A welcome micro-loan service

Alipay's micro-loan service has registered an average daily increase of 140,000 customers since June 13 and its daily accumulated fund has touched 400 million yuan ($65 million). Alipay has not only boosted its e-commerce platform, but also attracted ordinary people because of its advantages such as low costs, safe investment means and relatively high profits, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

The average loan a person can get from Alipay is 2,000 yuan. In the past, no one would have bothered to even pay attention to such a loan service because the accrued interest would have been more than the profit made from the loan.

But Alipay has changed that perception because its loans are a lot easier to obtain. Its earnings have not only surpassed that from demand deposits, but also its seven-day annual rate of return is higher than that offered on five-year fixed-term deposits. Alipay now poses a challenge to Chinese banks and other financial institutions.

When customers realize that banks cannot meet their needs, they obviously will opt for a readily available convenient, safer and more profitable service. Since Aliloan - which is part of Alipay - has started providing credit for small, medium- and micro-sized enterprises on Taobao and Tmall, and it seems that the organization can catch up with major banks in operation capacity.

Crowded elevators tell a story

Eighteen people forced themselves into an elevator that could carry only 13 in an office building in Xiangyang, Hubei province, but not even one was willing to step out and lessen the load. The result: the elevator crashed to the ground floor. The incident reflected Chinese people's lack of patience and safety concern, says an article in Beijing Times. Excerpts:

Incidents similar to the one in Xiangyang have been reported from many office buildings in China. This shows that, apart from faulty elevators, people using them are also responsible for many of the elevator-related accidents. People are willing to take risks and put their lives in danger because they are ignorant of even the basic safety norms.

Even though some people enjoy a carefree and laidback life, they do not think twice before fighting for the limited opportunities available because of the lack of good education and jobs. They do so also because they do not want to be left behind. Perhaps people push themselves into already crowded elevators out of desperation.

Of course, office buildings have to take measures to ensure that elevators run smoothly and have the capacity to deal with the passenger load during peak hours. Office building managements have to understand the needs of tense and desperate white collar workers and visitors, and take measures accordingly to make their life a bit more comfortable.

Besides, building managements also have to create the proper environment for people to follow rules and deploy staff to ensure that they do so. To build a healthy social atmosphere in office buildings, the managements have to implement appropriate rules and people have to follow them. Without the joint efforts of office building managements and the people, we cannot make elevator and other services convenient for all.

(China Daily 07/18/2013 page9)