Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.61 / No.2 i Beijing Review

Solving issues relating to agriculture, rural areas and farmers has always had a central place on the work agenda of the Chinese Government as they directly concern the nation’s stability and people’s well-being. The Central Rural Work Conference, convened in Beijing on December 28 and 29, 2017, has outlined tasks and targets for a rural vitalization strategy. Rural vitalization is one of the major aspects of developing a modernized economy, as stated in a report delivered to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Attending the two-day rural conference, President Xi Jinping summarized the achievements and changes in agriculture and rural areas over the past five years, expounded on the rural vitalization strategy and concrete requirements for the future. The rural vitalization strategy requires the government…

Greetings to you all! How time flies. Soon we will ring in the year 2018. I wish to extend New Year wishes to the people of all ethnic groups across China, including our fellow Chinese in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, Taiwan, and overseas. I also wish our friends in all other countries and regions around the world all the best in the new year. As the Chinese adage goes, hard work always pays off. Indeed, our hard work has brought remarkable change to China. In 2017, we held the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), embarking on a new journey of making all-round efforts to build a modern socialist country. China’s GDP has exceeded 80 trillion yuan ($12.3 trillion). More than 13…

The author is an associate researcher with China Institute of International Studies The China-Japan relationship has been in stalemate for the past several years due to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s persistent tough stance on China. In 2017, the situation showed some signs of change as Abe lowered his anti- China rhetoric. The development provides both sides with expectations for an improvement of their bilateral relations in 2018. In spite of expectations for thawing relations, Abe’s previous China policy has caused lots of systematic problems for the long-term development of China-Japan relations. The Abe administration still needs to show sincerity and make pragmatic efforts to bring the bilateral relations back to the right track. Abe’s previous China policy has caused lots of systematic problems for the longterm development of China…

950.36 mln m2 Total land sales across 300 Chinese cities in 2017, up 8 percent from 2016 55.9 bln yuan China’s movie box office revenue in 2017, with domestic films contributing 53.84 percent of the total 37.73 mln tons China’s crude oil reserves by the end of June 2017 134 bln yuan Amount of money China’s central bank pumped into the interbank market in December 2017 to meet rising liquidity demand during the end of the year 1,127 Record number of trips made by freight trains from China’s Yangtze River Delta to Europe and central Asia across 14 routes in 2017 580,000 Visitors to Beijing’s 11 municipal parks and the Museum of Chinese Garden and Landscape Architecture during the three-day New Year’s Day holiday, an increase of 14 percent year…

I first heard of the term “thangka” when I moved to my present neighborhood near Beijing’s Yonghegong, the site of an imperial Buddhist temple of the same name which was established during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Today, Yonghe Temple is one of Beijing’s biggest tourist attractions, popularly known as the Lama Temple. There I got to learn more about thangkas, Buddhist paintings that can be used as meditational aids. My first hands-on experience with thangkas was last winter, when I was going through a difficult period in my life. I had discovered a thangka workshop in an alley near my home and sought a haven there. Making a small thangka would take me roughly 20 hours, I was told. I could come and go as I pleased, and I could…

NEWLY APPOINTED VICE FOREIGN MINISTER Kong Xuanyou has been appointed vice minister of foreign affairs, the State Council announced on January 2. Kong’s last position was assistant minister of foreign affairs. Kong was born in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province in July 1959. He studied Japanese at Shanghai International Studies University from 1979 to 1983 and continued further study of diplomacy at China Foreign Affairs University from 1983 to 1985. Then Kong started his diplomat career as a staff member and consular attaché at the Chinese Consulate-General in Osaka, Japan. Kong assumed the position of ambassador to Viet Nam during 2011-14. In 2015, Kong was appointed assistant minister of foreign affairs. In August 2017, Kong also took the position of special representative of the Chinese Government on Korean Peninsula affairs. Kong…

The author is a researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the subsequent decision to relocate the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv in December 2017, invoked a tempest of criticism from around the world. On December 21, 2017, in response to the Trump administration’s unprecedented move, the United Nations (UN) held an emergency special session and passed a resolution with the support of an overwhelming majority, declaring that any decision or action which seeks to change Jerusalem’s official status were null and void. The resolution also reiterated the need for negotiations between Israel and Palestine to decide the status of the city. Before the vote, U.S. Ambassador to…

1 Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang Those related to the former Chinese Kuomintang Those having historical and social relations with the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang Those who have ties with Taiwan Those specializing in social and legal affairs 2 China Democratic League High- and intermediate-level intellectuals in the fields of culture, education and science and technology (S&T) 3 China National Democratic Construction Association Specialists and scholars from the economic circle 4 China Association for Promoting Democracy High- and intermediate-level intellectuals from education, culture and publishing 5 Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party High- and intermediate-level intellectuals from the areas of medicine and health, population resources and ecological environment 6 China Zhi Gong Party Upper and middle classes of returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, as well as…

Zhao Mingye and her colleagues had to labor through the weekend on December 9, 2017. The website Guokr.com, where they work, held a unique fair at a shopping mall in downtown Beijing, which attracted tens of thousands of cultural creation lovers trying to find something they might be interested in. The number of customers far exceeded their expectations. A species a day The City Species Calendar is the first calendar product undertaken by Guokr.com. The website’s primary business is the popularization of science knowledge, and the idea for a science themed calendar emerged during discussions about cooperation methods with their partners in 2014. The result is a calendar that introduces a different species every day complete with a pretty illustration of the relevant animal or plant. “This calendar is scientific…

Three Steps • Important progress to be made by 2020, when the institutional framework and policy system will have taken shape. • Decisive progress to be achieved as of 2035, when the modernization of agriculture and rural areas will become reality. • By 2050, China’s rural areas will be characterized by strong agriculture, beautiful countryside and well-off farmers. Seven Tasks • Advancing the integrated development of urban and rural areas Efforts must be made to nurture agriculture through industrial development, and use urban development to drive rural development. The focus of public infrastructure investment will be in rural areas, and progress will be made in rural education, increasing farmers’ income, facilitating the migration and employment of rural labor force, as well as promoting the formation of a rural social security…

The author is minister for planning, development and reform and minister for interior of Pakistan Despite political events in the country created by some narrow vested interests, the Seventh Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting on the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was successfully held a month and a half ago in Islamabad. Our Chinese counterparts showed resolve and commitment to successfully complete all CPEC projects in a timely manner. The Seventh JCC also officially approved the Long Term Plan (LTP) of CPEC. It is standard practice around the world for a bilateral agreement not to be made public unless it is approved by both parties, but unfortunately some cynics in the media tried to generate unnecessary controversy by publishing an incorrect version of the LTP. As promised, we have released…

As of December 29, the last trading day in 2017, the Chinese yuan’s onshore exchange rate stood at 6.5120 against the U.S. dollar, strengthening by 6.72 percent for the year, constituting the sharpest annual appreciation in nine years according to calculations by financial information provider Eastmoney.com. Such a performance was a far cry from market anticipation only a year ago, when expectation for a weaker yuan was high. A softening dollar against a basket of currencies was a crucial part of the story, as shown by declines in the dollar index over the past year, but the yuan also demonstrated strength against other currencies as well. The yuan exchange rate composite index released by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System, which measures the yuan’s strength relative to a basket of…