This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China. 

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Chinese vice premier analyzes economic, financial hot issues

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He said Friday many factors have caused obvious stock fluctuations and declines in China recently, including interest rate hikes by major economies' central banks and the Sino-US economic and trade frictions.

The global stock market has started to see fluctuations and downward movements after the interest rate increases, and the US stock market has also seen obvious corrections, Liu, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told Chinese reporters.

"The Sino-US economic and trade frictions have also caused impact on the stock market, but the psychological effect is bigger than the actual impact, frankly speaking," said Liu.

"China and the United States are now in contact with each other," he said. (Xinhua)

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China's tax cuts have been effective: MOF

In the first three quarters the proportion of tax revenue to general public budget revenue reached 87.4 percent, up 3.7 percentage points over 2017, Ministry of Finance (MOF) official data shows.  

In September, the national fiscal revenue increased by 2 percent year-on-year, and the growth rate slowed for three consecutive months. Meanwhile, the fiscal expenditure growth rate reached 11.7 percent, which was 7 percentage points higher than that of the previous month, due to a series of tax cuts and fee reduction measures, Ministry of Finance officials told a media briefing on Thursday in Beijing. 

Talking about the second half of the year, officials said that the growth rate of fiscal revenue continued to fall, due to the gradual impact of tax cuts and fee reductions. 

Going forward, the Ministry of Finance will be more supportive of the development of the real economy. (People’s Daily App)

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US stocks tumble, extending last week's steep losses

US stocks closed sharply lower Thursday, extending last week's steep losses, as investors continued to grapple with interest hikes while digesting a batch of economic data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 327.23 points, or 1.27 percent, to 25,379.45. The S&P 500 declined 40.43 points, or 1.44 percent, to 2,768.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 157.56 points, or 2.06 percent, to 7,485.14.

Among the reasons for selling on Thursday were worries about rising interest rates and concerns over global growth, experts noted. (Xinhua)

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Senior official Lu Wei confesses at corruption trial

Lu Wei, former deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has confessed and repented at his corruption trial today at the Ningbo Intermediate People's Court in East China's Zhejiang Province.

Prosecutors say Lu traded power for favors and received bribes worth 32 million yuan ($4.6 million).

The verdict is still pending.

Lu was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office for multiple offenses including taking bribes in February.

Lu has served at Xinhua News Agency as a Party Leadership group member, secretary-general and vice president. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPC, Beijing’s publicity department head and vice mayor. He also worked as director of the State Internet Information Office, deputy director of the State Council Information Office, and head of the Cyberspace Administration of China. (People’s Daily App)

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China's GDP increases 6.7 percent in the first three quarters

China's year-on-year GDP increased 6.7 percent in the first three quarters of 2018 to about 65.09 trillion yuan ($9.38 trillion), according to the data released from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Friday.

In the third quarter, China's GDP rose 6.5 percent year on year, lower from 6.7 percent in the second quarter.

Retail sales expanded by 9.3 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of this year, down from 9.4 percent in the first two quarters combined.

The industrial output growth was 6.4 percent year-on-year in the January-September period, 0.3 percentage point lower than the first half of this year, according to the NBS data. (People’s Daily app)

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FBI leaker jailed for four years

A former FBI agent who leaked internal documents showing how the agency used racial profiling in counter-terror investigations was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday.

In the third case this week to underscore the Trump administration’s determined crackdown on media leaks, Terry Albury, a 17-year FBI veteran and son of an Ethiopian refugee, was ordered to prison for 48 months by a Minnesota judge after pleading guilty in the case. 

Albury was a special agent in the FBI Minneapolis field office in 2016 and 2017 when he leaked the agency's Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide to The Intercept.

On Monday, a US Senate staffer arrested this year over alleged leaks of classified information to his reporter girlfriend pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents.

His leaks, too, involved matters related to the Russia collusion investigation, which has seen several former aides of President Donald Trump convicted or plead guilty.

Nearly one year ago Sessions said the Justice Department had 27 open leak investigations. (AFP)

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Chinese Embassy in US warns nationals to be careful with electronic devices

The Chinese Embassy in the US warned Chinese nationals to be careful about electronic devices they bring to the US after news reports suggested that the US customs officials had detected illegal information on devices and banned people from entering the country.

According to US law, law enforcement officers at the US border control have the right to examine people, including US citizens, who enter and exit the country.

They can check their nationality, entry purpose and the electronic devices they bring with them, the Embassy of China in the US said in a warning on Thursday.

The notice said that the US law enforcers can search passengers without applying for a search warrant beforehand. (Global Times)

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And that’s People’s Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.

(Produced by Han Xiaomeng and Wang Zi)