Value of venture deals tumbles 44% THE value of venture deals in China tumbled 44% to US$24.7 billion in the first four months of the year, compared with a year earlier, according to data from the research firm Preqin. That’s almost twice the rate of decline in the United States and nearly four times the pace of the global slide. A rout is sweeping the entire tech industry this year, which some have argued is well-earned and overdue. After more than a decade of surging valuations, the sector has taken a beating, with prominent stocks like Amazon.com Inc. and Tesla Inc. tumbling and venture investors pulling back from high-risk deals. COVID restrictions on group tourism trips eased CHINA’S tourism authority yesterday eased a rule on the suspension of certain tourism trips in areas where COVID-19 cases are found, part of the country’s effort to make its virus response more targeted. The new guideline issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism says travel agents are suspended from organizing group tourism trips linking a county that has reported areas deemed of high or medium COVID risk, and areas outside the province where the county is based. That is less stringent than the previous blanket rule that had required travel agencies in a entire province to halt cross-province group tourism trips if any small areas in the province became of high or medium virus risk. Solar-tidal power plant connected to grid CHINA’S first intelligent power plant utilizing solar and tidal power to generate electricity was connected to the power grid Monday. The full operation of the power plant in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province marks the country’s new achievements in the utilization of marine energy resources and the development and construction of its new-energy network. The power plant has an installed capacity of 100 megawatts. Its annual power generation output will exceed 100 million kWh, enough to meet the annual electricity demand of about 30,000 urban households. Beijing moves to promote digital economy BEIJING has released an action plan for the development of the city’s digital economy to stimulate the vitality of the industry. The plan puts forward measures such as improving the supply capacity of digital technology and nurturing the ecology for its innovation, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology on Monday. | 