OVERSEAS DRUGS THREATEN EFFORTS OF CRACKDOWN

The penetration of drugs into China from abroad has become an external threat to China's crackdown on drug crimes in recent years, a report released by the National Narcotics Control Commission warned on Wednesday.

But the report stressed that the drug control situation in China has improved. It showed that China cracked 83,000 drug-related crimes, arrested 113,000 suspects and seized 65.1 metric tons of various drugs in 2019.

Further, the number of drug users continues to decline. By the end of 2019, China had about 2.15 million drug users, down 10.6 percent year-on-year. Also, a total of 617,000 drug addicts were arrested in 2019, of which 223,000 were newly found drug users, 30,000 fewer than in the previous year.

To avoid investigation by public security organs, drug use has been occurring more at hotels, rental houses, private clubs and cars and other secretive places. Some addicts have even been using social networking platforms to set up certain groups for drug use and trafficking.

As domestic drug production decreases and the price of such drugs rises, foreign drugs are increasingly penetrating China, quickly seizing control of the market and filling the gap in demand. Of the 65.1 tons of drugs seized last year, 35 tons were clearly sourced from abroad, up 7.5 percent year-on-year. Authorities said they are confident that most of the other drugs seized also came from abroad, though their origin is uncertain.

The region bordering Thailand, Laos and Myanmar is a major source of drugs in China, producing massive amounts of opiates, methamphetamine and ketamine and exporting such drugs to China and surrounding areas. Last year, 82.7 percent of heroin, methamphetamine, ketamine and other major drugs seized nationwide came from the region.

Chinese Customs investigated and dealt with 268 cases involving marijuana smuggling and seized 252.1 kilograms of the drug last year. Due to the legalization of marijuana in some European and North American countries, the number of foreign employees and international students in China and people returning to the nation from overseas who purchased marijuana and its products from abroad via international postal parcels and air carriers has increased, the report said.

UNILEVER TO UPGRADE JIANGSU PLANT

Global consumer goods giant Unilever laid the groundwork to expand its China food production base on Wednesday, showing the industry leader's confidence in the Chinese consumer market's potential and its commitment to continue its investment in the country.

Located in Taicang, Jiangsu province, Unilever's China food production base will attract a total investment of 100 million euros ($113 million), making it the largest investment that Unilever has approved in its food business sector in recent years.

With a planned area of around 63,000 square meters, the production base is scheduled to start operation in early 2022. The facility will initially be used to produce the company's signature Wall's ice cream and will have an annual capacity of 150,000 metric tons. Production lines for tea bags, sauces, seasonings and other food products will be introduced at a later stage in the planned space. The entire project will be able to support Unilever's production in China for five to 10 years.

The base will be upgraded from the standing Taicang factory, which was put into use in the 1990s. According to Rohit Jawa, executive vice-president of Unilever North Asia, the factory cannot keep up with the rapidly growing Chinese market by simply adding more state-of-art machines. Thus, the company decided to invest in upgrading its factory into the world's first ice cream production base that combines automatic, intelligent and agile manufacturing.

As Jawa further explained, locating the first advanced production base of this kind in China can be largely attributed to the technology maturity in the country, especially in the development of smart factories.

While addressing rising labor costs, an unmanned factory has proved to be particularly advantageous during the COVID-19 pandemic as it can ensure food safety and continue manufacturing at the same time. The factory upgrade is also in accordance with China's industrial upgrading strategy, he added.

The Chinese market was one of the first among Unilever's worldwide operations to resume production after the start of the pandemic. The signature products of Wall's, such as the premium brand Magnum, have kept growing strongly. E-retailing has been the major driver, Jawa said.

"The Taicang project will be the best example to boost and pass on confidence worldwide. While China is among the top five contributors to Unilever's annual sales revenue, a large part of the group's growth will come from China in the next 10 years," he said.

ECONOMY OPENING FURTHER TO FOREIGN INVESTORS

China is opening more industries to foreign investors with the release of new shortened negative lists, as part of the country's effort to spur the coronavirus-hit economy and create more opportunities for foreign investors, said the country's top economic regulator.

Negative lists indicate areas where investment is prohibited or restricted, and all other areas are presumed to be open. Experts said the updated negative lists for foreign investment access will help bolster foreign investment, create a better business environment and foster high-quality development.

