Digital Yuan Being Prepared For Trial Run
China will test its own digital currency, officially known as the "Central Bank Digital Currency," in several selected regions, with the broad application of the currency depending on the success of the trials, according to China's Commerce Ministry.
The trial regions include Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Metropolitan Region, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and some area in the midwest of the country.
The trials will deepen innovative development within the service trades, the ministry said.
The People's Bank of China will introduce policy for use of the new currency with help from Shenzhen, Chengdu, Suzhou and Xiong'an cities.
The PBOC said last month its Digital Currency Research Institute was cooperating with app-based transport company Didi Chuxing Technology Co. and Beijing-based food delivery company Meituan-Dianping to test the currency. Meituan-Dianping has 435 million active users.
China has been investigating the use of digital currencies since 2014. In August the PBOC said the currency was "ready" but didn't give a timeframe for its introduction. It did, however, say it wouldn't be blockchain based. It will use a two-tier structure with the central bank issuing the currency to banks and financial institutions who will then circulate it to customers, The Beijing News reported.
iQIYI Reveals U.S. SEC Investigation After Reporting Loss
One of China's biggest online video companies, iQIYI, said Friday that it lost 1.4 billion yuan ($201.4 million) in its second quarter and added that it was the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into suspected fabricated orders and inflated revenues.
Internet search company Baidu, Inc. owns 56 percent of iQIYI. The COVID-19 pandemic badly affected the business and resulted in unusual user behavior, fluctuating numbers and unprecedented challenges, iQIYI founder and chief executive Gong Yu said.
The company made 7.4 billion yuan in revenues in the quarter. Subscriptions fell to 105 million from 119 million at the end of first quarter.
The SEC is investigating iQIYI's financial and operating records from January 2018 - with particular concentration on acquisitions and investments. These were questioned in a report in April by short seller Wolfpack Research.
The disclosure saw iQIYI's U.S.-traded shares fall as much as 19 percent to $17.5 in late trading, according to Bloomberg.
AI Business Powers Baidu Profits
Despite seeing a massive loss in its video-streaming businesses, domestic search engine and artificial-intelligence software giant Baidu reported RMB3.6 billion ($518.11 million) in net profits in the second quarter, a rise of 48% year-on-year. The company's new AI business saw double-digit growth, according to its unaudited Q2 fiscal report.
Meanwhile, total revenues during this quarter reached RMB26.03 billion ($3.75 billion), a 1% decrease from one year earlier. Following the report, the company's shares declined by 1.22% to $124.57 in late trading.
The company has been exploring new territories in AI business including cloud, smart devices and smart transportation. Research and development expenses were RMB4.8 billion ($685 million), increasing 2% year-on-year. These technologies will be the key engine powering revenue growth over the next few years, said Baidu CEO Robin Li.
As of June, DuerOS, a conversational AI system developed by Baidu, had conducted 5.8 billion units of vocal communication, with more than 42,000 developers accessing the platform. Baidu Apollo, a driverless vehicle project, has made road test runs in downtown districts of Beijing, Changsha and Changzhou, while Baidu is also pioneering robotaxi, a self-driving taxi service.
Additionally, Baidu claimed its Intelligent Cloud division had reached an agreement to partner with State Grid, China Southern Power Grid, China Network Television, and China National Building Materials Group.
Baidu projects $3.7 billion to $4.1 billion in revenues for the third quarter.
Researchers Make Alzheimer's Breakthrough
An Alzheimer's disease research team has found the biological marker of Alzheimer's disease, a prominent cognitive disease with no current cure. This research allows early detection of the dementia-inducing condition five to seven years before symptoms become apparent, the state-run Xinhua News reported.
The research result was published earlier this week in an international medical journal, Alzheimer's & Dementia, titled "Blood neuro-exosomal synaptic proteins predict Alzheimer's disease at the asymptomatic stage."
Led by Professor Jia Jianping from Beijing-based Xuanwu Hospital Capital Medical University, the research involved a 10-year study of 739 subjects with normal cognitive functions.
The researchers concluded that blood neuro-exosomal synaptic proteins can be used as a biomarker to predict Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment symptoms five to seven years before impacts become more serious.
With Alzheimer's disease cases reaching 10 million, China tops the global list. Facing an aging population, China estimates over 40 million cases by 2050. The research findings will help those asymptomatic patients who are at early stages of Alzheimer's disease and increase the effectiveness of treatments, said Professor Jia.
More Customs Pilots Accelerate Cross-Border E-commerce
China plans to add 12 directly affiliated customs pilot zones to carry out cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) B2B export supervision, based on the existing success of more than 100 cross-border pilot customs zones, the Customs Bureau said Friday.
This comes as part of the government's ongoing efforts to accelerate the development of cross-border e-commerce. On May 6, China's State Council issued the Approval of the Establishment of Integrated Pilot Zones for Cross-border E-commerce in 46 Cities and Areas, allowing these zones to build new CBEC pilot zones, bringing the total to 105 such zones in China.
Enterprises can avail themselves of preferential tax policies, such as exemption of value-added and consumption tax on retail exports and reduction of corporate income tax rates in CBEC pilot zones.
The 12 new CBEC customs pilot zones under the jurisdiction of cities including Shanghai, Fuzhou, Qingdao, Jinan, Wuhan, Changsha, Gongbei, Zhanjiang, Nanning, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi'an will commence operations starting September 1.
