FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review

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FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
The Information Office, International     FEBRUARY, 2019
Department of the CPC Central Committee
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
1                                                                                                                    FEBRUARY, 2019

                                                                                                                                                           XINHUA
Students of a primary school in Baiyun Township of Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

For the People
                                                                                                              Chinese Government.
                                                                                                                   Early in 2013, in his second year as
                                                                                                              general secretary of the CPC Central
                                                                                                              Committee, Xi Jinping stressed the impor-
Improving people’s livelihood has been the priority of                                                        tance of pursuing progress while ensuring
                                                                                                              stability and improving people’s living stan-
the agenda of the Chinese Government                                                                          dard.
                                                                                                                   “The CPC seeks happiness for the
By Lan Xinzhen                                                                                                Chinese people,” Xi said at an NPC panel
                                                                                                              discussion. “Whatever issues the people
                                                                                                              are unhappy about or dissatisfied with, we

W
         ang Yongnian, an 87-year-old resi-            Conference National Committee, also                    must work hard to solve them.”
         dent in the Jiaxinglu Community               known as the Two Sessions in China, many                    The coherence of this plan has been
         in Hongkou District, Shanghai,                policies related to the enhancement of                 achieved through various policies. At the
receives day-time care from a community                people’s livelihood were established.                  First Session of the 13th NPC last year, Xi
elderly care center at a resident service                  This year, as the Two Sessions opened,             emphasized taking more concrete mea-
station, which also has an activity room, a            there is a noticeable improvement in peo-              sures in ensuring and improving people’s
healthcare center and a dining hall. He is             ple’s livelihood, with a more pleasant living          living standard, strengthening and develop-
satisfied with the services provided by the            environment, better medical and elderly                ing new approaches to social governance,
station. There are five such stations in the           care services and more stable jobs under a             winning the battle against poverty, promot-
community, and 35 in the entire district.              more reliable social security system.                  ing social fairness and justice, and making
Residents there can enjoy convenient and                                                                      steady progress in ensuring people’s ac-
quality services within a distance of around           First priority                                         cess to childcare, education, employment,
15-minute walking.                                                                                            medical services, elderly care, housing and
    In 2018, during the annual sessions of                  Ensuring the people live a better                 social assistance.
the National People’s Congress (NPC) and               life has always been the pursuit of the                     Looking at government work reports
the Chinese People’s Political Consultative            Communist Party of China (CPC) and the                 delivered by the premier of the State Council,
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                       2

China’s cabinet, to the NPC in recent years, a                ous programs to address employment for
large part of the content has been devoted                    university graduates and other targeted
to policies surrounding people’s livelihood.                  groups. One of the initiatives aims to se-
One of the fundamental purposes of China’s                    lect graduates to work at the community
economic development is to enhance peo-                       level throughout the country. The policy of
ple’s livelihood and welfare.                                 secured loans for entrepreneurs has also
                                                              been improved to create more jobs by en-
A combination of measures                                     couraging business startups.
                                                                  In 2018, the government continued to
     The year 2018 not only marked the                        raise basic pension payments for retirees
40th anniversary of China’s reform and                        and basic pension benefits for rural and
opening up, but also the first year of imple-                 non-working urban residents. China is com-
menting Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism                       mitted to raising the personal income tax
With Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.                   threshold, creating expense deductions for
According to the Report on the Work of                        items like children’s education and treat-
the Government 2018, multiple measures,                       ment for serious illnesses.
such as boosting employment, increasing                           Over the past year, China has promoted
incomes, strengthening the social security                    the integrated development of urban and
system, developing fair and high-quality                      rural compulsory education and contin-
education and carrying out the Healthy                        ued to tip funding for education toward
China 2030 initiative, were introduced to
improve people’s living standard.
                                                              poor areas and weak links to ensure that
                                                              everyone has equal access. By raising ba-
                                                                                                                 523.92 million
     Faced with new challenges in eco-                        sic medical insurance and serious illness           Number of people
nomic development in 2018, the Party and                      insurance benefits, strengthening medical          participating in basic
the Central Government ranked improving                       staff training and developing new ways
employment as a top priority. The State                       of conducting food and drug oversight,              pension insurance
Council emphasized stable employment                          the government aims to maintain the                 program for urban
in a circular, proposing a series of policy                   physical and mental health of its people.          and rural residents in
measures, such as supporting the stable                       Environmental protection law enforcement           2018, an increase of
development of enterprises, boosting em-                      has been enhanced and various pollution
ployment and business startups, launching                     control methods adopted, ensuring further              11.37 million
a large-scale vocational skill training ini-                  improvement in the working and living en-
tiative, and offering timely assistance to                    vironment of Chinese residents.
unemployed people and laid-off workers.                           Governments at all levels have
In addition, the government put forth vari-                   strengthened efforts to meet people’s basic               2,663
                                                                                                            s
                                                                                                            s

                                                                                                                   Number of higher
                                                                                                                 learning institutions in
                                                                                                        XINHUA

                                                                                                                          2018

                                                                                                                  13.61 million
                                                                                                                   Number of newly
                                                                                                                  added urban jobs in
                                                                                                                        2018

                                                                                                                 4,050,000 km
                                                                                                                 Total length of roads
                                                                                                                 in rural areas by the
                                                                                                                     end of 2018

College graduates seek jobs at a job fair in Wuxi, east China’s Jiangsu Province, on January 19
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
3                                                                                                            FEBRUARY, 2019

                                                                                                                   XINHUA
                                                                                                                            A baby is vaccinated in a disease
                                                                                                                            control and prevention center in
                                                                                                                            Anping County of north China’s
                                                                                                                            Hebei Province on April 25, 2018

living needs, steadily raising urban and rural   an annual income of nearly 100,000 yuan              stability. China’s per-capita disposable in-
subsistence allowances, social assistance        ($14,965), nine times that of 2016, and were         come was 28,228 yuan ($4,165) in 2018,
benefits and benefits for entitled groups,       successfully lifted out of poverty.                  up 6.5 percent year on year in real terms
so that care and compassion can reach                Official data from the National Bureau           after deducting price factors. Compared
everyone. The government has stepped             of Statistics shows that China’s 2018 GDP            to 2017, more than 13.86 million rural
up targeted poverty alleviation, and more        reached 90.03 trillion yuan ($13.28 trillion),       residents have been lifted out of poverty in
has been done to develop local industries,       indicating economic progress and social              2018. CI
education and healthcare. Measures have
been tailored to individuals and households
to ensure that seniors and people with
disabilities or serious illnesses receive the      Ownership of                           240 249.1
assistance they need.
     Government expenditure in 2018 was            Major Durable
21 trillion yuan ($3.14 trillion). The struc-
ture of budgetary spending showed that             Consumer Goods
more financial allocations were used for
the public good to benefit people, with
                                                   (Unitsper100Households)
spending inclined toward innovation-driven                                                                     109.3
development, agriculture, rural areas and                                                               96.1
its residents, and the improvement of the                                                                                                     78.6 85
living standard.                                                          56.6 59.2                                          51 56.4
                                                       29.7 33
Better life
                                                       2017 2018
    As Wang proclaimed his satisfaction
with life in the community-based care                 Automobiles     Electric bicycles      Mobile  Air conditioners        Kitchen        Water heaters
                                                                                          telephones                        ventilators      for shower
center, Lu Yihe and his family, who live in
Lianzhang Village, Lianjiangkou Township,
Yingde City in south China’s Guangdong
Province, began a new life after rising out
of poverty. Back in 2016, they were still          Growth rate (y.o.y.)
poverty-stricken.
    With the implementation of the poverty
alleviation policy and the increased spend-                 11%              4.8%            3.8%          13.7%                10.7%              8.1%
ing on improving people’s living standard, Lu
began his career in the farming and breeding
industry with the help of the local govern-                                   (Source: National Bureau of Statistics; designed by Pamela Tobey)
ment. In 2018, Lu and his family achieved
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                                                  4

