China Daily (Hong Kong)

Chasing my first 5,000 yuan in free money

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I am a hunter. Before you conjure an image in your mind of me stalking the streets of Beijing with a 12-bore shotgun as I seek my quarry, calm yourselves, dear readers.

What I mean, in fact, is that living up to the oldfashion­ed stereotype of people from my native country of Scotland as being “careful with money”, my hunting involves the search for a few extra pennies.

For most people, I am certain that the concept of “free money” is very appealing,

This Day, That Year

ItemfromJu­ly11,1983,in ChinaDaily:ChinaPetro­chemicalCo­rpwasestab­lishedtoda­ytoacceler­atethe developmen­toftheoila­nd gassector.

Thecompany­willbe responsibl­efortheove­rall planningan­dmanagemen­t oftheprodu­ctionandth­e importande­xportbusin­ess ofthecount­ry’spetrochem­icalindust­ry.

For the past few decades, China’s oil and gas sector has been dominated by three State-owned heavyweigh­ts: China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemi­cal Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp.

In May, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, unveiled a and Chinese bike-sharing giant Ofo is well aware of this, as it now offers small financial incentives to its customers.

My “hunting”, like that of many other users of the popular transporta­tion app, involves searching for “red envelopes” that appear in some areas where Ofo bikes are available.

What adds to the allure of this offer, and the “thrill of the chase” is that these “red envelopes” could contain anything from a few jiao up to 5,000 yuan ($735).

All you need to do is hire a bike from one of the “red envelope” areas showing up on the app, use the said vehicle for at least 10 minutes, then, after you pay the fee for hiring the bike, a red envel- reform plan to open up the country’s energy sector.

The long-awaited reform aims to create a flexible and efficient market-oriented mechanism with the incorporat­ion of private shareholde­rs to improve the management of State-owned companies.

Private entities are now welcome to invest in and run oil and gas storage facilities.

Oil majors are already taking action.

Sinopec Group, the listed arm of China Petrochemi­cal Corp, plans to cooperate with private companies in sales of refined oil, while the CNPC said it will allow private companies to hold up to a combined stake of 49 percent in oil exploratio­n businesses. ope will appear on the screen.

Simply open it, and the financial gift will be revealed.

After you have “earned” 10 yuan from the envelope you

In April, Sinopec announced that it has approved the overseas listing of its majority-owned subsidiary Sinopec Marketing Co.

It is seen as the latest move to further open up the country’s energy markets.

The number of overseasli­sted shares to be issued will be 10 percent of the total share capital, according to the company.

Last year, the group’s net are given the option of transferri­ng it to your WeChat or Alipay wallet, transformi­ng the virtual earnings into money you can spend on whatever you want.

Initially I dismissed this as just another marketing gimmick, but when I updated the Ofo app on my smartphone several weeks ago, and the “red envelope” option started to appear I caught the bug, and began seeking out these potentiall­y lucrative offerings.

So, how much have I amassed since I started “hunting”? So far, about 27 yuan.

I will let you know when I have made my first 5,000.

Contact the writer at ian@chinadaily.com.cn profits rose by 43.8 percent, reaching 46.4 billion yuan ($6.75 billion), while its operating revenue fell by 4.4 percent to 1.93 trillion yuan.

China aims to increase domestic crude oil output to 200 million metric tons by 2020, while the supply capacity for natural gas should exceed 360 billion cubic meters, according to a government plan released in January.

 ?? SUN ZHENGYI / FOR CHINA DAILY ?? A couple take selfies in front of a fountain in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
SUN ZHENGYI / FOR CHINA DAILY A couple take selfies in front of a fountain in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
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 ?? WU CHANGQING / FOR CHINA DAILY ?? An Ofo bike on display at the Beijing Internatio­nal Bicycle Exhibition on Saturday.
WU CHANGQING / FOR CHINA DAILY An Ofo bike on display at the Beijing Internatio­nal Bicycle Exhibition on Saturday.
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