Nigeria Times

By Liu Yang, People’s Daily

The Chinese sci-fi blockbuster “The Wandering Earth II”, which hit the cinema during the Chinese New Year holiday, presented a feast of science and technology to the audience – blue-fire-blowing earth engines, a quantum computer that knows everything, a space elevator rising up to the sky…

Sci-fi movies and dramas became sensational in China over recent years. Apart from “The Wandering Earth II,” sci-fi comedy “Moon Man” and the television series “Three-Body” also sparked wide responses across the country.

In 2020, the China Film Administration (CFA) and the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) jointly released a guideline on promoting the development of sci-fi films. The guideline lists 10 policies and measures to better support and guide the production, screening, special effects and talent training for sci-fi movies.

Later, the two departments led the establishment of a consulting organization for sci-tech movie-making, which invites academicians, experts and outstanding sci-tech workers in aerospace, astronomy and physics. The expert group provides professional opinions and technical support for scriptwriting and filming, so as to make Chinese sci-fi movies more charming and logical from a scientific standpoint.

In the process of creating “The Wandering Earth II”, director Guo Fan placed a lot of emphasis on the authenticity and integrity of the scientific theories and practices presented in the film. Many scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) served as scientific consultants for the movie to help improve its worldview and visual performance.

Wang Yuanzhuo, a researcher with the CAS Institute of Computing Technology, was a consultant for the movie who laid a scientific conceptual foundation for the super artificial intelligence in the movie.

“A good sci-fi work must be rooted in realistic scientific cognition,” Wang said, adding that a believable and complete worldview should be designed in the movie that gives the audience the impression that it may actually happen.

According to Yang Lei, director of the TV series “Three-body,” the creation team spent more than three months interviewing scientists in such fields as radio astronomy, astrophysics, nanotechnology, and particle collision.

A commentator said professional advice from scientists is like a pair of wings for sci-fi movies and dramas, making them more realistic.

Chinese sci-fi movies and dramas were once made at low cost, with simple conception and limited influence.

After “The Wandering Earth II” hit the cinema, Guo said he became more confident in shooting blockbusters at a high industrial level.

The confidence came from the development of China’s aerospace technology, the improvement of the manufacturing industry and the application of new technologies in recent years, which have brought new technical methods for the creation and production of sci-fi movies and dramas.

“The Wandering Earth” learned from foreign teams in the making of many special props, but over 95 percent of the props in “The Wandering Earth II” were made by Chinese teams, Guo said.

“Our progress was based on the technological development of China,” he remarked.

Sci-fi movies and dramas are not scientific documentaries. The imagination serves for better storylines.

Guo told People’s Daily that he hopes “The Wandering Earth II” to showcase Chinese people’s aspiration for and adherence to “solidarity.”

“This movie, as a sci-fi work, conveys the value of the Chinese people. Chinese sci-fi movies should start with the Chinese culture and tell Chinese stories with modern technologies,” Guo said.

An expert noted that China is still in an early stage of sci-fi movie creation, and the sector still sees room for large-scale development.

Given the improving national strength, sci-tech development and prospering movie market, it is believed that Chinese sci-fi works will embrace a blooming future.

By Ouyang Jie, People’s Daily

The State Council of China recently allowed a further six cities to launch comprehensive pilot programs for opening up the service sector, including Shenyang, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, bringing the total number to 11.

Following the pilot program’s initial implementation in Beijing in 2015, it was another significant step by China to further open the service sector.

The service sector is a vital part of China’s high-level opening up. In recent years, the sector has witnessed accelerated development. According to preliminary statistics, the added value of the tertiary industry accounted for 52.8 percent of China’s GDP and contributed 41.8 percent to the country’s economic growth in 2022.

The development of internet information and digital technology have accelerated the division of labor in the global service sector, leading to prosperity in service trade and inspiring the passion of cross-border capital for the service sector.

China has actively joined open cooperation in the global service sector. Its service trade has maintained stable growth, and its tertiary industry has become a major attraction for foreign investors.

China has taken firm and steady steps to open up its service sector.

Over the recent years, the pilot program of opening the service sector has made constant exploration and innovations, and relevant experiences are promoted nationwide.