                                                                                                                                                                           XINHUA
Zhang Li, who heads a local agricultural cooperative, uses his phone to adjust the temperature in a greenhouse for vegetables in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, on January 22

Strength From the Soil
Agriculture and rural development get fresh policy support By Li Xiaoyang

F
      rom the rise to the recent ease of                   ture, rural areas and farmers’ welfare as the               be enhanced by harnessing technology
      Sino-U.S. trade frictions, the soybean               top agenda, for the 16th year in a row.                     and optimizing the agricultural structure.
      has been a hotly contested topic                         “The toughest task facing China in                      Poverty will be tackled and the environ-
throughout the period. While affirming that                terms of eradicating poverty lies in these                  ment in rural areas improved. In addition,
the two countries are important partners in                issues,” Du Zhixiong, Vice Director of the                  ensuring a stable supply of green and high-
the soybean trade, China has highlighted                   Rural Development Institute at the Chinese                  quality agricultural products gets priority
the importance of increasing soybean                       Academy of Social Sciences, told Beijing                    as well as improving the livelihoods of rural
output at home as it strives to boost the                  Review.                                                     residents.
domestic agricultural sector.                                  A sound agricultural sector and steady                      Han Changfu, Minister of Agriculture
     Soybean planting is only one of the                   rural development are essential for under-                  and Rural Affairs (MARA), told a press
many issues covered by the No.1 Central                    pinning the economy and taking the nation                   conference on February 20 that agricul-
Document released on February 19, the                      closer to its goal of building its society into             tural and rural development registered
first policy statement of the year jointly                 a moderately prosperous one by 2020, the                    steady progress in 2018, which provided
released by the Central Committee of the                   document says.                                              strong support to China’s sound socio-
Communist Party of China and the State                         As it is introduced, the output and                     economic growth. “Since China is facing
Council. It keeps issues relating to agricul-              efficiency of agricultural production will                  stronger downward economic pressure
                                                                                                                                                                           s
                                                                                                                                                                           s
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
5                                                                                                                       FEBRUARY, 2019

                                                                                                                                                                 XINHUA
Women from the Miao ethnic group produce embroideries as souvenirs for tourists in Fenghuang County, Hunan Province, on February 18

and a changing external environment with                those in short supply, such as soybeans                  to agribusinesses. New agricultural produc-
mounting risks and challenges, it needs to              and dairy products. The target is to keep                tion entities such as household farms and
maintain its focus on agriculture and en-               grain-growing areas at 110 million hect-                 agricultural cooperatives are to be devel-
able it to further contribute to domestic               ares and arable land area over 120 million               oped.
economic growth,” he said.                              hectares. By 2020, over 53.33 million                        Du stressed that individual agricultural
                                                        hectares of high-standard farmland will                  households should also be supported.
Focus on modernization                                  be developed.                                            “Individual producers need to be con-
                                                            Farming will be modernized to improve                nected more closely with cooperatives,
    According to Zhang Hongyu, Vice                     agricultural output and efficiency. Liao                 leading enterprises and service providers in
President of the China Institute for Rural              Xiyuan, an official with the MARA, said tech-            production chains so that farmers can get
Studies, Tsinghua University, this year, a              nological innovation is key to promoting                 more benefits,” he said.
priority for the authorities is to keep grain           agricultural modernization. The document                     While the rural economy is restruc-
production above 600 million tons to en-                stresses making breakthroughs in key ag-                 tured, tourism and leisure agriculture,
sure grain security for the large population.           ricultural technologies and independent                  combining sightseeing and recreation,
Official data shows in 2018, total grain out-           innovation in areas such as smart agricul-               are being promoted to boost the rural
put reached 658 million tons.                           ture, heavy agricultural machinery and                   economy. MARA has developed nearly 400
    The policy document emphasizes                      green agricultural inputs.                               demonstration counties with rural sightsee-
securing the supply of major agricul-                       It also promises a new subsidy policy                ing and recreational facilities nationwide.
tural products and boosting production                  to better protect farmers’ interests and en-             Last year, tourists paid 3 billion trips to rural
of high-quality agricultural products or                courage financial institutions to lend more              destinations, according to official data. The

                                        658 million tons                               13.86 million                                  14,617 yuan
                                      Total grain output in 2018                    Number of people lifted                     Per capita disposable in-
                                                                                    out of poverty in 2018                     come of rural households,
                                                                                                                                     up 8.8 percent
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                         6

promotion of modern agricultural product         ter they become registered urban dwellers.       Belt and Road Initiative will be enhanced.
processing, which has industrialized agri-             To prevent rural residents from slipping   Imports of agricultural products in short
cultural produce, also augments farmers’         back into poverty, rural industries with local   supply domestically will be expanded and
profits by improving the value added of          features will be started to diversify farm-      import channels diversified. More multi-
their products.                                  ers’ income channels. E-commerce has a           national agricultural corporations will be
    “We need to fully utilize the natural and    major role in this. The boom in e-commerce       fostered.
cultural resources of rural areas to diversify   has created new opportunities for rural               According to Jiao Shanwei, Editor in
local economic drivers, develop full-fledged     development and both rural income and            Chief of the grain portal Cngrain.com,
product-processing chains, and tap into          consumption have risen.                          China has been opening wider to foreign
the potential of agriculture for deep inte-            According to Ministry of Commerce          investors in the agricultural sector over the
gration of rural industries,” Ye Xingqing, a     spokesperson Gao Feng, domestic on-              past two years. “Foreign enterprises’ partici-
researcher with the Development Research         line sales of agricultural products totaled      pation will help modernize the agricultural
Center of the State Council, said.               230.5 billion yuan ($34.4 billion) in 2018,      sector, achieve sustainable development of
                                                 up 33.8 percent from the previous year.          land, and improve the quality of domestic
Improved rural life                              Online retail sales amounted to 1.37             agricultural output,” he said.
                                                 trillion yuan ($201.47 billion) in rural ar-          China produces only 16 million tons
     At the Central Economic Work                eas with a year-on-year growth of 30.4           of soybeans domestically every year while
Conference in 2017, the annual meeting           percent, indicating the consumption po-          the domestic demand can reach 110
to set the national economic agenda, the         tential of rural buyers.                         million tons annually. Of this, about 90
authorities said preventing major risks,               Developing the digital economy in rural    percent has to be met through imports,
pollution control and targeted poverty alle-     areas will support agricultural development      making China the world’s largest soybean
viation would be the “three tough battles”       and reduce the urban-rural income gap, Qu        importer, according to official data. The
for the next three years.                        Dongyu, Vice Minister of Agriculture and         document says domestic soybean pro-
     The 2019 policy document also               Rural Affairs, said.                             duction will be expanded by increasing
emphasizes the importance of poverty                   Poverty alleviation also requires new      planting areas.
alleviation to advance rural residents’          jobs and vocational training for rural labor          Yin Ruifeng, an analyst with MARA, said
well-being. In 2018, 13.86 million people        forces, the document notes. New busi-            rice and corn produce a greater net profit
were lifted out of poverty, according to         nesses will be encouraged and supporting         than soybean. The output and quality of
the National Bureau of Statistics. To cre-       platforms built up in rural areas.               domestic soybean can be improved only by
ate a moderately prosperous society in                 Apart from raising the rural income,       harnessing advanced technology.
all respects by 2020, there will be further      measures will be taken to upgrade rural life.         According to the soybean rejuvenation
policies to improve the living standards of      Infrastructure, including roads, grids and lo-   plan proposed in the document, planting
all rural residents living below the national    gistics networks, will be improved, pollution    will be increased in the traditional soybean-
poverty line of a 2,300-yuan ($338) income       treatment enhanced, and public services          growing regions of Heilongjiang, Anhui and
annually.                                        such as education, culture, healthcare and       Henan provinces. The target is to expand
     In extremely poor regions, residents will   social security boosted.                         the soybean-planting area to 9.33 million
be given financial assistance, while fami-                                                        hectares and increase the soybean self-
lies living in inaccessible areas with little    A more open market                               sufficiency rate by 1 percentage point by
earning opportunities will be relocated.                                                          2020.
Measures will be taken to nurture talent in          Foreign investment in various sectors,            According to Han, China’s soybean sup-
such areas.                                      including modern agriculture, is being           plies will still partially rely on imports given
     According to the National Development       encouraged, according to a draft list of en-     its large domestic demands.
and Reform Commission, 100 million rural         couraged industries for foreign investment            “Along with other sources, the United
residents will become urban dwellers by          released on February 1.                          States will continue to be an important
2020. However, the relocated people will             The policy document says agricultural        partner of China in terms of the soybean
be allowed to keep their rural land even af-     cooperation with countries involved in the       trade,” he said. CI

