Recently, our reporter learned from the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company that the Henan Energy Big Data Center "1+18" (an operation system incorporating one provincial-level company and 18 prefecture-level city companies) has been fully established. The center's 11 standard functions and 50 optional functions are all open to provincial and municipal units. Based on this, the data service scenarios and products will support the scientific, precise and efficient development of power supply, energy transformation, and economic development in the province.
In 2020, according to the entrustment construction agreement signed with Henan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, State Grid Henan Electric Power Company took the lead in building and operating the provincial-level energy big data center in the State Grid Corporation of China, and also actively promoted the cooperation of city-power supply companies with the local government. Over the past two years, all 18 city-power supply companies have obtained authorization from local government departments for the construction of energy big data centers.
To continuously release the value of data and meet the needs of data application services for users of all levels, the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company actively promoted the construction and operation of the "prefecture-level standard application" of the Henan Energy Big Data Center. Adopting a unified technical route, it has successively completed the launch of core functions such as "electric power overview, new energy monitoring and analysis, carbon emission monitoring and analysis, economic analysis, rural revitalization" and other core functions in 18 prefecture-level city-energy big data centers. This was also standardized and unified at the provincial and municipal levels, meeting the daily development, construction and application needs of power big data in various cities.
"This low-cost input and high-efficiency output energy big data center construction, operation and promotion model has reduced the input of local platform construction by more than 90%," said a relevant person in charge of the Digital Department of the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company.
With the goal of further improving the efficiency and quality of the integrated construction and operation of the Henan Energy Big Data Center, the State Grid Henan Electric Power Company has reconstructed the "prefecture-level standard application". This provides a more powerful foundation platform for the development and construction of customized functions and applications for prefecture-level city power supply companies, that better utilizes power data products to serve social scientific governance,promote energy supply security and low-carbon development. (Chenhao Songdawei)
China on Tuesday set a growth target of around 5 percent for its economy in 2024, a "forward-looking and pragmatic" goal which deputies and economists said sends strong signals that the world's second-largest economy will sustain its firm recovery momentum this year despite rising headwinds, while putting more emphasis on ensuring economic stability and transforming growth models.
Although achieving the growth target will not be an easy task given the sheer size of the Chinese economy and a grim global environment, Chinese officials have voiced strong confidence that the economy will likely meet or even hit over the target, underpinned by the country's indigenous economic vigor as well as Chinese top policymakers' strategic focus and rich toolbox at hands.
The highly anticipated economic agenda also offers a timely rebuttal to Western doomsayers who have recently been sparing no efforts to disparage the Chinese economy. A 5-percent GDP expansion this year would make China still one of the fastest-growing major economies, raising global expectation that the country would continue serving as both a stabilizer and a locomotive for the world.
Strong confidence
The around 5-percent GDP target, along with a series of other key economic goals, was released in the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday to the second session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC).
The GDP goal is similar to last year's and is in line with market expectation, which observers said mirrors the country's work priority to maintain policy consistence and economic stability.
In setting the growth rate, Chinese policymakers have taken into account the need to boost employment and income, and prevent and defuse risks. This growth rate is well aligned with the objectives of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the goal of basically realizing modernization. It also takes account of the potential for growth and the conditions supporting growth and reflects the requirement to pursue progress and strive to deliver, according to Government Work Report.
While acknowledging that achieving this year's targets will not be easy, Li pledged that the country will "maintain policy focus, work harder, and mobilize the concerted efforts of all sides."
"The GDP goal is very forward-looking and inspiring. In the Government Work Report, Chinese policymakers do not refrain from walking through this year's challenges and downward pressures, and they showed strong confidence and capacity to tackling with them head on," Pan Biling, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the president of Xiangtan University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
Tian Yun, a veteran economist based in Beijing, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the target also underscores Chinese authorities' "bottom-line" thinking strategy, based on a sober assessment of a worst-case scenario.
"Without a certain modest level of GDP expansion, it would be very difficult to shore up the real economy, maintain the sound development of capital market, and lift up social expectation," he explained. "And an abrupt slowdown could fuel social uncertainties and financial risks."
