Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 62/No.13 i Beijing Review

Patent Applications Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies was the top corporate filer of international patent applications in 2018. It led an Asia-based innovation surge accounting for over half of the applications submitted at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) last year, WIPO said on March 19. “Asia is now the majority filer of international patent applications via the WIPO, which is an important milestone for the economically dynamic region and underscores the geographical shift of innovative activity from West to East,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. WIPO statistics showed that 50.5 percent of all Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications filed in 2018 came from Asia, with Europe and North America accounting for about a quarter each. U.S.-based applicants filed 56,142 PCT applications, followed by applicants from China, 53,345, and…

If you thought vegetable oil was only for cooking, think again. With the hunt on for more eco-friendly materials in the asphalt industry, waste oil, especially from fast food industries, is being used to reinforce the blacktop on roads. Soybean oil is going into car seat foam and industrial starch is being used to make paper for newspapers and magazines. In China, U.S. agricultural commodities trader Cargill is a textbook example of innovations from the fields. Since its entry to China in 1971, the company has been innovating, ranging from producing new food flavors to improving farming standards. It opened an innovation center in Shanghai in 2016 to create new nutrients and its farmland schools are training farmers to plant and raise livestock with greater efficiency. With continuous investment, Cargill…

A white paper on the fight against terrorism and extremism and the protection of human rights in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region was issued by the State Council Information Office on March 18. Titled The Fight Against Terrorism and Extremism and Human Rights Protection in Xinjiang, the white paper, consisting of seven main sections, states China’s firm stand against all forms of terrorism and extremism and highlights the marked changes in the region’s social environment in recent years. Firm hand “It is indisputable that Xinjiang is an inseparable part of the Chinese territory,” says the white paper. “Xinjiang’s ethnic cultures are an inseparable part of Chinese civilization.” For some time, China’s Xinjiang, under the combined influence of separatists, religious extremists and terrorists, has sustained frequent terrorist attacks, which have…

Wang Xiaohong Deputy head of the Department of Teaching and Research of the United Front Theory at the Central Institute of Socialism Held in September 1949, the First Session of the CPPCC accomplished a lot of important work for the soon to be People’s Republic of China. As the conditions for holding the National People’s Congress (NPC) were not mature enough, the CPPCC exercised the functions and powers of the NPC. After the First Session of the First NPC was held in 1954, the CPPCC changed into an organization of the patriotic united front of the Chinese people, an important organ for multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC, and an important means of promoting socialist democracy in China’s political activities. In a series of…

The beginning of 2019 offered fresh evidence of a progressing Chinese economy with economic data for the first two months showing encouraging signs. On March 14, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) unveiled a string of economic indicators from the January-February period, showing an upturn in investment, stable consumer spending, and an optimized industrial structure. Fixed assets investment, a major growth driver, grew 6.1 percent year on year in the first two months of 2019, 0.2 percentage points higher than that recorded in 2018. Growth has maintained an upward trend since last September. Retail sales of consumer goods, an indicator of consumption, rose 8.2 percent year on year in the first two months of the year, the same rate as for December 2018. Latest data showed bright spots in the…

Du Zhanyuan, President of the China International Publishing Group (CIPG), speaks at a seminar in Rome on March 20 on the book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, ahead of President Xi’s visit to Italy. The book has been translated into over 20 languages including English, French and Italian. The event was co-hosted by the State Council Information Office, the CIPG and the Chinese Embassy in Italy. Xi paid state visits to Italy, Morocco and France on March 21-26.…

THE PHILIPPINES Firefighters tackle a blaze in a shantytown in Quezon City on March 20. More than 250 shanties were gutted, leaving 750 families homeless NEW ZEALAND Police investigate a mosque in Christchurch on March 16. An Australian gunman opened fire in two mosques the previous day, killing 50 people UNITED KINGDOM British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in the House of Commons in London on March 20. May confirmed she had written to the European Union, seeking to delay Britain’s departure from the bloc IRELAND A marching band during the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin on March 17 UNITED NATIONS A staffer at a wreath-laying ceremony at the UN headquarters, New York City, on March 15 for colleagues who lost their lives…