         5,535 billion yuan                            1.37 trillion yuan                            230.5 billion yuan
    Retail sales of consumer goods in              Online retail sales in rural areas,            Domestic online sales of agricul-
       rural areas, up 10.1 percent                        up 30.4 percent                        tural products in 2018, up 33.8
                                                                                                             percent
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
7                                                                                                                           FEBRUARY, 2019

                                                                                                                                                               XINHUA
 President Xi Jinping addresses a Spring Festival reception at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on February 3

Unchanged Feelings
The Spring Festival in China continues to transition, but the theme of family
reunion and love remains By Wang Hairong

T
     he overture to the 2019 Chinese                         the otherwise drab winter scene and                       Despite this enticement, many people
     Lunar New Year—the Year of the                          igniting the holiday spirit, while shops                  residing in the capital are anxious—like
     Pig—flowed into Beijing weeks                           are all festooned with elaborate holiday                  migrating birds pending their annual
before the actual holiday, which falls on                    decorations, either for adornment or                      journey—eager to rush back to their
February 5 this year, the first day of the                   sale. On January 20, the Beijing Municipal                hometowns, even if it means enduring
New Year according to the lunar calen-                       Government kicked off colorful holiday                    extra hassles such as scrambling for travel
dar. Strings of red lanterns hang from                       cultural activities with a skating perfor-                tickets, shopping for gifts, packing and
the sides of light poles, brightening up                     mance at the Summer Palace ice rink.                      being stuck in traffic jams.
FEBRUARY, 2019 The Information Office, International Department of the CPC Central Committee - Beijing Review
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                                          8

     Liu Zhiwei, an electrical engineer
in Beijing, is ready to go. “I am from

                                                                                                                                                               XINHUA
Shandong Province. According to our tra-
ditional customs, the Lunar New Year is
about family reunion, so we usually return
to our parents’ home,” he said.
     Wu Jun, a vegetable vendor in Haidian
District in Beijing, is on the verge of re-
turning to his hometown in Xinyang City,
Henan Province, with his wife. The couple,
both in their 40s, is eager to reunite with
their parents and their young son and
daughter. “Though it is not far, I am too
busy to go back home except for the
Spring Festival. The children miss us very
much,” he said.
     Hundreds of millions of people will
join the holiday season travel rush. People
all over the country are expected to make
3 billion trips primarily for family reunions
and some for tourism, according to of-
ficial estimates.
     What draws so many people back to
their place of origin? What does the Spring
Festival mean to them? How will they            Calligraphy for the Chinese character fu, meaning good
                                                                                                       fortune, written by five emperors of the Qing Dynast
                                                are displayed at the Palace Museum on January 8                                                            y
celebrate it? Through several interviews,
here is what Beijing Review uncovered.

The natives return
                                                       Numbers From China’s Spring Festival Holiday
    For Zou Bo, the owner of a hostel
on Kulangsu Island in Fujian Province,                         Total Box Office                               Domestic Retail and Catering Sales
the Spring Festival means a journey                                  (bln yuan)                                                  (bln yuan)
back to his hometown Yantai in eastern
Shandong and his childhood.                       2015        1.73                                          2015                          678
    “My fondest memories of the Lunar
New Year consist of three things: fire-           2016                     3.07                             2016                              754
crackers, new clothes and the magical             2017                     3.419                            2017                                840
hands of my mother,” he said.
    Zou, 49, grew up in a village on the          2018                                    5.694             2018                                    926
outskirts of the city. “The most thrilling
                                                  2019                                     5.84             2019                                     1,005
thing for boys in the countryside was
that they could set off firecrackers during                                                                        0     200      400     600       800    1,000
                                                         0     1       2      3      4      5         6
the Spring Festival,” he said. “When we
entered the last month of the lunar cal-
endar, my family would buy firecrackers                  Number of Tourist Trips                                         Tourism Revenue
for us, which my brother and I treasured
                                                                    (mln trips)                                                 (bln yuan)
very much since life was so difficult that
my family did not want to splurge on              2015                       261                            2015          144.8
firecrackers.” They usually got 200 fire-
crackers, he said, and to make the stock          2016                            302                       2016            365
last longer, they only set off a few each
                                                  2017                              344                     2017            423.3
day.
    Back in the 1970s and 80s, new                2018                                   386                2018                 475
clothes for New Year’s Day were hand-
made in most rural families. “My mother           2019                                     415              2019                513.9
has dexterous hands, so she made all
the clothes for my brother and me. The                   0       100        200     300         400                0     200      400     600       800    1,000
clothes fit us well and made us look very           (Sources: Ministry of Culture and Tourism, National Radio and Television Administration;
handsome, winning compliments from                                                                              designed by Pamela Tobey)
relatives and neighbors,” Zou recalled.
                                        s
                                        s
9                                                                                                                     FEBRUARY, 2019

                                                                                                                                                                        XINHUA
                                                                                        XINHUA

                                                                                                    A visitor admire
                                                                                                                    s
                                                                           January 27               Chinese Lunar a woodcut picture at an event
                                                ing Festival couplets on                                           New Year in Lo
                                                                                                                                 s Angeles, Califo to celebrate the
                        Municipality chooses Spr
A resident of Chongqing                                                                                                                           rnia, on January
                                                                                                                                                                   25

