US$250b deals signed Chinese and U.S. companies signed deals worth more than US$250 billion during U.S. President Donald Trump’s state visit to China. President Xi Jinping on Thursday revealed the figure after he and Trump witnessed the signing of the agreements. China and the United States have huge potential in reciprocal* economic and trade cooperation, Xi said. Deals include purchases of Boeing aircraft, Ford automobiles, U.S. soybeans and joint development of liquefied natural gas in Alaska. US first lady visits school U.S. first lady Melania Trump on Thursday morning visited Banchang Elementary School in Beijing, accompanied by Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a high-spirited atmosphere, Peng and Trump joined the students in their English, astronomy* and Peking Opera classes, and watched their singing and dancing performances. Trump even tried her hand at painting as she joined in with a calligraphy class. Day care center A day care center under contract with Ctrip.com, a leading travel agency, was suspended on Thursday after staff members were caught on camera allegedly abusing toddlers. Three of the third-party center staff in Shanghai have been detained, according to Shanghai police. To help employees solve babysitting problems for children aged 18 months to 3 years, Ctrip established the center in 2016, and it was run by a third-party organization. Video footage of staff abusing children appeared online last week to public outcry. A clip showed a female staff member throwing a little girl’s schoolbag on the floor and pushing her violently, causing her to fall and hit her head on the corner of a table. Singles Day sales Trade on Alibaba, China’s leading e-commerce platform, reached 168.3 billion yuan (US$25.4 billion) on Saturday’s shopping promotion, up from 120 billion yuan in 2016. Alipay, Alibaba’s mobile payment platform, handled 1.48 billion payments from around the world, 41 percent more than last year. A total of 812 million orders were generated in the 24 hours, up 23 percent. (SD-Agencies) ? | 