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☆ China's payment association warns over risks of using AI products like ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI/BEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - China's payment & clearing industry association warned on Monday against using Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence tools due to "risks such as cross-border data leaks." "Payment industry staff must comply with laws and rules when using tools such as ChatGPT, and should not upload confidential information related to the country and the finance industry," the Payment & Clearing Association of China said in a statement on Monday. Italy has temporarily banned ChatGPT and launched a probe over suspected breaches of privacy rules. Excitement in China over the chatbot has helped to fuel a rally in tech, media and telecom (TMT) shares, with analysts cautioning bubble risks. Chinese shares in computer (.CSI930651), media (.CSI399971) and communications equipment (.CSI931160) tumbled between 3.4% and 5.6% on Monday.

☆ China capital Beijing experiences first population decline since 2003
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Beijing's population decline was in line with national trends, with China's population falling last year for the first time in six decades, weighed down by rising living costs especially in big, sprawling cities like Beijing, weak economic growth, and changing attitudes towards raising a family. "These figures are expected, especially for Beijing," said Xiujian Peng, senior research fellow at the Centre of Policy Studies at Victoria University in Australia. The birth rates in Beijing and other cities and provinces are calculated based on the permanent residents not including migrant population, she said. Beijing's natural population growth was minus 0.05 per 1,000 people last year. China's birth rate last year was 6.77 births per 1,000 people, the lowest on record, while the country's death rate, the highest since 1974, was 7.37 deaths per 1,000 people.

China's four new vice premiers:Ding Xuexiang, 60, is the first-ranked vice premier who also sits in the ruling Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, China's top echelon of power. Wang Zhigang, 65, remains minister of science and technology. Huai Jinpeng, 60, remains minister of educationPan Yue, 62, remains head of the National Ethnic Affairs CommissionWang Xiaohong, 65, remains minister of public securityChen Yixin, 63, remains minister of state security. Considered a Xi ally, he had worked with Xi when the latter was party chief of Zhejiang province from 2002-2007. Tang Dengjie, 63, remains minister of civil affairsHe Rong, 60, remains minister of justiceWang Xiaoping, 59, remains minister of human resources and social securityWang Guanghua, 59, remains minister of natural resourcesHuang Runqiu, 59, remains minister of ecology and environmentNi Hong, 60, remains minister of housing and urban-rural developmentLi Xiaopeng, 63, remains minister of transportLi Guoying, 63, remains minister of water resourcesTang Renjian, 60, remains minister of agriculture and rural affairsHu Heping, 60, remains minister of culture and tourismMa Xiaowei, 63, remains head of the National Health CommissionPei Jinjia, 59, remains minister of veterans affairsWang Xiangxi, 60, remains minister of emergency managementHou Kai, 60, remains auditor-general of the National Audit OfficeReporting by Yew Lun Tian, Ziyi Tang, additional reporting by Albee Zhang; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pollution returns to northern China as industrial activities rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 6 (Reuters) - Thirteen northern Chinese cities surrounding the capital Beijing have issued pollution alerts over the last few days, raising concerns that an industrial recovery in the region is increasing smog levels. All 13 cities, including Tianjin and Tangshan, China's biggest steelmaking centre, had issued "orange" heavy pollution alerts by Sunday, the second-highest alert, the National Joint Research Center for Tackling Key Problems in Air Pollution Control (NJRC) said. NJRC said the recent spike had been driven by an increase in industrial activity, with steel and cement plants operating at higher levels, and diesel truck traffic also rising. China has been trying to re-energise its economy since lifting strict COVID-19 curbs at the end of last year, raising fears that pollution could be allowed to rise. An orange alert means the three-day average air quality index (AQI) has risen above 200, classified as "heavy pollution", and normally triggers industrial closures or output cuts under Chinese regulations.

☆ Chinese provinces give 30 days' paid 'marriage leave' to boost birth rate
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A newly wed couple pose for pictures on Valentine's Day at a marriage registration office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China February 14, 2023. China Daily via REUTERSHONG KONG, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Some Chinese provinces are giving young newlyweds 30 days of paid leave in the hope of encouraging marriage and boosting a flagging birth rate, the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily Health said on Tuesday. China's minimum paid marriage leave is three days, but provinces have been able to set their own more generous allowances since February. "Extending marriage leave is one of the effective ways of increasing the fertility rate," Yang Haiyang, dean of the Social Development Research Institute of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, was quoted as saying. Yang said a host of other supporting policies were still needed, including housing subsidies and paid paternity leave for men.

