Innehållsförteckning för Vol.67/No.33 från Beijing Review

FedEx. Boeing. Apple. These household names and others were represented in a U.S.-China Business Council (USCBC) Board of Directors’ delegation to China in late July. In reciprocity, a Chinese delegation led by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) visited the U.S. shortly after. This exchange of visits by high-profile business executives took place at an important juncture. The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee had just concluded its third plenary session. The session adopted a roadmap for further comprehensive deepening of reform, including promoting alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules and more than 300 other tasks to be completed in the next five years. The CPC National Congress and the Central Committee it elects are the highest leading bodies of China’s governing party.…

Having met people’s basic needs for food and shelter, eradicated absolute poverty, and achieved moderate prosperity, China is working toward its next goal. Termed common prosperity, it envisions an olive-shaped society where middle-income earners constitute the largest proportion of China’s population and is set to materialize by the mid-21st century. In a recent interview with Beijing Review, Robert Walker, a professor of social policy and development at Beijing Normal University, shared his observations on the historical, current and future significance of this goal. Walker is also a professor emeritus of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford, and over his career has written more than 20 books on poverty alleviation and social security. Edited excerpts of the interview follow: Beijing Review: What do you think of China’s concept of…

In his Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men, French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau presented the famous “stag hunt game,” in which two hunters, who are not familiar with each other, go hunting. They each can choose to hunt a hare or a stag. Hunting a hare is easier and can be accomplished independently, but the reward is lower. Hunting a stag is more difficult and requires the two to cooperate but the reward to each is higher. Clearly, hunting a stag together is the optimal option for each of them. However, issues arise when the more capable and contributive hunter gets a larger share. As the young hunter becomes equally experienced and takes the lead, the old hand may feel credit for the hunt should go to…

While the world was still looking to Paris for Olympic glory in early August, New York City orchestrated its own symphony of cultural exchange. In the heart of Manhattan, the renowned Carnegie Hall raised the curtain on World Orchestra Week (WOW!), a melodious celebration of international communication that rivaled the grandeur of any sporting spectacle. From August 1 to 7, seven young orchestras from different parts of the world transformed this world-renowned stage into a global crossroads of harmony. Among them was the Beijing Youth Orchestra (BYO), weaving Eastern artistry into the fabric of Western classics. From campus to stage “I really hoped I would have the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. It’s probably the most amazing concert hall in the world. I’m excited about meeting other young musicians…

On July 25, Dong Yuhui, one of China’s most popular livestreamers, announced his resignation as a senior partner at Easy Buy, a live-commerce platform. He said he will run his namesake venture Time With Yuhui independently. Dong made the decision due to his own career aspirations, commitment to his other pursuits and personal time arrangements, Hong Kong-listed East Buy said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The breakup was not entirely unexpected. Throughout this year, Dong’s livestream appearances had been dwindling as he had begun accepting more roles as a guest speaker and variety show host. Dong’s departure is part of a recent trend of top influencers gradually decreasing the frequency of their livestreams before fading from the public eye. This trend inevitably raises the question: Is…

Jules Thevenon, an international public relations specialist at Shanghai Lin-gang Special Area Economic Development Co. Ltd. provided consulting services for a Pakistani investor, Ali Alamdar Shah Syed, online on July 8. Syed was interested in investing in the area, where his company plans to develop AI models. Thevenon introduced Syed to a package of supportive policies in Lin-gang, including subsidies, tax incentives and human resources policies. He also emphasized the support Syed would receive from the innovation and technology hub in setting up his company. “The joy that I have in my work is to see in people’s eyes how amazing China’s business environment is,” Thevenon told Beijing Review. Thevenon first came to China in 2016 as an exchange student studying at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where he earned his…

