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☆ Number of foreign visitors to China in 2023 down more than 60% from pre-pandemic levels
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —It has been a year since China reopened its borders, but despite loosening its stringent Covid-19 restrictions, foreign travelers have been slow to return to the country with numbers down more than 60% from pre-pandemic levels. China’s border authorities recorded 35.5 million entries and exits by foreign nationals in 2023, according to the National Immigration Administration. That’s nearly seven times more than the number from 2022, when the country was deep in its three-year self-imposed Covid isolation. More than half of the border crossings made by foreign travelers in 2023 were recorded in the last three months of the year, according to data from the National Immigration Administration. Chinese authorities issued a total of 711,000 residency permits of various types to foreign nationals living in the country in 2023, Zhang added.

Persons: That’s, Zhang Ning, Zhang, Premier Li Qiang Organizations: CNN, National Immigration Administration, Premier, Economic, Embassy Locations: China, Beijing, Switzerland, Ireland, Davos, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Thailand, United States

☆ Tesla is taking the Cybertruck on a tour of China — but it won't be on sale
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Tom Carter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla is taking the Cybertruck on a tour of China, per a company WeChat post reported by Reuters. However, it's unlikely to be on sale in China soon, with Elon Musk saying it'll be hard to make legal. It comes as Tesla tries to fight off a new wave of competition from Chinese EV makers such as BYD. Elon Musk's company is taking the Cybertruck on a tour of China to show off its futuristic pickup, according to a company post on WeChat reported by Reuters . Elon Musk has previously hinted at the plan, posting on X on Sunday that Tesla could ship some Cybertruck prototypes to China for display.

Persons: Tesla, Elon Musk, —, Elon, Frederic J . Brown, Warren Buffett, Xiaomi, Musk Organizations: Reuters, Service, Elon Musk's, Geely, Huawei, New York Times, Business Locations: China, North America, AFP

In China, Tencent is already doing it. Now it’s betting on Weixin Palm Payment, a biometric system launched in May for users of Weixin Pay, WeChat’s sister app. Last year, JPMorgan cited the opportunity as it announced its own payment authentication software pilot program using palm scanning. “With face scanning technology, people can look a lot like each other — like twins,” he said. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant launched its own palm scanning payment service in 2020, letting users connect their palm prints to credit cards to buy items at the company’s cashier-free stores.

Persons: China that’s, — Tencent, Guo Rizen, “, ” Guo, Tencent’s, Guo, ”, Tencent, “ We’re, Edward Santow, …, ” Santow, Kate Xue, wasn’t Organizations: China CNN, CNN, Goode Intelligence, JPMorgan, Fujitsu, University of Technology Locations: China, Shenzhen, Beijing, Seattle, Chinese, Guangdong, Supermonkey, University of Technology Sydney

☆ Shadow bank Zhongzhi files for bankruptcy as China's debt and property crisis deepens
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-08 | by ( Shreyashi Sanyal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shadow banks in China operate by pooling household and corporate savings to offer loans to invest in real estate, stocks, bonds, and commodities. Companies such as Zhongzhi have often financed many large Chinese property developers. Hong Kong listed shares of property firms including Logan Group, China Vanke, Sunac and Longfor Group dropped between 2% and 3.6%. More pain for shadow banks? China's government has in the last few years tried to limit the rapid growth of non-bank debt issued by shadow banks.

Persons: Zhongzhi, Commerzbank, Zerlina Zeng, CNBC's Organizations: Zhongzhi Enterprise, Reuters, Beijing, CSI, Logan Group, Longfor, CreditSights Locations: HANGZHOU, CHINA, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China, Hong Kong

☆ Tencent, NetEase shares rebound after China regulator's assurance on new online gaming rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-27 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A mobile phone is displaying the screen of Tencent Games company's stock plunge in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, on December 22, 2023. Chinese online gaming stocks rose Wednesday, recovering some losses from the previous session after the country's top gaming regulator pledged to "further modify and improve" draft rules aimed at curbing excessive online gaming and spending. On Saturday, China's National Press and Publication Administration also vowed in a WeChat statement to "carefully study" the concerns of stakeholders — a day after fresh rules that it proposed sank the Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent, NetEase and Bilibili. The regulator, which also controls the publication of new games in the world's largest online gaming market, then said Monday that it approved more than 100 new domestic games, after saying Friday that it approved 40 imported games. On Wednesday, NetEase shares surged as much as 14% in early trading as Hong Kong markets returned from the Christmas holidays.

