Innehållsförteckning för Vol.68/No.45 från Beijing Review

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) was convened in Beijing on October 20-23. Held as the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) is concluding and the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) is about to be implemented, the main purpose of the session was to formulate a document of recommendations that outlines China’s development priorities for the next five-year period. Formulating Five-Year Plans for economic and social development is a hallmark of the CPC’s governance. Against the backdrop of multiple uncertainties such as geopolitical conflicts, rising protectionism and climate crisis, China’s Five-Year Plans, bringing medium- and long-term strategic stability and policy continuity, have provided valuable certainty for the world economy and have been closely watched by the international community. The recent plenary session set…

The 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) convened its fourth plenary session in Beijing from October 20 to 23, 2025. A total of 168 members and 147 alternate members of the Central Committee attended the session. Members of the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and leading officials from other relevant departments were present at the meeting in a non-voting capacity. Some of our primary-level colleagues and a number of experts and scholars who served as delegates to the 20th National Party Congress also attended the meeting in a nonvoting capacity. The Political Bureau of the Central Committee presided over the meeting. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Central Committee, delivered important addresses. Participants at the session listened to and discussed a report…

On the morning of October 30, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Busan, the Republic of Korea (ROK). The two leaders held in-depth discussions on the strategic and long-term dimensions of China-U.S. relations, as well as global governance. Xi met with Trump shortly after arriving in Busan to attend the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in nearby Gyeongju and to begin a state visit to the ROK. This was the first face-to-face meeting between the Chinese and U.S. presidents since Trump began his second term in January. Against the backdrop of growing differences between the two countries in technology, security, ideology and more, many political analysts considered the meeting an important step toward enhancing strategic mutual trust between Beijing and Washington. Cooperation benefits both Since…

Recently, China’s national security authorities revealed a major cyberattack launched by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) against the National Time Service Center at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since 2022, the NSA has used a range of hacking tactics, such as exploiting system vulnerabilities and stealing credentials, to wage attacks on the center. These operations aimed not only to steal sensitive data but also to implant malicious codes designed to paralyze critical systems. This poses a serious threat to China’s cybersecurity. This case is far from being isolated. In 2022, China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University was targeted by the Office of Tailored Access Operations (TAO), a cyber-warfare intelligence unit affiliated with the NSA. TAO deployed 41 customized cyber weapons to carry out more than 10,000 malicious attacks, stealing large volumes…

YOUNG PIANIST SHINES AT CHOPIN PIANO COMPETITION Chinese pianist Wang Zitong, 26, took third place at the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw on October 21, and also received the event’s Krystian Zimerman Award for the best performance of a sonata. Born in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 1999, Wang began learning piano at 3. She is pursuing a master’s degree at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, under the guidance of Dang Thai Son, who won the Chopin competition in 1980. Pianist Chen Sa, who served on the jury of the competition this year, said Wang has developed a personal approach to handling soft and delicate tones and brilliant execution of lively, agile passages. First held in 1927 and organized every five years, the…

As China concludes the successful implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and enters the decisive stage of building a modern socialist country, it does so with a powerful legacy that has shaped its development for more than seven decades. Since the first Five-Year Plan was launched in 1953, China has continuously planned its national development through strategic cycles, adapting to domestic realities, global changes and technological revolutions. This long-term consistency is not merely administrative, it is civilizational. It reflects a governing philosophy that sees development as a disciplined process of continuous improvement, guided by vision rather than reaction. The achievements of the 14th Five-Year Plan—rapid economic recovery amid global headwinds, breakthroughs in innovation, advances in green development and improved livelihoods—have laid a solid foundation for the next phase. It…

Women play an important role in creating, driving and carrying forward human civilization. Advancing the cause of women, therefore, is not the task of a single nation but the shared responsibility of the global community. In 1995, the Fourth World Conference on Women was held in Beijing. It adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which laid out a blueprint for promoting gender equality and women’s development. Thirty years later, Beijing hosted the Global Leaders’ Meeting on Women (GLMW) on October 13-14, reaching yet another milestone in the global pursuit of women’s growth and development. “Through steadfast devotion, a lasting fragrance remains.” President Xi Jinping quoted this line in his keynote address at the event’s opening ceremony. The line comes from Zuoyouming (Motto) by Cui Yuan, a Chinese calligrapher…

The Seventh China-U.S. Sister Cities Conference was held on October 25-27 in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, under the theme Closer Partnership for a Sustainable Future. Over 180 representatives from 36 counties and cities in 28 U.S. states, alongside delegates from 26 provinces, regions and municipalities in China, gathered to explore new opportunities for local collaboration and to strengthen the friendship between the peoples of China and the U.S. This year, jointly organized by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province, the conference has, since its inception in 2014, become a key mechanism for promoting China-U.S. subnational exchanges. Links across the Pacific Hangzhou holds a special place in the history of China-U.S. relations. In February 1972, Hangzhou was the second…

Crossing campus through the trees in an early autumn breeze, with freshly cut grass sticking to my shoes, and the wet pendula of a weeping willow sweeping across my shoulder, and up ahead, I hear a girl singing, “It’s stopped raining, everybody’s in the play, and don’t you know, it’s a beautiful new day.” That’s my classmate from Seoul, and beside her, one of our teachers, a Chinese man, who recently returned from Rome, strumming a guitar. Such a scene might strike you as being completely out of step with what you’d expect at a Chinese high school, and yet, this is a new era for exceptional educational experiences, and just another “beautiful day” at “Hua Er,” officially the No.2 High School of East China Normal University. This is the…

Substantial advancements have been made in China’s energy sector during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, with green energy now accounting for one third of the nation’s electricity consumption. Green energy is generated from natural resources such as sunlight, wind or water without producing any pollution or carbon emissions. At a press conference in Beijing on August 26, Wang Hongzhi, head of the National Energy Administration (NEA), characterized these developments as “breakthroughs and historical accomplishments,” positioning China as a key facilitator of the global energy transition. The NEA data show the past five years have been defined by rapid green and low-carbon energy transition. Since the commencement of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the share of non-fossil energy in China’s total energy consumption has increased by 1 percentage point annually, concurrently…

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement was signed five years ago on November 15. Figures show that in the current context of backlash against globalization, the agreement is accelerating regional economic integration and thereby demonstrating the resilience of multilateralism. According to data from China’s General Administration of Customs, in the first three quarters of this year, the volume of trade in goods between China and the other RCEP members accounted for over one third of China’s total trade volume. Figures from the Korean Customs Service show that, in the first three quarters this year, the trade volume between the Republic of Korea and other RCEP members accounted for more than half of its total trade volume. Similarly, the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia revealed, RCEP participating countries became the…

Facing uncertainty in the global financial landscape, the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2025, running in Beijing from October 27 to 30, took on the theme Global Financial Development in an Era of Innovation, Transformation and Restructuring. More than 400 participants from more than 30 countries and regions exchanged perspectives on how to promote high-quality global finance and called for innovation and restructuring, aiming to build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable global financial system. Eric Hong Fang, CEO of U.S.-based Skytower Group Inc., an international project development and investment company focusing on sustainable industries, was impressed by the vigorous discussions at the event. “The focus was institutional opening up and financially supporting sustainable industries, demonstrating a strategy to empower innovation through wider financial accessibility,” he told Beijing Review.…