☆ Factbox: Chinese tech firms working on ChatGPT-style technology
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A response in Chinese by ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI, is seen on its website in this illustration picture taken February 9, 2023. Like Microsoft and Google，Chinese tech giants such as Baidu and Alibaba (9988.HK) as well as smaller start-ups have been working on AI projects for years. The e-commerce giant said large language models and generative AI have been areas of focus since it formed its research institute Damo Academy in 2017. NETEASEGaming firm NetEase (9999.HK) plans to deploy large language models technology to serve its education business, a source familiar with the company told Reuters on Feb. 8. 360 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY INC360 Security Technology Inc (601360.SS) said on Feb. 8 it possessed language model technology but that it could not give a clear indication on when it would launch any related products.

☆ In aging China, a call for 'bold' steps to cut cost of having babies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A Chinese health official has urged local governments to take "bold" steps to lower the cost of having babies and raising children to reduce the burden on families and boost fertility, a state-backed publication reported on Friday. In addition to that is the prospect of a rapidly aging population slowing the economy as revenues drop and government debt increases because of soaring health and welfare costs. Yang Wenzhuang, director of Department of Population Monitoring and Family Development under the National Health Commission (NHC), stressed the importance of family support for improving the fertility rate, the publication the Paper reported. China had to "firmly grasp the important window period of population development" during its 14th five-year plan which runs until 2025, to accelerate "the promotion of childbearing support", he said. Yang's comments were published in the latest issue of NHC-managed magazine, Population and Health, the Paper said.

☆ Explainer: What we know and don't know about the Chinese balloon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Here's what we know, and don't know, about the balloon that has triggered a dramatic diplomatic dispute between the two powers:HOW BIG IS IT? WAS IT A WEATHER BALLOON? Other companies that develop stratospheric balloon systems include U.S. space tourism firm World View and French firm CNIM Air Space. AIR is particularly keen on stratospheric balloon technology and has posted several articles on its WeChat account about Aerostar. read moreWhile analysts did not yet know the size of the Chinese balloon fleet, U.S. officials have spoken of dozens of missions since 2018 across five continents, with some targeting Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines.

☆ China's Sichuan frees unmarried people to legally have children
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Beijing, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Health authorities in China's southwestern province of Sichuan will allow unmarried individuals to raise a family and enjoy benefits reserved for married couples, in the latest effort to bolster a falling birth rate. From Feb. 15, married couples and any individuals who want offspring will be allowed to register with the government in China's fifth most populous province, with no ceiling on the number of children they can register for. Until now, the commission had allowed only married couples who wanted to have up to two children to register with local authorities. China's population shrank last year for the first time in six decades, a historic turn expected to usher in a period of decline. Much of China's demographic downturn stems from its one-child policy imposed between 1980 and 2015.

☆ China’s population shrinks for the first time since 1961
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] An elderly person holds a child near lanterns decorating a shop ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Beijing, China, January 15, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Jan 17 (Reuters) - China's population fell last year for the first time since 1961, a historic turn that is expected to mark the start of a long period of decline in its citizen numbers and see India become the world's most populous nation in 2023. The country had 1.41175 billion people at at the end of 2022, compared with 1.41260 billion a year earlier, China's National Bureau of Statistics said. China also logged its highest death rate since 1976, registering 7.37 deaths per 1,000 people compared with a rate of 7.18 deaths in 2021. China's stringent zero-COVID policies that were in place for threee years before an abrupt reversal which has overwhelmed medical faciliites, have caused further damage to the country's bleak demographic outlook, population experts have said.

He heard at that time that Pfizer's (PFE.N) anti-viral drug Paxlovid was an effective treatment, but patients could only get it prescribed if they were admitted to hospital, and only if the drug was in stock. Li's experience, local media reports and online posts bear testimony to the difficulties faced obtaining Paxlovid in China through official channels. "Pfizer is actively collaborating with Chinese authorities and all stakeholders to secure an adequate supply of Paxlovid in China. We remain committed to fulfilling the COVID-19 treatment needs of Chinese patients and partnering with the Chinese government," the company said in a statement. PAXLOVID GIFTSeveral other people described to Reuters how they turned to the grey market to purchase Paxlovid.

