85% of China's population to speak Putonghua, or Mandarin Chinese by 2025 By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-12-02 11:00 The number of Chinese people who speak Putonghua, or Mandarin Chinese, will be increased to 85 percent of China's population by 2025, according to a recent circular. The circular, released by the Ministry of Education, highlighted the fundamental role that schools play in the teaching of the standardized Chinese language and characters. It also called for wider access to standardized Chinese education in ethnic minority areas, and urged the protection of the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities as well as the improvement of their quality of education. The study of and guidance over new words and expressions, acronyms and foreign language words will be strengthened, while the use of language on new media will be standardized, the circular said. It highlighted the significance of promoting Chinese language education and services internationally, as well as the language's influence in the academic field. This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.

Bringing more tourists and put business back on track with bullet trains By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-12-01 11:00 For Benny Kong, a hotel owner and co-founder of a tour company in Laos, the China-Laos Railway is poised to get tourism roll again. The 33-year-old Singaporean, who lives in Laos, set up the MyLao-Home boutique hotel 14 years ago after a backpacking trip to Laos. That's when he discovered there was demand for hotels in Luang Prabang, a former Laotian capital and a World Heritage Site listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Kong's business was growing in tandem with the tourism industry in Laos－until the pandemic stuck. After opening MyLaoHome in 2007, he watched the business grow over more than a decade as more overseas visitors traveled to Laos and made their way to the northern city famed for its temples and mountain scenery. The original 12-bedroom guesthouse was expanded to more than 60 rooms. Then, Kong and other business operators had to contend with COVID-19. Before the pandemic hit, tourist arrivals in Laos grew by 11.5 percent year-on-year in 2019, taking the country to 16th place on a list of the top 20 fastest-growing tourism destinations, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. More than 1 million Chinese visitors arrived in Laos in 2019, a jump of 265 percent over the same period in the previous year. In 2019, Kong and his business partners launched Discover Laos Today, an online tour platform presenting videos and pictures of tourist destinations. Going digital not only served him well when the tourist industry was badly hit by the pandemic but positions him to attract more foreign visitors once border restrictions are lifted. "The website runs three languages－Lao, English and Thai－and we plan to launch our Chinese-language site in the near future," he said. Kong said he is pinning his hopes on the China-Laos Railway, which is expected to open this week. "The train will be a gigantic boost as many tourists consider convenience and safety as key factors," he said, adding that his company is setting up a branch in China, in the hope to draw more Chinese tourists. Connecting Kunming with Vientiane, the rail services are expected to cut the journey to less than 10 hours with tunnels blasted through mountains and multiple bridges on the more than 1,000 kilometers of track. Buses take around 30 hours. Kong said he plans to be on the first train when it is opened to the public and bring his team to make a video about it. This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.

WHA looking for 'pandemic treaty' amid growing concerns over Omicron By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-11-30 11:00 A special session of the World Health Assembly (WHA) kicked off here on Monday amid growing concerns over the latest Omicron coronavirus variant, where the participants aim to negotiate a new "pandemic treaty." The WHA May session this year decided to set up a working group to consider the findings and recommendations of a number of panels and committees on global preparedness for and response to COVID-19 before starting their discussions on Monday on the potential new "legally binding agreement between nations." "COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated fundamental weaknesses in the global architecture for pandemic preparedness and response," said World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the opening of the special session. "The best way we can address them is with a legally binding agreement between nations, an accord forged from the recognition that we have no future but a common future," he said. According to Tedros, the new "pandemic treaty" is expected to address COVID-19 as "a crisis of solidarity and sharing." "The lack of sharing of PPE (personal protective equipment), tests, vaccines, technology, know-how, intellectual property and other tools hindered our collective ability to prevent infections and save lives," he said, noting the lack of a consistent and coherent global approach has resulted in "a splintered and disjointed response, breeding misunderstanding, misinformation and mistrust." The WHA special session coincides with the emergence of the highly mutated Omicron virus variant, which was designated by the WHO as a "variant of concern" (VOC) just three days ago. Though the WHO has said it is not yet clear whether Omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe disease than the other known variants, including Delta, concerns over its influence on the efficacy of existing vaccines and treatments have been growing. A number of countries have already introduced entry bans on travelers from South Africa, where Omicron was first confirmed on Nov 9 and has been identified in multiple European countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Portugal, and Sweden. Sweden's Public Health Agency on Monday confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant, found when a traveler who last week returned to Sweden from South Africa was tested. Portugal's National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) on Monday confirmed 13 cases of the Omicron variant in Portugal among players and staff members of the football club Belenenses SAD. The INSA said that the samples were collected and analyzed on Sunday, and that one of the players who tested positive had recently returned to the country from South Africa. In Germany, the COVID-19 seven-day incidence rate climbed to a new all-time high of 452.4, up from 386.5 a week ago, the Robert Koch Institute for i...

