Nearly 70 percent of Chinese primary and secondary school students own smartphones

(Photo/Chinanews.com)

A report on parent-child relationships in China, the United States (US), Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) showed that 68.1 percent of Chinese primary and secondary school students own smartphones, the second largest ratio among the four countries, with ROK taking the lead, China Youth Daily reported on Oct. 30.

The report, released on Oct. 27 upon the results of a survey carried out by China Youth & Children Research Center and research institutions of the US, Japan, and South Korea, also indicated that 86.5 percent of Chinese primary and secondary school students have multiple electronic products, ranking third overall.

The percentage of primary and secondary school students in the three other countries who own multiple electronic products are 100 percent (ROK), 95 percent (US), and 75.7 percent (Japan).

Among all electronic products, smartphones are the most popular among Chinese students, with 68.1 percent of those surveyed owning one, followed by the PC (41.2 percent), tablet computer (36.7 percent), and phone without internet access (18.4 percent).

Most Chinese students (45.2 percent) started using the internet between the ages of 7 and 9, while between the ages of 4 and 9, 59 percent of Chinese students had already used the internet.

Statistics on time spent by primary and secondary school students online from the four countries indicate that 48.7 percent of Chinese students seldom surf the internet during school days, ranking the highest among the four countries, as does the proportion of Chinese students spending less than 1 hour online during school days.

Chinese students also spend the least amount of time online during weekends compared with the other countries.

First Chinese Vice Chancellor of UK university benefits from reform and opening up

Max Lu (Photo provided by Max Lu)

Professor Max Lu joined the University of Surrey as President and Vice-Chancellor in 2016. As the first Chinese Vice-Chancellor in the UK, he told Xinhua that he is the beneficiary of China’s reform and opening up and is willing to continue serving as the bridge and ambassador between the east and west for future exchanges.

The Vice-Chancellor was born into a rural family in east China’s Shandong province. He started helping the family with housework at a very early age. Recalling these early days, Lu said the hardship was an asset to him.

In 1979, Lu attended the national college entrance examination and was accepted by an engineering college in northeast China (now the Northeastern University). He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees there and worked in the university after graduation.

In the early 1980s, an increasing number of college students chose to study abroad as China gradually opened its door to the world. Lu was among the first batch of overseas Chinese students after the reform and opening up.

He came to study nanotechnology in Australia with a scholarship from the University of Queensland, graduating with a Ph.D. Most of Lu’s fellows chose to work and live in Australia after graduation, but he had the opportunity to lecture in Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.

Lu said that the job in Singapore was challenging as it required teaching as well management practices.

In 2015, the academic stood out from over 100 candidates for the Vice-Chancellor position at the University of Surrey, a leading university that excels at microsatellite technology, industrial cooperation, and knowledge innovation and application, said Lu.

It’s not the title that attracted him, Lu explained. He hoped to seize the chance to practice his ideas to help universities better serve society.

For many years, Professor Lu has been forging cooperation between Surrey and Chinese universities and enterprises. He also encouraged overseas Chinese in the UK to contribute to the win-win cooperation between China and the UK with their experience, wisdom and academic knowledge.

Western society was biased towards Chinese people three decades ago. With reform and opening up, China and other countries have indeed benefited from increased exchanges.

It’s all thanks to the reform and opening up, said Lu. Without the policy, it’s hard to imagine that there would be such opportunities for this generation to study abroad. The country’s economic and social development has reached a higher level, and overseas Chinese people enjoy greater respect than before. These facts cannot be separated from the reform and opening up.

Chinese ready to shop the world at CIIE

Signages for the CIIE in Pudong, Shanghai (Zhou Dongchao/People’s Daily Online)

More than 2,800 enterprises from 130 countries and regions will participate in the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) scheduled for early November, providing a convenient way for Chinese customers to shop the world without going abroad.

The five-day-long CIIE, which kicks off on Nov. 5, will hold eight feature sections including national and industry exhibitions including automobiles, costumes, high-end equipment, home appliances, food and agricultural products, medicine, services and trade. All participating countries and companies will bring their feature products to China.

Taking Bulgaria as an example, small and medium enterprises from Bulgaria will bring traditional specialties including wine, dairy products, honey, coffee, rosewater and essential oils to the exhibition area.

A man tries a new keyboard instrument. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Senegal treats the CIIE as an excellent opportunity to expand exports to China and boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Exhibitors from Senegal will present their agricultural, textile, handicraft and fishing products during the Expo.

