Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.69/No.4 i Beijing Review

Enhancing innovation-driven development to accelerate the cultivation of new growth drivers is one of the major strategic tasks for China’s economic work in 2026. In the context of the rapid global acceleration of technological development and strong pushes from the West toward de-globalization and protectionism, China’s efforts will require the continued deep integration of technology with its institutions, personnel, culture and market. Strengthening the leading role of the business community in innovation means tilting resource allocation and policy incentives in favor of enterprises, especially technology-based ones. This requires the government to create a fairer market environment and put in place tax incentives and other policies to reduce the cost and risks of innovation. In the meantime, it should build a technology innovation system led by enterprises that features deep cooperation…

January 20 marked one year since Donald Trump’s return to the White House. At this time last year, warnings that the U.S. might adopt a more unilateral and confrontational foreign policy, prioritizing its own strategic interests even at great international cost, would likely have been met with widespread skepticism. Most people worldwide have long viewed the U.S. as a hegemonic power. The 2021 report U.S. Military Interventions 1776-2019 released by Tufts University documented 392 U.S. military interventions from 1776 through 2019, with approximately half occurring after 1950 and about a quarter after the Cold War ended in 1991. The U.S. has long occupied a paradoxical role in the modern world order. On one hand, it was the principal architect and defender of the post-1945 system, built on principles of sovereignty…

Personal Data Protection China’s cyberspace regulator released draft rules regulating the collection and use of personal information by Internet applications on January 10, seeking public feedback. The draft, formulated by the Cyberspace Administration of China, aims to protect the rights and interests of personal information and ensure the proper use of personal data. According to the draft, the collection and use of personal information should be strictly limited to what is necessary for providing products or services, and must not exceed the required scope. It also states that Internet applications should, upon first launch, clearly inform users of the rules on the collection and use of personal information through prominent means such as pop-up notifications and obtain users’ explicit consent. In addition, the draft stipulates that applications must not collect…

LEGISLATOR ASSUMES LANDMARK ROLE Starry Lee Wai-king, 52, was elected president of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on January 8, adding another prominent role to her extensive portfolio of public service. Lee’s career spans 17 years in the LegCo and 24 years in the Kowloon City District Council. She also serves as a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature. She was chairperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, the largest political organization in Hong Kong, from 2015 to 2023. Lee has outlined that she will focus on ensuring the LegCo will better integrate with the broader national development agenda and building a legislature where all legislators can leverage their strengths. Are…

The website of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment features a section on the national automatic monitoring system for surface water quality. Every four hours, it releases real-time data on the water quality at the nearly 10,000 monitoring points across the country. At 2 p.m. on January 12, for instance, the system showed the proportion of monitoring points registering Grade III quality or above surpassed 85 percent. In China’s five-tier water quality system, Grade III is considered “fairly good,” suitable for domestic use. The remaining 15 percent mostly registered Grade IV water quality, which is generally suitable for industrial use. Only four monitoring points showed water quality below Grade V. The improvement of surface water quality benefits people in both rural and urban areas, creating healthy green spaces that support…

During his first year as an entrepreneur, Han Bicheng washed his hair roughly three times a day—more than 800 times in a single year. He and his team had to repeatedly apply conductive gel to their scalps to capture the clean electroencephalogram signals needed for their experiments, a routine that kept them in a near-constant cycle of shampooing. Back in 2015, Han, then a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard University’s Center for Brain Science in the U.S., joined several Chinese classmates from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to co-found BrainCo with the mission of exploring the vast potential of the human brain through brain-computer interface (BCI) technology. At the time, Elon Musk’s Neuralink had not yet been launched, making their venture appear extraordinarily ambitious—if not bordering on impractical. In…

On July 11, 2025, the global intellectual property (IP) spotlight fell on Geneva, Switzerland. At the 2025 World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Awards, Chinese robotics firm Unitree Robotics was named one of 10 winners, selected from more than 780 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups across 95 countries and regions. Since the awards were launched in 2022, Chinese companies have won prizes for four consecutive years. “Unitree Robotics is a global pioneer in quadruped robot development, designing agile and affordable robots for education, research, logistics and security,” WIPO wrote of the company, which is based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. “Backed by a robust IP portfolio covering mechanical design, control algorithms and embedded software, Unitree is bringing intelligent robotics into everyday life and industry.” Since its founding in 2016,…

Hydrogen energy development is transitioning from vision and planning to widespread application. To date, more than 60 countries and regions have announced hydrogen energy development strategies focused on accelerating demonstration projects and real-world deployment. To reduce the cost of clean hydrogen and expand supply capacity, several of the world’s leading economies, including Japan and Canada, have introduced large-scale subsidy programs. Meanwhile, major markets such as the European Union, the United States and China are investing in hydrogen refueling station networks and hydrogen corridors to overcome bottlenecks in transportation and distribution. A new frontier In China, hydrogen energy, classified as a frontier and emerging industry, has been included in the Government Work Report approved by the National People’s Congress, the top legislature, since 2024 to accelerate its development. The Energy Law…

The national consumer goods trade-in subsidy program has been a focal point for discussion among Chinese consumers in recent years. The program, which covers home appliances, digital products and vehicles, is part of China’s stimulus package launched in 2024, which also includes incentives for large-scale equipment upgrades. During the 2024-25 period, the subsidy program benefited 494 million consumers and generated consumer goods sales of 3.92 trillion yuan ($549 billion), said Vice Minister of Commerce Sheng Qiuping at a press conference on January 6. During the same period, 192 million home appliances and 18.3 million vehicles were traded in, with new-energy vehicles accounting for nearly 60 percent of new vehicles purchased. Additionally, according to data released by the National Development and Reform Commission in August 2025, the country had allocated 188…

‘Death—what is there to be said of it? The body returns to mountain and hill.” Over a millennium ago, Chinese poet Tao Yuanming (365-427) captured the profound philosophical view of death as a natural return to the embrace of the earth. This ancient wisdom is being increasingly embraced by modern Chinese and has been reflected in the recently released Funeral and Interment Management Regulation, unveiled by the State Council, the highest state administrative organ, on January 7. The regulation set the stage for sweeping changes aimed at making end-of-life services more affordable, transparent and environmentally sustainable. The regulation, which will come into force on March 30, is the first comprehensive revision since it was enacted in 1997, responding directly to public concerns over high costs, opaque pricing, and the environmental…

Agrowing number of Chinese firms have begun to adopt driverless delivery vehicles in autonomous driving demonstration areas in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen to enhance logistics efficiency, reduce logistics costs and improve user experience. Violations by these vehicles, including obstructing traffic, running red lights and failing to yield in time. They are raising widespread public concerns about road safety and about who is responsible in the case of an accident. The lack of clear legal guidelines is leading to disputes, wrangling and buckpassing when it comes to determining liability and compensation, making the protection of victims’ rights elusive. Ding Jiafa (Rednet.com): There are currently no unified national rules or standards for unmanned delivery vehicles; they have not been clearly defined as either motor vehicles or non-motor vehicles, which…