Beijing to standardize Chinese and foreign-language signs in public venues By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-11-29 11:00 Beijing has recently issued a regulation that requires the setup of standardized Chinese and foreign-language signs in five categories of public venues, said the foreign affairs office of the municipal government. The regulation is aimed at elevating Beijing's international service level, improving its function as an international exchange center, and promoting the high-level opening up and high-quality development of the capital city. The five categories include public transport venues such as airports and railway stations; venues for large-scale international events like sports, conferences, and expos; communities with a mass of foreigners; emergency shelters; and other significant public venues of culture, tourism, and sports. The regulation will take effect starting Jan 1, 2022. This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.

E-retailers count on Black Friday to promote consumption By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-11-26 11:00 Cross-border e-commerce platforms are doubling down on the Black Friday shopping carnival, which falls on Nov 26 this year, as young Chinese consumers, especially those living in lower-tier cities, have shown vibrant purchasing power for cross-border online shopping, industry experts said. The COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid development of the digital economy had a profound impact on Chinese consumers' attitudes and buying patterns, they said, adding the boom in celebrity livestreaming has spurred cross-border e-commerce purchases by domestic consumers. US tech giant Amazon kicked off this year's Black Friday shopping festival on Nov 19. The 12-day gala is offering over 32 million authentic commodities covering over 550,000 international brands. Products for sale are from four countries－the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany. There are also tailor-made discounts for Chinese consumers. Li Yanchuan, head of the China Global Store and Prime, Amazon, said the "stay-at-home economy" has activated more consumption scenarios and needs, and shopping for health and quality life has become the new norm. "Beauty, personal care and clothing have been the most popular categories among consumers in cross-border online shopping." Moreover, products like tableware and kitchen utensils, small home appliances, and gardening tools are very popular, Li said. For example, Tefal frying pans, DeLonghi coffee makers, and Koizumi study desks have gained popularity among more and more Chinese consumers. Although orders of cross-border online shopping are still mainly from first-tier cities, residents living in lower-tier cities have displayed fast-growing purchasing power, a report jointly released by Amazon Global Store and Baidu said. The report said the post-1990s generation is emerging as mainstream consumers, and cross-border online shoppers are clearly getting younger. The proportion of post-1990 users among the overall cross-border online shoppers has been increasing over the past few years. It also said the growth of products in the healthcare category was very eye-catching due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and categories related to outdoor activities, such as tents and outdoor cooking utensils, were also welcomed by consumers. Black Friday, which marks the start of the Christmas shopping season in the West, is a manic shopping day featuring deep discounts and packed retail outlets. In recent years, it has evolved into a bonanza for brick-and-mortar retailers, e-commerce players and consumers around the world. An increasing number of Chinese consumers have participated in the global shopping festival in recent years. Mo Daiqing, a senior analyst at the Internet Economy Institute, a domestic consultancy, said major online cross-border retailers still hope to grasp opportunities arising from the enduring enthusiasm of consumers, ...

US fought a head-on battle with COVID-19 as cases rise in holiday season By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-11-25 11:00 As families prepare to gather over the Thanksgiving holiday, COVID-19 cases are once again hiking in most parts of the United States after a steady decrease since mid-September, with new cases increasing by 25 percent nationally in the past two weeks and 40 percent or more in 14 most-affected states. "Some of the biggest spikes have been in the Midwest, a region where COVID-19 cases hit an all-time high around this time last year. Michigan and Minnesota, which had only modest waves during the late-summer surge, are now seeing the most cases per capita in the country," reported The New York Times (NYT) on Wednesday. "Some hospitals across the country are being overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases and staffing shortages, and surges tied to holiday gatherings could make it worse. Hospitals in the cold Upper Midwest, especially Michigan and Minnesota, are also filled with COVID-19 patients who are mostly unvaccinated," reported USA Today on Wednesday. For the holiday, "We would encourage people who gather to do so safely after they've been fully vaccinated, as we've been saying for months now," said Rochelle Walensky earlier this week, who is director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The overall vaccination rate is higher in the United States now than it was during the summertime wave, meaning more people are protected from severe disease, but waning immunity could also play a role, Lauren Ancel Meyers, an epidemiologist at The University of Texas, told NYT. "We may have higher levels of immunity in many US communities, acquired through a combination of primary vaccines, booster doses and recent infections," said Meyers. "However, waning immunity means that people who were infected early in the pandemic or received their last dose of vaccine more than six months ago may once again be vulnerable to severe infections." Other senior health officials are also repeatedly appealing for Americans to get vaccinated, and get their booster shots, as cases tick back up across the country and the approaching holiday season brings with it more indoor, maskless gatherings, reported The Washington Post (WP) on Wednesday. Anthony Fauci, US President Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, said on Tuesday in an interview that the "overwhelming majority" of vaccinated Americans should receive a booster dose, adding the definition of a full vaccination could expand to include three doses of an mRNA vaccine such as those from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, or two doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. As of Wednesday morning, 230,669,289 people had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, making up 69.5 percent of the whole US population. Fully vaccinated people stood at 195,973,992, accounting for 59 percent of the total. A total of 36,640,102 people, or 18.7 percent of the fully vaccinated group, according...

