CHINESE DIAMOND LEAGUE CHAMPION

Athlete Gong Lijiao won the Womens Shot Put with a throw of 19.6 meters at the 2017 IAAF Diamond League Final in Zurich， Switzerland， on August 25.

The 28-year-old continued to perform outstandingly well in contending for the Diamond Trophy in Zurich， after she won the first individual gold medal at the 2017 International Association of Athletics Federation （IAAF） London World Championships on August 10. Prior to the fi nal in Zurich， Gong had claimed victory three times in the Shanghai， Rome and Paris events in the 2017 IAAF Diamond League， accumulating 24 points to rank second on the scoreboard following Hungarian athlete Anita Marton， who had 25 points. In the Zurich fi nal， Gong surpassed Martons 18.54m best attempt to take fi rst place.

Gong is the first Chinese athlete to become a Diamond League Champion since the event was upgraded from the Gold League by the IAAF in 2010.

Gong was born in Shijiazhuang， north Chinas Hebei Province. She has become a leading member of Chinas national athletics team in the fi eld of shot put， participating in world athletics events including the Olympics and World Championships since 2007. Gong achieved her best personal performance of 20.43m in Halle， Germany on May 21， 2016.

Carrots For Quality

Qianjiang Evening News August 28

Wuhan， capital of central Chinas Hubei Province， officially announced that it is promoting three major projects to attract college graduates. One of them is assisting such young people to buy homes at a 20-percent discount.

Its good to see second-tier cities competing for talents. College graduates will help to boost their innovation and competitiveness. However， in the market economy， how can Wuhan manage to provide cheaper houses to these graduates？ If the local government provides subsidies for them， then its unfair to other residents.

Nanjing， capital of eastern Jiangsu Province， has also worked out a series of favorable policies targeting college graduates， such as giving them a local hukou， which is the mandatory local registration document， cheaper houses and even money. However， will these policies really attract talents to second-tier cities？

Despite high housing prices and long daily commutes everyday， many young people still feel more comfortable living in Beijing. Unlike in smaller cities， where who you know impacts daily life so much， in big cities people have access to equal opportunities and fair government services.endprint

Therefore， even if second-tier cities attract some talents through material incentives， its a big question whether they will manage to retain them for long. Its thus important for local governments to improve the “software” of their cities， such as improving government services， creating a good environment for industrial innovation， and providing a good cultural environment.

New Retail Era

Oriental Outlook August 31

In a Yintai shopping mall in Hangzhou， capital of east Chinas Zhejiang Province， when a registered member of the mall walks in， he or she is identifi ed as such and accorded special services. All the stores in the mall support Alipay， and all the commodities have the same price as on Alibabas Tmall.com. This is a typical case of how Alibaba and Yintai are cooperating to explore the new retail industry.

In 2015， Zhang Yong， CEO of Alibaba， and Hou Yi， founder of Hema Xiansheng， which combines bricks-and-mortar stores with online services， began to talk about the upcoming revolution in e-business and the retail industry. In January 2016， Hema Shengxian opened its fi rst retail store in Shanghai， marking the start of the new retail practice.

Nine months later， Jack Ma， Chairman of Alibaba Group， put forward the concept of“new retail” at a conference in Hangzhou， predicting that the era of pure e-business has gone， and the next decade will be dominated by new retail featuring a combination of offl ine and online business and logistics.

The development of the Internet and the Internet of Things has radically changed retail methods， making it impossible for e-business to stick to conventional commercial and service models. With the Internet penetrating all aspects of peoples daily life， consumershabits have also undergone a dramatic change. They ask for more options， better commodi- ties and channels through which commodity information can be quickly accessed.

Today， Alibaba is pushing its new retail concept to the manufacturing industry. Ma believes that in the coming three decades， manufacturing will adopt an individualized model. The old business-to-customer model will be replaced by the consumer-to-business model， and businesses will have to reform to adapt to consumers.

Kitchen Reform

Workers Daily August 29

After rats were found in some kitchens of a well-known hotpot chain restaurant， the China Food and Drug Administration has asked the restaurant to open all its kitchens to public inspection. With Chinas catering industry undergoing a “kitchen reform，” there is a demand for restaurant kitchens， which used to be out of bounds for customers， to be put under public supervision.endprint

The kitchen reform entails opening up restaurant kitchens to customers through transparent glass or screens. Surveys show that 94 percent of diners in first-tier cities have said that this measure has boosted their trust in restaurants food safety.

However， some restaurants are coming up with ways to avoid full public inspection. For example， they are throwing open units that are not critical to food safety such as where the washing is done. Some blur images of the kitchen as they appear on monitoring screens.

Given these problems， its important to increase professional supervisory staff. After all， they are the strongest force to standardize murky restaurant kitchens. Consumers complaints are far from enough to deter such restaurants. Its also necessary to encourage consumers to report breaches of food safety rules by awarding them and protecting their legitimate rights. With strong legal and policy backup， consumers can also play a big role in the kitchen reform.

YOUNGEST SCHOLAR SPONSORED BY NATIONAL FUND

Yu Peiwen， 27， associate professor in Fudan Universitys Department of Management Science， succeeded in applying to the National Natural Science Fund of China for Excellent Young Scholars， according to a press release from the foundation on August 24. He becomes the youngest scholar sponsored by the organization so far.

The foundation will sponsor Yus research project， Supply Chain Strategies for Perishable Products， which is scheduled to take place between January 2018 and December 2020. Yu is the principal investigator in the project.

Yu has amazed his peers with his extraordinary achievements. Yu at the age of 15 enrolled in the special program for gifted students at University of Science and Technology of China （USTC） in 2005， one of Chinas most prestigious universities in the scientific and technological realm. Four years later， he graduated from USTC with a bachelors degree in applied mathematics. Then， Yu entered Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for further study and achieved a Ph.D. in operations management. In 2014， after a knockout competition and multiple interviews， Yu was chosen by Fudan University and started his teaching and academic career in Shanghai.

“Coral gardens and sponge forests have been observed on the east ridge of the Caroline Seamount， located in the south of the Mariana Trench， the deepest spot on Earth.”

Xu Kuidong， chief scientist on board the research vessel Kexue， announcing the latest discovery on August 25 as the ship sailed through the western Pacific Oceanendprint

“In order for China to be considered a baseball playing nation， [the game] must be played at a high level. So， that is the focus of this agreement： to work closely with the CBA to make sure that all players， umpires， and coaches have the greatest chance of success.”

James Small， Vice President for Asia-Pacific of the U.S. Major League Baseball （MLB） association， addressing the signing ceremony of the extended partnership between the MLB and the China Baseball Association （CBA） in Tianjin on August 30

“China has established a vocational education system with Chinese characteristics， offering skills training for nearly all areas of the national economy.”

Wang Jiping， Director of the Department of Vocational and Adult Education of the Ministry of Education， speaking to the media at a press conference on Chinas vocational education in Beijing on August 30

“Were accumulating case hearing experience in the three intellectual property courts and preparing to set up more such courts at the right time to satisfy peoples increasing need for professional intellectual property trials and to boost our countrys technological innovation.”

Zhou Qiang， President of the Supreme Peoples Court， in a report to the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee in Beijing on August 29endprint