Bloomberg Business reports: "China’s long-held desire to provide an alternative to the U.S. dollar will get a boost on October 1, when the yuan enters the International Monetary Fund’s basket of reserve currencies, placing it alongside the pound, euro, yen and dollar....Still, there’s a long way to go. While China’s the biggest trading nation, the yuan is barely used in world markets. Even in U.S.-China trade, just 2.4 percent of all payments by value were conducted in yuan....One of the basic definitions of a reserve currency is that it must be freely traded. And the yuan is not quite there yet....The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas suggested in July that the yuan failed a safe-haven test, finding that China’s currency underperforms as market volatility increases. SDR inclusion is likely to prompt the Chinese government to push ahead with reforms to its exchange-rate policy, as part of its efforts to bolster international usage of the currency. But challenging the dollar’s hegemony will take more than a while, with the memory of the shock August 2015 devaluation relatively fresh in investor minds."

The New York Times: Sinosphere comments: "Last year, You Tianlong, a Chinese doctoral student in justice studies at Arizona State University, co-founded a podcast called Xuanmei, or 'U.S. Election,' aimed at younger, urban Chinese. Mr. You and his partners — Hua Jianping, who writes on American politics, and Zhuang Qiaoyi, who holds a master’s degree in international relations from Syracuse University — and their guests discuss topics that have ranged from voter registration to how campaign managers tap into data to advance candidates’ prospects....In an interview, Mr. You explained that the Chinese are more interested in the United States presidential election than ever, but don’t always understand it. I feel that the biggest misunderstanding is that many Chinese take 'House of Cards' too seriously. American politics is complicated, even for Americans. For many Chinese, it’s just too confusing. So people take a shortcut. 'House of Cards’' is so real for them that it filters their impressions of American politics."

The New York Times reports: "As the economy’s traditional export and investment engines have been slowed by feeble demand and excess factories, policy makers are trying to shift toward services and consumption. Tourism is central to that transition....Hainan, the island province that includes Sanya, is at the center of the government’s push. In 2009, the national government designated Hainan for development as an “international tourism island” and unleashed a torrent of investment to support its travel industry....Revenue from tourist businesses more than doubled over that time, to 30 billion renminbi ($4.5 billion) last year. It helped drive Hainan’s overall growth, with the province’s economy up 7.8 percent in 2015, substantially faster than the 6.9 percent nationally.But not all is perfect in paradise....In Hainan, the excitement over tourism has left the island littered with more golf clubs, apartment buildings and hotel suites than even the rising tide of travelers can fill....'There is only one thing I worry about in the long term,' said Zhao Kuan, secretary general of the Sanya Tourism Association, a business group. 'We need to diversify the attractions.'"