Let’s share some morning reading material

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Friday, December 18th – Morning reading sharing: 1. Statistics from Peking University show that office workers in China’s major cities work an average of 8.66 hours per day； Guangzhou leads with an average of 9.02 working hours per day, while Shanghai and Beijing rank third and seventh respectively ； Beijing had the longest average round-trip commuting time at 1.32 hours, followed by Shanghai and Tianjin in second and third place respectively. 2. In 2014, global innovators submitted a total of 2.7 million patent applications, representing a 4.5% increase compared to 2013. In 2014, China filed 928,177 patent applications, ranking first in the world and exceeding the total number of applications submitted by the United States and Japan, which ranked second and third respectively. 3. Ministry of Commerce: To date, China has signed 14 free trade agreements, of which 12 have been put into effect, covering 22 countries and regions. 4. The Central Meteorological Observatory predicts that starting from the 19th, areas such as North China and the Huanghuai region will experience moderate to severe haze conditions once again. From the night of the 19th to the 22nd, severe haze will affect parts of Beijing, Hebei, Henan and other regions, with visibility dropping below 1 kilometer. Persistent severe pollution is expected, and in some periods the condition could reach critical levels. The intensity of this fog and haze is slightly greater than that during the period from December 6 to 9. 5. CSAS report: Stock investors contribute the most to tax increases. From January to September, the cumulative revenue from securities transaction stamp duty amounted to 205.4 billion yuan, an increase of 165.15 billion yuan compared with the same period last year, representing a substantial year-on-year growth of 410%. 6. China has built the world’s largest 4G network. The number of 4G users has exceeded 250 million, and it continues to grow at a rapid pace. 7. In the first 10 months of 2015, the total value of online retail sales reached 2.95 trillion yuan, pushing China to the top of the world in terms of the scale of online retail transactions. This year, mobile transactions accounted for 68% of total sales on Double 11, **surpassing those from desktop computers. 8. Alipay has officially launched facial recognition login, allowing users to use facial scanning as a replacement for account passwords. Data shows that the success rate of facial recognition verification exceeds 90%, and full implementation is expected within this year. 9. Microsoft announced the establishment of a joint venture named C&M Information Technologies with China Electronics Technology Group to sell operating systems to **institutions. 10. China successfully launched its first dark matter detection satellite. We will seek evidence for the existence of dark matter, and study its properties and spatial distribution patterns. 11. Argentina announced the abolition of capital controls that had been in place for four years, allowing the exchange rate to float freely. At the same time, the Argentine Central Bank will also convert RMB reserve assets worth $3.1 billion into dollars in order to achieve better liquidity. 12. There is an important process in steel casting called quenching; just as many of the highlights in life do not lie in frenzied expression, but in calm consolidation. A wonderful day begins with reflection!