In2016,Chineseforeignpoliciesbecamemoreactive,confidentandmature.ChinahostedtheG20SummitinHangzhou,whichpromotedglobaleconomicgovernanceandreforms.ChinaenhancedtheestablishmentofaFreeTradeAreaintheAsia-Pacificregionduringthe2016Asia-PacificEconomicCooperation(APEC)summitinLima.Chinaisalsoshoulderingmoreresponsibilitytoaddressglobalclimatechange.RelationsbetweenChinaandthePhilippinesmadeapositivebreakthroughandtheissueoftheSouthChinaSeahasmergedbackontoahealthierdialoguetrack.ChineseForeignMinisterWangYihasreceivedmuchofthecredit.
“HawaiiisfarfromtheU.S.main-land,butitisstillthecountry’sterritory.Sovereigntyoverlanddoesnotdependondistance.”
July13,2015:ChineseForeignMinisterWangYiarrivesatthePalaisCoburgHotel,thevenuefornucleartalksinVienna,Austria.CFPZhouXiaochuan:ThePeople’sBanker
TomeetthedemandsoftheInternationalMonetaryFund(IMF)forSpecialDrawingRights(SDR),thePeople’sBankofChinaimplementedintenseandhigh-qualityreforms.OnOctober1,2016,theIMFannounceditsinclusionofChina’sRMBinthebenchmarkSDRcurrencybasket,whichalreadyincludedtheU.S.dollar,Euro,YenandPound.ZhouXiaochuan,headofthePeople’sBankofChina,believestheRMBwillbecomeastabilizingforceintheinternationalmonetarysystemandpromotereformofglobaleconomicgovernance.
“Balancetheflexibilityandstabilityoftheexchangerateandfirmlycontinuemarket-orientedreformoftheexchangerateoftheRMB.”
ZhouXiaochuan,headofthePeople’sBankofChina,deliversaspeechattheMichelCamdessusCentralBankingLecture.CFPJinLiqun:DevelopmentBanker
TimemagazinelistedJinLiqun,presidentoftheAsianInfrastructureInvestmentBank(AIIB),asoneofits“100MostInfluentialPeople”in2016.After27monthsofpreparation,theAIIBwaslaunchedinBeijingonJanuary16,2016.Sinceitsestablishment,theAIIBhasadoptedinternationalstandardsandcreatedatransparentmanagementsystemtopromotewin-winideas,provingitisnota“pawn”ofChina,anditwillnotweakentheWorldBank.JinLiqunhasbeenlargelycreditedformanyofitssuccesses.TheAIIBBoardhasapprovedloanstotalingUS$509milliontodevelopenergy,transportationandurbaninfrastructureincountrieslikeBangladesh,Indonesia,PakistanandTajikistan.
“Globalcrisescanonlybeaddressedwithinter-nationalcooperation.”
JinLiqunattendsthesigningceremonyoftheMemorandumontheEstablishmentoftheAIIB.CFPMengHongwei:PresidentofInterpol
OnNovember11,2016,the85thInterpolGeneralAssemblyelectedChineseViceMinisterofPublicSecurityMengHongweiaspresidentoftheorganization.Foundedin1914,Interpolistheworld’ssecondlargestinternationalorganizationafteronlytheUnitedNations.InterpolisheadquarteredinLyons,France,andhas190membercountries.
Chinesepolicehavecooperatedwith113countriesandparticipatedin82internationalorganizationsandmultilateralmechanisms.
ChineseViceMinisterofPublicSecurityMengHongweivisitspoliceofficerswhowillbesentonapeacekeepingmissiontoLiberia.CFPJackMa:Mr.Taobao
Onthe2016Singles’Day(anonlineshoppingholidaycreatedbyTaobao),salesvolumeatAlibabaretailwebsitesTmallandTaobaoreached120.7billionyuan(US$17.73billion)injust24hours.Purchasesmadewithmobiledevicesaccountedfor81.87percentofthetotalsales,whichwereshippedto235countriesandregions.Alibabaagainsetanewworldrecordforthelargestone-dayturnoverononee-commerceplatform.China’sSingles’Dayhasbecometheworld’slargestonlineshoppingday,fareclipsing“CyberMonday”intheUnitedStates.
“Thefirsttechnicalrevolutionliberatedhu-mansfrommanuallaborandmadecoaltheproductivematerial.Thesecondtechni-calrevolutionshorteneddistanceswithoilasthedrivingresource.Theinternet-basedtechnicalrevolutionfreedmindswithdataasthecoreresource.Inthefuture,datawillbetheproductionmaterialandcomputingwillbetheproductiveforce.”
