OPINION: PANDA PAIR COMING HOME P.23 | FEATURES: A STEADY DIPLOMATIC HAND P.

26

VOL.66 NO.1 JANUARY 5, 2023 WWW.BJREVIEW.COM

THE SOFT REBOOT

China outlines economic priorities for 2023
RMB6.00
USD1.70
AUD3.00
GBP1.20
CAD2.60
CHF2.60
JPY188 ᥪԦ̼Ձ-e‫ڍ‬Юፑʶᤋ፝ѢྟྫྷՁὙ$/-(
CONTENTS
EDITOR’S DESK OPINION 32 Algorithmic Solidarity
02 Balancing the Scales 22 All-Round Rural Medication shortages trigger digital innovation
Revitalization 34 Getting the Job Done
THIS WEEK A key move for the Professional accreditation for farmers
development of a modernized 36 The Home Afar
COVER STORY
economy Talent from other regions contributes to Xinjiang’s
12 J-Curve Effect
23 Panda Pandemonium development
Policy adjustments poised to
When animals serve as 38 The One-Meter Perspective
unleash new opportunities
diplomatic currency Creating child-friendly cities
16 A Bundle of Energy
24 Live and Let Flourish 40 Harmony Between Humans and the Sea
A new era of shared green
The importance of wetland Traditional boat building in Xiamen
and clean leadership
conservation 42 Watchers on the Wall
18 A Time of Transition
Great Wall protection in Beijing
Balancing the health of the FEATURES
population with that of the 26 The Only Constant Is CULTURE
economy Change 46 Let There Be Light!
A stable strategy can navigate A walk through a winter wonderland
complex global issues
EXPAT’S EYE
Cover Design: Wang Yajuan 30 Unfreeze and Reset
48 My Christmas Carol
Fifty years of relations with
©2023 Beijing Review, all rights reserved. The power of a positive mindset
Australia

ZZZEMUHYLHZFRP )ROORZXVRQ

MEDIA PARTNER %5($.,1*1(:6–6&$10(–8VLQJD4UFRGHUHDGHU

Please recycle
EDITOR’S DESK
Balancing the Scales
A News Weekly Magazine As of January 8, China will lift quaran- the Chinese economy will have a posi-
Published Since 1958 tine requirements for inbound travelers tive impact on the country’s growth.
President: Li Yafang and COVID-19 control measures for The Central Economic Work
Editor in Chief: Li Jianguo
Associate President: Yan Ying
imported cargo, marking a major shift Conference prioritized a consump-
Associate Editor in Chief: Liu Yunyun in the country’s pandemic response tion boost. Currently, external demand
Executive Editor: Yan Wei policy. With these steps, China is taking comes with many uncertainties, ne-
Associate Executive Editor: Ding Ying
Production Director: Yao Bin the initiative in balancing COVID-19 cessitating the expansion of domestic
Editor: Wang Hairong
Researcher: Lan Xinzhen control and economic development. demand. The key to this expansion lies
Editorial Consultants: Elsbeth van Paridon, G.P. Wilson
Reporters: Ji Jing, Kang Caiqi, Li Qing, Li Wenhan, Li Xiaoyang,
The pursuit of progress while safe- in consumption and investment.
Liang Xiao, Lu Yan, Ma Miaomiao, Pan Xiaoqiao, Peng Jiawei, guarding stability will be an important In 2023, China will implement a
Tang Yuankai, Tao Xing, Tao Zihui, Wang Jun, Wang Ruohan,
Yuan Yuan, Zhang Shasha feature of the Chinese economy in prudent monetary policy with a focus
Visual Director: Pamela Tobey
Photo Editor: Wang Xiang 2023. on maintaining reasonable and suf-
Photographer: Wei Yao During the Central Economic Work ÀFLHQWOLTXLGLW\DQGORZHULQJÀQDQFLQJ
Art: Li Shigong
Design Director: Wang Yajuan Conference that concluded on December costs. The fiscal policy will be proac-
Chief Designer: Cui Xiaodong
Designer: Zhao Boyu 16, 2022, China’s leadership called for tive to guarantee investment vitality.
Proofreader: Ma Xin
ensuring stability in economic growth, Over the past three years, the
Editorial Administrator: Zeng Wenhui
Planning Director: Xu Bei employment and prices. Stabilizing pandemic had greatly influenced ex-
Deputy Planning Director: Li Nan growth means consolidating the foun- pectations, especially in the private
World News Deputy Director: Li Fangfang
Director of Digital Media: Yu Shujun dations for economic recovery and investment sector. It will be important
Director of Strategic Research: Zan Jifang
enabling the economy to operate within to embrace a positive outlook and form
Administration: Lu Ling
International Cooperation: Sun Xuan an appropriate range; stabilizing employ- a broad consensus on future sustainable
Legal Counsel: Yue Cheng
ment is essential to people’s livelihoods; development.
North America Bureau (New York City)
Chief: Yu Shujun stabilizing prices means ensuring suf- The Chinese Government must
Executive Assistant: Zhao Wei ÀFLHQWVXSSOLHVWRPHHWGHPDQG take more actions to balance the scales,
Tel/Fax: 1-201-792-0334
E-mail: yushujun@cicgamericas.com In 2022, the Chinese economy ex- namely, better coordinate COVID-19
Latin America Bureau (Mexico City)
Chief: Lin Yeqing SHULHQFHGVLJQLÀFDQWÁXFWXDWLRQVXQGHU control with economic and social de-
Tel: 52-55-55127271
Fax: 52-55-55332027
the impact of COVID-19. 2023 is an velopment, improvement of economic
E-mail: chinahoymx@gmail.com important year as China’s pandemic quality with reasonable growth of
3HUX2IßFH/LPD
Chief: Meng Kexin response enters a new stage. This year, economic quantity, supply-side struc-
Tel: 0051-959212702
E-mail: revistachinaperu@gmail.com control measures will affect the econo- tural reform with expanding domestic
*HQHUDO(GLWRULDO2IßFH my to a lesser extent and the focus will demand, economic policies with other
Tel: 86-10-68996252
Fax: 86-10-68326628
shift back to development. International policies, the domestic market with
Editorial Desk circumstances may remain volatile, but international engagement, and current
Tel: 86-10-68996250
Partnerships the inherent dynamics and resilience of with long-term development. BR
Tel: 86-10-68995807
E-mail: yecong@cicgamericas.com
Distribution
Tel: 86-10-68310644 CHINA......RMB6.00 U.S.A.......USD1.70
E-mail: circulation@cicgamericas.com
AUSTRALIA......AUD3.00 UK......GBP1.20
Published every Thursday by
CANADA......CAD2.60 SWITZERLAND......CHF2.60
CICG Center for Americas, 24 Baiwanzhuang Lu,
Beijing 100037, China JAPAN......JPY188 EUROPE......EUR1.90
Overseas Distributor: China International Book Trading TURKEY......YTL5.00 HK......HKD9.30 NEPAL......RS40
Corporation (Guoji Shudian), P. O. BOX 399,
Beijing 100044, China
Tel: 86-10-68413849, 1-416-497-8096 (Canada) Ұ‫֧؀܉‬䩭Ѕм֔ҹо‫ؗ‬тҲѨ‫׭‬঵
Fax: 86-10-68412166 Ұ‫֧؀ފ‬䩭Ѕм֔ҹ঵Ѥರ‫ت‬৚ЅК䩛‫ۏرߟܚ‬घ䩜
E-mail: fp@mail.cibtc.com.cn
сժ䩭‫صߟܚ‬՝‫ݚښ߇ڵ‬ນϽঅً௏൜䩭
Website: http://www.cibtc.com
General Distributor for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan: ൜ణϿ䩭ଽ઩ᇙଽࠃм☐ᔎ໶ᔂข߲࠭࠭ҹ᭏
Peace Book Co. Ltd. Ұ‫ڗ‬䩭ଽ઩ᇙ
17/Fl, Paramount Bldg, 12 Ka Yip St, Chai Wan, HK
ւ൜ॣӈҦ䩭тҲ‫ח‬ӈҦ䩭
Tel: 852-28046687 Fax: 852-28046409
WRITE TO US ୅ા䩭‫࠾ܗߟܚ‬୅ાϩࡳԍ‫ޅ‬
Beijing Review (ISSN 1000-9140 USPS 2812) is distributed weekly
in the United States for US$64.00 per year by Cypress Books, Send an e-mail: editorsoffice@cicgamericas.com ‫߭ۏرߟܚ‬ҹ‫ؗ‬ёҷ‫׈‬,661
360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, South San Francisco, CA 94080 мֵࢅϣ‫۟ۂ‬о‫ً׉ؗ‬䩭&1*௏т‫ًڊ‬䩭
News Postage Paid at South San Francisco, CA 94080 Please provide your name and address
ܲ‫ܙݍ‬Нً࢙‫׈صߟܚ‬ᑂ࢙֭ࠪҷً
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Beijing Review, along with your submissions.
Cypress Books, 360 Swift Avenue, Suite 48, мֵജତ٣䩭Ϫ‫ھ‬෡ׄ
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Submissions may be edited.

2 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023 http://www.bjreview.com

 THIS WEEK

XINHUA
THE ICE-COLD
CATCH
7KHRSHQLQJFHUHPRQ\RIDZLQWHUÀVKLQJWKHPHGIHVWLYDOWDNHVSODFHRQ&KDJDQ/DNHLQ6RQJ\XDQ&LW\-LOLQ
Province, on December 28, 2022. The ceremony marked the beginning of the annual golden season for winter
ÀVKLQJLQWKHDUHD
7KHODNHLVRQHRI&KLQD·VODUJHVWIUHVKZDWHUODNHVZLWKKHDOWK\SRSXODWLRQVRIWDUJHWÀVKVSHFLHV)RUFHQ-
WXULHVORFDOVKDYHNHSWDOLYHWKHWUDGLWLRQRILFHÀVKLQJE\KDQGGULOOLQJKROHVLQWKHWKLFNLFHDQGFDVWLQJWKHLU
QHWVLQWRWKHLF\ZDWHUVWRFDWFKÀVK
$IWHU\HDUVRISURPRWLRQZLQWHUÀVKLQJDWWKHODNHKDVEHFRPHDIDPRXVWRXULVWDWWUDFWLRQ

http://www.bjreview.com JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 3

THIS WEEK SOCIETY
Mega Project
Vehicles run on the Ganxi Grand Bridge in Guiding County, Guizhou Province, on December 28, 2022.
Spanning a length of 1,220 meters, the bridge, a key project of an expressway in Guiding, was completed
CPFQRGPGFVQVTCH³EVJCVUCOGFC[
Biodiversity
Protection
China is considering intensify-
ing the ecological security and
biodiversity protection of the
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau through
new legislation.
A draft law on ecological
conservation on the plateau
was submitted to the Standing
Committee of the National
People’s Congress, China’s top
legislature, for its second read-
ing on December 27, 2022.
Based on a draft submitted
HQTC³TUVTGCFKPIKP#WIWUV
2022, the latest version high-
lights more efforts to strengthen
ecological protection and resto-
ration on the plateau.
It has adjusted stipulations
on the protection of wild animal
migration routes, compensation
for livestock losses caused by
wild animals, and a national bio-
diversity protection campaign.
The new draft adds provi-
sions requiring the government
4 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
to take effective steps to guard
against ecological risks, such as
climate change and natural di-
sasters, to maintain the plateau’s
ecological security.
It also provides require-
ments for public participation,
supervisory measures and the
management of tourist activities
on the plateau.
Passport and Visa
Issuance
China will optimize immigration
administration policies and
measures starting from January 8,
in compliance with the country’s
downgraded COVID-19 response
measures.
The National Immigration
Administration issued a notice
on December 27, 2022 saying
that the optimized policies and
measures include the resump-
tion of accepting and approving
Chinese citizens’ applications
for ordinary passports for tour-
ism and visiting friends abroad
XINHUA
starting from the date.
The administration will
also resume the processing of
endorsements for Chinese main-
land residents to visit Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region for
tourism and business purposes,
as well as the issuance of exit-
and-entry permits of the People’s
Republic of China and exit-and-
entry permits for border control
areas, the notice said.
Services related to the ap-
plication for ordinary visas, stay
permits, and residence permits by
foreigners will be resumed, the
notice stated, adding expedited
procedures may be applied for in
case of urgent need.
Box Office
Despite mixed reviews since its
China release on December 16,
2022, the highly anticipated
Avatar: The Way of Water has
provided a much-needed boost
VQVJGEQWPVT[«UDQZQH³EGOCTMGV
in the year-end moviegoing
period—from late November
until December 31, 2022. But this
impetus is less than previously
expected.
Garnering cumulative earn-
ings of 742 million yuan ($106.69
million) as of early afternoon on
December 27, the sequel to the
#OGTKECPUEK³JKVAvatar
currently tops China’s year-
GPFDQZQH³EGEJCTVVJCVVTCEMU
ticket revenue from November
25 through the end of 2022, ac-
counting for some 60 percent of
VJGVQVCNCEEQTFKPIVQDQZQH³EG
tracker Maoyan.
6JG#OGTKECPHCPVCU[³NO
has proven a spectacle of visual
effects, though its storyline has
been labeled by some moviego-
ers as “simple.” Still, its release
helped draw many people back
to cinemas, with the nationwide
cinema opening ratio soaring
above 80 percent on the movie’s
opening day, Maoyan data
showed.
Maoyan currently forecasts
the movie will complete its China
DQZQH³EGTWPCVUQOGDKNNKQP
yuan ($164.9 million), much lower
than the previously estimated 2
billion yuan ($286.8 million).
In China, Avatar was released
in January 2010 and re-released
in March 2021, generating a total
DQZQH³EGTGXGPWGQHDKNNKQP
yuan ($243.8 million).
Draft VAT Law
A draft law on value-added
tax (VAT) was submitted on
&GEGODGTHQTKVU³TUV
reading at the 38th Session of the
Standing Committee of the 13th
National People’s Congress.
The draft law makes provisions
with regards to VAT taxpayers,
scope, rates, payable amounts and
incentives, while basically maintain-
ing the current VAT framework and
tax burden ratio.
It is based on the country’s
provisional regulations on VAT,
http://www.bjreview.com
 THIS WEEK

with necessary adjustments made
KPURGEK³ECTGCU
VAT is the largest tax in
China. VAT revenues stood at
about 6.2 trillion yuan ($891.5
billion) in 2021, accounting for 36
percent of the country’s total tax
revenues throughout the year.
China has stepped up its
reform of VAT in recent years as
part of efforts to cut taxes and
fees on a greater scale.
Academic Database
Gets Fined
Domestic online academic
database China National
Knowledge Infrastructure
XINHUA
academic database services
market, infringed on users’
legitimate rights and interests,
and compromised the in-
novation and development of
related markets and academic
exchanges, the administration
said.
It urged CNKI to correct
its wrongdoings and make
comprehensive reforms to its
internal compliance structure
to facilitate the industry’s
well-regulated, healthy and
innovative development. The Wheels Are Turning
Production line workers are busy at the factory of a bicycle and
Free Vaccination baby stroller manufacturer in Pingxiang County, Hebei Province, on
Tibet Autonomous Region vowed December 27, 2022. The county’s baby strollers and bicycles have
to expand free coverage of cervi- been exported to over 60 countries and regions.

