XI PRESENTS MEDALS TO COVID FIGHTERS

Solidarity and cooperation are the right choice for the international community to respond to a major crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, while selfishness and scapegoating will harm the people of all countries, President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remark when addressing a meeting to commend the role models in the country's fight against COVID-19 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

During the meeting, Xi presented the Medal of the Republic to renowned respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan, and the national honorary title "People's Hero" to Zhang Boli, a traditional Chinese medicine expert; Zhang Dingyu, head of Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province; and Chen Wei, a military biomedical expert, for their outstanding contributions to the country's fight against COVID-19.

Xi said the great anti-epidemic effort has demonstrated that building a community with a shared future for mankind is the right way to prevail over the common challenges facing humanity and to build a more prosperous and better world.

He reviewed nationwide efforts in combating the unprecedented public health crisis as well as China's cooperation with the rest of the world in fighting the pandemic.

He also praised those who have made sacrifices and contributions to the country's achievements in epidemic control, and the foreign countries and international organizations that offered assistance and support to China during the difficult time.

Despite the tremendous pressure in domestic epidemic control, Xi said China has offered assistance to the international community to the best of its ability in fighting the pandemic.

China has donated funds totaling $50 million to the World Health Organization, sent 34 medical expert teams to 32 countries and provided assistance to 150 countries and four international organizations.

Between March 15 and Sunday, China had exported 151.5 billion masks, 1.4 billion protective suits, 230 million goggles and 209,000 ventilators to more than 200 countries and regions to support the global fight against COVID-19.

"With concrete actions, China has helped save a great number of lives from COVID-19 around the world," Xi said.

As the pandemic is still raging globally, Xi said China will continue to enhance international cooperation in epidemic control, support the WHO playing a leading role in the global fight against the disease, share anti-epidemic and treatment experience with other nations, and provide aid to countries and regions with poor capabilities to deal with the pandemic.

During his speech, Xi summarized China's spirit of combating the outbreak, which features putting people's lives first, nationwide solidarity, sacrifice, respecting science, and a sense of mission for humanity.

In the fight against the epidemic, people's lives have always been put first and foremost, Xi said, adding that China is willing to do whatever it takes to protect people's lives.

Noting that strong Party leadership is the most reliable support for the Chinese people in times of trouble, Xi said the fight against the epidemic has also demonstrated that socialism with Chinese characteristics is the fundamental guarantee for resisting risks and challenges and improving the capacity for national governance.

He noted that the Chinese economy is steadily turning for the better as the country has coordinated epidemic control with economic growth.

COUNTRY TO BUILD FINTECH HUBS

China plans to build pioneering fintech hubs nationwide, focusing on the research and development of blockchain technology and digital currency to boost investment in financial infrastructure, according to officials and experts on Tuesday.

They made the remarks at the 2020 China Financial Technology Forum, part of the ongoing 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing.

According to a report issued at the forum, Beijing ranks top among eight cities around the world, thanks to its huge consumer market, advanced technology application and fast development of the fintech ecosystem.

Other cities that China aims to develop as global fintech hubs are Shanghai, Shenzhen in Guangdong province, and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, according to the report.

Last year, the People's Bank of China, China's central bank, published a three-year fintech development plan, from 2019 to 2021. So far, some results have been achieved and major projects are proceeding as scheduled, said Li Wei, head of the science and technology department of the PBOC.

Issuing the central bank digital currency was included in that blueprint, which also involves developing fintech services based on blockchain, big data, artificial intelligence and financial security technology. The three-year plan aims to promote China's fintech industry to an international leading level.

So far, the basic technology framework of the digital currency designed by the central bank, has almost been completed, with sophisticated top-level design, and trials are ongoing in some application scenarios, said Ben Shenglin, co-head of the International Monetary Institute at Renmin University of China.

The fast progress will give the PBOC a leading position among its global peers in officially launching a digital currency, Ben told China Daily on the sidelines of the forum.

Zhou Gengqiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Banking Association, said that along with the research and promotion of the central bank digital currency, commercial banks should have more opportunities to provide usage scenarios, as well as data and client services, in order to bring more safe and convenient products to customers.

