PHYSICIST WINS R.W.WOOD PRIZE

Pan Jianwei， a Chinese physicist and professor at the University of Science and Technology of China， won the 2019 R. W. Wood Prize presented by the Optical Society of America （OSA）， according to the OSAs offi cial website on March 22. It is the fi rst time that a Chinese scientist has won the prize with a local research project since the award was established in 1975.

Pan was awarded for his pioneering experimental research at the frontier of quantum foundations and optical implementations of quantum information， including quantum nonlocality， quantum key distribution， quantum teleportation and optical quantum computing.

Born in 1970 in east Chinas Zhejiang Province， Pan is renowned as Father of Quantum in China.

The R. W. Wood Prize was established to honor contributions and outstanding discoveries， scientific and technical achievements， and inventions in the fi eld. Former winners included Nobel Prize laureates for physics Carl E. Wieman and Gérard Mourou.

New NEV Policy

Beijing Youth Daily March 27

A notifi cation jointly issued by four ministries， including the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology， on March 26 said several technological thresholds for new-energy vehicles （NEVs） will be raised and some subsidies cut to upgrade the sector.

NEVs， credited with promoting green transport， have established a clear direction for the worlds auto industry. They are also a backstop for Chinas independent auto industry innovation. However， compared with conventional vehicles， NEVs are still not so well developed， and to promote them in the market， the Chinese Government has been providing subsidies for their production and sale.

The policy adjustment is intended to regulate the subsidizing. The new stringent subsidy policies will ensure that the money goes to those NEV plants really in need of fi nancial support.

At a time when Chinas economic growth is slowing down， its necessary to provide more financial support to NEV plants and the market. However， subsidies to any industry should be based on strict oversight. Big subsidies are not necessarily effective in boosting an industry， and the key is being given to where they are really needed.

After the technical threshold for NEVs is raised， the amount of subsidies will see a decline， but this will not stop the pace of Chinas NEV development.

Recycling Batteries

China Financial Weekly March 18

Ten years have passed since electric buses were used on a large scale during the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. A rise in the production and sale of NEVs has boosted the battery industry.

According to a report issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in February， Chinas power cell industry is the largest in the world. The China Automotive Technology and Research Co. Ltd estimates there would be 120，000-200，000 tons of spent batteries from 2018 to 2020. By 2025， the amount will exceed 750， 000 tons， with a valuation of up to billions of U.S. dollars.

Compared with the expanding battery market， Chinas battery recycling model is underdeveloped， aggravated by a messy recycling industry. If not properly dealt with， a huge amount of spent old lithium batteries will not only lead to a waste of valuable resources， but also block the sustainable development of the battery sector. Worse still， these wastes might put the environment at risk.

How to recycle used batteries has long been a headache to China. From the perspective of environmental protection and green development， battery recycling and traceability is very important. There should be some policy-based guidance and an industrial system of recycling used batteries to ensure healthy development of the overall new energy industry.

No More Free Service

Guangzhou Daily March 27， 2019

From March 26， credit card repayments for sums above 2，000 yuan （$297.30） through Alipay have become subject to a service fee of 0.1 percent， according to the third-party payment agents announcement. Alipay said it was doing so in response to rocketing operation costs.

This is not the fi rst time a third-party payment agent has charged a fee for credit card repayment service. Last year， WeChat adjusted such fee charges twice. Apart from credit card repayment， Alipay and WeChat also charge fees if bank transfers and cash withdrawals exceed a certain limit.

It is a trend that mobile payment services will be eventually charged. Chinas top two mobile payment agents Alipay and WeChat account for 92.5 percent of the total mobile payment market， accumulating a huge number of users.

A lot of users have got used to free service for items like mobile payment， but this freeof-charge model will not be there forever in any industry. Mobile payment agents provide services and it is reasonable for them to charge some fees. The fees will become increasingly rational when there is full market competition.

Currently， a growing number of Internet companies have begun to charge fees for their services， testing how to make their users face this reality. To survive in the fierce market completion， they must improve their products and services， so that users will feel like paying for their services.

CHINESE ENTREPRENEUR RECEIVES ITALIAN AWARD

Tan Xuguang， Chairman of Chinese heavy-truck manufacturer Weichai Group and Italian yacht-maker Ferretti Group， received the Leonardo International Award in Rome on March 20.

As a category of the Leonardo 2018 Awards， the most infl uential award among Italian companies for the economic person of the year， the Leonardo International Award is given to a foreigner in Italy who makes great efforts to promote bilateral exchanges in areas such as the economy and technology.

Born in Weifang in February 1962， Tan has been the Weichai Groups chair since 2007.

In 2012， the Weichai Group， headquartered in Weifang， east Chinas Shandong Province， launched a strategic restructuring of the Ferretti Group. In 2018， the Weichai Groups revenue exceeded 230 billion yuan （$34.42 billion）， 40 percent of which came from overseas markets.

“Chinas economic development over the past 70 years has been a story of growth and prosperity. The trend will remain very positive because China has a strong internal demand and with the necessary reforms.”

Thomas Buberl， AXA Group CEO， at the China Development Forum 2019 in Beijing on March 23-25

“We are firmly committed to continuing to work with all regulators and partners to make the 5G rollout in Europe a success.”

Abraham Liu， chief representative of Huawei to the European Institutions in Brussels， in a statement on March 27

“Manufacturing is the fundamental sector of the national economy. The benefits of tax cuts in the sector will be passed on to more sectors through industry chains and price mechanisms.”

Cheng Lihua， Vice Minister of Finance， at a news briefing on March 27， assuring that authorities would implement tax cuts in full

“I believe tech companies like WeChat can help digitalize payments in Malaysia and create an environment conducive to big data analytics and other technologies relevant to Industry 4.0.”

Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng addressing the WeChat Pay technology exhibition in Kuala Lumpur on March 26