This is People's Daily Tonight, your news source from China.
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China's Long March carrier rocket successfully launched 12 satellites
The Long March-2D carrier rocket took off on Friday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China's Gobi Desert with 12 satellites all entering the intended orbit.
Among the 12 satellites, two of them are low-orbit remote sensing satellites contracted by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology of Saudi Arabia. The other ten small satellites were developed by Hunan Changsha Tianyi Research Institute and Beijing Jiutian MSI Technology Development Co.
This mission is the 293rd flight of the Long March carrier rocket series for launching cargo. (People's Daily app)
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Record imports push US trade gap to $55.5 billion in October
The Commerce Department said Thursday that the gap between the United States sells and what it buys from foreign countries hit $55.5 billion in October, the fifth straight increase and highest since October 2008.
The politically sensitive deficit in the trade of goods with China rose 7.1 percent to a record $43.1 billion. The goods gap with the European Union widened 65.5 percent to a record $17.6 billion.
Led by shipments of medicine and cars, overall imports rose 0.2 percent to a record $266.5 billion. Exports fell 0.1 percent to $211 billion.
President Donald Trump campaigned on a pledge to slash America’s longstanding trade deficit with the rest of the world. Despite his import taxes on steel, aluminum and Chinese goods, the deficit so far this year is running 11.4 percent above January-October 2017.
US exports of soybeans, targeted for retaliatory tariffs by China, dropped 46.8 percent in October. (AP)
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China has rolled out nationwide trial for 5G: MIIT
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology MIIT approves the applications of three major operators for 5G test frequency licenses, kicking off nationwide large-scale 5G test Friday.
China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom have obtained 5G test frequency resources, respectively, according to CCTV News report.
Business insiders believe that the frequency resources for issuing 5G system test frequency licenses are overall balanced.
The issuance of 5G test frequency allows telecom operators and equipment manufacturers to clarify product development goals and greatly accelerate product development in all aspects of the industry chain. (People's Daily app)
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UK suspends 'gold-plated' visa program amid organized crime concerns
London is suspending its so-called "gold-plated" visa program in an attempt to crack down on financial crime and corruption.
The Tier 1 investor visas were introduced in 2008, so wealthy people from outside the European Union could speedily navigate their way through the United Kingdom's visa system and settle in Great Britain.
Participants were required to invest at least 2 million pounds ($2.5 million) in the UK economy and, after five years in the country, would qualify for "indefinite leave to remain". Those who invested 5 million pounds could apply for permanent residency after only three years, and a 10 million pound investment bought it after only two years.
But the government says it fears the program could be used to launder illicit money and is bringing in changes to address the problem. The BBC said on Thursday the visas are likely to be relaunched in 2019.(China Daily)
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Beijing sets new policies for cross-border e-commerce
The China (Beijing) Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone announced its new import policies on cross-border retail on Wednesday.
The authorities present at the release meeting detailed interpretations on cross-border e-commerce related regulation, taxation and foreign exchange management policies.
The meeting decided that starting from next January, the current policies on cross-border e-commerce retail imports will continue. No requirements of licensing, registration or record-filing for first-time imports shall apply to the retail imports through cross-border e-commerce platforms. Instead, these goods will receive more relaxed regulation as imports for personal use.
Goods included in the cross-border e-commerce retail imports list have so far enjoyed zero tariffs within a set quota and had their import VAT and consumer tax collected at 70 percent of the statutory taxable amount. Such preferential policies will be extended to another 63 tax categories of high-demand goods. (China.org.cn)
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No device found at CNN's New York offices after bomb threat
New York police found no explosive devices in the US broadcaster CNN's offices after the building was evacuated due to a bomb threat Thursday night.
The New York Police Department said a phone threat was made to the Time Warner Center in uptown Manhattan, which houses CNN, at around 10:00 p.m. (0300 GMT, Friday), claiming that there were five bombs planted around the building.
The police then evacuated the building, blocked all vehicle and pedestrian traffic around the area and performed sweep-and-search of the facility. A bomb squad was also on standby during the search.
Shortly before midnight, an "all-clear" was given as no suspicious devices were found. The building was reopened and local traffic resumed.
The Time Warner Center was evacuated in October after a package of pipe bombs, which was addressed to former Central Intelligence Agency Chief John Brennan, was intercepted. (Xinhua)
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China to put 10 new railways into service by end-2018
Ten new railways with an aggregate operating mileage of 2,500 km will be put into service by the end of this year to enhance the capability of China's high-speed rails, sources from the China Railway said.
About 553 new high-speed train services will be introduced simultaneously, which is expected to elevate China's high-speed rail transport capacity by 9 percent, according to the sources.
The change will also make high-speed railway services available for the first time in a dozen cities, including Fuxin and Chaoyang in Liaoning Province, Chengde in Hebei, Tongliao in Inner Mongolia, Mudanjiang in Heilongjiang, Rizhao in Shandong, Lianyungang and Yancheng in Jiangsu, Yaan in Sichuan and Lijiang in Yunan.
The travel times between some cities are also expected to be shortened. For instance, it will take three hours less for passengers to travel from Harbin to Mudanjiang, and nearly seven hours less from Mudanjiang to Beijing. (Xinhua)
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And that's People's Daily Tonight. Thanks for joining us.
(Produced by Han Xiaomeng)