MARTIAL ARTS NOVELIST PASSES AWAY

Renowned Chinese martial arts novelist Louis Cha Leung-yung， known by his pen name Jin Yong， died in Hong Kong at the age of 94 on October 30.

Cha was born on March 10， 1924， in Haining， east Chinas Zhejiang Province， and moved to Hong Kong in 1948.

He published 15 novels from 1955 to 1972， which sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide. His stories have inspired various cultural and creative products including movies and TV series.

Cha was also a prominent fi gure in the media， social politics and history studies. He co-founded the daily newspaper Ming Pao， one of the leading publications in Hong Kong， in 1959 and wrote editorials， essays and reviews of fi lms and dramas， along with doing translations for about two decades.

In 2000， Cha received the Grand Bauhinia Medal， the highest award from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Addressing Nutrition Deficit

Guangming Daily October 29

A program to improve the nutritional condition of pre-school children in impoverished areas of China was launched on World Food Day， October 16. The initiative is a cooperation between the World Food Programme （WFP） and Chinas largest ondemand online service provider MeituanDianping.

The nutritional status of children in rural areas is a matter of social equality as well as concerning Chinas future development. A study shows that in addition to the quality of education and genetics， nurturing， of which nutrition is a vital component， also affects the intelligence development of children. The key developmental period is between birth and age 6.

The program launched by the WFP and Meituan-Dianping is of great significance to those with a poor nutritional history. The program has gained traction， mobilizing societys participation by allowing ordinary people to donate to the program through the Meituan-Dianping smartphone app. A lunch for a child， which costs 4 yuan （$0.57）， will come from donations， while the additional four days lunch in a week will be paid for by enterprises.

By using a popular mobile app to collect donations， the access to the program has increased， which will encourage more people to contribute to charitable causes.

An Emerging Player In Fashion Arena

Oriental Outlook November 1

When Chinas reform and opening-up drive commenced 40 years ago， its people adopted a simple and unifi ed dressing style. Clothes were dominated by blue， black and gray.

In the 1980s， the Chinese started to take an interest in fashion. But not knowing what to wear， it was common to imitate costumes from popular films by requesting a tailor to produce an exact replica.

As the economy developed and foreign trade prospered in the 1990s， people had access to a wider variety of clothes to choose from as both foreign and domestic brands peppered the market. The increase in income also stimulated consumption. A lot of fashion magazines were therefore started to meet demands of consumers with a better sense of fashion.

Since 2000， the garment industry in China has boomed with endless options available to consumers.

Fashion trends in China have begun to keep pace with the world as the Chinese economy becomes more integrated with the worlds. The Chinese have become more confident as they choose clothes， dressing according to their own preferences rather than blindly following others.

Sales channels for clothes have also diversified from wholesale markets and department stores to online shops.

Encouragingly， Chinas fashion industry is starting to exert influence on the global stage. Historically， Chinese designers attended overseas fashion shows to catch the latest trends and bring them back to China. Today， international events have become popular platforms for Chinese culture as designers are incorporating traditional Chinese elements into their products.

The Rise of Rural Consumer Markets

Peoples Daily October 29 Consumer markets in Chinas rural areas have boomed thanks to the increase in residentsincome. In the fi rst eight months of 2018， retail sales of consumer goods in the countryside topped 3.46 trillion yuan （$497 billion）， up 10.4 percent year on year， 1.3 percentage points higher than that in cities and towns. Rural residents spending on e-commerce platforms reached 632.28 billion yuan （$90.8 billion） in the fi rst half of the year， a year-on-year increase of 34.3 percent and accounting for 15.5 percent of total online retail sales.

However， there are still a number of obstacles regarding the upgrading of consumption in rural areas. The logistics infrastructure is underdeveloped， meaning purchases often take a longer time to arrive and delivery charges are signifi cantly higher.

Some commodities in rural grocery stores are of low quality and the variety is often limited， with a few vendors selling fake and substandard products.

Businesses should not underestimate the huge potential of rural markets. In addition to supplying readily marketable products， they can also launch well-conceived programs to change rural consumer habits to match urban trends.

Consumption upgrading plays a significant role in promoting industrial transformation， creating jobs and increasing residential incomes， all of which contribute to the goal of rural vitalization.

NEW PRESIDENT OF PKU

Hao Ping has assumed the presidency of Peking University （PKU）， replacing Lin Jianhua who retired after holding the post for three years and eight months.

Born in 1959 in the coastal city of Qingdao in east Chinas Shandong Province， Hao enrolled at the PKU in 1978 and received a bachelors degree in history in 1982. Later， he obtained a masters degree in history at the University of Hawaii in 1996 and a doctoral degree in international relations at the PKU in 1999.

Between 1982 and 2005， he worked at several posts in the PKU and became its vice president. After that， he served as president of Beijing Foreign Studies University （2005-09） and vice minister of education and director of the National Commission of the Peoples Republic of China for UNESCO （2009-16）.

Hao was chairman of the PKU Council before taking the current position.

“The vocational training program in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is a constructive effort to help eliminate the soil that breeds terrorism and extremism.”

Zhang Nan， a research fellow at the Anti-Terrorism Law School of the Northwest University of Political Science and Law， at a meeting on human rights protection in Geneva on October 29

“Guided by the conviction that we are all one family and the vision of making development people-centered， the mainland will continue to provide better conditions for Taiwan compatriots so that they can share the mainlands development opportunities.”

Liu Jieyi， Minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council， at a non-governmental roundtable discussion in Beijing on October 30

“It signals a commitment by China to move from being a global factory to being a global market.”

Arancha Gonzalez， Executive Director of the International Trade Center， commenting on the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai on November 5-10， in an interview with Xinhua News Agency on October 31

“Every time the [Sino-U.S.] relationship risked being stranded， every time its future was in doubt， the people of our two countries would be there， quietly but persistently doing their part， lifting it out of the quagmire and moving it forward.”

Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai， at a screening of the documentary Better Angels at the National Press Club in Washington， D.C. on October 30