%0-+JCUDGGP³PGFHQT cal cancer vaccines to girls aged

monopolistic behavior, the
country’s top market regulator
said on December 26, 2022.
The State Administration for
Market Regulation has imposed
C³PGQHOKNNKQP[WCP
($12.55 million) on the platform,
C³IWTGGSWCNVQRGTEGPVQH
its 2021 domestic sales, the
regulator said in a statement.
CNKI has abused its
dominant market position
since 2014 by selling database
services at unfairly high prices
and inking exclusive coopera-
tion agreements.
This behavior has hindered
competition within China’s
13 to 14 in the next three years,
CNQECNRTGUUDTKG³PITGCFQP
December 26, 2022.
According to a regional
women’s development plan for
the 2021-25 period, Tibet will
also increase the cervical cancer
screening rate to over 70 percent
among school-age girls, Li Sang
with the regional government’s
working committee on women
and children said at the confer-
ence.
The region will continue
to improve its breast cancer
screening rate and the diagnosis
and treatment of cervical cancer
during the period, said Li.
Since 2012, the region has
completed over 400,000
screenings for breast and cervical
cancer. By late 2021, women
accounted for 47.8 percent of
Tibet’s total population, reaching
1.75 million, according to data
released by the regional women’s
federation.
Restoring
Desertified Land
China will restore some 6.67
OKNNKQPJGEVCTGUQHFGUGTVK³GF
land during the 2021-25 period
KPKVUNQPIVGTO³IJVCICKPUVFG-
XINHUA
UGTVK³ECVKQP:KPJWC0GYU#IGPE[
reported on December 26, 2022.
By 2030, 12.4 million hect-
CTGUQHFGUGTVK³GFNCPFYKNNDG
rehabilitated, according to the
EQWPVT[«UCPVKFGUGTVK³ECVKQPRNCP
for the 2021-30 period.
The plan divides the coun-
VT[«UFGUGTVK³GFNCPFKPVQ³XG
ECVGIQTKGUCPFURGEK³GUVCTIGVGF
measures to restore or protect
them.
China has restored over half
QHKVUOCPCIGCDNGFGUGTVK³GF
land over the past decade, mak-
ing great strides in addressing
FGUGTVK³ECVKQP

Snow Shenanigans
/QVJGTCPFFCWIJVGTRNC[KPVJGCTVK³EKCNUPQY
at an ice and snow festival at Taoranting Park in
Beijing on December 28, 2022.

http://www.bjreview.com JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 5

THIS WEEK ECONOMY
Loan Demand
The index gauging the overall
demand for loans stood at
59.5 percent in the fourth
quarter (Q4) of 2022, up 0.5
percentage points compared
with Q3, the People’s Bank of
China said on December 27,
2022, when citing the results
of a survey among senior
management of some 3,200
banking institutions.
The survey revealed loan
demand in the manufacturing,
wholesale, retail, and real estate
sectors all edged up in Q4.
Financial data from the
central bank released earlier
showed the country’s corporate
sector saw growing demand for
credit in November, pointing to
improving market sentiment.
Economic
Expectations
(QTGKIP³TOUKP%JKPCUWRRQTV
its optimized COVID-19 re-
sponse and economic outlook
NUMBERS
($1=6.96 yuan as of December 29, 2022)
Paid-in FDI into the Chinese mainland
Total Services industry
1.156 tln yuan
Up
9.9%
6 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
for 2023, a survey by the
country’s top trade-facilitating
body showed.
Among the 160-plus
HQTGKIP³TOUEQOOGTEG
chambers and associations
surveyed, 91 percent proved
very supportive of China’s
optimized COVID-19 response,
according to the China
Council for the Promotion of
International Trade (CCPIT).
Over 99 percent are
EQP³FGPVCDQWV%JKPC«U
economic outlook, and 98.7
percent said they would
maintain and expand their
investment in China, the CCPIT
survey found.
In addition, 89.8 percent
said they would maintain their
local industrial chains, while
10.2 percent plan to transfer
overseas industrial chains to
China, the survey noted.
Survey participants said
China’s economy is resilient
and has strong comprehensive
competitive advantages in
FDI into:
Hi-tech industry
Up
31.1%
842.61 bln yuan
Hi-tech service sector
Up
23.5%
Up Hi-tech manufacturing sector
0.9% Up
58.8%
market potential, industrial
systems, infrastructure, and
business environment, accord-
ing to CCPIT spokesperson
Yang Fan.
Cotton Output
According to the National
Bureau of Statistics, cotton
QWVRWVKP:KPLKCPI7[IWT
Autonomous Region topped
5.39 million tons in 2022, up
262,000 tons over the previ-
ous year. The autonomous
region contributed 90.2
percent of the country’s total
cotton output last year.
The cotton planting area
KP:KPLKCPIGFIGFFQYPKP
2022 to around 2.5 million
hectares, accounting for 83.2
percent of the national plant-
ing area.
:KPLKCPI«UEQVVQP[KGNFCX-
eraged 2,158.5 kg per hectare
in 2022, an increase of 112.5
kg per hectare over the previ-
ous year.
:KPLKCPIJCUTCPMGF³TUVKP
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
China for 28 consecutive years
in total cotton output, per-unit
yield and planting area.
The region has seen more
mechanized and intelligent
cotton planting in recent
years, with machines doing
over 80 percent of the pick-
ing, the local agriculture and
rural affairs department said.
5KPEGVJGU:KPLKCPI
has gradually become the
largest cotton production
base in China and a major
producer of the crop world-
wide. Nearly half of the
farmers there engage in this
business.
Clean Energy
A 120,000-kilowatt photovolta-
ic (PV) power generation project
has recently connected to the
grid and started generating
electricity in Tibet Autonomous
Region, according to China
Huadian Corp. Ltd., a major
state-owned power producer.
Located in Nagqu, a city
(All growth
http://www.bjreview.com

with an average altitude of
4,500 meters, it is the largest
PV power generation project
aiming to ensure power supply
for residents in Tibet.
With an investment of 890
million yuan ($128 million), the
project can generate 247 mil-
lion kilowatt-hours of electricity
annually. It can help reduce
219,600 tons of carbon dioxide
emissions every year, the com-
pany said.
Tibet has been accelerating
the development of new energy
sources in recent years. In June
2022, the region issued a plan
for ensuring electricity supply
during the 14th Five-Year Plan
(2021-25) period. More new PV
energy projects will start opera-
&27 under the Chinese Academy of
tion in the future.
Foreign Projects
The value of China’s foreign
contracted projects totaled 1.31
%27 VJG%27«UNQCFCPFTGNGCUGVJG
trillion yuan ($195 billion) in the
³TUVOQPVJUQHWR
)27*GVGTQIGPGQWU center,” Yan Guihai, founder
percent year on year, according
in January-November 2022
rates are y.o.y.)
http://www.bjreview.com
to the Ministry of Commerce.
Projects contracted by
Chinese enterprises in countries
participating in the Belt and
Road Initiative were valued at
$98.19 billion during the same
period.
The country’s foreign con-
tracted projects cover various
industries, with a focus on the
transportation, construction,
power engineering and petro-
chemical sectors.
Outbound
Investment
%JKPC«UPQP³PCPEKCNQWVDQWPF
direct investment (ODI) reached
687.86 billion yuan ($102 bil-
NKQPKPVJG³TUVOQPVJUQH
2022, up 7.4 percent year on
[GCTQH³EKCNFCVCUJQYGFQP
December 23 last year.
+P75FQNNCTVGTOUVJG1&+
rose 3.6 percent, according to
the Ministry of Commerce.
+PVJG³TUVOQPVJU
outbound leasing and business
services investment rose 14.3
percent compared with the
same period in 2021 to reach
$34.37 billion.
Investment in multiple other
³GNFUKPENWFKPIOCPWHCEVWT-
ing, wholesale and retail, and
construction, also registered
growth.
During the same period,
PQP³PCPEKCNFKTGEVKPXGUVOGPV
in Belt and Road Initiative par-
ticipating countries increased
6.5 percent year on year to
$19.16 billion, accounting for
18.7 percent of the total.
Homegrown Chip
Chinese researchers have
FGXGNQRGFVJGEQWPVT[«U³TUV
FCVCRTQEGUUKPIWPKV
chip, marking a milestone in
the domestic chip industry.
6JG&27KUMPQYPCUVJG
“third main chip” after the
EGPVTCNRTQEGUUKPIWPKV
and the graphics processing
WPKV
computing based on the
Growth of FDI by region
East China
Central China
West China
THIS WEEK
EQODKPCVKQPQHVJG&27%27
CPF)27JCUDGEQOGVJG
mainstream technology of the
next-generation intelligent
computing centers.
6JG&27EJKRYCUFGXGN-
QRGFD[$GKLKPIDCUGF;7574
Technology Co. Ltd. It has
the advantages of low cost,
excellent performance and low
power consumption, and can
achieve an ultra-low latency of
1.2 microseconds.
6JG&27EJKRYKNNDGWUGF
KPFCVCEGPVGTU³PCPEKCNEQO-
puting and high-performance
computing, according to
VGEJPKEKCPUCV;7574YJQUG
founding members come
from a key state laboratory
Sciences.
¨6JG&27DWKNFUEJCPPGNU
VJCVECPRTQOQVGVJG´QYQH
computing resources, reduce
processing power of a data
CPF%'1QH;7574UCKF
Up
7.7%
Up
28.6%
Up
24.6%
(Source: Ministry of Commerce)
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 7
THIS WEEK WORLD
XINHUA
PAKISTAN
Security personnel investigate the site
of a suicide bombing in Islamabad on
December 23, 2022. The attack killed
two people, including a policeman
8 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
UNITED STATES
A vehicle is partially buried under snow
in Erie County, New York State, on
December 25, 2022, following a major
winter storm
XINHUA
ITALY
A woman eats ice cream on Christmas Day in
Rome. The country experienced its warmest
holiday season in half a century
XINHUA
http://www.bjreview.com
 THIS WEEK

¼
CHILE
$ĶUHĶJKWHULVSLFWXUHGDJDLQVWWKHEDFNGURSRIDIRUHVWĶUH
LQ9DOSDUDLVRRQ'HFHPEHU7KHĶUHGHVWUR\HG
hundreds of homes

XINHUA
XINHUA

XINHUA

¼
NEPAL
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Chairman
of the Communist Party of Nepal
(Maoist Center), attends an
oath-taking ceremony in
Kathmandu to become the
country’s new prime minister
on December 26, 2022

FRANCE
3ROLFHRIĶFHUVDWWKHVFHQHRID
shooting in Paris on December 23,
2022. Three people were killed in
what investigators believe was a
racist attack in the French capital

http://www.bjreview.com JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 9

THIS WEEK PEOPLE & POINTS
¾ TOP 10 CHINESE ATHLETES OF 2022

Zhang Weili, a mixed martial artist, was selected as one of the top 10 Chinese athletes for
2022 by Xinhua News Agency, the country’s national news agency.
=KDQJ&KLQD·VÀUVWHYHU8OWLPDWH)LJKWLQJ&KDPSLRQVKLS8)&ZRUOGFKDPSLRQ
reclaimed her UFC strawweight crown at the age of 32 in November last year, defeating
two-time title holder Carla Esparza from the U.S.
6KHEHJDQWUDLQLQJDVDPL[HGPDUWLDODUWV00$ÀJKWHULQ,Q
VKHEHFDPH&KLQD·VÀUVW8)&ZRUOGFKDPSLRQZKHQVKHZRQWKH
strawweight belt. In 2022, she also won Women’s MMA Fighter of the
Year 2022 titles from several international sports media.
Other athletes who made it onto the list include Winter Olympic
gold medalists—freestyle skier Gu Ailing, speed skater Gao Tingyu and
snowboarder Su Yiming.

Awards Promote historical themes, such as the founding of

Chinese Animation
China Culture Daily
December 26, 2022
Twenty animated features including Ne
Zha, White Snake, and White Cat Legend
Season 1, have recently been announced as
winners of the Fourth National Animation
Award, a prize sponsored by the Ministry
of Culture and Tourism to honor excel-
OHQFHLQWKHÀHOGRI&KLQHVHDQLPDWLRQ
Last year’s award winners showcase
a spectacular assortment of content from
across the thematic spectrum. Fantastic
elements drawn from Chinese mythol-
ogy coexist with realistic portrayals of
the Communist Party of China.
A prevailing trend in the industry is the
fusion of ancient traditions and folklore
with modern cultural values and techno-
logical innovations. Take Ne Zha as an
H[DPSOHWKHÀOPDGRSWVWKHP\WKLFDOQDU-
rative of the titular teenage warrior deity’s
personal growth, yet replaces the story’s
original moral, which preaches complete
obedience and submission to parents, with
the modern virtues of self-determination
and free will.
With a continuous exploration of
creative ways to blend modernity with
tradition, the industry is on its way to for-
mulating its own vocabulary for animated
storytelling.
The New Frugality
Lifeweek
December 26, 2022
The virtue of frugality has made a major
comeback among China’s young consum-
ers. According to data released by iiMedia
Research, 72.49 percent of Chinese mil-
lennials prefer to save rather than splurge.
Compared to their cautious parents,
whose sparing use of money is rooted
in memories of lean years before the
economy took off, frugality among young
Chinese is a matter of choice rather than
necessity. This new form of frugality is

“China will follow through on the “I urge all countries to stand

common understandings reached with our efforts to ensure the
between the Chinese and U.S. world is equipped and ready to
presidents, strive to recalibrate the take on the health challenges
&KLQD86óUHODWLRQVKLSóDQGóEULQJóLWó to come.”
back on the right course.” António Guterres, UN Secretary General, in his
Wang Yi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister, message for the International Day of Epidemic
in a speech at the Symposium on the International Preparedness observed on December 27, 2022
Situation and China’s Foreign Relations in 2022
on December 25, 2022

10 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023 http://www.bjreview.com


not an utter denial of consumerism, but a
form of smart spending aimed at achieving
a balance between price, the degree of use-
fulness, and the quality of goods.
This new trend has driven the rapid
growth of China’s secondhand economy,
as young consumers shift their focus from
FKDVLQJDIWHUQRYHOWLHVDQGIDGVWRÀQGLQJ
new ways to recycle old items. A report
jointly released by Tsinghua University and
EXVLQHVVFRQVXOWLQJDQGUHVHDUFKÀUP)URVW
& Sullivan stated that the market value of
secondhand items rose from 300 billion
yuan ($47 billion) in 2015 to over 1 trillion
yuan ($143.5 billion) in 2020, and is ex-
pected to hit 3 trillion yuan ($430.5 billion)
in 2025.
Despite the shared goal of saving mon-
ey, frugal living is not a uniform lifestyle
but an umbrella term for diverse modes of
low-cost living. Youngsters living in camp-
ers, white-collar workers skateboarding
to work, and freelancers relocating from
megacities to small rural towns all come to-
gether to form the expanding tribe of young
frugal consumers.
7KHÁHHWLQJDGUHQDOLQHUXVKWKDWRIWHQ
accompanies a shopping experience holds
less attraction for today’s young Chinese.
What truly captures their attention is the
sense of self-efficacy and fulfillment that
comes with strategic spending and saving.
“The RCEP has become a
launching pad for us to increase
product output and quality, as
well as the quantity and the value
of exports.”
Dinh Gia Nghia, Deputy General Director of Dong
Giao Foodstuff Export Joint Stock Company in Viet
Nam, in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency
http://www.bjreview.com
THIS WEEK
'RQDWLRQ'H¼FLW worry that a blood draw may lead to weak-
ened immunity and increased vulnerability
Rednet.cn to infection.
December 23, 2022 Numerous studies have shown that
Blood banks across China are battling blood donation bears no direct relation to
critical supply shortages, with Type A and immunity. Therefore, the most urgent task
Type O blood stocks running especially at hand is to raise public awareness of this
low. Seasonal shortages have always been repeatedly stated truth and erase the broad-
part of the natural ebb and flow of blood ly shared fears surrounding giving blood at
supplies, but as the current low season has this time.
met a surge of COVID-19 cases, a national Altering the donation process is another
blood crisis has ensued. way to encourage more people to donate
Doubts remain over potential health and lessen their risk of catching COVID-19
risks associated with blood donation. while doing so. Possible measures include
Those infected with COVID-19 are unsure allowing for online registration and con-
about whether their health conditions meet sultation, offering staggered appointments
eligibility requirements, while the lucky and making changes to facilities to reduce
few who have not yet contracted the virus contact between donors and staff.
¾ INFLUENCER SETTLES WITH PARTNER FIRM
Online celebrity Li Ziqi (real name Li Jiajia) and Hangzhou Weinian Brand
Management Co. Ltd., a multichannel network, reached a settlement under the media-
tion of the Mianyang Intermediate People’s Court in Sichuan Province, according to an
announcement issued by Hangzhou Weinian on December 27, 2022.
,Q2FWREHU/LÀOHGDODZVXLWDJDLQVW+DQJ]KRX:HLQLDQDOVRKHUSDUWQHUÀUP
which owned her image, as well as the company’s legal representative
Liu Tongming. Details of the matter were not released to the public.
Li is famous for creating online videos that display China’s agri-
cultural life, including traditional foods and handicrafts. Her YouTube
channel currently has some 17 million subscribers, even though she
stopped posting content in mid-July 2021. Li is expected to return
with new content and maintain her relationship with Weinian, accord-
ing to a report by media outlet China Entrepreneur.
“Adopting artificial intelligence at
scale and embedding it deeper in
all aspects of business is no longer
a choice but a necessity and
opportunity facing every industry,
organization and leader.”
Sanjeev Vohra, global lead for applied intelligence
DWó'XEOLQEDVHGóFRQVXOWDQF\ó$FFHQWXUHóLQóDóUHFHQWó
interview with China Daily
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 11