American brands such as Whirlpool, Qualcomm and General Electric are also coming to Shanghai with high-end kitchen and sanitary products, advanced 5G products and AI (artificial intelligence) products, to seek cooperation with Chinese enterprises in upgrading.

Chinese people have high expectations for the upcoming Expo. For example, Chen, a medical equipment salesperson of 20 years, is looking forward to seeing the world’s smallest pacemaker made by Medtronic, a US medical service company with world-leading medical technology.

He said that the new coin-size pacemaker eliminates the wire which was necessary in the traditional model, thus providing significant benefits for patients. He also believes that the first CIIE is a chance to introduce world-class medical technology to Chinese patients.

Lu Shanshan, a 26-year-old from Beijing, told People’s Daily Overseas Edition that her focus is on imported cosmetics and skincare products. During the CIIE, leading Japanese cosmetics brand Kao will launch its skin care brand SOFINA in China.

The much-anticipated Expo will not only embrace a large number of international brands and cutting-edge commodities and services, but also stimulate China’s import and export market and healthy competition on a global scale.

A customer talks with an exhibitor of the first CIIE. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Japanese media outlet The Diplomat said on its website that the CIIE affirms China’s determination and the promise of inclusive globalization in the context of the US’s move towards unilateralism.

Against rising trade protectionism and increasing uncertainties, the CIIE is of unique significance, said Li Hao, researcher at the China-ASEAN Collaborative Innovation Center for Regional Development at southwest China’s Guangxi University.

It will echo China’s attitude toward opening wide to the world, and inject dynamism to the world economy, said Li.

American ginseng company looks forward to China International Import Expo

Jiang Mingtao (right) digs Ginsengs in a farm in Marathon County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin on Oct. 22, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Ping)

An American company will attend the first China International Import Expo (CIIE), to be held in Shanghai in early November.

“It is a big event in China. We will have a stand there,” said Jiang Mingtao, founder of Marathon Ginseng International Inc. in the US state of Wisconsin. The company registered to attend the expo as soon as the event was publicized.

The company will display its ginseng gift boxes, ginseng cosmetics, ginseng liquor, and ginseng extract tonics at the expo. “I believe this expo will boost our future exports to China,” said Jiang.

Founded in 2010, Marathon Ginseng began to export ginseng to China in 2012. At its peak, half of the company’s exports were sold to China.

Wisconsin has about 180 ginseng farms which produce around one million pounds of ginseng each year, and statistics show that about 70 percent of that output has been exported to China.

State officials said that Wisconsin is targeting China as its major export market of cheese and cranberries.

Officials from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture will attend the upcoming import expo, said the state’s international trade representative.

“It’s important for China and the US to learn from each other,” said Wisconsin Cheese Association President John Umhoefer, adding that American companies are learning what the Chinese people want, and China has to learn what the US can offer.

People’s Daily Online University Presidents Forum kicks off in Taiyuan

The Party secretaries and principals of more than 60 universities attended the 4th People’s Daily Online University Presidents Forum, held in Taiyuan in North China on Oct. 25, 2018.

They exchanged their opinions on building first-class universities, cultivating excellent graduates as well as other topics related to university education.

Luo Qingyu, a member of the Communist Party of China Shanxi Provincial Committee and secretary of Taiyuan Municipal Party Committee gives a speech.

Luo Qingyu, a member of the Communist Party of China Shanxi Provincial Committee and secretary of Taiyuan Municipal Party Committee, and Zhang Shouying, deputy editor-in-chief of People’s Daily, attended the forum.

Zhang Shouying, deputy editor-in-chief of People’s Daily, gives a speech.

The forum is a high-level dialogue on university spirit and innovative concepts, as well as a platform to share wisdom and pool consensus, Luo said in a speech delivered to the forum.

It provides advanced experiences for mutual learning between universities, and serves as a valuable opportunity to improve university education, he added.

The forum also saw the launch of a speech contest themed “new talents of the new time.” The contest will last a year, to pay tribute to China’s 40th anniversary of reform and opening up this year, as well as the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China next year.

Ye Zhenzhen, president of People’s Daily Online, addresses the forum.

A list of the top 165 influential Chinese universities was unveiled during the forum by Vice President of People’s Daily Online Tang Weihong, to praise their far-reaching influence in news publicity and public image.

Russian Home-Grown Computer Poised to Ease Dependence on Industry Heavyweights

Elbrus 801-PC

Sputnik got a chance to check out some of the hottest innovations in the Russian high tech industry at the ChipEXPO-2018 exhibition in Moscow this week.

