Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 60/No. 43 i Beijing Review

GDP Growth China’s GDP expanded 6.9 percent year on year in the first three quarters of this year to 59.33 trillion yuan ($8.9614 trillion), data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on October 19. The growth rate held steady from a 6.9-percent increase in the first half of this year and is well above the government’s target for the year of 6.5 percent, reflecting a continued firming trend in the nation’s economy. In the third quarter, GDP was up 6.8 percent year on year, compared with 6.9 percent in the second quarter, according to NBS data. “The Chinese economy has maintained steady growth with a positive outlook in the first three quarters,” NBS spokesperson Xing Zhihong told a press conference. Improvements have been made in both economic structure…

China once again came under the global spotlight on October 18, when the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) opened in Beijing. In a report delivered at the opening session, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the 18th CPC Central Committee, painted a promising outlook for the future of the world’s second largest economy. He spelled out a two-stage development plan for the country in front of more than 2,300 delegates. According to Xi, the CPC will basically realize socialist modernization in the first stage from 2020 to 2035 before developing China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful after another 15 years. “China is now the world’s second largest economy with increasing influence on the world stage.…

Three years ahead of the due date for China’s plan to achieve a moderately prosperous society, the Communist Party of China (CPC) drew a new strategic blueprint for the nation at its 19th National Congress held on October 18-24. China has created something of a miracle with the rapid and sustained rise of its economic might over nearly 40 years of reform and opening up. Its overall national strength and people’s standards of living have improved substantially. The nation is getting ever closer to the center of the world stage. The successes of the populous country have come with the failure of such predictions as the “end of history” put forward by Francis Fukuyama, who argued for the inevitable triumph of Western liberal democracy, and the “collapse of China” trumpeted…

OPINION Credit Expansion Buoyed by Real Economy Chinese banks extended a forecast-beating amount of new loans in September, while growth of broad money supply (M2) also accelerated, buoyed by credit demand from the real economy. New yuan-denominated lending in September hit 1.27 trillion yuan ($192.8 billion), up from 1.09 trillion yuan ($165.77 billion) in August, well above market expectations, according to data released by the People’s Bank of China (PBC), the central bank, on October 14. M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, at the end of September rose 9.2 percent from a year earlier, accelerating from the 8.9-percent growth recorded the previous month, the PBC said in a statement on its website. It marked the first time M2 growth has picked…

A Hualong One ZH-65 steam generator is loaded onto a freight ship in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, on October 17. The cutting-edge steam generator will be installed at the Fuqing Nuclear Plant in southeast China’s Fujian Province, the first nuclear power project to use the technology. As China’s third-generation nuclear reactor, Hualong One meets higher safety requirements and is competitive with other advanced nuclear power technologies in the world.…

SOMALIA People stand at the site of an explosion near the Safari Hotel in Mogadishu on October 14 which killed at least 276 people and injured about 300 others THE PHILIPPINES Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses troops and officials in the southern city of Marawi on October 17 as he declares victory over the Islamic State-linked extremists who took over Marawi in May AUSTRIA Sebastian Kurz, leader of the Austrian People’s Party, waves to supporters at a celebration event in Vienna on October 15 after the party became the nation’s dominant political force by winning the most seats in parliament UNITED STATES A scientist of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory speaks at a news conference about the observation of gravitational waves in Washington, D.C. on October 16 RUSSIA Members of…

Zhang Xiaosong is Dean of the School of International Tourism and Culture at Guizhou Normal University in Guiyang, capital city of southwest China’s Guizhou Province. But her work is not limited to teaching at university. Zhang is also a village researcher. Over the past 26 years, Zhang has visited more than 700 villages in 89 counties across Guizhou, a multi-ethnic province which is home to time-honored traditions and customs with distinctive ethnic minority characteristics. With her endeavor, Zhang has established close ties with many intangible culture handicraftsmen living in villages. “We are a family. They give strength and motivation to my work,” Zhang told Beijing Review during a design competition for cultural and creative tourist commodities held in Qingzhen County, Guiyang, on August 20. As one of its organizers, Zhang…

National Treasure Babies Giant panda cubs on display at the Bifengxia Base of the Chinese Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center in Ya’an, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, on October 13. The center has celebrated the birth of 42 cubs so far this year Lawyer Mediation System China will pilot a lawyer mediation system in nine provinces and two municipalities in an attempt to better resolve civil and business conflicts. A new guideline jointly issued by the Supreme People’s Court and the Ministry of Justice encourages lawyers to play a more active role as a third party in the mediation process to assist disputing parties to resolve conflicts through negotiation. Lawyers will be allowed to work as mediators at mediation offices set up at local courts and tribunals, legal service centers,…

The eyes of the world are on Beijing, where the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), one of China’s most important political conferences, opened on October 18. The congress, held once every five years, sets the course for the nation. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a report on the first day of the weeklong congress. The report, a development blueprint for the world’s second largest economy, has triggered animated discussions both at home and abroad. How will China’s economy maintain steady growth amidst the sluggish world economic recovery? Will China keep advocating its global governance solutions against the mounting anti-globalization tide? Answering these questions in his report, Xi said China will continue its reform to promote sustained and sound economic growth…

The Communist Party of China (CPC) held its 19th National Congress on October 18-24, during which new guidelines were issued to further develop socialism with Chinese characteristics. Since its founding in 1921, the CPC has overcome great hardships. However, by remembering its roots and progressing in terms of innovation, the Party has established China firmly on the world stage. Faith in Marxism Political parties all over the world have recognized the need for faithfulness to their spiritual foundations. The CPC is no different. Ever since the Party’s founding, Marxism has been its creed, and communism its supreme ideal. Marxism, in particular, is the foundation of theories developed by Chinese communists to guide the cause of the CPC and the nation. At the rally marking the 95th anniversary of the CPC…

One year has elapsed since China’s currency, the yuan or renminbi, was officially included into the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies. Gaining the IMF reserve status marked a significant step in the internationalization of the yuan. The SDR is a synthetic reserve currency created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves, and the value of the SDR is based on a basket of major currencies. SDRs are allocated to IMF members from time to time, based on each country’s quota in the IMF, and the basket’s composition is reviewed every five years. “The yuan’s inclusion in the SDR currency basket signifies that the yuan has been formally recognized as an international currency that can be used freely, which has…

Every five years, foreign expats who work and live in Beijing—from executives of multinational companies to journalists and teachers—take time out from their daily business to see what’s going on in China’s politics, a topic also kindled by local taxi drivers. The National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is held every five years. On the occasion of the 19th CPC National Congress, convened in Beijing on October 18, many foreign friends are taking it as a way of getting a handle on the Party’s actions over the past five years and catching a glimpse of the course the country will take in the next five years and how it will affect them. I recommend that they should read two books. The first one is Seven Years as…