China to commercialize 5G technology by second half of 2019 -- China will apply 5G technology to terminal devices as early as the second half of 2019, leading to the primary commercialization of the technology in the near future, according to an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). "China started 5G research experiments in 2016, and entered the third stage of system verification this year," Wen Ku, head of the MIIT information and communication department, said at the first Digital China Summit in Fuzhou, capital of east China's Fujian Province. China has launched 5G cooperation mechanisms with Japan, the Republic of Korea, the European Union and the United States, with international companies joining the research and development, he said.
China toughens supervision in battle against financial risk -- China is toughening supervision on the banking and insurance sector with solid progress made in the first quarter of the year, according to China's top banking and insurance regulator. "All forms of violations have been seriously inhibited to forestall systemic financial risks," the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said in an online statement on April 20. Banking and insurance institutions received 646 penalties in the first three months during a campaign against violations including defective corporate governance and breaches of macro-regulation policies, it said. They were handed fines and confiscation orders worth about 1.1 billion yuan (about 184 million U.S. dollars), and another 798 penalties were imposed on individuals with fines worth 28.6 million yuan, the CBIRC said.
China to further lower business costs -- China plans more measures to lower business costs this year, according to the National Development and Reform Commission. The country plans to cut business costs such as charges for electricity use, logistics and intermediary services, which are expected to save more than 150 billion yuan (23.8 billion U.S. dollars) for enterprises and the public this year, said Yue Xiuhu, an official with the commission. The move, together with the government's efforts to further reduce administrative charges, will lighten the non-tax burden on market entities by more than 300 billion yuan this year, Yue said. The government aims to lower the price of electricity for general industrial and commercial businesses by an average of 10 percent by the end of 2018, according to the government work report.
Chinese customs take tough measures against IPR infringement -- Chinese customs took tough measures against intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement last year, official data showed on April 24. Customs authorities seized more than 19,000 shipments of goods suspected of IPR infringement in 2017, involving nearly 41 million individual items, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC). Over 98 percent of the goods were involved in trademark infringement. The value of those involved in patent infringement rose 41.2 percent year on year.
Corporate reform of China's central SOEs mostly complete -- Almost all of China's central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been transformed into limited companies or corporations, according to the country's top SOE regulator. China's central SOEs were once publicly owned, without shareholders. The corporation system introduces shareholders, which helps define operation responsibilities and make enterprises into independent market economy players. A majority of the 60-plus central SOEs and about 2,500 central SOE subsidiaries have finished or are undergoing the transformation.
China to scrap import tariffs on 28 drugs -- China will exempt import tariffs on 28 drugs including all cancer drugs from May 1 to fulfill its pledge of wider opening of the Chinese market, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on April 23. The announcement followed a statement released after an executive meeting of the State Council on April 12 that import tariffs on all common drugs including cancer drugs, cancer alkaloid-based drugs, and imported traditional Chinese medicine will be exempt from May 1. "The authorities will reduce the prices of cancer drugs through centralized government procurement and eliminate premium prices for drugs by means of cross-border e-commerce. Imported innovative drugs, especially much-needed cancer drugs, will be incorporated into the catalogue of medical insurance reimbursement," the statement said.
China to establish more intellectual property protection centers -- China on April 24 pledged to establish more intellectual property protection centers, according to the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO). China has established 19 intellectual property protection centers nationwide, said Shen Changyu, head of the SIPO, at a press conference of the State Council Information Office. The centers aim to provide more convenient and efficient channels at lower cost to safeguard rights and accelerate rights authorization and confirmation.
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