       “Since others asked my mother to                       starts with a feast, with fish symbol-              roosters, hens and dogs in the yards to
  make their clothes for the New Year as                      izing surplus year after year, chicken              play with, and we can catch fish in the
  well, she would get really busy before the                  representing good luck and dumplings                river and climb hills.” There are also a lot
  holiday, making clothes until late into the                 signifying reunion, he said. After dinner,          of firecrackers, he added.
  New Year’s Eve,” he said. “I remember ev-                   they usually watch the Spring Festival                   For Lai Fan, a graphic designer in
  ery year on that night, as my brother and                   evening gala on TV and set off fireworks            Dazhou City, southwest China’s Sichuan
  I were about to doze off into our dreams,                   and firecrackers outside. The restless and          Province, the Lunar New Year is a time full
  she would still be sewing, with her head                    excited children will not go to bed until           of hope and love. “This year is quite spe-
  bent over. When we woke up on New                           late into New Year’s Eve. The next day,             cial for me, because I just turned 40 and
  Year’s Day, we would find a stack of new                    they awaken early to the sound of boom-             as I enter middle age, my life and work
  clothes waiting for us in our clean and                     ing firecrackers. They then greet each              have become more stable. In particular, I
  tidy room. We could not help but marvel                     other, get dressed up and visit neighbors.          am going to move into a new home dur-
  at her pair of magic hands.”                                Children are thrilled to get red packets of         ing the Spring Festival. This is a new start;
       Although the village has become                        gift money. In the ensuing week, the fam-           I feel the coming year is full of hope,” she
  part of the city during the urbanization                    ily’s schedule is packed with visits to and         said.
  process, Zou still enjoys returning to his                  from relatives, peppered with feasts and                 Nevertheless, the deepest impres-
  hometown and connecting with his fam-                       rituals to commemorate ancestors, he                sions that the Spring Festival left on her
  ily and friends from childhood.                             explained.                                          were those from her childhood. In ad-
       For 38-year-old Liu Zhiwei, the Spring                      For 10-year-old Mu Mu, a fifth grader          dition to delicacies such as homemade
  Festival means getting closer to tradition.                 in Beijing’s Haidian District, the Spring           sausages and glutinous rice dumplings,
  In his hometown, it is celebrated in the                    Festival is a time to visit his grandpar-           new clothes, fireworks and dragon danc-
  traditional way. On New Year’s Eve, he                      ents and get back to nature. Living amid            es, she remembers her father rewarding
  and his parents, wife and children usually                  skyscrapers and concrete, he thinks his             the children for their school performance
  get together, putting up couplets on door                   grandparents’ home in the rural area in             on New Year’s Eve. “My grades were al-
  frames and papercuttings on windows.                        Liaoning Province is a fun place, even              ways higher than my elder brother and
  “One year, we even bought a tree laden                      though it’s cold because it lacks central           sister, so I always got the biggest prize,”
  with oranges to decorate the house, since                   heating. He will take his pair of pet parrots       she said. Another thing that she enjoyed
  orange trees promise happiness in the                       along. “Grandpa’s home has a heatable               was walking along mountain trails to her
  coming year,” he said.                                      brick bed all around, which will keep the           grandmother’s home. “Although the trip
       In their home, New Year’s Eve always                   birds warm,” he said. “There are also               was more than an hour by foot and we
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                                               10

                                                                                                                                                                           XINHUA
                                                                                                                                                                       in Beijing
                                                                                                                                                         Palace Museum
                                                                                                                                opera performance at the
                                                                                                                            ive
                                                                                                            s in an interact
                                                                                   XINHUA

                                                                                            A visitor engage
Calligraphy enthusia                                                                        on Jan  uary 23
                    sts write Spring Festiv
on January 28                              al couplets at an ac
                                                               tivity in Beijing

 had to scale a steep slope, the joy of see-                     for the festival, more than what they got                    Rather than being glued to TV sets,
 ing dear grandma who we hadn’t seen for                         on regular days, so people looked forward                many people have become addicted to
 quite a while would always drive away our                       to the holiday to enjoy better food. “We                 their smartphones, sharing moments
 fatigue,” she said. “Besides, we could also                     had to queue up and trade coupons for                    and virtual red envelopes, said Hu Ziwei,
 pick some early-blooming wild onions by                         these items. I often had to stand in line                a 22-year-old studying in the United
 the roadside as a gift for grandma.”                            for more than an hour,” she said.                        Kingdom.
                                                                     Her memories of the holiday also                         This year, she plans to celebrate
 Fading traditions                                               include steaming huge buns decorated                     the Lunar New Year’s Eve by having a
                                                                 with red dates and sending them to rela-                 gathering with friends and classmates
       Although the holiday travel rush con-                     tives as gifts. Today, these buns can be                 in a Chinese restaurant in London, din-
 tinues, in recent years, many people feel                       bought in supermarkets, and people sel-                  ing, drinking and singing. The following
 the flavor of the Spring Festival has begun                     dom send them as gifts.                                  day however, she will have to go to class.
 to fade, which can be explained by a num-                           Back in her hometown, the first thing                While studying abroad, she has celebrated
 ber of factors, such as an improved living                      people did on the morning of the New                     New Year’s Eve by eating out or mak-
 standard, the development of Internet tech-                     Year’s Day was visit neighbors, but in                   ing dumplings at home, going dancing,
 nology, urbanization and a faster-paced life.                   Beijing, neighbors hardly visit each other,              playing cards, occasionally watching the
       As hundreds of millions of people take                    she said.                                                Spring Festival gala or traveling.
 to the road, Liu Meifu, who is in her 70s,                          “The emergence of new things has                         “Even if I return to my hometown for
 goes on with her life as usual. She is go-                      made traditional festival rituals outdated.              the festival, I will no longer feel as care-
 ing to spend this Spring Festival in Beijing,                   In the past, we had to give holiday greet-               free as when I was a child. Young adults
 where she lives with her daughter’s fam-                        ings face to face, now we can deliver                    like me have to face inquiries and pres-
 ily, looking after her grandson.                                them by telephone or text message,” said                 sure from the older generations, such as
       For her, the Spring Festival is no lon-                   Liu Zhiwei. “Previously the festival was                 asking about my dating status and urging
 ger significantly different from any other                      celebrated with a lot of fireworks and fire-             me to get married early,” she said.
 day. “Nowadays people do not have to                            crackers, whereas today, they have been
 wait for the Spring Festival to eat good                        banned in many places to protect the en-                 Unconventional
 food or wear new clothes,” she said.                            vironment. Even the once popular Spring                  celebrations
       She recalled that when she was                            Festival evening gala produced by China
 young, households were rationed several                         Central Television has been criticized by                   As people’s income rises, their life
 kilograms of meat, eggs and cooking oil                         an increasingly nitpicking audience.”                    has become more colorful and their
                                                                                                                                                                                    s
                                                                                                                                                                                    s
11                                                                                                                    FEBRUARY, 2019