Observers said a 5-percent GDP growth aligns with the long-term development goals laid out by the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) and the Long-Range Objectives through 2035, which stated that the country's GDP should double by 2035, compared with its 2020 level. It also provides a necessary condition for China to achieve its goal of "creating over 12 million new urban jobs" in 2024 listed in the Government Work Report.
According to Tian, if the Chinese economy grows by 5 percent or above this year, it will still be one of the fastest among major economies.
A growth rate of around 5 percent would also be faster than IMF's projected global growth rate of 3.1 percent or the forecast of 1.5 percent for advanced economies and 4.1 percent for emerging market and developing economies. The IMF, in its latest World Economic Outlook report released in January, projected that China's GDP will grow by 4.6 percent in 2024
"China's net contribution to the global economy is poised to be larger than previous decades, taking account of the high base," Tian said. Observers estimated that the Chinese economy will contribute around 30 percent to 35 percent to global growth this year.
Han Baojiang, a member of the National Committee of CPPCC and a professor at Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, told the Global Times that setting GDP goal is also a "timely, clear" response to certain pessimistic voices on Chinese economy, especially from the international society.
"The positivity released by the economic work is clearly in contrast with Western smears against the Chinese economy. And those doomsayers don't understand the vigor and potential of an economy whose modernization involves 1.4 billion people," Han said.
Transforming growth model
Deputies and political advisors told the Global Times that there is a slew of new policy insights from this year's Government Work Report. "I could see a spirit of reform and innovation in the economic roadmap," Pan said.
According to the report, China will move faster to create a new pattern of development, and promote high-quality development. The report highlighted 10 major tasks this year and "striving to modernize the industrial system and developing new quality productive forces at a faster pace" was listed at the foremost.
"New quality productive forces are a pioneering concept proposed by Chinese top leaders last year. As the Chinese economy is undergoing a period of structure transition, the creation of such drives will play an outsized impact not only in guiding economic progress, but also in shaping the global tech landscape," Han said, while highlighting China's whole-nation systematic advantage in gearing up such new drives.
Chen Fengying, an economist and former director of the Institute of World Economic Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Tuesday that drawing upon the wording from the Government Work Report, she expects to see Chinese government's "broader efforts" in innovation, reform and opening-up.
"The international environment remains complex amid a year fraught with presidential elections. Meanwhile, the US has been taking aim at China's tech industry with its so-called 'small yard, high fence' approach. Internally, the Chinese economy also faces an array of hindrances, including weak market confidence and property market downturn that could weigh on the development prospect," Chen said. She noted that it is crucial that China deepens reforms, especially in driving internal demands, to sustain a full-fledged economic recovery.
The Government Work Report also presaged more fiscal stimulus to shore up the economy this year, according to economists.
China's deficit-to-GDP ratio is set at 3 percent this year, and the government deficit is set at 4.06 trillion yuan, an increase of 180 billion yuan over the 2023 budget figure.
"We should appropriately enhance the intensity of our proactive fiscal policy and improve its quality and effectiveness," Li said. He also proposed that 1 trillion yuan ultra-long special treasury bonds will likely be issued in 2024, and such bonds will also be issued over each of the next several years.
"It is a good time to scale up the issuance of special treasury bonds, as the borrowing cost will inch lower in the coming months, and as China's inflation is relatively low," Tian said, adding that China still has sufficient room for more fiscal and monetary policy maneuver this year.
Observers said if the potential of all available resources and other elements are fully utilized, China could realize a GDP growth rate of between 5 percent and 6 percent this year, landing well above the 5-percent goal.
China's overall economic recovery and growth were boosted in 2023, according to Li. Its GDP surpassed 126 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 5.2 percent, ranking China among the fastest-growing major economies in the world.
At 3:50 pm on Wednesday, an inclined shaft runaway incident occurred at the Kunyuan Coal Mine in the city of Jixi, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, killing 12 people and injuring 13 others. All the injured have been transported to nearby hospitals for treatment, according to media reports.
Currently, rescue efforts are underway, and an investigation team has been formed to probe the cause of the accident, reports said.
According to Tianyancha, an online data base of companies, the Jixi Kunyuan Coal Industry Co Ltd was established in April 2010 and its business scope mainly includes coal mining and washing.
Yet it is worth noting that the Kunyuan Coal Mine has received multiple notifications of administrative penalties imposed by the Jixi City Coal Production Safety Administration Bureau for violations of relevant laws and regulations.