The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce have jointly released two updated negative lists for 2020, which will take effect on July 23. The number of items on the nationwide list has been cut from 40 to 33, while the one for free trade zones has 30 items, down from 37.

Amid the disruption surrounding cross-border investment and the global economy due to the COVID-19 outbreak, China's policy remains unchanged with respect to opening wider to the outside world and the country will continue to improve market access for foreign investment, said a statement from the NDRC.

The new move demonstrates China's firm attitude to support economic globalization and cross-border investment, which will further improve the business environment for foreign enterprises and promote high-quality growth through greater openness, according to the NDRC.

"Shortening the negative list for foreign investment access is a key move to further opening-up and ease market access. And it is conducive to stabilizing and bolstering foreign investment amid the globally spreading coronavirus outbreak and mounting downside pressure," said Cui Fan, a professor at the School of International Trade and Economics of the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

"Predictably, China will continue to shorten the negative lists in the next few years," Cui added. "Pursuing greater openness will not only increase Chinese firms' international competitiveness, but also helps deepen reforms of the mechanism and enhance the country's governance capacity. In this way, China will be able to continuously optimize the business environment, enhance the influence and cohesiveness of its ultra-large market and cultivate a large number of internationally competitive enterprises."

According to the NDRC's announcement, the shortened nationwide list further improved the level of openness in the services, manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The new list lifted restrictions on foreign investment in commercial vehicle manufacturing, and the maximum stake foreign investors can hold in wheat breeding and seed production was raised to 66 percent.

Foreign ownership caps on securities firms, futures companies and life insurance companies were removed. Restrictions on the construction and operation of urban water supply and drainage pipeline networks in cities with a population of more than 500,000 were also eliminated.

NEW SECURITY LAW WILL ENSURE PROSPEROUS HK

The draft and enactment of a national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is legitimate and will further protect the rights of the residents as well as the future prosperity of the city, said scholars from international institutions.

National security is "an integral component of national defense", which is an important issue reserved by the Central People's Government on which the HKSAR has no autonomy, said Zheng Sophia Tang, chair in law and commerce at Newcastle University.

"The Sino-British Joint Declaration clearly states that 'the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in foreign and defense affairs which are the responsibilities of the Central People's Government'," she added.

Tang said the disclosed contents of the draft national security law "clearly states that the principle of the rule of law and human rights including freedom of speech will be protected", instead of depriving Hong Kong residents of their legitimate rights protected by international law, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

"Collecting and analyzing intelligence information concerning national security and handling criminal cases applies to a very small number of cases concerning national security crimes and would not affect the ordinary lifestyle of Hong Kong residents," she said.

However, due to historical reasons, Tang pointed it out that it is understandable to hear concerns from some Hong Kong residents about the consequences of the law.

"Thus, it is necessary to develop dialogue with Hong Kong residents and associations, and to draft the relevant provisions as clearly as possible," Tang said.

IMF WARNS OF DEEP GLOBAL RECESSION

The global economy is projected to experience a deeper recession amid rising uncertainties, such as the recent trade tension between the United States and the European Union, while China's rebound is expected to be strong thanks to the country's supportive policies, economists said.

The International Monetary Fund forecast on Wednesday that the global economy will contract 4.9 percent this year from a year earlier, a downgrade by 1.9 percentage points from its outlook in April, citing "worse than anticipated outcomes" so far amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"These projections imply a cumulative loss to the global economy over two years (2020-21) of over $12 trillion from this crisis," said Gita Gopinath, the IMF chief economist. The global economy will witness a partial recovery, with growth of 5.4 percent in 2021, the fund predicted.

The US economy would contract by 8 percent and the eurozone by 10.2 percent, according to the IMF forecast.

The projected contractions, together with the still serious pandemic situation in the US and some other major economies and the emerging trade row between the US and the EU, have dampened investor sentiment and led to stock market slumps in both the US and Europe.

Washington is weighing new tariffs on $3.1 billion of exports from France, Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom, according to a notice published by the US Trade Representative on Tuesday.

The notice said that the US wants to impose new tariffs on European exports like olives, beer, gin and trucks, while increasing duties on products including aircraft, cheese and yogurt.

Financial market sentiment turned more negative as the US escalated its trade tensions with Europe. The Dow Jones Index shed 2.72 percent on Wednesday, or 710.16 points, and the S&P 500 Index declined 2.6 percent after the tariff news, hitting its lowest level in more than a week and marking its steepest drop in almost two weeks. The FTSE 100 in the UK plunged 3.11 percent on the same day.

