XM announces plans to become model city for express delivery

Cosco's Sheng Shi vessel, a pure care truck carrier (PCTC) embarked last week from Xiamen's Yuanhai wharf, marking the commencement of the China-Europe shipping route. The vessel's load of 2,561 vehicles manufactured by Chinese brands included more than 1,800 new energy cars produced in Fujian.

City officials last week announced that noted British musician Thomas Trotter will be the first organist to participate in Gulangyu's artist-in-residence program. Mr. Trotter will host a pair of concerts and a master class during the upcoming edition of the Gulangyu Music Festival.

Gulangyu initiated in May its artist-in-residence program, which began with French pianist Michel Dalberto.

Mr. Trotter's accolades include the Royal Philharmonic Society's Instrumentalist Award in recognition of his achievements as “one of the foremost exponents of the organist's art.” He earned the New York City chapter of the American Guild of Organists' international performer of the year award in 2012. He received the Royal College of Organists Medal in 2016.

The annual application period for cost-of-living allowances for advanced overseas students who return to work in the city of Xiamen is now open. Employers can utilize the city's Human Resources and Social Security Bureau website (http://hrss.xm.gov.cn/) to apply for the allowance. The program provides companies with a subsidy for new hires in Xiamen who obtained graduate degrees abroad. For new beneficiaries, the allowance starts from last month and includes a one-time subsidy of 2,000 yuan for the month of June.

Local Customs officials announced recently that the number of inbound and outbound passenger flows through Xiamen's ports of entry continues to rise.

The Xiamen Entry and Exit Border Inspection Station processed a total of 1.2 million inbound and outbound passengers and more than 10,000 transportation vehicles in the first half of the year. Customs clearance at the airport topped one million passengers, ranking fourth among China's international airports.

Passenger flows have risen steadily since the implementation of less rigid covid-19 regulations as of January 8. Inbound and outbound passenger flows via the airport and the Xiamen-Kinmen ferry tripled on a monthly basis  to 310,000 passengers.

XiamenAir recently last week hosted a recruitment event for flight attendants at its local training facility. The airline stated that it hopes to recruit over a thousand flight attendants in 2023. This year's recruiting class is the largest since 2019. The airline welcomed recent college graduates from any major to apply, provided that the applicants will graduate before 2025.

Tech research firm Omdia recently released its 2022 report covering LED display unit production in the Chinese mainland market. Xiamen Qiangli Photoelectricity ranked first in terms of both market share and shipment area.

China is the world's largest market for the production and consumption of LED display products. Xiamen is home to several of China's largest producers of LED displays.

The Xiamen China Construction Bank financial education demonstration base and an adjoining Neighborhood Library, which is sponsored by CCB, officially opened last week. Both facilities are located at the Xiamen CCB Wenyuan subbranch and cover roughly 500 square meters.

The library holds a collection of 5,000 books and offers access to e-books, newspapers and periodicals. The city library will regularly update the branch's collection each month. Patrons can borrow and return books through the library's self-service machine.

A quartet of male high school students in Xiamen recently became Air Force pilot trainees. They are Lan Lingzhi (Xiamen University Affiliated Keji High School, Xiangan Campus), Li Hanye (Xiamen Foreign Language School), Liao Tianlei (Xiamen University Affiliated Keji High School, Siming campus), and Zhuang Haojie (Xiamen Shuangshi Middle School).

The trainees will fly today to their training location aboard a Y-20 aircraft. A total of 15 high school graduates from Fujian became Air Force pilot trainees this year.

The film industry's peak season hit post-pandemic highs this summer, with total box office sales topping seven billion yuan from June 19 to July 10. In the local Xiamen market, weekly box office sales surpassed 10 million yuan for the past three consecutive weeks.

Xiamen's summer box office sales topped 58 million yuan through July 11 according to Maoyan, the online entertainment service provider.

Local authorities recently announced that a total of 27,000 area residents officially registered their dogs with the city since the launch of new canine regulations in May 2022. The free registration certificate is offered to pet owners who submit proof of their dog's rabies vaccination and microchip implantation.

Fortune business magazine recently released its annual list of China's top 500 listed companies. Six Xiamen enterprises made the list. The Xiamen C&D Group ranked 11th, followed by the XMXYG Corporation and the Xiamen ITG Group at positions 25 and 26.

Other locally-based companies to make the list included Xiamen Xindeco (145th), Xiamen Tungsten (267th), and the Chengtun Mining Group (479th).

The list is based on the performance of China's listed companies over the past year. The 500 companies on the list grossed a total revenue of 65.8 trillion yuan and a net profit of 4.7 trillion yuan. The threshold for making the list this year topped 23 billion yuan.