News Roundup

China

strengthening Manufacturing via Internet

The Chinese Government reaffirmed the need to shore up manufacturing through Internet platforms and information technology to upgrade traditional industry. Combining manufacturing with the Internet will help revitalize traditional industries and unleash more growth potential， according to a guideline document released by the State Council， Chinas cabinet. By 2018， 80 percent of manufacturing companies should build online platforms. By 2025， online infrastructure should be used throughout the industry to raise competitiveness， it said. Last year， China unveiled the “Made in China 2025” blueprint， which aims to improve manufacturing and shift the country away from low-end manufacturing to higher valueadded production. Also last year， China announced the “Internet plus” initiative to enable more businesses to take advantage of the Internet. According to the document， the government also pledged supportive policies in financing， taxation， land and human resources to develop Internet-based manufacturing.

Egypt

Africas second largest economy

Egypt has surpassed South Africa as the second largest economy in Africa， said the International Monetary Fund （IMF） in its latest World Economic Outlook. The IMF said South Africa has been overtaken by Egypt because of the depreciation of its currency， the rand. The IMF also projected that the South African economy would grow by a mere 0.6 percent this year， lower than the 0.9 percent predicted by the South African Government. The global lender said South Africa is now the third largest economy on the African continent after Nigeria and Egypt.

Africa

More Jobs

The African Development Bank Group is set to unveil strategies for creating 25 million jobs for young people over the 10 years in its member states. The strategies are contained in the groups new agenda for the continents economic transformation that was revealed at this years annual meetings held in late May in Zambia. World Bank data show that in Africa， an estimated 11 million young Africans are expected to join the labor market every year for the next decade. Therefore， creating millions of productive， well-paying jobs will be vital to boost economic growth， significantly cut poverty， and create shared prosperity in Africa.

Benin

ICT as Catalyst

The Beninese Government aims to use information and communications technologies （ICT） as a catalyst for economic growth and modernization， said Salomon Odjo， Director of Digital Economy and Communication Ministry on May 17. He said the government aims to make ICT the engine for development of all other economic sectors. “Some of the actions envisaged by the government to achieve this objective include promotion of incubators and more innovative projects as well as creation of innovation centers to increase the pool of those talented in ICT skills，” Odjo said. He further said that the government will accord priority to economic policies that stimulate innovation， encourage broadcasting of innovations in the social domain and also help entrepreneurs to concretize their innovative ideas so that they can generate more earnings.

Africa

Green economy

United Nations Environment Program（UNEP） said in May that it will assist the African continent to transit to a green economy. UNEP Regional Climate Change Coordinator Richard Munang said that his organization will provide human and institutional capacity to enable the continent to embrace green economy initiatives. “A green economy will provide jobs and sustainable livelihoods for millions on the continent，” Munang said. Most African states are heavily reliant on fossil fuels to power their economies. Munang said that fossil fuels contribute to greenhouse gas emissions which have long-term environmental consequences. He said that Africa contributes less than 3 percent of global carbon emissions， yet is the most vulnerable continent to the effects of climate change. “A green economy will provide new opportunities that will enable the region achieve its developmental goals，”he said.

China

Prioritized Tasks

The Peoples Bank of China （PBOC）， the countrys central bank， has unveiled its prioritized tasks for 2016. The PBOC said the monetary policy will help slash overcapacity， cut stockpiles， reduce leverage， lower costs of doing business and fix shortcomings， with a focus on reducing steel and coal overcapacity. The central bank will continue to give differentiated housing loan policy to different regions based on their market conditions. The monetary authority will work to widen bank loan collateral for rural residents and guide financial institutions to give more agriculture-related loans to boost rural development. The PBOC will steadily open up Chinas bond market and push ahead with a pilot program of securitizing non-performing assets. It will also roll out measures to facilitate accurate poverty relief and work to mitigate Internet financing risks in 2016.

China-Africa

expanding safe City solutions

Huawei， a Chinese information and communications technology（ICT） solution provider， announced plans to expand safe city solutions in Africa on May 12， providing ICTbased security systems to help in incident prevention， emergency response and evidence collection， according to Eman Liu， President of Huawei Enterprise Business in Eastern and Southern Africa Region. Liu said safe city solutions are part of smart city， a combination of different ICT solutions like wireless network， smartphones， and cloud computing. Liu said that Huawei wants to partner with African governments to introduce safe city solutions on the continent. The company has already provided safe city solutions in the Kenyan cities of Nairobi and Mombasa last year.

FIFA Gets a Feminine Touch

Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura， UNDP Resident Representative in Nigeria， has been named the new Secretary General of FIFA， the International Federation of Association Football. The 54-year-old Senegalese， who speaks French， English， Spanish and Italian， has been the UN country representative or director in six countries： Djibouti， Cameroon， Chad， Guinea， Madagascar and Nigeria. Her appointment in May heralds a new era for female administrators in sport.

speaker at Harvard Commencement

He Jiang， a doctoral student in biology at Harvard University， has been chosen as one of the speakers at the universitys May 26 commencement ceremony. He is the first ever student from the Chinese mainland to speak at the event. He， who comes from a village in central Chinas Hunan Province， graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2009. The PhD student won the opportunity to deliver a speech as the sole postgraduate representative at the commencement by successfully passing through three rounds of competition. One of the messages he wants to convey in his speech is that all Harvard students should consider the uneven distribution of science and technology in society and shoulder the social responsibilities they are expected to take on.

China

Cooperation Proposal

Chinese scientists have proposed an international scientific cooperation program for the observation of Earth to support the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road （Belt and Road） Initiative. The “digital Silk Road” was proposed at an international symposium in Beijing in May. The event was attended by over 300 Earth observation scholars and experts from more than 40 countries and regions along the Belt and Road， as well as international organizations such as the UNESCO. The program will hopefully provide statistics and environmental information for the Belt and Road Initiative and support decision-making， said Guo Huadong， an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This “digital Silk Road” program will be scientific， open and cooperative and will welcome more countries， organizations and scholars to participate， according to Guo.

China

search App

Chinese police launched a mobile app in May to encourage witnesses to report the whereabouts of missing or trafficked children. More than 5，000 anti-trafficking police will provide updates on the app on receiving new reports of missing children， according to a statement from the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. Users near the place where a child disappeared will receive notifications， including photos and descriptions. The scope of these notifications will be expanded over time.

China

Quake Alerts

The early earthquake warning system in China is being improved to issue alerts five to 10 seconds after tremors occur， said Pan Huaiwen， head of the China Earthquake Networks Center （CENC）. “Fast early warning systems are being piloted in Beijing Municipality as well as Sichuan and Guangdong provinces with more monitoring stations，” said Pan. “Chinas national earthquake monitoring network， composed of the CENC， 32 regional monitoring centers and 1，098 observation stations， leads the world，” he noted. These centers can monitor quakes as slight as 1 magnitude， and preliminary monitoring results can be automatically released about one minute after a quake occurs. However， the ability to forecast earthquakes precisely is still weak， Pan admitted， adding that it is a global challenge. “To forecast strong quakes in 10 years and 6-magnitude ones in two years is comparatively accurate. Quakes imminent in three months can hardly be forecast，” Pan explained.