The highly anticipated Indonesian cultural festival kicked off in the opera hall of Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music recently to promote cultural exchanges between China and Indonesia and encourage people to learn more about the traditional Indonesian instrument the Kolintang.
Indonesian Ambassador to China Djauhari Oratmangun, delivered a speech saying that the Indonesian cultural performance held in Beijing is particularly important for the promotion of Indonesia's rich and colorful culture and enhancement of civil relations between Indonesia and China.
Oratmangun also stated that through this event, he hopes that the Kolintang instrument will be recognized by UNESCO in 2024.
Accompanied by the Kolintang, Oratmangun and his wife sang the Chinese song The Moon Represents My Heart, which resonated with the audiences and received thunderous applause.
This event serves as a bridge for cultural exchange between the two countries, enhancing cultural exchange and mutual learning, and strengthening the friendship between the two peoples, while promoting the healthy development of bilateral relations.
The China-US bilateral relationship is one of the most important in the world. The trajectory of this relationship has attracted international attention. Still, the US is stepping up its efforts to suppress China on various fronts such as politics and diplomacy, economy, trade, technology, and military security, showing the true meaning of a cold war. The Global Times invites Chinese and foreign experts to expose the US' manipulation of the "new cold war" and reveal the damage it may potentially cause to the world.
This is the third installment of the series.
A couple of years ago, The Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF, in Sweden, of which I am the director, published "Behind The Smokescreen. An Analysis of the West's Destructive China Cold War Agenda And Why It Must Stop."
Among several perspectives of the US/Western accusation industry, we looked into the medialized stories about genocide in Xinjiang, forced labor and Taiwan, and nine mainstream media manipulation methods that aim to manufacture a systematically negative image of China in the Western mind.
We found that a cold war occurs by influencing the "free" press - also the Western state press - through three main mechanisms: a) Fake or fabricated stories, b) Omission - for instance, of every positive aspect of China's developments, and c) Source Ignorance: using the same few sources spreading disinformation, from the US rippling through and being repeated ad nauseam and never checking the root empirical evidence or validity of the assertions, in short, FOSI.
Ultimately, this causes a decay of the crucial and critical role of mainstream media and their conversion toward tabloid banalizing black-and-white worldviews - "we good, them evil" - that promote confrontation and warfare, all operated by the Military-Industrial-Media-Academic Complex, MIMAC.
Tragically for democracy, mainstream media have become the leaders in promoting militarism, armament and legitimizing the empire and its wars. What are the elements of the cold war in all this?
First and foremost, the cold war is a psycho-political phenomenon. It dichotomizes our incredibly complex world into two: good versus evil. It seeks to preserve our superiority and keep others submissive and weaker. It promises war if its deterrence fails. And it precludes a world of equals, cooperation and mutual learning. If you are No. 1 in a system, you do not learn and listen; you teach, bribe and issue orders.
Cold wars may go well for the cold warrior when in ascendancy. In the "old" Cold War in Europe, two fundamentally Western systems - one based on Karl Marx, the other on Adam Smith, to put it crudely - competed while the US/NATO ascended after 1945. On all power scales, it was superior to the Soviet Union and its system. We know how it ended.
The winner then - foolishly - took it all: The US/NATO world did what it pleased within its exceptionalist "international rules-based order," not the UN Charter and other parts of international law. Catchwords: out-of-NATO-area military actions in violation of NATO's own Treaty - Yugoslavia - and regime change/resource/anti-terrorism wars on an assembly line basis; NATO's expansion against all promises given to the Soviet Union.
It all went so well and seemed so easy. Why listen to or empathize with others? Why focus on the changing world when "we" are the change-makers, God's own country par excellence? If we can get away with it, we do it. However, prudence, statesmanship and long-range thinking would have compelled global impact analyses instead of narcissist imperial self-aggrandizement.
It went so well that the West overlooked the Rest: China's impressive socio-economic development based on an eclectic combination of Chinese concepts - that the West still doesn't understand - and imported Western elements; the establishment and maturation of organizations like BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and African and other regional organizations.