March23,2016:JackMa,chairmanofAlibabaGroupattendsBoaoForumforAsiaheldinQionghaiCity,HainanProvince.CFPWangJianlin:China’sWealthiest
WangJianlinappearedinTimeasoneofits“100MostInfluentialPeople”in2016.U.S.-basedbusinessmagazineForbesnotedthatWang,chairmanofWandaGroup,hassurpassedLiKashingtobecometherichestChinesepersonintheworldwithanetworthofUS$28.7billion,rankinghiminthetop20globally.
“WandahasinvestedUS$10billionandemploys20,000peopleintheUnitedStates.Ifpolicieshurtouroperations,Wandawillbeforcedtocutjobs.”
WangJianlin,chairmanofWandaGroup,posesforpicturesafteraninterviewinBeijing.CFPRenZhengfei:ElectronicsTsar
RenZhengfeistartedthetechcompanyHuaweiattheageof43andhasevolvedfrommanagerofahumblefirmtotycoon.RenlaunchedadvancedenterprisemanagementinChinaandmaintainsasharpinsightintothemarket.
In1987,Renamassed21,000yuan(nowUS$3,021)tolaunchHuaweiCompany.In2011,RenfirstmadetheForbeslistwithanetworthofUS$1.1billion.
RenZhengfei,presidentofHuaweiTechnologiesCo.,gesturesashespeaksduringasessionoftheWorldEconomicForuminDavos,Switzerland.CFPMaGuoqiang:ManofSteel
OnDecember1,2016,BaosteelandWuhanIronandSteel(Group)Corp.formallymergedtoformChinaBaowuSteelGroup.Themergerwasmeanttocutexcessivecapacity.China’ssteelindustryisanimportantsectorinwhichcapacityneedstobereduced.Anexpertinfinanceandinvestment,MaGuoqiangispositionedtoleadthegroup,whichindicatesthatreformisthepriorityofChina’sstateownedenterprises.Thefocushasswitchedfrom“managingthebusiness”to“managingthecapital.”
ChinaBaowuSteelGroupemploys228,000peopleandholdsassetstotaling730billionyuan(aboutUS$105billion).Itssalesvolumeisexpectedtoreach330billionyuan(aboutUS$47.5billion)in2017.ItsannualoutputofcrudesteelranksfirstinChinaandsecondintheworld.
MaGuoqiang,thenpresidentofBaosteelGroup,speaksatanewsconferenceinShanghai,China.CFPYuanGeng:ReformPioneer
In1979,YuanGeng(1917-2016)establishedtheShekouIndustrialZone,thefirstofitskindontheChinesemainland,whichearnedhimthestatusofthefirstpractitionerofChina’sreformandopening-uppolicy.In2003,HongKongSpecialAdministrativeRegionawardedhimtheGoldBauhiniaStarforhiseffortstopromoterelationsbetweenHongKongandtheChinesemainland,particularlyintherealmsofeconomicdevelopmentandHongKong’sshippingindustry.OnJanuary31,2016,YuanGengsuccumbedtoillnessinShekouDistrict,Shenzhen,attheageof99.
“IfChinawantstoclimbontotheworldstage,itmustfirstbemoreopentotheworld,especiallywelcomingpositiveforeigninfluence.Chinashouldnotcon-fineitselftoanarrowmindset.”
January2008:YuanGengvisitsShekouIndustrialZoneofShenzhenCity.byChenYihuai/SouthernMetropolisDaily/CFPWuJianmin:WitnessofChineseDiplomacy
WuJianmin(1939-2016)becameadiplomatsoonaftergraduatingfromBeijingForeignStudiesUniversityin1959.HeservedasaninterpreterforChineseleadersincludingMaoZedong,ZhouEnlaiandChenYi.HewasoneoftheearliestChinesediplomatstoworkintheUnitedNationsafterthePeople’sRepublicofChinaregaineditslawfulseatintheinternationalorganization.OnJune18,2016,Wudiedinacaraccidentattheageof77.HisfuneralwasheldinBeijing’sBabaoshanCemetery,andChinesetopleaderspaidtributes.
“Thepresentworldnolongerfollowsthelawsofthejungle.Peaceanddevelopmenthavebecomethemesofthetimes—amajorchangeforinternationalrelations.”
November16,2015:WuJianmingivesalectureataseniorhighschool.byMiNi/CFP