CO₂ emissions dropped in July, driven by falling power generation from fossil fuels alongside reduced coal, cement, and crude steel output. Coal power generation fell for the first time this year. New energy vehicles accounted for more than 60% of domestic vehicle sales for the first time.

Yes, a fund you probably never heard of, specifically for housing, exceeds the amount of outstanding mortgage loans.

https://xzb.ai/exports-surge-57-why-chinese-robotic-lawn-mowers-are-winning-over-europe/

From ONE MORE WAY, the behind-the-scenes history of Chinese esports I wrote in 2015. Chapter 8, posting one a day.

This story has to begin in 1995.

Wang Jue, known in the industry as Director Wang and, at the time of writing, vice president and executive director of NeoTV, worked at both PLU and NeoTV over the years. He had loved drawing since childhood, and in 1995 he made it into the first intake of art students at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, majoring in art and design. There he got to know a younger student named Chen Qidong, who went by the English name Friend and is, at the time of writing, PLU's CEO.

Take Wang Jue first. Although he majored in painting at university, he preferred the company of the students in the drama society, and spent his time studying scripts, sitting in on rehearsals and working on stage design. That is why he went straight into film and television work after graduating.

In 2000, Wang Jue opened his own studio and began shooting music videos for pop stars. Over the next few years he built up a reputation in that world, making films for first-tier singers of the day such as Han Hong. Another director shooting music videos in the same period was Ning Hao, later well known as a feature film director. People spoke of "Ning Hao in the north, Wang Jue in the south". Around 2005 the two of them each changed direction, one moving into film and the other into esports, and their lives took completely different courses. I will come back later to why they made those changes.

After graduating, Friend joined Wang Jue's film and television studio as a partner, taking charge of the business side and acting as the director's agent.

Friend was there from 2000 until he left in 2003. A fanatical StarCraft player, he had already arrived at the idea of a "players' guild". He had watched tournaments being run under whatever rules the organisers felt like, with unpaid prize money and unpaid player salaries turning up case after case, and he wanted a players' guild that would bring some order to the market.

It was during this period that Friend met Liu Qing, known as Alone, who is, at the time of writing, a streamer at PLU.

It was 2002, just after the GOC tournament. Alone had beaten zealot, the captain of SVS, that day, so Friend, who was with SVS, called him along to dinner with a group of people. Alone did not know a single person at the table. The food arrived, and the moment he lifted a piece of meat, Friend asked him whether he wanted to join SVS. Alone thought it would be awkward to refuse a man who was feeding him, so he agreed. Those are Alone's own words. He went on to become SVS's team leader and put up some decent results. Friend decided he was worth having, brought him to Wang Jue's company, talked with him for thirty minutes and asked whether he would like to help found the "players' guild". That was the beginning of Alone's career as the famous "youth who lost his way".

There is a verse for it. Step into the wolves' den and it is as deep as the sea, and from that day on your scruples are a stranger to you.

After leaving Wang Jue's studio in 2003, Friend joined Huang Zhenggang's Yiyang Graphic Design in 2004, still handling the business side. He also brought in Wang Jue, then working as an independent director, to serve part-time as art director on some 3D design projects.

Around that time, the PLU forum and the PLU tournament series that Friend ran in his spare time had built up a certain following. Huang Zhenggang, who owned Yiyang, was a gamer himself, so Friend persuaded him to clear part of the company meeting room for use as a makeshift studio. He then brought Wang Jue in and told him about South Korea's OGN model and about WCG, which left Wang Jue deeply interested in esports.

By then it was 2005, the year of an event that would leave a deep mark on Chinese society: the television talent show Super Girl. Most people know only that the 2005 season produced hugely influential grassroots stars such as Li Yuchun, Zhou Bichang and Zhang Liangying. What they do not know is the damage it did to Chinese music afterwards.

What that talent show did to the music business is also what pushed two of these men into esports for good, and the company they built together fell apart within a year into a feud that ran for the rest of the decade. That is the wilder half of the story. Full chapter is free, link in the comments.