Recently, China’s Ministry of Commerce once again promoted a batch of exemplary cases of innovation in intellectual property services, digitalization of public services, healthcare industrial chain, and financing and rental businesses, providing systematic and comprehensive solutions for the opening up of relevant industries.

Innovation is being applied in wider areas and achieving more and more fruitful results. More replicable experiences are implemented across the country, leading the innovative development of the service sector and releasing the productivity of the modern tertiary industry.

China enjoys enormous space for opening up its service sector.

The country is currently working to build a high-quality and efficient new system for the service sector and is promoting the in-depth integration of modern services into advanced manufacturing and modern agriculture.

This new system not only represents the emergence of new business forms in the service sector but also marks that new technologies and business forms will start upgrading other industries.

China promotes in-depth reforms with high-level opening up and introduces quality supply of services that are more professional, high-end, and diversified by opening the service sector, so as to boost Chinese market entities’ internal impetus and innovation vitality, nurture new business forms in the service sector, promote the cross-border flow of technology, digital factors, and capital, strive for deep participation of domestic industries in the division of labor in the global value chain, and achieve the upgrading and optimization of the industrial structure.

Today, more and more overseas healthcare, financial, and elderly care services are entering the Chinese market as Chinese services are exported to foreign destinations. China is willing to share its economic development outcomes with the rest of the world.

For instance, as the world’s second largest digital economy, China actively joins international cooperation on the digital economy and aligns itself with high-standard international digital rules. The opening and integration in the sector of digital economy can bring better development to China’s digital industry, promote in-depth integration between digital economy and real economy, and expand the space for industrial cooperation, thus providing new opportunities to the world with China’s development.

In the future, China will further enhance its efforts to open up the service sector, expand opening up based on institutions, rules, regulations, management, and standards, and nurture an environment that’s more open, more transparent and more inclusive.

The opening service sector will not only create a better life for the Chinese people but also share Chinese opportunities with the rest of the world, making contributions to building a new development paradigm and promoting high-quality development.

By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily

The current U.S. administration has been obsessed with building “small circles” around the world in an attempt to contain China, slow and even hinder China’s development.

The practices, including fueling group politics and provoking bloc confrontation, run against the trend of the times and have aroused wide concerns of the international community.

More and more U.S. allies have realized that blindly following in the footsteps to oppose China will lead them nowhere. Instead, keeping the U.S.’ China policy at arm’s length and strengthening strategic autonomy is in their own interests, and adopting rational and pragmatic policy toward China is the right way.

Insisting on regarding China as its imaginary enemy, the U.S. has identified China as “America’s most consequential geopolitical challenge”.

U.S. politicians have hyped up the so-called “China threat” all over the world and sown discord between China and relevant countries. By taking advantage of allies’ traditional reliance on the U.S., it has taken a carrot-and-stick approach to persuade and even coerce its allies to choose sides.

The U.S. has concocted the so-called “democracy versus authoritarianism” narrative, attempting to create an alliance in a bid to expand its military bloc.

Such practices of the U.S. aimed at provoking bloc confrontation have posed serious challenges to the stability of international order and threatened the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

When it talked about “allies”, “values”, and “international rules”, what the U.S. is truly thinking about are “America’s interests”, “America First”, and “American hegemony”.

The country has taken submarine orders worth tens of billions of U.S. dollars away from France, introduced the Inflation Reduction Act to protect and even expand its manufacturing in a way that has almost bled the European manufacturing dry and recklessly forced its allies into “decoupling” from China.

Facts have proved that the U.S. regards its allies merely as its pawns and takes for granted that the interests of its allies must give way to the selfish interests of American hegemony.

As John Menadue, former Australian Ambassador to Japan, put it bluntly, the U.S. is a “dangerous, erratic and risky ally.”

America has always wanted to maintain a technological edge over other economic powers, and these days, however, it is pursuing that goal in a new way: “We have moved from a ‘run faster’ to a ‘run faster and trip the other guy’ policy,” pointed out an article published on the website of British weekly magazine The Economist.

History has proved time and again that confrontation only brings catastrophic consequences. The U.S.’ attempt to contain and suppress China by copying the old “Cold War playbook” represents its serious misjudgment of the international situation and the trend of the times.