Today more than ever, being a top athlete means a life in the limelight, with conduct, appearance and even opinions often scrutinized just as closely as performance on the field. For women in sport, this scrutiny can extend beyond that which would be applied to their male counterparts, requiring organizers, athletes, commentators and the media to reflect on what constitutes sexism. After the Chinese women’s basketball team’s overtime loss by one point to Spain at the Olympic Games in Paris on July 28, commentator Yang Yi asked veteran player Chen Nan whether athletes on her team had worn makeup like players on the current team do today. His question was interpreted by some viewers as implying being distracted by cosmetics contributed to the team’s loss. Just one day later,…

TENNIS PLAYER MAKES HISTORY Tennis ace Zheng Qinwen defeated Donna Vekic of Croatia to win the women’s singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics on August 3. The gold medal is China’s second-ever in Olympic tennis. The last time China won gold in an Olympic tennis event was Athens 2004, where Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won the women’s doubles title. On August 1, the 21-year-old Zheng became the first Asian-born player to reach a singles final at the Olympics, as the sixth seed delivered a stunning performance to defeat world No.1 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the semifinal. Zheng, hailing from Hubei Province, won her first career title on the Women’s Tennis Association Tour at the Palermo Ladies Open in Italy in July 2023. She won the women’s singles…

‘Opening up is a defining feature of Chinese modernization,” according to the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee on July 18. The session made special arrangements for further opening up. “We must remain committed to the basic state policy of opening to the outside world and continue to promote reform through opening up. Leveraging the strengths of China’s enormous market, we will enhance our capacity for opening up while expanding international cooperation and develop new institutions for a higher-standard open economy,” the resolution said. Contributing to world development Since reform and opening up began 46 years ago, China has made tremendous contribution to…

China will remove all limits on household registration, or hukou, in cities with under 3 million residents and ease the limits in cities with populations between 3 million and 5 million, according to a five-year action plan issued by the Central Government on July 31. This means that more than 90 percent of Chinese cities will lift or ease hukou restrictions. The plan, which aims to accelerate the process of granting urban hukou to former rural residents who have moved to cities, came shortly after the conclusion of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee. A resolution adopted at the session called for improving institutions and mechanisms for advancing new urbanization. The goal is to ensure that eligible individuals who have moved from rural…

In July, Wu Siyan from Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and her husband took their daughter to Thailand. It was the first time the seventh grader had traveled to another country. “Traveling in another country was an eyeopener for us, especially for my daughter. Some customs in Thailand are similar to those in China’s Yunnan Province, but it was still a great opportunity to explore the rest of the world,” she told Beijing Review, adding that it only took around two hours to fly from Nanning to Bangkok, capital of Thailand. Summer is a peak time for outbound travel for Chinese, particularly young people and parents with children. Data from flight travel app Umetrip indicate that the number of inbound and outbound passenger flights in the first half of July…

The 78th UN General Assembly adopted a China-proposed resolution calling for enhanced global cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) on July 1. More than 140 countries backed the resolution, which was titled Enhancing International Cooperation on Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence. “China looks forward to taking the adoption of this resolution as an opportunity to work with member states toward active follow-up and implementation of it by prioritizing development and following a people-centered approach based on equality, mutual benefit, integrity and innovation,” said Fu Cong, China’s Permanent Representative to the UN. Bridging the divide With so many developing nations lacking equitable access to AI technology, China’s initiative is a major step toward narrowing the global digital divide. Affordability and acquisition of cutting-edge technologies are critical to advancing AI’s civilian applications, improving socioeconomic…

I smail Haniyeh, one of the most senior leaders of Palestine’s Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), on July 31 was assassinated in Tehran, capital of Iran, according to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and Hamas. He was in the city to attend the inauguration of the newly elected President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian—replacing Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. In Gaza, Haniyeh was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar on August 6. “We announce the selection of leader Sinwar as head of the movement’s political bureau, succeeding leader Haniyeh,” Hamas said in a statement. Both Hamas and Iran hold Israel responsible for the attack, and more details continued to emerge about the killing of Haniyeh at the time of writing. In his phone talks with the Egyptian and Jordanian…