J-CURVE EFFECT
Annual conference outlines economic roadmap for 2023 By Li Xiaoyang
raveling abroad is
on the to-do list of
many Chinese in
2023. Searches for
international flights
on Ctrip, one of China’s largest on-
line travel agencies, saw a sevenfold
increase in the 15 minutes after new
policies were issued on December
12 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
COVER STORY
26, 2022. Authorities have announced the relaxation of
COVID-19 control measures, canceled inbound quar-
antine for international arrivals, and resumed outbound
travel starting from January 8.
As the pathogenicity of Omicron has weakened
compared with the original strain of the coronavirus
and its other variants, China is preparing to boost all-
round recovery in 2023. The annual Central Economic
Work Conference took place in Beijing on December
15-16, 2022, outlining priorities for
the government’s economic work in
2023, chief among which is bolster-
ing economic stability.
The tone-setting conference came
after the government issued 10 new
measures to optimize COVID-19 re-
sponse in early December, including
allowing home quarantine for mild
http://www.bjreview.com

3DWURQVGLQHDWFUD\ĶVKUHVWDXUDQW+XGDLQ%HLMLQJRQ'HFHPEHU
and asymptomatic cases and reduc-
ing the need for mandatory nucleic
acid testing. Malls, restaurants and
other brick-and-mortar stores in
many regions have reopened as digi-
tal health codes of test results are no
longer required for entry, leading to
an increase in customers.
The optimized COVID-19 re-
sponse will have a “J-curve effect”
on the Chinese economy in 2023,
meaning it may cause a temporary
downturn but will bring long-term
benefits, Han Wenxiu, Executive
'HSXW\'LUHFWRURIWKH2IÀFHRIWKH
Central Committee for Financial and
Economic Affairs, told a think tank
forum in Beijing on December 17.
http://www.bjreview.com
The Central Economic Work Conference said the
government will continue to implement a proactive
fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy in 2023,
with the aim to ensure sound growth of major indica-
tors, particularly domestic demand, employment and
foreign trade.
Over the past three years, China managed to keep
rates of severe illness and death from COVID-19
among the lowest in the world. It registered an average
annual economic growth of 4.5 percent in 2020-22,
higher than the global average.
“As outlined at the conference, the government
will launch more proactive policies, and COVID-19
impacts will be minimized. China’s economic growth
is expected to resume its pre-pandemic levels in the
second quarter of 2023 as it enters the post-pandemic
period,” Wen Bin, chief analyst at China Minsheng
Bank, told Beijing Review.
COURTESY PHOTO
Back on track
Late-night lights, queues of diners
and mouth-watering smells mark
the recovery of Guijie, one of the
most famous food streets in Beijing.
Huda, a popular chain of crayfish
restaurants on the street, is one of
the food and beverage establish-
ments that have felt the positive
impact of the COVID-19 response
optimization. Huda’s business has
picked up since mid-December. For
people favoring hot flavors, spicy
FUD\ÀVKLVDSRSXODUQLJKWWLPHPHDO
“Since customers were not
allowed to dine in starting from
late November last year due to
V
V
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 13
tightened COVID-19 restrictions,
Huda closed two of its restaurants
in the period. To help cope with
the challenge, the three remaining
restaurants all continued providing
takeaway services. From October to
December, revenue from takeaway
accounted for around 46 percent of
Huda’s total,” Fang Xuhu, Assistant
General Manager of Huda, told
Beijing Review. According to Fang,
Huda has more than 400 employees.
About 70 percent of them have now
returned to work.
“Consumer panic is waning
and confidence is improving. With
more incentive policies released, the
food and beverage industry is likely
to return to pre-pandemic levels in
March to April this year,” Fang said.
The entertainment and tourism
sectors have gradually been recov-
ering. Data from ticketing service
agency Maoyan showed that over
10,000 cinemas were open when
the blockbuster Avatar: The Way of
Water hit Chinese theater screens
on December 16. The number of
operating cinemas had increased to
around 80 percent of the country’s
total by December 25. Domestic
and outbound travel is expected to
rebound during the Chinese New
Year (or Spring Festival) holiday in
late January.
The Central Economic Work
Conference underlined the impor-
tance of boosting domestic demand,
with a focus on the recovery and
expansion of consumption.
“In 2022, consumer spending
was restricted by the COVID-19
reemergence, unemployment and a
lack of consumer confidence. The
role of domestic consumption is par-
ticularly important in 2023,” Wen
said, adding consumer confidence
last year dropped to its lowest level
VLQFH,QWKHÀUVWWKUHHTXDUWHUV
of 2022, retail sales of consumer
goods grew only 0.7 percent year on
14 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
Automated robots weld car parts in a workshop of FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co. Ltd.,
a Sino-German joint venture, in Qingdao, Shandong Province, on December 20, 2022
year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The new pro-consumption campaign is expected to
cover fields including new-energy vehicles (NEVs)
and senior care services as they have much room
for growth, Pan Helin, Co-Director of the Digital
Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center
at Zhejiang University’s International Business
School, added.
Businesses across China have been resuming
operations since restrictions on social and economic
activities were eased. Yunxi Drones, located in
Beijing’s Yanqing District, is a tech startup that pro-
duces smart unmanned aerial vehicles for indoor use.
According to Ni Zhisong, the company’s supervisor,
most of its 16 employees have returned to normal
work. The company’s marketing and promotion, pur-
chase of parts and recruitment are also resuming.
“We expect more support from the government,
including assistance with research and development
costs, preferential policies, and an expansion of co-
operation with upstream and downstream enterprises.
Although the recent increase in infections affects our
production in the short term, our expectation for 2023
is upbeat,” Ni told Beijing Review.
Companies like Yunxi have ample reason to be-
lieve they will operate more steadily in the next 12
months. The Central Economic Work Conference
announced the government will boost manufacturing
industrial chains, improve technological innovation and
upgrade traditional industries. Laws and regulations
ZLOOEHLPSURYHGWRSURWHFWSULYDWHHQWHUSULVHVDQGÀ-
nancial institutions will enhance support for micro and
small businesses that are mostly privately owned.
The conference highlighted tapping into the potential
of new economic drivers. “The shrinking of demand
XINHUA
will affect supplies, which may lead
to a vicious cycle. Policies should be
introduced to expand new infrastruc-
ture and the digital economy to boost
investment and consumption,” Pan
told Beijing Review.
The government tightened anti-
monopoly supervision on online
platforms in 2021, but still supported
their development. Companies in e-
commerce, delivery and other digital
services in China have boomed over
the past three years. The conference
said platform companies will be sup-
ported to play a major role in driving
economic growth, creating jobs and
competing globally.
Overcoming adversity
Despite internal and external chal-
lenges, China’s foreign trade of
goods expanded 8.6 percent year on
year to 38.34 trillion yuan ($5.78
trillion) in the first 11 months of
2022, according to the General
Administration of Customs of China.
Exports rose 11.9 percent year on
year to 21.84 trillion yuan ($3.29
trillion), and imports increased 4.6
percent from one year ago to 16.5
trillion yuan ($2.48 trillion).
“China’s exports of products
such as NEVs, and lithium and so-
lar power batteries grew last year,”
Huo Jianguo, Vice Chairman of the
http://www.bjreview.com

An employee assembles machinery equipment for export in a workshop in Ningbo, Zhejiang
Province, on December 9, 2022
Beijing-based China Society for
World Trade Organization Studies,
told a webinar on the outlook of
the Chinese economy in 2023 last
December.
Lynk & Co, an automobile brand
owned by China’s automaker Geely,
exported more than 4,400 vehicles to
Belgium in the last month of 2022.
Chen Guan, deputy director of the
company’s manufacturing base in
Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, told
China News Service that orders to
the factory grew by over 200 percent
year on year in 2022.
NEVs were strong driving forces
for China’s foreign trade last year.
From January to October, Chinese
companies exported some 499,000
NEVs, increasing 96.7 percent year
on year, the China Association of
Automobile Manufacturers said.
After travel restrictions were
lifted, governments of some regions,
including Zhejiang and Guangdong
provinces, have chartered flights so
that representatives of local busi-
nesses can participate in international
exhibitions and engage potential cus-
tomers and partners overseas.
According to the Central
Economic Work Conference, the
authorities will widen market access,
promote the opening up of modern
service industries, and ensure equal
http://www.bjreview.com
XINHUA
treatment of domestic and foreign-funded enterprises.
Many global enterprises are showing confidence
in the Chinese market. Japan-based cosmetics giant
Shiseido Group announced in November 2022 that it
would continue to invest and had chosen China as the
location to build its second largest research and devel-
opment center over the next few years.
“The government needs to introduce more transpar-
ent and predictable policies to boost the expectations of
foreign investors and businesses,” Wen said.
In the pipeline
The Central Economic Work Conference also out-
OLQHGPHDVXUHVIRUVWUHQJWKHQLQJÀVFDOVXVWDLQDELOLW\
controlling local government debt risks and ensuring
the people’s wellbeing.
The number of new college graduates will reach a
record 11.58 million in 2023, according to the Ministry
of Education. The conference said private businesses
will a play a greater role in creating new jobs.
According to Wen, macro policies are expected to
reduce the burden on micro and small enterprises as
well as on people with low to medium incomes. He
estimated the government will cut taxes for businesses
and individuals by around 3 trillion yuan ($430 billion)
in 2023.
The conference stressed meeting people’s basic
housing needs and the need for improved housing condi-
tions, while exploring a long-term rental housing market.
“In contrast with previous years, the property mar-
ket policies for 2023 focus on fending off risks. The
government will promote the sound operation of real
estate enterprises to ensure timely deliveries of pre-sold
homes,” Wen said.
Childbirth support policies will be improved and
the statutory pension age is expected
to be increased. While dropping
quarantine measures, the government
will further optimize COVID-19
response and focus on senior citizens
and those with underlying conditions,
the conference said.
New start
To achieve sound economic perfor-
mance in 2023, China is ready to
leverage its advantages while shoring
up its weak points. According to Huo,
global downturn pressure and virus-
induced challenges to logistics will
continue to affect foreign trade. But
global logistics costs will become
more stable, which bodes well for en-
terprises.
Uncertainties in the U.S. and
European markets remain, while
China’s trade with Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
members is expected to keep growing
with the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership delivering
significant opportunities for regional
businesses, Huo said. The free trade
agreement between the 10 ASEAN
PHPEHUVWDWHVDQGÀYHRIWKHLUWUDGLQJ
partners—China, Japan, the Republic
of Korea, Australia and New Zealand,
took effect in January 2022.
According to Wen, growth of
global demand will slow down in
2023 and so domestic consumption
should play an ever greater role in
driving up the economy.
Wen expects recovery in the
coming months, but he remains cau-
tious given the impact of COVID-19
on people’s consumption habits.
“Consumption by some East Asian
countries that lifted COVID-19 re-
strictions before China did has not yet
recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The
scars of COVID-19 still need time
and effort to heal,” he said. BR
Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
Comments to lixiaoyang@cicgamericas.com
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 15

A BUNDLE OF ENERGY
International players tap into China’s green opportunities By Tao Xing
A
team of Chinese engineers
and their U.S. peers are
currently working on their
ÀUVWFRPPHUFLDOVFDOHHQHUJ\VWRU-
age and power generation project in
Rudong County, Jiangsu Province,
not far from Shanghai. The
100-megawatt-hour undertaking,
with over $100 million in invest-
ment, is expected to enter operation
in 2023.
When referring to it during
the Third International Carbon
Neutrality and Green Investment
Conference in Shanghai on
November 8, 2022, Neil Bush,
Chairman of the George H.W.
Bush Foundation for U.S.-China
Relations, said, “To address climate
change, we need to see many more
such collaborations inviting the best
technologies to be applied in China
and globally.”
The project, which features
giant concrete blocks, uses grav-
ity to store and release renewable
energy on demand, ensuring more
reliability.
Bush added the foundation and
his own business activities intend to
bring parties together and forge dip-
lomatic and business connections.
China’s goal of peaking carbon
dioxide emissions before 2030 and
achieving carbon neutrality before
2060 serves as a motivator of the
technology collaboration, President
of the U.S.-based National Center
for Sustainable Development
(NCSD) Eric Fang told Beijing
Review.
Built by China Tianying
16 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
COVER STORY
(CNTY), an environmental management corporation,
the Rudong project involves several international
partners. In early 2022, Swiss energy storage devel-
oper Energy Vault signed a $50-million licensing
agreement with Houston-based Atlas Renewable,
CNTY’s holding subsidiary in the U.S., for the use
of its technology and energy management software
suite in China. The NCSD, for its part, provides
policy interpretations and guidance.
“This is a perfect example of a market-driven op-
portunity featuring integrated policy, investment and
technology support,” Fang added.
Market motivation
By late November last year, China’s total installed
power generation capacity had reached 2.51 billion
kilowatts (kw), rising 8.1 percent year on year, data
from the National Energy Administration (NEA)
showed.
The size of its energy market appeals to many
overseas businesses. According to Xinhua News
Agency, Siemens Energy AG announced the estab-
lishment of a subsidiary in Shenzhen at the 2022
Global Investment Promotion Conference for the
Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, on December
21. Previously, the German energy technology
heavyweight had supplied 18 heavy-duty and 41
industrial-type gas turbines to the area. These tur-
bines have a total installed capacity exceeding 10
gigawatts and help provide power to nearly 17 mil-
lion households.
China’s renewable energy market continued its
expansion in the January-November period last year
amid the country’s dynamic pursuit of green devel-
opment. By late November, the installed capacity of
wind power grew 15.1 percent from a year earlier to
350 million kw, while that of solar power came in
at 370 million kw, a yearly increase of 29.4 percent,
according to the NEA.
&KLQDUHDIÀUPHGLWVVXSSRUWIRUWHFKQRORJ\LQQR-
vation and green development at the annual Central
Economic Work Conference in
Beijing from December 15 to 16,
2022, where Chinese leaders set
the country’s economic priorities
for 2023.
China will expand import of
advanced technology and forge
new competitive advantages in its
pursuit of carbon peaking and neu-
trality goals.
China’s ambitions in green de-
velopment have provided energy
industries with huge market oppor-
tunities. “Our growth plan is in line
with China’s green development
and carbon policies,” Fang said,
adding he is seeing a tremendous
renewable energy market.
“Energy storage and transition,
decarbonization, hydrogen tech-
nology investment and the digital
transformation of the manufactur-
ing industry are also key growth
sectors in China,” Fang added.
Apart from their promotion
of gravity-based energy storage
technology, Fang and his partners
develop other industries such as
wind, photovoltaic, hydrogen and
ammonia energy.
Fang said their investment in
WKLVÀHOGUXQVLQWRWKHKXQGUHGVRI
millions of U.S. dollars over the
next three years. “Also, we hope
to promote technology cooperation
between China and the U.S. under
their Joint Glasgow Declaration on
Enhancing Climate Action in the
2020s,” he added.
The declaration, released at the
UN Climate Change Conference in
Glasgow, the UK, in April 2021,
http://www.bjreview.com