An official from Jixi City Emergency Management Bureau told Jiemian.com that the tragedy occurred underground.
When answering the query why the incident was reported one day after it occurred, the official said that rescuers were in the process of responding to the situation on Wednesday and had learned of 13 injuries. The number of fatalities was only confirmed on Thursday, hence the recent update.
An inclined shaft runaway accident refers to an incident where a mine cart loses control and falls along the inclined shaft during the lifting or lowering of vehicles. In such accidents, the out-of-control vehicles pose a threat mine workers. Additionally, if the mine's air contains flammable gases or materials, the collision or damage to electrical equipment caused by the runaway cart could potentially spark an explosion, endangering life safety of the workers.
On May 8, 2016, the Kunyuan Coal Mine experienced a collision accident involving coal cars, resulting in one fatality and a direct economic loss of 702,000 yuan ($98,252).
According to the official website of the Jixi government, in October 2023, the Hengshan district, where the colliery locates, emphasized coal mine safety production for coal mining enterprises, focusing on "risk prevention and safety assurance."
It also stressed the importance of strengthening major risk assessment, adhering to the regulatory and supervisory work mechanism of "analyzing and judging, regular consultations, timely warnings, and ensuring implementation" for major risk control in coal mines. The government aims to promptly issue warning information, supervise and guide coal mines in implementing preventive measures and prevent the occurrence of major incidents.
This year's 41st Beijing Marathon was held on October 29, and Greece, the cradle of the Marathon run, took part in the Beijing Marathon for the first time.
Greek Ambassador to China, Eugenios Kalpyris, was among the seven dignitaries who gave the signal for the start of the race at 7:30 am, at the Tiananmen Square.
Later, after the finish of the race, the Greek Embassy awarded medals from the Athens Authentic Marathon to the volunteers, the medical services, the referees and the official pacer teams for their contribution to upholding the "Marathon Spirit."
"It is a pleasure to be here today, for the Beijing Marathon. I am deeply impressed with the athletic spirit and the massive participation of such a big number of runners in today's Beijing Marathon. Congratulations!
The high regard the Chinese people have for the Athens Authentic Marathon is truly overwhelming. In the last 20 years sports has been a strong connecting link between Greece and China and we are looking forward to more cooperation in such big events in the future," said the ambassador. Earlier, the Greek Embassy had participated with a booth in the Beijing Marathon Expo from October 26 to 28, showcasing the Athens Authentic Marathon and the official medals for the 42,195 km run.
Apart from the 15 elite athletes that were invited, over 130,000 runners signed up for the race and about 30,000 were selected after a lucky draw, the organizing committee said.
When Chinese President Xi Jinping first proposed the initiative of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in 2013, it was framed as a broad vision to expand regional cooperation between China and Southeast Asian countries. By visiting the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia in July, Global Times reporters followed Xi's footsteps and visions to find out how BRI projects have enhanced regional connectivity, deepened trade and economic relations, promoted political trust and expanded people-to-people exchanges among member countries.
Just like Xi's vision for "a global community of shared future," like-minded countries in Southeast Asia - united by geography and bonded by mutual interests - are coming together to form a more cohesive bloc.
At a time when the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, the international community has strong expectations for China's voice, role and wisdom.
One ordinary morning 10 years ago, young Indonesian girl Grace Jessica casually flipped through the newspaper and came across news about visiting
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his speech at the Indonesian parliament. She knew little about international relations, but her intuition told her that Xi's visit could bring some "valuable benefits to both countries."
Time proved the young Indonesian's intuition true.
One decade later, the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway (HSR) has helped Jessica realize her dream of participating in the development and innovation of her motherland. The railway has been a brand-new Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) "calling card" as Indonesia can now boast that it has the first fully operational high-speed railway line in Southeast Asia.
In 2019, Jessica, as a fresh graduate, took a job as an assistant director at the Tegalluar station of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR. It has become a point of pride for her family to see her participate in such an important national infrastructure project.
"Every time when I think back, I feel like my dream started from the moment when Xi delivered a speech at the Indonesia parliament in 2013," she told the Global Times during an interview in Bandung, Indonesia, in July.