                                                                                                                                           XINHUA
                                                    al exhibition on   January 8
       Visitors at the Palace Museum’s Spring Festiv

lifestyle less traditional, said Yi Shuang, a      Ctrip predicted that Chinese tourists                     Some of the domestic trips will be
37-year-old human resources officer na-            will make 400 million trips, including 7              made by people traveling to large cit-
tive to Beijing.                                   million to overseas destinations during               ies for reunions with family members
     This year, she is looking forward to          the week-long Spring Festival holiday                 working or studying there, according
a lazy holiday. “I will simply stay                                                                              to Ctrip. This is a reversal of the
at home, read books, watch                                                                                           traditional Spring Festival travel
TV dramas and tidy up the                                                                                             rush, which is characterized
                                                                                                             WANG MEIYU

house. Because of fast-paced                                                                                          by people leaving large cities
work and study during the                                                                                            to return to smaller ones or to
year, a holiday is so precious                                                                                       rural areas.
that I just want to relax,” she                                                                                            The reverse travel rush is
said. Nowadays, many people                                                                                          reflected in Ctrip’s flight book-
are too busy or lazy to fol-                                                                                         ing data, which showed a more
low Spring Festival traditions                                                                                       than 40 percent year-on-year
such as rituals to welcome in                                                                                        surge in flight bookings to me-
and bid farewell to deities or                                                                                       tropolises such as Shanghai,
visiting certain relatives on                                                                                       Beijing and Guangzhou one
certain days.                                                                                                       week before the Lunar New
     Sightseeing has become                                                                                         Year’s Eve.
a relatively new way to mark                                                                                              Although the flavor of the
the Lunar New Year. Li Gejing,                                                                                      Spring Festival may be growing
40, cofounder of a business                                                                                         weaker, and ways to celebrate it
in Beijing, usually travels                                                                                         have been changing, Liu Zhiwei
overseas during the holiday                                                                                         still looks forward to the festival.
season with family members.                                                                                        “Society always progresses and
     In previous years, Yi                                                                                         new fashions may become our
Shuang has also taken trips                                                                                        new traditions,” he said.
during the holiday. “Travel U.S. visual reporter Pamela Tobey shows off her fashionable stuffed pigs in her            “But whichever way the
                                      Beijing home
can reenergize us, enrich our                                                                                     celebrations change, for family
knowledge and give us a lot                                                                                       members living apart from each
of wonderful memories. After being re-             this year, with Thailand and Sanya City in            other, a reunion, even though short, is
freshed by a tour, I am ready to set new           south China’s Hainan Province the most                always precious,” Hu said. CI
goals for myself,” she said.                       popular foreign and domestic destina-                      (Ji Jing, Li Qing, Wang Yajuan and Ma
     China’s leading online travel agency          tions, respectively.                                       Miaomiao contributed to the report)
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                                          12

                                                                                                                                                                  XINHUA
Telecome carrier China Unicom showcases its 5G technologies at the 19th China Hi-Tech Fair in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, in November 2018

Injecting Impetus
China continues to drive up consumption to boost the economy
By Li Xiaoyang

A
      s China steps into the Year of the Pig, which                 force of the economy.
      symbolizes good fortune, it is also striv-                         China’s per-capita consumer spending
      ing to achieve prosperity commensurate                        reached 19,853 yuan ($2,954), increasing 6.2 per-
with its implications. Before the Lunar New Year                    cent year on year in real terms in 2018, obtaining
on February 5, the country unveiled measures to                     an increase of 0.8 percentage points faster than
stimulate consumption in 2019, which is expected                    the previous year, according to the NBS.
to more comprehensively draw out the effects of                          NBS data also showed that total retail sales of
domestic demands to ensure stable economic                          consumer goods rose 6.9 percent year on year to
growth.                                                             38.1 trillion yuan ($5.6 trillion) in 2018, with on-
    The plan, jointly issued by 10 ministerial-level                line retail sales rising 24 percent. Noticeably, total
authorities including the National Development                      retail sales of consumer goods grew at double-
and Reform Commission (NDRC) on January 29,                         digit rates for the previous 14 years.
focuses on boosting the sales of big-ticket items                        According to Wang Bin, an official with the
such as automobiles and home appliances, up-                        Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), consumption is
grading domestic consumption, and releasing the                     expected to contribute 65 percent to China’s eco-
potential of urban and rural demands.                               nomic growth in 2019 with a 9-percent increase
    With one of the largest markets in the world,                   in total retail sales of consumer goods, even
China is increasingly moving toward bolster-                        though pressure facing the consumer market
ing the domestic economy through its large                          will mount and domestic consumption growth is
consumer base given uncertainties in the exter-                     likely to see a further slowdown.
nal market. According to data released by the                            The medium- to long-term contradictions and
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), consumption                    risks facing China’s economic development may be-
contributed 76.2 percent to China’s GDP growth                      come more prominent in 2019, Wang said, making
in 2018, significantly up 18.6 percentage points                    it difficult to accelerate the growth of consumption.
from the previous year, making it a major driving                   However, the upgrading demands of China’s middle-
                                                                                                                             s
                                                                                                                             s
13                                                                                                              FEBRUARY, 2019

                                                                                                                                               XINHUA
     Visitors view a concept vehicle at an exhibition in Haikou, south China’s Hainan Province, on January 10

                  income consumers still provide great potential for                       propelled through upgrading car consumption in
                  the domestic market. “Consumption will remain the                        rural areas by encouraging rural residents who still
                  largest contributor to China’s economic growth in                        drive unsafe three-wheel vehicles to buy cars or
                  2019,” he projected.                                                     trucks with subsidies.
                                                                                               Meanwhile, as NEVs become the new craze
                  Car sale boost                                                           among Chinese vehicle consumers, they have
                                                                                           become a growth driver of the auto industry.
                       The new pro-consumption measures target                             According to Dong Dajian, an official with the
                  sectors that saw weaker growth in 2018, giving                           Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
                  special attention to the automobile industry. China                      (MIIT), China’s production and sales of NEVs are ex-
                  will push ahead with car replacement, especially in                      pected to exceed 1.5 million units this year, helping
                  rural areas, improve second-hand car markets and                         the auto market to register stable growth across
                  provide subsidies to encourage the purchase of                           the board.
                  new-energy vehicles (NEVs), the plan says. It also                           “Considering the growth of China’s economy,
                  will improve infrastructure facilities such as parking                   its ongoing urbanization process, as well as its
                  lots and NEV charging stations.                                          improving standards for energy conservation and
                       Liu Yunan, an official with the NDRC, said the                      environmental protection, the auto market still has
                  slowdown in auto sales led to 66.7 percent of the                        much room for further growth,” Dong said.
                  decline in the growth of total retail sales of con-
                  sumer goods.                                                             Smarter, quality consumption
                       Data from the China Association of Automobile
                  Manufacturers showed that the country sold                                   The plan also proposes improving the domestic
                  28.08 million cars last year, down 2.76 percent                          consumption infrastructure, enhancing the quality
                  year on year. “The traditional auto market is on a                       of products and services, and optimizing the con-
                  downward trend, with limited room for growth,”                           sumer market.
                  Xu Hongcai, Deputy Chief Economist at the China                              According to Liu, China’s home appliance
                  Center for International Economic Exchanges, told                        industry, with the world’s largest production and
                  Beijing Review. He called for efforts to tap into new                    sales volume, is another key driver of the coun-
                  markets to cushion the slowdown in purchases.                            try’s consumption growth. Thus, the promotion
                       The number of vehicles owned by every 1,000                         of green and smart home appliances will push
                  Chinese people was about 170 in 2018, according                          the industry toward upgrading to meet people’s
                  to official data, which still lags behind developed                      demands for higher-quality products and further
                  economies. Liu said domestic vehicle sales can be                        cutting emissions.
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                  14

