Western companies look hard at China as growth slows

Dumex milk powder products of Danone are seen on display on shelves at a supermarket in BeijingThe Chinese slowdown is forcing many Western companies to take a hard look at their businesses there, leading many to reduce investments, costs and product lines and to tackle increasing bad debts. Double digit growth rates during the first decade of the millennium lured scores of Western companies to invest heavily in China. A recent equities market rout has dashed hopes China will, in the coming years, return to the robust growth it saw in the past.

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China to expand medical insurance for major illnesses

China will expand medical insurance to cover all critical illnesses for all urban and rural residents by the end of the year, the cabinet said on Sunday, the latest step in a plan to fix a healthcare system that has sparked public discontent. The State Council said 50 percent of the medical costs will be covered by insurance in a bid to “more effectively reduce the burden of medical expenses”, in a statement posted on the government’s website. President Xi Jinping’s government has touted access to affordable healthcare as a key platform of his administration, underscoring the importance of meeting the needs of the nearly 1.4 billion people, many of whom have often complained of large out-of-pocket expenses due to low levels of insurance coverage.
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Breakthrough in quest for Ebola vaccine

The World Health Organization began human trials of the VSV-ZEBOV vaccine across Guinea in March 2015An Ebola test vaccine provided blanket protection in a field trial in Guinea, researchers said, possibly heralding "the beginning of the end" for the devastating West African outbreak that has killed thousands. The serum was 100 percent effective after a week in more than 7,600 people inoculated, according to results published in The Lancet medical journal and hailed as "extremely promising" by World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan. The world was "on the verge of an effective Ebola vaccine," the UN&;s health agency said in a statement.

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