On October 3, 2013, President Xi became the first foreign head of state to address the Indonesian House of Representatives upon invitation. Then speaker of the house of representatives Marzuki Alie extended his welcome and vowed to push forward the relations between the two countries to a new high.
In a recent interview with the Global Times, Marzuki recalled that Xi's address was "very significant not only for Indonesia-China relations, but also for international cooperation." He said he believed the BRI was "the most ambitious foreign and economic policy of the Chinese government at the time."
"In his speech, President Xi highlighted the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as a path of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusivity, mutual learning and mutual benefit. I believe it is essential for the [Indonesian] government to respond to Xi's offer, which, in the next term when President Joko Widodo led it, envisioned Indonesia becoming a 'world maritime axis,'" Marzuki said.
Marzuki highlighted that since the initiative's introduction in 2013, Indonesia's cooperation with China under the BRI has undergone significant development in a variety of disciplines such as infrastructure, trade, investment, tourism and maritime partnerships.
Li Zhuohui, the 85-year-old chief editor of Sin Po, a Peranakan Chinese-language newspaper founded in Indonesia, can still clearly remember the enthusiastic applauses that erupted during Xi's speech at the parliament on the day.
In the view of Li, who listened to the speech at the parliament, the BRI, the concept of a global community of shared future, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative are contemporary versions of Datong, or "a world of great harmony," a philosophy that the Chinese people have carried forward for thousands of years.
The vision of "a world of great harmony" was inherited and reflected in Xi's speeches at the G20 in Indonesia and APEC in Thailand in November 2022, when Xi outlined a blueprint for global development with the principles of being "more inclusive," "beneficial to all" and "more resilient."
During Xi's visit to Indonesia in 2022, Xi and Widodo inspected via video link the inauguration of the trial operation of the Jakarta-Bandung HSR. It marked a milestone achievement for the Jakarta-Bandung HSR and was a remarkable embodiment of the China-Indonesia community of shared future, capable of significantly driving the integration of Indonesia's regional economy.
As the first high-speed railway in the history of Indonesia, also the first in Southeast Asia, the Jakarta-Bandung HSR was a dream that many local Indonesians like Jessica could not have dared to hope for just 10 years ago.
Footsteps kick off trade
In 2023, in the context of a global slowdown and the risk of increasing fragmentation of globalization, Asia is anticipated to accelerate its pace of overall economic growth, and will continue to advance regional production, trade, investment and financial integration and cohesion, and seize the "Asian moment" for global economic governance.
Such positive hopes shed a light on what Xi claimed at the APEC CEO Summit in Indonesia on October 7, 2013 that "China cannot develop without the Asia-Pacific and the Asia-Pacific cannot prosper without China."
What Xi said in 2013 has been confirmed over the following decade, as the core development concepts of some Southeast Asian countries are blending with China's.
In January 2023, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim unveiled a new policy direction for his country called the "Madani Way," the Malay acronym for "Sustainability, Care & Compassion, Respect, Innovation, Prosperity, and Trust," which seeks to address the country's inequalities in terms of ethnicity, religion, regions and other issues.
"The concept of the 'Madani Way' resonates with Xi's idea of 'a global community of shared future.' Both aim to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development that benefits all people, regardless of race, class, or belief," Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan, Malaysia's former ambassador to China from 1998 to 2005, said in an interview with the Global Times in Malaysia.
Under the guidance of President Xi's development philosophy centered on the people, China actively participates in projects such as the East Coast Rail Link and the Kuantan Industrial Park in Malaysia, helping Malaysia achieve a more equitable and balanced development.
This strategic cooperation undoubtedly promotes mutual benefit between Malaysia and China, Majid noted.
In 2014, Xi called for the two countries to build industrial parks in China's Qinzhou and Malaysia's Kuantan as flagship projects for China-Malaysia cooperation and models for China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) cooperation.
And as of April 2023, the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park has signed 12 projects with an agreed investment of 46 billion yuan ($6.3 billion).
In July, when a team of Global Times reporters visited the Kuantan Industrial Park and Kuantan Port, they witnessed readily the vitality behind the trade of goods. The cranes stood tall, the containers were neatly arranged, and newly arrived materials such as iron ore and coke were stacked in an orderly manner. With the joint efforts of China and Malaysia, the Kuantan Port with a history of more than 40 years was ushering in a new phase of vitality.
