On Chinese Mediaa

That Night in Hong Kong

Xinmin Weekly Issue No. 26， 2017

Time is fleeting， and the 20 years since Hong Kongs return to China have passed in the blink of an eye. This uneven passage over the past two decades has brought Hong Kong laughter and tears， blessings and adversities， opportunities and challenges. Looking back on these two decades， wed like to focus on what has and has not changed in the SAR from a historical perspective， and so trace the outline of Hong Kongs development.

The most dramatic thunderstorm of 2017 occurred one Wednesday in May. It carried on until dusk， as local racing enthusiasts and tourists gathered at the Happy Valley racecourse in south central Wan Chai for the weekly Wednesday night race. The bell signaling the opening of the starting gate rang punctually at 7：15 pm， and punters shouts mingled with the thunder of hooves as the racers galloped towards the finishing line. Horseracing remains a favorite pursuit of Hong Kong residents， and is one of many aspects of local life that has not changed. When talking about “retaining Hong Kongs social system and way of life” in the lead-up to its return， the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping affirmed， “For the next 50 years， the people of Hong Kong will enjoy going dancing and horse racing just as they do today.” The central government also promised that Hong Kongs political and social systems would remain unchanged for 50 years.

Hong Kong is still acknowledged as one of the worlds freest and safest places. The core values that ordinary people so cherish， including the rule of law， liberty， human rights， justice， and integrity， are upheld and widely promoted. Freedom of speech and of the press， as well as the right to stage marches and assemblies， have indeed expanded. Some people even call Hong Kong “demonstration capital.”

Tung Chee-hwa， vice chairman of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） and the first chief executive of Hong Kong SAR， observed that this promise has been honored over the past 20 years since Hong Kongs return. “The lifestyle and habits of Hong Kong people havent changed. What has？ Mandarin has become popularized， people know more about the country， and contacts have increased. Personnel exchanges and economic interactions have now made Hong Kong more reliant on the mainland than on the U.S. and Europe for trade. This is a big change.” Zhang Xiaoming， director of the Liaison Office of the Central Peoples Government in Hong Kong SAR， observed： “Things that the people wanted to stay the same havent changed， and the things that needed to be changed according to the peoples wishes have.”

Panda Town

Oriental Outlook Issue No. 23， 2017

The cute， cuddly， playful – and rare – panda， emblematic of China， is found nowhere else in the world. Fewer than 2，000 live in the wild.

The French zoologist Armand David officially discovered the giant panda in 1869， and gave it its name. The rest， of course is history， as this two-tone teddy is probably the worlds best known animal. But few know that David didnt make his discovery in the famous Wolong Nature Reserve， or Chengdu， but in another city of Sichuan Province called Yaan.

Unfortunately， Yaan， as “panda town” thereafter became the haunt of ruthless Western poachers intent on bagging as many Ailuropoda melanoleuca （as David scientifically named the panda） as they could， for their distinctive hides. A century and a half later， this otherwise unprepossessing city has become a sanctuary rather than a killing ground for pandas.

Bifengxia Panda Base in Yaan， built in 2003， is the worlds largest panda research and breeding center. It welcomes around 400，000 visitors every year. In 2006， the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries were listed as World Cultural Heritage sites， and Yaan forms 281，000 hectares， or 52 percent， of the total acreage of their core area. Yaan is hence integral to the latest panda protection campaign.

This hometown of pandas is also the site of well-preserved natural and cultural resources equally as precious.

The Voice Is King

Caixin Weekly Issue No. 26， 2017

Last June the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in Silicon Valley， as always， polarized market opinion. A main highlight was the HomePod， the all-in-one speaker and home tech hub. But it isnt the first of its kind. Amazons Echo broke this particular ground three years ago. In the past two years， Echo has generated a wave of smart home systems that have swept both North America and China， and triggered a fleet of tech companies.

Market research services provider Strategy Analytics estimates that by 2022， one third of North American households will be equipped with intelligent sound boxes. Tech companies are using sound boxes to enter households with a view to cornering the AI market. The voice platform behind the hardware could become the operating system in the era of Internet of Things， and usher in a totally new industrial chain.

According to tech companies and scientists， the voice will be the basic tool for man-machine interactions like keyboards and touch screens， and also be utilized in intelligent hardware， automatic vehicles and consumer robots. In the future， numerous terminals will constantly send data back to the cloud and so make the “brain” ever smarter， capable of performing more tasks and reading the demands of each individual.

Resolving Chinas Banking Crisis

China Financial Weekly Issue No. 13， 2017

In the short period from March 28 to April 12， the China Banking Regulatory Commission issued several documents promoting deleveraging， covering such areas as serving the real economy， and preventing and controlling risks. Large numbers of banks have since felt the pressure， according to the magazines survey in Sichuan， Henan and Hebei provinces.

City commercial banks and agricultural commercial banks have their roots in former urban credit cooperatives and rural credit cooperatives， and have enjoyed 20 years of rapid development. By the end of 2016， the total assets of city commercial banks reached RMB 28.24 trillion– 40 times the 1995 figure. Their growth over the past 10 years has exceeded the banking average， and has at times doubled it over the past five years. At their peak， there were 150 urban commercial banks. After mergers and reorganization， there are still 133.

In spite of this vast expansion， both their profits and capital adequacy ratio （CAR） have dropped in recent years. As early as 2015， 35 city commercial banks， mainly in northeastern， southwestern， and northwestern China， had experienced negative profit growth. Regulator sources say that a comprehensive assessment of their real situation and risks is needed.

Green Consumption and Lifestyle

Minsheng Weekly Issue No. 13， 2017

General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping said， on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival， at the 41st collective learning session of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee， that green consumption should be promoted and publicized across the country to create a green way of development and life and a far-reaching revolution in development concepts.

Green consumption constitutes a sustainable consumption concept， model， and method. There are different types of consumption， including excessive consumption， frugal consumption， and moderate consumption. The focus of green consumption， however， is not just economical； it also encompasses moderate and scientific consumption. And nor is green consumption solely to do with individuals. It involves the overall social climate， and indeed has a long history in China. In recent years， we have learned from the organic economy and simplicity of traditional Chinese culture as well as from certain elements of other cultures and have gradually established the green development mode with Chinese characteristics.

Take bike-sharing as an example. Rooted in the cyber-economy， this is both an innovative consumption model and a propellant of the green consumption social climate. People have turned from their pursuit of product ownership to emphasizing the right to use.