A commercial-scale energy storage and power generation project under construction in
Rudong County, Jiangsu Province
outlined priority areas for China-U.S.
cooperation, including integration of
solar, storage, and other clean power
solutions.
China’s efforts in sustainable
development also lend associated
industries a helping hand. For ex-
ample, Yasaki (China) Investment
Corp., an automotive component
maker, said at the Guangzhou in-
vestment fair that it is eyeing the
robust development of China’s
new-energy automobile industry
and is ready to make new invest-
ments, according to Xinhua.
Ready to recover
Against the backdrop of a slug-
gish world economy and rising
protectionism, China’s poli-
cymakers have reiterated their
commitment to further opening
up the country’s market. Proof of
this pledge is the rise of foreign
direct investment in the Chinese
mainland, which went up 12.2
http://www.bjreview.com
velopments and the latter in turn
COURTESY PHOTO
helps facilitate communication
with government agencies.
Fang, for one, is optimistic
about China’s recovery given its
optimized COVID-19 control
policy. “It is an important step in
supporting the country’s economic
development and gradually return-
ing to normal,” he said.
“Face-to-face engagement
is crucial for international co-
operation when it comes to
consultations on technology
collaboration, supply chain devel-
opment and intellectual property
protection,” he added.
The National Immigration
Administration said China will
resume accepting and approving
Chinese citizens’ applications for
passports for tourism and visiting
friends abroad as of January 8.
Services related to the application
for ordinary visas, stay permits,
SHUFHQW\HDURQ\HDUWRELOOLRQLQWKHÀUVW and residence permits by foreign-
11 months of 2022, the Ministry of Commerce ers will resume as well.
said on December 23, 2022. Han Wenxiu, Executive
China will exert greater efforts to attract and Deputy Director of the Office
utilize foreign capital, widen market access, pro- of the Central Committee for
mote the opening up of modern service industries, Financial and Economic Affairs,
and ensure foreign-funded enterprises enjoy the said on December 17, 2022 that
VDPHWUHDWPHQWDVGRPHVWLFEXVLQHVVHVDQRIÀFLDO the adjusted COVID-19 response
news release issued at the conclusion of the Central will have a major positive impact
Economic Work Conference said. on China’s economic recovery
After China’s new COVID-19 response mea- throughout 2023 despite short-
sures eased restrictions on social and economic term fluctuations, adding he
activities in early December last year, many local believes the pace of recovery will
governments organized fairs and sent delegations DFFHOHUDWHLQWKHÀUVWKDOIRI
abroad to attract foreign investment, all the while particularly in the second quarter,
ERRVWLQJFRQÀGHQFHLQWKHFRXQWU\·VHFRQRPLFUH- as economic vitality is unleashed.
bound. For example, the Guangzhou fair saw more “China, as one of the world’s
than 800 projects involving investments worth 2.5 key economic engines, will con-
trillion yuan ($358 billion) inked. tinue to play a role in stabilizing
A wide range of players provides substantial the global economy in the post-
backing. According to Fang, the Rudong project pandemic era,” Fang said. BR
has received support from the Chinese Embassy in
the U.S. and the Investment Association of China.
From the get-go, the NCSD has worked side by
side with Neil Bush and his organizations to keep Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
Comments to taoxing@cicgamericas.com
the embassy up to date on the project’s latest de-
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 17

A TIME OF TRANSITION
W
hat’s next? This is the
simple but significant
question on the minds
of many, from Chinese citizens to
global financial institutions and
brands, to governments around the
world. What’s next for China and
what are China’s economic pros-
pects for the future after three years
of COVID-19 disruption?
All these mitigating factors
are at play when trying to discern
China’s economy’s near- and long-
term future.
But one factor stands out,
namely, the change in China’s poli-
cies and protocols regarding the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chinese Government has
moved on to begin the process
of planning and restructuring for
life and economy post-COVID.
At the Central Economic Work
Conference on December 15 and
16, 2022, an annual event to discuss
economic policies and priorities,
RIÀFLDOVKLJKOLJKWHGWKHLPSRUWDQFH
of economic development and sta-
bility in the face of the pandemic.
They emphasized the need to main-
tain a stable and resilient economic
environment, and to continue the
implementation of measures to
support the recovery of pandemic-
stricken industries and businesses.
One of the government’s key
measures to support the economy
over the past three years was the
LPSOHPHQWDWLRQRIDVHULHVRIÀVFDO
and monetary policies, including
tax cuts and fee reductions, in-
creased government spending and
18 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
COVER STORY
By Michael Zakkour
lower lending rates. These efforts helped stabilize COVID-19 response. The strict
market expectations, support employment, and boost testing, tracking, quarantine and
demand, which in turn supported economic recovery. shutdowns were laid aside in the
In addition, the Chinese Government also imple- face of Omicron variants that are
mented a series of structural reforms to enhance the far less damaging to people’s health
competitiveness and resilience of the economy. They (while being more contagious).
included the further opening up of the economy to The second was the announce-
foreign investment, the promotion of technological ment that visitors to China will no
innovation, and the upgrading of industries through longer need to quarantine, if proof
the transformation of traditional manufacturing into of a negative COVID-19 test result
one that is modern and digitalized. 48 hours prior to travel is provided,
These are all positives, but roughly three years of from January 8 onward.
a pandemic and strict COVID-19 restrictions have af- The transition from infec-
fected China’s economy in many ways that still need tion control and closed borders to
to be addressed and remedied for 2023 and beyond. wellness management and open
borders will take some time and
Overcoming challenges will be the source of short-term
During the pandemic, China’s consumer demand has difficulties in restarting the econ-
been muted, and many small businesses were forced omy to run at full speed, to get
to close. Supply chain disruption has affected exports all services back to normal, raise
as well as domestic consumption. The border being employment levels and manage a
closed for almost three years has led to the vanishing
of billions of dollars being injected into the economy
by tourists and business travelers. The closed border
KDVVLJQLÀFDQWO\VORZHGWKHLQÁRZRIIRUHLJQFRPSD-
nies seeking to build new businesses in China and to
export their products to the country.
The economic boost provided by domestic and
foreign tourism and business travel by Chinese citi-
zens has been marked. Unemployment grew beyond
the norm last year.
China had to make several incredibly difficult
choices in the face of COVID-19, trying to balance
the health and wellbeing of the population with the
health and wellbeing of the economy, with the added
GLIÀFXOW\WKDWERWKDUHLQWHUFRQQHFWHG
Strategic actions
December 2022 marked a turning point in how China
will address building its future through two new key
policies.
The first step was the adjustment of its
http://www.bjreview.com
wave of illness.
But this short-term pain is a
necessary transitional period to
normalizing day-to-day work, con-
sumption and travel to, from and
within China.
The reaction from businesses,
governments and the media around
the world was swift and positive
in assessing these two major an-
nouncements and what they will
mean for the prospects of doing
business in and with China, in-
vesting in China, and revving up
imports from and exports to China.
The key issues that the Central
Economic Work Conference ad-
dressed and for which proactive
policies and actions will be taken
include:
Boost domestic consumption.
Increasing domestic consump-
tion to a larger part of China’s
growth and GDP has been a key
policy for the last decade. Much
of the work that must be done in
2023 will have this goal in mind.
Increase consumer confidence,
ensure stable employment, ad-
dress the needs of millions of
http://www.bjreview.com
fresh college graduates and ensure that manufac-
turing, technology and natural resource industries
grow to ensure low unemployment. Once con-
VXPHUVUHJDLQIXOOFRQÀGHQFHWKHLUVSHQGLQJZLOO
become a major engine of growth.
Science and technology. The government will
work to expand China’s growth activities in areas
UDQJLQJIURPVHPLFRQGXFWRUSURGXFWLRQWRDUWLÀFLDO
intelligence, space exploration and pharmaceuticals.
These are the industries and employment engines of
the future.
Social equilibrium. The government will work
to boost the standard of living, employment and
wellbeing of the rural population, enhance efforts for
increasing fertility rates and continue the policy of
social and economic equality.
Investment. The government will emphasize
attracting and utilizing foreign direct investment,
making China a more attractive market for global
brands, retailers, consumer packaged goods and
manufacturers to sell their goods, and will invest in
modernizing and upgrading manufacturing and lo-
gistics to ensure China remains a key hub for global
supply chains.
China’s economic outlook for 2023 can be
measured and understood as a two-part story: deal-
ing with short-term difficulties that will require
strength, hard work and optimism; and the exit
from transition into a new era of robust health and
growth.
XINHUA
Visitors at the
Shancheng Alley, a pop-
ular tourist attraction in
Chongqing Municipality,
on December 24, 2022
China’s role
Crises come and go, but the over-
all trajectory over the last 40-plus
years has been growth, resilience
and reinvention. So the answer to
the question of “what’s next for
China” is recovery, rebirth and re-
silience. The world needs a healthy
Chinese economy and China needs
to operate and interact with the
world on equal terms. The open-
ing of the border and the evolution
of the approach to COVID-19,
along with the results of the Central
Economic Work Conference should
give everyone inside and outside of
China hope for a bigger and better
economic future.
In addition to supporting eco-
nomic recovery, the success of
China’s COVID-19 containment
measures has also had a positive im-
pact on the country’s international
reputation and its economic rela-
tions with other countries. China’s
quick and effective response to the
pandemic, including the provision
of medical supplies and expertise
to other countries, has enhanced its
standing on the global stage and
contributed to an increase in foreign
investment in the country.
Overall, China’s COVID-19
response optimization has had a
positive impact on the country’s
economy, supporting economic
recovery and stability in the face
of the pandemic. By implement-
LQJDVHULHVRIÀVFDODQGPRQHWDU\
policies, structural reforms, and
effective containment measures,
China has maintained a stable and
resilient economic environment,
which has helped support economic
growth and development. BR
The author is founder and CEO of U.S.-based
consulting firms 5 New Digital and China
BrightStar
Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
Comments to yanwei@cicgamericas.com
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 19
OPINION FACT CHECK
All-Round Rural Revitalization
T
he Central Rural Work Conference,
the highest-level conference on is-
sues relating to agriculture, rural
areas and rural people in China, took place in
Beijing on December 23-24, 2022.
Pursuing the goal of rural revitaliza-
tion is part of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China’s (CPC) efforts to
build a powerful modern socialist country in
all respects.
Throughout the process of economic and
social advancement, China has faced a stark
imbalance of urban and rural development.
Its primary, secondary and tertiary industries
in the vast rural areas have been left far be-
hind those in its cities, and residents of rural
areas have less disposable income than their
urban counterparts. As a result, rural issues
are becoming the crux of China’s economic
and social development.
After eradicating absolute poverty in late
2020, China reiterated the goal of revitalizing
its rural areas. The idea has gradually become
more ingrained in the national consciousness
over the past two years. The many measures
and policies adopted around the countryside
have begun to show results.
This rural work conference is the first
conference of its kind after the 20th National
Congress of the CPC detailed the plan for
carrying out the rejuvenation of the Chinese
nation by following a Chinese path to mod-
ernization, which requires massive inputs of
KXPDQPDWHULDODQGÀQDQFLDOUHVRXUFHV
This conference has provided detailed
guidelines on rural revitalization from four
perspectives.
First, the direction of rural revitalization
has been laid out. Alongside its achieve-
ments, rural revitalization has faced a number
of challenges in recent years. In some places,
local governments convinced rural residents
to abandon their houses and relocate to apart-
ments in tall buildings; in other places, the
plans for local agricultural production have
22 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
By Lan Xinzhen
been in conflict with the will of
locals. In some extreme cases,
rural revitalization projects have
been found to be superficial and
not providing real benefits to
the communities they serve. To
overcome problems like these, the
conference laid out clear plans for
the work to be done to revitalize
WKHÀYHDUHDVLQFOXGLQJLQGXVWULHV
competent personnel, culture, eco-
systems, and organizations in rural
areas, in coordinated manner.
The second is to ensure food
security. China’s grain produc-
tion capacity continues its steady
growth. According to data from
the National Bureau of Statistics,
China has achieved a grain har-
vest of over 650 billion kg for
eight straight years. The nation’s
per-capita grain production hits
approximately 484 kg a year,
higher than the internationally
recognized security line of 400
kg. However, this is no cause
for complacency. Given China’s
huge population, food security
should always be closely moni-
tored. As was pointed out at the
conference, ensuring a stable
supply of grain and essential
agricultural products has always
been a top priority in the efforts to build a
strong country.
The key lies in the protection of arable
land and management of major crop genet-
ics. At the same time, grain farmers’ incomes
must be guaranteed by raising the mini-
mum purchase price for wheat and rice and
stabilizing subsidies for corn and soybean
growing, to sustain their enthusiasm for grain
cultivation. The conference also highlighted
the upgrading of agricultural technologies.
The third perspective is rural construc-
tion. The conference identified the need to
equip rural areas with the necessary infra-
structure for modern life, such as disease
prevention and healthcare, senior care and
education infrastructure.
The fourth is to address the shortage
of labor and skills in rural areas, as most
young people leave rural areas to work in
cities. Despite policies encouraging col-
lege graduates, teachers and other skilled
professionals to move to rural areas, vil-
lages continue to lack essential human
resources. Currently, the most urgent task
is to nurture more skilled and educated
rural and agricultural workforce. It is addi-
tionally important to continue introducing
favorable policies to attract migrant work-
ers, college graduates, skilled workers and
particularly entrepreneurs to return to their
rural hometowns.
Rural revitalization efforts aim to build
a strong agricultural sector and ensure even
development between urban and rural areas.
Achieving these goals not only improves the
lives of hundreds of millions of people but
is also essential for achieving China’s larger
goal of becoming a comprehensively modern
socialist society. BR
Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
Comments to lanxinzhen@cicgamericas.com
http://www.bjreview.com