Twenty veterans were awarded at an activity titled Most Outstanding Veteran in January for their contributions to the country and society. Among them was Shen Rubo, a veteran from north China’s Hebei Province, who has done more than 100,000 good deeds in his life. The last one was a donation of 500 yuan ($74.8) to a cancer patient before he passed away in June 2018 from esophageal cancer. The deeds of these model veterans reverberated among the public and the related reports on Weibo, a major social media platform in China, have been read for more than 150 million times. “Pay tribute to outstanding veterans! You are all a bright light that illuminates society,” a user posted. Calling on people to learn from the spirit of these veterans, the activity…

This was the seventh year Hu Jiqiang, President of Zhejiang Conba Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., attended the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing. As a deputy for two terms of the NPC, China’s top legislature, he has submitted suggestions related to the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) each year. At the Second Session of the 13th NPC held on March 5-15, every time Hu talked to the media or on panel discussions, he mentioned a TV series on China Central Television titled TCM Masters, and would elaborate on a scene that was adapted from a true story. On February 25, 1929—Hu would recount every time—the Ministry of Health of the Republic of China (1912-49) proposed the abolition of traditional medicine, which was opposed by TCM doctors…

($1=6.7 yuan) 3.91 tln yuan China’s fiscal revenue in the first two months of 2019, up 7 percent year on year 147.11 bln yuan Foreign direct investment into the Chinese mainland in the first two months of 2019, expanding 5.5 percent year on year 23.8 mln tons China’s gasoline production during the January-February period, up 5.3 percent year on year 510 mln tons China’s raw coal production in the first two months of 2019, declining 1.5 percent year on year 2.4 tln yuan Total value of bonds issued in China in February 13.78 tln yuan Total value of China’s public offering funds by the end of January 886.56 The average China Containerized Freight Index, which tracks spot and contractual freight rates from Chinese container ports for 12 shipping routes across…

Spring Is Coming Tourists gaze at cherry blossoms at Yuyuantan Park in Beijing on March 19. The 31st cherry blossom cultural event kicked off at the park that day and visitors can enjoy over 3,000 cherry trees. Wedding Code Local authorities and communities in China have come up with various measures to combat extravagant rural wedding traditions such as hefty caili, or betrothal gifts, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs on March 18. It is a tradition in many places across China, especially in rural areas, where the groom’s family gives caili to the bride’s family. This can sometimes drive certain families to poverty. In Ningling County, central China’s Henan Province, all 364 villages have formulated village rules and regulations to promote thrifty weddings. Local governments in east China’s…

As China’s urbanization process enters a new stage, more and more people will come to work and live in cities, thereby triggering a new challenge—how should cities develop and how should different cities relate to one another? There is a change in China’s urbanization process with cities developing in an increasingly coordinated way. For instance, under the coordinated development strategy initiated by the Central Government, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China has changed the model of fragmented development. In his government work report delivered on March 5, Premier Li Keqiang said the government will promote coordinated development across regions and improve the quality of new urbanization. City clusters will be nurtured through the development of leading cities. According to Yang Kaizhong, Vice President of the Beijing-based Capital University of Economics…

Web writer Zhang Wei, known as Tang Jia San Shao, used to primarily write fantasy novels before he began contributing to Web literature in 2004. In February, his contemporary urban romance Embracing You Beyond Lies made it to the List of Excellent Original Web Literary Works published by the State Administration of Press and Publication and the China Writers Association (CWA). The list, which started in 2015, aims to promote healthy development of the Web literature industry by selecting outstanding works for other writers to follow. “I hope to shoulder more social responsibilities,” said Zhang, who has turned to realism in recent years. Dose of realism China’s Web literature has developed leaps and bounds over the past 20 years, He Hong, Director of CWA’s Web Literature Center, said in a…

There is a new craze among young people—flocking to so-called kuakuaqun, or flattery groups, on the Internet, where they praise one another, at times even paying to be exaggeratedly complimented. This is mainly happening on WeChat, China’s largest messaging app. Some flattery groups are free, like those set up by university students. But users can also search for commercial flattery groups on e-commerce platforms like Taobao. Once you join any of these groups, you will be showered with praise on your topic of choice, like academic achievements, your appearance or even your characteristics. Defenders of the flattery groups say they help young people to release the high pressure from their studies and daily life. Besides, everyone needs encouragement in the process of growing up. Compliments will strengthen their self-confidence and…