MISSING SAILOR

Guo Chuan， a renowned sailor， is believed to have been knocked into the sea by high winds during his trans-Pacific voyage， Guos support team said on October 27.

Guo set sail from San Franciscos iconic Golden Gate Bridge on October 18， for Shanghai in an attempt to break the world record for a solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean. The approximately 7，000-nautical-mile voyage was scheduled to take about 20 days.

Both Chinese and U.S. vessels were engaged in a search and rescue mission after Guo went missing. Guo， who was born in 1965 in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， is the nations first professional sailor. He holds two sailing world records： a nonstop， solo circumnavigation world record set in 2013； and a nonstop Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage world record set last year.

Noise Takes a Toll on Urban Dwellers

Nanfang Daily November 1

The sound environment of a city is an important gauge by which to judge its livability. As urbanization accelerates in China， however， the sound environments of the nations cities remain less than desirable. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection， one fourth of cities failed to meet nocturnal sound environment standards in 2015， with one third of environmental complaints related to noise， and such complaints in east China far outnumbered those in other areas.

Noise pollution has serious side health effects. It not only affects sleep quality， but also can damage hearing and cause conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease， according to the World Health Organization. As most noise pollution stems from the activities of modern society such as construction， manufacturing and traffic， its unsurprising that Chinas more developed eastern regions account for over half of noise complaints nationwide.

But while complaints about noise pollution abound， the problem has yet to be effectively addressed. The multiple government departments responsible for noise pollution supervision often pass the buck between one another， and consequently， the implementation of existing laws and regulations on noise pollution remains inadequate. Although regulations strictly forbid construction at night， for instance， many complaints still arise about the noise generated by such building work.

While the authorities consider what to do about the issue， every citizen can do their bit to mitigate the problem by refraining from making loud noise at night.

Corporate Deleveraging Underway

Caixin Weekly October 17

China will step up deleveraging efforts as part of the nations ongoing supply-side reform. A guideline on reducing corporate leverage was published by the State Council on October 10 in a bid to stabilize growth and avert systemic financial risks amid Chinas mounting corporate debt.

Current deleveraging efforts focus on stateowned enterprises （SOEs）， which soak up the largest proportion of financial resources but deliver comparatively weak results. According to statistics of the Ministry of Finance， SOEs have assets totaling 128 trillion yuan （$19 trillion）， but their profits from January-August amounted to merely 1.5 trillion yuan （$221.8 billion）.

Numerous measures to address corporate debt have been rolled out since the beginning of the year. State-run funds have been established to help enterprises deleverage. An SOE structural adjustment national fund of 350 billion yuan （$52 billion） and a state-owned venture capital investment fund of 200 billion yuan （$30 billion） were established in February with State Council approval. Local governments have also established similar funds.

Some local governments are negotiating with banks to postpone repayment of outstanding SOE loans in order to prevent defaults and bankruptcies. The Shanxi Provincial Government， for instance， has converted 400 billion yuan （$59 billion） worth of unpaid loans of its seven leading coal companies into mid- and long-term arrangements to facilitate structural transformation and upgrading of the companies.

Details of the first SOE debt-to-equity swap in the current round of structural reform have also emerged. Sinosteel Corp.， which is indebted to financial institutions to the tune of around 60 billion yuan （$9 billion）， will have almost half of that total converted to equities beginning in 2019.

Quality Over Quantity for Web TV Dramas

Guangzhou Daily November 1

Internet TV dramas are thriving， but the industry also has prominent problems. A white paper jointly published by LeEco， one of the largest online video companies in China， and movie and television industry consultancy CC Smart on October 18 estimates that 2，079 episodes of Web TV series will be produced in the country this year， 250 times more than the number made seven years ago.

The report said that the online TV drama market is saturated and needs to transform and upgrade itself. Undoubtedly， the production and business models for Internet dramas will innovate further in the future. But however the industry develops， the issue of quality will always be paramount.

Some online TV dramas have attempted to attract viewers with vulgar content such as pornography and violence. Online series Go Princess Go， for instance， was taken offline in January for including pornographic content. As the industry faces oversupply， production volume growth may slow down， in which case more emphasis could be placed on improving quality. In any case， though， Internet dramas transgressing the law are unsustainable.

Furthermore， online dramas should cover a more diverse range of topics. Many of the works streamed online are similar in content. Producers could come up with new stories by analyzing audience preferences with the help of big data. Last but not least， besides catering to viewers entertainment expectations， online dramas should shoulder the responsibility to disseminate culture and values.

BEIJINGS NEW ACTING MAYOR

Cai Qi， 60， was recently named acting and deputy mayor of Beijing Municipality.

As head of the Organization Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee， a post he held from 2010 to 2013， Cai became something of a social media celebrity， often posting on micro-blogging platform Tencent Weibo and interacting with his tens of millions of followers.

In one well-known incident， after a mother complained that her son often drank a lot as part of his government job， Cai responded， “Tell me exactly where he works. He wont have to drink anymore.”

Cai left Zhejiang to work for the National Security Commission in 2014， at which point his Weibo account went silent due to the sensitive nature of his post. An acting mayor usually gets officially elected later at a session of the local legislative body.

“The day when every household in the countryside has a clean， eco-friendly toilet is probably the day we can declare victory over poverty.”

Liu Weijia， a provincial poverty alleviation official， in response to a campaign to equip homes with new toilets in 55 impoverished villages in Pengan County， Sichuan Province

“Such a trend indicates that growth of the mainland duck-food chains has somewhat run into a bottleneck， which pushes them to raise capital via public listings as a growth booster.”

Zhu Danpeng， a researcher at the China Brand Research Institute， commenting on the initial public offering on November 11 of Zhouheiya， a Hubei Province-based fast food chain known for its spicy braised duck neck

“Apple needs to offer something cutting edge to appeal to maturing Chinese smartphone users， who are warming to local brands.”

Neil Shah， an analyst with research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research， speaking about his companys finding that the iPhones market share in China has slipped to 8.4 percent and now lags those of local vendors Huawei， Oppo and Vivo

“The civil aviation market offers great potential for domestic private investment， which has witnessed a decline and huge capital outflows.”

Li Xiaojin， a professor with the Civil Aviation University of China， in response to the Civil Aviation Administration of the nations recent decision to allow private capital into the construction and operation of civilian airports