Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.65/No.3 i Beijing Review

Digital Progress Core digital economy industries are expected to account for 10 percent of China’s GDP in 2025, up from 7.8 percent in 2020, according to a plan unveiled by the State Council on January 12. By 2025, the country will see the digital transformation of industries reach a new level, digital public services become more inclusive, and the digital economy governance system improve noticeably, as per the document. It details key tasks in eight areas, including optimizing and upgrading digital infrastructure, pushing forward the digital shift of enterprises, and expanding international cooperation on the digital economy. China will strengthen its support of 6G research and development, enhance innovation in strategic fields such as integrated circuits and artificial intelligence, and facilitate the development of new business modes, the plan said.…

With only weeks to go till the opening of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on February 4, short track speed skating veteran Wu Dajing is getting ready to defend his title in the men’s 500-meter event. Four years ago in Pyeongchang, the Republic of Korea, Wu not only took home gold in the event, but also rewrote the world record twice in the process. He is the first Chinese man to win an Olympic speed skating championship. In short track competitions, skaters jockey for position at speeds up to 50 km per hour. A split second can make a big difference to the outcome, placing athletes under intense pressure. Wu’s performance wavered during this season’s International Skating Union (ISU) World Cup short track speed skating series. Nevertheless,…

Over many months of training, test events and qualification matches, athletes have been thoroughly preparing themselves, both mentally and physically, for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Comments to wanghairong@cicgamericas.com…

The biggest ever global free trade deal—the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)—came into force on January 1 after 11 signatory states had completed the ratification procedures. They included six of the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and all five non-ASEAN participants. The RCEP will take effect 60 days after ratification by at least six ASEAN countries and at least three non-ASEAN nations, according to the agreement. Meanwhile, ASEAN member states that have yet to do so, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, are set to seek respective amendments to their relevant domestic legislations to make them RCEP-consistent prior to their formal parliamentary ratification. Driven by ASEAN This ASEAN-driven mega pact manifests the bloc’s strong resolve in pursuing an inclusive regional economic integration that…

The medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 passed the quality test and were accepted by the Games’ organizing committee at the Shanghai Minting Corp. (SMC), the medals’ producer, on January 7. The medals, inspired by bi, a circular jade ceremonial disk dating back 5,000 years, are officially named Tongxin, meaning together as one. According to Liu Ke, Chairman of the SMC, each medal has undergone 18 production processes and 20 quality inspections before its acceptance. Meticulous design The medals were unveiled on October 26, 2021, 100 days ahead of the opening of Beijing 2022. Hang Hai, an associate professor of design from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, headed the design of the medals. He was also the main designer of the medals for the Olympic…

Chinese artists perform at the opening ceremony of the National Day of China Pavilion during the Expo 2020 Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on January 10. The pavilion showcases China’s cultural elements and cutting-edge technology to visitors to the first World Expo set in the Middle East, which runs from October 2021 to March 2022. The UAE is China’s second largest trading partner in the Middle East. The pavilion is hailed as a platform to advance bilateral ties. It also gives center stage to a futuristic vision for the better life of humanity.…

BELGIUM A child looks at a lantern installation at an activity inside the Antwerp Zoo on January 12. There are 130 exhibits jointly created by Chinese and international artists on display BRITAIN Prime Minister Boris Johnson (center) is seen on a screen as he attended the weekly parliamentary question-and-answer session in London on January 12, where he apologized for attending a Downing Street garden party during the country’s first lockdown in 2020 NICARAGUA President Daniel Ortega waves to the crowd at the swearing-in ceremony in Managua on January 10 UNITED STATES A woman inside a shopping center in New Orleans, Louisiana, on January 11. The city reinstated its indoor mask mandate starting on January 12, in response to mounting COVID-19 infections PAKISTAN Soldiers carry out rescue work in the northwestern…

Bridge Over Troubled Water is clearly the favorite song of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, China’s leading figure skating duo. The first time they used it in competition was during the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Even with a flawed landing by Sui, the pair still won gold there, thanks to their standout overall performance. “We chose this music in 2017 as we love the theme; it described our situation at that moment,” Sui said. They chose the song again during the qualification events for the Beijing Olympic Winter Games. These events began in October last year and were held successively in Beijing, Canada and Italy. With the same song but a new choreography, the pair came in first in all qualifying events, and gained qualification for…

