Innehållsförteckning för Vol.67/No.15 från Beijing Review

The era of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived, and products such as the ChatGPT chatbot developed by U.S. research lab OpenAI, and Ernie Bot, Chinese tech giant Baidu’s answer to ChatGPT, are now changing the way the translation industry works. AI translation is making breakthroughs in cross-lingual comprehension, text translation and intelligent interaction. According to a recent report issued by the Translators Association of China, all translation firms surveyed now require translators to use computer-assisted translation tools. The development of AI translation technology has greatly accelerated the progress of the industry, making the rendering of information from one language to another more efficient. The ability of AI translation systems to process mass amounts of text in a short time is a boon for businesses and other organizations with a…

With over 30 years of experience in global climate governance, Frank Rijsberman, Director General of the Global Green Growth Institute, a Seoul-based intergovernmental organization, has long engaged in helping governments convert to more sustainable modes of growth. In an exclusive interview with Beijing Review reporter Peng Jiawei, Rijsberman shared his views on China’s rising influence in the global transition toward renewable energy as well as its growing presence in the realm of climate finance. Edited excerpts of the interview follow: Beijing Review: In what ways can China’s green technologies and green finance bring opportunities to the world? Frank Rijsberman: To fight the climate crisis, we need to triple the use of renewable energy worldwide. However, many countries are worried about not having enough solar panels. China, as a globally leading producer…

Renowned Japanese writer Yonematsu Shiono has spent over four decades filling small notebooks with his observations. Through documenting the stories of more than 300 craftspeople, the author once articulated his belief that “things crafted by hand are art pieces imbued with an enduring human essence.” Kong Qingfen can relate. The 28-year-old shouzhang enthusiast finds her connection to her past self through the handmade notebooks she created two decades ago. The term shouzhang, originating from Japanese and adopted into Chinese, refers to a portable handwritten diary that became popular in China during the 1990s. Hobbyists of this type of diary-keeping use a range of decorative elements, including stickers, silk ribbons, seals and photos to upgrade their notebooks and lend them a sense of vivaciousness—unlike a traditional diary, which mostly consists of…

‘A powerful country.” “A diplomatic iron army.” “A new form of human civilization.” These are the word-for-word translations of some of the buzzwords in the current Chinese political discourse. For some, the concepts are all negative, with connotations ranging from conquering the world to committing a cultural genocide. For others, however, they conceptualize pursuits that benefit China and the world at large. Should translators help bridge this gap by looking for alternative ways to express these ideas? There has long been a consensus among translators that they need to transcend the literal meaning of a Chinese phrase to convey the underlying message. As most words have multiple meanings, one needs to read between the lines to determine the intended meaning before coming up with an accurate translation. Additionally, Chinese figures of…

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) recently released its Yearly Review 2023 report, giving a detailed report and statistics on global patents over the last year. In 2022, the PCT had 157 member states and applicants from 134 countries filed PCT applications at 85 receiving offices (ROs). However, despite such a widespread geographical distribution, filing activity was heavily concentrated in a select number of economies. Combined, the top 10 ROs accounted for 93.8 percent of applications filed in 2022. With 74,420 filings, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) received the most PCT applications. It was followed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (55,330), the Japan Patent Office (48,826), the European Patent Office (38,854), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (21,964) and the International Bureau of World Intellectual Property Organization…

Over the past decade, China has been increasing the interconnectedness of its major cities with the cities that surround them to create regionally integrated city clusters. These clusters are becoming an increasing force for promoting high-quality economic development, with many already driving national and even global economic growth. City clusters are envisioned as functionally complementary economic and social networks formed through the coordination of transportation, communications, industry, science, technology and culture between nearby cities. The formation of these clusters not only assists in the distribution of resources, but also promotes coordinated growth of different regions. Large, mature city clusters include the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration has Beijing and Tianjin as its center and covers multiple cities in…

Enshi Grand Canyon-Tenglongdong Cave Geopark The geopark lies in the southwest of Hubei Province. It is home to world famous erosion and dissolution landscapes and the rich cultural heritage of the Tujia, Miao and Dong ethnic groups. The geopark’s geological marvels unfold across exposed strata ranging from the Cambrian to the Cretaceous period (ca. 539 to 66 million years ago). The topography is deeply dissected by the Qingjiang River system, forming a spectacular karst landscape in Permian and Triassic carbonate rocks characterized by steep cliffs, deep gorges, caves and disappearing rivers. The geological landscape supports remarkable biodiversity, with lush forests covering an astounding 67.3 percent of the geopark, an area of over 450 square km. There are more than 4,000 plant species and 500 different terrestrial vertebrates in the geopark.…