Russia’s drive toward technology-related import substitution is gaining steam, with dozens of companies from Zelenograd to Novosibirsk represented at this year’s ChipEXPO, offering innovations in areas from smart self-driving vehicle technology to dual-use circuit boards and processors to smartcard microcontrollers.

Two standouts at this year’s fair were MCST, a Moscow-based microprocessor company which also builds ready-made personal computers and servers, and Symway, a unique office telephonic system based on a unique peer-to-peer architecture which has which presently has no analogue in the world.

Coming Soon: Russian-made Home Computers?

When MCST first rolled out its Elbrus processor-powered computers a few years ago, they were laughed at by PC World magazine as a product which “would be fantastic in 1999.” Citing low processor speed and an “ancient 65nm technology” for CPU manufacturing, PC World balked at the computer’s poor emulation of graphics-intensive games such as Doom 3.

Fast-forward to 2018, and the situation has changed dramatically, with the company improving its manufacturing process to 28nm, creating an improved custom Linux-based operating system for smooth multi-user, multi-tasking performance, and perhaps most importantly, developing the Elbrus-8SV, a 8-core 1,500 MHz server-class 64-bit processor with a 4 channel DDR4-2400 memory controller, 16 MB L3 cache, 64 GB of RAM per processor, and performance of up to 500 Gflops.

Elbrus PC workstation and server.

Developed for use aboard MCST’s server and computer workstation offerings, scalable high-performance systems, onboard computers and other systems, the Elbrus-8SV and its sister Elbrus-8S processor are aimed at providing Russia’s fledgling computer hardware sector the ability to compete with long-established processor heavyweights like Intel.

The company ships its Elbrus-8S-equipped Elbrus-801PC workstation with 32 GB of RAM, expandable to 64 GB, a 120 GB SSD, a 1 terabyte hard drive, and an AMD Radeon R5 230 video card. In addition to programs for its native Linux-based Elbrus OS, the system is also capable of running Intel x86-32 and Intel x86-64 applications in emulation.

The Elbrus-8 series is one of several processor offerings in the company’s lineup. The processors’ most marketable feature seems to be security, which includes both software and hardware support for secure computing. In fact, speaking to Sputnik, Maksim Gorshenin, head of business development at MCST Elbrus, stressed that information security is one of the standout features of Elbrus’s processor, workstation and server offerings.

Pointing out that there are only a handful of companies in the world with the capability to produce advanced microprocessors, Gorshenin said that MCST is looking to provide consumers, first in Russia and then around the world, with an alternative to both US and Chinese manufacturers, given security concerns associated with each of those in recent years.

Elbrus processors.

Elbrus computers are already enjoying limited trial-based patronage from Russian government agencies, with the ministry of communications and ministry of internal affairs ordering several hundred machines in the past couple of years, and MCST receiving an order for 1,000 Elbrus-801PCs from the defense ministry last month.

However, one of the company’s biggest hurdles remains total sales volume, with a total systems order of 10,000 or more necessary to allow it to reach economies of scale sufficient to compete on price with the big boys. At present, Gorshenin noted, the company is focused on winning over a chunk of the Russian market. However, one to two years from now, it plans to begin expansion abroad, particularly in emerging markets.

Telephone System Heralding a Business Communications Revolution

Another product which made a major splash at this year’s ChipEXPO was the Symway P2P Phone and Peer-to-Peer Unified Communications System, a unique business/government telephony package which doesn’t require a server, cloud, or PBX to function.

The unified but decentralized telephony system, where each node is independent, interconnected and allows its resources to be used by other nodes, is designed to allow businesses of any size, whether in one office or geographically distributed around the world, to maintain a unified, secure communications system without purchasing and maintaining server hardware, telephone stations, subscriptions for cloud services or virtual exchanges, while maintaining IVR, flexible call routing, call recording, statistics, CRM integration, etc.

Symway telephony system.

Each phone effectively serves as its own mini-ATS/cloud, while being priced in the same bracket as a traditional VoIP phone.

Already in use by several Russian companies, including the Russian Presidential Affairs Administration’s official transportation service, Symway is looking to expand.

Speaking to Sputnik, Vitaly Korneev, director of business development at LinTech, Symway’s parent company, said that Siemens AG has already shown interest toward the technology at a recent expo in Germany. Touting the system’s easy scalability, resilience, mobility and efficiency, Korneev expressed confidence in the system’s prospects.

In the future, the company hopes, the approach to telephony developed by Symway can even become a foundation for major telecomm operators.

