Innehållsförteckning för Vol.67/No.5 från Beijing Review

China’s express delivery industry has revolutionized the way goods are transported and delivered. In recent years, this sector has experienced remarkable growth, fueled by innovation, technological advancements and an expanding economy. China’s vast population and booming e-commerce have created a massive demand for fast and reliable delivery services. With the rise of online shopping platforms, consumers expect speedy doorstep deliveries, and the express delivery industry has risen to meet the demand. Through the use of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics and robotics, related companies have optimized their logistics networks, reducing delivery time and increasing accuracy. In 2023, the sector handled 132.07 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 19.4 percent. Its sales revenue stood at 1.2 trillion yuan ($168.78 billion), up 14.5 percent year on year, according…

China-U.S. trade totaled $644.4 billion in 2023, down by 12 percent year on year, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China. China’s exports to the U.S. stood at $500.29 billion, a decline of 13.1 percent, while its imports from the U.S. dropped by 6.8 percent to $164.16 billion. These figures have led to growing speculation that the two countries are in a state of decoupling. China-U.S. trade today indeed faces its fair share of challenges. After the U.S. embarked on a trade war against China in 2018, bilateral trade plummeted, from $630 billion that same year to $541.4 billion in 2019, marking a 14-percent drop. However, China-U.S. trade continued to grow during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching $759.4 billion in 2022. China’s trade with the rest of…

China’s overall population fell for a second year in a row in 2023. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on January 17 that China’s population shrank by 2.08 million year on year to around 1.41 billion over the course of the year. The number of babies born last year decreased by about 540,000 year on year to 9.02 million, whereas 11.1 million deaths were recorded over the same period. In 2022, China’s population dropped by 850,000 year on year, marking the first negative population growth since 1961. Causes of the decline The population declined by a larger margin last year due to factors including a reducing number of women of childbearing age, a declining willingness to have children, postponement of marriage and birth, and an increasing number of people…

DESERTIFICATION CONTROL EXPERT CLAIMS TOP AWARD Xu Xianying, a researcher on desertification, received the National Engineering Award, the nation’s highest honor in the field of engineering, on January 19. Xu, 61, grew up in a village on the rim of a desert in Gansu Province. After college graduation, he chose fighting desertification as his lifelong career, working on taming sand for almost four decades. Gansu in northwest China is one of the regions most severely affected by desertification. Xu has led his team to introduce sand-stabilizing vegetation and develop equipment and technologies such as machines for installing sand barriers. Xu headed the Gansu Desert Control Research Institute in Lanzhou and holds a Ph.D. from the School of Soil and Water Conservation, Beijing Forestry University. Eighty-one individuals were granted the National…

The prospects of a prolonged period of higher borrowing costs and tighter credit conditions present strong headwinds for a world economy that is saddled with high levels of debt but also in need of increased investment, the United Nations’ newly released World Economic Situation and Prospects report warned, adding that many developing countries, especially vulnerable and low-income ones, still have weak growth prospects. In its recent Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank forecast that global economic growth would slow for a third straight year to a “sorry record by the end of 2024,” hampered by tight monetary policies, geopolitical tensions and feeble global trade and investment. According to the World Economic Outlook report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last October, global growth is expected to average 3.1…

Regional authorities have been presenting and exchanging local specialties in recent weeks, unveiling a hidden treasure trove of delicacies. The trend of gift exchanging is occurring amid a burgeoning wave of tourism after Harbin, the provincial capital of Heilongjiang, became the focus of all eyes for its local attractions. The trend has sparked a chain of joyful surprises as people unexpectedly learn that the origins of some well-known foods are none other than their hometown. The first local specialty that caught public attention during the gift exchanging was cranberries from Heilongjiang. Last December, Harbin City extended a warm welcome to a visiting kindergarten group from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China. In a heartfelt expression of thanks, Guangxi sent a bountiful gift of 200 tons of their sun-kissed local…

For many people, food is more than fuel for the body; it can be linked to both emotion and smell. In his work Remembrance of Things Past, French novelist Marcel Proust famously wrote of a man who took one small bite of a madeleine cake dipped in tea and was immediately transported on a journey through memory lane. Mandy Gao, a 26-year-old student in Sydney, Australia, recently recollected her “taste of childhood,” courtesy of a TV series prominently featuring cultural elements from her hometown of Shanghai—Blossoms Shanghai. “It showcases many classic dishes from Shanghai—stir-fried rice cakes with pork, rice with salted pork and green onion oil noodles…,” Gao told Beijing Review, adding that she left Shanghai at the age of 16 and Blossoms Shanghai triggered a sense of nostalgia. Adapted…

