China Business Now丨 China scratches written exams for 6 and 7-year-olds

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie LI.

大家好，我是主持人李莹亮。

Coming up on today’s program.

重点提要 

• The Education Ministry bans written exams for 1st and 2nd graders;

• China rejects scapegoating in name of COVID-19 origins tracing;

• AI unicorn SenseTime files for Hong Kong IPO.

Here’s what you need to know about China in the past 24 hours

中国经济要闻

There’re only two days left in August, meaning the summer holidays are coming to an end and students should get ready to return to normal school life. But this autumn semester is destined to look a lot different than “normal”. 

China’s Ministry of Education is putting “double reduction” on top of their working list as the new semester begins. The Department of Basic Education has ordered schools to strictly follow a few instructions at a news conference today.

The instructions include easing students’ burden of homework and exams, extending after-school services on campus, improving teaching quality at school, tightening teaching discipline, and enhancing communication with parents. Schools are prohibited from setting up classes of different levels based on students’ grades, or teaching new lessons in after-school time. Teachers will no longer be able to assign any work for parents or ask students to grade their own homework.

More great news for first and second graders. As an effort to further relieve pressure on pupils and parents in the competitive school system, the ministry also announced that written exams for 6- and 7-year-olds are banned.

Schools will be under close supervision of the Educational Supervision Committee (ESC) under the State Council, said education officials. The committee will issue biweekly bulletins of the “double reduction” progress in different provinces, and bring it into the assessment of local governments. 

暑假“余额不足”，你作业写完了吗？

这个往年最让学生和家长头疼的“灵魂发问”，在今年的“双减”特殊背景下似乎不再成为开学“紧箍咒”。

今天，教育部召开新闻发布会，介绍秋季学期中小学教育教学工作情况。会上，教育部“连放大招”，规定新学期开学后，义务教育学校要做到“四个严格执行”：严格执行均衡编班的法律规定，不得以任何名义设置重点班；严格执行教学计划，不得随意增减课时、改变难度、调整进度，不得利用课后服务时间讲新课；严格执行作业管理规定，严禁给家长布置或变相布置作业，不得要求学生自批自改作业；严格执行考试管理规定，不得违规组织考试，不得按考试结果给学生调整分班、排座位、“贴标签”。

不仅如此，低年级学生更是收获首个“无考试”的新学期。为切实降低学生考试压力，教育部还印发了《关于加强义务教育学校考试管理的通知》，明确小学一二年级不进行纸笔考试，其他年级由学校每学期组织一次期末考试；初中年级从不同学科实际出发，可适当安排一次期中考试。

教育部教育督导局的有关负责人介绍，中央减轻义务教育阶段学生作业负担和校外培训负担《意见》明确要求，加强“双减”督导。国务院教育督导委员会办公室将建立“双减”专项督导半月通报制度，并将“双减”工作纳入省级政府履职督导评价。

Updates on COVID-19

疫情简报

Coronavirus origins tracing should never be used as a handy tool for scapegoating, nor should it be manipulated for political purposes, a senior Chinese health official said on Sunday, refuting a recent report produced by the United States on the origins of the COVID-19 virus. 

国家卫生健康委副主任曾益新周日就美国情报部门发布新冠病毒溯源调查摘要接受记者专访时表示，由美国的情报部门、而不是专业医学机构来发布溯源调查报告，这本身就很具讽刺意味，是谁在将溯源问题政治化也就一目了然。新冠病毒溯源是一个科学问题，中国政府从疫情发生以来一直支持科学开展新冠病毒溯源，但反对将溯源工作政治化，反对将溯源工作作为“甩锅”的工具。

Next on industry and company news

产经消息及公司新闻

China’s largest artificial intelligence company SenseTime Group filed plans for an IPO that could raise at least $2 billion in Hong Kong. SenseTime was valued around $12 billion after its pre-IPO financing at the end of last year. 

“中国AI四小龙”中最贵的企业商汤科技上周五在港交所提交了招股书，此次IPO可能会筹集至少20亿美元的资金。据报道，商汤科技已于去年底完成了Pre-IPO轮募资，投后估值约为120亿美元。

Zeekr, the electric vehicle unit of Chinese automaker Geely, announced on Friday it has secured $500 million in a pre-A financing round, raising its market value to $8.9 billion. Intel Capital and four other investors including battery maker CATL, video platform Bilibili, Cathay Fortune and Boyu Capital will hold around 5.6 percent stake in the brand.  

