Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 62/No.50 i Beijing Review

BELGIUM President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and her predecessor Jean-Claude Juncker attend the official handover ceremony in Brussels on December 3 RUSSIA Chinese dancers perform the drama Confucius at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg on December 3 AUSTRIA Rafael Mariano Grossi speaks at a special session of the International Atomic Energy Agency general conference in Vienna on December 2, after he was approved as the new director general INDIA Visually impaired people attend a rally marking International Day of Persons With Disabilities in New Delhi on December 3 ROMANIA Soldiers take part in the National Day military parade near the Arch of Triumph in Bucharest on December 1 UNITED KINGDOM NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) leaders pose for a group photo at the alliance’s 70th-anniversary…

An exciting moment in the history of China-Russia relations took place on December 2, as a Chinese representative at the Heihe Station reported that it was ready to receive natural gas and Russian representatives at the Atamanskaya compressor station and Chayandin gas field announced they were ready to provide it. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin then issued the order for the official launch of the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline. Starting in Siberia, Russia, the pipeline enters China at Heihe in bordering Heilongjiang Province. Then it stretches across northeast China and through Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong and Jiangsu, to reach Shanghai. It will connect to existing regional gas transmission pipeline networks in China and supply natural gas to the areas along the line. In the next 30…

Junjun (not his real name) is 18 years old and HIV-positive, but unlike many people living with HIV/AIDS in China, he is comfortable in front of the cameras. Born with HIV and orphaned after both his parents died of AIDS in 2004 when he was only 3 years old, Junjun was placed in the AIDS Orphan Salvation Association (AOS) in Fuyang in Anhui Province, east China, the same year. He has lived there ever since. AOS was founded in 2003, as one of the first non-governmental organizations (NGO) in China aimed at helping AIDS orphans. Director Zhang Ying used to be a successful entrepreneur, but after meeting a child who was an AIDS orphan, she changed her career path and looked for ways of helping these children. Junjun arrived one…

Matteo Tanteri is embracing China and so is his company. He is CEO of the China operation of the Italian energy firm Snam, one of the largest gas pipeline operators in Europe, which set up its first office in China in Beijing in 2018. The company signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China National Petroleum Corp., the country’s largest oil and gas producer and supplier, at the Second China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November. “For many gas companies today, they are looking to find gas in other regions, but in terms of gas infrastructure, I think the focus is in China,” Tanteri said, “We are doing business with local companies and we are starting to work with Chinese energy players.” Along with Tanteri, over 400 business people, government…

When people talk of high fashion, they talk about the Paris Fashion Week, brands such as Chanel and Dior, but always never about Chinese brands or designers though many top products are made in China. Zhou Yiqi, Vice Chairman of China Fashion Designers Association, concedes that but according to him, it doesn’t mean Chinese designers lack talent. It is mainly because China’s external communication capacity and cultural influence are limited, he said. At the founding ceremony of the Center for Global Fashion and Culture Industry, a platform launched by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG) to raise the profile of Chinese fashion brands, Zhou and other professionals from the garments industry and fashion magazine Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) came together in Beijing on December 2 to brainstorm on how…

Supporting Bookstores A customer reads at the Sanlian Taofen Bookstore in Beijing on November 28. In 2019, the municipal government invested nearly 100 million yuan ($14.2 million) to support the development of bookstores in the capital, with 239 bookstores receiving support funds. Regrettable Move The Hong Kong-related act recently passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump is “completely unnecessary and unjustifiable,” Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on December 3. At a media briefing before the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lam said the HKSAR Government strongly rejects the so-called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019, and regards it as a very regrettable move by a foreign legislature and administration to interfere in Hong Kong affairs.…

Even though in Moscow dusk falls early in winter, instead of snuggling up in her cozy home after school, Arina Buntova is making her way to the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) for her Chinese language class. The 14-year-old has been studying Chinese at the Confucius Institute at the RSUH for a year and a half. “I’m interested in the Chinese language because I want to travel to China,” she told Beijing Review. On November 25, three classes for children were already in session at the institute, while throngs of adults were just arriving for their after-work classes. Language teaching Launched in 2006, the Confucius Institute at the RSUH is the first official Chinese teaching center in Moscow and the second in Russia. “The number of Chinese language…

