Listen to the song of the “New Silk Road” (一带一路), composed to celebrate the 3rd Belt and Road Forum.
Geopolitics
China condemns “heinous attack” on Gaza hospital that raised Palestinian death toll to almost 3,500
At the UN Security Council meeting, China’s ambassador, Zhang Jun, also denounced the “indiscriminate use of force”, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Israel’s actions went beyond self-defense and that collective punishment for the people of Gaza must stop
China set new goals for the Belt and Road Initiative at a forum attended by 151 countries and 51 international organizations
Celebrating a decade since its founding, the 3rd BRI Forum brought together 10,000 people and announced the construction of a new logistics corridor along Eurasia, an Aerial Silk Road, and the creation of the Global Initiative for Governance of Artificial Intelligence, among other proposals
Xi Jinping had more than 20 state visits this week in parallel with the 3rd Belt and Road Initiative Forum
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who spoke at the forum’s opening ceremony, had a three-hour meeting with President Xi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, where they discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza and other “confidential” matters; Xi also received the presidents and senior leaders of Chile, Cambodia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, and Congo, as well as the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, and the President of the New Development Bank, Dilma Rousseff
National Politics
China’s Central Finance Committee began functioning under the direct supervision of the Party’s highest decision-making body, the Central Committee
The new entity will be the main planner of the country’s financial system, overseeing all matters pecuniary related, including financing the real economy and the use of the yuan abroad; Central Bank responsibilities such as the supervision of financial holding company groups and consumer protection were transferred to the National Administration for Financial Regulation
Economy
China’s GDP reached 91.3 trillion yuan (US$12.48 trillion) in Q3, growing 4.9%, an accumulated growth rate of 5.2% for the year
The services sector lead with 6% growth, exceeding 50 trillion yuan and representing 55% of this year’s GDP – followed by industry (35.3 trillion yuan, +4.4%) and primary industry (5.6 trillion yuan, +4%) – and total retail sales of consumer goods reached 34.2 trillion yuan (+6.8%); in the midst of the global slowdown, China’s foreign trade reached 30.8 billion yuan this year (-0.2%), with exports (17.6 billion yuan) growing by 0.6% and imports (13.1 billion yuan) falling by 1.2%, and the September unemployment rate decreased to 5%, falling for the second consecutive month
Agriculture and Environment
Hybrid rice turns 50 and reaches a new world productivity record of more than 1,200 kg per hectare
The world’s first high-yielding hybrid rice variety was cultivated in 1973 and has since been planted on a cumulative area of 600 million hectares across the country, feeding more than 80 million Chinese people; outside China, the annual cultivated area of hybrid rice is almost 8 million hectares in total, and feeds 40 to 50 million people
Hong Kong upgrades its “green machine” to be able to process up to one ton of textile waste per day
The new machine, which will be launched in the second quarter of 2024, will seek to expand its capacity to separate textiles from different materials such as cotton and polyester; in Hong Kong, 404 tons of textile waste were sent to landfill every day in 2021, representing 3.6% of the city’s solid waste
People’s Life and Culture
According to one study, the national average age for a first marriage increased from 22.87 years in 1990 to 28.67 in 2020
The proportion of couples aged 25 to 29, 30 to 34, and 35 to 39 has increased in recent years, while it has decreased among those aged 20 to 24, with study being the main reason for delaying marriage; in 1990, only 4.82% of Chinese people were single at age 30, but the rate increased to 21.75% in 2020
Young people are increasingly turning to public cafeterias for the elderly, with little time to cook or tired of unhealthy food
Community kitchens offer meals at half the price of a normal restaurant and were built in the last decade with elderly people in mind; in Anhui province, for example, there are more than 4,800 soup kitchens for the elderly, serving around four million meals a year
Neighbors share Chinese New Year dinner at soup kitchen in Jiangsu province [VCG]
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