Innehållsförteckning för Vol.68/No.11 från Beijing Review

As 2025 is the final year of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period and a crucial year to lay foundations for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), this year’s full sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, known as the Two Sessions, are particularly significant. The major task set out for this year’s Two Sessions was to make sure the remaining tasks of the current Five-Year Plan are completed to a high standard, laying good foundations for the next one and ensuring a smooth transition between the two. This year’s Two Sessions continued to focus on promoting high-quality development. A series of important issues discussed during the Two Sessions, including the development of new quality productive forces, artificial intelligence and humanoid…

Main Targets for Development in 2025 • GDP growth of around 5 percent • Surveyed urban unemployment rate of around 5.5 percent • Over 12 million new urban jobs • CPI increase of around 2 percent • Growth in personal income in step with economic growth • A basic equilibrium in the balance of payments • Grain output of around 700 million metric tons • A drop of around 3 percent in energy consumption per unit of GDP • Continued improvements in the environment Efforts to meet the targets: • Adopt a more proactive fiscal policy • Apply an appropriately accommodative monetary policy • Pursue people-oriented macro policies • Improve policy coordination Major Tasks for 2025 1. Vigorously boosting consumption and investment returns and stimulating domestic demand across the board…

As spring approaches, temperatures in north Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region are gradually rising. However, Altay Prefecture, known for its long winters, remains blanketed in ice and snow. Zoya Bahit, a local museum staff member and deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, is dedicated to protecting the immovable cultural relics scattered across the vast, rugged wilds of the land. She eagerly awaits the thawing snow and ice to inspect their condition. Zoya’s passion for relics runs deep. She has developed an emotional attachment to these treasures, committing herself to a lifetime of uncovering and preserving their stories. Recalling her first experience while excavating ancient stone tools at the Tongtian Cave site in Xinjiang in 2016, she said she felt like she was “witnessing and experiencing history.”…

People’s congresses and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) are both key parts of China’s national governance framework. Every March, the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, and the National Committee of the CPPCC convene for their annual sessions in Beijing, commonly referred to as the Two Sessions—beginning on March 4 this year. This is the most important annual event in China’s political landscape and a dynamic demonstration of the country’s whole-process people’s democracy. A key agenda item at the Two Sessions is the review and discussion of the government work report. The drafting of this report includes soliciting public opinions from all sectors of society, ensuring a broad range of voices is considered. During the Two Sessions, NPC deputies and CPPCC National Committee members deliberate on the…

Marvel Studios’ annual blockbuster Captain America: Brave New World had been showing in cinemas worldwide for three weeks as of March 2, with its global box office revenue standing at just $341.8 million. By comparison, its predecessor Captain America: Civil War, released in 2016, grossed $1.155 billion, ranking among the top 30 highest-grossing films of all time. Since Avengers: Endgame peaked in both critical acclaim and box office success in 2019, the decline of the American superhero film genre has become evident. For instance, The Marvels (2023) grossed just $206 million worldwide, an over 80-percent drop from its predecessor’s $1.068 billion. Many critics have also attributed the failure of the latest Captain America movie to the fatal flaw in Marvel’s “actor equals character” approach. For many Marvel fans, Chris Evans’…

A turtle on the slopes may not exactly evoke images of Olympic greatness, but this winter season—from November 2024 to this March—China’s ski slopes have seen an invasion of “shell-packing” skiers and boarders. We’re talking about the “turtle puff,” a fluffy, fall-softening item of apparel that has quickly become the go-to fashion statement for beginner skiers across China. From the picturesque peaks of the Altay region in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region—renowned as one of the birthplaces of skiing—to the slopes of Chongli in Hebei Province, a main venue for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, skiing has transformed into a cultural phenomenon. Since the Games, the sport has attracted more and more thrill-seekers and trendsetters alike. On lifestyle bible and e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu (RedNote), the hashtag “skiwear” had amassed nearly…