Persons: Nomura, NetEase Organizations: China's National Press Locations: Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, Hong Kong, Tencent

☆ I'm a 40-year-old former teacher retraining to get into AI. It might be crazy but I wish more people my age were doing it.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

She says it's difficult to pivot mid career but wishes more people her age were studying AI. AdvertisementThis as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Evrim Kanbur, a 40-year-old former university teacher who is learning to code to work in AI. To pay bills, I get passive income from online classes I pre-record for the e-learning platform Udemy, which I've been doing since 2017. Kabur's home studio where she recorded online classes Evrim KanburRetraining has been quite hardRetraining is not something that's easy to do. But I want to do this now and I'm happy I'm sticking with it.

Persons: Evrim Kanbur, —, I've, I'm, it's Organizations: Service, Deloitte, Riot Games, Harvard University, MIT Locations: Shanghai, China

☆ Southeast Asia is on the cusp of a 'supercharged' digital payments revolution, PwC says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Widespread mobile ownership, together with rapid digitalization after the pandemic, helped spur the expansion of digital financial services in Southeast Asia, said PwC. PwC"This enhanced availability and convenience of digital payments will see the bulk of the regional population leveraging mainstream digital financial products, such as e-wallets, further expediting the expansion of financial services," said PwC. watch now"Consumers are adopting digital financial services at a rapid pace. Cash is no longer king, as digital payments now make up more than 50% of the region's transactions," a recent Google, Temasek and Bain & Company report wrote. "In some regions such as Southeast Asia, [digital payments via e-wallets] are already more common than physical card payments and set to dominate point-of-sale [systems] overall," wrote Dan Jones and Alex Walker of OliverWyman.

Persons: PwC, hawkers, —, Cash, Dan Jones, Alex Walker of OliverWyman Organizations: Banking, Getty, Careem, Mercado Libre, Temasek, Bain & Company Locations: China, East Asia, Shanghai, Banking Asia, Asia, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Paytm, India, AliPay, Latin America

☆ Huawei is pushing its tech into the EV world with new cars, automaker partnerships
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Changan and Huawei are already partners for the Avatr electric car brand, created in 2018 with electric car battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology . Huawei is also working with Chery on the Luxeed electric car brand, which revealed details for its S7 sedan on Tuesday. BAIC, whose Arcfox electric brand already uses Huawei tech, and JAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tencent , which operates China's social media app WeChat, has claimed it supplies BMW and some other automakers with car tech. Selling a suite of car tech products called "Huawei Inside," while the automaker designs the vehicle.

Persons: JAC, Richard Yu, BAIC, Tu Le, It's, Huawei's Yu Organizations: Getty, Nurphoto, Huawei, Changan Automobile, Technology, Chery, BAIC, BMW Locations: SHANGHAI, CHINA, Shanghai, China, BEIJING, Beijing, U.S

☆ Alibaba Cloud suffers second service outage in a month
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

3D printed clouds and figurines are seen in front of the Alibaba Cloud service logo in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Alibaba's (9988.HK) cloud service said it suffered a near two-hour long disruption affecting customers in mainland China, Hong Kong and the United States on Monday, its second outage within a month. The impact was mainly felt by several of Alibaba Cloud's database management products, including PostgreSQL, Redis and MySQL editions. "From 09:16 Beijing time (0116 GMT) on November 27, 2023, Alibaba Cloud monitoring detected abnormalities in console and OpenAPI access for database products," Alibaba Cloud said in a statement posted on its websites on Tuesday. "This is hugely damaging to Alibaba Cloud's brand image as a reliable cloud service provider."