The West also did not sense the actual price that would be paid for its militarism: It's huge and growing burden on all civilian sectors, including technology and economy, and - in the wake of the history of colonialism and imperialism - the Rest becoming more and more nationally and collectively self-reliant - a concept developed about 50 years ago and ridiculed by the West.
And what was the result? Well, this is written the day after BRICS expanded with essential countries in Africa, the Middle East and South America - a huge step toward a multipolar and cooperative Rest saying: We can do without you, America and Europe! If you want to cooperate on new, reasonable terms, we are ready, but the days of your Western hegemony and universalization of Western values are coming to an end.
Such is global macro history: Empires have come and gone, and that of the US/NATO is the last: Nobody is so naive as to believe that it has a God-given right to be the ruler of the whole world and force others to accept its values.
The enormous world order changing before our very eyes is as predictable as it is inexorable. Only the ignorance - blinding intoxication - of power overlooks it. The West has run its race and become over-extended, insensitive to other cultures and ways of thinking, and unable to adapt to system changes but insisted on steering unilaterally. It's losing legitimacy in the eyes of others, relative economic and political strength and the creative ability to outline a better future world that the Rest feels attracted to: Classical decline indicators!
What I have said here is pure Gandhian thinking: You may harm others by using violence - physical, economic, military, structural, cultural and environmental - but, sooner rather than later, your violence boomerangs: It corrupts, debases, brutalizes and makes you more loathed than loved. A critical mass will develop.
In a deeper socio-cultural sense, the Christian Occident has never appropriately problematized those many types of violence upon which it built its relations with the Rest.
The West's cold war on China is about so much more than the issues that dominate daily news - chips, trade, Taiwan and the topics of the permanent accusation industry. It's about profound tectonic changes in humanity's way of developing - and about whether or not the West will join and contribute or become a de-developed periphery in the new world. And whether its empire will go down with a whimper or a bang, or adapt to macro history's unavoidable changes.
We know very little about humanity's future in the next 100 or so years. The safest philosophy will be for the Rest to, despite all, extend compassion and cooperation to the good forces of the West and abstain from tit-for-tat against its evil ones.
On Saturday, the British police confirmed to the media that a parliamentary researcher had been arrested in March this year on "suspicion of spying for China," causing a stir in the UK. It appears to be a farcical situation, highlighting how the declining British Empire is becoming increasingly paranoid and shallow.
Not only did the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs categorically dismiss the UK's accusations as "entirely groundless," but the so-called "Chinese spy" who is out on bail also refused to plead guilty, stating through his lawyer that he is "completely innocent."
If the UK were genuinely facing a serious espionage threat from China, its Cabinet and Prime Minister would undoubtedly be aware of the threat and would take it seriously. However, in recent months, UK officials have repeatedly expressed a willingness to improve relations with China, with James Cleverly becoming the first British Foreign Secretary to visit China since 2018.
After the "spy incident" was exposed over the weekend, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was attending the G20 summit, told British media that he expressed "very strong concerns about any interference in our parliamentary democracy, which is obviously unacceptable" to the Chinese Premier during their the meeting. If London truly believed the matter to be of grave concern, why did it take so long to react? Sunak was clearly putting on a show, aiming to placate the furious UK parliamentarians.
The trivial matters in the British Parliament aren't worth China's efforts and risks of "planting spies." Those extremist politicians who gain attention by criticizing China are not highly regarded by today's Chinese people. Moreover, with Sunak, of Indian origin, becoming Prime Minister and India surpassing the UK in GDP, the decline of the former empire is evident. Yet, they persist in clinging to their past glory and treating everything in their house as treasures.
Some British MPs described China as an "epoch-defining challenge" to the UK, and Oliver Dowden, Deputy Prime Minister of the UK, said there is a "strong case" for designating China in the "enhanced tier" of countries under the new National Security Act. If the UK were to do so, it would require anyone working in the UK "at the direction" of China to place themselves on the "foreign influence registration scheme." Sunak's current stance is that the UK's approach to China is in line with the approach taken by other Western countries. I must say, those political extremists in the UK are shameless. If the UK really implements new restrictions under their influence, I believe China will retaliate.
