NEWS

Super Salesman

June 17， London： Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is followed by British Prime Minister David Cameron as he walks past an Honour Guard at the Treasury building in London. Acting as an advocate for Chinese products， Li promoted China’s technology and service to the UK by signing a series of landmark deals in finance， science， education， energy and infrastructure. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Britain comprehensive strategic partnership. Cameron and Li agreed to seize the opportunity to lift bilateral relations to a new level. Sino-British cooperation will not only benefit both sides but the whole world as well.

Neil Hall /REUTERS

Stars Shine in Shanghai

June 14， Shanghai： Actress Nicole Kidman accepts an award for outstanding achievement from director John Woo at the opening ceremony of the 17th Shanghai International Film Festival. Fifteen films out of over 2，000 entries from more than 100 countries competed for the “Golden Goblet，” the top prize of the annual festival. Of the 15 finalists， Uncle Victory and Sacred Arrows were Chinese films. Chinese actress Gong Li became the first female president of the Shanghai International Film Festival this year. CFP

Alibaba Scores Share of Soccer Giant Evergrande

June 5， Hangzhou， Zhejiang Province： Founder and chairman of Alibaba Group Jack Ma （right） and Chairman of Evergrande Group Xu Jiayin pose during a signing ceremony between Alibaba and Evergrande. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba agreed to pay Evergrande 1.2 billion yuan （US $191 million） for a 50-percent share of Guangzhou Evergrande， China’s most successful soccer club in recent years. Later， Alibaba announced a controlling purchase of UCWeb， a major Chinese web browser， as it continued to fight for dominance of China’s internet industry. It seems that Alibaba Group’s impending initial public offering has done little to dent its appetite for acquisition. CFP

MH370 Prayers Continue 100 Days Later

June 15， Beijing： Relatives of passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 burn incense to pray for the return of their loved ones at Yonghegong Lama Temple. The day marked the 100th since the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared along with 239 passengers and crew on board. Many relatives believe their loved ones are still alive， so they visited the temple to pray for their safe return. The Beijing-bound flight disappeared from radar screens on March 8， shortly after takeoff. The search for the doomed airliner initially focused on a massive area of the Indian Ocean some 1，000 miles off Australia’s coast， but nothing has yet been found. The Malaysian government pledged on June 16 that it“would not rest” until the flight is found.

Kim Kyung-Hoon /REUTERS

Silk Road and Grand Canal Listed as World Heritage Sites

The ancient Silk Road and China’s Grand Canal were both inscribed on the World Heritage list during the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee in Doha， Qatar， on June 22. So far， China has 47 items on UNESCO’s World Heritage List， trailing only Italy globally. The famous ancient Silk Road， which served as a corridor for trade and cultural exchanges between Asia and Europe as far back as 2，000 years ago， was jointly submitted by China， Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Xinhua

Transformer Welcome

June 20， Beijing： A model of the Transformers character Bumblebee is displayed in front of Qianmen Gate in central Beijing. The replica is part of a promotional campaign heralding the global premiere of Transformers： Age of Extinction on June 27. In the wake of the Transformers franchise’s tremendous success in China， two Chinese stars and many Chinese elements will appear in the new film.

Jason Lee/ REUTERS

Largest and Longest 3D Painting

June 11， Nanjing： A boy looks at the largest and longest 3D painting， The Rhythm of Youth， by Yang Yongchun， the first 3D painter in China， and his team. It features elements such as the mascot of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games， “Le Le，” a snowy mountain， the Yang- tze River， canola flowers， and various other Nanjing urban attributes. The painting covers a total area of 2，737 square meters， 7.5 meters wide and 365 meters long， to welcome the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games， and has already applied for a Guinness World Record. CFP

Li Ka-shing Invests？？？in？Artificial？Egg

June 13， Hong Kong： A supermarket customer examines a bottle of egg-free mayonnaise， which received major attention after hitting shelves. Li Ka-shing， Asia’s richest person， invested US$23 million in Hampton Creek Foods， based in Northern California， USA. It developed a method of replicating eggs with various vegetables. The fluid vegan egg contains nutrition similar to real eggs without the cholesterol. Its taste resembles tofu and it can also be used in baked goods. Artificial egg is already on shelves in some regions of the US and has received financing from Bill Gates. IC

Quotes

“China’s housing prices will rise again in the next decade. Buy a house today and see for yourself.”

– Ren Zhiqiang， chairman of the Board of Directors of Huayuan Property， on future development trends in China’s real estate market， denying emerging bubbles.

“I don’t want more ‘tuhao’ [rich people with poor taste] to emerge because of Alibaba’s IPO. I hope to see more truly noble people， who are helpful， warm-hearted and happy.”

– Jack Ma， chairman of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd， on the growing wealth of his employees.

Quotes

“Any piece of the territory left by our forefathers can’t be lost.”

– General Fang Fenghui， chief of General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army， on the South China Sea issue.

Buzzwords

偽球迷 Fake Football Fans >>>

Along with genuine soccer/football fanatics who sacrifice sleep to watch the FIFA World Cup， many others develop a temporary interest in the game due to the waves of excitement the event brings. Some never watch soccer any other time， are unfamiliar with the rules， and remain ignorant of players’ identities and strengths of various teams.