Persons: Dado, Alibaba, Feng Ruohang, Yelin Mo, Brenda Goh, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Huawei, China Telecom, HK, IDC, Thomson Locations: Rights BEIJING, HK, China, Hong Kong, United States, Beijing, Shanghai, Virginia, U.S, East Asia, Southeast Asia, East, North America

☆ Australia to amend law to regulate digital payments like Apple, Google Pay
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A smartphone with the Apple Pay logo is placed on a displayed Google Pay logo in this illustration taken on July 14, 2021. Digital wallets from the likes of Apple (AAPL.O), Google (GOOGL.O) and WeChat developer Tencent (0700.HK) have exploded in popularity but are not captured by Australian payments law. "We are modernising Australia's payments system to ensure it meets the needs of our economy now and into the future," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement. "We want to make sure the increasing use of digital payments occurs in a way that helps promote greater competition, innovation and productivity across our entire economy." Regulators are responding to the rapid growth of digital wallets, especially among the young.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Jim Chalmers, Chalmers, Lewis Jackson, Jamie Freed Organizations: Apple, REUTERS, Rights, Google, HK, Reserve Bank of Australia, Thomson

☆ TikTok owner ByteDance axes hundreds of jobs in gaming unit as it scales back ambition
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-27 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Hundreds of jobs are expected to be cut from this unit, a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told CNBC. Following a recent review, we've made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business," a ByteDance spokesperson told CNBC. TikTok parent company ByteDance is cutting hundreds of jobs in its gaming division, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC, marking a significant retreat from a segment it has invested billions of dollars in to challenge market leader Tencent. Over the past few years, ByteDance has made an aggressive push into gaming in a bid to challenge other gaming giants like China's Tencent and NetEase . ByteDance acquired a major mobile gaming studio called Moonton in 2021 for a reported $4 billion, underscoring its ambitions.

Persons: Nuverse, we've, Tencent, ByteDance, Kings, Crystal Organizations: CNBC, Reuters

☆ China, US exchange accusations over US vessel in South China Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - China and the United States exchanged accusations at the weekend over the disputed South China Sea, after China's military said it had driven away a U.S. warship that the U.S. Navy said was on a routine freedom of navigation operation. The U.S. Navy said on Sunday that the Hopper had "asserted navigational rights in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law". China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. This weekend's incident, China said, "proves that the United States is an out-and-out 'security risk creator' in the South China Sea". "Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas."

Persons: Hopper, China's, Kristina Weidemann, Casey, Laurie Chen, Ben Blanchard, Mark Potter, Edmund Klamann Organizations: United, U.S . Navy, People's Liberation Army Southern Theatre Command, U.S, Australia, Philippine, U.S . 7th Fleet, U.S . State Department, Casey Hall, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, SHANGHAI, China, United States, U.S, South China, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Beijing, Manila, South, Shanghai, Taipei

☆ China says US destroyer entered its territorial waters without permission
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - The Chinese military said on Saturday that American naval destroyer USS Hopper entered China's territorial waters without the approval of the Chinese government. According to a post on the official WeChat account of the Chinese People Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command, the Chinese military deployed its naval and air forces to "track, monitor and warn away" the vessel. It went on to say that the incident "proves that the United States is an out-and-out 'security risk creator' in the South China Sea." This latest announcement comes days after China accused the Philippines of enlisting "foreign forces" to patrol the South China Sea, referring to joint patrols held since Tuesday by Philippine and U.S. forces. Earlier this month, the United States and China held "candid" talks on maritime issues, including on the contested South China Sea, and the U.S. side underscored its concerns about "dangerous and unlawful" Chinese actions there, the U.S. State Department said.

