CX Daily: The Heated Fight Against Facial Recognition Scams
Chinese foreign minister urges the U.S. to clearly denounce Taiwan separatist activities
Facial recognition has long been touted as a quick and dependable way to identify people for purposes ranging from checking on work attendance to fighting terrorism.
Scams /
Cover Story: The heated fight against facial recognition scams
Beijing resident Li was appalled when she found that 430,000 yuan ($60,680) disappeared from her bank savings within minutes. The money transfer, which was supposed to be verified through facial recognition, went undetected, Li said.
It all happened in June 2021 after Li received a call from someone claiming to be a police officer who questioned her on alleged money laundering. To prove her innocence, Li followed the caller’s instructions to transfer money to a newly opened account at the Bank of Communications, which was soon drained by scammers.
Investigators later found that just 15 minutes after Li opened the new account, the thieves successfully passed facial recognition verifications, reset the password and removed the money transfer limit. Within 30 minutes, all of Li’s money was gone.
China-U.S. /
China foreign minister urges U.S. to clearly denounce Taiwan separatist activities
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the U.S. to clearly state its opposition to all separatist activities supporting Taiwan independence during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, adding that relations between the two nations have “suffered a grave impact” and are at a “critical juncture.”
Wang told his U.S. counterpart that the Taiwan question is “at the core of China’s core interests” during a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly Friday Washington time, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Hong Kong /
Chinese mainland students are flocking back to Hong Kong universities
In late August, Wu Haidi, an applied sociology major at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), stayed up all night just to try to secure a relatively cheap place to live in the notoriously expensive city.
Wu said a group of like-minded students from the Chinese mainland were already lining up outside an apartment building near CityU at 10:30 p.m. By 9 a.m. the next day, four more groups had joined. Luckily, after a sleepless night Wu managed to get one of the two apartments that the building manager listed for rent that day. Others weren’t as fortunate.
FINANCE & ECONOMY
Digital yuan /
Central bank warns of telecom scams involving digital yuan
Since China launched trials of the digital yuan, known as the e-CNY, criminals have taken advantage of insufficient public awareness to conduct telecom scams, a senior People’s Bank of China official warned.
China will fully respect privacy and protect personal information for digital yuan users and will focus on risk prevention to prevent telecom fraud and meet anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing requirements, Mu Changchun, director-general of the central bank's Digital Currency Research Institute, said in an article in Modern Bankers journal.
Fund /
China Construction Bank to set up $4.2 billion fund to buy properties
China Construction Bank Corp. (CCB) will set up a 30 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) fund to buy properties from developers as policymakers beef up efforts to contain a real estate crisis that’s weighing on the economy.
The fund will “invest in existing assets” of real estate companies and renovate the properties into rental housing, the lender said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange Friday.
Quick hit /
Editorial: How China should push forward interest rate liberalization
BUSINESS & TECH
Electric-vehicle maker BAIC BluePark is breaking new ground, offering a driver assistance function for Shenzhen owners of its Arcfox Alpha S series, co-developed with Huawei Technologies. Photo: Arcfox
Electric cars /
BAIC-Huawei tie-up launches driver assistance function in EV model
The electric-vehicle (EV) unit of state auto giant Beijing Automobile Group Co. Ltd. launched a driver assistance function for use in the city of Shenzhen in cars co-developed with Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.
BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co. Ltd. announced Saturday that the new feature — a Huawei system called Navigation Cruise Assist — will help drivers deal with complicated urban traffic situations, such as passing crossroads, changing lanes, and keeping an appropriate distance from a vehicle in front.
Property /
Beijing’s $7 billion sale of land-use rights attracts only one private developer
Just one private developer participated in a recent Beijing sale of land-use rights that was dominated by state-owned enterprises as most private business are still struggling with access to funding amid an industrywide liquidity crunch.
Beijing put 18 land parcels up for auction with a total area of 1.5 million square meters and starting prices totaling 47.2 billion yuan ($6.62 billion), according to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources. Ten parcels were sold at the starting prices and eight at a premium. Total sales reached 50 billion yuan, 6% higher than the asking amount.
Quick hits /
Macao casinos jump most in six months on tourism revival bets
China’s spot soymeal prices jump to record in sign of shortage
Long Read /
GALLERY
China’s Zheng defeated in Tokyo tennis tournament
