Chinese Professor Trains AI Programs to Spot Beauties and Criminals

(YicaiGlobal) Dec. 21 — After training a program to distinguish between criminals and non-criminals with a success rate of 86 percent, Prof. Wu Xiaolin of Shanghai Jiaotong University has launched a service using artificial intelligence to identify good-looking women, according to tabloid news site Dzh.mop.com.

Wu said the current facial recognition system can identify people’s biological characteristics and the next task is extremely attractive and challenging — whether AI can speculate on the social characteristics of human beings based on facial recognition.

Once the program managed to differentiate between shots of criminals and ordinary people, Wu turned his research to women. He is trying to get AI to judge whether they look attractive and compare the results with the opinions of male students. His program’s aesthetic standards are highly consistent with those of male students.

His research team used 3,954 photos of Chinese women, including 2,000 ‘commended’ photos and 1,954 ‘derided’ photos grouped by Wu’s male graduate students. After initial trials, the programs can now identify the photos that got the thumbs up from those that got the thumbs down with an accuracy rate of 80 percent.

Compared with identifying criminals, spotting beauties is tougher for AI programs because the appreciation of beauty is a complex personal judgment integrating the individualities and social values of both the observer and the observed.

China Launches First Carbon-Tracking Satellite

(YicaiGlobal) Dec. 22 – China has successfully launched its first carbon-tracking scientific experimental satellite today.

China Central Television (CCTV) reported that the satellite is in normal operation and will provide China with basic capabilities to monitor global carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere as well as useful data for studies on global climate change.

Best Selling Tech Products In the United States vs. China

(YicaiGlobal) Dec.29 — Using the data analysis of the best-selling tech products from the world’s largest online shopping festivals, we compare the most popular products purchased by consumers in the United States and China.

Total online sales on Black Friday this year hit a record high of US$3.34 billion, with total online sales of Cyber Monday slightly beating Black Friday’s record at US$3.39 billion.

Based on the best selling tech product lists of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Singles’ Day, consumers in the United States tend to purchase more entertainment products such as game consoles and high-resolution televisions, whereas consumers in China bought more practical products such as exercise counters, power banks, and smart projectors. But overall, consumers in both countries favor Apple iPads, Amazon products, and “Air”-thin notebooks.

Best-selling tech products on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the United States:
Sony PlayStation 4


The best-selling game console comes with either 500G or 1TB storage space. It also has HDR visuals with an updated DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller.

Microsoft Xbox One


Another best-selling game console from Microsoft, Xbox One boasts popular games such as Halo 5:Guardians, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Forza Motorsport 6.

Samsung 4K televisions

The ‘4K’ in 4K televisions refer to 4K resolution, and is sometimes known as “Ultra High Definition” for its extremely high resolution. According to Tech Rader, the Samsung KS9500 television range has “class-leading HDR pictures” and “unexpectedly good sound”.

Apple iPads

It is no surprise that Apple iPads continue to dominate sales in the tablet sector. Lightweight, stylish, with an easy user interface – consumers are enthralled with its user-friendly functions and sleek design.

Amazon Fire tablets

Amazon Fire tablet boasts to be two times more durable than the latest iPad mini at a lower price.

LG televisions

Tech Radar reviews the LG OLEDE6 series, and points out its HDR-friendly and ultra-thin design as its plus points.

Apple MacBook Air

This lightweight and high performance laptop was another huge hit with consumers.

Alibaba, China’s tech giant, announced a sales record of RMB 120.7 billion (USD $17.8 billion) after its one-day online shopping extravaganza Singles’ Day. According to Alibaba’s e-commerce arm Tmall Electronic (refer to infographic below), many electronic products sold on Singles’ Day are from foreign brands, along with other local Chinese products that some foreign consumers may not have even heard of.



Best-selling tech products on Singles’ Day in China:
Mi Notebook Air

The minimalist design of Mi Notebook Air looks like an Apple Macbook Air, but it costs much cheaper than its American counterpart. Launched by Xiaomi in August, Mi Notebook Air is available in two specs: 12.5 inch and 13.3 inch. Its 13.3 inch version is their best seller.

iPad Air 2

The iPad Air 2 is thinner and a lot more powerful than before. According to Apple, its iPad Air 2 is just as powerful as several personal computers, and a 10-hour battery life that makes it power efficient too.

Kindle Paperwhite

The Kindle Paperwhite has the highest resolution e-reader display for “crisp, laser-quality text”, and reads like paper as compared to reflective tablet and smartphone screens. Readers can store thousands of book into a single device, making it a huge draw for consumers to purchase this product. Check the Amazon Kindle link to find a Kindle that best suits your needs.

JMGO smart projector

Priced at about US$ 417, JMGO smart projector creates a 4K screen as large as 300 inch as well as stereophony. The projector has a remote controller to pair with it.

Pisen power bank 20,000mAh


The white power bank, priced at US$ 20, can charge an iPhone 6 Plus up to five times, or an iPad Air 2 twice. Users can carry the power bank onto a plane, which is under the cap required by airlines.

Convictions are Rare in P2P Lender Swoop

(YicaiGlobal) Feb. 17 — Cases have been opened against less than 5 percent of the thousands of platforms in China’s emerging peer-to-peer lending industry that were deemed problematic in the past three years, according to an industry report.

As of the end of January, 1,811 problematic P2P lending platforms have been identified since 2014, according to a report from Wdzj.com. Only 22 were ultimately convicted in cases with a combined value of over CNY1 billion (USD146 million).

Heads of the 22 convicted lenders were accused of charges including contract fraud, embezzlement, illegal absorption of deposits from the general public and illegal fundraising, investigations show. Compared to the possible loss of investors, penalties and sentences imposed on such leaders are not harsh.