The author is an assistant research fellow with the China Institute of International Studies For businesses using ships as the major means of transportation, the conventional shipping routes from China to Europe, either passing through the Suez Canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea or the Cape of Good Hope on the Indian Ocean, are time-consuming and fraught with fears of violence and instability, as well as heavy traffic. In comparison, a new route through the Arctic is much shorter, taking about a fortnight less. The white paper on China’s Arctic policy issued last year calls for building the Polar Silk Road, a new blue economic corridor connecting Asia with Europe along Russia’s Northern Sea route (NSR) in the Arctic. The Russian Government is already developing the…

When a sinkhole appeared on a busy road in Hangzhou, the idyllic city in Zhejiang Province in east China that hosted the Group of 20 Summit in 2016, the first responder was not a person but an intelligent system. Hangzhou’s City Brain platform was the first to be galvanized into action, triggering an emergency response system that saw on-site monitoring videos rush data and images to relevant government departments. It also drew up a prompt evacuation zone covering nearby buildings with over 700 families, issued an evacuation order, and sent details such as the addresses of senior citizens and the disabled in the zone to social workers so that they could be there to offer specific help. All of this was done in just 10 minutes, which left ample time…

In a milestone document adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee in late October, advancing the rule of law to support the development of private and foreign-invested companies was underlined. China must “pursue scientific legislation, strict law enforcement and impartial justice, and grant equality of rights, opportunities and rules for economic entities of all forms of ownership,” wrote Vice Premier Liu He in an article in People’s Daily. China is already making strides in deepening the rule of law to provide a solid foundation for reform and opening up that is essential for high-quality development. The synergy between reforms in China’s economic system and deepening the rule of law will be enhanced as China aims for high-quality development, said Zhang Liqun, a…

Reform in FTZs Enterprises in pilot free trade zones (FTZs) are enjoying more benefits from the efforts to further streamline approval procedures, according to the top market regulator. China started the pilot reform to separate business operation permits from business licenses in all 18 pilot FTZs on December 1, with a negative list-based management system as one of the highlights of the reform, Tang Jun, deputy head of the State Administration for Market Regulation, said on December 4. For all items not on the list, permit requirements will be lifted to help build a stable, fair and transparent market environment, he said. Before the reform, enterprises had to get operation permits before getting their business licenses, which could be time-consuming. Through the reform, China will cut the approval procedures concerning…

As its name suggests, the Sokolniki Culture and Recreation Park in Moscow is more than just an outdoor retreat. It also offers an opportunity for cultural enrichment. Deep in this large expanse of dense woodland stand several rows of buildings, one of which, a two-story structure with orange trimming, is the Contemporary Museum of Calligraphy. Officially opened to the public in August 2008, the museum houses more than 200 art pieces including Arabic, Chinese, European, Indian, Japanese and Slavic calligraphic works. “One of the most interesting items in the museum is a book of calligraphic work on the 36 military tactics applied during wars in ancient China,” Alexey Shaburov, founder and curator of the museum, told a group of reporters from the China International Publishing Group (CIPG) on November 24.…

Heilongjiang Province in northeast China is famed for its ice and snow festivals. Qiqihar, its second biggest city, is known for the Songnen Plain, a premier bird habitat that is home to the red-crowned crane. In winter, tourists flock here to enjoy the sights and sounds of a frozen world and few of them know that this lovely city is also the cradle of China’s heavy industry. In Fularji, a district in Qiqihar, rows of small red brick buildings have been standing sentinel for over 60 years. They belong to China First Heavy Industries (CFHI), the first state-owned enterprise (SOE) manufacturing equipment for the country’s heavy industry, including mining, petrochemicals and nuclear power. Historical birth The CFHI owes its birth to a historical visit in 1950 when Chairman Mao Zedong…

The blockchain, a kind of digital ledger of economic transactions, is characterized by decentralization, a timestamped series of immutable records of data and collective maintenance. In promoting new technology innovation, the blockchain technology can be an important breakthrough for China’s independent innovation of core technologies. It is particularly suitable for promoting the modernization of the country’s governance system and capacity. Using the technology, government agencies and other public departments can advance coordination based on data sharing. This will benefit the public while reducing operating costs. Initial results have been achieved by introducing the blockchain technology to share administrative data and innovate in legal affairs. The Loudi example The local government in Loudi, a small city in Hunan Province in central China, is an example of how governments can utilize the…