CHINESE ARTIST AWARDED COUBERTIN MEDAL

Artist Han Meilin was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin Medal for his outstanding contribution to the development of the Olympic movement at the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne， Switzerland， on April 24.

A painter， sculptor and designer， Hans most famous creations are the Fuwa （good-luck doll） mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The Pierre de Coubertin Medal， named after the founder of the modern Olympic Games， is a special honor awarded to athletes， former athletes， promoters， offi cials and others who have exemplifi ed the spirit of sportsmanship at Olympic events or have provided exceptional service to the Olympic movement.

Born in Shandong Province in 1936， Hans creations span multiple artistic mediums including drawing， calligraphy， sculpture， and ceramics. He became a professor at the Academy of Art and Design of Tsinghua University in 2011.

Global Study Tours

Legal Daily April 17

According to a recently released report on Chinas global study tour industry， Chinese citizens participated in more than 860，000 global study tours in 2017. The momentum is expected to continue with the number set to reach 1.05 million in 2018. Calculated at 25，500 yuan （$4，000） per person for every trip， the market was valued at 21.9 billion yuan （$3.5 billion） last year.

It is a great idea to send children abroad to expand their minds through global study tour programs， where they can also learn to be independent and work together with other students. However， China still falls short of systematic and standard norms to navigate this industry， which has led to concerns.

For example， some educational institutions provide only common foreign trips to students in the guise of study tours. These superficial trips offer much less academic and cultural content than is claimed. In some extreme cases， organizers even use unlicensed buses and tourist guides and offer low-quality meals so as to maximize their profi t margin， which， of course， poses risks to young students.

Global study tours must be brought under supervision and guided by the standards and rules of the tourism sector. The government needs to roll out relevant laws and regulations to protect minors.

Intelligent Car Revolution

China Newsweek April 23

The century-old auto industry is on the eve of a new revolution. During the past five years， a surge of selfdriving cars and intelligent cars has emerged， promoted by the likes of Google and Apple.

In China， bolstered by the government and capital from investors， conventional auto manufacturers， car rental companies and Internet companies are all rushing to the playing field of intelligent cars despite the high threshold and many barriers. This year is crucial since the new forces will face market tests. What kind of cars will they present？

The competition in the intelligent car industry is also stoking competition among cities and regions. Some Chinese regions are more ambitious than others in their intelligent car program. Xiongan New Area， for example， may become the fi rst to establish intelligent traffi c with self-driving cars. Thus， it will provide a broad stage for companies boasting core artificial intelligence （AI） technologies.

By making full use of the auto industrial revolution， China hopes to exert a greater influence on the auto industry， intelligent transportation and smart cities in the future. The National Development and Reform Commissions document on the strategy of intelligent car innovation and development proposed building China into a major power in the intelligent car industry. However， despite its competitiveness in communications， big data and maps， China still has much development ahead in the core technologies of AI and self-driving cars.

Data Protection

Peoples Daily April 23

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted during a recent Congressional hearing that apart from offering third parties the data of registered users， the social media network also collects the data of unregistered users. The same thing is happening in China to those who download apps onto their smartphones. After searching for certain products online， the users are bombarded with relevant ads.

With a new round of industrial revolution led by intelligent manufacturing and artifi cial intelligence around the world， the era of big data has arrived.

On the one hand， data privacy is a basic human right. Without consent， personal data cannot be shared for any reason， especially not for profi t purposes. On the other， data sharing on the Internet can help ramp up overall social well-being.

Industrial and public data could also be compromised. Today， more companies are using cloud computing to keep their business information confi dential. However， if industrial information can be shared among related companies， the overall performance of the industry can be improved.

The question is how to draw a line between data privacy and sharing. The key lies in effective regulations. For data， no borders exist. Viable international standards for data collection， storage， transfer and application are necessary.

Just as a coin has two sides， so does big data technology. New industries tend to grow wildly in their initial stages， but it should not be abandoned just because it has shortcomings. Regulations are not meant to curb technological progress but to ensure its sound development.

UN ENVIRONMENT GOODWILL AMBASSADOR

Singer and actor Wang Junkai was named United Nations Environment National Goodwill Ambassador in Beijing on April 18.

Karry Wang， as he is also known， has over 40 million followers on Chinese Twitter-like platform Weibo and has often been vocal on environmental issues. He widely publicized the #wildforlife campaign launched in May 2016 at the second UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi in a bid to end the illegal trade in wildlife.

In his role as goodwill ambassador Wang will connect with Chinas youth on some of the most urgent environmental issues of their generation， including pollution， air quality， wildlife conservation and ecosystem preservation.

Born in 1999 in Chongqing， Wang is the team leader of the popular boy band trio TFBOYS. Currently a freshman at the Performance Institute of the Beijing Film Academy， Wang is known for his leading role in the 2017 box office blockbuster Miracles of the Namiya General Store as well as his hit single Karry On.

“The law will protect the heroes， martyrs and revolutionaries who have devoted and sacrificed themselves for the Chinese nation and people since modern times.”

Hu Keming， Vice Chairman of the Constitution and Law Committee of the National Peoples Congress （NPC）， Chinas top legislature， commenting on a draft law protecting the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs under review at the NPC Standing Committees bimonthly session， on April 25

“Its a tough call because China still needs rapid economic growth to fight against poverty and achieve the aim of a moderately prosperous society.”

Neil Hirst， a senior policy fellow at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London， commenting on Chinas determination to reconcile economic growth with environmental protection

“Due to the escalating trade dispute， the anger of U.S. farmers and companies， especially those from hi-tech manufacturing and service sectors， has put Republican candidates under pressure as midterm congressional elections approach.”

Tu Xinquan， Director of the China Institute for WTO Studies at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing， commenting on the upcoming visit of senior U.S. officials to Beijing to discuss trade

“Although we still lack a film that really touches the global market， more co-productions and stories with a global outlook are ways of reaching this goal.”

Yin Hong， a professor of communications from Tsinghua University， commenting on the recently released 2018 Report on Chinese Film Art