"All efforts should be made to resolve trade and technology tensions, while improving the multilateral rules-based trading system," the IMF chief economist added.

6.4-MAGNITUDE QUAKE HITS XINJIANG: CENC

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Yutian county of Hotan prefecture in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region at 5:05 am Friday Beijing Time, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center.

The epicenter was monitored at 35.73 degrees north latitude and 82.33 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 10 km, the CENC said.

No obvious tremors were felt in Yutian county seat.

The average altitude within 5 km around the epicenter is about 5,300 m, and there are no villages within 20 km around the epicenter, according to the regional seismological bureau.

17 PEOPLE RESCUED FROM CAPSIZED BOAT IN SW CHINA

Rescuers have found 17 out of 24 people on a capsized boat in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, as of Thursday noon.

The boat capsized at the intersection of Lancang River and Nanban River in the early hours of Thursday.

One passenger was found dead while another 6 remained missing.

NEW ROUND OF TORRENTIAL RAIN SET TO BATTER 13 PROVINCIAL REGIONS

More downpours are expected in the coming five days in many areas around the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River amid an increasingly grimmer flood control situation that has seen over 8 million residents in the basin of the country's longest watercourse suffer, authorities warned.

The new round of torrential rains from Friday to Tuesday will affect 13 provincial regions, including Hubei and Hunan provinces, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

China's national observatory renewed blue alerts for rainstorms and severe convective weather, which is characterized by strong winds, hail, thunderstorms and brief but heavy rainfall, for the 24 hours starting from 2 pm on Thursday.

Generally, the biggest hourly precipitation in the affected areas, including southern parts of Hunan and northern parts of Fujian province, will be 3 to 5 centimeters. In the most extreme situation, however, some areas may receive 7 centimeters of precipitation in an hour, the National Meteorological Center said.

The ministry has also warned of the increased risks of floods in medium and small-sized rivers, waterlogging in urban areas and mountain torrents in the affected areas, especially in those where water has accumulated because of previous downpours.

"Some medium and small-sized rivers may experience floods raising the water above warning levels," it noted.

Recent downpours have already wreaked havoc in many areas along the Yangtze. As of Tuesday, almost 8.2 million people in 10 provincial regions in the Yangtze basin had suffered floods. Meanwhile, 255,000 people had to be evacuated, according to the ministry.

"Currently, the entire Yangtze basin has entered its main flood season. It's a critical time for flood control and disaster relief," it said.

The ministry has demanded that local authorities strengthen the coordination of water conservancy projects to cope with the situation.

It also asked local authorities to timely evacuate people by ramping up monitoring and early warning, which has proved its efficiency in many of the affected areas.

GUIYANG ONLINE FAIR A NEW WAY TO BOOST TRADE AMID VIRUS

Guiyang, capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou province, is embracing a new form of "cloud trade fair" from June 26 to 28 as part of its concerted efforts to nurture new powerhouses for post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

The three day fair will use Guiyang's duty-free online shopping website for livestreaming to introduce goods and process transactions.

It also invited renowned entrepreneurs and professionals in cross-border e-commerce to share their experiences through livestreaming on the fair's official website.

The fair, namely the 2020 Guiyang Import and Export Online Fair, is also broadcasting a video conference featuring discussions about trade and opening-up on Friday on its website, with delegates from various countries' trade and commerce departments.

The fair will also broadcast online discussions on Friday on its website about measures to improve Guiyang's business environment.

In addition to online events, the fair has offline exhibitions of coffees, desserts, Southeast Asian-style fairs, and shows about Guiyang's intangible cultural heritage at Guiyang's tax-bonded G7 square.

Huang Ying, deputy head of the Guizhou Provincial Department of Commerce, said at the fair's launch ceremony on Friday that the fair is a good opportunity to showcase Guizhou's homemade products and brands, and is important to promote stable development for international trade in Guizhou.

Ran Bin, vice-mayor of Guiyang, said on Friday that the fair is an important move to battle the impact of the coronavirus on the city's economy and further promote high-quality development.

Ran said Guiyang will step up efforts to promote integrated development of international trade with middle- to high-end consumption.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently. - Anthony Robbins