Tag: Beijing (China)

Today’s Top News: The Blinken-Xi Meeting, and More

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The New York Times Audio app includes podcasts, narrated articles from the newsroom and other publishers, as well as exclusive new shows — including this one — which we’re making available to readers for a limited time. Download the audio app here. The Headlines brings you the biggest stories of the day from the Times journalists who are covering them, all in about 10 minutes. Hosted by Annie Correal, the new morning show features three top stories from reporters across the newsroom and around the world, so you always have…

Blinken Plans to Meet With Top Chinese Officials in Beijing

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The News The State Department announced on Wednesday that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken planned to leave on Friday for a visit to Beijing to stress to Chinese officials “the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage” the relationship between the two nations. Mr. Blinken also plans to “raise bilateral issues of concern, global and regional matters, and potential cooperation on shared transnational challenges,” the State Department said. The trip is one that Mr. Blinken had to reschedule after canceling a planned visit on the day…

China’s Biggest Banks Cut Deposit Rates to Spur Consumer Spending

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Why It Matters A reduction in the deposit rates is one lever that policymakers can use to stimulate spending. The hope is that the lower rates will give consumers an incentive to spend or invest money instead of parking their savings in the bank. The move is an indication that consumer spending, a key driver of economic growth, remains sluggish. After China scrapped its Covid restrictions late last year and reopened the economy, there were expectations that pent-up demand would push consumers to start spending freely — but that has…

Tiananmen Exhibit Is ‘a Symbol of Defiance’

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Good morning. It’s Friday. Today we will look at plans for a New York City memorial to the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre. We’ll also update you on a legal skirmish over cannabis regulation. A new exhibition is set to open in Midtown Manhattan memorializing those killed when Chinese troops opened fire on pro-democracy protesters who had gathered in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The exhibit, which will open this month, comes two years after officials in Hong Kong cracked down on commemorations of the Tiananmen Square protests. The 2,000-square-foot…

Comedy, Music and Uncle Roger Are China’s Latest Crackdown Targets

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The cancellations rippled across the country: A Japanese choral band touring China, stand-up comedy shows in several cities, jazz shows in Beijing. In the span of a few days, the performances were among more than a dozen that were abruptly called off — some just minutes before they were supposed to begin — with virtually no explanation. Just before the performances were scrapped, the authorities in Beijing had fined a Chinese comedy studio around $2 million, after one of its stand-up performers was accused of insulting the Chinese military in…

Chinese Censorship Is Quietly Rewriting the Covid-19 Story

Chin@Strategy

Early in 2020, on the same day that a frightening new illness officially got the name Covid-19, a team of scientists from the United States and China released critical data showing how quickly the virus was spreading, and who was dying. The study was cited in health warnings around the world and appeared to be a model of international collaboration in a moment of crisis. Within days, though, the researchers quietly withdrew the paper, which was replaced online by a message telling scientists not to cite it. A few observers…

Death Toll in Beijing Hospital Fire Soars to 29

Chin@Strategy

Chinese authorities said they have arrested a dozen people in connection with a hospital fire in Beijing that has claimed the lives of at least 29 victims, attributing the blaze to possible negligence after sparks from internal construction ignited flammable paint. At a news conference on Wednesday, officials said most of the deceased were patients at Changfeng Hospital when the fire erupted around midday Tuesday in the southwestern part of Beijing. A nurse, a medical worker and a relative of a patient also died in the fire. Another 21 people…

At least 21 Dead After Fire at Beijing Hospital

Chin@Strategy

At least 21 people died after a fire erupted in a hospital in Beijing on Tuesday, forcing patients trapped inside to cram up against windows, awaiting rescue, while at least one jumped to a roof below to escape the flames and smoke. The fire appeared to be the deadliest in the Chinese capital in the past two decades. It broke out in an inpatient building of the Changfeng Hospital in the city’s south at just before 1 p.m., and firefighters had largely put out the flames within less than 40…

‘Zero Covid’ Behind It, China’s Economy Starts to Recover

Chin@Strategy

Economic growth began to recover in China during the first three months of the year, after the government abruptly lifted stringent “zero Covid” measures in early December. The Chinese economy grew 4.5 percent from January through March compared with the same months last year, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. Strong retail sales, up 10.6 percent in March from a year earlier, led the way. The stakes for the rest of the world are high. China has been the single largest engine of global growth for most of…

Price War Over Electric Cars Erupts in China

Chin@Strategy

A cutthroat price war has erupted in the world’s largest automobile market. Within the span of a week in March, Volkswagen’s Chinese joint venture slashed prices on its ID.3 electric cars by 18 percent. Changan Automobile, one of China’s state-owned car manufacturers, offered $3,000 cash rebates, free charging credits and other incentives for its electric vehicles. BYD, the country’s biggest E.V. maker, unveiled a second round of markdowns in a month for some of its older models. Amid slumping auto sales, car brands are going to extremes to stay competitive,…