Executives from multilateral development banks expressed their expectations about the central bank digital currency, which is undergoing tests.

TIKTOK BAN SHOWS US DESPERATE TO MAINTAIN HEGEMONY

TikTok, a video-sharing app owned by ByteDance, has filed a lawsuit against the United States administration for banning the app in the US. The US president issued two Executive Orders recently banning TikTok. The first order on Aug 6 banned the use of TikTok-barring ByteDance from doing business with US companies from Spet 20, and the second, on Aug 14, gave ByteDance 90 days to divest its TikTok business in the US within 90 days.

TikTok has argued that the Executive Orders violate the due process and will harm the interests of TikTok's employees in the US. It has also pointed out that "the administration's decisions were heavily politicized".

The order banning TikTok is based on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act which authorizes the US president to regulate economic transactions after declaring a national emergency in response to an unusual, extraordinary threat to the country. This act was also invoked to impose sanctions on Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

There are reasons to believe that the orders were issued without due process. When claiming TikTok collects information from users and shares them with the Chinese government, the Executive Orders used vague terms such as "reportedly" or "potentially" to back its allegation.

The US has targeted China's high-tech sector because it fears that China, thanks to the rapid development of its high-tech industry, could replace it as the leading global high-tech power. The US targets any country, even its allies, and company that develops fast enough−and thus, according to the US−can pose a challenge to US dominance in the high-tech and other critical sectors.

CHINA'S CONSUMER PRICE INDEX UP 2.4% IN AUGUST

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, grew 2.4 percent year-on-year in August, down from 2.7 percent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

The CPI growth moderated as food prices rose slowly, with the year-on-year growth in pork prices sharply down 33.1 percentage points from a month earlier to 52.6 percent in August due to a high base last year, the NBS said.

The rise in non-food prices, meanwhile, sped up last month as the summer vacation boosted the demand for travel. The month-on-month growth in non-food prices rose by 0.1 percent in August, the first time for the reading to turn positive after the COVID-19 outbreak, the bureau said.

The core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.5 percent year-on-year last month, the same as July.

The NBS also reported the country's producer price index, which gauges factory-gate prices, fell 2 percent year-on-year in August, versus a 2.4 percent decline a month earlier.

This marked the third consecutive month with the drop narrowing, as market demand continued to recover amid rising industrial production while international commodity prices sustained the rally, the bureau said.

Wu Chaoming, deputy dean of the Chasing Institute under Chasing Securities, said year-on-year CPI growth may moderate to about 1 percent in the fourth quarter of the year, while the factory-gate prices should continue to recover as stimulus measures filter through.

CHINA-EUROPE RAIL FREIGHT SERVICES HIT RECORD HIGH

China-Europe rail freight services hit a record high last month, helping maintain the global supply chain amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's top railway operator said on Wednesday.

The number of freight trips between the two destinations hit a record 1,247 last month — up 62 percent year-on-year — China State Railway Group said.

The trains carried 113,000 standard-sized shipping containers, 66 percent more than in July.

Proactive measures have been adopted to ease the mounting pressure on port transportation capacity due to surging demand for China-Europe rail freight services, the company said, adding that online services offered by e-commerce website 95306.cn have enhanced port clearance efficiency.

It said it has stringently implemented regular epidemic prevention and control measures and engaged in regular video consultations with countries along the rail routes to ensure their smooth and safe operation.

FIELD OF DREAMS FAR FROM HOME

Guangdong Fuli Soccer School is located in Yanyang township, Meizhou, Guangdong province. Although thousands of kilometers from Kashgar prefecture in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the school has become a hub for many students from that area hoping to realize their dreams of becoming professional soccer players.

Since 2017, the Guangdong government has helped Xinjiang improve its soccer facilities as well as the skills of its young players. As a demonstration county, Shufu, in the city of Kashgar, has become the first beneficiary of the program.

Ten middle schools and 12 primary schools in the county have received financial support from Guangdong to upgrade their training facilities. More than 500 students from different ethnic groups have also received training from professional soccer coaches.