This winter will be a memorable one for 20-year-old ski aficionado Wan Ailin. After several rounds of interviews, she was selected as a volunteer in the awards ceremony etiquette team for the Olympic and Paralympic team Winter Games Beijing 2022. Soon, the junior student majoring in broadcasting and hosting in Beijing will enter the Games’ closed-loop system and start working at the Wukesong Sports Center, the Olympic ice hockey venue. “This has been a special experience for me; I feel excited and obligated at the same time. I’m also proud that our country is able to appeal to the world through the Games and I’m honored to witness it in person,” Wan told Beijing Review. A safe bubble On January 4, the closed-loop system went into trial operation. The special…

China has been integrating into the global supply chain since its accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. In 2010, its manufacturing added value exceeded that of the United States to top the world. Nine years later, this figure reached those of the U.S., Japan and Germany combined, accounting for 28.1 percent of the world’s total. Among the 500 major industrial products, China ranks first in the output of more than 220. Not only is the nation the largest source of major industrial products in the international supply chain, it’s also the largest market. A central role China overtook Germany and became the world’s largest exporter in 2009; in 2013, it replaced the U.S. as the world’s largest trader of goods. Today, it is the largest trading partner for…

Annie Kathryn Lowdermilk, an American singer and actress living in Beijing, has a beautiful face yet a very masculine Chinese name—Tang Bohu, named after a Casanova poet and painter who lived during China’s Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). “He’s a crazy genius and I like a little bit of crazy, I think that’s important in art,” Lowdermilk told Beijing Review. The 31-year-old has done many outside-the-box things during her time in China: fusing Chinese traditional music, such as Peking Opera, with Western pop music; competing in Chinese music shows; acting in Chinese comedies; and hosting TV galas—in Chinese. Accidental yet fundamental Lowdermilk ended up in China’s showbiz pretty much by accident. In early 2008, she found out a company was looking for a singer to fill a vacancy in a Beijingbased international…

Aquatic Plant Diversity China has published an English language edition of Aquatic Plants of China, a book recording 885 species of freshwater and marine plants in China, Xinhua News Agency reported on January 10. While China’s diversity of aquatic plants is among the highest on earth, botanists around the world know little about it, owing largely to the language barrier. This new edition, compiled by the Wuhan Botanical Garden, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, covers all 240 genera of China’s freshwater and marine plant species. The book records the distribution and habitat of each of the plants, as well as the latest research results and new classifications. It also contains 843 color pictures of the plants, their flowers and fruits, as well as their habitats. The researchers conducted extensive…

Just getting close to the rink is enough to send icy shivers down many a spine. Yet it doesn’t seem to bother the skaters in the least; what’s more, they enjoy it. They move through the white space with agility and mastery, spinning through the air as if Mother Nature never intended for them to walk the actual ground. Figure skating is the oldest sport on the Olympic Winter Games program since the first Winter Olympics in 1924. It was previously contested, however, at the 1908 London Summer Games and again in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium. Among the sport’s current young talents, there is one who stands out for his ability and smile: He is no other than Donovan Carrillo, the Mexican figure skater qualified to participate in the upcoming…

At eight months pregnant, a woman from Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi Province in northwest China, lost her baby after being left waiting outside a local hospital for two hours due to expired nucleic acid test results, on January 1. Her heartbreaking experience occurred when the city was under closed-off management, introduced nine days earlier aiming to curb increasing COVID-19 cases. Public outcry quickly triggered an official response. Liu Shunzhi, head of the Xi’an Health Commission, apologized at a press conference. The hospital was ordered to offer compensation, with those accountable suspended from duty or removed from office. As Xi’an put the spread, the largest in a big city since the lockdown of Wuhan in January 2020, under control in just about a month, issues that cropped up during that period…

A ccording to the Chinese lunar calendar, the first three months of the new year, which starts on February 1 this year, mark the whole of springtime at different stages. Spring season commences in the second month, allowing people to venture outside once again after the cold deep of winter to enjoy a beautiful brisk walk. Introducing the customs and cultural activities of each solar term, the Beijing-based Capital Museum plans to host several exhibitions themed on the four seasons. The spring edition opened to the public on December 31, 2021. Through over 120 groups of cultural relics, the exposition introduces a variety of the city’s Spring Festival traditions and activities dating to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911). Special occasions such as the Flower Festival, celebrating the birthday of…