The world is no longer what it used to be. Today, the interests of countries are deeply entwined. As the proverb goes, “One who tries to blow out other’s oil lamp will get his beard on fire.”

Protectionism and unilateralism can protect no one; they ultimately hurt the interests of others as well as one’s own. Even worse are the practices of hegemony and bullying, which run counter to the tide of history.

A stable international order is a global public good that is essential for every country. Deliberately provoking confrontation and creating divisions will only damage the common interests of the international community.

As a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions, China has been deeply integrated into the world economy and international systems. Isolating China and limiting cooperation with China serves no one’s interests and will by no means become a reality.

China’s development generates opportunities for world peace and development. The wishful thinking of certain people in the U.S. to contain China can find no support in the international community.

As many far-sighted personages, including former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson, pointed out, nearly two-thirds of countries trade more with China than with the U.S. Instead of decoupling or deintegrating, many countries are deepening their trade with China.

Many of the U.S.’ allies have realized that the Cold War mentality is outdated and that following the U.S. in provoking a new Cold War does not conform to their interests.

French President Emmanuel Macron called on China and the U.S. to avoid confrontation and stressed that the China-U.S. power struggle poses a huge risk and challenge.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said China is an important trading partner for Germany and for Europe as a whole, and that Germany firmly supports trade liberalization, supports economic globalization, and opposes decoupling.

Germany stands ready for closer trade and economic cooperation with China, and supports more mutual investment by Chinese and German businesses, he said, noting that a multi-polar world is needed and that Germany opposes bloc confrontation.

China does not pursue expansion, pointed out President of the European Council Charles Michel, noting that China is an important partner for upholding the purposes of the UN Charter and supporting multilateralism.

The EU is ready to become a reliable and predictable cooperation partner for China, Michel said.

Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have also stayed vigilant to U.S.’ provocation of bloc confrontation.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee (CPVCC) Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized that Vietnam will not allow any country to establish a military base in Vietnam, or join any military alliance, or use force against any country, or work with one country to oppose another.

Leaders of the Philippines, Thailand, and other Asia-Pacific countries have also made it clear that they will not choose sides between China and the U.S.

The U.S. should let go of its obsession with the Cold War. It should understand that the American hegemony can find no support, bloc confrontation would only lead to a dead end, building “a small yard with high fences” would result in isolation and retrogression, and “decoupling” would hurt others without benefiting itself.

It should adopt a calm, rational, and realistic attitude toward its relations with China and stop containing and suppressing China. In particular, it should truly put into practice its promise that the U.S. side has no intention to seek “de-coupling” from China, to halt China’s economic development, or to contain China.

As a major country in the world, the U.S. ought to shoulder its due responsibilities for the peaceful development of the world.

… urges compliance

A group, College of Bishops, Imams and Clergy Councils (CBICC) has commended the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the extension of the deadline of facing out the old currency notes.

The group also charged Nigerians to take advantage of the extension and deposit their old notes to the commercial banks and other outlets opened for this purpose.

Convener of the group, Bishop Abel King, in a statement signed and made available to journalists in Abuja urged Nigerians to consider the reasons given for the policy bordering on security, curbing vote buying amongst others above the temporary perceived hitches.

Recall that the Federal Government through the CBN announced last year of its decision to redesign the N200, N500 and N100 denominations, a decision it said would help implement better monetary policy as well as enrich the collective memory of Nigeria’s heritage.

There has been outcry over the non-availability of the new notes but the group encouraged citizens to embrace the cashless policy been championed by the Buhari administration saying it will go a long way in curbing corruption and other criminalities.

“We are aware of the difficulties citizens are going through as a result of this policy. We are equally affected and wish the pains were less. However, in view of the far reaching advantages of this policy, we encourage Nigerians to look at the positives the redesigning of the Naira notes seek to achieve. The government has rightly informed that a huge chunk of the nation’s currency is outside the banking sector. We should be worried about the economic implications of such acts. We are also not oblivious of chunks of cash in the hands of terrorists and bandits. This is why we encourage citizens to embrace the new normal of using less cash but do more of electronic transactions as it is done in other civilized climes.