Panda Pandemonium
I
n the last 10 days of 2022, American
and Chinese animal lovers were glued
to the news coming in about two giant
pandas in Memphis, Tennessee, the U.S.
According to a statement from the Memphis
Zoo on December 21, Ya Ya, 22, a female
panda, and her male companion Le Le,
24, will be returning to China within the
next few months due to the expiration of a
20-year loan agreement with the Chinese
Association of Zoological Gardens.
But the announcement came after months
of criticism by In Defense of Animals and
other animal advocacy groups that have ac-
cused the zoo of providing inadequate care
to the pandas. Critics called on the zoo to
get them better food, more uncaged time and
ultimately a transfer to a panda refuge.
Since early 2020, netizens from East to
West have been posting videos and pictures
on social media showing the pair in vis-
ible distress and malnourished. Many also
expressed their belief that due to their mis-
treatment, Ya Ya had developed a chronic
skin condition and Le Le had been suffering
from significant teeth issues, among other
unpleasant ailments.
More than 110,000 people worldwide,
including world-famous American singer-
songwriter Billie Eilish, have signed a
petition to express their deep concern for the
pair’s welfare.
A spokesperson for the Memphis Zoo
denied the decision to return the pandas to
China came under pressure from animal
advocates and added Ya Ya and Le Le had
already exceeded the giant panda’s life
expectancy in the wild by almost 10 years,
More attention must go to those details that can
positively affect public sentiment, regardless of
whether that public is Chinese or American
http://www.bjreview.com
PACIFIC DIALOGUE OPINION
By Liang Xiao
suggesting their seemingly bad
condition was due to age rather
than poor care. Plus, China re-
quires foreign zoos that host
pandas on loan to allow older ani-
PDOVWRVSHQGWKHLUÀQDOGD\VRQ
Chinese soil.
All in all, many Chinese neti-
zens found the zoo’s explanation
hard to believe given the average
life expectancy of giant pandas in
captivity ranges between 25 and
35 years. Some even wrote that
the alleged suffering of the panda
pair was a concrete manifestation
of American hostility towards
China.
But these arguments are ir-
rational. Currently, 12 Chinese
giant pandas reside in the U.S.,
accounting for about one fifth of
the total number of giant pandas
living overseas. Ever since China
presented a pair of giant pandas
to the U.S. following President
Richard Nixon’s historic China
visit in 1972, pandas have been
regarded as special Chinese
ambassadors and have played
a unique and irreplaceable role
in nongovernmental exchanges
between the two countries. The
animals have also been embraced
by the Americans, with many
local Memphis media outlets
reporting on how numerous resi-
dents were upset and hoping to
say goodbye to the pandas before
they return home.
As a wild animal endemic to China,
the Chinese consider the giant panda a
national treasure, protecting it at the high-
est level domestically. And as a symbol of
their country on the global stage, people
want to see the animal be loved and treated
well. For example, during the FIFA World
Cup 2022 in Qatar, the emirate’s new giant
panda pair, Suhail (Jing Jing) and Thuraya
(Si Hai), gained as much traction on Chinese
social media as did Lionel Messi, who led
Argentina to its third World Cup title.
This panda pandemonium could serve
as a useful reference for those U.S. elites
committed to improving bilateral ties. The
Chinese can be a complex bunch. On the
one hand, they are pragmatic, as illustrated
by the following famous quote from Deng
Xiaoping, the Chinese leader who pushed
the country to reform itself and open up in
the late 1970s: “It doesn’t matter if a cat is
black or white, as long as it catches mice.”
On the other hand, Chinese people are sensi-
tive. As soon as someone shows an interest
in their country’s culture, whether it be food
or the giant panda, it becomes easy to cap-
ture their heart.
As the ancient Chinese saying goes,
“Amity between people holds the key to
sound state-to-state relations.” At this sensi-
tive stage when Sino-U.S. relations are at
a low ebb, even though the leaders of both
sides continue to express their willingness
to improve the bilateral relationship, more
attention must go to those details that can
positively affect public sentiment, regard-
less of whether that public is Chinese or
American. BR
Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
Comments to liangxiao@cicgamericas.com
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 23
OPINION REINTERPRETING CLASSICS
Live and Let Flourish
C
hinese President Xi Jinping addressed
the opening ceremony of the high-level
segment of the second part of the 15th
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in
Canada’s Montreal via video link on December
15, 2022. Noting that humanity lives in a com-
munity with a shared future, Xi said solidarity
and cooperation are the only effective ways to
address global challenges.
“A sound ecosystem is essential for the pros-
perity of civilization. We must work together to
promote the harmonious coexistence of man and
nature, build a community for all life on Earth,
and create a clean and beautiful world for us all,”
he said.
More than a year earlier, on October 12,
2021, President Xi had quoted a classic Chinese
saying while delivering a keynote speech via
video link at the Leaders’ Summit of COP15. “All
beings flourish when they live in harmony and
receive nourishment from nature.”
The sentence is from a critique written by
Xun Kuang, a renowned philosopher in the late
Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.). It upholds
a development model that accommodates and re-
spects nature and its laws—the only way to yield
sustainable results.
Adopted at the 14th Meeting of the
Conference of the Contracting Parties to the
%ODFNQHFNHGFUDQHVßRFNWRJHWKHUDWWKH<XQQDQ'DVKDQEDR1DWLRQDO1DWXUH5HVHUYH
for Black-Necked Cranes in Zhaotong City, Yunnan Province, on December 11, 2022
24 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
By Lan Xinzhen
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
held from November 5 to 13, 2022
in China’s Wuhan and Switzerland’s
Geneva, the Wuhan Declaration dem-
onstrates China’s call for the global
endeavor on wetland conservation.
Since China acceded to the
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
three decades ago, 13 of its cit-
ies have been awarded the title of
“International Wetland City”—in line
with the convention’s standards.
China has established more than
600 wetland nature reserves and 900
national wetland parks. It has also in-
troduced a law on wetland protection.
With 4 percent of the world’s
wetland coverage, the country actively
protects wetlands and smartly utilizes
them, meeting the diverse needs of its
population, which accounts for about
RQHÀIWKRIKXPDQLW\
Located on the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau, the Sanjiangyuan area
is home to the headwaters of the
Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers.
The nature reserve established there
is the country’s largest. A unique
landform, abundant wildlife, colorful
grassland vegetation and beautiful
XINHUA
rivers… Together, they form a mesmerizing
natural landscape.
In April 2021, a wandering herd of 15 wild
Asian elephants in Yunnan Province embarked
on their journey north and later returned to
their original habitat in the Mengyangzi Nature
Reserve in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous
Prefecture. On their trek, they enjoyed rest and
food in the forest and were left alone when
traveling through human settlements. This
harmonious coexistence between people and
wildlife not only reflects improvements in
China’s natural environment but also shows
improved public awareness of ecological con-
servation.
Today, China has more than 2,750 nature
reserves, with 90 percent of terrestrial ecosystem
types under effective protection.
Giant pandas, the country’s national treasure,
are no longer endangered and have been reclas-
sified as a vulnerable species after decades of
efforts to grow their population.
The Chinese Government and people regard
biodiversity conservation as an important part of
ecological progress. They have strengthened and
innovated related measures, contributing their
fair share to addressing global biodiversity chal-
lenges.
The Earth’s biodiversity relates to human
wellbeing; its protection is of pivotal importance
to our survival and development. To strengthen
biodiversity conservation and promote ecological
progress, the international community needs to
team up and build a shared future for all life on
Earth.
China has been a proactive player in in-
ternational cooperation and has assisted other
developing countries, assuming a positive role in
helping realize the vision of harmonious coex-
istence between people and
nature. BR
Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
Comments to lanxinzhen@cicgamericas.com
http://www.bjreview.com
FEATURES DIPLOMACY
The Only Constant
Is Change
China maintains a steady diplomatic strategy amid global turbulence
By Zhao Wei
‘F
or both the world and China, the out-
going 2022 is critical in bridging the
past and the future,” Wang Yi, State
Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, said
at the Symposium on the International Situation
and China’s Foreign Relations via video link on
December 25, 2022.
This was the 10th consecutive year-end speech
on the state of world affairs and Chinese diploma-
cy Wang gave in his capacity as foreign minister
since 2013. Likening it to a giant ship, Wang said
in 2022 the global society “sailed through the rag-
ing waves of the once-in-a-century pandemic” and
had to “brave for the hurricanes of geopolitical
conflicts, whirlpools of bloc confrontation, un-
The National Wrestling Arena in Dakar on November 21, 2021. The facility is the largest China-funded project in Senegal
26 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
GHUFXUUHQWVRIVXUJLQJLQÁDWLRQDQGFROGZDYHVRIWKHHQHUJ\FUXQFKµZKLFK
made the journey “choppy and tumultuous.”
However, Wang did add that the current crisis has given rise to change and
hope, leading most of the world’s developing countries to respond to the nu-
merous unprecedented changes with greater assurance by acting with greater
purpose in their solidarity and cooperation.
Change management
On December 20, 2021, when Wang attended the same symposium in Beijing,
he summed up the international situation as follows: “The world has wit-
nessed a persistent and unchecked pandemic, accelerating changes unseen in
a century and a period of turbulence and transformation globally. Confronted
by unprecedented challenges, countries around the world are looking for
answers and humanity is required to make the right choice.”
In that speech, Wang went on to describe two very different directions
XINHUA
http://www.bjreview.com

The Eighth BRICS Parliamentary Forum takes place via video link on September 6, 2022
countries could take: One was to revive the Cold War mentality, deepen divi-
sion and antagonism and create bloc confrontation; the other was to commit to
solidarity and cooperation, advocate openness and win-win cooperation and
practice equality and respect. China opted for the latter.
In his 2022 speech, Wang stated the worldwide trends of transformation
and turbulence were both evolving continuously and the tendencies toward
unity and division were both on the rise as well as in contention with one
another. However, he added, “in the new global picture, any attempt of
FRQÁLFWFRQIURQWDWLRQFRQWDLQPHQWDQGGHFRXSOLQJJRHVDJDLQVWWKHSUH-
vailing trend of the times and is doomed to fail, while peace, development,
cooperation and win-win represent people’s aspirations and their general
inclination.”
When comparing Wang’s speeches from 2021 and 2022, one can clearly
see how the international situation has remained volatile and its complex-
ity has only increased. Last year, the world was slowly recovering from
&29,'RQO\WREHSOXQJHGLQWRJHRSROLWLFDOFRQÁLFWVLQÁDWLRQDQGHQHUJ\
shortages. What remains the same, however, is that the foreign minister men-
tioned in both speeches how China had emphasized cooperation, openness and
an overall win-win situation.
“The external change is more geopolitical; certain international forces have
attempted to obstruct China’s development. But China’s development strategy
has always been a steady one and is the result of lessons learned from history,”
Jia Wenshan, an academic member of the Institute for Global Cooperation
and Understanding under Peking University and a distinguished professor at
Shandong University, told Beijing Review.
http://www.bjreview.com
FEATURES
XINHUA
According to Jia, China’s development
strategy has upheld the concepts of openness, co-
operation and win-win. This has been the secret
of China’s success in the past decades and runs
in line with the global outlook and philosophy of
the Chinese civilization. The country’s vision of
building a community with a shared future for
KXPDQLW\ÀUVWSURSRVHGE\3UHVLGHQW;L-LQSLQJ
in 2013 during a state visit to Russia and later
reiterated on the global stage in his speech at the
8QLWHG1DWLRQV2IÀFHDW*HQHYDLQVHUYHV
as confirmation of the country’s diplomatic and
developmental strategies.
“What we can do now is stick to a major-
country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.
Also, we can adapt to changes and timely assess
the global situation. For the sake of maintaining
common global security and development, China
has proposed the Global Development Initiative
(GDI) and the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in
2021 and 2022, respectively, which are notable
examples,” Jia explained to Beijing Review. The
initiatives constitute important practical support for
the concept of building a community with a shared
future for humanity, of which development and
V
V
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 27
FEATURES DIPLOMACY

XINHUA
security are an integral part, and provide Chinese
solutions for pursuing world peace and common
prosperity.

Missions accomplished
In his 2021 speech, Wang listed six tasks for
Chinese diplomacy in 2022: exerting every effort
to ensure a successful Beijing Olympic Winter
Games, tackling challenges in the post-pandemic
era, pushing for the implementation of the GDI,
expanding and deepening global partnerships,
promoting the steady growth of China-U.S. rela-
tions, and safeguarding China’s core interests—
which include state sovereignty, national security
and territorial integrity, among others.
Were all these tasks accomplished over the 12 The China-invested Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway in Kampong Speu
months that followed? Wang answered this ques- 3URYLQFH&DPERGLDRQ2FWREHU7KHH[SUHVVZD\LV&DPERGLDoVĶUVW
tion by summarizing eight major achievements of DQGRSHQHGWRWUDIĶFRQ2FWREHU
major-country diplomacy with Chinese character-
China’s support for the SCO, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, World
istics in his December address.
Trade Organization, the UN, in tandem with it serving as a reliable global
One success in particular was China’s very
leader in the fight against climate change, continues to build international
fruitful head-of-state diplomacy with one sig-
confidence in China’s commitment to peace and development despite U.S.
nificant event after another. Highlights thereof
provocations.
included one home ground event—the Beijing
Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, two The to-do list
major initiatives—the GDI and the GSI, three
Wang said the most important event of 2022 was undoubtedly the 20th
important visits of President Xi—the Meeting
Communist Party of China National Congress in October, which provided
of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai
the basic policy and outlined strategic plans for major-country diplomacy
Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand,
with Chinese characteristics.
the Group of 20 Summit in Bali and the APEC
When discussing diplomatic responsibilities in the years ahead, Wang
Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Bangkok, and the
added China will stay committed to several key notions: human progress and
First China-Arab States Summit and the China-
world harmony, the Chinese path to modernization, peaceful development, a
Gulf Cooperation Council Summit in Riyadh.
global vision, high-standard opening up, independence, dialogue between civi-
Wang also touched on China’s rejection of
OL]DWLRQVDQGD´ÀJKWLQJVSLULWµWRSURPRWHMXVWLFH
bloc confrontation and zero-sum competition, and
Mahoney said that in 2023, he expects China to emerge more fully on the
its maintained strategic stability in relations with
global stage. Now that the COVID restrictions are being removed, the country
other major countries and regions.
can expect a lot more people coming and going, including foreign leaders and
“Increasingly, we’ve seen the world become
dignitaries. “I’d like to see some big positive movements between India and
more multipolar. The simple fact is that China is
&KLQDDQG,·GOLNHWRVHHWKH*6,ÀQGLWVIHHWLQ$VLD,IZHFDQGRWKLVDQG
the major trading partner of most countries and
avoid the worst side of a possible global recession, while keeping a cool head
regions of the world. China is a playing a growing
over new U.S. provocations vis-à-vis Taiwan, then it will be a very good year
role in supporting multilateralism,” Josef Gregory
for Chinese diplomacy,” he shared with Beijing Review.
Mahoney, a professor of politics and international
The year 2023 is the Chinese zodiac Year of the Rabbit. “According to
relations at East China Normal University, told
the Chinese cultural interpretation, the rabbit is agile and resourceful, mean-
Beijing Review.
ing it is highly adaptable,” Jia said. “I think China’s diplomacy will be even
“We saw the U.S. become more aggressive to-
PRUHÁH[LEOHLQDQGZLOOIXUWKHUVKDSH&KLQD·VLPDJHRIEHLQJUHOLDEOH
ward China in 2022, its total commitment to anti-
and respectable.” BR
China containment coming into full view, but we
also saw more and more countries questioning—
if not rejecting—this approach, including some Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
longstanding U.S. allies.” Instead, he pointed out, Comments to zhaowei@cicgamericas.com

28 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023 http://www.bjreview.com

FEATURES &+,1$$8675$/,$
Unfreeze and Reset
China and Australia mark 50th anniversary with renewed optimism By Li Wenhan
A
ustralian Foreign Minister Penny Wong
arrived in Beijing on December 21, 2022,
and no sooner had she landed in the city
than she posted on her personal Twitter account,
“We have much to discuss.”
Wong made a two-day visit at the invitation
of Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister
Wang Yi and participated in the Sixth China-
Australia Foreign and Strategic Dialogue.
According to the joint statement issued after
the dialogue in Beijing, the two sides agreed to
maintain high-level engagement, and to com-
mence or restart their dialogue in areas including
bilateral relations, trade and economic issues, con-
sular affairs, climate change, defense and regional
and international issues.
They also agreed to support people-to-people
exchanges, including the 1.5 Track High-Level
Dialogue, the China-Australia CEO Roundtable
and visits by bilateral business delegations.
This was the first trip to China by an
Australian minister in more than three years, and
it coincided with the 50th anniversary of diplo-
matic relations between the two countries.
On December 21, President Xi Jinping ex-
changed congratulatory messages with Australian
Governor General David Hurley and Prime
Minister Anthony Albanese to celebrate the event.
Xi said he attaches great importance to the
development of China-Australia relations, and
is ready to work with Australia to take the 50th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
relations as an opportunity to renew commit-
ment to the principles of mutual respect, mutual
benefit and win-win results, and to promote the
sustainable development of the China-Australia
comprehensive strategic partnership to the contin-
XHGEHQHÀWRIERWKFRXQWULHVDQGSHRSOHV
Albanese said he firmly believes a stable
Australia-China relationship is in line with the in-
terests of both countries, and he looks forward to
continuing to work with China to further develop
the Australia-China comprehensive strategic part-
30 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
QHUVKLSEDVHGRQPXWXDOUHVSHFWDQGEHQHÀW
“The return to power of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) bodes well for
the China-Australia relationship. The congratulatory messages exchanged by
both leaders and the dialogue between the foreign ministers are recognized as
positive signs by both countries and the wider world,” Li Jianjun, Director of
the Australian Studies Center at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU)
and Secretary General of the Chinese Association for Australian Studies, told
Beijing Review.
A whirlwind visit
Australia established diplomatic ties with China under the Gough Whitlam-
headed ALP administration in 1972 following a bold outreach Whitlam
executed the year before.
Back in 1971, a time when engaging with China was regarded by many in
Australia as mad, and when doing so could mean a party’s loss in the upcom-
ing 1972 election, Whitlam, the then opposition leader, took up the challenge
to visit the country at great risk to his own and his party’s political fortunes.
“His decision was calculated and consistent with ALP policy since 1955
to recognize Beijing… He saw this as rational, logical and in the nation’s in-
WHUHVWVµ6WHSKHQ)LW]*HUDOG&KLQDDGYLVHUWR:KLWODPDQG$XVWUDOLD·VÀUVW
ambassador to China from 1973-76, wrote in an opinion piece published by
the Australian Financial Review on July 1, 2021.
A delegation led by Whitlam traveled to Beijing and stayed two weeks,
with the real mission of meeting Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.
“We drove across the empty Beijing streets to the Great Hall of the People,
went up the stairs, through dimly lit corridors into a room, and Zhou Enlai was
standing there,” FitzGerald told the BBC in a December 2022 interview.
“The Chinese had been demonized as a cross between red devils and yel-
low perils—almost as if they had horns. And here was this most sophisticated
and civilized, polite and diplomatic, courteous, charming person,” he added as
he reminisced about the meeting.
Only four days after Whitlam left China, U.S. National Security Advisor
Henry Kissinger followed on his heels to meet with Zhou in secret, which
helped lay the groundwork for President Richard Nixon’s ice-breaking China
visit in 1972. Whitlam had been fortunate, in that news of Kissinger’s visit
helped galvanize Australian political and public support for his own visit.
However, this good fortune was founded on his courage, judgment and state-
craft, FitzGerald said in his Australian Financial Review piece.
In 1972, just days after the ALP won the federal election, Whitlam negoti-
ated an agreement to establish diplomatic ties with China.
“Gough Whitlam’s act of vision and ambition recognized China’s global
VLJQLÀFDQFHDQGLWDOVRVSRNHIRUDJUHDWHUVHQVHRIPDWXULW\DQGLQGHSHQGHQFH
in Australia’s foreign policy,” Albanese said in his piece published in The
http://www.bjreview.com