The booming trade seems to echo Xi's appeal at the G20 Summit in Indonesia in 2022 that "No one should engage in beggar-thy-neighbor practices, building 'a small yard with high fences'."
Heightened exchanges boost closer ties
For many young people in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia, each and every one of Xi's visits is an important window for them to understand China's culture and development philosophy, and a chance to further eliminate misunderstandings.
The people-to-people friendship between China and Southeast Asian countries has been further enhanced after each visit by the Chinese leader, as tourism, scholars and student exchanges and art exchanges have continued to intensify over the past decade.
On December 24, 2011, as China's vice president at that time, Xi visited the Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and stressed that China and Thailand are close neighbors with a history of more than 1,000 years of friendly contact.
It is the common aspiration of the Chinese and Thai people that "China and Thailand are kith and kin" and their common desire to carry on the friendship from generation to generation, Xi said.
Xi pointed out that cultural exchanges are the important link to enhance the mutual understanding among people. He hoped that the Confucius Institutes at Chulalongkorn and other Thai universities make full use of the role of Confucius Institute as the platform of comprehensive cultural exchanges to make new contributions to increasing the understanding and friendship between the Chinese and Thai people, promoting the equal cooperation and mutual benefit between China and Thailand and advancing learning among human civilization, the Xinhua News Agency reported in 2011.
In July, the Global Times visited the Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University. It was clear that Xi's earnest request had been fulfilled amid the "Chinese fever" of young Thai people.
As the first country in the world to incorporate Chinese into its national education system, Thailand currently has more than 2,000 primary and secondary schools offering Chinese courses and more than 1 million students learning Chinese in schools, accounting for about 60 percent of the total number of students learning Chinese in schools in Southeast Asia, ranking it first in the world.
The Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University, established in 2007, promotes understanding of Chinese languages and Chinese culture in Thai society through various activities such as Chinese language teaching, Chinese culture research and local teacher training.
Han Shenglong, the Chinese head of the Confucius Institute at Chulalongkorn University, told the Global Times that in Thailand Chinese has gradually replaced Japanese as the second largest foreign language after English.
Currently, there are 17 Confucius Institutes in Thailand. At its peak, there were over 2,000 Chinese teachers and volunteers teaching Chinese in Thailand. In fact, the Thai government has increasingly realized the importance of promoting Chinese education, according to Han.
In recent years, with the deepening integration of China's and Thailand's economic strategies, educational exchanges between the two countries have entered a new phase.
Han said that Chinese language teaching in Thailand has become more practical nowadays, aiming to cultivate Chinese language talents who can work in industries such as high-speed rail, logistics, tourism, and e-commerce.
Majid told the Global Times that more opportunities for exchanges are expected to allow more individuals, especially youngsters, to witness an objective and authentic China in order to eliminate misunderstandings.
The Malaysia-China Friendship Association chaired by Majid has also translated some of President Xi's speeches into the Malay language, and it intends to work on a production of a special film about the Silk Road in Northwest China. The veteran Malaysian diplomat expects the cultural exchanges amid the strong political and diplomatic foundation between the two sides will be heightened.
The 7th China-Australia High Level Dialogue will be held in Beijing on September 7. This is not just a momentous event between China and Australia, but also a reflection of the East-West relationship as a whole. As a 1.5-track high-level dialogue initiated in 2014, this exchange is a thermometer for China-Australia relations. The interruption of this dialogue in 2020 was widely regarded as a prominent sign of the sharp decline in bilateral relations. After the Albanese government came to power and began adjusting its policy toward China, China-Australia relations rebounded. The restart of this high-level dialogue is seen as a sign of further warming of China-Australia relations.
This is the outcome that we are all hoping for. If China and Australia can effectively manage their disagreements while maintaining and strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation in the current international circumstances, China can do the same with other Western countries. From this vantage point, China-Australia ties have far-reaching ramifications beyond bilateral relations.