Wang Xingwen, a 49-year-old neurosurgeon at the Xuanwu Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University in Beijing, has performed over 4,000 surgical operations in his 24 years of career, sometimes working up to 22 hours at a time on cases of exceptional complexity. Out of the 640 operations he performed in 2023, only two resulted in failure. According to him, in neurosurgery, there should be no errors, as a single mistake can cause permanent damage. Therefore, the focus should be on improving the chances of success and minimizing the risks of failure. It was this dedication that led him to his mission in Africa. In September 2020, he began his 18-month foreign aid medical mission as a member of the 28th batch of Chinese medical workers to work in Guinea. Angels…

UN ENVOY’S TENURE ENDS Zhang Jun, outgoing Permanent Representative of China to the United Nations, bid farewell to UN Secretary General António Guterres in late March. Zhang said representing China at the UN was “a great honor and a heavy responsibility,” as well as a highly memorable experience for him. In July 2019, Zhang presented his credentials to Guterres at the UN headquarters in New York City. Before that, he had held several positions at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Currently, as the world undergoes major changes at an accelerated pace, China is in a period of significant development, boldly advancing on the path of nation-building and national rejuvenation,” Zhang said. “China firmly practices genuine multilateralism and supports the UN’s important role in maintaining peace and promoting development.” Mood…

Two Philippine Coast Guard ships and two supply boats intruded into waters adjacent to the Ren’ai Jiao, or the Ren’ai Reef, to send construction materials to the military vessel illegally grounded there for its “repair and reinforcement” on March 23. The China Coast Guard (CCG) took necessary measures at sea to safeguard China’s rights, blocking the Philippine vessels. CCG spokesperson Gan Yu stated that on March 23, only 18 days after the previous “resupply,” these “supply missions” were intended to cause trouble and provoke disputes, deliberately disrupting the peace and stability of the South China Sea. “The Philippines needs to immediately stop violating China’s sovereignty and its provocations, and return to observing the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). China will…

The land overrun by weeds and water studded with reeds, it’s time for pufferfish to swim upstream. This is a line from a poem by Su Shi, a famous writer, calligrapher, painter and gourmet of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127). In 1085, Huichong, a painter and monk, invited Su to write a poem to accompany his painting River Scenes on a Spring Evening. Although there were no pufferfish in the artwork, Su’s imagination of them into the scene has left him associated the delicacy to this day. The custom of eating pufferfish originated in China, where it’s been consumed for thousands of years, according to Duan Ran, founder of Puffer Family, a Beijing-based business operating in all sections of the pufferfish industrial chain. “Chinese have been eating pufferfish since the…

In the halls of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) on March 14, the captivating voice of an educator filled the classroom. Seamlessly shifting between Hindi, Chinese, and English, he effortlessly held the attention of his Chinese students. His fluency in Chinese was so impeccable that one might easily mistake him for a native speaker. Yet Vikash Kumar Singh is an Indian, who has lived in China for 17 years. Bonding with China Vikash’s first encounter with China occurred in 2004. At that time, extensive economic cooperation between China and India caught his eye, sparking an interest in the language. After reading an article proclaiming that learning Chinese could lead to lucrative careers in interpreting or translation, Vikash, intrigued by this prospect, switched his major from mathematics to Chinese at Jawaharlal…

Have you ever thought that fragrances are like time machines? Inhaling the aroma of an old book, favorite perfume or tea can transport us through time, painting a vivid picture before our eyes and allowing us to relive a moment from the past. On an ordinary day this past winter, I brewed fresh jasmine tea in my room. The rich, floral aroma with its barely perceptible nutty undertone took me on a warm little journey into memory. Before coming to China, I used to wonder which city I should visit first. “Probably, it will be the capital—Beijing,” I thought, looking at colorful photos of tourists against the background of the Great Wall. But sometimes life prepares its own surprises for us and I was offered a university place here in…