8月27日傍晚，吉利汽车发布公告称，极氪与来自英特尔资本、宁德时代、哔哩哔哩、鸿商集团和博裕投资等五家生态伙伴，正式签署战略投资协议。此次共创共投由英特尔资本战略领投，五家生态伙伴的投资总额为5亿美元，投后占极氪股比约5.6%。

China’s internet regulator has launched a campaign to scour financial information considered damaging to the economy from online platforms and social media accounts. In a statement Friday, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) pledged to target illegal activity on financial information platforms, financial “self-media” and other social media accounts, and the finance sections of commercial platforms that compile and publish information about finance and economics. 

在8月27日召开的清朗·商业网站平台和“自媒体”违规采编发布财经类信息专项整治部署会上，国家网信办有关负责人表示，即日起至10月26日，为专项整治的第一阶段，整改期间，国家网信办将会同国家发展改革委、财政部、中国人民银行、证监会、银保监会等财经主管部门，督促指导主要商业网站平台对照专项整治要求，集中清理一批违规发布的财经类信息，依法依规严处一批问题严重的网站平台，封禁关停一批充当“黑嘴”、敲诈勒索、社会反映强烈的“自媒体”账号。

The CAC also banned internet service providers from setting up high-consumption algorithm models that induce consumers to overindulge. Users should also be able to turn off algorithm recommendation services, which are used to provide information content for users.  

8月27日，国家网信办起草的《互联网信息服务算法推荐管理规定（征求意见稿）》规定，算法推荐服务提供者应当定期审核、评估、验证算法机制机理、模型、数据和应用结果等，不得设置诱导用户沉迷或者高额消费等违背公序良俗的算法模型。

Switching gears to the financial sector

金融市场要闻

China Investment Corporation (CIC), a sovereign wealth fund in the country, reported a net annual return of 14.07 percent from its overseas investments on a U.S. dollar basis last year. That has put its net annualized overseas 10-year return at 6.82 percent, 128 basis points higher than its 10-year performance target, according to an annual report published last Friday. CIC's total assets have expanded to $1.2 trillion by the end of 2020, with its net assets standing at 1.1 trillion dollars. 

中国主权财富基金的中投公司周五发布年报，我国主权财富基金2020年境外投资净收益率为14.07%；过去十年累计年化净收益率超出业绩目标。数据显示，按美元计算，过去十年累计年化净收益率为6.82%，超出十年业绩目标约128个基点。截至2020年底，中投公司总资产达1.2万亿美元，净资产1.1万亿美元。

Wrapping up with a quick look at the stock market

最后来看股市收盘情况

Chinese stocks closed mixed on Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.17 percent, at 3528 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.09 percent lower at 14423 points. The Hang Seng Index closed 0.52 percent higher to stand at 25539 points. 

周一A股股市涨跌不一，截至收盘，沪指涨0.17%，报收3528点；深成指跌0.09%，报收14423点。港股恒生指数涨0.52%，报收25539点。

• Biz Word of the Day

  财经词汇划重点

• Algorithm recommendation refers to technologies such as synthesis, personalized push, sorting and selection, retrieval and filtering, as well as scheduling and decision-making, which are used to provide information content for users. 算法推荐技术，是指应用生成合成类、个性化推送类、排序精选类、检索过滤类、调度决策类等算法技术向用户提供信息内容。

（欢迎大家提供意见和反馈，请联系主播李莹亮：liyl@21jingji.com）

Executive Editor: Sonia YU

Editor: LI Yanxia

Writer & Host: Stephanie LI

Producer：XIANG Xiufang

Sound Editor: Andy YUAN Ran ZHANG

Graphic Designer: ZHANG Ying

Co-produced by 21st Century Business Herald Dept. of Overseas News & SFC Audio/Video Dept.

Presented by SFC

编委:  于晓娜

策划、编辑：李艳霞 

撰稿、播音：李莹亮

监制：向秀芳 

音频制作：袁思杰 张然

设计：张颖

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（作者：李莹亮,实习记者张然 编辑：李艳霞）

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