The ups and downs of China-Australia relations, from initially positive to being impacted by external circumstances and the growth of radical anti-China forces within Australia, to a more pragmatic adjustment by the Labor Party government, are extremely representative. It is obvious that Australia is primarily to blame for this. Therefore, when the Australian government changed, China-Australia relations ushered in an opportunity for a turnaround. The detours taken by China-Australia relations serve as a lesson not only for Australia but also for other Western countries in how to handle their relations with China. It is essential to point out that most people who predict that China-Australia relations will improve are either Australians or members of Western public opinion. Although there is some optimism in China, it is cautious and constrained because expectations there are generally modest. This difference reflects the instability of trust between the two countries, and a "warming" without trust is difficult to sustain. We hope that at this moment of "restarting" bilateral relations, the Australian side should seriously listen to the thoughts of China, which is important for truly promoting the warming of bilateral relations.
From the perspective of the size and the composition of the Australian delegation, it is not hard to feel how much importance Canberra has attached to the restart of the dialogue. The large scale of personnel is uncommon compared to previous dialogues. The delegation is composed of representatives from both political parties, including former Labor trade minister Craig Emerson and former Liberal foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop, demonstrating the "political support" of both parties for this dialogue. The delegation members come from various sectors such as businesses, government, academia and media, all are familiar with China-Australia relations. We hope that the restart of this high-level dialogue also signifies the comprehensive restoration of the China-Australia strategic dialogue.
It is easier for things to slide downward than improve, the latter requires greater effort. It is the same in relations between countries. If we describe China-Australia ties as a student who started with score 80, yet the score has fallen to 40, we can say that the score improved a little now. Yet it is not enough. It requires more joint efforts from both China and Australia. It specifically requires Australia to overcome internal and external pressures to the greatest extent. Frankly speaking, Australia has not done enough in this regard and some mistakes are continuing.
Some Western countries, including the US, have repeatedly emphasized that they will not "decouple" from China while praising Australia as an "example" of "resisting Chinese coercion." The news of the high-level dialogue between China and Australia has received a lukewarm response from some Western media, which instead have been focusing on the country's new strategy to boost trade with Southeast Asia, proposed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the ASEAN Summit, claiming that China's doubts are growing about the strategy. Australia has not withdrawn from the US strategy of containing China, nor has it shown such intentions. These pieces of information reflect the complexity of China-Australia relations.
One reality that both China and Australia need to face is that the urgent task of the current China-Australia relationship is to quickly reach a passing line. We have spoken enough to Australia in the past two years, but how much Australia can take in is not for us to decide. However, we have received Australia's sincerity in wanting to strengthen communication with China and will respond with goodwill. We hope that the high-level dialogue between China and Australia can achieve results beyond expectations.
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Arab region and world are already in the post-West and post-US era. The world order has been rapidly changing and multipolarity is becoming more and more a reality.
The rising power and growing influence of the developing nations, spearheaded by China, are shifting the world's center of gravity to the East and the South. The recent BRICS and G20 summits have amplified the voice of the Global Majority, more visibly showing the global power redistribution. The final communiques of both summits have reinforced the perception that no one single country or bloc of countries can dictate the terms of global consensus. Although the two summits' communiques used different terms, they both acknowledged the need to reform the global governance architecture, including Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), and allow a larger representation for marginalized regions such as Africa. In both declarations, the Global South's perspective on the Ukraine conflict has prevailed.
Because of this grand rebalancing, the African Union (AU) has been added as a permanent member of the G20. This is also one important reason BRICS has been expanded to include additional six countries, three of which are from the Arab world. Just as the G20 expansion is not against anybody, but an attempt to make the grouping more representative of current global realities, the BRICS expansion is not against anybody, but an attempt to create more momentum behind the efforts to reform the global governance system so that it is more inclusive, equitable and democratic.
The Arabs are demonstrating their strategic autonomy by joining various partnerships established by seemingly opposing camps in the current intensifying great power rivalry. The Arab nations are joining BRICS, the Global South's leading platform, while simultaneously partnering with the West on India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), a project that has been announced recently on G20 sidelines. Just as the Arabs' decision to join BRICS was not aimed against the West, but was based on national strategic objectives, their recent decision to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the IMEC was not aimed against China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
There is an important difference between the BRI and the IMEC. The IMEC is an idea that is still being explored; it does not have concretely defined national commitments, scope, capital requirements and roles. On the other hand, the BRI is a mature program, which has proven its worth, bringing tangible benefits to its participants. The BRI is regaining momentum, thanks to serious contributions from China and its committed BRI partners; many BRI summits and events are held this year to mark the initiative's 10th anniversary. Regardless of who initiated them and how they will evolve in the future, the BRI and IMEC should be celebrated, not politicized or weaponized, because they are meant to enhance connectivity and facilitate global trade. How much positive impact they generate should be the only criterion for assessing those initiatives.
