Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 60/No. 21 i Beijing Review

Financing Support A three-year work program (2017- 19) on aid for small businesses was unveiled on May 16. “Receivable accounts are important liquid assets for small and micro-sized businesses,” said the program, drawn up by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Commerce, State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, China Banking Regulatory Commission and State Administration of Foreign Exchange. The PBOC started an online receivable financing platform for small businesses on December 31, 2013. By the end of March, a total of 1.6 trillion yuan ($233 billion) of fi- nancing had been generated by the platform, accounting for 35 percent of the total financing of small and micro-sized businesses. According to the program, train-ing courses and intensified policy support…

History regards the Western colonial system of the 19th and 20th cen-turies, represented by the former British Empire, as the first rudimen-tary globalization. Then came the U.S.-led multinationalization process featuring transnational corporations’ business expansion globally, regarded as “Globalization 1.0.” But today, with the world standing at a crossroads rocked by waves of anti-globalization, even Britain and the United States, the standard bearers and beneficiaries of the first phases of globalization, have growing voices advocating parochialism. Against this backdrop, China, both the victim and beneficiary of globalization, has picked up the banner. By proposing the Belt and Road Initiative—the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative—which is based on the principles of policy coordination and inclusive cooperation, China has laid the foundation for a new type of globalization…

Comments to dengyaqing@bjreview.com Mushahid Hussain, a Pakistani politician and prolific writer, has visited China more than 40 times since he was a teenager. In recent years, he has perceived amazing changes taking place in his country because of the global development strategy proposed by China—the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative, which focuses on cooperation and connectivity among the countries involved. “A few years ago, Pakistan had a negative image. People outside perceived it as an impov-erished and volatile place. But now, the Belt and Road Initiative has injected new confidence into our economy, people and future, with energy and infrastructure projects sprouting,” Hussain said. About 60,000 Pakistanis have got jobs in China-funded enterprises. “The initiative is not…

Shared bicycles are nowadays widely used in China’s cities, but bicycles are only a small part of the burgeoning “sharing economy” sweeping the nation. Business models involving shared bas- ketballs, umbrellas and power packs are mushrooming. The question now is: Can these so-called sharing businesses really be categorized as belonging to the sharing economy? Some argue that the sharing economy means that people share with others their idle resources, which would otherwise lie unused. For example, through online car-pooling platforms, private car owners can make some money by sharing their cars with those who need a ride, particu- larly when regular taxis become scarce during peak travel hours. However, most businesses which claim to operate under the sharing economy model make available not idle resources already exist ing, but products…

Zhang Fuhai (right), President of China International Publishing Group (CIPG), and Martin Andanar, Secretary of the Presidential Communications Operations Office of the Philippines, sign a memorandum in Beijing on May 15 at a ceremony witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte According to the memorandum—one of the outcomes of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation—the two agencies will cooperate in areas such as the exchange of news stories and joint publishing of books.…

GERMANY German Chancellor Angela Merkel and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron arrive for a joint press conference in Berlin on May 15 SWITZERLAND United Nations special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura (right) shakes hands with Syria’s opposition delegation leader Nasr al-Hariri during the intra-Syrian negotiations in Geneva on May 16 EGYPT Archeologists on May 13 discover 17 mummies in catacombs in Minya Province of central Egypt. Most of the unearthed mummies are well preserved UNITED STATES U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 16 COTE D’IVOIRE A soldier at an access checkpoint to central Abidjan on May 12 after mutinying soldiers protested in several cities across the country over a pay dispute NEPAL People queue to cast…

Comments to liuyunyun@bjreview.com Napoleon Bonaparte’s sleeping giant China is waking up to a post-Trump and Brexit world by announcing an ambitious global investment and development project. Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed the Belt and Road Initiative to push forward what he calls the “golden age” of globalization. But what effect will it have on the world political and financial status quo? Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 14, Xi hailed the potential to create a modern Silk Road linking countries around the world. The two-day event sought to ease con-cerns about China’s rise and emphasized collaboration between the countries involved— the forum hosted 29 foreign heads of state and government and more than 1,500 delegates from over…

In the first quarter China registered year-on- year GDP growth of 6.9 percent, the highest rate within the most recent six quarters. Indicators such as power consumption, rail freight volume and producer price index (PPI) rebounded remarkably, while industrial added value, investment and job figures beat expecta- tions. The drivers suppo rting China’s economic growth are becoming stronger. Despite the good performance, we must be aware that China still faces pressure to maintain economic growth and its industrial structure needs to be further improved. In the medium and long term, it is necessary for China to intensify reform and innovation and unleash economic growth drivers, starting with bolstering weak areas. First, China should firmly advance land re- form in rural areas. As industrialization and urbanization ac- celerate, slow rural land…

Experiencing History Children learn woodblock printing at a tourism promotion activity in the ancient town of Nanxun, Huzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, on May 13. Paid Annual Leave About 73.5 percent of surveyed people said that they received paid annual leave, while 21.9 percent of people said they did not. The survey, conducted among 1,997 employees, was published in China Youth Daily on May 16. According to a regulation on paid annual leave, which was made effective in 2008, employees who work consecutively for more than one year should receive paid days off. In the survey, 64.9 percent of correspondents said that their employers asked them to use their paid annual leave within a year, and if they did not, their paid vacation would expire. Wen Chenjing, a member of…

Comments to liuyunyun@bjreview.com When heads of state and government were taking part in the leaders round-table on the concluding day of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on May 15, drafting a blueprint for a globalized world that is “open, inclusive and beneficial to all,” a less-known meeting but with a strong connection to the same theme was being held in a different part of the capital. “In Beijing, we have the meeting of great minds. This meeting is the meeting of friends,” AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs, said while delivering the keynote address at the Seminar on ASEAN Community Building and China-ASEAN Relations held in the Fragrant Hills area of Beijing, a picturesque tourist destina-tion famed for the…

Comments to yuanyuan@bjreview.com Hundreds of coaches carrying tourists in and out every day; cargo buses from China and Kazakhstan shut-tling across the border 24/7; Khorgos, a city sprouting from barren dunes, is moving into the spotlight. Located in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and border-ing the far east of Kazakhstan, the site of Khorgos was once a major hub on the ancient Silk Road. Now it is being revived as a new epicenter of the logistics connect-ing China to countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt. In July 2014, it was upgraded from a spe-cial economic zone to a city, making it the youngest city in the country and a new desti-nation for both tourists and business people. Hometown Khorgos “The changes all came with the Belt and Road…

Comments to yanwei@bjreview.com Most people might think that introducing Krav Maga to the Chinese would be like carrying coals to Newcastle. After all, China is famous for the diversity of its martial arts styles, and household names such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan have greatly contributed to the worldwide promotion of the kungfu phenomenon. How could an Israeli self-defense and fighting system created only a few decades ago appeal to the Chinese? Based on efficiency In the fast-paced, modern society, where ef- ficiency and flexibility are paramount, Krav Maga ticks all the boxes: simple, straightforward defensive and striking techniques adapted to various situations; a no-frills and practical fight- ing method based on economy of movement and simplicity of execution; and a confidence- boosting, awareness-raising combat system. Krav Maga is…