Source: Sputniknews

Master of Disguise: Former CIA Chief Reveals Secrets of Spy Transformation

Spying

As with everything involving spies, the methods are both surprisingly simple and incredibly sophisticated.

Jonna Mendez, a former CIA employee who once held the job title of “chief of disguise,” has shared some secrets about how a real spy would change their appearance.

If you started thinking about “Mission Impossible” and its crazy masks, you would be surprised to hear that those are not really far from truth. However, in many cases, a much simpler approach is enough, Mendez says.

For a brief encounter, something as simple as a wig or facial hair would do. The worst nightmare for a spy meeting an informant in a restaurant would be for some stranger to come in and immediately recognize them.

“If you were working in Europe, and you are meeting with a clandestine source at a cafe, your biggest concern might be that your next door neighbor is just gonna wander in that café and say ‘Hi Bill’ — when you’re not ‘Bill,'” Mendez says in a video published by Wired’s YouTube channel.

Where disguise techniques are effective are those situations in which up-close contact is needed for an extended period of time, so that the person the spy is talking to has no idea that something is amiss. That’s where the cool masks come in.

In the video, Mendez recalls the presidency of George H.W. Bush, during which the CIA started researching sophisticated masks as a part of a larger disguise development program. Mendez personally briefed the president on the program while wearing one of those masks. According to Mendez, the president had no idea that the person in front of him was wearing a disguise.

However, a disguise is more than simply donning a wig or a mask; it’s actually a thoughtful algorithm, Mendez explains. The disguise is developed specifically to subvert the word portrait a person meeting the spy might develop. The goal of CIA agents is to make it so that every sentence that portrait contains is wrong.

“If [a man] has curly hair, you wanna go straight. If he has dark hair, you might wanna go light. If he’s young, you might want to throw in some gray,” Mendez says.

However, a good disguise goes beyond simple facial changes.

“With women, you have a broader range of what you can do. Also, with women you have one extra step: you can turn a woman into a man,” Mendez discloses. “It is almost impossible to turn a man into a woman.”

“What we do is always additive,” she says. “We can make you taller; we can make you heavier; we can make you older.”

“We can’t go the other direction,” Mendez confesses.

Apart from appearance, self-presentation and behavior can also be a dead giveaway.

“Americans are oblivious to what reveals them,” Mendez says.

According to Mendez, not only do US people tend to wear specific clothes and shoes, like baseball caps and sneakers, they also stand in a specific pose not commonly found among Europeans. When eating, Europeans tend to use their forks in their left hands, while Americans tend to flip their forks back and forth between hands.

Interestingly, Mendez points out that a human can not reliably change their gait without some external device. For example, a convincing limp cannot be achieved without something like a stone in a shoe.

However, Mendez says, utilizing disguise techniques is not only useful for spies. Common people can benefit from them too. She provides Paris as an example, which, being a major tourist attraction, is full of pickpockets looking for victims. If you’re visiting, giving yourself away as an American “makes you a target,” Mendez says, and she recommends spending some time browsing local clothing stores, at least, “if you want to play it safe.”

Source: Sputniknews

Shanghai is a firm favorite among foreigners in terms of lifestyle and business opportunities

Night view of Shanghai (Chinanews.com)

Shanghai was recently chosen as the most attractive Chinese city for foreign talents for the sixth consecutive year. Foreigners love Shanghai because of its open and inclusive culture.

Bolla Szilard, consul general of Hungary in Shanghai, explained that Shanghai is a great place to live and work, suggesting foreign guests visit the Free Trade Zone, where one of the world’s busiest airports is located. The consul general also recommended Shanghai Disneyland and the beautiful bund area as favored tourist hotspots.

According to data released by the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, more than 150,000 overseas students have returned to work and start their own businesses in Shanghai, among the highest number in China.

Shanghai also has the most significant number of foreign employees in China. Currently, 215,000 foreigners work in the city, accounting for 23.7 percent of the total number of foreigners in the country.

Trade facilitation and more comfortable customs procedures make Shanghai a globally renowned city for both business and home comforts. Foreigners don’t need to miss specialty hometown food items, as online ordering services alongside quick delivery times means they can get foreign foods delivered directly to their door.

For instance, milk from New Zealand only takes about three days to arrive in Shanghai, and seafood from Canada arrives in the city within 36 hours.

Greek architect Kostas Chatzigiannis, who has lived in Shanghai for 11 years, explained that 10 years ago he had to drive to a remote supermarket for yogurt and olive oil, but now imported Greek yogurt and honey are available in various stores throughout Shanghai.

