CHINESE DIRECTOR WINS SIFF AWARD

　　Chinese director Zhou Ziyang， 38， won the award for best director at the 25th edition of the Sofia International Film Festival （SIFF） in the Bulgarian capital on March 21.
　　The award was given for Zhou’s film Wuhai， which tells the story of a young couple who struggle with financial problems， split and get back together after a storm.
　　The SIFF is the biggest film festival in Bulgaria and the only Bulgarian film festival recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations.
　　Wuhai， meaning black sea， is Zhou’s second feature film. He won the award for best young director given by the Chinese Film Directors’ Guild for his first feature film Old Beast， the story of a selfish man who gambles away his money while his wife is ill at home and his worsening relationship with his children.

Avoiding Campus Loan Trap

　　People.com.cn March 19
　　On March 17， five authorities including the Ministry of Education and People’s Bank of China， announced that microlending platforms have been banned from giving consumer loans to college students.
　　College students are a special consumption group. Though some of them earn money from scholarships or internships， the majority needs parental support to cover their basic needs. As they have not yet formed a mature attitude toward consumption， they are likely to run into the problems of impulsive spending and excessive spending if they have access to money.
　　University campuses have become the targets of those platforms that issue online consumer loans， causing some students to overspend and fall into debt traps.
　　In addition to having a detrimental effect on a student’s personal and college life， this also damages the order and credit of the financial market.
　　The authorities have asked the lenders to gradually reduce their loans to students while organizations without a financial license cannot offer credit services to college students.

Fund Investment

　　Lifeweek March 15
　　In 2021， fund products have become popular among young people， replacing fashion， relationships and celebrity gossip as the subject of their conversations. In fact， they got wide attention last year， when they increased by over 3 trillion yuan （$460.2 billion）， reaching 18 trillion yuan （$2.8 trillion）， a five-year high. 　　Entering the new year， the market scale of the fund has continued to expand， as well as the number of investors. The first two months of 2021 saw domestic public funds add over 700 billion yuan（$107.4 billion）， doubling from the same period last year.
　　The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown measures to contain the disease plunged the global economy into a severe contraction. So people began to seek methods like investing in funds to avoid devaluing their assets.
　　In both the domestic stock market and the international capital market， most retail investors are at the low end of the food chain， and only a small number of them have been rewarded. That makes the products operated by experienced fund managers a practical choice.
　　However， the long-term investment strategy of fund managers means it will take a long time for people to see returns on their investment. But people generally think of short-term trade， adjusting their investment when the market fluctuates. This goes against the law of profit in terms of fund investment and puts greater pressure on the market.

Sleep Problems

　　Beijing Youth Daily March 22
　　Nearly 60 percent of young Chinese surveyed recently by China Youth Daily said they habitually go to bed late and barely fall asleep before 11 p.m. The survey was conducted to mark the 21st World Sleep Day， March 21.
　　Of the 2，002 survey respondents aged between 18 and 35， only 8.5 percent said their average sleeping time exceeds eight hours. Over four fifths said they usually sleep between six and eight hours a night. Nearly half of the respondents suffer from excessive dreaming， light sleeping and early awakening and other sleep problems.
　　Poor sleep quality is harmful to both physical and mental health， weakening the immune system and causing emotional irritability. Staying up late is a major reason for this.
　　Case studies have proved that excessive sitting up late increases the risk of cancer， diabetes and depression， which cannot be reversed by medical care and other approaches.
　　Today， over 300 million Chinese are facing sleep disturbances， according to the Chinese Sleep Research Society. It is urgent to remind those late nighters to go to bed earlier.

NEW CHAIRPERSON FOR PINDUODUO

　　Chen Lei， CEO of major e-commerce player Pinduoduo， assumed the position of chairperson on March 17， after 41-year-old Huang Zheng stepped down to focus on scientific research. 　　Chen， 42， was chief technology officer of the company， and a founding member. He held the position of CEO since July 1， 2020.
　　A data scientist by training， Chen in a conference call with analysts after the release of Pinduoduo’s fourth-quarter results reiterated the online discounter platform’s commitment to promoting the digital inclusion of rural communities.
　　To strengthen the resilience of the food supply chain， Pinduoduo will invest in agriculture and food technology， and evaluate global opportunities in alternative proteins， food safety and precision farming， he said.
　　“China will be able to completely fulfill its obligations under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership（RCEP） when the agreement enters into force... All 15 members of the RCEP are planning to ratify the agreement before the end of 2021 and push for it to take effect on January 1， 2022.”
　　Yu Benlin， Director General of the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs， at a press conference on March 22
　　“The 14th Five-Year Plan（2021-25） provides an excellent pathway for a truly modernized economy， a consumer-driven society， and growth， which is sustainable as well as strong.”
　　HSBC Group Chief Executive Noel Quinn at the China Development Forum 2021 on March 22， where economists and business leaders shared their insights on China’s future route
　　“I am impressed by China’s commitment of a low-carbon economy， which is aimed at realizing a sustainable-energy economy in the end. China’s goal of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 is aggressive and is a great one.”
　　Tesla CEO Elon Musk， in an interview with China Central Television on March 23
　　“The new administration of the U.S. is still very much under the shadow of the previous administration. They still need to work out a delicate balance between competition and confrontation.”
　　Cheng Li， Director and senior fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution， in an interview with CGTN on March 23， on the high-level meeting between Chinese and U.S. officials in Anchorage， Alaska， the U.S.