Agricultural work assisted by drones equipped with BeiDou satellite navigation system [Sohu]
Geopolitics
Trump bans WeChat app transactions for US companies and citizens, effective in 45 days, but concerns raised over unclear extent of measure
With 2.6 million US jobs that depend on business with China and fearing huge losses, US giants like Apple, Ford and Goldman Sachs are pressuring the White House to pull back
White House’s “clean network” campaign and attacks on Chinese technology companies underestimate Silicon Valley’s dependence on the Chinese market
China accounts for nearly 20% of Apple’s sales and 25% to 50% of sales from the top five US chip manufacturers, while Facebook receives billions from the Chinese government for global ads
According to Jeffrey Sachs, Pompeo’s “extremist” speech against China is based on US “white” and “evangelical crusade” mentality that has led it to numerous wars
US economist highlights how Washington’s “anti-Islamic” period and “anti-communist fervor” of the Cold War are now being turned against Beijing, and Trump’s victory could increase risk of war
Investigative report reveals that Kong Tsung-gan, the widely-cited source on Hong Kong protests, is US man writing under Chinese pseudonym
Protest fixture and ex-Amnesty employee, Brian Kern, published three books and was quoted in CNN, New York Times, Guardian, AFP and Al Jazeera under Kong’s name
Science and Technology
Chinese navigation system BeiDou begins full operation in more than 100 countries, with higher accuracy than GPS and 100% of components manufactured domestically
With 56 satellites outnumbering the US GPS system’s 35, BeiDou serves 100 million users – including Chinese cell phones and iPhone 11 – and value expected to exceed US $57 billion this year
China surpasses US in the number of scientific papers published for the first time, having invested US $554 billion (PPP) in research in 2018
China published 19.9% and US 18.3% of papers, but US still leads in quality with 24.7% of the 10% most-cited articles, while China has 22%
Economy
China’s gross national income (GNI) per capita grew elevenfold to US $10,410 (2000-2019), climbing 70 places in World Bank ranking
At 71st place, the upper-middle income country is expected to reach high-income status by 2027 (US $12,535), according to Morgan Stanley bank
July domestic exports grew 10.4% (to US $243.1 billion) year-on-year and imports by 1.6% (to US $178.4 billion), surpassing expectations
As trade surplus jumped 45.9% (to US$ 63.2 billion) and trade with ASEAN – China’s main trading partner – grew 6.6%, China-US trade fell 3.3%
Highly educated urban women in their 20s to 40s are driving domestic consumption in China where women make 75% of total purchases
Choosing to postpone or opt out of marriage and motherhood, young women have more disposable income for health, food, alcoholic beverages, clothing, cosmetics and electronics, and are more represented on TV
National Politics
Despite record summer harvest of grains (142.8 million tons), China’s June imports increased by 80.6% since last year
As the country significantly depends on food imports, with wheat imports tripling and barley doubling, experts point to supply concerns and even risk of a US “food war”
Agriculture and Environment
Ministries of Agriculture and Finance launch farm machinery subsidy program of US $1.65 billion for 1.21 million rural households
Government funds purchase of 1.41 million machines and tools in effort to prioritize key products (rice, wheat, pork), poorer areas and modernization of online application process
Pork prices rose in July by 85.7% year-on-year, pushing up food prices by 13.2%
Determining 30% of Chinese inflation rate, which reached 2.7% in July, pork production in June was 75% lower than last year due to swine fever, COVID-19 and flooding
People’s Life and Culture
Gabonese surgeon working in Guangzhou hospital for 17 years joined the local anti-epidemic prevention effort
Cardiothoracic specialist and polyglot, Jean Christian Nzengue, started studying Chinese at 17 years-old then medical science during SARS outbreak in 2002 and now considers himself “half-Chinese”
Chinese video platform BiliBili jumped from 15 to 170 million users in five years and expects US $1.58 billion revenue in 2020
Nasdaq-listed since 2018, the “Chinese YouTube” that began as Anime, Comics and Games (ACG) platform now hosts e-commerce, movies, livestreaming and other mainstream user-generated content
Newly published collection commemorates comics pioneer Zhang Guangyu (1900-1965), his Japanese occupation and civil war illustrations and “Journey to the West” animated classic
On the 120th anniversary of his birth, Zhang remembered for bridging ancient and modern, folk and commercial Chinese artistic traditions
Five warriors getting ready for the battle against Japanese occupation
[Zhang Guanyu Memorial Site]