Chinese people can clearly see that the UK is currently acting like a fallen homeowner who is only causing trouble for itself. It must be pointed out that the deterioration of China-US relations has led to tension in China-West relations, coupled with the Ukraine crisis, global considerations of security risks are on the rise, and everything has become a secret, with more and more people being treated as spies worldwide.
China is in this tumultuous and uncertain world, and we are the focus of Western intelligence efforts. When I was young, I worked in intelligence in the military. Later, I worked as a journalist and traveled the world, gaining a better understanding of the relationship and differences between intelligence and public information.
China, which is open to the outside world while facing significant geopolitical pressures, faces a major challenge in balancing openness and counter-espionage. We certainly cannot act as the US which suspects all Chinese international students and Chinese-American researchers, nor can we be like the UK which suspected that Chinese spies have "captured" the British Parliament just because it arrested someone who even denies the accusations and cannot be convicted. At the same time, we cannot let our guard down, as the US and the West are indeed increasing their efforts to penetrate China through espionage.
Our society must keep counter-espionage in mind: Government agencies and key defense enterprises need to strengthen systematic precautions and plug loopholes. Meanwhile, society at large must remain open and friendly toward foreign elements, without excessive layers of secrecy and sensitivity in interactions with foreigners. Today, some university professors involved in international relations are uncomfortable and fearful when interacting with foreigners, which is not the right approach.
Chinese society must be more rational and self-confident than the nervous British Parliament and the geopolitically addicted US Congress. While they continue to scream like apes, we are like a swift boat that has already sailed through thousands of hills.
China's State Council Information Office issued an informative white paper, entitled "A Global Community of Shared Future: China's Proposals and Actions," to review and preview the China-led vision of co-building a global community of shared future on Tuesday in Beijing. Humanity is yet again at another crossroads in history, and the choices between unity and division, between opening up and closing off, as well as between cooperation and confrontation test the wisdom of all countries, the white paper said. How should we understand the global community of shared future? How should countries around the world work together to promote the construction of the global community of shared future? Global Times invited two foreign scholars to share their views on this issue.
A world of global cooperation, security, prosperity and dialogue among civilizations is being realized right before our eyes today. 10 years ago, China's vision for international relations and the globe were just words expressed as a community of shared future for mankind, or in today's terms, a global community of shared future. In the blink of an eye, this dream has bloomed before our eyes.
Multipolar and multilateral global partnerships and organizations such as BRICS and the Group of 77 with its 135 coalition partners, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the ASEAN are actively creating a new world order based on the harmony of all nations, campaigning for world peace and building economic foundations for global prosperity.
China has used its national power as a top economic engine of the world economy and a major power in geopolitics to create the conditions for the emergence of this dynamic new world. In this world, the nations of the Global South can realize their potential with economic and infrastructure development support from institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the New Development Bank and other development-oriented financial institutions.
It is important to acknowledge the central role of the China-proposed multi-trillion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in creating interconnected networks of infrastructure, transportation, and trade corridors. These networks enable developing economies to connect to markets and stimulate economic growth and socio-political progress, as we can observe in Africa today.
These efforts toward the creation of a global community of shared future are liberating the Global South from centuries of enforced under-development by colonialism, neocolonialism and the latest of the evils, the Cold War modality and mentality which is coming to an end. In every part of the globe these "forever wars" of the West are being rejected in favor of "forever peace" of a global community of shared future.
Building up from Asia to the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, the spirit of the community of shared future is generating the hope and optimism that mankind can and is taking control of its fate and shaping the future toward the mission of forever peace and economic-technological development. The recent South Africa-China space exploration agreement attests to this, as well as the China-brokered Iran-Saudi Arabia peace deal.
I am always reminded of one of the most famous Western Christian Christmas carols, "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men." Unfortunately, the West has used this theme song as a means to deceive the colonialized nations while they used their power to exploit and plunder the impoverished. The advancement of the community of shared future is to end this exploitation and strive for genuine justice for all.
With 500 years of colonization and its "forever wars" in the past, we can now look forward to 500 years of "forever peace" in the global community of shared future. Imagine what the world can achieve even in the first 50 years of those 500 years of peace. Today, trade among BRICS has produced about 31 percent of Global GDP, with the six new members it will reach 37 percent, its population base would constitute 47percent of the world.