Since problematic sites involve many investors scattered across the country and it is difficult to obtain evidence, it usually takes a long time to process such cases, the report indicated.

The main reason few cases have been opened against online lenders and court decisions are rare is that gathering evidence is time consuming, said Zhang Yexia, senior researcher at Shanghai Yingcan Business Consulting Co. Many victims choose not to file a case against small problematic platforms, as the amount of money involved is minimal.

Follow Yicai Global on Facebook @yicaiglobal and Twitter @yicaichina.

China’s First Mutual Insurance Society Opens, Targeting Credit Insurance for Micro Businesses

(YicaiGlobal) Feb. 17 — Zhonghui Property Mutual Insurance Society has received a business license, becoming the first mutual insurance society in China. China’s insurance regulator approved and issued a business licence to the society in only 240 days, said the company’s chairman.
Zhonghui, which will operate as a mutual insurance society, a form of insurance organization with hundreds of years of history in other countries, is expected to use today’s technology to explore a Chinese-style development mode.

It took China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) only 240 days from the day of first application for establishment to issue a business license, said the society’s founder and chairman Li Jing in an interview with Yicai Global and other media representatives.

“Only by pairing with internet and fintech can mutual insurance organizations achieve success,” said Li. In addition to the application of new technologies, mutual insurance organizations also need to find the most suitable industrial scenarios. Zhonghui hopes to explore a new path for serving small and micro businesses, Li added.

“Zhonghui will focus on credit insurance,” Li noted. “The essence of credit and guarantee insurance is credit collection. We will employ big data to improve our risk management competency through data accumulation, data analysis and risk pricing to provide services for small and micro businesses.”
As for target customer base, Li revealed that Zhonghui will focus its efforts on logistics, fast moving consumer goods and other specific industries and that it will promote business development in a prudent manner.

A mutual insurance company is owned entirely by its policyholders. Mutual insurance refers to a behavior of reciprocal insurance. Members pay premiums to establish a fund pool against risks on an equal and voluntary basis. When disasters or losses occur, the capital is used to make up for losses.

Follow Yicai Global on Facebook @yicaiglobal and Twitter @yicaichina.

Chinese Government Cuts Unemployment Insurance in Bid to Reduce Employment Costs

(YicaiGlobal) Feb. 17 — The Chinese government issued a document to lower the unemployment insurance rate from 1.5 percent to 1 percent, as part of efforts to lighten the burden on companies and promote employment.

As of Jan. 1, provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government) where the unemployment insurance rate is set at 1.5 percent can temporarily drop the rate to 1 percent until April 30, 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) said in a document today. All local governments are required to decrease the rate to 1 percent at some point this year.

China enacted the Unemployment Insurance Regulations in 1999. The regulations are enforced as part of social security legislation and aim to ensure that centrally funded financial assistance and reemployment services are provided to workers whose employment is involuntarily terminated resulting in a loss of earnings.

As of November, approximately 180 million Chinese were covered by unemployment insurance, according to government data. The unemployment insurance fund’s total income was CNY104.9 billion (USD15.3 billion), and its total expenditures were CNY80.5 billion.

Chinese corporate profits declined amid the economic downturn in recent years. To take weight off companies, the MHRSS and the Ministry of Finance lowered the unemployment insurance rate from 3 percent to 2 percent in 2015. It was reduced further to a range (from 1 to 1.5 percent) in May 2016. Local governments were allowed to decide the exact rate within the range. Sichuan and other provinces chose the minimum of 1 percent.

Follow Yicai Global on Facebook @yicaiglobal and Twitter @yicaichina.

CSRC Amends Rules to Curb Refinancing, Steer Funds Towards Real Economy

(YicaiGlobal) Feb. 20 — China’s securities regulator has amended rules to curb excessive financing by listed companies and divert funds from financial investments toward real economy sectors.
The new rules aim to divert investors’ attention away from short-term profits and toward value investments, experts said. The rules enable healthy investment by requiring proceeds from equity financing to be effectively used, they said.

Refinancing among listed companies has increased at an alarming rate. In some cases, excessive financing was pumped into fake projects or for speculative investment. Proceeds raised by some listed companies were left idle, or covertly put into financial investments or quasi-financial businesses, such as wealth management products. Last year, refinancing on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges totaled CNY1.79 trillion (USD261 billion), almost 13 times the total value of IPOs during the same period.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission amended the rules three days ago, with changes including:

– Capping the number of shares issued in a private placement to 20 percent of the total share volume before the deal.
– Requiring listed companies to wait 18 months between financing rounds, including initial public offerings, additional share issuances, share allotments and private placements.
– Limiting trades to market price, which will be determined on the first day stocks are issued.

Convertible bond offerings or preferred stock, and fast financing of a relatively small value on the Growth Enterprise Market are exempt from restrictions.

The regulator announced two days ago that the new rules also apply to private placements conducted by listed companies for asset purchases through share financing, and the volume of these private placements will also be restricted to 20 percent of the total capital stock.

“Through refinancing, listed companies could previously issue securities as quasi-financial institutions, but the new rules restrict this power,” a representative at a major Shanghai brokerage told Yicai Global. The new policy will come as a serious blow to shell stocks, he added.

Almost 40 percent of additional share issues carried out by listed companies between 2010 and 2016 exceeded 20 percent of their capital stock before shares were issued, according to data from Huatai Securities Co. [SHA:601688]. The new cap will significantly reduce refinancing this year, a senior investment bank manager said.

Follow Yicai Global on Facebook @yicaiglobal and Twitter @yicaichina.