Innholdsfortegnelse for Vol.64/No.12 i Beijing Review

With the unprecedented victory against poverty that benefited the largest population in history, China’s development vision has now shifted its focus to rural vitalization. The government has been seeking to strengthen agriculture through modernization, develop the countryside and ensure prosperity for farmers. However, most rural areas are still far from meeting the target in all aspects. To meet the goal, a modern agricultural system has to be completed first. With the progress of a new type of industrialization and urbanization, a large volume of rural labor force in their prime is migrating from the countryside to cities, leaving the former bereft of workers, especially in agriculture. Additionally, as China has opened up, agricultural product imports may make an impact on local production. The nation faces the questions of who will…

U.S. President Joe Biden signed the $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act into law on March 11, delivering on one of his key campaign promises. After the signing, Biden called the bill a historic legislation with overwhelming support from Americans, saying it will help rebuild the COVID-19-ravaged U.S. economy. Though a survey released by the Pew Research Center showed that 70 percent of Americans said they favor the legislation, Republicans in the Congress strongly opposed it. They argued that some provisions are unrelated to the epidemic and it could produce unsustainable debt for future generations. In both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the bill failed to secure even a single Republican vote. Some economists have also warned that the massive relief package could result in multiple risks including…

Despite COVID-19, China became the EU’s largest trading partner last year, overtaking the U.S., according to Eurostat data. They also concluded negotiations on a comprehensive agreement on investment that will cement their cooperation. Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, talked about the opportunities and challenges facing this partnership to Beijing Review reporter Wei Hongchen. The following is an edited excerpt: Beijing Review: What led to the consolidation of ties in a year of global pandemic and other uncertainties? Zhang Ming: Both China and the EU have major common interests, share common responsibilities in supporting multilateralism and are committed to maintaining world peace and prosperity, boosting globalization and improving global governance. Also China and the EU both seek to address and manage differences through dialogue and cooperation…

Though COVID-19 triggered an exceptional crisis with unforeseen and shifting challenges, vaccine manufacturing and supply has seen unprecedented progress worldwide in less than a year. Eleven vaccines are already in clinical use in the countries where they obtained approval, often with emergency or limited authorization. More than 80 additional candidates are in clinical trial and hundreds of candidates are in the pre-clinical phase. The announced cumulative supply target by the end of 2021 is up to 14 billion doses. This is three to four times the pre-COVID-19 annual global demand for all vaccines. However, demand is difficult to forecast. For example, if booster shots are needed after an assessment of the vaccines in use, it would add strain on supply. Or if the committed procurements cannot be completed due to…

In a flowerpot at Kang Zhensheng’s laboratory grows a cluster of wheat, a crop to which the agricultural scientist at Northwest A&F University has dedicated decades of work. In the university, located in Yangling, Shaanxi Province in northwest China, Kang has been leading a group researching wheat diseases such as stripe rust and scab, two major infections that may reduce yield by one third or even more. Last year, when COVID-19 ravaged the human world, stripe rust pathogen also posed a danger unseen in a decade to wheat, a major grain crop in China. But thanks to disease control solutions developed by Kang and others, the harvest was still bountiful. This year is expected to see a 17.5-percent year-on-year increase in major crop diseases and pests in China, according to…

If you have a chance to talk with a historical figure, who would you like it to be? What would you like to know about the past or share from today? China in the Classics, a new TV show based on Chinese classics started by China Central Television (CCTV) in February, is exploring such premises. In the first episode, the host of the show, Sa Beining, meets ancient Confucian scholar Fu Sheng, who interprets the Shangshu, the Book of Documents. Regarded as one of the five classics of ancient Chinese Confucianism masterpieces, the book records many firsts in the country; even the expression zhongguo (China) is used there first. The Shangshu’s importance lies in passing down the Chinese political philosophy and daily life social norms for over 2,000 years. However,…

CHINESE ASTROPHYSICIST PASSES AWAY Zhou Youyuan, an astrophysicist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, passed away in Beijing on March 12 at the age of 82. Zhou made outstanding contributions to research in the fields of active galaxies, nuclear and cosmology, and large-scale structures of the universe. He was one of the earliest scholars in China to conduct such research and create a corresponding research group. In 2018, the Small Celestial Body Nomenclature Committee of the International Astronomical Union approved the asteroid coded 120730 to be named Asteroid Zhouyouyuan. Asteroids are the only celestial bodies that can be named by their discoverers subject to rules. Zhou was engaged in education, with more than 50 years of teaching experience in Chinese universities. He was also a researcher at the…

The U.S. State Department lawyers have concluded there’s no evidence to prove “genocide” in Xinjiang. The UK Parliament has decided it’s a job for the lawyers not the government. So, what is it that causes some politicians and governments to conclude genocide is going on while so many of the legal teams haven’t reached the same conclusion? It’s all related to the body of evidence and how much of it is admissible and provable. Groundless accusations The body of evidence seems “overwhelming.” PHOTO An Australian think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has found 380 sites that they’ve assessed as being “camps.” Witnesses have come forward and given testimony that they’ve been in the camps and were tortured. All these “facts” are being funneled into one conclusion: China is…

The outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the long-range objectives through the year 2035 approved in this year’s National People’s Congress session further highlights the new development strategy of dual circulation, in which the domestic and overseas markets reinforce one another, and the domestic market serves as its backbone. The nod implies that the new paradigm will act as a guiding principle for China’s economic and social development in the coming years. Meanwhile, this concept for heightened development will in turn take on an influential role in shaping global economic expansion in a profound and positive way. In the earliest days of its proposal, some international players feared China might tighten its opening-up policy as a result of China-U.S. trade frictions and the rise of unilateralism. Given the…

The drain in Zhou Jian’s bathroom is clogged with hair again. The 48-year-old has a buzz cut and lives alone, but he said the drain blocks twice a month. “It never happened when I was in Shanghai. I’m losing my hair much faster on the plateau,” Zhou, Vice President of the Xigaze People’s Hospital in Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China, told Beijing Review. With an average altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level, Xigaze is the second largest city in Tibet. Zhou, a surgeon specializing in breast and thyroid treatment at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, arrived there in July 2019 as part of a three-year medical assistance program. When asked why he chose to come to Tibet, Zhou said he wants to repay the help of the Tibetan herdsmen who…

I’d read and heard so much about the miracle of poverty reduction in China that I had to go see it myself firsthand. That opportunity arrived when I went on an excursion to Dawan Village in Anhui Province, east China. I knew very little about the place. All I knew was that it sat 1,500 meters above sea level, and that President Xi Jinping visited it in 2016. The high-speed train trip there was uneventful and the connecting train ran like clockwork. But what I took for granted was actually a huge leap for the county, Jinzhai. It used to be one of the poorest counties in China. Today a high-speed railway connects Jinzhai to the rest of the country, and it stepped out of poverty in April 2020. The…