IN BRIEF (Page 20)

Chinese embrace exercise as lifestyle choice

Despite a strong wind blowing, the bustling scenes at northeast Beijing's Nanshan Ski Resort on Dec 5 signified an increased participation in sports, even in winter.

Sinopec to double shale gas capacity

China Petrochemical Corp is planning to boost shale gas output capacity at its Fuling project to 10 billion cubic meters by 2017.

Xi leads policy shift to supply-side economics

Economists called it a "great signal", an "important change" and a "starting point of all innovations".

Been there, done that - for a long time

Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, at age 90, still travels to China about three times a year. After four decades of numerous trips to the country for business, the chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co Inc, a privately held insurance company, knows how to beat jet lag.

Don't give up on trade talks, minister says

Countries should stick with the Doha Round of trade talks and make efforts to complete its agenda, China's minister of commerce said during a key World Trade Organization meeting in Nairobi.

Quotable

In the future, vehicles could be self-driven and controlled by smart systems. We have set a target to commercialize our operations in the next three years."

IN BRIEF (Page 19)

The zeitgeist of a Christmas present

Pigs do not fly, but sharks obviously do, and indeed in the Yiwu Small Commodities Market in Zhejiang province, they have been flying off the shelf.

Christmas this year made in China

With only days to go until Christmas, many retailers in Nairobi have stocked up for the last minute rush that characterizes Kenyan holiday shopping.

Chinese tie-ups healthy for Africa

Africans, and the continent's health sector, stand to gain immensely from partnerships with Chinese pharmaceutical companies, participants in a recent international health conference in Nairobi said.

Customers swipe Double 12 deals

Chinese e-commerce companies have done it again. Hot on the heels of Singles Day - the Nov 11 shopping fest that this year saw Alibaba alone rake in 91.2 billion yuan ($14.1 billion; 13 euros billion) in sales in just 24 hours - another event on Dec 12 again had tills ringing.