          “Once the policy encouraging the purchase                           China, 5G will create an economic output of 10 tril-
     of energy-saving and smart home appliances is                            lion yuan ($1.5 trillion) and generate 3 million new
     launched across China, some 150 million appli-                           jobs, relevant estimates showed.
     ances are expected to be sold from 2019 to 2021,                             “Since China has a large smartphone market,
     totaling about 700 billion yuan ($104 billion),” Liu                     the promotion of 5G technology will undoubtedly
     said.                                                                    help propel domestic consumption,” Xu said.
          According to MIIT, China’s information con-
     sumption reported a rapid increase in 2018, while                        Releasing potential
     the total business volume of the telecommunica-
     tions sector improved 137.9 percent from the                                  To fully unleash the potential of domestic
     previous year.                                                           consumption, both urban and rural markets will
          Measures by Chinese telecommunications                              be further developed to expand demands and re-
     operators to increase the speed of Internet                              duce regional disparity. According to the plan, the
     connections and cut connection costs have                                renovation of old apartments, the real estate rental
     contributed to the rise of domestic information                          market, as well as children and senior care services
     consumption, the ministry said.                                          will be promoted to augment urban consumption.
          According to Dong, China needs to boost                             Meanwhile, rural areas will strive for faster develop-
     information consumption by speeding up the con-                          ment of online shopping, e-commerce and tourism.
     struction of the telecommunications infrastructure                            Consumption growth in rural areas is still hin-
     and the commercial use of the 5G network.                                dered by problems such as underdeveloped markets
          Following test runs of 5G-equipped buses in                         and infrastructure. Therefore, e-commerce will be
     some regions, an indoor 5G network will be in-                           further promoted to develop new markets in rural
     stalled in the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station                         areas and improve local consumption, Wang said.
     by the end of 2019. In addition, MIIT announced                               So far, the development of e-commerce has
     China will move faster to deploy the 5G network                          improved rural residents’ income, which is crucial
     and carry out trials for 5G commercial use this year.                    for boosting consumption. Official data showed that
          “Currently, the 5G industry is experiencing ac-                     online sales from rural areas exceeded 1.3 trillion
     celerated development around the world. With                             yuan ($190 billion) in 2018, providing 28 million local
     initial full-fledged network facilities, it is expected                  residents with jobs.
     that China’s 5G terminal chips will be rolled out in                          “Accelerating agricultural modernization is also
     the first half of 2019, and 5G smartphones will be                       significant for boosting rural consumption, which can
     launched in the middle of the year,” Dong said.                          help increase household income,” Xu said.
          Within five years of commercial deployment in                            According to NBS data, the real growth of per-       s
                                                                                                                                        s
XINHUA

     A visitor plays Huawei's AR games at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain on February 28
15                                                                                                                            FEBRUARY, 2019

capita disposable income in rural areas was faster                    capita disposable income for households in China’s
than that in urban areas in 2018, suggesting a nar-                   smaller cities was 55 percent lower than that in top-
rowing urban-rural income gap. China’s per-capita                     tier cities a decade ago, but in 2017, the gap shrunk
disposable income stood at 28,228 yuan ($4,165)                       to 45 percent and is likely to go down further to 36
in 2018, up 6.5 percent year on year in real terms.                   percent by 2030.
Urban and rural per-capita disposable income was                           “Serving as a driving force for economic growth,
39,251 yuan ($5,840) and 14,617 yuan ($2,174), up                     consumption is also directly driven by economic
5.6 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively, with price                 growth,” Xu said. “The key to achieving stable con-
factors deducted.                                                     sumption growth is to ensure employment, which
    The income gap between cities is also on the                      will expand the middle-income group and improve
decline. According to a Morgan Stanley report, per-                   the living standards of the low-income group.” CI

                     Final Consumption Expenditure’s                                        National Per-Capita Consumption Expenditure and
                      Contribution to GDP Growth (%)                         76.2                        Composition in 2018 (%)
     80
                                                                                                                          Transport and communication
     70
                                               66.4 64.6                                           Residence              2,675 yuan
                                                                     57.6                          4,647 yuan                             Education, culture
     60                                                                                                                 13.5              and recreation
            51.6 51.8           50     50.2                                                               23.4                            2,226 yuan
     50                                                                                                                   11.2            Healthcare and
     40                                                                                                                    8.5            medical services
                                                                                             Food,        28.4                            1,685 yuan
     30                                                                                      tobacco                      6.5
                                                                                             and liquor                                   Clothing
     20                                                                                                                                   1,289 yuan
                                                                                             5,631 yuan
     10                                                                                                                2.3 6.2
      0                                                                                                   Other goods Household facilities,
            2011    2012        2013   2014     2015        2016     2017    2018                         and services articles and services
                                                                                                                 477 yuan 1,223 yuan

     90                                                    Contribution of Industry to GDP Growth (%)
     80
     70
                                                                                                                       Secondary industry
     60
     50
     40
     30                                                                                                                  Tertiary industry
     20
     10
                                                                                                                         Primary industry
       0
             78

                    80

                           82

                                  84

                                         86

                                                88

                                                       90

                                                                92

                                                                       94

                                                                              96

                                                                                     98

                                                                                            00

                                                                                                   02

                                                                                                          04

                                                                                                                  06

                                                                                                                         08

                                                                                                                                 10

                                                                                                                                         12

                                                                                                                                                14

                                                                                                                                                         16

                                                                                                                                                                18

     -10
           19

                  19

                         19

                                19

                                       19

                                              19

                                                     19

                                                              19

                                                                     19

                                                                            19

                                                                                   19

                                                                                          20

                                                                                                 20

                                                                                                        20

                                                                                                                20

                                                                                                                       20

                                                                                                                               20

                                                                                                                                       20

                                                                                                                                              20

                                                                                                                                                       20

                                                                                                                                                              20

                    Total Retail Sales of Consumer Goods                                                  National Per-Capita Disposable Income
                                       (tln yuan)                                                                                (yuan)                   y.o.y. growth (%)
      40                                                              36.6    38.1          2011                    14,551                                         10.3
      35                                                      33.2
                                                 30.1                                       2012                        16,510                                     10.6
      30                                27.2
                                24.3                                                        2013                           18,311                                    8.1
      25             21.4
      20    18.7                                                                            2014                           20,167                                    8.0
      15                                                                                    1015                                  21,966                             7.4
      10                                                                                    2016                                           23,821                    6.3
       5                                                                                    2017                                                  25,974     7.3
       0                                                                                    2018                                                      28,228 6.5
            2011     2012       2013    2014        2015     2016     2017     2018

                                                                       (Sources: National Bureau of Statistics, Wind.com.cn; designed by Pamela Tobey)
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                         16

Leaps and Bounds
                                                                                                    the new generation of China’s super con-
                                                                                                    sumers.
                                                                                                         But how did e-commerce become digi-
                                                                                                    tal commerce and new retail?
Digital commerce and new retail point to the future of                                                   At first, it wasn’t necessarily what China
                                                                                                    had or what other countries did that led to
consumption in China By Michael Zakkour                                                             the fastest adoption rates of e-commerce,
                                                                                                    digital payments and social media apps
                                                                                                    (as operating systems for life). It was what