Multi-alignment and minilateralism are becoming the norm in the current fast-changing world. It is unwise to narrow-mindedly define the world in binary terms, "democracy versus authoritarianism" or "the West versus the rest". In the current fluid world order, most of the world, including the Arab region, is open to all kinds of partnerships and platforms that can serve their interests. India, for example, is an important member of BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO); at the same time, it is a member of the Quad, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD). Last August, India, Brazil and South Africa, the three "democratic members" of the BRICS, participated in the BRICS summit, which included China and Russia; less than three weeks later, the same three countries had a joint meeting with the US during the G20 summit.
The Arabs do not view their relations through an ideological prism; they are pragmatic, seeking partnerships based on mutual trust, respect, and benefit. The world is quickly adjusting to the reality that no one single country or bloc of countries can dictate the terms of multilateral partnerships and global governance. The Arabs are already adapting their regional and international behavior to this reality; no external pressure can change this fact.
The Arabs are joining different groups and platforms as equal partners, not as subordinates. Throughout their history and by virtue of their central geography, the Arabs have thrived on establishing relations with various regions and economic centers. Just like the Chinese, the Arabs are people of trade; they have been trading with each other and with others for thousands of years. As traders, it is natural and imperative for their success to build trust and win-win relations with the world. It is no wonder Arab-China trade is breaking records; last year, it reached more than $400 billion.
The global stage is becoming less welcoming to those who want to bring back hegemony and force others into subordinate positions. Those who think they should have superiority to all others economically, politically, culturally or otherwise, are using outdated mental models of a bygone era. Their sense of insecurity and lack of confidence about their own place in the world are pushing them to view their relations with others through the destructive zero-sum perspective. However, time, history, demographics and numbers are on the side of those who are working toward a multipolar world and those who are creating a multipolar Middle East. The two evolving orders are positively reinforcing each other.
The Arab world is going through a transition period, steered primarily by the Arabs themselves. The changes happening in the Arab world today do not represent a turning point or an abrupt regional transformation; it is an expected phase of an organic evolution. The region has been evolving since the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, passing through European imperialism, surviving the US hegemony, and now arriving at a crucial historic juncture.
Just like the Chinese, Africans, Indians, Russians and most other peoples, the Arabs prefer a world that is multipolar where multilateralism can thrive, and unilateralism can be restricted. The Arabs are too wise and too strategic to pick sides; their neutral position on the Ukraine conflict and their positively expanding partnerships with different power centers illustrate their sophisticated understanding of the current tectonic power shifts.
The Arabs recognize that this is the era of active diplomacy and dynamic partnerships. For them, the world is becoming more complex, requiring agility and versatility; there is no place for binary or black-and-white thinking. After twenty years of wars and conflicts imposed on the region, the Arabs are regaining self-confidence and working strategically to secure their future in the emerging new world. They have developed enough human capital and technocratic capacity to be able to manage the delicate transition. The next couple of decades will be critically important for the Arabs to restore their place in the world.
They should continue their wise policy of being friends to all and enemies to none. They should make full use of their growing agency to achieve their national interests while fiercely protecting their strategic autonomy. They must exploit the opportunities and tackle the challenges provided by the multi-polarizing world. They should continue building indigenous capabilities and diversifying global partnerships.
The Arabs are at a critical crossroads in their history; they must unite and rally behind one common vision for their future and place in the world.
On October 3, the US House of Representatives voted to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy, making him the first Speaker of the House in US history to be voted out, and also the one with the shortest tenure. What's crucial is that it marks the deepening division within the Republican Party and the further polarization between the two major political parties in the US.
The state of the US politics is essentially fragmented, with significant changes in the core voter demographics of both parties and the emergence of prominent extremist forces. Within the Republican Party, extreme factions like the Freedom Caucus have gained prominence since the era of Donald Trump. This political fragmentation has led to confusion and internal strife within both parties, as explained by Diao Daming, a professor at the Renmin University of China in Beijing. According to Diao, this event is a result of political decline and the failure of governance. Instead of addressing critical issues such as the debt ceiling and government shutdown, both parties prioritized maximizing their internal interests.
