Instant Billionaire
Zhou Hongyi, Board Chairman of Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd., became billionaire overnight as his company listed on the New York Stock Exchange on March 30.
Qihoo 360 is a leading provider of Internet and mobile security products in China. The company is famous for its free anti-virus software.
Zhou, 41, was born in Hunan Province and graduated with a master's degree in systems engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University in 1995. In 1998, he founded 3721 Internet Software Co.
Zhou became the regional director of Yahoo! China in 2003 when 3721 was acquired by Yahoo! In August 2006, Zhou founded Qihoo 360 and became its board chairman.
Prize Judge
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Chinese singer and songwriter Zhu Zheqin, known as Dadawa to foreigners, was chosen as a member of the international jury panel for the Ninth Glenn Gould Prize held from March 31 to April 1 in Toronto, Canada.
The prestigious Glenn Gould Prize, usually dubbed "the Nobel Prize of music," is awarded every three years to a living individual for his or her contributions to music and communication.
Zhu, a native of Changsha, Hunan Province, is known for her soft, beautiful voice and explorations of ethnic music, especially Tibetan folk music. Her Sister Drum, released in 1995 in 56 countries, was the first Chinese album to be issued abroad. It immediately created a sensation and won her international praise and fame. In 1997, the CD album Voices from the Sky was issued in 65 countries and the more recent award-winning album Seven Days was issued in 2006.
Zhu was chosen as a Goodwill Ambassador of the UN Development Program in January 2009.
Official Sentenced
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The Higher People's Court of Jiangsu Province has upheld a death sentence for Jiang Renjie, former Vice Mayor of Suzhou, one of China's most prosperous cities, in a final verdict on March 31.
The court rejected Jiang's appeal against the death sentence. All of Jiang's personal assets were confiscated and he was also deprived of his political rights for life.
The higher court concluded Jiang had abused his power and taken bribes to seek gains. From 2001 to 2004, Jiang took bribes of about 108.57 million yuan ($16.6 million), including $4,000 in cash, from property developers while he was in charge of real estate development of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
"The world of today is a multi-polar world. This is why I was keen for this seminar to take place in China, whose fantastic growth is the most striking example of this shift in world equilibrium."
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on March 31 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, at the G20 seminar on international monetary system
"The improvement of the international monetary system will be a long and complicated process. China will work with its international partners to develop the system in a fair, reasonable and win-win manner."
China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan, addressing the opening ceremony of the G20 seminar on international monetary system
"Efforts should be made to build Zhongguancun into a base to attract talent and encourage technological innovation."
Li Yuanchao, Minister of the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, during a visit to Zhongguancun, a hi-tech base in Beijing, on March 31
"A national education and examination committee will be established this year. It will be in charge of conducting an overall examination enrollment system design, as well as evaluating and assessing these reforms."
Du Yubo, Vice Minister of Education of China, responding to a question about college entrance examination reform at a press conference on March 29 in Beijing
"We have no choice but to release water tainted with radioactive material into the ocean as a safety measure."
Yukio Edano, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, on Japan's dumping of contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean on April 5 |