☆ China fx reserves rise $11 bln to $3.128 trillion in December
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Jan 7 (Reuters) - China's foreign exchange reserves rose in December, official data showed on Saturday, as the dollar fell against other major currencies. The country's foreign exchange reserves - the world's largest - rose $11 billion to $3.128 trillion last month, compared with $3.154 trillion predicted by a Reuters poll of analysts and $3.117 trillion in November. The yuan rose 2.8% against the dollar in December, while the dollar last month fell 2.3% against a basket of other major currencies . China held 64.64 million fine troy ounces of gold at the end of December, down from end-November. The value of China's gold reserves rose to $117.24 billion at the end of December from $111.65 billion at end-November.

The country spent big on quarantine and testing facilities over the past three years rather than bolstering hospitals and clinics and training medical staff, these people said. "There is no transition time for the medical system to prepare for this," said Zuofeng Zhang, professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. The failure to boost vaccination rates among the vulnerable could imperil China's health system, more than a dozen experts said. The death of a 23-year-old medical student in Chengdu on Dec. 14 fueled public ire at the strain on China's health system. Chen Jiming, a researcher at China's Foshan University, said there was every chance that China's medical system could cope now that the country has ended quarantine for asymptomatic and mild cases.

"For whole of Beijing, speedy arrangement of hearses, no queue for cremation," the worker said in a plug for service on the popular short video app Douyin. The fee being charged exceeds all-in-one funeral service packages advertised in the city. China, which uses a narrow definition for classifying COVID fatalities, reported no new COVID deaths for Dec. 20, compared with five the previous day. Authorities clarified on Tuesday that only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting COVID will be classified as COVID deaths. The Beijing municipal government and National Health Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the apparent rise in deaths in Beijing.

[1/4] People wait in line at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test centre in Xinyang, China, this still image obtained from social media video released December 15, 2022. China reported 2,157 new symptomatic COVID-19 infections for Dec. 15 compared with 2,000 a day. There is particular concern about China's hinterland in the run up to China's Lunar New Year holiday starting on Jan. 22. The COVID scare in China also led people in Hong Kong, Macau and in some neighbourhoods in Australia to go in search for fever medicines and test kits for family and friends on the mainland. JP Morgan on Friday revised down its expectations for China's 2022 growth to 2.8%, which is well below China's official target of 5.5% and would mark one of China's worst performances in almost half a century.

☆ China re-opens more areas at risk for COVID spread as lockdowns ease
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Dec 12 (Reuters) - China has slashed the number of locations deemed at high risk of wider COVID outbreaks, re-opening locked down areas including one hosting a key factory of an Apple supplier. The number of high-risk areas tumbled to around 4,500 on Monday, official data showed, down 85% from more than 30,000 on Dec. 7 before the latest policy shift was announced. Last month, thousands of workers fled the Foxconn facility on fears of COVID lockdowns, curtailing production. High-risk areas without new infections for five consecutive days should be released from lockdown, according to one of China's latest protocols released on Dec. 7. Local authorities have also been warned not to arbitrarily expand the scope of lockdowns or prolong them.

☆ China's capital swings from anger over zero-COVID to coping with infections
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] Pandemic control workers in protective suits sit in a neighbourhood that used to be under lockdown, as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreaks continue, in Beijing, China December 10, 2022. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many businesses have been forced to close as infected workers quarantine at home while many other people are deciding not to go out because of the higher risk of infection. "We can see that hundreds of thousands or tens of thousands of people are infected in several major cities," Zhong said. China's economy may grow 1.6% in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier, and 4.9% in the second, according to Capital Economics. Inbound travellers are subjected to five days of quarantine at centralised government facilities and three additional days of self-monitoring at home.

☆ China's Guangzhou city relaxes COVID rules in several districts
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The Chinese city of Guangzhou relaxed COVID prevention rules in several districts on Wednesday in an effort to implement rules authorities announced this month aimed at easing the burden of the strict zero-COVID policy. read moreGuangzhou, China's manufacturing hub, has been hard hit in China's latest COVID-19 outbreaks and people in the southern city took to the streets to protest against the strict COVID-prevention rules on the weekend. The relaxation of curbs comes after the city of 19 million people recorded fewer coronavirus cases over the past few days. Authorities in city districts including Haizhu, Baiyun, Fanyu, Tianhe, Conghua, Huadu, Liwan, said in statements they were lifting temporary lockdowns. One district, Conghua, said it would allow in-person classes in schools to resume and would reopen restaurants and other businesses including cinemas.

