Alibaba puts $4.63 billion into electronics retailer

Alibabab Group Ltd said it would invest more than 28 billion yuan ($4.63 billion) for a nearly 20 percent stake in electronics retailer Suning Commerce Group Ltd, a bricks-and-mortar retail chain which once struggled to cope with Chinese consumers shifting to the Internet.

Alibaba will become Suning's second-largest share holder after the aquisition. In return, Suning would acquire up to 14 billion yuan in newly issued Alibaba shares, giving it about a 1.1 percent stake in the e-commerce company.

Under the partnership, Suning will open a flagship store selling consumer electronics, home appliances and baby products on Alibaba's brand-focused Tmall.com platform, the companies said. They will also look for ways to combine Suning's more than 1,600 physical stores with the services Alibaba and its affiliates can provide on mobile apps, such as ordering and payments. (Photo 1)

Producer prices, imports tumble in July

China's producer prices continued to fall in July, pointing to a looming deflation risk, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

The producer price index (PPI), a measure of costs for goods at the factory gate, fell 5.4 percent year on year in July, widening from the 4.8 percent drop seen a month earlier. The July reading dipped to the lowest level since the end of 2009 and marked the 41st straight month of decline.

In a sign of weak demand, China's imports nose-dived by 8.6 percent in July. A sharp decline of 8.9 percent in exports also cast a shadow on the world's second-largest economy.

To make things worse, major commodity prices are lingering at a multi-year low, and there are no signs of quick recovery. Prices of production materials fell 6.9 percent, while those of consumer goods edged down 0.3 percent.

Tuesday August 11

Retired officials criticized for exerting influence

China's official Communist Party of China (CPC) newspaper People's Daily has published a signed commentary and criticized retired officials who continue to exert their influence in government departments.

The commentary published on Monday did not specify which former leaders were continuing to wield influence after retirement. Some retired officials were using their influence with former subordinates to keep their hands on major issues long after they had retired, the commentary said.

When decisions were made against their wishes, they would accuse incumbent officials of being snobbish, the article said, adding that such lingering influence put their successors in an awkward position and weakened party cohesion.

Beijing News on Tuesday cited examples of former leaders who stopped intervening in politics after retirement such as former presidents Zhu Rongji and Hu Jintao.

HIV cases among students increase

HIV infection among students in China has increased rapidly, health authorities said.

By the end of October last year, nearly 2,200 cases of HIV involving students age 15 and above had been reported, compared with 1,772 the previous year, according to the National Center for AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Disease Control and Prevention.

Wu Zunyou, head of the center, said HIV infection among college students is rising much faster than in other groups. The number of cases among male college students has increased much faster than those among female students since 2008, he said.

Wednesday August 12

Government pushes a 4.5-day summer workweek

The Chinese government is encouraging people to work 4 1/2 days a week in the summer to bolster tourism amid the flagging economy.

If conditions permit, more flexibility should be given to employees to help them take vacations using Friday afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays, according to a document published by the General Office of the State Council.

The document also said China will build more tourism infrastructure, including cruise ports and RV parks. Cruise ship tourism should be encouraged and 10 ports for cruise vessels will be built by 2020, and 57,000 clean toilets at tourist attractions will be built or renovated within three years, it said, adding the toilets will be well-maintained and free of charge.

The news caused a stir on social networks, with more than 25 million people reading the document 'Please carry it out as soon as possible, otherwise the summer will end soon,' said a netizen. (Photo 2)

120 songs banned from websites

The Ministry of Culture has released a blacklist of 120 songs that 'trumpeted obscenity, violence, crime or harmed social morality', and ordered website administrators to remove them from their sites.

Including titles such as Beijing Hooligans, Don't Want to Go to School and Suicide Diary, the songs were described as 'having severely problematic content', which violated an online cultural management regulation, according to a ministry statement. Songs by household names such as Chang Csun Yuk and Stanley Huang were also on the list.

'No unit or individual is allowed to provide [these songs],' the statement read, promising severe punishment for those that failed to comply with the take-down notice.

Thursday August 13

First bishop in more than three years ordained

The Catholic diocese in Anyang, Henan province, has ordained the country's first Catholic bishop in more than three years, an appointment recognized by the country's religious authorities and the Vatican.

Father Joseph Zhang Yinlin, 44, was ordained coadjutor bishop of Anyang on Aug 4 in a ceremony attended by more than 1,500 people, including 75 priests and 120 nuns, said Li Jianlin, a spokesman for the Catholic diocese in the province.

Zhang was elected as candidate to be coadjutor bishop of Anyang diocese on April 29, and the ceremony was postponed until August 'because of the preparation work required,' said Li.

The event received extensive coverage by Vatican Radio, the voice of the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church. It noted that the ordination was approved by the Vatican. (Photo 3)

Auto sales hit 17-month low despite discounts

Chinese consumers bought the fewest passenger vehicles in 17 months in July, extending a slump in the world's largest auto market as deeper discounts failed to revive demand.

Retail deliveries declined 2.5 percent to 1.3 million units, the lowest level since February 2014, according to the China Passenger Car Association. Sedan sales tumbled 14 percent, while sport utility vehicles deliveries climbed 39 percent.

Automakers are cutting production in China and warning of a looming price war as a slowing economy and government curbs on registrations weigh on demand. (Photo 4)

Friday August 14

Lenovo cutting 3,200 jobs as profits plunge

Lenovo, the world's largest pc maker, will cut 5 percent of its non-manufacturing jobs or 3,200 jobs globally after reporting. a 51 percent drop in net profit in the first quarter ending June 30.

Net profit fell to $102 million from $211 million from 2014, pre-tax profit plunged 80 percent to $52 million, while revenue increased by 3 percent to $10.7 billion,

Lenovo's PC shipments declined by 7 percent to 13.5 million. Its share of theglobal PC market increased by 1.3 percentage points to 20.6 percent, according to thecompany. Personal computers are still core business to Lenovo, accounting for $7.3 billion of its $10.7 billion of business.

As for mobile products, Lenovo lost 0.5 to 4.7 percent total market shares in global smartphone market in first quarter. With the Motorola brand, recently acquired from Google, taking the lead in product development and manufacturing,Lenovo is restructuring its smart-phone business.

Firms violating parade restrictions face fines

Manufacturers who fail to suspend production in accordance with restrictions imposed before the Sept 3 military parade to reduce air pollution will face harsh fines.

Beijing has set a series of measures to control emissions and pollutants, including factory suspensions and restrictions on vehicle use after Aug 20, to prepare for the parade to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II.

Companies failing to meet the pollution restrictions will be ordered to stop production immediately. Fines for offenders could reach 500,000 yuan ($78,300), the head of a monitoring team said.

If Beijing experiences heavy smog during the restricted period, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau will conduct more frequent monitoring and supervision to ease the pollution.