US to make release of 50 million barrels of oil from strategic petroleum reserve By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-11-24 11:00 The US Department of Energy will make available releases of 50 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to lower oil prices and address the mismatch between demand exiting the pandemic and supply, the White House said. Of the 50 million barrels, 32 million barrels will be an exchange over the next several months, releasing oil that will eventually return to the SPR in the years ahead, according to the White House. Meanwhile, 18 million barrels will be an acceleration into the next several months of a sale of oil that Congress had previously authorized, the White House said. The White House noted that this release will be taken in parallel with other major energy consuming nations, which would help lower oil prices. "This culminates weeks of consultations with countries around the world, and we are already seeing the effect of this work on oil prices. Over the last several weeks as reports of this work became public, oil prices are down nearly 10 percent," the White House said. The announcement came as US gasoline prices and inflationary pressures have climbed in recent weeks. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was 3.403 US dollars as of Tuesday, 1.29 dollars more than a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). "Today's announcement reflects the President's commitment to do everything in his power to bring down costs for the American people and continue our strong economic recovery," the White House said, adding the president stands ready to take additional action, if needed, to work in coordination with the rest of the world to maintain adequate oil supply. The SPR, the world's largest supply of emergency crude oil, was established by the US federal government in the 1970s primarily to reduce the influence of disruptions in supplies of petroleum products. As of Nov 19, the SPR held 604.5 million barrels of crude oil, including 352 million barrels of sour crude and 252.5 million barrels of sweet crude, according to the US Energy Department. This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.

Thai gov't to strengthen collaboration with China's Huawei amid COVID-19 pandemic By Target Language Translation Services | Updated: 2021-11-23 11:00 The Thai government intends to further strengthen its digital cooperation with Chinese technology company Huawei, senior Thai officials said at a cloud event held in Bangkok this week. During the Powering Digital Thailand 2022 on Nov 17-19, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said digital infrastructure, such as 5G, is crucial to Thailand's economic and social development, especially for the country's post-pandemic economic revival. Badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism-reliant nation registered an economic contraction of 6.1 percent last year, the worst in more than 20 years. However, the pandemic has significantly accelerated the adoption of digital technologies in Thailand, where Chinese tech companies have competitive advantages. During the pandemic, Huawei utilized its technology to help local hospitals implement systems for automated medical supply, AI-backed diagnosis and remote treatment, which greatly improved the efficiency of hospitals and made healthcare more accessible. Fueled by Thailand's digital roadmap, Huawei has focused on assisting the country in building 20,000 5G stations in the past two years. Currently, Thailand has more than 4.2 million 5G subscribers, leading in 5G adoption among ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. Another strength of Huawei has been its cloud capabilities. Deng Feng, general manager of Huawei Thailand, said Huawei Cloud is the only cloud service provider with local data centers in Thailand, considering that data localization is a key trend of global enterprises due to government regulations as well as security concerns. He stressed the Huawei will support Thailand's low-carbon and digital development in the future in four areas, including expanding 5G coverage and usage, offering cloud services, creating low-carbon development with digital energy, and cultivating industry talents. Thai Minister of Digital Economy and Society Chaiwut Thanakamanusorn expressed his hopes for comprehensive collaboration between the Thai government and Huawei to facilitate the country's digital economy, which is targeted to account for 30 percent of the GDP by 2030. According to a joint report released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company earlier this month, Thailand's digital economy is expected to exceed $30 billion this year, up 51 percent, making it the second-largest market in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Huawei's Rotating Chairman Guo Ping said the company will continue innovating and building a tech ecosystem to facilitate faster digitalization in Asia-Pacific, and invest $100 million over the next three years to build a startup ecosystem in the region. This article is reprinted from China Daily. If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.