Every time Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers New Year address, his office bookshelves inside the Zhongnanhai compound have always been studied by curious bookworms across the country and the world. As the camera pans, careful viewers can find that in Xi’s book collections are some quintessential French masterpieces, including The Spirit of Laws, Les Miserables, The Red and The Black, and The Human Comedy. “I developed a keen interest in French culture and particularly French history, philosophy, literature and art…

China’s economic outlook remains positive as the country’s consumer spending surged in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, signaling a strong contribution to domestic demand and overall economic growth China’s retail sales of consumer goods, a major indicator of the country’s consumption strength, climbed 4.7 percent year on year in Q1 2024, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Analysts believe that the sustained growth in consumer spending is a testament to China’s economic resilience and the…

China has sped up industrial upgrading by cultivating new quality productive forces, laying a solid foundation for strengthened recovery momentum this year and beyond. The following are some figures highlighting the country’s progress in certain areas within the first quarter (Q1) of this year. EMERGING INDUSTRIES The high-tech manufacturing sector registered a growth of 7.5 percent in Q1, accelerating by 2.6 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2023. Investment in high-tech industries has experienced robust growth, increasing by 11.4…

China’s ongoing drive to advance high-quality development will create new opportunities for enterprises, according to industry insiders who joined the fourth episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk platform hosted by Xinhua News Agency “We started from scratch like many other small Chinese companies, but after reaching a certain size, we had to undergo a major transformation to extend the growth momentum,” said You Hongtao, chairman of Chongqing Pharscin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Today the company is listed on…

China’s economic performance achieved a “good start” in the first quarter of 2024, bringing certainty to the volatile global economic landscape, according to a guest speaker at the fourth episode of the China Economic Roundtable, an all-media talk platform hosted by Xinhua News Agency. The global economic landscape will still see a year full of uncertainty, with complicated international environment, frequent geopolitical conflicts, and the trend of high inflation, high debt pressure, high interest rates and low economic growth remaining…

The Chinese economy has seen its recovery gather steam in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, displaying strength and resilience and bringing much-needed certainty to an otherwise uncertain global economic landscape. In the first three months of the year, China’s GDP expanded 5.3 percent from one year earlier, accelerating from 5.2 percent in the previous quarter, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. Acknowledging the performance as a “good start,” guest speakers at the fourth episode of the…

“It is not uncommon for a country to create a railway, but it is uncommon for a railway to create a country,” Sir Charles Eliot, then commissioner of British East Africa, made the bold statement in 1903. Eliot, “who initiated the policy of white supremacy in the British East Africa Protectorate (now Kenya),” according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica website, was referring to the meter gauge railway built by British colonialists in East Africa between 1896 and 1901. The railway, emblematic…

At 5:30 p.m., the square in front of the Rohero courthouse comes alive. In the heart of Bujumbura, Burundi’s capital, Tuesdays are transformed into a celebration of tradition. As they do every week, the drummers take out their instruments to begin the ritual rehearsals. As soon as the first beats are heard, a crowd gathers, attracted by the spectacle of the ritual dance. Passers-by, on their way home from work, stop to soak up the vibrant atmosphere for a few…

Tanzania is an important Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) hub in Africa. It signed a BRI cooperation memorandum with China in 2018. Bilateral exchanges have been on the rise since then.  On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the launch of the initiative, ChinAfrica sat down with Mbelwa Kairuki, Tanzanian ambassador to China, to hear his insights on the BRI, especially the changes brought by the BRI to the local people’s lives. Edited excerpts of the interview follow:  ChinAfrica: How did…

On 11 March, the Senegalese U20 National Team won the Africa Cup of Nations by defeating Gambia 2-0. Led by Malick Daf, the team performed impressively throughout the tournament, winning all of their matches, scoring 14 goals, and not conceding a single one. The Senegalese players also won the tournament’s best player, top scorer and best goalkeeper awards.  This continental triumph follows a dominant performance by Senegalese footballers in 2022, when the Senegalese National Team won the prestigious Africa Cup…