The Chinese Archaeological Museum (CAM), which opened to the public last September, showcases the evolution of Chinese civilization through immersive displays. Perhaps the most striking feature of the CAM is the diversity of its exhibits. More than 6,000 items are displayed in a ware-house-style setting, giving a general idea of the remains and artifacts unearthed from various excavation sites across China. For most visitors, the museum’s greatest attraction is its wealth of cultural treasures of national renown. In this vein, and by popular demand, the museum features 10 distinctive artifacts each month. The CAM also hosts regular lectures on archaeology, which attract crowds of visitors. After all, archaeology helps us appreciate and preserve our common human heritage. Comments to weiyao@cicgamericas.com…

During their summit in San Francisco, California, on November 15, 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden announced continued cooperation on counternarcotics issues, and a crackdown on fentanyl in particular. Interaction on a wide range of issues is an inevitable part of the mix in bilateral relations. Although President Ronald Reagan launched a “War on Drugs” in the 1980s and all subsequent presidents continued it, the results are not encouraging. The drug crisis in the U.S. is more extensive, covering both the country’s urban and rural areas. From the U.S. perspective, to solve the fentanyl issue, it not only needs domestic efforts, but also international cooperation with China, Mexico, Canada and India. China-U.S. cooperation on counternarcotics and law enforcement is essential to the wellbeing of both countries.…

What is the contemporary significance of the concept of human rights? How to grasp its implications? Does this concept still wield influence in safeguarding individuals’ fundamental needs? Chinese and foreign scholars recently exchanged their ideas on and observations of human rights in China at a January 20 seminar hosted by the China International Communications Group Center for the Americas (CICG Americas) ahead of the fourth cycle of the universal periodic review of China which was launched by the UN Human Rights Council on January 23. Many of them agreed that human rights are couched in abstract terms in recent popular Western discourse and that China should offer a comprehensive and culturally grounded perspective on human rights, taking into account each country’s unique historical, cultural and developmental context. Experts and geopolitical…

Chen Yu, who rarely engages on social media, recently surprised his friends by sharing a post on his Weixin, the omnipresent Chinese super app. The photo captured him walking alone in the midst of a mountain wilderness. Chen is seen as a tech geek by his colleagues at Beijing-based Internet giant Baidu where he works as a programmer, but little do they know the 27-year-old man is also a leader of one of the city’s groups for outdoor sports enthusiasts. On weekends, he frequently organizes hiking and trail running adventures that sometimes span over 30 km and continue for six to seven hours. Lao Yan, a 68-year-old native of Beijing, discovered his passion for cycling three years ago and has been unstoppable ever since. However, his adventurous spirit doesn’t stop…

In the fantasy world created by contemporary U.S. painter Augustina Droze, swirling and colorful flora and fauna deliver to onlookers an exuberant explosion of creativity. Based in Beijing for the past nine years, her paintings fuse Eastern and Western aesthetic ideals that ultimately convey her love of nature. After moving to China in 2015, Droze has been working at Tsinghua International School (THIS), affiliated to Tsinghua University High School, as an art teacher and head of the art department. She has also been a creator of public art, such as large murals, to transfer positive social messages such as environmental awareness and climate change. METAZOA, an exhibition of Droze’s works in Beijing from late last December to the end of January, attracted many viewers. The works on display investigated the…

South Africa has the following saying: “I am because we are!” This ancient philosophy is called ubuntu, a compressed term from the country’s Nguni languages of Zulu and Xhosa that broadly explains how our humanity is enriched through shared experiences, compassion and a sense of responsibility to others. Similarly, the concepts of harmony, interconnectedness and mutual respect are deeply ingrained in the philosophy, values and culture of the Chinese people. South Africa and China share a long history of friendship and cooperation. On September 18, 2023, the cities of Durban in South Africa and Xiamen in China’s southeastern province of Fujian officially established sister-city relations. As a true Durbanite who now also holds the title of Xiamener, I find myself in a special position, given the fact that the two…