More than 85% of the key electronic parts in Chinese defense and high-tech equipment are now domestically made, meaning the country has the ability to be self-sufficient in advanced electronic components. Over the past decade, the technological gap between China and traditional electronic producers like the United States has shortened from 15 years to five years, said Diao Shijing, Director of Information Technology at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). At the same time, the ratio of domestically made key electronic parts in defense and high-tech equipment rose from 30% to 85%. “China is now fully capable of producing secure and reliable advanced electronic components, and will rely even less on imports,” Diao said. China’s catching up in key electronic parts, computer chips, and software is “a remarkable achievement considering how fast other countries are also developing”, Diao added.

“Chinese key electronic components and computer chips went from nearly unusable 10 years ago to being key parts of China’s major defense and science projects, from space programs to deep-sea submersibles,” Diao said. In the past, China mostly relied on imports because it lacked the talent and means to produce high-quality electronic products or computer software, he said. “This dependency opened China’s defense and electronic infrastructure to external threats,” the China Daily reports.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China saw their profit growth quicken in the first 10 months of this year amid an improving economy and deepening reform, official data showed. Combined SOE profits rose 24.6% year-on-year to CNY2.39 trillion from January to October, the Ministry of Finance said. SOEs directly under the central government posted a 17.8% increase in profit to CNY1.55 trillion, while local SOEs’ profit rose by 39.4% to CNY837.5 billion during the January-October period.

“The profit growth of SOEs is mainly due to the supply-side structural reforms”, said Ji Xiaonan, former Chairperson of the Board of Supervisors for Key Large-Sized State-Owned Enterprises. “The better performance of SOEs will generate new growth momentum for the real economy this year,” said Ji. A more efficient, flexible and market-oriented management mechanism has laid the groundwork for further SOE ownership reform, Ji said, noting that the country should not relax its efforts to reduce the asset-liability ratio of SOEs. The business revenue of SOEs amounted to CNY42 trillion, up 15.4% year-on-year. Their operating costs increased by 14.6% to CNY40.61 trillion during the same period. By the end of October, the total assets of SOEs stood at CNY150.63 trillion, while their liabilities reached CNY99.21 trillion, both up around 11% compared with the same period last year. SOEs in the steel, non-ferrous metals, coal, and petrochemical industries enjoyed relatively large profit increases, but power generation firms suffered significant declines.

Airline passengers will be able to surf the internet in the air almost as fast as they do on the ground, as China Unicom, China’s second-largest telecom carrier by subscribers, prepares to demonstrate its in-flight Wi-Fi service next month. Recently, local airlines were allowed to decide for themselves whether passengers could use personal electronic devices during flights. China Unicom said more than 80 airplanes from carriers including China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines have been equipped with its internet software and systems.

“Next month, we will demonstrate a stable, high-speed internet surfing experience onboard planes that’s roughly similar to what we have on the ground,” China Unicom said in a statement. Currently, in-flight Wi-Fi is available only in some planes of Chinese airlines. A report by research firm Routehappy shows that 78% of airlines in the United States provide some sort of connectivity. In China, it is 23%, according to a domestic aviation statistics company VariFlight. Xiang Ligang, Chief Executive of industry website Cctime, said that so far, most of the in-flight Wi-Fi service in China is of poor quality. “The effort by China Unicom is likely to change the landscape. Its years of experience in satellite communication and telecom services may help make onboard connectivity more affordable and stable,” he added.

China Unicom said the service would be run by Unicom-AirNet, a joint venture it set up in April with several local partners, the China Daily reports.

The Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) is organizing a meeting and reception with the Ambassador and Consuls General of Belgium in China. This event will take place on Friday 15 December 2017 at 18h00 at Umicore, Broekstraat 31, 1000 Brussels.

This meeting is an excellent opportunity to discuss your companies’ activities in China with the Ambassador and Consuls General of Belgium in China.

The theme of the speeches will be:

Economic Opportunities in the Chinese “New Era”

Programme:

18:00 Registration

18:30 Speeches by:

• Mr Stefaan Vanhooren, Chairman, Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce
• Mr Marc Vinck, Ambassador of Belgium in China
• Mr Paul Lambert, Consul General of Belgium in Shanghai
• Mr Joris Salden, Consul General of Belgium in Guangzhou
• Ms Michèle Deneffe, Consul General of Belgium in Hong Kong and Macao

19:00 Exchange of views and networking with the Ambassador and Consuls General

20:00 End of the meeting

If you are interested in attending this event, please register online before 14 December 2017 via this link.

Participation fee:
Members: 45 € (excl. 21% VAT)
Non-Members: 75 € (excl. 21% VAT)

For any further information, please contact: info@flanders-china.be

When: 29-11-2017 from 18:00 to 21:00
Where: Het Pand, Onderbergen 1, 9000 Ghent, Room: Refter
Language: English
Organizer: Inge Mangelschots
Contact: inge.mangelschots@ugent.be
Website: http://www.ugent.be/chinaplatform

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As the “1-child policy” is no longer being implemented in China, it seems a good idea to provide you with a clear view on the current status of affairs of the issue.

This lecture is being organised parallel to the activities of the International Thematic Network “ANSER” (https://www.ugent.be/anser/en/overview.htm) in the framework of their “ANSER-ULB China Day”

Programme:

• Welcome remark by Prof. Dr. Luc Taerwe, Director China Platform & introduction to the “China Lecture Café Series” that are organized on an annual basis.
• Introduction on the historical background and evolutions by Prof. Dr. Bart Dessein, Department of Eastern Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, Ghent University.
• Presentation “Family planning in China: no longer a 1-child policy” by Mrs Hong Ping, Deputy Secretary General and Director General of the International Cooperation Department in China Family Planning Association (CFPA), PR China
• Q&A
• Reception at 8.00 pm (1 hour)

Participation in this lecture is for free. The deadline for registration is 24 November 2017.
Here you can find the CV of Mrs. Hong Ping, Deputy Secretary General and Director General of the International Cooperation Department in China Family Planning Association (CFPA), PR China.