Day: January 2, 2023

BEIJING, Jan. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — China Media Group (CMG) President Shen Haixiong has extended New Year greetings to audiences around the world as the year 2023 descends.

In the address, Shen said that the Communist Party of China successfully held its 20th National Congress in 2022, setting out the task of and pathways to advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

He said that China Media Group has served as a participant, witness and recorder of the new era.

“China Media Group did a great job of broadcasting the grand and magnificent Congress to the world,” he said.

Shen also noted the CMG’s innovative efforts in integrating arts and technology to deliver quality products.

“International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach praised the CMG for the unprecedented scale and success covering the Games. Programs produced by the CMG such as ‘China in the Classics’ and ‘China in Poetry and Painting’ are not only an artistic interpretation of lasting Chinese civilization, but also a continuous pursuit that contributes to the diversity of human civilizations,” he said.

The CMG hosted a number of galas, to mark occasions such as the traditional Spring Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the New Year’s Day holiday.

Shen said that the CMG has also served as a platform to bridge gaps with programs and media forums.

He said that as President Xi Jinping has emphasized on many occasions, China firmly stands on the right side of history and the side of human progress, the CMG has striven to showcase Chinese wisdom and solutions by improving its global news gathering network and through dedication to honing its capability to report on top world news events.

“We now broadcast in 68 languages, up from 44, covering of 233 countries and regions. When reporting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, we have abandoned prejudices, stayed true to the truth and made China’s objective and impartial stance and solutions heard by the international community,” he said.

Shen noted that the coming year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. The CMG will continue to enhance media cooperation, advance exchanges and shoulder its duty as a responsible media organization.

In closing the address, the CMG president wished everyone a happy New Year filled with health, peace and happiness.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yiZRDVJdRQ

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yiZRDVJdRQ

BEIJING, Jan. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Chinese President Xi Jinping Saturday said today’s China is a country full of vigor, vitality and resilience with dreams coming true thanks to persistent efforts of one generation after another.

Xi made the remarks while delivering an address to extend his best wishes to all the 1.4 billion Chinese people on the New Year’s Eve.

“Today’s China is a country where dreams become reality. The Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games concluded in a resounding success. Chinese winter sports athletes gave their all and achieved extraordinary results. Shenzhou-13, Shenzhou-14 and Shenzhou-15 soared into the heavens. China’s space station was fully completed and our ‘home in space’ is roving in the deep-blue sky. The people’s armed forces marked the 95th birthday and all service members are marching confidently on the great journey of building a strong military. China’s third aircraft carrier Fujian was launched. C919, China’s first large passenger aircraft, was delivered. And the Baihetan hydropower station went into full operation… None of these achievements would have been possible without the sweat and toil of the numerous Chinese people. Sparks of talent are coming together, and they are the strength of China!” he said.

“Today’s China is a country brimming with vigor and vitality. Various pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port are booming, innovations are gushing out in the coastal areas, development is picking up pace in the central and western regions, the momentum for revitalization is building in the northeast, and there is greater development and affluence in the border regions. The Chinese economy enjoys strong resilience, tremendous potential and great vitality. The fundamentals sustaining its long-term growth have remained strong. As long as we stay confident and strive for progress while maintaining stability, we will realize the goals we have set. On my visit to Hong Kong earlier this year, I was deeply glad to see that Hong Kong has restored order and is set to thrive again. With determined implementation of One Country, Two Systems, Hong Kong and Macao will surely enjoy long-term prosperity and stability,” he said.

“Today’s China is a country that keeps to its national character. In the course of 2022, we encountered various natural disasters including earthquakes, floods, droughts and wildfires, and experienced some workplace accidents. Amid those disconcerting and heartbreaking scenes, there have emerged numerous touching stories of people sticking together in face of adversity or even sacrificing their lives to help others in distress. Those heroic deeds will be forever etched in our memories. At every turn of the year, we always think of the great character of resilience that the Chinese nation has carried forward through millennia. It gives us still greater confidence as we continue our way forward,” he said.

“Today’s China is a country closely linked with the world. Over the past year, I have hosted quite a few friends, both old and new, in Beijing; I have also traveled abroad to communicate China’s propositions to the world. Changes unseen in a century are unfolding at a faster pace, and the world is not yet a tranquil place. We cherish peace and development and value friends and partners as we have always done. We stand firm on the right side of history and on the side of human progress. We work hard to contribute China’s wisdom and solutions to the cause of peace and development for all humanity,” he said.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVo0FrBjJHM

Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVo0FrBjJHM

BEIJING, Jan. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Shen Haixiong, president of China Media Group (CMG), sent New Year greetings in an address to overseas audiences via CGTN, China Radio International and through the internet on January 1, 2023.

“Bathed in the warm winter sunshine, we welcome 2023, a new year full of promise and expectations. I would like to extend my greetings to you from Beijing,” he said.

Shen noted that in 2022, the Communist Party of China (CPC) successfully held its 20th National Congress, setting out the task of, and pathways to advancing the rejuvenation of the nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.

He said that as a participant, witness and recorder of the new era, CMG presented the grand and magnificent congress to the world and produced a host of quality features to tell China’s remarkable stories during the past extraordinary decade, winning wide acclaim from audiences at home and abroad.

Over the past year, CMG has explored the integrated innovation of “Ideas+Art+Technology” to strive for the goal of delivering quality products across TV channels, networks and platforms.

For instance, in broadcasting the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, CMG adopted cutting-edge technologies to present a “Chinese-style romance” where the Olympic Spirit mingled with Chinese culture and the spark of technology lit up ice and snow. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach praised CMG for the unprecedented scale and success of its coverage of the Games.

