Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol. 61/No. 22 i Beijing Review

Auto Tariff Cuts China’s decision to slash its automobile import tariffs has been welcomed by consumers and carmakers as another milestone in the country’s four decades of reform and opening up. Beginning July 1, China’s average tariff rate on vehicles will be 13.8 percent, while that for auto parts will be 6 percent, lower than the average for developing economies. Some foreign auto heavyweights such as Audi have promptly reacted with plans to lower their prices in order to benefit Chinese consumers. The Ministry of Finance said that the tariff cut will enrich domestic market supply and meet the diverse needs of the people to provide more plentiful and affordable consumer experiences. China has been the world’s largest car market for nine consecutive years, with vehicle production and sales in…

Evolving from a fishing village bordering Hong Kong, Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong Province, is now one of China’s megacities. It has been the country’s fastest growing economy over the past four decades. The city was born under special circumstances. Right after China adopted its reform and opening-up policy at the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in December 1978, Shenzhen was set up as a city in January the following year. In 1980, it was upgraded to a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) along with three other coastal cities in south China, with the aim of making it a pioneer in exploring ways to carry out reform and opening up. Huge transformation When Wu Jinqing arrived at the Shenzhen River in…

On May 19, a two-day national meeting on environmental protection was concluded in Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the meeting. An edited Xinhua News Agency report on his address follows: Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the country will fight a strong battle against pollution and push the country’s ecological civilization to the next level during a meeting on environmental protection which ended in Beijing on May 19. China will push for coordination between economic and social development and ecological civilization, Xi, also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, said while addressing the two-day national conference. Xi said that the country will channel more energy into promoting ecological civilization and resolving environmental problems, backed…

Social e-commerce, a form of online retail which relies on social networks to assist in the buying and selling of products, has been receiving huge investment in China of late. Last April, Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform that allows users to participate in group purchase deals, primarily through Tencent’s WeChat app, was reported to have raised $3 billion in a new round of fundraising led by Tencent Holdings. On April 23, social e-commerce platform Yunji Weidian announced that it had raised $120 million in Series B financing, while social e-commerce service provider Youzan recently completed a back-door listing in Hong Kong. In early January Aikucun, a Shanghai-based sales distribution firm for brands and agents on Chinese social networking platforms such as WeChat, announced 100 million yuan ($15.7 million) in Series A…

In 2015, Zhang Li, Chairman of the Guangzhou Opera House, had an idea to create a new original opera. After many discussions, the opera house settled on a work about Marco Polo, the historical Italian traveler who represents the cultural exchanges between East and West. “As a cultural landmark in Guangzhou, we shoulder the responsibility of cultural exchanges. In addition to importing excellent works from abroad, we also want to promote our productions on the international stage. Marco Polo is a subject both China and the West are interested in,” Chen Rui, General Manager Assistant and Program Director of Guangzhou Opera House, told Beijing Review. After three years’ of painstaking efforts by an international team, Marco Polo finally opened to audiences, premiering at the Guangzhou Opera House and then at…

If you rent an apartment in Beijing, you also rent the landlord or landlady for at least a year. It is somewhat like getting hitched, so it’s important you find a good match because you have to deal with them in the long term. For me, it was love at first—or at least second—sight with the elderly couple who owns my apartment. It was quite an odyssey trying to find the right apartment when I first arrived in Beijing in 2015. The apartments were either unsuitable or I took issue with the owners who looked indifferent at best and unfriendly at worst. But that all changed when the leasing agent’s scooter stopped in front of the stoop of a hutong house in the heart of the capital. I saw an…

Participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Chinese Calligraphy Contest view the work of contestants during an award ceremony held in Beijing on May 19. Hosted by subsidiaries of the China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and the New Era Health Industry Group, the contest aimed to create a friendly and cultural atmosphere for the SCO Summit to be held in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province, on June 9-10. The contest is a step taken by the CIPG to strengthen cooperation and understanding between people of the SCO countries, said Wang Gangyi, Vice President of the media conglomerate, during the ceremony.…

CUBA Victims’ relatives wait outside the entrance of a forensic institute in Havana on May 19 after 110 died in an airplane crash near the Jose Marti International Airport the day before UNITED KINGDOM Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave Windsor Castle in a carriage procession following their wedding at St. George’s Chapel on May 19 ITALY Newly appointed Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte addresses a press conference in Rome on May 23 after President Sergio Mattarella tasked him with a mandate to form a new government PAKISTAN Boys jump into the water to escape the summer heat in Karachi on May 22. A heat wave recently hit the southern city, leading to the deaths of 65 people SOUTH KOREA Former President Lee Myung Bak arrives at the Seoul Central District…

