Long March 3Bs, some having since been put into retirement.

There are 30 third-generation Beidou satellites in three types of orbit — 24 in medium-Earth orbits, three in inclined geosynchronous satellite orbits and three in geostationary orbits.

There also are some second-generation Beidou satellites in operation offering regional services.

FDI GROWTH PREDICTED FOR SECOND HALF OF YEAR

China may see an upward trend in foreign direct investment inflow in the year's second half, business leaders and analysts said on Monday. The reason is that global companies remain bullish on further tapping the world's largest lucrative market, which has strong policy support and resilience, they said.

While there have been some observers concerned about a possible capital retreat because of trade tensions with the United States, China has maintained a key position in FDI in the view of global investors, said Wang Yu, global partner of Kearney, the US-based management consulting firm.

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic has created uncertainties in global trade and investment, the Ministry of Commerce reported that China saw FDI growth in the nonfinancial sector jump on a yearly basis by 11.8 percent in April and 7.5 percent in May, justifying global investors' confidence in the market.

China's economic stimulus efforts, including financial assistance for infrastructure and tax waivers and reductions for all types of businesses, have sent a clear signal that the country is acting to bolster corporate activities, Wang said.

He said the planned signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement by Asia-Pacific nations at the end of 2020 would also boost commercial connectivity in the coming years of the post-COVID-19 era.

Many foreign companies are aware that China is still lagging behind many developed economies in its urbanization rate and per capita GDP, which helps motivate them to keep investing in the country's manufacturing and service sectors to seize more market share, said Bai Ming, a senior researcher at the Beijing-based China Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Bai said the structure of foreign investment has improved, facilitated by China's well-developed industrial and supply chains. The nation has upgraded from labor-intensive industries to high technology and service businesses, he said.

Foreign companies have long benefited from and contributed to China's development, accounting for nearly half of the country's foreign trade, one-fifth of tax revenue and one-fourth of the total output of major industrial companies, the Ministry of Commerce said earlier this year.

XI CONVEYS TO EU MESSAGE OF PARTNERSHIP

President Xi Jinping called on China and the European Union on Monday to expand common interests and solve difficult issues during the process of cooperation and development and to build a bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership with global influence.

In a videoconference with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Xi reaffirmed China's commitment to deepening reform and expanding opening-up, which will provide a new round of cooperative opportunity and room for development for the EU.

China is a partner, rather than a rival, and there is no fundamental conflict of interests between the two sides, he said, adding that the cooperation and consensus between them far outweighs competition and differences. He urged both sides to respect the other, seek common ground while shelving differences and keep enhancing mutual understanding and trust.

China and Europe should be the two major forces that safeguard global peace and stability, and Beijing is willing to communicate with Brussels over major issues, he said.

China and the EU have extended each other support and help since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Xi said.

Beijing stands ready to work with Brussels to make bilateral relations even more stable, mature and elevated to a higher level during the post-pandemic period, he said.

China, as an ancient country with a long history and a developing country full of vitality, will always pursue peace instead of hegemony, he said.

The country has focused all its policies and efforts on enabling its people to live better lives, and it will continue unwaveringly to follow a path of peaceful development, he added.

Xi expressed his belief that the EU will keep heading toward unity, stability, openness and prosperity, saying that China stands ready to bolster strategic cooperation with the EU to jointly cope with global challenges.

China and the EU must be the two big markets that drive global growth and prosperity, and the two economies must assume their roles as the twin engines of the world economy, he said.

The two sides must jointly support businesses reopening in a scientific and orderly manner, step up coordination in macroeconomic policies and ensure stable and unimpeded global industry and supply chains to lead the global economic recovery, he said.

Xi underlined the significance of ensuring two-way opening-up of markets, saying bilateral investment talks must be expedited and bilateral cooperation in green and digital areas must be strengthened to form a green development partnership.

The two sides must step up trilateral cooperation with Africa, he said.

COVID-19 'CONTAINED' AS NEW CASES DROP IN BEIJING

Beijing has effectively kept the coronavirus outbreak from spreading and new local cases are decreasing as the capital uses multiple measures to reduce infections, a senior municipal official said on Monday.

Beijing reported nine new cases on Sunday, a big drop from 22 cases a day earlier, and all of them were not permanent Beijing residents, the municipal health authority said on Monday. Two of the nine were a couple.

"Beijing has contained the spread of COVID-19 cases," Xu Hejian, spokesman for the municipal government, said at a news conference on Monday.

The epidemic may be showing signs of abating, he said, but added that the strict measures will remain in place because ending the outbreak remains a complicated task.

In the next step, Beijing will continue to implement the strict control and prevention network created in key areas such as restaurants, hospitals and schools. The city also will strengthen food safety controls and increase its nucleic acid testing ability, he said.

Wu Hao, a disease control expert from the National Health Commission, said Beijing is expected to see a big drop in new cases by the end of this week.

"If you control the source, and cut the chain of transmission, the number will have a cliff-like drop," he said in an interview with China Central Television on Sunday. "Beijing didn't choose to do a 'flood-type' lockdown like Wuhan earlier this year when we knew little about the virus."

Beijing has taken "more targeted lockdown procedures this time, which has set an example for other places for normalized virus prevention".

By 3 pm Monday, Beijing had designated four communities as high-risk and 39 as medium-risk for epidemic control. This represents targeted measures to contain the spread of the virus including locking down communities in high-risk zones.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy head of the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, reemphasized the importance of hand-washing and social distancing at Monday's news conference.