In January last year, a winter training camp for young soccer players from Shufu was held at the Guangdong Fuli Soccer School. A total of 22 young players from the county were trained by the school's foreign soccer coaches. During the camp, they also played games against young local players.

At the end of this year, another training camp for young players from Xinjiang will be held at the school. So far, three Xinjiang soccer players who received training at the school have been chosen for the national youth team.

BEIJING GETS GREEN LIGHT FOR SERVICES SECTOR PLAN

Beijing's plan to further open its services market to foreign investors in several areas including 26 segments of the financial sector, received the green light from the State Council on Monday.

By 2030, Beijing is expected to realize facilitation in terms of trade, investment, cross-border flow of capital, employment, transportation, as well as the safe and orderly flow of data, according to the plan.

"Beijing will promote high-level opening-up and cooperation to attract high-quality domestic and overseas financial institutions and resources to set up companies in the city for better development," said Yin Yong, vice-mayor of Beijing at the China International Finance Annual Forum 2020 on Sunday, which was part of the China International Fair for Trade in Services.

"We will support foreign securities and futures firms to set up shop in Beijing and encourage existing foreign-invested companies to participate in stock and bond trading," said Yin.

According to the plan, Finance Street in Xicheng district and the Lize Financial Business District in Fengtai district will be the major demonstration zones for the services sector opening-up in the capital city. Efforts will also be stepped up to support innovation in the fintech sector.

Chu Junwei, deputy Party secretary of Fengtai district, said at a form during the CIFTIS, that Lize will be transformed into a digital finance center by providing a plethora of fintech services. "About 70 percent of the companies in Lize are engaged in businesses dealing with the finance industry," he said.

Beijing still remains an attractive foreign investment destination as the city has implemented several policy measures to optimize the overall business environment and open up its market, said the officials.

The financial industry accounts for 18.5 percent of the capital's GDP and 28.8 percent of the city's economic growth, Yin said during an industry forum on Monday.

"Despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, the added value of Beijing's finance sector rose by 5.7 percent during the first six months, reinforcing its support for the city economy," he said.

Beijing's Finance Street, as the country's financial management center, has been making efforts to ensure the safety and efficiency of the operating financial institutions. It released 10 policies on Monday to further open up the market.

OPENING-UP EFFORTS TO BE INTENSIFIED

China is making concerted efforts to revise the catalog of industries to encourage foreign investment and further promote opening-up, and accelerate the construction of a new open economy in the country, a senior official with the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

The number of sectors open for foreign investment will be expanded further, while more foreign enterprises will be eligible to enjoy the relevant preferential policies, said Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce.

"The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, which are being accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic," Wang said in his speech at the International Investment Forum 2020 on Tuesday. "The global economy is still in the doldrums. Economic globalization is facing difficulties, while protectionism and unilateralism are on the rise. International investment cooperation still faces severe and complex situations as global demand is faltering."

Despite the mounting downside pressure both at home and abroad, China is committed to open its doors wider to the outside world, said Wang.

"The ministry will continue to implement the negative list for foreign investment, increase the number of encouraged industries for foreign investment, share China's market and (development) opportunities with more foreign companies."

More efforts will also be made to establish and improve the foreign investment service system, help solve the difficulties and problems for running foreign businesses and foster a stable, fair, transparent and predictable business environment, Wang said.

"We will step up efforts to promote the implementation of various policies and measures to stabilize foreign trade and investment and build an edge in international cooperation and competition amid the pursuit of a higher level of opening-up. Efforts will be focused on a new model of development in which the domestic economic network takes the primary role, while the domestic and international economic networks complement each other."

China's economy has been gradually returning to normal due to the government's effective work and production resumption measures as well as the steps to contain COVID-19. The steps have bolstered the confidence of overseas investors, he said.

The Ministry of Commerce has established a special office to resolve the issues faced by foreign companies during the novel coronavirus epidemic. During the past five months, the offices have helped solve more than 180 problems.

During the first seven months of this year, foreign direct investment into China in the nonfinancial sector rose by 0.5 percent on a yearly basis to 535.65 billion yuan ($78.42 billion). It was the first positive growth after January this year, according to the ministry.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not. - Elon Musk