Innehållsförteckning för Vol.67/No.29 från Beijing Review

IP Protection China has seen an increase in patents and trademarks granted to applicants from overseas, according to the latest data released by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). The number of effective invention patents owned by foreign applicants in China exceeded 900,000 last year, an increase of nearly 5 percent year on year. The trademark sector has also witnessed growth, with the number of valid trademark registrations by foreign applicants in China surpassing 2.1 million, marking a year-on-year increase of 3.4 percent. This growth indicates the confidence of foreign enterprises in China’s intellectual property (IP) protection, Shen Changyu, head of the CNIPA, said during a symposium in early July. Representatives of 11 foreign-funded enterprises, including AstraZeneca, Ford Motor, LEGO and Tesla, attended the symposium. Noting that strict IP…

In his novel Ordinary World, Shaanxi-born writer Lu Yao depicted his hometown during the 1960s as a sandy and barren area, lacking water and vegetation, and plagued by frequent harsh winds. He celebrated the diligence and wisdom of the people living in this challenging environment. Located in northwest China, Shaanxi Province to this day is often described as having “waves of yellow mountains.” This environmental and geomorphic feature resulted from the combination of its inland location, minimal rainfall, and soil and water erosion due to the flow of the Yellow River. The province also endures intense heat from strong sunlight. In recent years, Shaanxi has seen big changes. Efforts have been made to increase plant coverage and optimize the use of water resources. Additionally, the region has embraced solar energy,…

The countdown for a major Eurasian transport project has begun. In the early 1990s, the newly independent Central Asian republics demonstrated strategic foresight when they initiated discussions about constructing new transport routes with their powerful neighbor, China. This visionary approach, coupled with China’s growing economic power, led to the construction of several highways, including two which connected China and Kyrgyzstan, passing through the border crossings of Torugart and Irkeshtam. Now a vital part of the region’s infrastructure, these routes have greatly improved transport links and trade relations between the two neighbors. The construction of these highways has proven to be a significant boon for both countries. What began as a modest trade relationship in the early 1990s has blossomed into an annual trade volume of $118 million in the early…

‘Galbot, please help fetch a plush toy!” After receiving the order, Galbot, a humanoid robot, was able to identify and deliver the toy from among a range of items. The demonstration was given at the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) held in Shanghai from July 4 to 6. Galbot was developed by Beijing Galbot Co. Ltd., a robotics company founded in the Chinese capital in May 2023. The robot is capable of grabbing designated items from racks, folding clothes, and opening drawers and closets. The company focuses on developing robots with embodied artificial intelligence (EAI) for industrial production and daily use. While traditional AI operates solely in the digital realm, EAI integrates digital AI and real-world applications, which enables robots to move, see, and speak or interact with humans.…

Emergency workers seal a dike breach at Dongting Lake, China’s second-largest freshwater lake, in Yueyang, Hunan Province, on July 8. They successfully sealed the 226-meter breach in the dike at 10:31 p.m. that same day, local authorities confirmed. The breach, caused by floodwaters from recent torrential rains, had led to the evacuation of at least 7,000 residents since it occurred on the afternoon of July 5. The sealing will facilitate the drainage of floodwaters and accelerate post-disaster reconstruction efforts. It also reduces pressure on a secondary defense line, a 14.3-km embankment located approximately 2 km behind the original dike.…

UNITED STATES Workers clear debris from a highway in Houston, Texas, after Hurricane Beryl tore through the area on July 9. The hurricane resulted in eight fatalities in the states of Texas and Louisiana BRAZIL Firefighters attempt to contain a blaze along the Paraguay River in the Pantanal, Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, on July 7 INDONESIA Rescue workers search for survivors after landslides hit Tulabolo Village in Bone Bolango Regency, Gorontalo Province, on July 10. As of July 11, the disaster had claimed the lives of 23 people FRANCE Rodolphe Delord (right), General Director of the Beauval Zoo, and renowned French seafarer Maud Fontenoy pose for photos with twin giant pandas Huan Lili and Yuan Dudu in the background during the Paris 2024 Olympic torch relay at the Beauval…

Peak season for Xia Wei’s inn, located in a small town within the vast Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, always comes with the annual reopening of the Duku Highway. This 560-km stretch of road, connecting Dushanzi in the north of Xinjiang to Kuqa City in the south, is a corridor of diverse natural landscapes, featuring canyons, grasslands, lakes and snow-capped mountains, offering travelers the extraordinary experience of encountering “four seasons in a single day and varying weather within 10 miles.” The highway’s high-altitude route necessitates a winter closure, making it inaccessible to travelers from October to June. This year, the highway welcomed travelers back on June 1, more than 10 days earlier than in previous years. With its reopening, the inns, restaurants and other businesses lined up along it have sprung…

Drawn by some plastic grapes, peaches and bananas in a shopwindow in downtown Shanghai, Andrea Cavazzuti entered the store with the intention of buying fruit. The year was 1982, four years after China adopted its reform and opening-up policy. But Cavazzuti, then an Italian student learning Chinese in the city, was told the store was out of stock. “Then, why display the plastic fruit in the window?” Cavazzuti, 23 at the time, wondered. It took him four decades of living and working in China to arrive at the answer: Those plastic fruits were carriers of the Chinese people’s dream for the future, a future featuring sufficient supplies of food and other goods. With China pursuing its reform and openingup policy, that dream has since become a reality. The country has…

Gateway Exchanges The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on July 10 issued licenses to the nation’s three major telecom operators to set up international communications gateway exchanges in four cities. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom have been approved to set up the gateway exchanges in the cities of Nanning in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Qingdao in Shandong Province, Kunming in Yunnan Province and Haikou in Hainan Province, according to a statement from the ministry. The gateway exchanges that connect to the global network are an important information infrastructure for China’s international communications, the MIIT said. According to the country’s telecommunication regulations, the provision of an international communications service within the territory of the People’s Republic of China shall only be done through such gateway exchanges established…

President Xi Jinping envisions a new model of human progress that calls for coordinated development across economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological areas. His “green is gold” philosophy is a core concept in China’s ecological progress. This approach marks a departure from the idea that economic growth and environmental protection are mutually exclusive. Instead, it recognizes that environmental protection is an important avenue for economic development. To better understand this notion, Beijing Review spoke with Erik Solheim, former UN Under Secretary General and current President of the Green Belt and Road Institute, an organization promoting sustainable development practices, and Zhang Ye, an assistant professor at the School of Marxism at Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance. Edited excerpts follow: Beijing Review: President Xi regularly uses the phrase “green is…

On the afternoon of July 5, more than 50 young people from 28 countries, including China, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, India and Russia, gathered at the Huguang Guild Hall in Beijing. They enjoyed a cup of tea and a performance on the guqin, a seven-stringed traditional Chinese instrument that belongs to the zither family. China’s long-standing tea processing techniques and their associated social practices were added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022. Built in 1807, Huguang Guild Hall, one of the most renowned Peking Opera theaters in Beijing, is designated as a key state-level cultural relic protection unit. Iconic Chinese opera masters such as Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) and Tan Xinpei (1847-1917) have graced its stage. Cohosted by the Academy of Contemporary China…