Persons: Hopper, Casey Hall, Mark Potter Organizations: American, People Liberation, Southern Theatre Command, Philippine, U.S . State Department, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, United States, South China, China, Philippines, U.S

☆ Chinese military holds training drills near Myanmar border after convoy fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Smoke rises as a truck burns near the Myanmar-China border, near Muse, Myanmar, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on November 23, 2023. Video Obtained by REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsSHANGHAI, Nov 25 (Reuters) - China's military will begin "combat training activities" from Saturday on its side of the border with Myanmar, it said on social media, a day after a convoy of trucks carrying goods into the neighbouring Southeast Asian nation went up in flames. The training aims to "test the rapid maneuverability, border sealing and fire strike capabilities of theatre troops," the Southern Theatre Command, one of five in China's People's Liberation Army, said on the WeChat messaging app. The surge in fighting has displaced more than 2 million people in Myanmar, the United Nations says. Reporting by Casey Hall; Editing by Clarence FernandezOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Casey Hall, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Southern Theatre Command, Liberation Army, Nations, Thomson Locations: Myanmar, China, Muse

[1/6] A man sings for customers touring the Erhai lake on a sightseeing bus, in Dali, Yunnan province, China November 10, 2023. Many are former city-dwellers in search of an elusive prize in authoritarian China: Space for open discussion and exchange of ideas. POLICE OVERSIGHTThe local government has sought to attract young tech talent and in September asked digital nomads for input on policies, two community organisers told Reuters. Many digital nomads who use co-working spaces are involved with technologies like blockchain, according to organisers, which they say has drawn scrutiny from local authorities. Since digital nomads, unlike university students, "are not subject to structured discipline, they are harder to manage", she said.

Persons: Florence Lo, DALI, Trump, Xi Jinping, Minhua Ling, Dali, Xi's, Bai Yunxi, Xi, Bai, Chen Zhengyun, Chen, Ling, Laurie Chen, Katerina Ang Organizations: REUTERS, Geneva Graduate Institute, Reuters, Communist Party, Thomson Locations: Dali, Yunnan province, China, China's, Israel, Gaza, Yunnan, Beijing

☆ So many kids are falling sick in China that a children's hospital said it saw 13,000 cases in a single day
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Matthew Loh | Kim Schewitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Northern China is struggling with a wave of respiratory illnesses among its children. Cities like Beijing and Tianjin have been hit hard by cases of flu and pneumonia, hospitals said. Children wait on the stairs at a children hospital in Beijing on November 23, 2023, with some administered with drips. "All the children have respiratory illnesses." Children receive a drip at a children hospital in Beijing on November 23, 2023.

Persons: —, Liu Wei, Liu, imploring, JADE GAO, Mi Feng, they're, It's, JADE GAOJADE, Hu Xijin, Hu, David Heymann, Francois Balloux Organizations: Service, Beijing Aviation General, Management, drips, Getty, Changjiang, Health, Business, Global Times, Health Organization, London School of Hygiene, Tropical Medicine, UCL Genetics Institute Locations: Northern China, Cities, Beijing, Tianjin, China, Tianjian, Wuhan, Hubei, Chongqing, Weibo

☆ Chasing a Different China Dream, Young Digital Nomads Head for the Hills
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-23 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +6 min

Many are former city-dwellers in search of an elusive prize in authoritarian China: Space for open discussion and exchange of ideas. POLICE OVERSIGHTThe local government has sought to attract young tech talent and in September asked digital nomads for input on policies, two community organisers told Reuters. Many digital nomads who use co-working spaces are involved with technologies like blockchain, according to organisers, which they say has drawn scrutiny from local authorities. "We are more low-key and don't emphasise digital nomads in our marketing anymore," one co-working space staffer told Reuters, adding that conservative local governments in rural towns like Dali are "cautious of emerging technologies". Since digital nomads, unlike university students, "are not subject to structured discipline, they are harder to manage", she said.

