Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 60/No. 17 i Beijing Review

SRI LANKA Army soldiers search for survivors buried under rubble following a garbage dump collapse in Meetotamulla. Over 30 bodies, including those of six children, had been found by rescuers by April 17 TURKEY Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan celebrate in Ankara on April 16 after a referendum approved a constitutional amendment to change Turkey’s government from a parliamentary system to a presidential one ZIMBABWE Perfomers dance at the national stadium in Harare on April 18 during a celebration to mark the 37th anniversary of the country’s independence NORTH KOREA A grand parade in Pyongyang marks the 105th birth anniversary of North Korea’s founder Kim Il Sung, on April 16 BRITAIN Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to media outside 10 Downing Street after she called a snap UK general…

Comments to wanghairong@bjreview.com When “little brother Ma,” a tour guide in north China’s Tianjin, took out his “flag” and hung it on his flagpole, there were peals of laughter in the tourist coach. It was no conventional flag but a doll fashioned from a cartoon character, once his daughter’s favorite toy. “For the rest of the day, please remember this doll and follow it closely,” he said. The toy immediately endeared him to the children onboard, ranging from 4 to 12 years old, who were accompanied by their parents and grandparents. These were families from Beijing who had gone to neighboring Tianjin to get a quick taste of the city’s scenery and culture on a spring weekend. The tourists were first driven to an Italian- style street packed with visitors,…

Comments to zhouxiaoyan@bjreview.com The author is deputy director of the Department of Industrial Research at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China On April 7 the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the country’s bank- ing watchdog, issued a guideline urging the banking industry to focus on serving the real economy. To that end, the commission requires commercial banks to innovate, control risks, intensify reforms, and concentrate on tra- ditional banking practices. Reinvigorating the real economy is one of the key tasks of economic work to be done in 2017, and is an important means to bring about new growth drivers. In the government work report delivered at the fifth session of the 12th National People’s Congress in March, Premier Li Keqiang vowed to transform and upgrade…

Comments to yanwei@bjreview.com While working as a curator after major- ing in contemporary art, Pu Hong felt something was missing from muse- ums—people. “I felt there was a big question mark about the function of museums,” the 30-year-old said. “I saw several museums hosting exhibitions that stayed on for two to three months, yet the number of visitors was sparse because there was no one to spread information about these exhibitions or tell visitors the stories behind the exhibits.” So two years ago, Pu started his culture company in Beijing, Xin Yang Sheng Huo, which means “life of fresh air,” to step into the breach. The startup’s work is to provide public educa- tion for families, with a focus on schoolchildren. “The aim is to eventually get every family to…

Ready for Takeoff Personnel work on the C919, the first large passenger aircraft designed and built by China, at the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China in Shanghai on April 11. The aircraft has recently been given the go-ahead to begin a series of high-speed taxiing tests, the last step before its maiden flight. The process usually takes one to two months. Panda Library A panda-themed library is being built in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, home of the endangered bear. Located in the Chengdu Panda Road Primary School in the provincial capital Chengdu, it is expected to open in 2018. Principal of the school Zhang Mingrong said the facility will be able to house thousands of books and audio and video tapes on giant pandas in different languages. The idea of…

Comments to dengyaqing@bjreview.com The Chinese economy grew by 6.9 percent in the first quarter of 2017, a result widely attributed to industrial expansion, booming consumption and soaring exports. “China’s economy continued to under- go stable growth in the first quarter, with major indicators scoring much better than expected. This bodes well for future devel- opments for the rest of the year,” said Mao Shengyong, spokesman of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), at a press con- ference held on April 17. More specifically, the added value of major industrial enterprises rose 6.8 per- cent in the first quarter, one percentage point greater than the figure recorded in the same period last year. Moreover, price levels were generally stable, with the con- sumer price index (CPI) and producer price index (PPI)…

In 2016 , logistics expenses of Chinese companies totaled 11.1 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion), accounting for 14.9 percent of the country’s total GDP, 1.1 percentage points lower than the proportion in 2015, ac- cording to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. This indicates that every 10,000 yuan ($1,455.6) of GDP generated last year imposed logistics costs of 1,490 yuan ($216.89) on businesses, a figure 6.9 percent lower than that in 2015, saving the nation 800 billion yuan ($116.45 billion). Reducing logistics costs for Chinese busi- nesses is an important measure to reduce corporate costs and support the real econo- my. Carrying out its Medium and Long-Term Plan for the Development of the Logistics Industry (2014-20), China has achieved some success in reducing logistics costs in recent years. Figures show…

Trade Surplus Customs data showed that China’s imports grew faster than exports in the first quarter, resulting in a 35.7-percent shrinking of its trade surplus. Exports in yuan-denominated terms rose 14.8 percent year on year in the first quarter, while imports increased 31.1 percent. Foreign trade volume reached 6.2 trillion yuan ($902.47 billion) in the first quarter, up 21.8 percent year on year, with a surplus of 454.94 billion yuan ($66.1 billion). Customs data reflected an improved structure of trade modes. In the first quarter, the volume of general trade grew 23.2 percent to 3.49 trillion yuan ($506.9 billion), taking up 56.2 percent of the total volume of foreign trade, 0.6 percent- age point higher than in the same period last year. Trade with some countries along the routes of…

Comments to yuanyuan@bjreview.com About three decades ago, the bicycle was a national icon of China, and China was dubbed the “bicycle kingdom.” Now the contraption is back on the streets but in a chic and smart way. Scan, unlock and ride—riding a bicycle in many places is as simple as that. You no longer need to own a bike. Bikes for rent are available almost everywhere in the major cities, ready to go anywhere at any time. Unlike the traditional bike rental service, these bikes don’t need to be left at a fixed docking station or to be picked up from one. Once you reach your destination, you can simply leave the bike there. It will be taken by another borrower from there or be collected by the company. Each…

How will the just established Xiongan New Area be developed? The Xinhua News Agency outlined the past and future planning in an article on its website on April 14. The following is an edited version of it: The state announcement on April 1 to set up the Xiongan New Area, about 100 km south of Beijing, came after years of research and thinking by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee. It is also a major strategic decision that will open a new era of development in the region, which spans three counties in north China’s Hebei Province—Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin—with an eventual area of 2,000 square km and a population of 2 to 2.5 million. A millennium plan President Xi Jinping drew an analogy between the legend of…

Comments to wangxiang@bjreview.com A bustling fair, jubilant dancers and an ancient gate that brings history alive— these scenes of everyday life in Africa are captured through paintings at a Belt and Road art exhibition which opened in Mianyang, south-west China’s Sichuan Province, on April 15. Five renowned Chinese artists traveled to Africa earlier this year to present the con- tinent to the Chinese audience thousands of miles away. The exhibition is aimed at boosting cultural exchanges among countries involved in the China-proposed Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative. China will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14-15 to discuss the progress so far and future plans for the initiative with inter-…