Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.64/No.45 i Beijing Review

Yang Zhongyong, a farmer in Anji, a county known as the Kingdom of Bamboo in Zhejiang Province, would never have dared to imagine making money out of “thin” air. But this actually became a reality through the bamboo forest he had grown. At the price for carbon quotas announced at China’s national carbon market in Shanghai on its opening day of July 16, Yang stood to gain more than 370,000 yuan ($57,831) from the carbon emission trading of his bamboo forest. According to calculations, the average annual carbon emission reduction per hectare of a bamboo forest is about 6 tons. Yang’s land can reduce over 7,045 tons of carbon dioxide under his contract period. He went on to use the quota as a pledge to secure a bank loan by…

A bridge often carries the connotations of connectivity and cooperation. The logo of the Group of 20 (G20) Hangzhou Summit in 2016 featured such an overarching image, supplemented with the imprint of a traditional Chinese seal. Chinese President Xi Jinping subsequently likened the multilateral platform to a bridge of friendship and cooperation. As long as the G20 members support each other through thick and thin, they will be able to overcome the rough waves of the world economy and embark on a brand new voyage for future growth, Xi said at the time. While addressing this year’s G20 Leaders’ Summit, the Chinese president continued to call on all parties to shoulder their due responsibilities and uphold the notions of openness, all-inclusiveness and win-win cooperation for the purpose of forging a…

It was a day in October 1921 that a tall foreign man appeared in the small village of Yangshao, in Henan Province of central China. This Swedish geologist, Johan Gunnar Andersson, had originally been invited to China as a mining adviser in the 1910s. However, a few pieces of pottery brought back from this village by his Chinese assistant made him suspect the existence of something more precious than mines. With the permission of the Chinese Government, Andersson organized a team of eight, including five Chinese and three foreigners, and started their excavation in the village. They brought tents with them, and borrowed shovels and baskets from villagers. This was all the equipment the team used for the project. The 36-day excavation at 17 locations around the village unearthed painted…

On September 24, local reports emerged of the discovery of ancient cultural relics close to Zhengyang Gate at the southern end of central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Reports centered on the discovery of a 3-meter-tall stone beast, which was unearthed to the southeast of the gate where the nearby Zhengyang Bridge once stood. The stone beast that was unearthed by the bridge was one of the sons of the mythical dragon, placed there due to the belief he could monitor the water that flowed under the bridge and prevent flooding. Based on the excavation project, experts suggested restoring part of the bridge and the ancient moat it crossed in order to restore the past appearance of Zhengyang Gate and revive the city’s ancient urban landscape. Zhengyang Gate, also known as Qianmen…

President Xi Jinping delivers a keynote speech via video link from Beijing at the opening ceremony of the Fourth China International Import Expo on November 4. With an exhibition area covering over 366,000 square meters, this year’s CIIE, running from November 5 to 10, attracted nearly 3,000 businesses from 127 countries and regions, and significantly contributed to boosting international trade and multilateralism amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic. A high-level forum themed on the 20th anniversary of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, too, was held during the expo.…

BELGIUM People watch a sound and light show in Brussels on October 28. The 10-day event called Bright Brussels, the capital’s festival of lights, opened that day UNITED STATES People take selfies in front of the Meta plate in San Francisco on October 28. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on that day announced the company had changed its corporate name to Meta THAILAND A traveler collects his luggage at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok on November 1. Thailand on that day reopened its borders to vaccinated visitors from more than 60 countries and regions amid efforts to revive its pandemic-battered economy SOUTH AFRICA A voter receives a ballot from an electoral official in Cape Town on November 1. Over 26.2 million voters registered to partake in the country’s local government elections…

In July, China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec Group), one of the world’s largest petrochemical companies, initiated China’s first million-ton carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) project in an oilfield in Shandong Province. The project, which will be put into production by the end of this year, is estimated to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1 million tons per year, the equivalent of planting nearly 9 million trees. CCUS is an important technical means to cope with global climate change and control greenhouse gas emissions, capturing and purifying carbon dioxide emitted during production and utilizing it in a new production process for recycling and storage. According to the International Energy Agency, it will contribute about 14 percent of carbon dioxide emissions reduction by 2050. “While working to ensure China’s energy supply, Sinopec…

Relations between China and the U.S. are at a low point and the Donald Trump-instigated trade war continues under President Joe Biden. Can substantial progress be made in tariff reduction? In the realm of diplomacy, much is possible; but is Washington being sincere? In 2018, Trump launched his counterproductive trade war against China, Russia, and several other countries. Overall, the Trump tariffs impacted some $410 billion in imports and exports and raised costs for the U.S. consumer by around $51 billion per year. They have since been forced to bear the brunt of the inflationary consequences and have seen their options reduced due to affected trade levels and decreases in both imports and exports. So far, no progress has been made in tariff reduction with China, but prospects for talks…

Investing over $30 billion in 80 projects, from clean energy to digital infrastructure. Setting up a $10-billion emergency assistance loan facility for COVID-19 control. Approving around $9 billion in loans under this program. These are a few examples of what the New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral financial institution established by the BRICS countries—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has achieved since its debut in 2015. Zhou Qiangwu, NDB Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, referred to the facts and figures to illustrate the bank’s efficiency at a recent seminar. Yet finance is only one area of the multifaceted collaboration among the five emerging economies. Themed Building Consensus and Confidence for BRICS Cooperation With a Shared Future, the BRICS Seminar on Governance 2021 opened in Beijing on November 2.…

Aerobatic Show Aircraft give an aerobatic performance at a public event hosted by the China Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in Anyang, Henan Province, on October 30. Synthesized Protein China has become the first nation in the world to successfully synthesize protein from carbon monoxide, and it has upgraded its industrial production capacity to 10,000 metric tons, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) said on October 30. The synthesized Clostridium autoethanogenum protein can gradually replace soy protein. This would be a huge benefit to China, which sources a great deal of its soybeans from other countries, the CAAS said. Xue Min, a researcher with the CAAS’s Feedstuff Institute, said the production of 10 million tons of the new protein is equivalent to 28 million tons of imported soybeans and…

With nearly 100 gardens and parklands, it is no wonder that Glasgow is known as the Dear Green Place, the perfect place to host the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP26. Delegates from some 200 countries are gathering in the British city to discuss ways to upgrade the global response to the world’s increasingly profound climate crisis. UN Secretary General António Guterres expressed particular concern over slowing collective action ahead of the meeting. “We need to make sure we reverse the trends, not maintain them. It is now clear we are coming to a point of no return,” he said. Governments have already failed the first test of the Paris Agreement. The landmark document was reached on December 12, 2015 at the COP21, uniting 191 countries…

At noon they weed with hoes; Their sweat drips on the soil. Each bowl of rice, who knows? Is the fruit of hard toils. This poem by Tang Dynasty (618-907) politician and poet Li Shen (772-846) paints a vivid picture of farmers working in their fields, indicating Li’s compassion for those who work hard all year round despite the hardships of life and weather alike. It might also be some of the most famous lines for Chinese parents to quote when explaining to their kids the food on the table did not appear there overnight and they must cherish every bite. “For our parents and the older generations, some of whom can still recall the days without adequate food, ‘clearing your plate’ is more about saving some food for a…

An architectural exhibition, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in late October, showcased the history of and achievements in Chinese construction. The exhibition featured a number of landmarks, including the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Hong Kong International Airport and world-class skyscrapers from around the nation. Using photos, models and multimedia content, the exhibition brought Hong Kong residents an interactive experience of architectural beauty as well as advanced technology. It was co-hosted by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR, and the China State Construction Engineering Corp. Comments to dingying@bjreview.com…