ASEAN is an early component of the community of shared future, its trade with China has increased from $641.5 billion in 2019 to $975.3 billion in 2022 due to the peace and stability of the region from cooperation of the two sides and resistance to interventions of disruptive forces from the West. The West has not ceased in carrying out aggressive actions to disrupt the ASEAN region, violating its Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) and Treaty of Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (SEANWFZ Treaty).
The West is pushing its NATO forces into Asia and proposing a Tokyo headquarters. The US has regained its neo-colonial foothold in the Philippines, bringing in new military bases, personnel, war planes and warships while the country suffers from fertilizer, rice and fuel shortages. Additionally, the US is creating lawfare and concocted media-focused crises between China and the Philippines.
ASEAN is politely quiet about the Philippines' alignment with the US' "forever war" campaign. Many in the region believe that the US's influence will decline due to its declining polity and economy, but it still creates an unsettling disturbance.
Despite this irritant, China continues its patient and transcendent cultivation of peaceful dialogue with the Philippines for the sake of the greater cause of the community of shared future.
The China-initiated global community of shared future backed by its resources and determination has given hope for a better future for humanity. Another 10 years of the project for the global community of shared future will see Africa, Latin America, the Eurasian continent and ASEAN blooming with wealth, technological advancement and collective cooperative projects.
The European Union (EU) Summit opened on October 6, with the strategy of "de-risking" and ensuring economic security remaining as key topics of discussion. Just three days ago, the European Parliament passed the long-awaited "Anti-Coercion Instrument" (ACI) with an absolute majority vote. Although the act does not explicitly name any country, European public opinion widely points it to China, as if this act was specifically designed to deal with China.
According to the publicly available text of the ACI, the act is aimed at all countries that have or intend to take "coercive" measures, meaning it targets actions rather than countries. Let's assume this claim is true, and that at least European lawmakers are well aware that targeting countries rather than actions is inappropriate and unacceptable.
The EU's desire to champion the cause of "anti-coercion" is not a problem. If it is genuinely about countering coercion, the Chinese people understand and firmly support it. As a victim of trade bullying, China is undoubtedly the world's primary victim. In terms of safeguarding trade liberalization and opposing trade bullying, China and the EU can and should be partners in Europe's anti-coercion efforts. China and the EU not only share a common language and common interests in the face of economic coercion from the US, but they can also take joint actions. It is worth mentioning that the initial intention of the ACI was for Europe to respond to economic bullying by the Trump administration, and this starting point should not be forgotten.
Objectively speaking, the EU is indeed one of the victims of the recent wave of anti-globalization. In 2018, Donald Trump wielded the steel and aluminum tariff stick, and in 2022, the Biden administration passed the "Inflation Reduction Act." In recent years, the US pressured the EU to ban Huawei and ZTE's 5G equipment, and block Netherlands' exports of photolithography and chip-making technology to China, etc. The EU has been on the losing end in all these situations. Former Deputy National Security Advisor Charles Kupperman even warned that they would make it impossible for Netherlands lithography machine giant ASML's equipment to operate. If we talk about "economic coercion," this is its most blatant form.
After the birth of the ACI, it is unfortunate that so many people in Europe believe it is aimed at China. It must be said that this has seriously deviated from its original purpose. If the EU follows Washington's lead and uses this act as a tool to engage in coercion under the guise of "anti-coercion," China will firmly oppose it regardless of the target. If the EU uses it to impose illegal unilateral sanctions on China, it will undoubtedly face strong countermeasures from China.
During the National Day holidays, the EU opened an anti-subsidy probe into Chinese electric vehicles and published a preliminary list of critical technologies. Now with ACI, the trade protectionism involved in these actions will undoubtedly harm the interests of European companies and people and affect the EU's image as a proponent of free trade. Many intelligent Europeans are already gravely concerned.
The two examples most commonly cited by European anti-China politicians as so-called "coercion" are Lithuania and the Netherlands. These two examples are indeed very typical, but the facts are exactly the opposite of what they claimed as they have omitted or distorted the causes and consequences of the two cases. It is well known that it was Lithuania's political provocation that came first, and China's legitimate response followed. When it comes to issues involving China's core interests, no one should expect China to compromise or swallow its grievances. Moreover, China's actions are legitimate countermeasures in the field of diplomacy, which has nothing to do with "coercion" at all. As for the Netherlands, the question is whether it faces countermeasures from China or coercion from the US to restrict its export of semiconductor production equipment to China. There is no need to say more about the answer.
