Innehållsförteckning för Vol.67/No.7/8 från Beijing Review

Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, is being hailed as the top travel destination this winter on China’s social networks. Due to the region’s plummeting winter temperatures, Harbin is known as the Ice City courtesy of its snowy scenery and artsy ice sculptures. During the New Year’s Day holiday from December 31 last year to January 2, Harbin welcomed 3.05 million tourist visits and generated revenue of 5.91 billion yuan ($831 million), both record highs, according to official statistics. During the Spring Festival travel rush from January 26 to March 5 this year, tourists from all over China are flocking to the country’s northernmost provincial capital to explore its ski slopes and other fun ice and snow activities. But Harbin is just one of the destinations that have gone viral. Several regions have…

As one of the world’s major markets, China has attracted investment from a wide range of transnational corporations by lowering market access thresholds and providing investment facilitation through the country’s commitment to further opening up and measures to continuously improve its business environment. U.S. businesses have not only been deeply involved in China’s economic and social development over the past decades, but are also expected to play a more active role in China’s pursuit of modernization, a major undertaking that not only shapes the future of the nation but also has the potential to become a global game-changer by opening doors to international opportunities. U.S. participation The four-plus decades of reform and opening up, a process that China embarked on in late 1978, have been about the country learning international…

A folk art troupe from Bomi County in Nyingchi, Xizang Autonomous Region, dazzled audiences at the village gala, or cunwan, held in Sanjianfang Village in Beijing’s Daxing District from January 30 to February 5. The troupe arrived in Beijing on January 30. Over the next four days, they performed the Reba dance, a traditional drum and bell dance. Reba dance originated in Xizang in the 11th century, and the dance is said to be able to help people live in harmony with one another. During the show, dancers in colorful clothes hang large drums from their waists, wave their drumsticks and move back and forward with powerful rhythms. The highlight of the Bomi version of the Reba dance is that it includes crosstalk, a traditional form of entertaining dialogue, in…

AUDITOR-TURNED HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATOR Senior official Zhang Ke, 55, has been appointed head of the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA), the State Council, China’s highest state administrative organ, announced on February 1. After graduation in 1989, Zhang worked at the National Audit Office for 34 years, reaching the position of deputy auditor general. He obtained a Ph.D. in management following an on-the-job postgraduate program. The NHSA, established in 2018, is a vice ministerial-level agency affiliated to the State Council. It is responsible for formulating policies and plans for public health initiatives such as medical insurance, maternity insurance and medical assistance, and overseeing their implementation. It also supervises the use of funds earmarked for healthcare services and compiles and updates the catalog of drugs and services covered by the national medical insurance…

The term “human rights” has become thoroughly politicized in the Western media discourse. At the same time, the concept has been hollowed out and emptied of important meaning. According to the dominant Western liberal conception, rights to housing, healthcare, education and a dignified job are not considered human rights. Instead, Western governments have weaponized the vague notion of human rights to justify interventionist policies and even wars, which have led to the preventable deaths of millions of people. This is the polar opposite of human rights. A more complete and consistent conception of human rights must necessarily include the rights of people to sovereignty and noninterference. And this is why China’s more comprehensive understanding of human rights is so important. China has helped to broaden the international discussion on human…

Opportunities for green development cooperation between China and the United States are opening up as the countries on January 12 launched their Working Group on Enhancing Climate Action, as agreed in the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis released last November. In an exclusive interview with Beijing Review reporter Zhang Shasha, Michael Hart, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), shared his views on China’s green development, the respective advantages of Chinese and U.S. enterprises in shaping a sustainable future, and the possibilities for collaboration between the two sides. Edited excerpts from their conversation follow: Beijing Review: What notable changes have you seen in China’s approach to green development over the past few decades?  Michael Hart: A significant shift in China’s approach…

