A Guide To Contemporary China

Gearing Up For Military Recruitment

Military recruitment for the first half of 2022 will start on Feb. 15 and end on March 31, according to the Central Military Commission. Recruitment for the second half of the year will run from August. 15 to September 30. Starting last year, China’s military extended conscription from once a year to twice a year. According to the conference, military recruitment this year mainly targets college students and graduates, and priority shall be given to students majoring in science and engineering and those with skills needed for war preparedness.

Applicants can apply online via the website www.gfbzb.gov.cn.

Source: People’s Daily

China Needs Foreigners

China’s foreign population has plunged during the pandemic. As the coronavirus began spreading across the country in early 2020, hundreds of thousands of overseas nationals fled to what they assumed were safer parts of the world. Many never returned. In March last year, China introduced a near-total ban on foreign nationals entering the country. Nearly two years later, border restrictions remain extremely tight, leaving large numbers of expats effectively stranded outside China. As many as 100,000 foreigners may be waiting for permission to return to Shanghai alone, local media outlet SmartShanghai estimates. The expat shortage is causing businesses — and multinationals especially — some serious headaches. Foreign staff often have skills that are hard to replace: from language teachers with native speaking ability to international sales executives with experience and established networks in overseas markets.

Source: Sixth Tone

Fined For Bad Review

A postgraduate student in Beijing has been fined $500 for negatively reviewing a graduate test preparation program on Zhihu, a Chinese Q&A site similar to Quora. The program is run by Guangxi Wenkao Education Consulting Co., Ltd., and is operated through the website Wenkao.com. It is described as an exam preparation service for master’s degree students in the field of liberal arts and sciences. According to the Chinese publication The Paper, the student wrote on Zhihu on April 7, 2020, “The website was trying to have a fight on WeChat. Whoever left reviews with their real names would be cyberbullied.” The platform deleted the comment in January 2021 “due to violations of the company’s rights and interests,” The Paper reported and sued the student.

Source: Radii China

Virtual Singer To Welcome Fans To Games

China’s first vocaloid – a computer-generated, voice-synthesized pop star – Luo is set to perform at the 22nd “Meet in Beijing” International Arts Festival in late January to welcome the upcoming Being Olympic Winter Games. Luo will sing a Winter Olympic-themed song while wearing outfits that also incorporate winter elements. The only virtual singer officially invited to promote the Games, Luo released the Winter Games-inspired song “Time to Shine” at an online music collection event held to welcome the Games. To celebrate the 100-day countdown online, a specially designed music video featuring Luo and other uploaders on Chinese video site Bilibili was released.

Source: Global Times

China Needs More Children

The appearance in old neighbourhoods of well-equipped children’s playgrounds reflects the steps China is taking to create more favourable conditions for child-rearing. The world’s most populous country is bracing for the prospect of low fertility rates, which many countries, particularly the advanced economies, are experiencing. The latest census showed that the country’s total fertility rate was at a low level of 1.3 in 2020. In 2015, all couples were permitted to have a second child. In 2021, this was expanded to three children for each family. It was followed by a slew of supportive measures. The country’s population and family planning law was amended to foster a more birth-friendly society. The country is also on the move to develop childcare services and improve the affordability and availability of pre-school education. Government funding for public childcare services and support to the private sector in developing the services will increase during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). As for preschool education, the authorities will increase the gross enrolment ratio in kindergartens to over 90 percent by 2025.

Source: China Daily

Chinese Film Shortlisted For The Oscars

Director Zhang Yimou’s spy thriller Cliff Walkers is the Chinese mainland’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars. Featuring a star-studded cast of China’s leading talent, including Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei and Qin Hailu, Cliff Walkers, set in the 1930s in China’s northeast during the Japanese invasion, follows four Chinese special agents who return to China on a secret mission after receiving training in the Soviet Union. A total of 93 films from around the world were submitted for the coveted prize, including three Chinese-language films. These films were shortlisted to 15 films in the category and the winner will be announced at the 94th Oscars which will be held in March next year.

Source: Xinhua