The Chairman of the Committee on International Trade of the European Parliament, Bernd Lange, compared the ACI to "a tiger with teeth" and a "gun." If this act can truly be used to uphold international trade order and justice, we would welcome it targeting "real coercion" in international trade and becoming a "real gun" to deter trade bullying behaviors.
It seems that the US has turned its eyes to Vietnam as a key link in restructuring its rare-earth supply chain amid concerns over the potential loss of Chinese supplies. While the US support for Vietnam's rare-earth development looks like a challenge to China, it needs to be made clear that rare earths will not be a tool for the US to drive a wedge between China and Vietnam as the two neighboring countries have the potential to cooperate in the rare-earth industrial chain.
Vietnam plans to restart its biggest rare-earth mine next year with a Western-backed project, Reuters reported on Monday, citing two companies involved. As an initial step, the Vietnamese government intends to launch tenders for multiple blocks of its Dong Pao mine before the year's end, according to the Reuters report.
The development, which came just a few days after US President Joe Biden visited Hanoi and signed an agreement to boost Vietnam's ability to lure investors for its rare-earth reserves, was widely seen as part of a broader push by the US to dent China's dominance in a sector that offers critical materials used in magnets for electric vehicles, smartphones and wind turbines, among others.
Washington's interest in investing in Vietnam's rare-earth industry is not a whim. With rare earths reportedly in short supply globally, the US is in urgent need of restructuring the rare-earth supply chain, and Vietnam is supposed to be a critical part of the supply chain. According to data from the US Geological Survey (USGS), Vietnam has the second-largest volume of rare-earth deposits in the world, topping 22 million tons. Vietnam's production surged from 400 tons in 2021 to 4,300 tons in 2022, with its rank of production going up from 10th to sixth, Reuters reported, citing USGS data.
Of course, the US is well aware of the uncertainties surrounding Vietnam's development as a rare-earth hub, which is why there are geopolitical considerations behind US-Vietnam cooperation on rare earths. It's not just a case of luring Vietnam to sell its cheap rare-earth resources to the US.
It is no secret that China currently supplies most of the world's rare earths, so whether or not Vietnam establishes a rare-earth industrial chain, its development of the industry could be interpreted by outsiders as a potential challenge to China's position in the global rare-earth industry. In this sense, the US plan to rope Vietnam into its restructuring of the rare-earth industrial chain may also drive a wedge between China and Vietnam to a certain extent.
While the US may want to use rare earths to create the illusion of a conflict of interest between China and Vietnam, there is every reason to believe that the cooperation between the two neighboring countries is strong enough to defy such a ploy.
China's production of rare earths is based on the technological breakthroughs and achievements of Chinese scientists in refining rare-earth elements, which is the fundamental reason why other countries can hardly replace China's place in this industrial chain.
China has no intention to compete with Vietnam on rare-earth exports. This is because if Vietnam relies entirely on the US to develop its own rare-earth industry, it is not conducive for the country to seek the maximization of interests from its rare-earth resources, especially when it doesn't possess the most critical processing technologies. In this sense, Vietnam needs to protect its own rare-earth interests by maintaining cooperation with China.
As for China, the warming US-Vietnam relations may serve as a reminder of the importance China needs to attach to further strengthening industrial ties with Vietnam through cooperation.
When it comes to rare earths, China needs to invest more in technological upgrading to ensure its leading position in the industrial chain, which is essential for cooperation between China and Vietnam in terms of rare earths and other industries.
While wrapping up a "productive" high-level trade dialogue, China and the EU, two of the world's largest economic powers, have made a noticeable step forward in their pragmatic ties, including announcing concrete working mechanisms in different sectors to enhance communications, which has sent a positive signal of cementing relations amid rising geopolitical tensions and a sluggish world economy.
