Water is rationed in Chang'an township, Hunan province, on July 29, as severe drought has caused water shortages for 1 million residents in the province. Guo Liliang / for China Daily

Health

Complaints spike over baby formula imports

Consumers' low confidence in domestic baby formula has led to a surge in complaints against imported baby formulas as some businesses turn to inferior foreign brands, experts say.

Nearly two-thirds of the complaints that the China Consumers' Association received about baby formula in the first half of the year were about foreign brands.

The association received 744 complaints about infant formula in the last six months, double the number in the same period last year.

The association declined China Daily's request on July 28 to say which brands got the most complaints.

Nearly 90 percent of the complaints were over quality issues, such as finding foreign objects - including worms and iron wire - in the cans.

Some infants suffered adverse effects such as diarrhea and allergic reactions, and some products were found being sold after their expiration dates.

Industry experts say that one reason for the rise in complaints against imported brands is that some Chinese businesspeople have been taking advantage of consumers' blind trust in such brands.

Television

Creative industry taps into ancient culture

An animated series based on Buddhist stories from Gansu province is soon to be broadcast on TV, as emerging creative industries tap into ancient Chinese culture.

Legend of Dunhuang is a 12-episode series that will be screened on as-yet unconfirmed channels before the end of 2013. It is adapted from Buddhist artwork in the Mogao Grottoes, home to more than 2,000 colored sculptures and 45,000 square meters of frescoes in 735 caves carved along a cliff.

Six episodes that were put online in October 2007 have attracted a "whopping" number of clicks, according to Wu Qian, deputy general manager of the Lanzhou Nante digital technology group, producer of Legend of Dunhuang.

The series is just a stepping stone in the company's plans to build a cultural and creative industrial park in Gansu. An investment of 1 billion yuan ($163 million; 123 million euros) was made in the project in 2012.

It aims to bring out more products based on rich cultural resources, Wu says.

Finance

Sovereign fund sees 10.6% return

China Investment Corp, the country's sovereign wealth fund, achieved a 10.6 percent gain from its global investments in 2012, compared with a 4.3 percent loss in 2011, according to the company's annual report on July 26.

The cumulative annualized return of CIC's overseas investments rose to 5.02 percent by the end of last year, from 3.8 percent up to 2011. Net income increased to $77.4 billion (58.4 billion euros), up from $48.4 billion in 2011, the report says.

The better performance was mainly because of higher equity prices in global markets last year, with the company adjusting its investment portfolios, a CIC spokeswoman says.

By the end of last year, the company's total assets rose to $575 billion from $482 billion in 2011.

On July 5, the State Council, China's cabinet, appointed its deputy secretary-general Ding Xuedong as chairman of the sovereign wealth fund, filling the vacancy left by Lou Jiwei, who was appointed finance minister in March.

China Daily

(China Daily European Weekly 08/02/2013 page3)