Persons: Laurie Chen DALI, Trump, Xi Jinping, Minhua Ling, Dali, Xi's, Bai Yunxi, Xi, Bai, Chen Zhengyun, Chen, Ling, Laurie Chen, Katerina Ang Organizations: Geneva Graduate Institute, Reuters, Communist Party Locations: China, China's, Israel, Gaza, Dali, Yunnan, Beijing

☆ Mastercard will soon be widely accepted in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The US credit card giant announced Monday that it had received clearance from China’s central bank and the financial regulator to launch a bank card business in China through its joint venture with partner NetsUnion Clearing Corporation (NUCC). Mastercard (MA) will be able to start issuing Chinese yuan-denominated bank cards under its own brand, according to a Sunday statement from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach took part in a CEO summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum that Xi and other leaders from across the Pacific were in town to attend. Like other foreign payments providers, Mastercard has campaigned for years to expand its business in China. Previously, it was only authorized to issue co-branded cards, such as those with China UnionPay, the state-owned bank card network.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Xi, Michael Miebach, Elon Musk, Tim Cook, Miebach, China UnionPay, Amex Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Mastercard, NetsUnion Clearing, People’s Bank of China, New, San Francisco Bay Area, Economic Cooperation, Apple, American Express, Visa Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, Washington, New York, San Francisco Bay, United States, Asia

☆ China welcomes Arab, Muslim majority nations in Beijing for Israel-Hamas conflict talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —China welcomed officials from Arab and Muslim majority countries on Monday for talks on “de-escalating” the Israel-Hamas conflict as Beijing steps-up its efforts to play a role in establishing a ceasefire. Zhai’s itinerary thus far has not included stops in Israel, Palestinian-controlled territories, or Iran, per information released by China’s Foreign Ministry. It’s not clear if China has been in contact with Hamas officials during the latest conflict. Visiting officials in Beijing this week include Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki of the West Bank-based Palestinian National Authority. In the talks, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said they’d already held discussions with the Iranians on the topic, the senior official said.

Persons: “, Wang Yi, Washington –, Zhang Jun, Zhai Jun, Zhai, Wang, Eli Cohen, Riyad al, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Biden, Xi, they’d Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Palestinian National Authority, of Islamic Cooperation, CNN, Israel Defense Forces, United Nations, Security Council, UN, Hamas, Foreign Ministry, China’s Foreign Ministry, Israeli, Palestinian, West Bank, Palestinian National Authority ., Ministry’s Locations: Hong Kong, China, Israel, Beijing, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Indonesia, United States, Gulf, Qatar, Washington, Gaza, United, Palestine, UAE, Turkey, Bahrain, Singapore, Europe, Palestinian, Iran, Palestinian National Authority . China, Lebanon, California

☆ Tencent logs robust revenue growth as games, advertising sales shine
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Josh Ye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A Tencent sign is seen at the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, October 20, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsHONG KONG, Nov 15 (Reuters) - China's Tencent Holdings (0700.HK) said third-quarter revenue climbed 10%, as its games business staged a robust recovery from a regulatory crackdown on the country's tech sector and online advertising sales surged. In August, the video games sector raked in combined revenue of 29.2 billion yuan, the highest level in at least 20 months, according to CNG, a government-backed industry data firm. Tencent's online advertising business reported a 20% jump in revenue thanks to strong demand for advertising in its video content. Net profit declined 9% to 36.1 billion yuan from a year ago when the company had a strong quarter after divesting stakes in portfolio companies such as Sea.

Persons: Aly, Tencent, Josh Ye, Miyoung Kim, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: World Internet Conference, REUTERS, Tencent Holdings, HK, Riot Games, Thomson Locations: Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, HONG KONG

☆ Long before rescue talks, Country Garden struggled to build homes, pay bills
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] The company logo of Chinese developer Country Garden is pictured at the Shanghai Country Garden Center in Shanghai, China August 9, 2023. "Nobody believed that Country Garden would fail. Country Garden declined to comment. In July, only weeks before it skipped debt payments, Country Garden launched a campaign on its WeChat channel titled “Beautiful Delivery”, showcasing newly built apartments and happy homeowners. Country Garden did not respond to questions about the payment or delivery disputes.