With the continuous opening, rapid development, broad market, and growing opportunities, Shanghai has become a second home for overseas entrepreneurs.

China welcomes people from all over the world to start or develop their business, especially Shanghai, where you will be met with unlimited possibilities, said Chinese American entrepreneur Yang Anbang. The managers of Yang’s start-up “Seedlink” come from the UK, the Netherlands, and the US, and his employees are from a variety of countries such as Belgium and Singapore.

To date, Shanghai has introduced a total of 634 regional headquarters of multinational companies, including 72 headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region, 350 investment companies, and 430 research and development centers.

“The amazing thing about Shanghai is that you can find global trade opportunities anytime and anywhere here,” said Eyup Erdogan, who graduated from New York University Shanghai, and is the co-founder of a trading company in the city.

As the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) will be held in Shanghai this November, the city has improved English signs to offer more precise guidance for foreign guests.

Even small restaurants in Shanghai have English menus, and the names of the dishes have been translated accurately, said Taylor Lorek, a graduate of New York University in Shanghai.

Chinese Frost’s Descent: last solar term in autumn

Oct. 23 marks the beginning of the Frost’s Descent, also known as “Shuangjiang” in China.

The Frost’s Descent is the 18th of 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunar calendar. It refers to the time of year when frost starts to creep across China, dew becoming icy thanks to plummeting temperatures, as recorded in ancient Chinese books.

As the last solar term in autumn, the Frost’s Descent, bringing frost and freezing winds, is considered autumn’s last chapter and the prelude to the coming winter.

Traditional customs:

The Frost’s Descent, with clear autumn skies and refreshing air, is an excellent time go hiking and catch the sights from high up in the mountains. Many Chinese believe that Shuangjiang is a good time to go walking in the highlands and enjoy the beauty of nature.

During this bright autumnal time, Chinese folks also enjoy chrysanthemum flowers, which blossom in late autumn and are known as the “flower of longevity.”

Eating persimmons during this period is also a traditional Chinese custom. An old Chinese saying goes that eating persimmons can prevent a runny nose. The Chinese think that these fruits not only keep out the cold, but also supplement the human body with necessary vitamins to fight off winter illnesses.

Healthy living tips:

Shuangjiang is the best time to adjust to a healthy lifestyle, which reflects the belief that this is a critical time to focus on health. “Keeping warm” becomes a top priority.

As the climate is arid after the Frost’s Descent, seasonal fruit and vegetables such as cabbage, green radishes, persimmons, and pears are good choices to keep healthy and hydrated.

Vocational school in Xinjiang creates employment, promotes stability

A trainee packs tea leaves at the vocational training center. (Photo/Huanqiu.com)

Like many other cities in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Hotan offers vocational training to residents. Western media has previously described these schools as places of horror, where locals are “imprisoned.” However, these labels are false.

At a training center in Yutian County, Hotan City, a sign outside the center reads, “Turn people who need work into people who have the necessary skills for work.”

Extremist ideas previously poisoned the minds of many trainees here, and some were even coerced or lured into terrorism. This behavior breaks Criminal Law, Anti-Terrorism Law, and other relevant laws and regulations.

To better adapt those affected, the local government provides free, education-oriented training sessions for people to improve their skills, as well as learn laws and Mandarin Chinese.

Workers pack local specialties at the center’s food factory. (Photo/Huanqiu.com)

After acquiring the necessary skills and eliminating radical ideas, trainees can work in the training center’s industrial park.

Everyone wants to have a job, to be capable in a specific area and have a steady source of income, said a group leader of the training center’s printing house.

The training center has introduced a printing factory, tea factory, and shoe factory to provide jobs for the trainees. The basic monthly salary is around 1,500 yuan ($216) plus bonuses.

The printing house recently completed a project that had been running since July, printing elementary school exercise books worth 3.7 million yuan, according to the group leader.

Students greet their teacher at a school in Yutian County, Hotan, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Huanqiu.com)

Additionally, the training center has a daycare service and school for children whose parents work in the center. The school is only a few minutes away from the factory.

Previously, many of the children didn’t have a chance to go to school, because their parents had been influenced by religious extremism, said Luo Hongmei, chief of the Party committee of the education bureau of Yutian.

Now, they are more open and smile a lot. Moreover, their personal hygiene has improved, and they perform well in their studies, said Luo, adding that these changes lay a solid foundation for their future development.