End tax breaks for expats could see 1/3 US firms leave Shanghai

China’s plan to end tax breaks for expats could see more than a third of US firms leave Shanghai

More than a third of multinational firms in Shanghai are considering moving all or part of their operation out of China or to another Chinese city when tax exemptions on allowances for foreign employees expire next year, a survey released by a US business lobby group on Thursday showed.

Nearly 70% of the 102 firms surveyed by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Shanghai in March said the new rule would make it more difficult for them to bring highly-qualified foreign talent to the city, a hub for multinationals in China.

The lobby group estimated the change would force a multinational company to pay an additional RMB 785,000 ($119,000) in taxes for a foreign employee with two children that received a typical allowance of RMB 960,000 for housing and school tuitions annually. The employee would have to pay extra tax of RMB 432,000 per year.

The 5th World Intelligence Conference is coming to Tianjin soon! 

Robot soccer players take part in the RoboCup Asia-Pacific Invitational Tournament during the third World Intelligence Congress in Tianjin

Over the past five years, Tianjin has seen the benefits of its policies and measures to support the municipality's intelligent manufacturers and promote industrial transformation and upgrading.

As for the development of the artificial intelligence industry in Tianjin, the World Intelligence Congress (WIC) has become an impressive event held in the city. It has greatly benefited Tianjin's industrial development by giving the municipality an edge in mobilizing global resources.

Over the course of its four sessions, it has attracted 60,000 participants from 56 countries and regions. A total of 134 experts and scholars from home and abroad, including winners of the Nobel and Turing prizes, academicians and scholars, have shared their unique insight on the future of the smart technology industry and its potential to change lives and empower economic progress.

Up to 1,000 Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs came to Tianjin to participate in the past conferences. Big names from the top 500 lists for domestic and foreign companies participated in the events, including Intel, Microsoft, Siemens, IBM, SAP, Huawei, Tencent and Baidu, among others.

Visitors view a concept vehicle during the Third World Intelligence Congress held in Tianjin

Held from June 23 to 24 last year, the fourth conference's broadcast live attracted a total of 705 million views.

The 5th World Intelligence Conference will be held in Tianjin from May 20 to 23.

第五届世界智能大会将于5月在天津举办

第五届世界智能大会将于2021年5月20日至23日在天津举办。届时，将举办世界智能驾驶挑战赛、中国（天津）工业APP创新应用大赛、国际智能体育大会、中国华录杯•数据湖算法大赛、RoboCup机器人世界杯中国赛暨亚太机器人世界杯天津国际邀请赛共计五大赛事；举办非遗展示、极客马拉松、生态城智能体验、迷宫机器人等多个互动性强、趣味性十足的智能体验活动；还将举办友好城市圆桌会议、全域科普和科技周、机器人演奏等一批特色活动，市民在参与之余还能近距离欣赏到智能科技带来的全新体验。

LG Electronics to exit from loss-making smartphone business

South Korea’s LG Electronics said on Monday it will wind down its loss-making mobile division – a move that is set to make it the first major smartphone brand to completely withdraw from the market.

Its decision to pull out will leave its 10 per cent share in North America, where it is the No 3 brand, to be gobbled up by smartphone titans Apple and Samsung Electronics.

The division has logged nearly six years of losses totalling some US$4.5 billion, and dropping out of the fiercely competitive sector would allow LG to focus on growth areas such as electric vehicle components, connected devices and smart homes, it said in a statement.

In better times, LG was early to market with a number of mobile phone innovations including ultra-wide angle cameras and was once in 2013 the world’s third-largest smartphone manufacturer behind Samsung and Apple.

But later, its flagship models suffered from both software and hardware mishaps which combined with slower software updates saw the brand steadily slip in favour. Analysts have also criticised the company for lack of expertise in marketing compared to Chinese brands.

Currently its global share is only about 2 per cent. It shipped 23 million phones last year which compares with 256 million for Samsung, according to research provider Counterpoint.

连续6年亏损后！LG正式宣布退出手机业

相信每个80、90后的朋友们对LG这个品牌应该不会陌生。作为曾经全球前五大智能手机厂商，LG在智能手机领域的表现一直有目共睹。不过随着全球智能手机竞争加剧，LG手机业务连年亏损，让LG不得不关闭手机业务。

4月5日LG电子正式宣布关闭其移动业务部门，并退出全球手机业务，该决定于早些时候已经获得LG董事会批准。

LG表示，退出竞争激烈的手机行业的战略决定将使该公司能够将资源集中在增长领域，例如电动汽车部件，联网设备，智能家居，机器人技术，人工智能和企业对企业解决方案以及平台和服务。LG表示，预计手机业务的清盘工作将在7月31日之前完成。

关于目前在售的手机，LG表示将继续出售。此外，已经购买手机的用户也不用担心，LG会在一段时间内继续为现有移动产品的客户提供服务支持和软件更新，时间因地区而异。

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