XINHUA
Chinese soprano Ya Fen and Australian mezzo soprano Victoria Lambourn
perform at the East Meets West orchestral concert in Llewellyn Hall at the
Australian National University in Canberra on July 30, 2022
Australian on December 20, 2022.
Decades later, after the China-Australia relationship had deteriorated due
to a series of miscalculations by the administrations led by Malcolm Turnbull
DQG6FRWW0RUULVRQRIWKH/LEHUDO3DUW\$OEDQHVHWRRNRIÀFHDIWHUZLQQLQJ
the 2022 federal election and, like Whitlam, he tries to seek a stabilized bilat-
HUDOUHODWLRQVKLSWKDWLVPXWXDOO\EHQHÀFLDO
Deepening ties
“Even if there was a spillover from politics to economy [in Australia], last
year the two-way trade between Australia and China actually hit a record high
in both directions, export and import,” James Laurenceson, Director of the
Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney,
said in a dialogue on bilateral economic relations on December 21. The event
was hosted by the BFSU Australian Studies Center, which was founded in
1983, to celebrate the 50th anniversary.
Bilateral trade volume had surged from less than $100 million in 1972 to
over $207 billion in 2021, accounting for 34.2 percent of Australia’s import-
export total, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Over the past 50 years, strong academic and people-to-people ties between
China and Australia have also been established. There are now roughly 40
registered Australian studies centers across China. The 18th International
Conference of Australian Studies in China (ICASC), a conference convened
biennially since 1988, took place on November 19-20.
The BFSU Australian Studies Center hosted another dialogue themed
China-Australia People-to-People Exchanges: Through the Lens of Culture
and History on December 21. It was joined by David Walker, an Australian
historian and a fellow with the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia
and the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and Li Yao, a Chinese writer
who has translated almost 40 Australian books into Chinese.
They shared how they became good friends despite their vastly contrast-
ing upbringings, and why it was necessary to write their joint memoir Happy
Together: Bridging the Australia-China Divide.
http://www.bjreview.com
FEATURES
“It tells a story of an Australian helping a
Chinese trace his roots in China,” Li Yao quipped.
As the title suggests, people-to-people en-
gagement never fails to bridge cultural and social
divides. This epitomizes both sides’ efforts in
seeking common ground while navigating differ-
ences wisely, he added.
An Asia-Pacific community
Although China and Australia have gotten along
well with each other for most of the past five
decades, their relationship hit a low in 2018
when Australia banned Chinese firms Huawei
Technologies and ZTE from its 5G network be-
fore undertaking a series of hostile moves against
China in the realms of geopolitics, academia and
public health, to name a few, in the following
years.
The thawing of relations began in November
2022, when Xi met Albanese on the sidelines of
the Group of 20 Summit in Bali. They agreed to
bring ties back to the right track by overcoming
differences and engaging in dialogue.
$XVWUDOLDQOHDGHUVFRXOGÀQGDZD\WREHWWHUPDQ-
age relations with China and the U.S. at the same
time, based on a more independent decision-making,
according to Chen Hong, Director of the Australian
Studies Center at East China Normal University .
“Although Australia is culturally, ideologi-
cally and ethnically closer to North America and
(XURSHLW·VORFDWHGLQWKH$VLD3DFLÀFUHJLRQµKH
told Global Times on December 20. “Therefore,
$XVWUDOLDDOVRLGHQWLÀHVDVDQ$VLD3DFLÀFFRXQWU\
rather than a purely Western country. Australia’s
ties with regional neighbors like China and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations members
will impact its interests more directly than its ties
with the U.S.,” he noted.
“The bilateral ties are likely to be repaired, but
it’s not an easy task. Australia’s China policy still
remains unchanged under the administration of
Albanese,” Li Jianjun said.
“In seeking stabilized and mutually benefi-
cial ties, China and Australia need to strengthen
dialogue, seek common ground while putting
differences aside, and respect each other’s core
values and interests,” he concluded. BR
Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
Comments to liwenhan@cicgamericas.com
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 31
FEATURES HEALTH
Algorithmic Solidarity
Pandemic Mutual Aid mini program aims to relieve medication shortage
By Tao Xing
F
rom residential compounds to entire neigh-
borhoods, communities across China have
been using social media to combat the
country’s rampant COVID-19 infections in recent
weeks. Shortage of basic medication to battle infec-
tion got so serious that super app Weixin, also known
as WeChat, created by Chinese tech giant Tencent,
officially launched a Pandemic Mutual Aid mini
program on December 20, 2022 where people post
requests for ibuprofen, acetaminophen, rapid antigen
test kits and other essentials. Posts from all over the
country are refreshing every second.
Mini programs are sub-applications within the
app’s ecosystem. They provide advanced features to
users, including virtual store tours, coupons and mul-
tiple services. As of late November 16, the number of
daily active users of Weixin mini programs exceeded
600 million, a year-on-year increase of more than 30
percent; and its average daily usage rose even faster, at
a year-on-year rate of more than 50 percent.
Medication shortage
“Since December 10, we have seen a number
of local governments advising residents to share
medication with their neighbors; we realized many
people only need two to four ibuprofen tablets to
relieve the fever caused by infection,” Tencent
Intelligent Mobility, the team designing the mini
program, told Beijing Review. Together with the
Tencent Map team, in charge of the company’s
desktop and web mapping service application and
technology, they went on to create the new platform
to support public mutual help, as some people might
have some spare medicine to share for free.
As the pathogenicity of the Omicron variant
was waning and more people had been vaccinated,
China decided to scrap most of its COVID-19
control measures late last year. The country issued
a notice on optimizing its COVID-19 response on
December 7, stating asymptomatic cases and those
with mild symptoms would be allowed to quaran-
tine at home from then on, but still offering those
32 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
infected the choice to seek treatment in centralized
facilities.
,QSUHSDUDWLRQIRUWKHKXJHLQÁX[RIIHYHUSDWLHQWV
to hospitals, many Chinese cities rushed to open more
fever clinics, namely, hospital units that specialize
in the screening and treatment of infectious diseases
that cause fever. For example, Guangzhou, capital
of Guangdong Province, had increased its number
of fever clinics from 114 to 199, according to local
authorities on December 19, 2022. However, many
residents who tested positive, yet with relatively
milder symptoms such as muscle or body aches and a
cough, with or without a fever, chose to stay at home
and self-medicate. Due to a surge in infections and
hence in the need for medication, supply of medicine
couldn’t keep up with demand.
Digital solution
As of December 22, two days after its launch, more
than 1 million users had entered the Pandemic
Mutual Aid mini program, posting over 50,000
messages, according to Tencent. In Shanghai alone,
13,000 requests for aid were posted—with 30 per-
cent answered.
To offer as much convenience to users as possible,
the mini program matches the posts asking for and
offering help by the proximity of their locations. Yao
Jingyu, a young woman who does strategic planning
at a foreign company in Shanghai, told Beijing Review
she’d helped a man living 147 meters from her place.
“He needed ibuprofen so I left him four tablets at the
front desk of his apartment building,” Yao said.
“I had just recovered from COVID-19,” Yao said,
adding she’d decided to check if her leftover medi-
cation could benefit anyone after spotting a Weixin
QRWLÀFDWLRQRIWKHQHZO\ODXQFKHGPLQLSURJUDP
Beijing resident Zhao Qinheng received help
from a woman living nearby shortly after he’d post-
ed a message asking for COVID-19 antigen rapid
test kits and nasal congestion medication. “I left my
Weixin account name and phone number on the
platform and quickly got a reply,” Zhao told Beijing
http://www.bjreview.com

(Above) QR code of the
Pandemic Mutual Aid
mini program launched
by Chinese tech
giant Tencent
Staff sort and pack
medicines at a
pharmaceutical
company in Hunan Province
on December 19, 2022
FILE
http://www.bjreview.com
Review. He then found a delivery person to pick up
the goods.
Yao and Zhao are just two of the many residents
across China who have been using the platform in
recent weeks.
Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou,
and Nanjing are the top five cities asking for
medication and Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai,
*XDQJ]KRXDQG+DQJ]KRXDUHWKHWRSÀYHSURYLG-
ing help, according to Tencent.
Medicines that can be listed on the platform
are non-prescription drugs recommended by the
National Health Commission, Tencent stated. In
order to avoid any type of misuse or hoarding, mini
program registration requires real-name verifica-
tion and the platform has also capped the number of
goods that can be shared, i.e., a maximum of four
ibuprofen tablets and two antigen kits.
Despite stocking up following the government’s
announcement on December 7, many online stores
and brick-and-mortar pharmacies soon ran out of
medicines to help relieve COVID-19 symptoms
as the virus swept across China. Prior to the mini
program’s launch, many residents had been already
sharing what they could spare via Weixin groups.
The mini program simply helps connect supply and
demand in a more targeted way.
Meanwhile, central authorities have been trying
to ramp up medicine production and facilitate distri-
bution. According to Xinhua News Agency, many
pharmaceutical companies in China are working
XINHUA
FEATURES
at full capacity to produce analgesics, antipyretics,
as well as other over-the-counter medicines to treat
COVID-19 symptoms.
Tech for good
Since early 2020, China has developed a slew of tech-
nologies in its battle against the virus. For example, the
digital travel code, a mini program first launched in
0DUFKDQGWDNHQRIÁLQHRQ'HFHPEHU
played a key role in the authorities’ pandemic preven-
tion policy, by identifying those who had been in high-
risk areas.
According to an article by Qi Xiaoxia, Director
General of the Bureau of International Cooperation at
Cyberspace Administration of China, published on the
World Economic Forum website on April 8, 2020, 5G
has also played an important role in COVID-19 pre-
YHQWLRQDQGFRQWUROPDLQO\LQWKHÀHOGRIWHOHPHGLFLQH
To make full use of expert resources in large cities
and hospitals, the 5G plus remote consultation system
was quickly implemented in many hospitals across the
country, the article read.
New-generation information technologies have
unique advantages and can play an important role in
responding to major public health challenges, it further
stated.
Both Yao and Zhao hailed the role of technology
in addressing the medication shortage. “The mini pro-
gram can help many people, indeed,” they both agreed.
“My family and friends usually have enough
medicine at their disposal thanks to them being well
prepared, but the pandemic mutual aid platform made
me realize just how many people urgently need help,”
Yao said.
“I hope it can continue to help people, and not be
misused,” Zhao worried.
Regarding these concerns, Tencent said the
company is constantly trying to increase authenticity
reviews of the messages posted on the platform as to
avoid such mishaps.
Additionally, the platform will add reminders and
guidelines related to safe medication and try to contact
suppliers, hoping to provide users with more medica-
tion choices, Tencent added.
“We have been paying great attention to product
development in the social emergencies sector, and are
exerting the power of technology for good,” Tencent
concluded. BR
Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
Comments to taoxing@cicgamericas.com
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 33
FEATURES AGRICULTURE
Getting the Job Done
Professional accreditation now ensures agricultural workers have the
recognition they deserve By Lu Yan
n mid-October 2022, Yu Jiang, a farmer in
Mashan Village of Shijiazhuang City in Hebei
Province, became one of the province’s first
two farmers to receive a professional accreditation
in agriculture.
Until recently, accreditations in agriculture were
only awarded to researchers, technicians and edu-
cators in agriculture-related institutions. Offering
accreditations to farmers and farm workers is part of
a national plan to help them thrive on the land.
Yu said he feels encouraged after receiving his
accreditation as an assistant agricultural engineer. “I
will continue to dig deeper and work harder to ob-
tain higher levels of accreditation,” the 47-year-old
told Beijing Review.
Getting recognition
After graduating from a technical secondary school
at the age of 16, Yu once worked as a fertilizer
salesman. Being aware of China’s rapidly increasing
policy support for agriculture, Yu decided to return
to his home village to work the land in 2011.
$WÀUVWKHIDUPHGE\KLPVHOIRQDVPDOOSORWRI
land. However, he soon came to realize he could in-
crease his income by cooperating with other farmers
and encouraged his fellow villagers to form coop-
eratives, pool resources and create produce chains,
LQFOXGLQJRSHQLQJDIDFWRU\WRWXUQZKHDWLQWRÁRXU
and noodles.
He began building his knowledge on farming,
technology use, marketing and policy. And as he did
that, Yu and his fellow farmers opened more sales
channels and increased the popularity of their produce.
The businesses have helped more than 100 villagers
increase their annual incomes by around 50 percent.
Early last year, Yu learned that farmers can
apply to the local human resources authority to
become accredited in their fields and applied for
accreditation as an assistant agricultural engineer.
After being assessed on his theoretical knowledge
and the practical skills he had gained over the years,
he was awarded the accreditation.
34 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
XINHUA
Villagers harvest white radishes at a vegetable farm in Shahe Village, Sichuan
Province, on November 18, 2022
<XVDLGKHQRWRQO\SODQVWRZRUNWRZDUGKLVQH[WTXDOLÀFDWLRQEXWDOVRSODQV
to sit the college entrance exam to further his studies.
In China, people engaged in professional work related to culture, educa-
tion, science and technology, usually have professional accreditations, given by
government departments as an indication of their skill level. They are usually
evaluated according to their educational background, expertise, and research
achievements, or on the basis of examinations. Obtaining these accreditations of-
WHQOHDGVWRKLJKHULQFRPHDQGKLJKHUVWDWXVZLWKLQWKHLUÀHOG
7KHDFFUHGLWDWLRQV\VWHPLVQRZEHQHÀWLQJIDUPHUVDJURXSQRWWUDGLWLRQDOO\
associated with educational attainment. Farmers are evaluated on their ability to
use modern technologies, the socioeconomic performance of their agricultural ac-
tivities, whether they set an example for others or help other farmers explore new
ZD\VRISURÀWDEOHDQGVXVWDLQDEOHDJULEXVLQHVVHVDVZHOODVPRUHJHQHUDOO\WKHLU
contribution to rural development. Agriculture and farming account for very little
of the assessed criteria.
The introduction of the accreditations is part of the rapid agricultural develop-
ment in China, which is increasing the transformative role of farmers. Their work
scope is expanding, covering new areas like rural tourism, e-commerce and the
promotion of traditional rural intangible cultural heritage.
The accreditations are divided into three levels, junior (assistant), second-
DU\DQGVHQLRUVLPLODUWRWKHFODVVLÀFDWLRQRIRWKHUSURIHVVLRQDODFFUHGLWDWLRQV
'LIIHUHQWUHJLRQVKDYHGHYHORSHGWKHLURZQVSHFLÀFFULWHULDIRUHDFKDFFUHGLWDWLRQ
based on local conditions.
Li Zongguang is a farmer in Nongan County in Jilin, a province in northeast
China that is home to particularly fertile soil. Known as black soil or chernozem
soil, and found across much of China’s northeastern provinces, this soil produces
http://www.bjreview.com
 FEATURES

COURTESY PHOTO
family members who do so. Agriculture in China is
often characterized by small-scale farming because
of limited farm sizes. In recent years, the expansion
of mechanized, large-scale farming and supporting
SROLFLHVKDYHKHOSHGIDUPHUVZRUNPRUHHIÀFLHQWO\
however, most of them still earn low incomes.
In 2017, China proposed a rural revitaliza-
tion strategy as a key move to accelerate the
modernization of agriculture and rural areas,
and has since adopted a host of policies to chart
the roadmap for rural revitalization. Under this
strategy, farmers have been increasing their skills
and knowledge, bringing vitality to China’s rural
economic development.
As part of this campaign, professional ac-
creditations serve to motivate farmers. “Offering
accreditation to farmers helps stimulate the develop-
ment of human resources in the agriculture sector,
and improve farmers’ enthusiasm and initiative to
learn and master modern agricultural science and
technology for building a new countryside and
promoting rural revitalization,” Zhang Xinglong,
another accreditation holder from Dehui, Jilin, told
Yu Jiang, a farmer in Mashan Village in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, and his Jilin Daily.
accreditation of assistant agricultural engineer “Whether the role of the accreditation system
about one quarter of the country’s total grain output, making it crucial to securing can be maximized depends on the degree of social
the country’s food basket. Unfortunately, the chernozem layer is thinning out due recognition it receives,” Tong Tian, a researcher
to years of excessive reclamation, fertilizer overuse and ineffective management, with the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social
which have also caused the degeneration of the black soil and eroded the soil’s nu- Security, explained. He believes authorities must
trients. A series of measures have been adopted to encourage farmers to protect it. ensure the accreditations bring tangible outcomes to
Over the past decade, Li has designed a crop management plan that can both pro- farmers’ career development.
tect the soil and reduce inputs by farmers. The method was widely adopted throughout Anning in Yunnan Province has awarded
the region and yielded tangible results. He received the senior professional accredita- more than 2,000 accreditations in animal hus-
tion from the provincial department of human resources and social security last year. bandry, crops growing and irrigation. Each
Last year was the second year that Jilin offered accreditation to its farmers, and over year, every accredited farmer receives 300 to
300 farmers have so far received the same accreditation as Li. 400 yuan ($43 to 57) in government subsidies
In some areas of China, accreditation has been given to farmers for more than for agricultural production and related activi-
a decade. In 2007, Shanxi Province announced that it would divide its agricul- ties. Authorities in Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province,
tural technicians into four grades, according to their farming knowledge and work have promised recipients will be prioritized for
H[SHULHQFH7KRVHZKRDUHTXDOLÀHGIRUDSURIHVVLRQDOWLWOHZLOOUHFHLYHÀQDQFLDO enrollment in training programs and for other
support for their farming work and technical training. Several other provinces government support.
have also taken the lead in offering levels of accreditation to farmers. Yu said after he was certified, he gained even
´7KHZRUNIRUFHLVWKHÀUVWUHVRXUFHIRUUXUDOUHYLWDOL]DWLRQµ/RQJ<XHERD more support from the local government to help
researcher at the Research Institute of Peasant Issues at the China Agricultural him expand his business. Recently, he was invited
University, told Beijing Review. “Making good use of the human resource evalu- to meet with experts to share his future plans and
ation system is crucial for promoting the transformation of modern farmers and receive suggestions and advice—an experience he
cultivating a strong rural professional team.” described as very rewarding. BR

