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Opinion | The real reason China is pushing for a better global response to the Covid-19 pandemic
- China’s support to other nations is not about seeking greater influence or vaccine diplomacy. Rather, Beijing knows it cannot keep its people safe or sustain economic recovery until the world battles the pandemic as one
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For the northern hemisphere, this winter will be long and harsh due to the pandemic. More than a dozen European countries have seen a second round of lockdowns as Covid-19 cases rise.
Even World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been exposed to the virus and has quarantined himself.
Yet China, the first country to be hit hard by the virus, has essentially returned to normal.
The third China International Import Expo, held in Shanghai from November 4 with quarantine and testing requirements, has exceeded the scale of last year’s expo, with some participants signing on for another three years.
To some, China’s successful pandemic response is due to a strong government that can quickly mobilise resources and coordinate activity. But the key to China’s experience is realising that economic development must be built on mobility and interconnectivity, and that economic well-being and public health are inextricably linked.
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China’s hotel industry rebounds from Covid-19 pandemic during ‘golden week’ holidays
China’s hotel industry rebounds from Covid-19 pandemic during ‘golden week’ holidays
China’s great strides in public transport in the past decade have driven its economic development. Last year, 3.66 billion trips were made on the railways while civil aviation transported 660 million people. And the number of private cars is expected to continue to increase. A decade ago, there were 60 million on China’s roads; today that figure stands at more than 200 million.
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