Three confirmed cases involved two Beijing construction sites, according to Beijing's Housing and Urban-Rural Development Commission. Work at the two sites has been suspended and they were closed off.

The city had screened 1,622 workers−including through nucleic acid testing−at 435 construction projects citywide by Sunday, said Ding Sheng, deputy head of the commission. Of that number, 743 of the workers had been to Xinfadi market, which is linked to all local cases, and 879 of them were close contacts of people with ties to the market.

"June is a busy month for the construction industry. But the commission will take strict measures to reduce the density of workers at sites and strengthen health monitoring to prevent the virus from spreading," he said.

Faced with a sudden outbreak, Beijing has been increasing its testing capacity and hospitals have quickly increased beds and added medical facilities.

As of Saturday, about 2.3 million people in the capital had been tested for the novel coronavirus, the Beijing Health Commission said.

PEAK TRAVEL EXPECTED DURING DRAGON BOAT

The domestic tourism market is expected to peak during the coming Dragon Boat Festival holiday later this week, despite recent reported clusters of new COVID-19 infections in parts of the country, industry observers said.

The forecast travel boom for the three-day holiday starting Thursday is possible because the COVID-19 epidemic is well controlled in most parts of the mainland, according to a report by the Meituan Research Institute, which is set up by Meituan-Dianping, an on-demand services platform in Beijing.

So far, 91 percent of all tourist attractions have resumed operation. Driven by the government's policy of encouraging spending, tourist attractions across the country are expected to see an increase of 226 percent in tourist spending compared with before the holiday, according to the institute.

Ten provincial regions, including Chongqing municipality and Sichuan, Qinghai and Hainan provinces, are estimated to see the strongest recovery in tourism, while Beijing, a main tourist destination, will see a drop in local tourism due to new clusters of COVID-19 infections that have been reported since June 11.

Price cuts in flight tickets may also increase people's desire to travel.

According to Meituan, the price of flight tickets dropped 30 percent compared with the previous Dragon Boat Festival holiday due to the epidemic, causing reservations to increase by 20 percent year-on-year for the period.

Five cities - Shanghai, Chengdu of Sichuan province, Kunming of Yunnan province, Xi'an of Shaanxi province and Chongqing - are the five most popular destinations for those travelers booking air tickets.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reservations are now an even more important part of the tourism industry.

According to Meituan, 30 percent of tickets to tourist attractions for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday are expected to be booked at least one day before visiting.

CHINESE COURTS SEE SHARP DECLINE IN DRUG-RELATED CASES

Chinese courts have witnessed a sharp decline in the number of drug-related trials in recent years thanks to efforts to stamp out such offenses, a senior official with China's top court said on Tuesday.

Courts at all levels concluded a record 139,000 drug-related cases in 2015, but the number began dropping the next year amid a harsh crackdown on drug crimes, Supreme People's Court Vice-President Li Shaoping said.

Last year, courts nationwide concluded 85,800 drug-related cases, down 38.27 percent from the number in 2015, he said.

Li said defendants in about 22.4 percent of drug-related cases from 2015 to 2019 were sentenced to five years or more in prison.

During those five years, Chinese courts dealt strictly with people who made, smuggled, sold, bought or transported large quantities of drugs, as well as those who committed crimes after taking drugs, he said.

Li said some problems that persist include the high incidence of drug smuggling in coastal and border areas, and the rising number of cases involving defendants who made drugs on their own using new materials.

While calling for courts to impose harsher punishment of those guilty of drug-related crimes, Li also said efforts to prevent the jobless and young from getting involved in drugs should also be emphasized.

MAINLAND, HK IPOS SEE CONTINUED GROWTH IN H1

Initial public offerings in the mainland and Hong Kong continued to grow in the first six months this year, while global IPOs slowed due to the COVID-19 impact, according to a report released by EY on Tuesday.

During the same period, globally, a total of 412 companies were listed, down by 20 percent compared with the same period last year. Funds raised via these IPOs amounted to $66.7 billion, which dropped 12 percent year-on-year, the report said.

But IPOs in the mainland and Hong Kong continued to grow, accounting for 43 percent of the world's total deals and 46 percent of the fund volume. Chinese companies - Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway, JD.com Inc and NetEase.com Inc - ranked in the top three among the world's largest IPOs by funds raised via IPOs.

In the second half, IPO activities will be affected by many factors, including new challenges for China-US relations, the COVID-19 pandemic and trade uncertainties, with economic growth under downward pressure, said EY partners.

On the other hand, the listing of innovative SMEs will be boosted by the accelerated reform of the registration-based IPO system on the ChiNext board and the establishment of a multilevel capital market, they said.

"In the second quarter, IPO activities in the mainland and Hong Kong were back to pre-COVID-19 levels as the pandemic had been controlled in the mainland, along with a number of high-profile secondary listings in Hong Kong," said Terence Ho, EY Greater China IPO Leader.

"The government continues to roll out economic stimulus while the People's Bank of China continues to provide liquidity to the market. These should help speed up economic recovery and boost the IPO market outlook for the second half of 2020," said Ho.

For the Hong Kong market, the return of China concepts stocks will significantly influence the proceeds of the year. Ho said that it is still likely to have IPOs from Chinese mainland companies listed overseas through a secondary listing in Hong Kong during the next six months.

As the new securities law took into effect since March, promoting registration-based system with information disclosure as the core, it highlights the improvement of the multitiered capital market system, including stock exchanges, other national securities trading venues and regional equity markets, said Jane Yang, EY Assurance partner.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don’t have the strength. - Theodore Roosevelt