Financial Opening-up Speeds Up

Finance Ministry officials recently announced that restrictions on the proportion of investment by foreign investors in Chinese banks， financial asset management companies， insurance companies， as well as securities， fund management， and futures companies will be relaxed， and will be completely lifted in three to five years. The opening-up of China抯 financial sector speeds up.

Growth of the Chinese economy and the domestic financial market offer opportunities for opening-up of the industry， and will in return facilitate the development of the domestic financial market. This means that the development of the financial market has become a central issue for the reform of China抯 financial system， the key point is whether deepening of the reform can be sustained.

Interview with Professor Ding Zhaozhong

In an interview with Caijing， Chinese-American physicist， Professor Ding Zhaozhong recounted his childhood， talked about his experience in scientific research， and recalled his contacts with late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping. The interaction between Deng and Ding became an opportunity for Chinese scientists to participate in world scientific research and promoted progress and development of science in China.

In the eyes of Professor Ding Zhaozhong， Chinese scientists have done a very good job and made world-recognized contributions. He hopes that in the future， the number of Chinese Nobel Prize winners will be proportional to the size of the Chinese population. This is also a contribution China should make to the mankind.

Tsingtao Brewery in a Dilemma

The brewery market is controlled by industry giants. In 2016， the top five brewery companies in China together own 73.3 percent of the domestic beer market. The top three brewery companies in China are China Resources Snow Breweries， Tsingtao Brewery， and AB InBev. With a downturn in the brewery industry， Tsingtao Brewery抯 revenue and net profit have both declined for two straight years; while Snow Breweries and AB InBev bucked the trend.

An aging population and polarization in consumption spell trouble for beer consumption. For beer companies， the path to profit means increasing market share or improving the product mix. However， Tsingtao Brewery抯 market share is smaller than that of Snow Breweries; while its product mix is not as high-end as AB InBev.

Sino-U.S. Trade Frictions May Escalate in 2018

A Sino-U.S. trade war has been people抯 biggest concern among the global economic risk events of 2017. So far， the security issue related to North Korea has kept trade conflicts between China and the United States at a minimum. However， U.S. President Donald Trump抯 trip to Asia did not try to resolve any pending bilateral trade issues.

Concerns about a Sino-U.S. trade war could escalate in 2018. Trump will take trade actions against China in 2018， especially in areas including steel products and the high-tech industry. Trump will not wage a major trade war with China， but he would encourage U.S. companies to bring trade dispute cases against China.

Aftermath of the Large Fire in Daxing District

A fire broke out at an apartment building in Xinjian Village， Xihongmen Town， Daxing District， Beijing on the evening of Nov. 18， 2017， killing 19 people and injuring eight others. Preliminary inspection found that the building combines production， operation， warehousing， and housing together. Residents at this building have similar backgrounds： migrant workers or small traders that come from rural areas.

After the fire， the Xihongmen town government issued a notice， demanding that all workshops and warehouses in Xinjian Village be shut down and that all tenants leave before Nov. 23， 2017. A sad reality is that many victims have died， while those who survived the fire had to move farther to outside the Sixth Ring Road and some of them had no alternative but to leave Beijing.