‘There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Jens Hildebrandt, Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce in north China, exclaimed as he officially released the report of the German Chamber of Commerce in China’s latest Business Confidence Survey 2023/24 in Beijing on January 24. The survey, launched in 2007, has been a key instrument for gauging the business sentiment of German companies operating in China. The latest survey was conducted between September 5 and October 6, 2023, with 566 member companies of the German Chamber of Commerce in China responding. The survey showed that German companies operating in China face a range of challenges, including increased competition from local companies, economic headwinds and geopolitical risks. “Last year was a reality check for German companies operating in China,”…

At his studio in Beijing E-town on the south-eastern outskirts of China’s capital city, Zhang Xiaodong often immerses himself in the world of paper. As he unfolds the chapters of a book in dragon-scale bookbinding format, hundreds of sheets of thin paper flow like ripples in the wind, and illustrations composed of patterned stripes on the pages gradually come to life, creating an almost three-dimensional reading experience. Zhang is the only inheritor of this intangible cultural heritage that stretches back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Also known as fish-scale binding, the technique was popular among imperial houses and literate upper-class families in ancient China because it shortened the length of scrolls, improved search efficiency, and provided a pleasing reading experience. The finished works, often several meters long, were thought to…

The Spring Festival travel rush, or chunyun, the largest annual human migration on the planet, is currently underway. This year’s chunyun is expected to set a new record of 9 billion passenger trips over a 40-day period starting on January 26. In addition to traveling home to spend the festival with loved ones, many are flocking to coastal holiday destinations in warmer south China. Cities including Xiamen in Fujian Province and Shantou in Guangdong Province have seen an influx of sun-seeking tourists. Many of these visitors have taken to the streets on “city walks,” the increasingly popular pastime of exploring a city’s neighborhoods on foot. Comments to weiyao@cicgamericas.com…

China is the world’s third largest country by total land area, so the development of railways is a key issue in passenger and freight transportation. Today, the Chinese railway network is one of the largest in the world and railway infrastructure continues to develop at a rapid pace. I was born and raised in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Living in China has brought, and continues to bring, many discoveries to me, because everyday life in Russia and China is somewhat different. A real shock for me was the recent realization that I had visited more Chinese cities in four months of living in China than I had Russian cities in my 23 years of living there. I didn’t immediately believe the number could be accurate, but after counting…

The World Bank has issued the World Economic Prospects report for 2024, which shows global GDP growth will not differ significantly from 2023. It estimates global GDP will grow 2.4 percent in 2024, down from 2.6 percent in 2023. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) expects a global growth rate of 2.7 percent for 2024, a decrease from the anticipated 2.9 percent growth in 2023. Compared with the growing uncertainties in the global economy, the Chinese economy showed its resilience again as the country’s 2023 GDP surpassed the estimated global rate of 3 percent and ranked top among major economies. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on January 17, China’s GDP grew 5.2 percent year on year in 2023, higher than the annual…

At the Fourth China-Brazil Foreign Ministerial-Level Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue, co-chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira on January 19, an agreement was signed on mutual visa facilitation between the two countries to further expand personnel exchanges. Both ministers also expressed their willingness to take the 50th anniversary of China-Brazil diplomatic relations this year as an opportunity to work together for the next “golden 50 years” of bilateral relations. Since they established diplomatic relations half a century ago, the bilateral relationship has become increasingly mature and productive as a mutually beneficial model among major developing countries. According to Brazil’s Ministry of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Brazil’s international trade surplus reached a record $98.8 billion in 2023, of which $51.8 billion came from trade with…

China and Chile are located on opposite sides of the world. However, many Chinese have tasted Chilean wine or Chile’s sweet and juicy cherries. The latter are highly prized by consumers nationwide, as they flock to supermarkets in the leadup to the Spring Festival or lunisolar New Year, which fell on February 10 this year, to buy cherries, either for their own consumption or as gifts. For Fiorella Bonino Sotomayor from Chile, the months around this traditional celebration are crucial. Fresh surroundings China was not on Bonino’s horizon until a few years ago. Like many great opportunities in life, this Asian country appeared on her radar by chance. In 2017, when Bonino was working for a Spanish e-commerce company doing business in Chile, she received an invitation from the Chinese…