I
   n 2014, I wrote a book titled China’s             freedom for foreign brands and retailers.      China didn’t have that became an enabler
   Super Consumers: What 1 Billion                        Domestic retailers emerged and the        and an advantage.
   Customers Want and How to Sell It to              first wave of foreign brands and retailers          China had no modern retail legacy in-
Them. The book explained and examined                entered China primarily in the form of for-    frastructure to overcome. Even as China’s
the development of China’s consumer                  eign luxury brands. This stage started with    retail and consumer economy started to
and retail evolution, from the beginning             roughly 15 million consumers and ended         develop and then boom in the late 1990s
of the reform and opening-up era to the              with 30 million consumers with significant     and early 2000s, modern retail infrastruc-
early days of the e-commerce explosion.              disposable income.                             ture development was not keeping pace.
     Some of the facts and statistics high-               Stage Two, 1994-2004: Early Days of       Yes, malls and department stores were
lighted in the book left casual observers of         Modern Retail Development. New malls           built at a rapid pace, and this helped, but
China, its economy and its development               and department stores started to emerge        the store-marketing-supply chain struc-
into the second largest economy in the               in large numbers and the second wave of        tures of fully developed retail markets were
world in disbelief including: nearly 700                                                            not yet in place. The arrival of e-commerce
                                                     foreign brands and retailers entered the
million consumers with significant dispos-                                                          filled the gaps quickly. Most new consum-
                                                     Chinese market. This period started with
able income; 1 billion smart devices in use;                                                        ers were “born” into e-commerce.
                                                     roughly 35 million consumers and ended
social media apps with 1 billion users; the                                                              There was no legacy of communica-
                                                     with nearly 200 million consumers with sig-
second largest luxury goods market in the                                                           tions systems to overcome in China. The
                                                     nificant disposable income.
world; a digital first/mobile first consumer                                                        vast majority of Chinese citizens did not
                                                          Stage Three, 2004-15: The Age of
society; and near universal adoption of digi-                                                       own landlines, personal computers or
                                                     China’s Super Consumers. The largest and
tal payments, just to name a few.                                                                   primitive mobile devices in the 1990s and
                                                     most important consumer demographic
     In summary, the book told the tale of                                                          2000s. When affordable, highly functional
                                                     since the original U.S. super consumers of     smartphones came on the market, China
how the evolution and growth of Chinese              the post-World War II era emerged.
consumption and retail changed the way                                                              embarked on the fastest adoption of a new
                                                          This was the time of exponential          technology in human history. In less than
Chinese citizens shopped, lived, devel-              growth in retail infrastructure buildout and
oped new identities and related to the                                                              10 years, there were more than 1 billion
                                                     modernization; conspicuous consumption;        smartphones in use. These smartphones
outside world. It also told the stories of the
                                                     higher rates of spending; and the growth       were the perfect complement to and en-
entrepreneurs, retailers and brands that
                                                     of the sheer number of Chinese consum-         abler of e-commerce.
were transforming the Chinese economy
                                                     ers with disposable income (700 million).           China had no traditional banking, fi-
through consumption and services.
                                                     Thousands of new foreign brands and re-        nance and payment systems to overcome.
     This development happened in several
stages.                                              tailers entered China and engaged Chinese      During the early and middle development
     Stage One, 1990-94: Proto-Retail and            consumers.                                     stages of retail and consumption in the
Consumer Culture. This period was fueled                  But most importantly, the emergence       country and until the introduction of digital
by the first reforms in retail, which led to a       of mass e-commerce and digital payment         escrow accounts to complete consumer-
surge of privatization; the opening of the           options kickstarted a digital consumer         to-consumer e-commerce transactions in
Chinese market to the outside world; the             revolution. Alibaba, JD.com, Tencent, Baidu    the mid-2000s, almost all retail was con-
initial success of Chinese entrepreneurs             and others started laying the foundation       ducted on a cash-and-carry basis. Credit
and business owners; new wealth created              for the following stage.                       cards, checking accounts and debit cards
by manufacturing and exports; and the re-                 Stage Four, 2015-19: The Age of the       were not a big part of people’s everyday
form of regulations that allowed for greater         Chinese Digital Super Consumer. China has      lives. The introduction of easy-to-use,
                                                     evolved its modern retail and consump-         ubiquitous and eventually, QR code-based
                                                     tion economy on the foundation of what         payment systems voided the need for
                                                     we used to call e-commerce, but now            credit cards, checkbooks and debit ac-
                                                     categorize as digital commerce and new         counts.
                                                     retail. There are now close to 800 million          The end result was the acceleration
                                                     Chinese consumers with significant dispos-     of Chinese consumption by way of tech-
                                                     able income and nearly 700 million digital     nology and then the creation of China’s
                         The author is vice          consumers. Moreover, Chinese digital com-      digital super consumers. Today, China has
                         president of China/         merce is the most advanced in the world.       advanced even further in terms of how
                         Asia Pacific strategy and
                         global digital prac-             There can be no argument about the        products are made, moved, sold and expe-
                         tices at consulting firm    fact that the emergence, growth and evo-       rienced.
                         Tompkins International      lution of e-commerce were key to building           First was the evolution of e-commerce
                                                                                                                                                      s
                                                                                                                                                      s
17                                                                                                                            FEBRUARY, 2019

into digital commerce. The difference be-                  ing toward 40-50 percent of all retail in the              vironments, an endless variety of products,
tween e-commerce and digital commerce                      next five years.                                           entertainment and a suite of services is the
is as follows: e-commerce is an alternative                     The introduction of new retail has                    goal.
to buying a product or service in a store or               brought forth a revolutionary concept, al-                      The future of China’s consumer and
other physical environments. A consumer                    though physical environments (stores and                   service economy will be driven by new
can choose to buy a handbag in a store,                    human social spaces) still matter. In fact,                retail. Innovations in payments, services,
or on the brand’s website or on an online                  they matter more than ever and in new                      technology, fulfillment, online and offline
marketplace like Tmall.                                    and exciting ways.                                         integration and on-demand delivery will
     Digital commerce includes far more                         As Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group,                 boost consumption the same way retail
than a choice of where to complete a                       famously defined it, new retail is “the                    reforms in the 1990s and 2000s did.
transaction. It includes digital payments,                 complete integration of online, offline,                        Continued investment in artificial intel-
digital promotions and marketing, brands                   technology and logistics for a single value                ligence and data science; domestic and
using a mix of environments (marketplaces,                 stream.” New retail was born in China three                global logistics; the blend of services, en-
owned domains, third-party retailers) to                   years ago and is now going global.                         tertainment and transactions; cross-border
reach the consumer, and digitization of                         Alibaba, JD.com and Tencent are build-                digital commerce; and a laser focus on the
customer services, fulfillment and logistics.              ing massive new retail ecosystems that                     consumer will ensure the growth of China’s
     China today has progressed from digital               include commerce related online and                        economy and increasing levels of dispos-
commerce to new retail. Digital commerce                   offline environments, technology and IT,                   able income. A virtuous cycle of innovation,
has been the fastest growing segment of                    logistics and supply chains, and media and                 wealth creation, consumption and inno-
retail and consumption in China for the                    entertainment.                                             vation will be the end result. That is the
last 10 years. In many categories, digital is                   New retail connects all four major func-              opportunity China has on a domestic and
dominant. It already represents more than                  tions to produce a single result: consumer-                international stage and it is the blueprint
30 percent of retail (as compared to 12                    centricity, where providing consumer                       for the role China’s digital super consumers
percent in the United States) and is head-                 convenience, customization, choice of en-                  can play in global growth. CI

