China’s national GeneBank officially opened in Shenzhen, with the aim of promoting human health research and conserving global bio-diversity. It was established by Shenzhen-based BGI, one of the world’s leading genomics organizations. The bank has saved more than 10 million bio-samples and established cooperation and research relations with over 100 organizations. Wang Jian, BGi’s President, said the bank’s mission is to “preserve the essence of a billion years of evolutionary history and deposit the life foundations of billions of people.” Mei Yonghong, the bank’s Director, said it was not only a database, but combined a bio-information bank, a bio-samples and genetic resources bank, and a living resources bank of plant, animal and microbe species. “Generally speaking, we collect biological resources in the world, read the genetic data of living things with sequencers, use supercomputers to obtain the results, and write the gene code on the synthesis and editing platform,” Mei said. The national gene bank is the fourth of its kind to open around the world following similar centers in the United States, Britain and Japan.

The Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC), which operates more than 40,000 bank branches in China, will offer its shares at HKD4.76 each in what could be Asia’s largest initial public offering (IPO) this year. The IPO is fully subscribed for retail investors. The PSBC raised about HKD58 billion in its initial public offering (IPO) and is set to go public in Hong Kong on September 28 – making it the world’s biggest IPO since Alibaba Group went public raising USD25 billion in September 2014. Clarence Kwok, Chief Investment Consultant at Bluestone Securities, said that PSBC had priced itself near the bottom of analyst expectations, reflecting the market’s low response to the H shares, and said the bank’s oversubscription rate might be less than 1.6 times. According to the PSBC prospectus, the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of the bank reached 0.78% as of June 30 this year. Kwok said the NPL ratio was lower than the average 1.73% of the big commercial banks and the allowance coverage ratio was higher than the other large commercial banks’ average of 154.73%, which was an advantage. The state-owned retail bank has over 40,000 outlets and over 500 million retail customers.

Dalian Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin has opened a CNY24 billion theme park in Anhui province. The Wanda Cultural Tourism City includes a theme park with hotels, a water park, movie theatre, and residential flats across a 1.6 sq km area just a short drive from downtown Hefei. The company is betting that charging less for admission than Shanghai Disney will make up for a lack of globally recognizable characters, like Mickey Mouse. It is Wang’s second theme park, following the opening of Wanda City in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, in late May. The company eventually hopes to have 15 such parks across China by 2020, pushing Disney to the sidelines in the race to capture the growing domestic tourist market. “A tiger has no chance of beating a pack of wolves,” Wang famously said before opening the first park. He also bluntly vowed to make the Disney Resort in Shanghai “unprofitable for 20 years”, citing its high operating cost, slow ability to adapt and pricey admission. Wanda is charging CNY218 for a single admission to the Hefei theme park and CNY308 for a family, while a multiple-entry ticket is priced at CNY788. By comparison, Shanghai Disney charges CNY370 per person on regular days and CNY499 during peak days, the South China Morning Post reports.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attended the 71st session of the UN General Assembly and delivered a speech. U.S. President Barack Obama met with Premier Li Keqiang at the United Nations General Assembly in New York and urged China to continue addressing industrial overcapacity. In his address to the UN General Assembly, Premier Li Keqiang warned against the rise of protectionism and assured that China will press ahead with its opening-up policy. “In the course of economic globalization, there may be certain groups and sectors that have been hit and affected,” he said. “But we cannot give up eating for fear of choking,” he added. “Economic globalization is in the long term interest of all countries,” he said, “All parties must resolutely oppose all kinds of protectionism, and to uphold the free trade system of the World Trade Organization.” After finishing his speech, Li had a brief exchange with Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Premier Li also reiterated assurances that China will remain open to overseas investment and global trade. In a show of support to the United Nations, Li said China will provide an additional USD300 million in aid to the UN along with providing support to developing countries, including African nations.

China and the United States will keep developing positive relations no matter who wins November’s U.S. presidential election, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told an economic forum in New York, but he declined to comment on which candidate he favored. Li also responded to complaints from foreign business leaders about restricted access to the Chinese market by saying China was open to foreign investment, although some economic sectors were not yet mature. “The areas of the Chinese economy open to foreign investment will only increase and China will only open its door even wider. The door will not close,” Li said. Frictions are not the dominating element in China-U.S. economic relations, Li added, but they should not be ignored and both sides should work to resolve differences before they spread to other areas of the relationship. Referring to negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty between the two nations, Li said they would eventually reach an agreement if they took a pragmatic approach.

China’s national plan for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was released at the United Nations headquarters in New York when Premier Li Keqiang chaired a roundtable on sustainable development goals (SDGs). The 2030 agenda, endorsed and launched at the UN Summit for Sustainable Development last year, is a blueprint for eradicating poverty across the world in the years leading up to 2030. China is pledging an additional USD100 million in annual aid to UN development agencies by 2020 on top of the amount in 2015, Li said. In New York, Li also met representatives of the media, think tanks and leaders from economic and financial circles, and attended a reception hosted by the Economic Club of New York, a non-profit membership organization.

Following his visit to New York, Premier Li visited Canada and Cuba. A new annual dialogue between the heads of government of Canada and China was inaugurated, and a feasibility study on a China-Canada free trade area is to be launched. China is now Canada’s second-largest trading partner, with a bilateral trade volume of USD67.2 billion in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%. A China-Canada free trade deal would generate USD7.8 billion in additional economic activity within 15 years, supporting 25,000 new Canadian jobs, according to the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Canada-China Business Council. Both countries also set the ambitious new goal to double bilateral trade between Canada and China by 2025, and concluded a tourism agreement that seeks to double two-way visits by 2025. China has also sealed a landmark deal on the return of stolen assets with Canada, one of the main destinations for fugitive corruption suspects. Under the agreement, the two countries will share the assets if their origin cannot be confirmed. It is the first international deal Beijing has signed on recovering stolen assets since it embarked on its high-profile global hunt for graft fugitives two years ago. Twenty-five of China’s most wanted are believed to be living in Canada, but the two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty. In the last two years, 1,915 suspects in more than 70 countries had been repatriated, along with CNY7.47 billion.

Following talks with Cuban President Raul Castro, Li Keqiang said China would help Cuba industrialize. More than 20 agreements were signed in Havana, including on finance and infrastructure. The Premier also met former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.