A pioneer blueprint for future free trade

A new round of reform and opening-up of China marked by the opening of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone two years ago is sure to be carried on in the country's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

Students rise to the tech challenge

Samson Onkoba is aware of how far he has come. After receiving an award for scientific and technical prowess, he acknowledges his humble origins and looks to good days ahead.

Learning skills to serve the super rich

Dressed in a black tuxedo, with a bow tie and white gloves, Tang Zhiyong is struggling to iron a newspaper while keeping his feet straight and his waist tilted at exactly 30 degrees.

Tough training tests help to sort out the very best from the rest

Zhang Zhejing is struggling to remember how to lay out the cutlery on either side of the plate when it comes to the soup spoon and the salad fork.

Quotable

'From an increase in margin trading, some retail investors are flocking back to the market."

IN BRIEF (Page 18)

Right time for wearable devices

Guo Wanting was ecstatic when he heard that Apple Inc would release its smartwatch in China.

Fashion brands get makeover in China

Fast fashion chain Topshop's first retail outlet on the Chinese mainland opened in August, with lines of young women eager to see what the British brand had to offer.

Rebalancing seen amid weak economic growth

China's economy grew at its weakest pace in six-and-half years in the third quarter, but beyond the headline number, analysts see signs of rebalancing.

Bigger role sought for nation in global economic talks

Chinese think tank researchers are calling for a more active approach to the country's foreign economic relations in contributing ideas to the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20).

China overtakes US in number of billionaires

China now has more billionaires than the United States, according to the latest Hurun Rich List, with Wang Jianlin, the real estate mogul, overtaking Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder, as the wealthiest person in the mainland.

Magical Morocco conjures allure

Morocco. Monaco.