Filial University Head

(XINHUA)

Zhou Qifeng, President of Peking University, kneeled down before his mother to show his respect on her 90th birthday in Liuyang, Hunan Province, on July 14. Photos on the Internet show the two embracing each other and bursting into tears. Many were touched by Zhou's love for his mother, but others were not so easily moved by the display. Some Internet users accused Zhou of using his mother as a tool to deliberately show his filial love in order to gain publicity.

Zhou's father died when he was young, and it was his mother who brought him up and provided financial support for his schooling through strenuous farm work.

Zhou was born in October 1947 in Liuyang. He received his bachelor's degree from Peking University in 1970 and his doctor's degree from Massachusetts University in 1983. He became an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999. He was appointed president of Peking University in November 2008.

ODI Soars

China's outbound direct investment (ODI) in the non-financial sector hit $35.42 billion in the first half of 2012, up 48.2 percent year on year, said the Ministry of Commerce.

ODI in the non-financial sector had amounted to $357.5 billion by the end of June.

Domestic investors have invested in 2,163 overseas companies in 116 countries and regions in the first six months.

Of all Chinese first-half ODI, about 33.3 percent went into mergers and acquisitions, worth $11.8 billion.

ODI to Hong Kong, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the United States and Russia soared in the first half, with growth rates of 58.9 percent, 34.3 percent, 28.2 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.

In comparison, China's foreign direct investment (FDI) declined 3 percent year on year to $59.1 billion. In June, the country attracted $12 billion in FDI, a drop of 6.9 percent year on year.

Home Prices Rebound

More major cities in China saw home prices rise in June from May as the country's property sector showed signs of warming over government stimulus for the slowing economy.

In June, 25 cities recorded higher new home prices from a month earlier out of a statistical pool of 70 major cities, a drastic rise from six in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The number of cities which saw drops in new home prices in June was 21, down from 43 in May, while prices in 24 cities remained the same.

African Business Directory

The launch of the Business Directory 2012—Doing Business in China and Africa was held at the Beijing Hotel on July 19. The event was a joint effort by ChinAfrica magazine under Beijing Review and the Chinese Society for African Studies.

"It is of great significance for the business directory to be published during the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation," said Wei Jianguo, Secretary General of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and Director of the Chinese Society for African Studies.

"Enterprises from China and Africa will definitely find great opportunities to make achievements under the framework of China-Africa cooperation. We hope the reference book will play a great role in these favorable situations of China-Africa cooperation," he said.

"The publication of the business directory will surely contribute to promoting China-Africa economic and trade cooperation and exchanges," said Wang Gangyi, President and Editor in Chief of Beijing Review.

The Business Directory 2012—Doing Business in China and Africa is the first comprehensive collection of information on Chinese enterprises in Africa.

Based on experts' research, it also includes industrial development reports, and laws and regulations concerning Chinese enterprises investing in Africa.

The authoritative contents and reliable statistics make it the only reference book on China-Africa trade and investment to help Chinese enterprises enter the African market.

Profits Fuel Confidence

Global banks posted record profits from their Chinese operations last year, with many foreign lenders expecting annual growth of about 20 percent up until 2015, according to a survey released on July 17 by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

Combined net profits of 181 foreign banks more than doubled to 16.73 billion yuan ($2.65 billion) in 2011 from 7.78 billion yuan ($1.23 billion) in 2010, boosted by multinationals' investment growth in China, according to the survey, which polled chief executives, senior managers and branch presidents of 41 foreign banks.

"The fundamental challenge for foreign banks over the next three years will be balancing the investment needs of a dynamic and fast-developing Chinese market against the constraints of a slowing economy back home," PwC Financial Services Advisory Partner William Yung said in the report.

Foreign banks are more dedicated to their Chinese investments now than since 2008, as China continues to liberalize its currency and restrictions on its financial system, said the survey.

WTO Ruling

The Ministry of Commerce welcomed a ruling by a WTO dispute panel set up following accusations by the United States against China's handling of cross-border electronic payments.

In a report published by the WTO on July 16, the dispute panel dismissed U.S. accusations concerning China UnionPay's market status at home, ruling that measures by China have not barred foreign service providers from entering the Chinese market, said Shen Danyang, spokesman of the ministry.

The ruling also rejected the U.S. view that foreign service providers can provide cross-border supply of electronic payment services into China. The panel judged that foreign service providers must meet the requirements under China's Schedule of Specific Commitments on Services, Shen said.

"However, China takes reservations in the panel's ruling that the electronic payment service belongs to the 'all payment and money transmission services' that China pledged to open up when joining the WTO," Shen added.

On September 15, 2010, the United States filed a consultation request with the WTO's dispute settlement body, saying that Chinese measures related to electronic payment services violated its commitment to the General Agreement on Trade in Services.