Innehållsförteckning för Vol.67/No.47 från Beijing Review

In its State of the Climate 2024 Update, the World Meteorological Organization once again sounded a warning on the pace of climate change. Released on November 11, coinciding with the 12-day UN Climate Change Conference’s start in Baku, Azerbaijan, the report notes that 2024 is likely to become the hottest year on record, with the January-September global average temperature reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The loss of ice from glaciers, sea level rise and ocean heating are accelerating, while extreme weather is wreaking havoc on communities and economies worldwide. Against this backdrop, representatives from nearly 200 countries and regions gathered in Baku to further a unified global response. The clock is ticking to turn climate pledges into joint, impactful actions. A consensus remains to keep global warming well…

Due to increasingly disordered security, imbalanced development, and ineffective governance across the globe, along with increasing hot-spot conflicts, major power confrontations, and geopolitical contradictions one after another, people are becoming more and more concerned about the future of our planet. “No country, no matter how rich or powerful, can solve the problems facing humanity and Mother Earth on their own. Rather, it’s a case that we sink or swim together. United we stand, divided we fall,” warned Keith Bennett, a London-based long-time China specialist and vice chair of Britain’s 48 Club Group, during a recent international seminar held in Beijing by the Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy Studies Center and the China Institute of International Studies on November 11, during which the Report on the True Multilateralism: Conceptual Development, Core…

NEW MINISTER OF TRANSPORT Senior official Liu Wei has been appointed as China’s new minister of transport by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s top legislature. The decision was announced on November 8 when the NPC Standing Committee concluded its latest session in Beijing. Liu, 59, a native of Henan Province, began his career in 1983 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1997. He worked in Henan for more than three decades, including as head of the provincial development and reform commission and vice governor. In the past five years, he has also held positions in the Ministry of Emergency Management as well as in the CPC committees of Jilin Province and Beijing. Addressing Menstruation In the Workplace Rednet.cn November 4 On…

The Philippines has once again disturbed the peace in the South China Sea. On November 8, Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos signed acts unilaterally incorporating China’s Huangyan Dao (island) in Zhongsha Qundao (archipelago), most of the islands and reefs of China’s Nansha Qundao, and their relevant waters into the Philippines’ maritime zones. The U.S. State Department immediately expressed support. In response, China issued a statement two days later, announcing the baselines of the territorial sea adjacent to Huangyan Dao and formally clarifying the extent of China’s territorial waters. On November 13, the Chinese military conducted combat readiness patrols over the territorial waters and airspace of Huangyan Dao and surrounding areas. According to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the territorial waters of a country extend 12 nautical…

In the 1979 American film Breaking Away, the final wide shot of protagonist Dave cycling during a race has become an iconic image, symbolizing the dynamic connection between youth and cycling. For many, their first cycling journey is filled with a mix of anticipation and uncertainty. This sentiment resonates deeply with Xu Le (pseudonym), a 22-year-old senior at a university in Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province. At around 2 a.m. on November 5, with temperatures in Henan hovering near 5 degrees Celsius, Xu embarked on a five-hour cycling journey from Zhengzhou to the neighboring city of Kaifeng that tested both his physical and mental limits. Gripping the handlebars of a shared bike, his hands numb from the biting cold, Xu pedaled on instinct, his legs driving him forward despite the…

Bertha Alvarado Banuet was born in Mexico City, capital of Mexico, and recalled that her first visit to China was a family trip when she was around 8 years old. Although she was just a child, this experience planted the initial seed of interest. As she described it, “I became passionate about the culture, its sense of distant mystery, the unique landscapes and even the food.” This early inclination toward China took on a more concrete shape in 2014, when Alvarado participated in an academic exchange at Lingnan University in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region during her final year of university. Etched in her memory During this exchange program, the Mexican student, who was pursuing an international business degree at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional in Mexico City, took a series…

The Ministry of Natural Resources on November 6 released the 2024 China National Ecological Protection and Restoration Bulletin. This bulletin provides a comprehensive review of China’s practices and systems related to ecological protection and restoration, ecological assessments and restoration actions, and the country’s contributions to global environmental sustainability. For the first time, China has summarized its ecological protection and restoration efforts in the form of a national bulletin. The report integrates the country’s foundational ecological conditions across land and marine ecosystems, systematically showcasing the major achievements in this field. Environmental protection is one of the fundamental national policies of China, with restoring damaged ecosystems being an important aspect of these efforts. Like many nations, China faces environmental challenges stemming from natural disasters and industrial pollution. In response, the Chinese Government…

Since its inception in 2009, the annual Double 11 shopping festival in China, initially taking place on November 11, has grown into a phenomenon, now entering its 16th year. Rewind to its first few years, when e-commerce was still in its infancy, issues like logistics congestion and payment system failures were the most pressing challenges—problems that, though they seem like a distant memory now, were the very heartbeat of the e-commerce ecosystem at the time. Double 11 has served as a kind of proving ground. Each year, it puts China’s e-commerce system through its paces, pushing the limits and refining the infrastructure. This year’s Double 11 was the longest in history. What started as a one-day promotional event of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group this time around stretched into a month-long…

Every March and April, high-altitude searchlights brighten the night sky in fields along the Yangtze River, with beams of light reaching up to 800 meters high. The searchlights, spaced between a few and tens of kilometers apart, are part of a defensive line against invading enemies—pests. Insect-detecting radar systems are also deployed along the Yangtze to monitor the sky around the clock, while food attractants, sex-attractant pheromones and other trapping measures are used on the ground, targeting adult insects. “More than 5,000 searchlight traps are deployed along four lines of defense in China, respectively, along sections of China’s border, the Yangtze, the Yellow River and the Great Wall,” Zhang Yunhui, a researcher with the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IPPCAAS), told newspaper The Beijing…

More than its picturesque landscapes, rich history and vibrant cultural scene, Xiamen, a coastal city in southeast China, is also renowned for its deep-rooted tea culture. As one of the key hubs in the Minnan (southern Fujian) region, Xiamen has long been a center for tea growing, processing, trade and consumption. A standout tradition in Xiamen is chazhuozi, which, literally meaning “tea table,” refers to a gathering centered around tea drinking. Tea culture in Xiamen and the broader Minnan region is an integral part of daily life. There, tea is more than just a beverage—it’s a symbol of hospitality, friendship and respect, offered in family gatherings, business meetings, or casual chats among friends. Chazhuozi draws people to gather around a table to share tea and stories, creating warm, welcoming occasions…

Late October to early November is the most beautiful time of autumn in Beijing. During this period, parks, streets, scenic spots and mountains in the suburbs are all adorned with leaves in varying shades of yellow. In recent years, Beijing has seen a steady increase in green coverage. As of late 2023, forest coverage had reached 44.9 percent. An additional 667 hectares of afforestation will be added by the end of 2024, along with an extra 200 hectares of parks. Comments to weiyao@cicgamericas.com…

In September, Three Sheep Group, a Chinese content provider for Internet platforms, was fined 68.94 million yuan ($9 million) for engaging in false advertising during its live-commerce sessions—where livestreaming and e-commerce are combined. Xin Youzhi, a host on the short-video platform Kuaishou, has been suspended by the platform several times for similar false advertising. Dong Yuhui, known for his bilingual livestreams on the East Buy e-commerce platform, recently severed ties with the company and is now reportedly selling potatoes online at inflated prices. In light of these scandals, questions about the long-term sustainability of China’s booming live-commerce industry have raised concerns among both industry insiders and the general public. Cui Wei (ThePaper.cn): The appeal and credibility of livestreamers with large followings are on the decline. These influencers must eliminate harmful…