More encouragement
The 2021 national census data showed China has more than 500 million people Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
Comments to luyan@cicgamericas.com
living in its less developed rural areas. They either work in agriculture or have
http://www.bjreview.com JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 35
FEATURES XINJIANG
The Home Afar
Young people from all over China develop new rural designs in Xinjiang
By Li Fangfang
T
hough not from Xinjiang, Shao Xiangli con-
siders the place his second home. In 2017,
aged 40 and a civil servant with the China
Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission in
Beijing, the primary regulator of the country’s bank-
ing business, Shao applied to work in Urumqi, capital
of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, under a
government program that brings promising cadres
into the region to support its development. In July that
same year, he arrived in the city and started working
at Xinjiang’s regional banking regulator.
But instead of sitting in his office in downtown
Urumqi, Shao preferred to work more directly with
the local people. Soon, he applied to work in Keqigiz,
a village near the city of Artux in southwestern
Xinjiang. He joined the village’s poverty alleviation
campaign from January 2018 to May 2020.
During his two-year term as first secretary of the
village, Shao worked with the head of the villagers’
committee to manage the village’s daily affairs, in-
cluding collective business, medical care as well as
education—and sometimes even assuming the role of
Shao Xiangli (second right) visits a group of young students in Keqigiz Village, Artux City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, during their
soccer practice in July 2022
36 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
marriage counselor. First secretary in a village is usually a member of the Communist
Party of China (CPC) selected from outstanding young cadres and reserve cadres
of CPC organs at all levels to help with poverty alleviation and rural revitalization,
whereas the villagers’ committee is the self-governing body of a village.
$IWHUÀQLVKLQJKLVWHUPDVÀUVWVHFUHWDU\6KDRUHWXUQHGWRKLVMRELQ8UXPTLEXW
he still visits the village almost every month, offering a helping hand whenever he
can. During one such a visit in the summer of 2021, he learned that a villager had
slipped in the shower and sustained injuries, and he helped coordinate the matter
with an insurance company so that the family could get the medical fees reimbursed.
Financing finesse
“I was born in a rural area, so I think I better understand the countryside,” Shao
told Beijing Review when explaining why he chose to work in a Xinjiang village.
During his two-year term in Keqigiz, he made the most of his banking exper-
tise and applied for loans on behalf of the villagers’ committee to build factories
based on the needs of the village, a place where over 60 percent of the people
were living in absolute poverty—defined by the World Bank as living on less
than $1.90 per person per day.
For example, the village traditionally raised cattle but couldn’t get a good
price for the fresh milk because locals heavily relied on sales agents. So Shao
helped the villagers expand their old yogurt workshop into a modern yogurt
factory, which not only constantly collects fresh milk from locals but also pro-
ZHANG WEI
http://www.bjreview.com

vides dozens of additional jobs for them. After three years of development, the
factory’s yogurt has become a commonly known brand name in neighboring cit-
ies, a feat well beyond Shao’s wildest expectations.
“Starting out, we never imagined the growth would be so substantial, but our
initial thinking was to take things in this direction,” Shao said.
“The old workshop could only collect two tons of milk per day,” the village’s
FXUUHQWÀUVWVHFUHWDU\=KDQJ&KDQJMLDQJZKRVHWHUPEHJDQLQDGGHG´,W
can collect nearly 20 tons of milk per day to produce yogurt,” Zhang told Beijing
Review. The products are sold all the way from Artux to major cities nearby, in-
cluding Kashgar, Hotan and Aksu.
“From traditional workshop to modern factory, this isn’t just an upgrade of it-
self. It has simultaneously improved the understanding of industrialization among
local farmers,” Zhang Yueqi, Shao’s successor—serving in the village from
2020-22, said.
Shao, Zhang Yueqi and Zhang Changjiang are three high-level civil ser-
vants from Xinjiang’s regional banking regulator based in Urumqi. They were
dispatched to the same village one after the other, almost like a relay race, since
2018 to assist in local projects—from poverty alleviation to rural revitalization.
Absolute poverty had been eradicated across China by the end of 2020, and
rural revitalization has since become a major goal of the Central Government,
which is to promote more balanced economic and social development, rebuild the
nation’s rural economy and narrow the urban-rural development gap. The rural
UHYLWDOL]DWLRQGULYHUHTXLUHVYLOODJHUV·FRPPLWWHHVWRÀJXUHRXWKRZWRJURZWKHLU
businesses and, subsequently, villagers’ incomes.
´7KHDGYDQWDJHRIXVÀQDQFHH[SHUWVVODVKRIÀFLDOVLVWKDWZHXQGHUVWDQGQD-
WLRQDOSROLFLHVDVZHOODVLQGXVWULDOL]DWLRQDQGÀQDQFHZHFDQÀJXUHRXWHIIHFWLYH
local solutions together with the people,” Shao explained.
$VÀUVWVHFUHWDULHVFRPHLQZLWKDUHWXUQGDWHQXUWXULQJORFDOOHDGHUVKLSDQGGH-
veloping a collective industry based on the local market is one of their main tasks.
“We need to foster a stable and capable administrative team within the vil-
lage,” Shao said. “The staff members of the villagers’ committee today all come
from different educational backgrounds. They are younger than their predeces-
sors and more capable.”
The new era’s early birds
Xinjiang shook off absolute poverty in late 2020 and as the regional economy is
QRZSLFNLQJXSSDFHPDQ\\RXQJSHRSOHVSRWQHZRSSRUWXQLWLHVWREHQHÀWWKHLU
FDUHHUVÁRFNLQJWRWKHUHJLRQIURPIDUDQGZLGH
In July 2020, President Xi Jinping in his reply to a letter from graduates who
studied at Xinjiang’s Karamay campus of China University of Petroleum-Beijing
encouraged college graduates across China to contribute more to their country and
people.
Xi mentioned how he supported the choice of 118 among them to take up jobs
with grassroots organizations in Xinjiang and work with people from all ethnic
groups to transform China’s western region—which usually refers to Chongqing
Municipality, Gansu, Yunnan, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces,
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Tibet Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region—into a prosperous zone.
Twenty-one-year-old Long Junwen was one such graduate. A chemistry major,
he realized Karamay, an oil city, could offer him long-term professional prospects.
http://www.bjreview.com
FEATURES
Although far from home, which is all the way in
southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Long’s parents
support their son’s ambition to carve out his own ca-
reer path.
“Xinjiang is much more inclusive than I thought,”
Long told Beijing Review. “It has leading companies,
VRPHWKLQJWKDWPDNHVPHDQGP\SDUHQWVFRQÀGHQW
about my future.”
Yu Yu, who holds a doctorate from Beijing-
based Peking University, chose to start working in
Xinjiang after his graduation in 2019. Born and bred
in an inland city, he believed the developing border
region with its diversified landscapes and cultures
would allow him to better experience the real world
off campus.
So when he heard about a job vacancy in the
region, he weighed the pros and cons and eventually
decided to take up a position on a villagers’ commit-
tee near Artux.
Though he majored in international relations,
his current job deals with the trials and tribulations
of many a rural family. He sees those trivial and re-
peated issues as a practical way to learn more about
the real world. “It’s too early for me to study policy.
I need to go and get real experience first,” Yu told
China Youth Daily in 2021.
“Young people will usually work in village- or
community-level positions for several years; they will
get close to people and gain a direct understanding of
the people’s needs,” Yao Ning, then Secretary of the
CPC Bachu County Committee, told Beijing Review
last summer. Bachu is a county with about 369,000
residents near the Taklamakan Desert.
Yao himself holds a doctorate in public admin-
istration from Tsinghua University. He has been in
Xinjiang for eight years and currently serves as the
Secretary of the CPC Kashgar Municipal Committee.
Yao’s choice to go to Xinjiang has motivated
many young urbanites to go off and explore the un-
known opportunities in developing places—which
are in dire need of top-notch professionals.
Both of Yao’s children were born in Xinjiang.
“I have always tried my best to improve the local
economy, medical services and education. It’s like
working for my family. Working hard to achieve lo-
cal progress: That is my responsibility,” Yao said. BR
Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
Comments to ffli@cicgamericas.com
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 37
FEATURES TREND
The One-Meter
Perspective
Document released to promote the building of child-friendly cities By Ji Jing
F
ive-year-old An An selected a picture
book from a 1-meter-high shelf at a chil-
dren’s library after school on December 7,
2022. These 1-meter shelves have been specially
made for preschool children at the Suzhou Library
in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province.
The child-friendly concept has also been re-
ÁHFWHGLQWKHGHVLJQRIWKHFKLOGUHQ·VFHQWHUDWWKH
Xuzhou Garden Expo Park in Jiangsu Province.
Chen Nian, head of the center, said the shelves at
the center are around 50 cm high to help the little
ones access books and toys. The decorations on
the walls at the center are all around 80 cm above
ground, enabling children to see them easily.
As environment improvement at the park has
attracted an increasing number of bird species, the
children’s center at the park has set up a tower for
children to observe birds. Chen said the park will
offer courses in bird nest making and birdwatching
using telescopes to help children get close to nature.
A community worker explains the Law on the Protection of Minors to members of a children’s council in Huangpu District, Shanghai,
on July 30, 2021
38 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
In October 2021, 23 departments, including the National Development
and Reform Commission (NDRC), jointly issued the Guideline on Promoting
the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities. The guideline proposed that by
2025, 100 pilot child-friendly cities will be built nationwide. On December 2,
2022, the NDRC, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and
the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State
Council issued a Guideline on Building Child-Friendly Urban Spaces, which
served as a supporting document to the aforementioned guideline and pro-
vided standard solutions for building child-friendly cities. The new guideline
has attached importance to guaranteeing a child’s right to play. For instance, it
requires communities to increase the number of spaces for children to play and
to install facilities such as slides. Newly built compounds should have at least
100 square meters of space for children to play, the guideline read.
Play space
Liu Yu, an associate professor of child studies at Zhejiang Normal University,
KDVIRXQGLWKDUGWRÀQGIDFLOLWLHVVXFKDVVZLQJVQHDUKLVFRPSRXQGIRUKLV
own child to play on. This has prompted him to develop an interest in the
design of spaces for children to play in urban communities. “Play is an indis-
pensable part of one’s childhood and an indisputable right of children. The
XINHUA
http://www.bjreview.com
 FEATURES

XINHUA
logical park program launched by the Zhongqian
community of Dongshan Subdistrict. In August,
children set up wooden houses and moved 5 kg
of earthworms to the farm. In addition to planting
DQGFDULQJIRUÁRZHUVWKHFKLOGUHQKDYHDOVRFDUH-
fully observed the earthworms and written down
their observations in diaries.
The farm features Chinese roses and the
earthworms loosen the soil after eating vegetable
scraps.
Decisions on what plants to grow, what animals
to raise and how the farm should be maintained
have all been made by the children themselves.
Jiang said children’s enthusiasm for taking part
in the management of the farm has increased and
they have become more outgoing in the process.
In June, the crosswalk outside the gate of a
Children play at a sports park in Weihai City, Shandong Province on August 24, 2022 primary school in Nanjing was painted with bright
colors. The idea was proposed by Li Muyu and
building of child-friendly cities should start from the establishment of play Yin Shize, two primary school students in the city,
spaces,” he told China Education Daily. when they were asked to offer their opinions on
,QWKHÀUVWFKLOGIULHQGO\QHLJKERUKRRGLQ:X[L-LDQJVX3URYLQFHIDFLOL- how to improve people’s lives.
ties have been built taking into consideration children’s needs. There is a Li said when it rained, the crosswalk would
rotating slide as tall as a two-story building, all the indoor signs are around 1 become blurred, making it hard for cars to see and
meter high, and all public restrooms are equipped with wash basins that are posing a safety hazard. If it is painted with bright
KDOIDPHWHUIURPWKHÁRRU colors, cars passing by will know there is a school
Jincheng Community in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, has set up sand pits QHDUE\DQGZLOOVORZGRZQ7KHFLW\·VWUDIÀFDG-
and rock climbing facilities for children. To satisfy children’s needs to explore ministration bureau took Li and Yin’s advice.
science, it has even established a planetarium within the community. “In the past, we seldom listened to children’s
Lu Yuan, an instructor with the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences opinions when providing public services,” Wang
at Nanjing University, said in the past, cities were designed by adults without Yumei, an official with the Nanjing Women’s
considering children’s perspectives. Federation, said, adding that children’s councils
He said the most basic way to achieve child-friendliness is to ensure chil- have now been set up in some communities,
dren have a public place to go play. He suggested adding recreational facilities through which children representatives from the
such as sand pits and slides along city streets and alleys. “These spaces don’t communities can give their opinions on commu-
need to be large, but they should be widely distributed to provide room for nity management.
children to play.” Wang said Nanjing has more than 30 chil-
dren’s councils, attracting the participation of
Masters of cities more than 2,100 children.
According to the guideline, children are encouraged to take part in social ac- Song Yunlai, Secretary of the Communist Party
tivities. A mechanism for children to participate in public activities should be of China Committee of Yechenglu Primary School
established, while children and their caregivers’ opinions should be listened to in Nanjing, said in addition to improving facilities,
when making decisions on major related affairs. more respect should be given to children and chan-
Jiang Chenyu, a staff member with the women’s federation of Dongshan nels for them to express their opinions should be
Subdistrict in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, received an invitation to a meeting widened in building child-friendly urban spaces.
on December 6, 2022. The invitation was sent by the children’s council of the “Creation of public spaces should be based on
Zhongqian community. children’s aesthetics instead of adults making de-
At the meeting, the members of the council discussed how to improve a cisions for them,” Song said. BR
worm farm.
Jiang said the council was established in April and more and more children Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
Comments to jijing@cicgamericas.com
have joined in recent months. She said the worm farm is a child-friendly eco-
http://www.bjreview.com JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 39
FEATURES REAL PEOPLE, REAL LIVES

Harmony Between
Humans and the Sea
The revival of ancient ceremonial shipbuilding in Xiamen By Li Nan