ANT GROUP’S NEW CEO On March 1, Cyril Xinyi Han became chief executive officer (CEO) of Ant Group, China’s fintech powerhouse and operator of online payment service platform Alipay, as the company drives the next phase of growth after more than 20 years in business. Han is responsible for all business segments and daily management of the group. He joined the group in May 2014 and has held positions including senior director, vice president and chief financial officer. In March 2024, he was appointed the group’s president. Under his leadership as president, the Alipay team pushed forward a series of key innovation and transformation projects, Eric Jing, Chairman and then CEO of Ant Group said in an e-mail to employees in December 2024. In 2011, Ant Group was spun off…

The Chinese market has maintained a strong attraction for foreign investment and this attraction has been particularly evident since the outset of 2025. Some prominent examples include Volkswagen and Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng entering into a memorandum of understanding on January 6 to jointly build a super-fast charging network; on January 15, Italy-based Piovan Group opening its new Asia-Pacific headquarters in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, for the development and production of complete automation systems for plastic processing, food powders and refrigeration solutions; on January 23, France-based Air Liquide signing in Yancheng, Jiangsu, a longterm contract with a major petroleum group in China for a project producing biogas and green methanol using biomass. Why is China so attractive to international capital? Analysis shows that in addition to the reasons such as…

With all votes counted, preliminary results show that Germany’s conservative bloc, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), won the German federal election on February 24. CDU leader Friedrich Merz is poised to become the country’s next chancellor. The election results indicate a decline in the country’s traditional centrist politics and a rise in support for both ends of the political spectrum. Wu Yan, an assistant research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, attributed this shift to voter dissatisfaction with the previous government’s handling of the economy and immigration policies. As rightward political trends gain momentum on both sides of the Atlantic, the alliance between Germany and the U.S. may face new challenges, particularly on issues such as the Ukraine-Russia conflict, security and more.…

Huang Shuoning, who works in the investment industry, recently earned her certificate as a senior artificial intelligence (AI) trainer, a professional specializing in training and refining AI models. These models, crucial for applications ranging from speech recognition to autonomous driving, rely on vast amounts of data and continuous learning to perform effectively. Huang has been experimenting with generative AI technologies in her investment work. “AI enables us to quickly generate investment analysis reports and even predict market trends,” she told newspaper China Youth Daily. “The role of an AI trainer is to bridge AI technology with specific industries, helping companies achieve intelligent transformation,” Huang added. AI trainer was recognized as a new profession by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) in 2020. As AI applications expand across…

On February 6, Huo Junming, Associate Editor in Chief of Poetry Journal, the only national-level poetry magazine in China, issued a statement on social media, cautioning against submissions of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated poems. More recently, another poetry magazine Youth Poetry, which has been in operation for 20 years, also posted a statement on its official account on Weixin, China’s ubiquitous super app, criticizing contributors who use AI tools to write poems. AI writing is rapidly evolving and has reached a point where it can mix the real with the fake. The development, however, has also triggered concerns that if AI writing continues to spread unchecked, it may create chaos serious enough to damage the world of human thought. Li Qinyu (www.thepaper.cn): Publishing works in magazines is a form of recognition…

Remember the iconic scene from 1953 hit Roman Holiday where Audrey Hepburn enjoys gelato on the Spanish Steps? That gelato came from the century-old Roman brand Giolitti. Established in 1900, Giolitti is famous for offering a selection of classic and innovative flavors. Recently, Giolitti made its much-anticipated debut in China. The brand’s first store in China opened in Shanghai during the 2025 Chinese New Year holiday, from January 28 to February 4. Its operator, an Italian with the Chinese name Zhao Dan, said the company had noticed many of its customers in Rome were Chinese tourists, which inspired its China entry. The Shanghai opening instantly became a social media sensation. Seeing the buzz firsthand, Zhao revealed plans to open more stores across China. Across the ocean, Chinese bubble tea brand…