Programs produced by CMG such as “China in the Classics” and “China in Poetry and Painting” are not only an artistic interpretation of lasting Chinese civilization, but also a continuous pursuit that contributes to the diversity of human civilizations, Shen added.

He pointed out that CMG shows like the Spring Festival Gala, the Mid-Autumn Festival Gala and the New Year Gala have helped inspire enthusiasm for Chinese culture overseas,  screening events of Chinese film and TV programs have helped build a bridge across civilizations and bring together hearts and minds through images and films.

Following the conclusion of the 20th CPC National Congress, CMG launched a series of 58 overseas media events on “New Journey: China and the World” to discuss the relevance of Chinese modernization and its significance to the world with friends from different countries, receiving support and coverage from more than 2,000 international media outlets.

Moreover, CMG in 2022 has improved its global news gathering network and dedicated itself to honing its capability to report on top world news stories. CMG now broadcasts in 68 languages, up from 44, with a coverage of 233 countries and regions.

In its reporting of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic, Shen said CMG had abandoned prejudices, stayed true to the truth and made China’s objective and impartial stance and solutions heard by the international community.

“The capacity for communication is one essential metric for an international media outlet, and truth is the source of vitality of all media organizations,” he said.

“In the coming year, we will keep forging ahead with enterprise and fortitude, and present new prospects in the new era in China to the international community from multiple perspectives.”

The year 2023 also marks the 10th anniversary of the proposal for the Belt and Road Initiative.

“We will continue to make friends through media cooperation, advance exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and shoulder our duty as a responsible media organization in promoting humanity’s shared values and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” he concluded.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-01-01/CMG-president-sends-New-Year-greetings-to-overseas-audiences-1geIsIF0Xcs/index.html

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1975942/CGTN_New_Year.jpg

BEIJING, Jan. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — With China loosening its COVID-19 restrictions, some experts have expressed concern that China’s relaxation of COVID-19 limitations will enhance the likelihood of the virus mutating.

“It is a worry,” said CNN, citing William Schaffner, professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville City, Tennessee State, and medical director at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.

While the risk of a dangerous new variant emerging in China is “quite low,” said Chris Murray, Seattle-based director of a health research center at the University of Washington, on a CNBC program.

Murray said that it has to have some “special characteristics” for a new variant to emerge and replace Omicron, adding that “it’s probably a small risk at this point.”

Seen from data, the GISAID, a public database based in Germany, released a statement on Friday that recent China’s genome sequence data indicates that “all closely resemble known globally circulating variants seen in different parts of the world between July and December,” when compared with the 14.4 million genomes in the database.

A total of 9 subvariants of Omicron are circulating in China, and no characteristics of genomic mutations have been found in these subvariants yet, Xu Wenbo, director of the National Institute for Viral Disease and Control (NIVDC) of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), said on Tuesday.

China’s efforts in monitoring mutations

Xu said that the country has formulated a work plan to monitor the novel coronavirus variant strains since it optimized COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

The work plan requires choosing three “sentinel hospitals,” set up for monitoring, controlling and treating epidemic and infectious diseases, in each province.

Each sentinel hospital will collect 15 samples in outpatient clinics and emergency departments, 10 severe cases and all fatal cases every week for genome sequencing and analysis, and upload data to the NIVDC, thus establishing a national genome database for the novel coronavirus, according to Xu.

Yang Xiaobing, director at the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the local TV station in an interview that the sentinel hospitals in Wuhan city have collected 40 throat swab samplings each week from mid-December, doubling the previous number, to detect the virus.

All data showed that no other strains have been found circulating in the city from October, except the BA.5.2, according to Yang.

The country has also shared its data with the world. China has been uploading gene sequences to the WHO since the outbreak of the epidemic, so that other countries could develop diagnostic reagents and vaccines based on the data, said Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiologist at the China CDC, on Thursday.

Further information has been shared on Friday. The National Health Commission (NHC) and China CDC held a video meeting with the WHO, and exchanged views on the current COVID-19 situation, treatment and vaccinations. Technical exchanges would be continued to help end the epidemic worldwide as soon as possible, according to the NHC.

China’s response to COVID-19 prevention and control is well founded

China has released multiple measures in the past three years to provide guidance for the prevention and control of the epidemic, including nine versions of the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for COVID-19, 20 optimized measures and new 10 measures. The country will manage COVID-19 with measures aimed at Class-B infectious diseases instead of the more serious Class-A ones from January 8, 2023.

Liang Wannian, head of the COVID-19 response expert panel under the NHC, said that China’s adjustment on the epidemic is based on the understanding of pathogens, the immune level of the population, the resistance capacity of the health system and public health intervention measures.

It doesn’t mean letting go of the virus, but to “allocate resources to the most important tasks of prevention, control and treatment,” said Liang.

China has made efforts to enhance the medical supplies needed, including therapeutic medicines, testing reagents, vaccines, medical masks and protective suits.

More than 3.4 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered till now, with over 90 percent of the population fully vaccinated, Li Bin, deputy head of the NHC, said at a press conference on December 27.

The country’s daily production capacity of antipyretic analgesic drugs ibuprofen and paracetamol has exceeded 200 million tablets, with daily output reaching 190 million, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Thursday, adding that the country’s output of antigen detection reagents has increased from 60 million per day in early December to 110 million per day.

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-31/China-monitors-coronavirus-mutations-to-adjust-COVID-19-response-1gdlTInhRHq/index.html