As online shopping and social media play an increasingly prominent part in consumption, the relatively new phenomenon of "Internet celebrity" has grown explosively across the Chinese mainland.
Take a stroll round some of London's iconic tourist sites, as I did the other day, and you can't help but be impressed by the number of Chinese visitors flocking to see Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and the Cutty Sark tea clipper in Greenwich, to name but a few of this city's attractions.
Suicide is now the leading cause of death among Chinese 15-to 35-year-olds, according to the country's health ministry, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, in a recent survey, confirming a trend that has been apparent for the past decade.
At a forum held in New York on Monday, China's Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai invited Washington to join the Beijing-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 43.62 points, or 1.37 percent, to close at 3,129.53 on Monday, the sharpest drop in more than four months, amid damped market sentiments following a series of tightened measures by regulators.
ON APRIL 1, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development together with China Construction Bank jointly issued a notice on providing financial support to promote the development of "small towns with their own characteristics". Beijing News comments:
DURING THE LATEST ROUND OF INSPECTIONS by the central environmental protection authorities, the local governments in Beijing, and Puyang in Central China's Henan province were found to have shut down service providers ranging from supermarkets to breakfast restaurants that contribute little to airborne pollution, instead of tracking down the heavy polluters. West China Metropolis Daily commented on Monday:
AN OFFICIAL in Poyang county water conservancy bureau in East China's Jiangxi province refused to deal with a dangerous bridge in a remote mountain village with the excuse that he did not have a government car, and so was unable to get to the site. Legal Daily comments.
Editor's note: Three researchers share their views with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng on the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for May 14 and 15 in Beijing, which will be attended by 28 heads of state and government leaders. Excerpts follow:
US President Donald Trump recently signed the "Buy American, Hire American" executive order, which seeks to crack down on fraud and abuse of the skilled worker (H-1B) visa program. And at the headquarters of Snap-on, a tool company in Kenosha, Wisconsin, he signed the second part of the order, which calls for US government agencies to give preference to domestically produced goods and for a 220-day study of US trade agreements that grant foreign companies the right to be treated as domestic companies.
Hengshui High School of North China's Hebei province, known for its large size and success in preparing students for the national college entrance examination (gaokao), recently set up a branch in Zhejiang province, stirring up a heated debate on school sizes and choices. As the big, super schools grow and small rural schools face closure and consolidation, one wonders if such a change means social progress.