Tech giants Huawei and Tencent were born in Shenzhen, which has become a cutting-edge research and development center in south China’s Guangdong Province. Throughout the past four decades of reform and opening up, it has been a pioneer in encouraging hi-tech innovation and incubating the groundbreaking research of entrepreneurs. With more young talented people pouring in, the hi-tech industry and the academic environment are ushering in an era of transformation. “Before I visited Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, I never thought of returning to China,” 40-year-old Deng Weiwei, now a professor in the Department of Mechanics and Aerospace Engineering at SUSTech, told Beijing Review on May 7. In May 2016, Deng, an associate professor at Virginia Tech (VT), gave a lecture at SUSTech, where he met…

Movers and shakers in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) gathered in north China’s Tianjin for the Second World Intelligence Congress held on May 16-18. The congress featured forums, a world intelligence expo and activities such as an intelligent driving challenge and an intelligent drone contest. With the theme of The Age of Intelligence: New Progress, New Trends and New Efforts, the congress drew an impressive array of major national players. At the opening ceremony, Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and former Minister of Science and Technology, spoke of the importance of AI technology. “As the core driving force of a new round of the industrial revolution, it will spawn new technology, new products, new industries and new models. It…

Every year from late April to June, Thailand’s fruit of the season, durian, can be delivered to China in just 120 hours via a direct channel between the two countries for the delivery of fresh produce. Yet thanks to the intelligent logistics networks of Chinese enterprises, this time could be reduced to just 72 hours in the future. Chinese logistics enterprises are among the country’s growing group of companies—both state-owned and private—that have been seeking a larger foreign presence to fulfill their global ambitions and to bring more benefits to the world. With a long-term financial perspective, Chinese enterprises have accelerated the connection between global producers and consumers, enabling the country to move up the global value chain and creating more opportunities for themselves and the world. While smart Chinese…

Playing With Shadows A visitor learns the art of shadow puppetry at a museum in Tangshan, north China’s Hebei Province, at an activity marking International Museum Day on May 18. Legal Service Website A Ministry of Justice website for public access to various legal services was launched on May 20. Citizens can now contact lawyers entrusted by the ministry for legal advice and search information about legal aid, mediation and other judicial services at the website 12348.gov.cn, according to a ministry press release. The site has pooled information about 380,000 legal service agencies and 1.39 million legal workers as well as texts of laws and government regulations, it said. The public can inquire about their cases, make appointments and apply for services through the website. The ministry is exploring ways…

Since the “first explosion of reform and opening up” took place with the founding of Shenzhen’s Shekou Industrial Zone in 1979, Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong Province, has been transformed from a small fishing village into an influential city of economy, science and technology and regional finance. Many pioneering sci-tech giants including Huawei, Tencent and drone producer DJI were incubated there. Forty years ago, Shenzhen’s per-capita GDP was only 606 yuan ($95). In 2017, it reached 183,100 yuan ($28,670), with an annual growth rate of 23 percent. The city is regarded as the origin of China’s reform and opening up as well as China’s modernized construction. It was the initial window of China’s opening up and led the country’s innovation trend. (Photos by Xinhua News Agency) Comments to zanjifang@bjreview.com…

May 18 marked the 42nd International Museum Day and the launch of a hitech interactive art exhibition based on the ancient Chinese painting Life Along the Bian River at the Pure Brightness Festival (Qingming Shang He Tu) at Beijing’s Palace Museum, made possible via a partnership between the museum and Phoenix Satellite Television. The theme chosen for this year’s International Museum Day was “Hyperconnected Museums: New Approaches, New Publics,” and the Palace Museum’s exhibition is offering audiences a novel and immersive experience which is highly consistent with this theme. It is an innovative exploration of a masterpiece created by the painter Zhang Zeduan during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and currently curated by the museum. Curator of the Palace Museum Shan Jixiang expressed his joy that the project had come…

On May 6, a 21-year-old air stewardess was killed by her driver while using Didi Chuxing’s ride-hailing service in Zhengzhou, central China’s Henan Province. This is not the first case of criminal activity involving drivers using ride-sharing services. According to news website ThePaper.cn, since October 2015, 39 crimes have been committed by drivers employed by ride-hailing apps, ranging from minor traffic offences to more severe cases of intentional injury, rape and drug trafficking. The stewardess’ murder has once again steered public attention toward the issue of safety when using car-hailing platforms like Didi, China’s largest ride-hailing service platform. As shown by China Internet Network Information Center statistics, users of ride-hailing and carpooling services in China had reached 236 million by December 2017. As ride-hailing become an increasingly important part of…