Testing year ahead for Sino-US ties

Strategic ambiguity is a tried and tested diplomatic stance. It translates well into Chinese thinking.

Cooperation will boost China-Japan relations

The year 2017 marked the 45th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations. But instead of celebrating the occasion, the two sides remained locked in an almost frozen political relationship thanks to a series of standoffs between Tokyo and Beijing, including the detainment of Chinese fishermen by Japanese officials on Sept 7, 2010, and the "nationalization" of Diaoyu Islands by the Japanese government on Sept 10, 2012.

Mutual benefit is the hallmark of initiative led by China

Despite the Belt and Road Initiative projects yielding positive results in several areas, some Western observers still view the initiative with suspicion and liken it to a Chinese version of the Marshall Plan. One such example is an article in the Dec 19 edition of The Washington Post.

Diligence required for greater progress in 2018

As we ushered in 2018, many will no doubt have been reflecting on the year just passed. Such reviews help orientate us for the year ahead, but perhaps more important is identifying our goals for the coming year and how to attain them.

New Year ray of hope shines for Korean Peninsula peace

For ROK President Moon Jae-in, the New Year's Day message from his counterpart in the north will probably have come as something of a New Year's gift.

Change to environmental tax means polluters will have to pay the price

CHINA replaced the environmental pollution fee with the environmental protection tax on Monday. The seriousness of the pollution, as indicated by the environmental watchdogs' monitoring statistics, will determine the rate of the tax. Beijing News commented on Monday:

Vanity projects should be put to use

XINHUA NEWS AGENCY has found that some vanity projects, whose construction was suspended by the central authorities, have been left unfinished and unused for a long time. Rednet.cn commented on Monday:

Sick desire for ivory must be removed from people's hearts

ZHOU FEI, head of the Wildlife Trade Programme of the World Wildlife Fund China, called Sunday "a day to be inscribed into history" after a ban was introduced on the processing and selling of ivory and ivory products in China. China Daily writer Zhang Zhouxiang comments:

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Xi thought leads to Chinese Dream

Propounding the concept of the Chinese Dream on Nov 29, 2012, soon after being elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, President Xi Jinping said the greatest dream of China and its people is the rejuvenation of the nation. And Xi, who is leading the people to realize that great dream said on the eve of the New Year that 2018 is vital to that great quest.

Ways to revitalize the agricultural sector

The rural revitalization strategy is part of China's overall strategy to build a prosperous and strong country, which also found mention in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Global economy faces two challenges

The world economy's performance in 2017 was significantly better than the previous year. According to the World Bank forecast, global economic growth is likely to reach 3.6 percent in 2017, as the economies of the European Union, the United States and Japan all showed clear signs of improvement in the third quarter with a growth rate of 2.5 percent, over 2 percent and nearly 2 percent, respectively.