Cover Story

The War on the Cloud

Amazon， the worlds largest Internet-based retailer， launched Amazon Web Services （AWS） at the end of 2006 to provide IT services for start-ups. The model was a great success， igniting the global public cloud market. Replicating the AWS business model， over the past five years Alibaba Cloud has amassed a 31 percent share of Chinas public cloud market. In 2016， Alibaba Cloud started thinking about expanding internationally， putting the company on a collision course with AWS.

In addition to AWS and Alibaba Cloud， the traditional IT giants are also rapidly changing their technology and marketing strategies toward a cloud computing market transformation. But this market is not a zero-sum game of life and death; on the contrary， given the markets unprecedented openness and cooperation， the future winners will spread all over each link in the industry chain.

Shenzhen Long-term Apartment Rentals Face Melee

With soaring land prices， rising housing prices， increasing thresholds to purchase homes in first-tier cities， government policy support， the leasing market has gradually surpassed the new home market. Long-term apartment rentals which hit many “pain points” in the traditional rental market are becoming a new concept receiving attention from capital， real estate developers and the government.

The improvement of the environment did not change the fact that long-term rentals are a huge initial investment， long-term return， low-profit business. Although it is considered a “blue ocean industry，” long-term apartment rentals still face housing availability scarcity， lower rental rates， high tax burdens， high capital costs and other issues. Before booming， the industry may still need to go through a long period of market cultivation， and even face a brutal reshuffling and reorganization.

Precision Medicine： Bubble or Opportunity？

Precision medicine is a “tailor-made” treatment based on the individual genetic characteristics of patients. Its introduction has given the global medical community new hope to be able to cure tumors， leukemia and other chronic diseases. In 2015， the Chinese and U.S. governments invested heavily in the introduction of precision medicine initiatives.

The active stance of the two governments has prompted an investment influx from a large number of enterprises and billions in financing， bringing up hundreds of sequencing companies. Experts point out that precision medical treatment is still far from the clinical application stage. Most companies lack core technology and solid business models， and instead rush to advance to clinical application， which is irresponsible towards patients.

The Road Ahead for Death Penalty Review Reform

The year 2016 marks the tenth anniversary since the Supreme Judicial Court recovered the right to review the death penalty from local high courts. Over the past 10 years， this move not only strictly controlled the number of the death penalty sentences issued， but also introduced standardization and normalization of the death penalty review litigation process in judicial proceedings and pushed forward improvements in criminal proceedings.

However， the death penalty review process still has room for improvement. For example， current death penalty review procedures do not adequately protect the litigation rights of defendants and counsel. Other questions， such as whether death penalty review should require court trial proceedings， whether it should emphasize the participation of lawyers， and whether death penalty review criteria are clear， etc.， have yet to be addressed in the reform.

Big Banks to Launch AMCs

It is reported that several major state-owned banks plan to set up asset management companies （AMCs） to undertake debt-for-equity swaps， in a bid to reduce corporate debt. Before the formation of AMCs in the banking system， the four financial AMCs and local AMCs， whose initial function was the disposal of non-performing assets， constituted monopolistic competition.

Setting up AMCs independently will allow banks to determine their own asset arrangements， and give them more control both in terms of asset prices as well as choices of assets. After the completion of this round of debt-for-equity swaps， the transformation of AMCs in the banking system is a task worth considering.