Homie Weekly | News Update For This Week (Nov 5, 2021)

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COVID-19

01

Shanghai grabs headlines for swift, 

accurate COVID-19 response at Disney 

Resort, sets model for 'China speed'

Shanghai Disney Resort again hit the headlines on Monday morning across China, not for its thrilling Halloween activities or shows and parades, but Shanghai's remarkable emergency epidemic response in the face of a sudden COVID-19 screening request. The city's swift reaction leads the "China speed" in response to COVID-19 risks when many parts of the world are still struggling with epidemic surges.

In a few hours, more than 33,000 people inside the park had completed nucleic acid testing; after merely one night, all the results came out negative. Latest data showed results of nucleic acid tests on more than 66,000 people related to #DisneyResort in #Shanghai came back negative.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1237858.shtml

Climate

02

Cold air to sweep across China

The National Meteorological Center issued a warning for cold air on Thursday. The center said starting from Thursday, temperatures are forecast to plummet, and wind is expected to blow from northwestern to southeastern parts of China.

The temperatures are forecast to drop by between 8 C and 10 C and in some northern areas by 16 C.

"The cold air will bring a plunge in temperature nationwide compared with mid-October. The cold wave came from west Siberia which was then enhanced by cold air from the North Pole."

"Heavy snow or rain will take over the Northeast and North China and the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and farmers there should store corns outdoors ahead of the precipitation."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202111/04/WS61839beba310cdd39bc735cb.html

Business

03

Yahoo is the latest American company to pull 

 the plug on China

Yahoo is the second U.S. tech giant in weeks to pull out of China, symbolically ending its services in the world's second-biggest economy after years of winding down because of an “increasingly challenging business and legal environment.”

Yahoo services are no longer available in mainland China as of November 1, according to a company statement.

The firm's operations were already scaled back in 2015, after it closed down its Beijing office and sacked hundreds of staff members. Before that, Yahoo China's Alibaba-operated Web portal, email and music services were shuttered between 2012 and 2013.

Yahoo's withdrawal follows Microsoft-owned LinkedIn leaving China in October because of a “significantly more challenging operating environment.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2021/11/02/yahoo-exits-china-weeks-after-microsofts-linkedin-and-for-similar-reasons/

04

China opposes U.S. FCC's crackdown on 

China Telecom

The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Wednesday voiced China's strong opposition to a recent U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ban on China Telecom's U.S. subsidiary.

The FCC voted to revoke China Telecom Americas' license providing telecommunication service in the United States, citing national security concerns, a week ago.

China Telecom Americas has been operating in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, abiding by U.S. laws, regulations and regulatory requirements and providing high-quality services to many customers in the U.S. in accordance with commercial principles, the MIIT said.

The MIIT said the move was based on subjective speculation and suspicion without listing the specific facts of violations of the law by the company.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-11-03/China-opposes-U-S-FCC-crackdown-on-China-Telecom-14SQriRlYVq/index.html

Society

05

996 no more: TikTok owner ByteDance 

embraces shorter ‘1075’ work hours

The Chinese tech industry’s infamous 996 work hours – 9am to 9pm, six days a week – are set to disappear at ByteDance, the country’s first major tech company to explicitly discourage employees from working overtime.

On Monday, TikTok owner ByteDance asked its nearly 100,000 employees to start following a “1075” schedule – 10am to 7pm, five days a week – a potentially life-changing move to many who have grown accustomed to toiling into the late night and weekends.

The company’s decision comes at a time when Chinese authorities have openly criticised tech firms for their punishing work schedules, which have been cited as one of two “evils” in labour exploitation, together with the use of algorithms to motivate and punish gig workers.

https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3154715/996-no-more-tiktok-owner-bytedance-embraces-shorter-1075-work

06

China’s market regulator strengthens 

supervision of medical beauty advertising

China’s market regulator issued a guideline for medical beauty advertising on Monday, emphasizing that medical beauty advertisements are medical advertisements and companies must obtain a license to practice as a medical institution in accordance with the law in order to publish or commission medical beauty advertisements.

The guideline also pointed out that advertisements preying on people’s “appearance anxiety” or inappropriately associating certain judgments with appearance and promoting the effectiveness of treatment or making guaranteed promises about the safety and efficacy of treatments will be seriously regulated.  

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1237968.shtml

07

China takes immediate measures to cap 

soaring vegetable prices

Since late September, the combined events such as the severe weather, high production and transportation costs, epidemic prevention and control, and power cuts, have significantly pushed up the prices of some vegetable varieties in some areas.

In responding to the increasing vegetable prices, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MOA) issued a notice on Friday asking local authorities to ensure stable supply and steady prices of vegetables and take that as the major task ahead, especially for the upcoming New Year, the Spring Festival and the Winter Olympics.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202110/1237660.shtml

08

Railway system preps for shopping festival 

with added cargo space

China's national railway system has started to arrange more space on trains on Monday, mainly high-speed lines, to meet increased demand for parcel delivery in advance of China's online shopping spree known as Double 11, China State Railway Group said on Monday.

More targeted freight capacity will be released, such as more parcels being carried in cargo cabinets on passenger bullet trains and luggage cars on regular trains. Parcels will also be placed in reserved seats on bullet trains, the company said.

It has expanded cold-chain service, covering more areas and varieties of products, such as seafood, fruits and seasonal agricultural produce.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202111/01/WS617faf23a310cdd39bc72a0e.html

09

Team led by top respiratory specialist 

Zhong Nanshan wins China's top science 

award

A team led by China's top respiratory specialist Zhong Nanshan was awarded the nation's top science award on Wednesday for outstanding contributions to research on respiratory diseases in the past half century.

From Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak to the COVID-19 pandemic, from lung cancer to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the team, led by Zhong, He Jianxing and Ran Pixin, always upholds the attitude to seek truth from the facts, to dare to speak and to give treatment, as well as upholds the principle of life-paramountcy. Not to mention that they play a vital role in the global respiratory disease prevention and treatment.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1237998.shtml

Law

10

 Excessive data mining to come to an 

end as China's personal info protection 

law comes into effect

A systematic legal framework on the protection of personal data has been formed in China as the highly anticipated Personal Information Protection Law came into effect on Monday.

From the protection of ordinary citizens to the better regulation of the internet economy, the law will be a strong shield against infringement and a safeguard of the interests of online users through addressing internet chaos such as excessive collection of personal information and secretly recording customers' faces and biological characteristics, experts said.

Together with the Cyber Security Law and Data Security Law, these laws create a comprehensive legal framework on information protection, corporate data compliance and China's digital economy

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1237844.shtml

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