Two protesters told Reuters that callers identifying themselves as Beijing police officers asked them to report to a police station on Tuesday with written accounts of their activities on Sunday night. "We are all desperately deleting our chat history," said another person who witnessed the Beijing protest and declined to be identified. Simmering discontent with stringent COVID prevention policies three years into the pandemic ignited into protests in cities thousands of miles apart over the weekend. Officials say the COVID policy has kept the death toll in the thousands, avoiding the millions of deaths elsewhere. In an editorial that did not mention the protests, People's Daily, the Party's official newspaper, urged citizens to "unswervingly implement" COVID policies.

☆ Xi says China to consider holding Belt & Road Forum in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that China would consider hosting the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation next year, which would be the first staging of the event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Belt & Road is Xi's signature infrastructure investment initiative, and previous editions of the forum, in 2017 and 2019, drew leaders and officials from dozens of countries. However, China has all-but-shut its borders since COVID and cancelled most big in-person international events that it had been due to host. Xi was speaking on Friday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Bangkok. Reporting by Tony Munroe and Albee Zhang; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China revises COVID guidelines for entertainment venues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the revised guidelines to travel agencies, entertainment and performance venues. A government statement said local administrators should improve the accuracy of their prevention and control measures and should not shut down entertainment venues down at will. The specific measures are mostly in line with China's latest easing of COVID rules, but could be a bright spot for entertainment and tourism firms that have been hammered by a near three-year strict zero-COVID policy. Places such as KTVs, internet cafes and offline board game venues are allowed to operate under normalised COVID prevention rules in low risk regions, which means as long as they apply certain COVID prevention rules, they can open their business as usual, according to the government. Reporting by Albee Zhang, Bernard Orr; Editing by Shri Navaratnam & Simon Cameron-MooreOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China to speed up vaccinations, build more designated COVID hospitals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 17 (Reuters) - China plans to speed up COVID-19 vaccinations and will release information to the public in due course, the head of China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Shen Hongbing made the comments at a regular National Health Commission (NHC) news conference when asked if foreign vaccines would become available. read moreAuthorities highlighted the need to build more designated COVID hospitals and increase the number of beds in intensive care units. "ICU beds need to account for 10% of total beds," NHC official Guo Yanhong said. Several cities where cases are rising like Guangzhou and Beijing are conducting mass-testing but other cities have pulled back on testing.

"It would become a testing point regarding the government’s determination to push for the relaxation of COVID control measures," they said. China reported 17,772 new local COVID-19 infections for Nov. 14, up from 16,072 new cases a day earlier and the most since April, with major cities including Chongqing and Zhengzhou among the worst-hit. On Monday, Beijing's most populous district of Chaoyang, where most of its cases are located, moved some testing sites closer to residential compounds. On Tuesday, state broadcaster CCTV said Chaoyang district was adding more testing sites, including near office buildings. Under China's new rules, testing efforts are to be more targeted, easing what has been a significant financial burden on cities.

☆ China confirms orders for 140 Airbus jets worth $17 bln
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, Nov 4 (Reuters) - China's state aircraft buying agency officially signed orders to buy 140 Airbus planes worth about $17 billion on Friday, China Aviation Supplies (CAS) Holding said in a statement. They are all pre-existing orders, with some included in an order for 292 jets announced earlier this year, Airbus said on Friday. The formal signing of the agreement took place on Friday, during a visit to China by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Boeing suggested it may have to make do without Chinese deliveries for some time amid the zero COVID policy and U.S.-Chinese tensions. Friday's purchase agreement includes 132 of the European planemaker's A320 series planes and eight A350 planes, the company said.

☆ Disney closes Shanghai resort from Oct 31 due to COVID curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BEIJING, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Shanghai Disney Resort said on Monday it had closed the whole resort including Shanghai Disney from Oct. 31 due to COVID-19 prevention requirements in the city, according to a company statement. The company didn't give a time frame for when the operation will be resumed. Reporting by Albee Zhang and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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