O Boats fit for a deity

n December 11, 2022, over 100 residents
of the Zhongshan community in Xiamen, Zhong, who is 82, has been a carpentry enthusiast since childhood. He began an
a coastal city in Fujian Province, carried a apprenticeship at the Xiamen Shipyard when he was 19 and became head of an-
brand-new wooden boat 4 km to the seaside before other local shipbuilding business in 1972.
VHWWLQJLWRQÀUHLQIURQWRIWKRXVDQGVRIRQORRNHUV $WWKDWWLPH=KRQJEXLOWRQO\ÀVKLQJERDWVDVWKHwangchuan ceremony had
Making an offering of the boat, known as a wang- been banned as a superstitious practice in the 1950s. Building of wangchuan had
chuan, literally meaning a boat for Ong Yah, a deity been halted for more than three decades until, in 1984, a local village invited Zhong
believed to protect the community from disaster. WRPDNHRQH³KLVÀUVW´,KDGQRLGHDKRZWRPDNHDwangchuan back then because
After being carried to the seaside, the boat the last time I saw an authentic one had been in 1952, when I was 12,” he said.
was set down with its bow facing the ocean and What’s worse, there was neither sample, nor blueprint. Most of the old
its stern to the community before being set alight. craftsmen who knew how to make the vessels had passed away. With little help,
The ritual is complete once the ship’s highest mast =KRQJGLGKLVEHVWE\PDNLQJDÀVKLQJERDWLQZKDWKHUHPHPEHUHGWREHWKH
FROODSVHVLQWKHÁDPHV.QRZQDVWKHwangchuan wangchuan style; however, not surprisingly, local seniors all shook their heads at
ceremony, the practice was added to the UNESCO his creation.
list of intangible cultural heritage in 2020. “The craft of making wangchuan should not disappear during my lifetime. I must
According to Zhong Qingfeng, one of Xiamen’s save it,” Zhong thought. He decided to make a real wangchuan. Wang undertook a
inheritors of wangchuan shipbuilding, those who
have died at sea become lonely wandering souls, so
the ceremony has been held every three or four years
in 14 communities across the city to summon those
who died at sea in that time and deliver them from
torment. “People also pray for safe ocean voyages,
good weather, a prosperous country and a peaceful
life during the ritual,” Zhong told Beijing Review.
Each of the 14 communities in Xiamen holds
the ceremony on a different date, mostly during the
last two months of the lunar year. It takes months to
prepare for the ceremony, which is made up of three
phases: ship building, a parade and ship burning.
During the parade, folk performances such as stilt
walking and dragon dancing are staged along the way,
escorting the wangchuan all the way to the seaside.
The ceremony and its related practices were
developed in southern Fujian between the 15th and
17th centuries, and are now mostly practiced in
the coastal areas of Xiamen and Quanzhou cities,
as well as in the Chinese communities in Melaka,
Malaysia.
40 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023 http://www.bjreview.com

(Left) A wangchuan
ceremony in Melaka,
Malaysia on November
16, 2020
Zhong Qingfeng, an
inheritor of wangchuan
shipbuilding in Xiamen,
Fujian Province, makes a
wangchuan model in his
workshop on August 11,
2022
XINHUA
http://www.bjreview.com
search for old wangchuan builders and after finding
only one, took him as his teacher. The old man ex-
SODLQHGWR=KRQJWKHGLIIHUHQFHVEHWZHHQÀVKLQJERDWV
DQGULWXDOERDWV)RUH[DPSOHXQOLNHDÀVKLQJERDWD
wangchuan always features a lion on the bow and a
dragon on the stern.
After four years of study and assisted by the
memories of the elderly, Zhong drew up his first
blueprint for a wangchuan and built it in 1988.
´:KHQLWZDVÀQLVKHGWKHVHQLRUVVDLGLWORRNHGMXVW
like those in the old days,” Zhong said.
From then on, more and more communities in-
vited him to build a wangchuan. Every year, at least
one village or community invited him to make one
for a ceremony. “I have produced over 100 wang-
chuans, including models for display,” Zhong told
Beijing Review.
Producing a wangchuan requires carpentry, wood
carving, painting and decorating techniques. Zhong
used to do all the work himself, but now he mainly
undertakes the carpentry only. “People today expect
a more delicately crafted wangchuan, so professional
carvers and painters also join us,” Zhong said.
Passing on the heritage
At the time Zhong revived the ancient technique in
the late 1980s, few young people—apart from his
youngest son—were interested in learning the craft.
“Most of the younger generations have graduated
YIN KANG
FEATURES
from colleges and universities. They don’t want to
become carpenters,” he said.
But things began to change in the last decade.
The ritual was listed as a national-level intangible
cultural heritage in 2011. “People now treasure the
practice more,” Zhong said.
Since 2015, the culture surrounding the boats
and the ritual has begun making its way into
schools. The principal of Zhongzhai Minzu Primary
School in Xiamen wanted to introduce the intan-
gible heritage to students, and so the school invited
Zhong to come and teach them about it.
In the very beginning, Zhong taught pupils to
make wangchuan using saws and planes, and was
very surprised by the students’ enthusiasm. Making
a vessel model takes days of continuous work and
cannot be accomplished in a 45-minute class. Yet
Zhou found that students wanted to keep working
long after school hours—and sometimes even after
dark—rather than going home.
To make the process more school-friendly,
Zhong in 2018 designed kits, outsourced their bulk
production, and brought them to the school for the
students to assemble in class. As a result, more and
more students began signing up for the class. “I
can’t keep track of how many students I’ve taught
since 2015, but I do know this kind of intangible
cultural heritage cannot be lost and must be passed
down,” Zhong said.
In addition to assembling the models, students are
also encouraged to research and write articles about
wangchuan and to draw them. “These are good ways
to educate students about the tradition,” Zhong said.
While teaching at the school, Zhong met Chen
Wenjing, a campus security guard. Chen took an
interest in wangchuan building, began assisting
Zhong in his lessons and soon became Zhong’s
youngest apprentice. “He has mastered the craft and
is now teaching most of the shipbuilding classes in
the school,” Zhong said.
The wangchuan ceremony’s world heritage
OLVWLQJKDVUDLVHGLWVSURÀOHDQGLQFUHDVHGWKHYDO-
ue attached to it by the community. As a result,
Zhong now has seven apprentices. “They will
one day have their own apprentices, who can all
pass down the skills generation
after generation.” BR
Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
Comments to linan@cicgamericas.com
JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 41
FEATURES THROUGH THEIR EYES

Watchers on the Wall

A British researcher’s dedication to protecting and studying the Great Wall
By Tao Zihui

‘I
pledge my life and honor to the Night’s
Watch, for this night and all nights to
come,” members of the Night’s Watch in
George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of
Ice and Fire, vowed as they dedicated their lives to
defending the wall in the novels. Like them, British
Beijing resident William Lindesay has devoted his
life to the defense of a great northern wall of epic
proportions. However, this wall is real—and so is its
need for protection.
The Great Wall, which has a total length of
more than 21,000 km and stands as a symbol of the
Chinese nation, has been the subject of numerous
legends over the centuries. After becoming the first
foreigner to traverse the main length of the wall on
foot 36 years ago, Lindesay has been working to pro-
tect this icon of world heritage and is now a real-life
“watcher of the wall.”
On December 6, 2022, Lindesay’s two sons
James and Thomas, aged 28 and 21, posted a then-
and-now picture on Twitter with the caption “36
years apart.” The composite image shows Lindesay
36 years ago, standing in front of the Old Dragon’s
Head, where it reaches the sea at Beidaihe in
The brothers say they decided to make the journey in tribute to the one that
made their father a sensation 36 years ago.
The road not taken
Villagers living at the foot of the wall often see the tall, silver-haired foreigner
collecting plastic bottles and other garbage as he passes by in the course of photo-
graphing, studying, and protecting the structure.
“It began actually in the 1960s, when I saw the symbol for the Great Wall on
the map of China at school. The dream of the Great Wall for me began when I
was 11,” Lindesay said.
&RPLQJIURP:DOODVH\RQ0HUVH\VLGHLQWKH8./LQGHVD\ÀUVWWUDYHOHGWR
China in 1986 and set out on his 78-day journey from Jiayuguan to Shanhaiguan
in 1987.
“From the perspective of a foreigner, you will see different things,” he said.
According to Lindesay, local people, perhaps, become accustomed to seeing the
Great Wall every day, but for him, every section of the wall is fresh and has a
story.
As the most successful foreign explorer of the Great Wall, Lindesay has been
conducting systematic research on the structure since 1994.
To facilitate his research, Lindesay and his wife Wu Qi moved into a farm-
yard in a village at the foot of the Jiankou section of the wall in 1998.
Located in Huairou District on the outskirts of Beijing, the Jiankou section is
one of the most dangerous parts of the Great Wall and is known by hikers as “the

COURTESY PHOTO
Qinhuangdao City, Hebei Province, and his sons
standing in the same spot now.
After setting out from the Taolai River near
the Jiayuguan Fortress in Gansu Province on July
15, 2022, the brothers arrived at the Old Dragon’s
Head at Shanhaiguan on the shoreline of the
Bohai Bay on November 22, completing a record-
breaking 3,263-km journey running along the main
west-to-east length of the wall. They are the first
known brothers, and Thomas the youngest person,
to succeed in running the stretch of wall in one
continuous journey.
“During my father’s Great Wall adventure in
1987, my future parents met in Beijing, and then it
was mother’s charms that convinced him to make
China their home, and the Great Wall their life’s joint
work, and that’s a passion my brother and I have in-
herited,” Thomas told Beijing Review. William Lindesay (center) with his sons James (right) and Thomas
42 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023 http://www.bjreview.com
 FEATURES
A tale of two
Lindesay has written more than 10 books about
China with a focus on the Great Wall, and has also
made a number of documentaries about the Great
Wall together with his two sons, both of whom are
graduates of Peking University.
Prior to their five-month-long journey, the
Lindesay brothers had already accrued “at least
1,000 days of experience on various parts of the
Great Wall.” As children, they spent the majority of
their weekends on it or right beside it.
In 2016, the brothers spent the whole summer
Á\LQJGURQHVDWVFRUHVRIORFDWLRQVDORQJWKH*UHDW
Wall. The project led to them producing the first
internationally broadcast documentary to show the
Great Wall from the air.
“Looking back, I had a ‘wall-spent’ youth, walk-
ing, talking, photographing and picking up garbage
from the Great Wall—30 weekends a year,” James
said.
“We attended pretty much every volunteer event
my father [organized], as long as we could hike up
or be carried up,” Thomas said. “But we enjoyed
it from a young age. Maybe in the early years, we
didn’t quite understand what we were doing. We
were just told what to do. But later on, we realized
COURTESY PHOTO

WKDWZKDWZHZHUHGRLQJKDGVRPHVLJQLÀFDQFHµ
In 2019, the Beijing Government initiated a
plan to protect and develop the Great Wall Cultural
(Above) William Lindesay arrives at the Old Dragon’s Head on the shoreline of Belt, an area of 4,929.29 square km, which in-
the Bohai Bay on December 4, 1987; the Lindesay brothers arrive at the same cludes both heritage protection and ecological
spot on November 22, 2022, posing for a photo on the beach with the Great Wall
behind them conservation. In 2021, China began the develop-
ment of the Great Wall National Park, currently an
area of 60 square km approximately 70 km north-
wild Great Wall,” a term invented by Lindesay many years ago that later became east of Beijing.
a proper term. He has traveled all over the wild Great Wall, some sections of “Who are we if we cannot cherish the Great
ZKLFKDUHEXULHGLQVRLODQGFDQRQO\EHLGHQWLÀHGIURPWKHDLU Wall” is Lindesay’s catchphrase.
Despite its status as a precious cultural heritage site, some sections of the wild For him, it is not enough to just go to the Great
Great Wall have been damaged in recent years due to both natural disasters and Wall; one must also love and protect it. But he be-
human impact. These sections are in dire need of maintenance and reinforcement. lieves there is still a long way to go in protecting the
“It’s the world’s greatest open-air museum without a curator,” he said. wall and its heritage.
Around the year 2000, Lindesay and his wife began to organize volunteers to “I have two countries, as I’ve spent exactly half
participate in the protection of the Great Wall, especially its wild sections. They my life in Britain and half my life in China. If we
set up an environmental protection station at the foot of the Jiankou section, and have this more open world, we can get on much
cooperated with the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Cultural Heritage and other in- better together and really believe in the strength of
stitutions to carry out a long-term protection project. culture as a bridge to bring people together,” he said.
In recognition of his contributions, Lindesay in 1999 received the Friendship And so his watch continues. BR
Award, the highest award given by the People’s Republic of China to foreign
H[SHUWVZKRPDNHDVLJQLÀFDQWFRQWULEXWLRQWRWKHFRXQWU\·VSURJUHVV+LVKRPH
country also recognized his contributions in 2006, when Queen Elizabeth II pre- Copyedited by G.P. Wilson
sented him with an Order of the British Empire. Comments to taozihui@cicgamericas.com

http://www.bjreview.com JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 43

CULTURE

Let There Be Light!

A 1
display of vibrant and flash-
ing colored lights awaits those
seeking a festive atmosphere at
the Solana Shopping Mall in Chaoyang
District, Beijing. The mall’s annual light
festival, which lit up in mid-December
2022 and will run until mid-February, al-
lows visitors to marvel at what feels like
a colorful walk through a winter wonder-
land—Beijing style.
As China adjusted most of its
COVID-19 control policies in late
November and early December last year,
the country has been picking up the pace
of work and social life, as well as that of
its overall economy. Many popular en-
tertainment and leisure destinations are
ZHOFRPLQJLQFUHDVHGIRRWWUDIÀFBR
(Text and photos by Wei Yao)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

Comments to weiyao@cicgamericas.com

5
1. Visitors are immersed in beams
of light and the Christmas spirit
on December 24, 2022
2. The entrance to Solana’s annual
light extravaganza on December 24,
7KHßDVK\VSHFWDFOHOLWXSLQ
mid-December 2022 and will run
until mid-February
3. Visitors take pictures at an
Avatar-themed light exhibition
4. Patrons capture the festive vibes
outside a restaurant
5. A band takes to the colorful stage
at Solana

46 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023 http://www.bjreview.com

 CULTURE
2

4 3

http://www.bjreview.com JANUARY 5, 2023 BEIJING REVIEW 47

EXPAT’S EYE
My Christmas Carol
By Luke Shen-Tien Chi
Christmas cakes on display at a bakery in Shenyang, Liaoning Province
C
hristmas has come and gone
once again. I’d been wanting to
go holiday shopping ever since
China eased its COVID-19 response
measures in early December 2022, rid-
ing my scooter across town and going to
IKEA to get ready for the big holiday.
My mom, Chen Yinyin, was a single
parent in New York City, the U.S.
During the Christmas holiday, she would
always make sure our home had a real
festive feel to it—and she’d always make
sure to get a real tree. We’d decorate it
with ornaments and lights on the morn-
ing of December 25. And I always knew
presents awaited. Over the years, I’ve
never forgotten these happy moments.
I first arrived in China in late 2008
and have since settled down in Shenyang,
capital city of Liaoning Province in the
48 BEIJING REVIEW JANUARY 5, 2023
COURTESY PHOTO
northeast. Even though Christmas is not
DQRIÀFLDOKROLGD\LQ&KLQDPDQ\VKRS
windows will feature seasonal decora-
tions and some locals, too, will buy
Christmas gifts for their families and
friends.
My expat buddies used to consider
Christmas a time to collectively enjoy a
nice dinner and share year-end stories.
My Chinese friends also often partook
in celebrating the holiday. But with the
[Getting sick] is an
experience that gives us
all something to share.
Embrace it and get
through it
outbreak of COVID-19, all that changed.
Our traditional Christmas gathering got
canceled twice due to the pandemic.
I tested positive for Omicron on
December 13, 2022, and had almost
all the symptoms. As the disease pro-
gressed, I got a fever and sore muscles.
I figured this would be the end of my
holiday, a rather unfortunate occurrence
given our gathering with pals was set to
resume after the two-year hiatus. As I
knew my body preferred natural herbs,
I decided to take the path of traditional
Chinese medicine. With the help of this
ancient form of healing, plenty of rest
and plenty of water, my body put up a
JRRGÀJKWDQG,PDGHDVSHHG\UHFRY-
ery. It seemed Christmas had not been
lost, after all.
After feeling much more like my nor-
mal self again, I went to the cinema to
catch the latest action-adventure block-
buster, Avatar: The Way of Water. When
I saw the fantasy epic on the big screen, I
felt a huge sense of relief, like the movie
theater was the only world that existed in
that very moment.
Nevertheless, I know the pandemic is
still on the loose. But people should re-
main strong and brave; getting sick is not
something to be afraid of. Instead, it is
an experience that gives us all something
to share. Embrace it and get through it.
People all agree that everything happens
for a reason. And until we learn what that
reason is, I hope most of you were able
to enjoy a very happy Christmas and I
would like to wish all of you a wonderful
2023. BR
The author is an American-born Chinese who teaches at
Shenyang Normal University
Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon
Comments to dingying@cicgamericas.com
http://www.bjreview.com
Beijing Review is China’s only national English newsweekly published by China
International Communications Group Center for the Americas.
In addition to Beijing Review,
Review, CICG Americas
publishes China Hoy,
Hoy, a monthly publication
launched in 1960, aiming to bridge the gap
between China and the Spanish-speaking
world—particularly Latin-American countries.

Website: www.chinahoy.com.cn