XIAOMI CEO DECLARES EV VENTURE

Lei Jun， CEO and founder of tech giant Xiaomi， has announced the company will now foray into the smart electric vehicle （EV） business.
　　Xiaomi is one of the largest smartphone and consumer electronics companies in the world today.
　　Lei， who started out with Beijing-based antivirus software company Kingsoft in 1992 after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in computer science， founded Xiaomi in 2010. Xiaomi went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018.
　　Lei， 51， said on March 30 that entering the EV market would be his last venture. He will serve as CEO of the wholly owned new subsidiary that will have an estimated investment of $10 billion in the next 10 years.
　　Xiaomi’s strengths like its smart ecosystem and research and development ability will boost the new business， Lei said.

Protecting Consumers

　　Guancha.gmw.cn March 29
　　Making all kinds of monetary transactions by using the QR code is common in China. Registrations， scanning codes and similar digital processes have become essential for consumption. But the growing popularity of the payment method has also brought some worries such as security issues， personal information leakage and unfair market competition.
　　Take restaurant ordering， for example. Customers who want to order food at a restaurant are asked to scan a code， which makes them followers of the restaurant’s WeChat account automatically. Then they are bombarded with advertisements long after they have eaten and gone. Some restaurants even ask customers to provide their phone number and address.
　　The Cyberspace Administration of China and three other regulatory agencies issued a document on March 22 to crack down on excessive collection of personal data by mobile apps.
　　The local governments should improve the legal system to protect consumers’ personal information， and increase penalties for restaurants illegally collecting and using such information.

The Lonely Economy

　　Lifeweek March 29
　　With a growing number of single people in their 20s and 30s living alone in big cities， solo living is becoming a common phenomenon.


　　With the development of urbanization， the rise of individualism and improvement in women’s status， living alone has become a new normal worldwide. The trend is most evident in Europe， with single-person households making up more than 40 percent of all households in many countries across the European Union. 　　The rise of living alone has been a transformative social experience in China. It is playing catch-up with industrialized countries where individuals， rather than traditional families， have become the society’s building blocks.
　　China’s single population has reached 240 million， with more than 77 million adults living alone， according to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The number of adults who live alone is expected to rise to 92 million by 2021.
　　The trend， correlating with a steady decline in marriage and the birth rates， is driven by young people’s decision to delay or opt out of marriage entirely， a rising divorce rate， and a profound change in their perception of remaining single.
　　With Internet-based entertainment getting wildly popular in China， today’s young people， millennials particularly， can now stay alone without being lonely.
　　There are other reasons why living alone is becoming more accepted. Single people spend more money on eating out， hobbies and entertainment than their married counterparts， contributing to a fast-growing lonely economy.
　　However， running parallel to this is the heightened awareness of loneliness as an issue.

An Elevated Lifestyle

　　Economic Daily March 29
　　Lack of elevators is a sore inconvenience for people living in multistoried buildings that were mostly built in the last century. Numerous elders living in buildings without elevators are unable to climb long flights of stairs and become confined at home.
　　Making provisions for elevators is an aspect of people-oriented development. Renovation of old neighborhoods and putting in elevators can substantially improve residents’ quality of life. Besides， the program will also lead to investment and job opportunities.
　　As a measure to expand investment， the country began renovating 39，000 old urban residential communities last year， supporting plumbing and wiring upgrading in old residential buildings and installing elevators.
　　The work is demanding and the government has to solve numerous disputes over the rights and interests of different parties. Recently， various localities have issued policies and guidelines to help old communities install elevators.
　　More experience is needed to deal with people’s problems and concerns， and become better at reaching an agreement with residents during negotiations.

CHINESE PLAYER’S MAIDEN F2 VICTORY

Chinese contender Zhou Guanyu started from pole position and earned his maiden Formula 2 feature race victory at the Bahrain International Circuit on March 28. 　　“The victory is for everyone who has been supporting me，” Zhou wrote on his Chinese social media account. “This is a long and tough journey but I will keep at it and push my limits until I reach the top.”
　　Starting on hard tires， he was overtaken on the first corner and dropped to fifth place. But he narrowed the gap after he switched to soft tires and claimed the lead on turn four with only five laps remaining.
　　“What a race，” Zhou said on the podium. “We kept our heads…[and I] took my chances to move forward！ Just so happy！”
　　“Of the many lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic， an important one is that while there is any mileage remaining in Sinophobic narratives， they will continue to be perpetuated by political actors at the highest levels， science be damned.”
　　Timothy Kerswell， a researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong， in an article on the CGTN website on March 31
　　“Trapped in the politics of the U.S. bipartisan groundswell of anti-China sentiment， U.S. President Joe Biden’s team appears to be staying the course set by the previous administration， even upping the ante on the trade and technology conflict by raising human rights and geopolitical concerns.”
　　Stephen Roach， a senior fellow at Yale University and former Chair of Morgan Stanley Asia， in an article on the China Daily website on March 30
　　“[Australia] is inwardly focused and narrow in outlook. It seeks to use the United States as a buffer against the rest of the world， particularly Asia and China， which it fears because of enterprise and the numbers of people.”
　　Bruce Haigh， an Australian political commentator and former diplomat， in an interview with Global Times on March 29
　　“Don’t think about national boundaries if we really want to defeat pandemics. We have to come together with other countries to focus on how they emerge and try and stop them for the future.”
　　Peter Daszak， British zoologist and a member of the World Health Organization-China joint research team， during a briefing on the team’s report on tracing the origins of COVID-19， on March 30