Beijing Review

The Chinese have always had a soft spot for football. Team China did not qualify for this year’s World Cup, set to take place in Qatar this November, nor has it qualified for any World Cup since its debut in 2002. However, the sport draws as much public attention in China as in football powers such as France, Italy and Brazil. The launch of the China Youth Football League (CYFL), a new event for primary school to college players, in July, is indicative of China’s eagerness both to make football a more popular form of physical exercise for young students and to cultivate future stars that will help Team China excel in the international arena. In 2015, China adopted a landmark reform plan aiming to overhaul its football management system. The plan,…

Road Chiefs China has established an extensive network of road chiefs across the country to manage roads in rural areas, Xinhua News Agency reported on August 2. By the end of June, the country had 641,000 of these chiefs, i.e., people in counties, townships and villages who are in charge of the maintenance and management of local rural roads, according to the Ministry of Transport (MOT). The road chief scheme covers 95.2 percent of county-level governments tasked with managing rural roads. China has also introduced similar programs, such as river chiefs, to strengthen policy implementation. Rural infrastructure development, especially building roads, has played an important role in revitalizing rural areas. MOT data showed that the combined length of rural roads had increased more than 900,000 km from 2011 to exceed 4.46 million km by the…

China-Europe Trains The number of China-Europe freight train trips surged 11 percent year on year to a record 1,517 in July, according to China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. on August 2. The trains handled 149,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of goods, up 12 percent from a year ago. During the first seven months of the year, the number of China-Europe freight train trips rose 3 percent year on year to 8,990. The trains transported a total of 869,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of goods, an increase of 4 percent from a year ago. Finance Companies Foreign multinational groups will be able to establish finance companies directly or through foreign-funded investment companies established in China, according to a draft document released by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on July 29. In the draft, the same market…

UNITED NATIONS The 10th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference opens at the UN headquarters in New York City on August 1. The event, originally scheduled for April-May 2020, had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until then, NPT review conferences had taken place every five years since 1975 ASEAN Attendees of the 55th ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting pose for a group photo in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on August 3. The meeting and related events focused on post-pandemic recovery and key regional and global challenges ALBANIA Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama (right) and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez attend a joint press conference in Tirana on August 1. Sanchez said Spain is ready to support Albania’s integration into the EU UNITED STATES An overturned truck is seen after heavy…

NEW SPORT ADMINISTRATOR Gao Zhidan has been promoted to head the General Administration of Sport of China (GASC). Born in Siping, Jilin Province, in 1963, Gao graduated from the Beijing Sport University at the age of 25. He has spent his career at the GASC, including heading the department in charge of the country’s shooting and archery disciplines. In 2016, he became the GASC’s deputy director, and served in that capacity right up to his recent promotion. As deputy director, Gao was responsible for competition affairs, international cooperation and the daily undertakings of the Chinese Olympic Committee. Gao has also overseen the country’s winter sports development. China grabbed nine gold medals and 15 overall at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, both record highs for a single Olympic Winter event. The Business of Homestay Guangming…

In disregard of China’s opposition, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, went to China’s Taiwan region on August 2-3. The move was a serious infringement upon China’s sovereignty and it sent a wrong signal to the separatist forces seeking “Taiwan independence.” In response, the Chinese Government has unveiled a series of countermeasures. These include staging military drills near Taiwan, punishing organizations related to die-hard “Taiwan independence” elements, suspending the sale of natural sand, a vital construction material, to Taiwan, as well as suspending the purchase of some farm produce from the island. Edited excerpts of official statements follow: Wang Yi State Councilor and Foreign Minister Pelosi’s visit seriously violated the one-China principle, maliciously infringed on China’s sovereignty and blatantly engaged in political provocations, which has aroused strong indignation among the Chinese people…