“If limiting the flow of cash will benefit the economy and make kidnapping for ransom and other crimes tractable, the economy will boom and criminality reduced, we should all commend the CBN rather than dissipate energy criticizing the redesigned Naira, we should be encouraged by the advantages the policy brings.

“We call on all well-meaning citizens, traditional rulers, the religious, and opinion leaders amongst others to educate their subject on the advantages of banking especially the unbanked population of our society”, the statement added.

By Wang Junling, People’s Daily

The Ministry of Commerce and the People’s Bank of China recently jointly released a notice on further supporting foreign economic and trade enterprises in expanding the cross-border use of RMB to facilitate trade and investment.

The notice made deployment in supporting RMB settlement for trading in bulk commodities, supporting foreign investors to invest and reinvest in China with RMB, and expanding the use of RMB in overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, so as to nurture a sound environment for the cross-border use of RMB.

Market participants generally believe that RMB cross-border investment and financing, as well as settlement, are becoming more stable and convenient as China gains an increasingly closer economic relationship with the world.

To further improve the fundamental institutional system for the cross-border use of RMB helps promote a virtuous circulation of the currency in both onshore and offshore markets, and will enable Chinese and foreign market entities to launch more efficient cooperation for win-win outcomes.

Today’s China is dubbed the “world factory” because it ranks first in the world in the production of 220 types of industrial products. It is also a “world market” that boasts 1.4 billion people and the world’s largest middle-income group. Besides, the country remains the biggest or most important trading partner for more than 120 countries and regions.

For many economies, RMB settlement will not only save conversion costs of foreign exchange but also free themselves and their trade partners from fluctuations of exchange rate.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

A message released by the Argentine Embassy in China on Jan. 9 excited Wang Shicheng, general manager of a foreign trade company in Shanghai. According to the message, Argentina’s central bank announced to expand a currency swap deal with China, which included a special activation of 35 billion yuan to compensate operations on the foreign exchange market.

It is learned that Wang and his Argentine partners used to settle in U.S. dollars. However, the high and frequent fluctuations in the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the Chinese yuan and the Argentine peso in recent years have put huge pressure on him and his partners.

Therefore, the Chinese businessman and his Argentine partners have always hoped to settle with RMB for their cross-border trade.

“At the fifth China International Import Expo held last November, we agreed to import 20 containers of wine from Argentine and French wineries. The further expansion of the use of RMB is definitely good news to us,” Wang told People’s Daily.

According to the latest statistics released by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), RMB receipts and payments accounted for nearly 50 percent of the country’s cross-border receipts and payments in 2022, up more than 20 percentage points from 2016.

Due to high inflation and tight monetary policy in major economies, the U.S. dollar index vaulted to a 20-year high last year while major currencies, including the euro, yen, and British pound plunged to new lows in the past 20 to 30 years, said SAFE spokesperson Wang Chunying.

The increasing ratio of the use of RMB in cross-border settlement will help reduce currency mismatch risks in cross-border trade, Wang added.

Accroding to Liu Cheng, an associate professor at China’s Nankai University, cross-border RMB settlements related to real economy have kept growing rapidly in recent years, with bulk commodities and cross-border e-commerce sectors emerging as new areas of growth. Two-way cross-border investment activities were dynamic, Liu added.

As the exchange rate of the RMB maintains general stability and bi-directional volatility, the internal demand of market entities for using RMB to avoid exchange rate risks is gradually growing, Liu told People’s Daily.

“The notice will help improve the quality of the supply of financial services in the cross-border use of RMB, better meet the demand of market entities under multiple scenarios such as foreign trade, foreign investment, and contracting overseas engineering projects. It will make the ‘cross-border stage’ of RMB much bigger,” Liu said.

Today, RMB cross-border settlement has become a choice for more and more enterprises. Tang Hongxia with the international site of Alibaba.com, a Chinese online B2B marketplace, said the new measures raised by the notice will further improve the willingness of overseas clients to settle in RMB.

“As a matter of fact, compared with the share of RMB in international payment under the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications and the weighing of the currency in the International Monetary Fund’s currency basket, known as Special Drawing Rights, the proportion of RMB in the global exchange market is still low. It means enterprises still enjoy a huge potential in the cross-border use of RMB,” Liu said.