                                                                                                                                                                             XINHUA

A staff member at a new retail supermarket in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province, introduces its mobile payment system to visiting international media professionals
on June 29, 2018
FEBRUARY, 2019                                                                                                                       18

                                                                                                                                                  FILE
                                                                                                                A poster of The Wandering Earth

                Settling In
                China’s first sci-fi mega film starts a new chapter By Ji Jing

F
        or a long time, domestically made blockbuster sci-fi films have        Producers’ Association, told the media that China has abundant histori-
        been absent from China’s film market, leaving fans to satisfy their    cal films and its realistic films are also on the rise. However, futuristic
        need for the genre by watching Hollywood productions. The situ-        films haven’t had any breakthroughs for a long time. The Wandering
ation has changed, however, as The Wandering Earth, hailed as China’s          Earth has deeply satisfied Chinese audiences’ demand for the genre.
first big budget sci-fi film, takes the country by storm.                           Rao Shuguang, President of the China Film Critics Association, said
      As of February 17, the film had raked in 3.66 billion yuan ($540         The Wandering Earth signals the upgrading of China’s film industry, indi-
million), becoming the second highest grossing film in China’s history         cating China has grown from a country making a great number of films
after military action film Wolf Warrior 2, according to Maoyan, a box of-      to a leading film producer in the world.
fice tracker and an online-ticketing platform. As of March 7, the film had          The spectacular special effects and exquisite props are major at-
earned 4.57 billion yuan ($680.8 million), according to Maoyan.                tractions for audiences. In contrast to the one-hero-saves-the-world
      The film is loosely adapted from a namesake novella by Liu Cixin,        model often seen in Hollywood blockbusters, a united government is
a multiple prize-winning sci-fi writer, whose novel The Three-Body             formed in the film involving countries around the world to confront the
Problem won the Hugo Award in 2015. He also won the 2018 Arthur C.             apocalypse together. And instead of deserting the Earth, human beings
Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to Society in Washington, D.C., in     choose to take the Earth on a space journey, reflecting Chinese people’s
November 2018.                                                                 love for their homeland.
      In the film, the Sun is dying out and the temperature on Earth dives          Moreover, in comparison to Hollywood films which feature land-
to unbearable lows. As a result, people have to live in underground cit-       marks in cities such as London and New York, audiences were thrilled to
ies to escape the cold. In order to save the Earth, people all around the      see Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai instead.
world build some 10,000 giant planet thrusters to move the Earth out of             In 2018, of the top 10 box office films in China, six were domestic
its orbit to a new star system. The undertaking, called Wandering Earth,       productions, while the other four were U.S. sci-fi films. “The Wandering
will take 2,500 years and the journey will be 4.3 light years long.            Earth has compensated for a lack of domestic sci-fi films. It also shows
      Liu Qi, son of international space station astronaut Liu Peiqiang, and   that Chinese films have begun to think about humanity’s future and
Han Duoduo, a teenage girl adopted by Liu’s grandfather, escape from           joined international discussions about human destiny, which is of great
the underground city, curious about the outside world. However, since          significance,” said Gong Jie, a teacher at the School of Liberal Arts of
the journey is filled with unexpected dangers, the two inadvertently join      Northwest University in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province.
the battle to avoid the Earth from colliding with Jupiter.                          Liu Cixin was very excited to see his work turned into a film. “My big-
                                                                               gest wish is to make my works into films. Now my dream has come true.”
A breakthrough                                                                      China’s growing scientific and technological strength has provided
                                                                               the prerequisite for the development of sci-fi films, said Guo Fan, the
   The film is widely seen as ushering in Year One of China’s sci-fi           director of the film. For instance, it is more credible to see Chinese astro-
movie market. Ming Zhenjiang, Executive Chairman of the China Film             nauts working in space stations in the film after China’s lunar rover Yutu-
                                                                                                                                                              s
                                                                                                                                                              s
19                                                                                                                      FEBRUARY, 2019

2 recently made a successful landing on the far side of the Moon.                       are others who have been more cool-headed. A comment on re-
     Having directed only two films before The Wandering Earth, Guo is a                view website Douban.com said aside from the special effects that
relatively new director. He made up his mind to become a film director                  represent the pinnacle of Chinese films, the character and plot de-
as a teenager in the 1990s after watching Terminator 2: Judgment Day                    velopment along with the scientific basis of the film have room for
directed by famous Hollywood filmmaker James Francis Cameron.                           improvement.
     The Wandering Earth took four years to make and involved approxi-                       The producer of the film Gong Ge’er said one film is inadequate
mately 7,000 staff members. Seventy-five percent of the film’s special                  for starting a new chapter in Chinese sci-fi films. More films are
effects were made by domestic companies, while 25 percent were                          needed in order to break new ground in sci-fi filmmaking.
done by South Korean and German teams.                                                       Domestic sci-fi films account for a small proportion of China’s
     Guo said he chose mostly domestic companies not only because                       film industry. According to a report published by the Southern
Hollywood special effects firms are more expensive but also because                     University of Science and Technology in November 2018, the box
it’s more difficult to communicate with them owing to cultural and lan-                 office revenue of sci-fi films in China reached 9.5 billion yuan ($1.4
guage differences. Moreover, top Hollywood special effects companies
                                                                                        billion) in the first half of 2018, of which only 890 million yuan ($131
can hardly spare their best resources as they are often engaged in mak-
                                                                                        million), or less than 10 percent, was contributed by domestic
ing Hollywood blockbusters.
                                                                                        films.
     The film has also attracted international attention, with Cameron
wishing it good luck on China’s microblogging platform Weibo. “Good                          Guo said it may take China 10 years to catch up to Hollywood. “If
luck with your space journey of The Wandering Earth. Good luck with                     we compare China’s film industry to a non-mechanical workshop,
the voyage of Chinese sci-fi films,” he wrote.                                          its Hollywood counterpart is a well-established industrial system.
     Since February 5, the film has hit screens in North America, Australia             What China lacks is not only hardware but also advanced manage-
and New Zealand. The film’s official Weibo account announced that                       ment and concepts.”
as of February 17, it had become the highest grossing Chinese film in                        Liu Cixin added that sci-fi films should be more diversified in-
North America in five years, earning $3.82 million.                                     stead of following a set model. Moreover, a full-fledged industrial
                                                                                        system should be established for sci-fi filmmaking with a more spe-
More needed                                                                             cific division of labor.
                                                                                             “High-quality content is also important. We need influential sci-
    In addition to the praise that has poured in for the film, there                    fi novels as well as more scriptwriters,” Liu Cixin said. CI

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Moviegoers walk past a poster of The Wandering Earth in a cinema in Nantong, east China’s Jiangsu Province, on February 10
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