Persons: Aly, Ping, COVID, Economist Intelligence Unit's Xu Tianchen, EIU’s Xu, it’s, ”, Qiao Jingjing, Qiao, Clare Jim, Liangping Gao, Amy Lv, Laurie Chen, Antoni Slodkowski Organizations: Shanghai Country Garden, REUTERS, Rights, China's, Garden, Ping An, Economist Intelligence, Reuters, Observers, Jujiang, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BEIJING, HONG KONG, Beijing, Chongqing, Xinzheng, Henan Province, Lincoln

☆ WeWork China will not participate in WeWork's strategic reorganisation
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

People are seen outside the building of Wework's co-working space during the National Day Golden Week holiday, in central Beijing, China October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBEIJING, Nov 7 (Reuters) - WeWork China will not participate in the strategic reorganisation of WeWork (WE.N) in the United States and Canada, it said on Tuesday. WeWork China is not a branch or unit of WeWork (WE.N), it said in a statement on WeChat, adding the company has independent operations and management capabilities. "Any operating conditions of WeWork in other regions around the world will not have any impact on WeWork China," it added. Reporting by Ella Cao, Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Stringer, Ella Cao, Albee Zhang, Ryan Woo, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, SoftBank, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, Rights BEIJING, United States, Canada, WeWork China

BEIJING, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Unseasonably cold weather and blizzards hit northeast China on Monday, forcing hundreds of flights to be rescheduled and closing schools as several cities issued heightened weather alerts and warned people to stay indoors. China's weather authority warned of a drastic drop in temperature in coming days, along with blizzards, anticipated to substantially affect several cities, state media reported. Provinces and cities upgraded weather response protocols as heavy snowfall is expected in parts of Inner Mongolia, and Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, China Daily reported. Chinese weather forecasters kept orange alerts for blizzards in several areas, while China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert for blizzards and a blue alert for cold waves and strong wind, Global Times reported. China has a four-tier colour-coded weather alert system, with red the highest, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Persons: Bernard Orr, Ella Cao, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Harbin Taiping International Airport, China Daily, Central Meteorological Observatory, Meteorological Center, Global Times, Central Meteorological Administration, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Heilongjiang, Harbin, Jilin, Liaoning, Mongolia, Weibo, Provinces, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai

A woman dressed up as a starving medical student. One woman dressed up as a medical student, holding a begging bowl in her hands. A woman dressed up as a liberal arts student hungry for egg fried rice. Greg Baker/Pool/ReutersTo address these challenges, President Xi Jinping hosted a key financial policy meeting this week to reiterate the need to resolve financial risks in the economy. “Hidden economic and financial risks are still widespread,” the readout said.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, ”, Zhou, Xiao Pan, Yan Ziqi, “, Xi Jinping, Greg Baker, Xi Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, Global, Stock, Huaan Securities, Service, National People's, of, People, Reuters, Communist Party, Ministry of State Security Locations: China, Hong Kong, China’s, Shanghai, Weibo, Douyin, “, Beijing

☆ China is cracking down on weather stations it says are spying for foreign countries
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —China is cracking down on weather stations it says are spying for foreign countries, the latest measure in a broad counter-espionage campaign under leader Xi Jinping amid intensifying geopolitical tensions. Some stations were set up around sensitive sites such as military bases and defense companies to locate altitude and GPS data, the spy agency said. The authorities made the discovery after investigating more than 10 overseas meteorological equipment agents and inspecting more than 3,000 foreign-linked meteorological stations nationwide. “Meteorological data… is an integral part of data security and resource security. It’s closely linked to military, food, and ecological security, climate change, and public interests,” the Ministry of State Security said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, William Burns, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Ministry of State Security, Embassy, Twitter, United, China’s Ministry of State Security, CIA Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, United States, Washington

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