Based on the productive outcome, in particular fresh working mechanisms that could act as "reservoirs of trust" when both sides deal with specific issues, it is hoped the EU can move in the same direction with China to jointly tap into their broad cooperation space in the future via seeking its own policy independence instead of being tied to the US wagon of unilateralism, experts said.
The EU is urged to abandon its bias against China based on ideology, they said, as it tends to treat China and Chinese businesses as a potential "threat" or "risk" amid a so-called "de-risking" campaign, which is widely believed will see decoupling from China in certain areas, even though the bloc repeatedly denies that is its aim.
Noticeable progress
China and EU concluded productive talks during the 10th High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue through candid and pragmatic discussions addressing investment, trade, industrial and supply chain issues as well as financial cooperation, with the two sides reaching multiple consensuses, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a statement on Tuesday.
The dialogue, which came amid a profoundly changing world and a sluggish global economy, has "special meanings," the ministry said, noting it will inject more confidence into the development of the world economy.
The dialogue was chaired by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Valdis Dombrovskis, executive vice president of the European Commission, in Beijing on Monday.
Both sides are committed to maintaining two-way openness and providing a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for each other's companies.
The importance of transparent and predictable supply chains was discussed, in particular for critical raw materials. Both sides agreed to continue discussions on reaching a China-EU transparency mechanism of supply chains for raw materials.
The two sides agreed to establish a dialogue mechanism in the field of export control and conduct communication on export control policies and practices.
Concerning the EU's recently launched probes, including a review on foreign subsidies, a carbon border adjustment mechanism and other trade policies, China expressed the hope that the EU will use trade remedy measures prudently while encouraging deeper cooperation in the new energy industry, represented by electric vehicles (EVs).
Earlier this month, the EU announced the launch of an anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese-made EVs in order to protect Europe's own nascent EV industry.
In the financial sector, China and the EU took a pragmatic step forward by setting up a new China-EU Working Group on Financial Regulation to work on key areas, including mutually opening up investment opportunities in financial markets for financial institutions, ensuring continued cooperation in sustainable finance and fin-tech, and improving rules on information infrastructure for the financial sector. It will look at regulation for foreign financial institutions, including on the possibility of cross-border financial data sharing.
China is willing to seriously study and consider including more EU banks with legal entities in China within the scope of carbon emission reduction support tools, the MOFCOM statement said.
Following the dialogue, Dombrovskis said at a press conference on Tuesday morning that "we have made some progress across a range of issues from market access to government cooperation in the financial sector," in response to the Global Times' question for comments on the meeting.
Specifically, cooperation in the financial sector, including areas such as green economy and fin-tech were discussed, Dombrovskis said.
Dombrovskis said that both sides agreed to discuss questions related to data flows in financial services in which there are new concerns that need to be discussed.
Sun Yanhong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Science's Institute of European Studies, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the dialogue, involving almost all key issues concerning both China and the EU, played a significant role in strengthening mutual trust, which needs "refilling" at this critical moment. The new working mechanism together with previous ones could act as "reservoirs of trust" when both sides deal with special issues that are tricky and complex in the future, according to Sun.
Taking the transparency mechanism of supply chains for raw materials as an example, Sun said the mechanism could largely solve the EU's rising anxiety over raw materials, as it provides room for timely communications between the two sides, which, in a way, guarantees their sourcing.
Last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed new legislation to reduce the EU's dependence on the supply of critical minerals including rare earths and lithium from China, a move that analysts said will increase the cost of achieving Europe's green targets and exacerbate its current economic woes amid the deepening energy crunch. ""
In June, the EU launched the European Economic Security Strategy, essentially a step toward "de-risking," and claimed that Chinese 5G suppliers Huawei and ZTE pose "materially higher risks than other 5G suppliers." Under such rhetoric, some EU countries are reportedly taking steps to exclude Huawei and ZTE, with the latest being Germany.
In the process of economic and trade exchanges with China, Europe should avoid politicizing industry chain issues, Cui Hongjian, a professor with the Academy of Regional and Global Governance with Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times.
The EU's aim of systemic cutting so-called "dependencies" on China is largely due to geopolitical and ideological biases, which the bloc needs to abandon, Cui said.