Following this turmoil, the space for compromise between the two parties is expected to shrink further. This phenomenon is driven by both technical and strategic reasons, said Yang Xiyu, a senior research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies. Faced with the budget dispute between the two parties, McCarthy made a compromise that did not sit well with the hardliners within his party. His removal essentially prevents future Speakers of the House, who are also leaders of the Republican Party, from following in McCarthy's footsteps.
From a strategic perspective, the divisions between the two parties extend beyond specific budgetary issues to affect US' national development. The different budget proposals put forward by the Democratic and Republican parties reflect their distinct visions for the country. With the turmoil within the Republican Party, it has become increasingly difficult for both parties to reach compromises.
Yang pointed out that this upheaval is not merely about reaching or failing to reach compromises; it fundamentally reflects a disconnect between the current design of the US democratic system and the rapidly changing society. This shift in leadership within the US House of Representatives was triggered by the budget issue, but it is also rooted in the profound divisions between the two parties regarding the direction of the nation. However, the functioning of this political system is becoming increasingly incompatible with the deeply divided American society.
Presently, the US is in a state of political extremism, with both major parties becoming more polarized. As political figures navigate the pressures of Washington, they must continuously rally their constituents. Consequently, voters from both parties are becoming more polarized, further exacerbating the division.
The US had long presented itself as a "beacon of democracy." However, with its domestic political turmoil, this myth has been shattered. This has led to increasing contradictions between the two major driving forces of US foreign policy—American interests and American values. The failure of the American democratic system domestically has raised questions about American values on the international stage. While the US has sought to incorporate these values into its foreign policy and promote them globally, it has also sparked growing conflicts. As a result, the US' international influence has declined, eroding international confidence in the so-called American values.
China's Tiangong space station launched the second Tiangong painting exhibition on Saturday, representing a special gift sent by the Shenzhou-15 mission astronauts at the Chinese space station to teenagers across the country during the Chinese New Year's Eve.
With the theme of “Painting a beautiful China, talking about good life,” this year’s exhibition displays 40 paintings from teenagers from 17 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions as well as the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
In August 2022, Chinese astronauts Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe, who are members of the Shenzhou-14 crew, called on teenagers to send in works for the painting exhibition to be held at China’s space station. The activity received enthusiastic response from schools, parents and teenagers across the country, and more than 3,000 paintings were received from teenagers aged 5 to 18.
On November 29, 2022, the 40 outstanding works that were selected through expert review and online voting were taken with the Shenzhou-15 manned spaceship to enter the Chinese space station.
The works on display at the Chinese space station will return to the ground with the Shenzhou spacecraft later. The organizer will choose the time to hold a ground painting exhibition and invite award-winning teenagers and outstanding instructor representatives to watch the on-site rocket launch and conduct exchanges with astronauts.
The Tiangong painting exhibition has been held for two consecutive sessions so far, with the first held on January 1, 2022.
2022 marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment and implementation of China’s manned spaceflight project and the year when the Chinese space station was fully completed. According to the schedule, there will also be more follow-up offline activities aimed at encouraging teenagers’ interests and enthusiasm in manned spaceflight this year.
Tianjin Customs recently seized 92 globes that mistakenly labeled China's Taiwan region alongside the name of countries, violating the one-China principle, according to China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Thursday.
The globes were discovered by on-site customs officers at North China's Tianjin's Xingang Customs, during the inspection of a declared imported shipment of globes in the import freight channel, according to the GAC.
The globes have been seized according to law and will be further processed.
The GAC said that maps are the main representation of the national territory. A correct national map is a symbol of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
All printed matter and publications that do not comply with China's regulations on the content representation of open map are strictly prohibited from printing or importing/exporting, according to the GAC.
Additionally, relevant map or map product production and import-export enterprises should strictly comply with laws and regulations and carry out map business activities in accordance with the law.
China's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) issued the open map content representation specification in February, requiring open maps or the content representation of map graphics products, should comply with the specification. Detailed requirements have been specified to regulate the depiction of maps concerning China's Taiwan region, the South China Sea, and the Diaoyu Islands, among other areas.