Faced with challenges posed by rising US protectionism that is weighing on the world's economic recovery, China and the EU should forge stronger ties and deepen cooperation on the basis of win-win instead of setting up hurdles against each other, he added.
During first four days of China’s Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays this year, the country has seen a recovery in consumer spending in terms of trips and transportation, with market confidence and vitality both on continuous rise.
Traffic across the national highway network reached nearly 60.5 million vehicles on Monday, an increase of 56.05 percent from the previous year, China’s Ministry of Transport said on Tuesday.
Chinese passengers made 16.47 million trips via train on Monday, and they are expected to make 16.35 million trips via train on Tuesday, with the rail operator planning to run 11,190 passenger trains, which include an added 889 trains.
From September 29 to October 1, the first three days of the eight-day holidays, China's domestic trips totaled 395 million, an increase of 75.8 percent year-on-year. Domestic tourism revenue reached 342.24 billion yuan ($46.9 billion), up 125.3 percent year-on-year, data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed on Monday.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, a total of 896 million domestic tourism trips are expected to be made during this year's Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays.
Outbound trips are also proving popular during this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.
According to the National Immigration Administration, the national ports will witness a peak in border crossing traffic during the eight-day holidays, which is expected to reach an average of 1.58 million trips per day, an increase of about three times compared with the same period last year.
On the eve of the “Golden Week” holidays, a number of countries issued visa-free policies to further attract Chinese tourists. According to Qunar.com, from when Thailand, Russia, Georgia have announced visa policies, outbound travel searches rose instantly.
Since September, the number of inquiries for outbound group tours on the platform has increased fourfold year-on-year, and the number of visa inquiries has grown 2.3 times.
The aviation sector has also bounced back with niche trip destinations becoming more accessible. The Middle East and Africa markets saw increased activity, with South Africa, Egypt, UAE and Kenya shining.
Flexible flight options have enabled these destinations to serve as air transit hubs, better connecting neighboring tourism markets, thus pulling the vitality of the entire Middle East and Africa markets.
The big screen also provided a window into the improving movie market during the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays.
China’s ticketing platform Maoyan reported that 12 new movies released during the two holidays have raked in 1.9 billion yuan ($260.2 million) at the box office as of 13:49 on Tuesday, exceeding the seven-day box office of the 1.4 billion yuan during 2022 National Day holidays. Domestic films dominated the top three spots.
The anti-corruption film Under the Light, the third installment of the “Volunteers” trilogy The Volunteers: To The War (released to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53)), and the contemporary romance The Ex-Files 4 were the frontrunners.
As of 16:10 on Tuesday, after six days of screening, the three films grossed 640 million yuan, 357 million yuan, and 507 million yuan respectively, according to Maoyan data.
Two acclaimed Chinese directors, Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, also generated a lot of buzz with their films Under the Light and The Volunteers: To The War, which premiered on the same day. The last time the two directors competed in the same period was in 2005, when Chen’s The Promise and Zhang’s Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles hit theaters only a week apart.
For many insiders, the showdown between the two cinematic giants was a major highlight of the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays. “Compared to other films, these two directors have relatively stable performances. The Volunteers: To The War is a war-themed film with a rather somber tone, while Under the Light is more commercially oriented and has more room for market growth,” Shanghai-based film critic Shi Chuan told Jiefang Daily.
Romance film The Ex-Files 4 also impressed with its box office performance. Despite its low-key publicity before its release, it became a hot topic among the public thanks to the reputation of its previous three installments. The 12 films spanned a variety of genres such as war, action, romance and animation.
However, film insiders also took into account the high demand for travel that affected the box office performance: the record-high traffic volume in many parts of the country reduced their enthusiasm to head to the cinema to some extent.
Citing another box office tracker Dengta Data, this year’s National Day holidays box office is expected to be 4.6 billion yuan.
As this year’s Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays were combined, the longer holidays also meant improved travel sentiment, which also dampened film insiders’ expectations over the box office performance, said Chen Jin, an analyst at Dengta Data. “The National Day holidays is the third largest period of the year in terms of volume after the Spring Festival holiday and summer vacation. With the holidays’ boost, this year' s total box office has exceeded 45 billion yuan as of now.”
