China.Table

Feature

Green Wall: climate reservoir made of Saxaul trees

In China, an area of about 36,000 square kilometers is to be afforested annually until 2025. One goal of this project is to counteract climate change by creating larger CO2 reservoirs. Although the plan fits in with Beijing's target of a climate-neutral economy by 2060, its origins date much further back.

By Redaktion Table

New Smart: shopping trolley on steroids

Daimler and Geely are turning the 2.70-meter-long Smart into a four-meter-long compact SUV. The new design is an attempt to revive the loss-maker Smart. But the new car is pushing into a market segment with numerous competitors. And: The Smart loses its uniqueness with the new design.

By Frank Sieren

Do bans improve morale?

China's Communist Party is issuing a storm of rules, bans and restrictions. Its focus is on the country's youth – and its Internet companies, which have been enormously successful and profitable up to now. The party not only wants to set new values, but it also wants to set itself apart from the West with these standards. In this way, the CCP is returning to its role as a shaper of society, a role it had actually abandoned after Mao.

By Ning Wang

epa09131916 President Tsai Ing-wen (front C) gestures for photographs during the official launching of Taiwan?s new amphibious transport dock YU SHAN (LPD-1401) in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 13 April 2021. The navy?s new 10,600-tonne warship cost 4.635 billion New Taiwan dollars (163 million US dollars) and is designed to meet operational requirements for amphibious assault, personnel and materiel transport, disaster prevention and relief and humanitarian aid, according to the Navy Command Headquarters.  EPA-EFE/RITCHIE B. TONGO

Taiwan rearms itself to maintain balance

The government in Taipei is buying new military equipment and is even redeveloping its existing systems. The development is reasonable: Under Xi Jinping, the People's Republic shows increasingly clear signals of strength. Moreover, the People's Liberation Army is arming itself. But what seems like an escalation could also follow its own well-balanced logic.

By

Benjamin Wahl

"Mascot Emma has a Weibo account"

Benjamin Wahl, Borussia Dortmund's China head, talks to China.Table about BVB's very special fan culture and how it can be transferred to the Far East. He also talks about Chinese players in the German Bundesliga and the opportunities for Chinese soccer between the five-year plan and grassroots work. Wahl says: "You can't buy success in soccer (after all)." The interview was conducted by Frank Sieren.

By Frank Sieren

Screenshot aus dem wissenschaftlichen Artikel: Zu sehen sind die mit der Bier-Herstellung verbundenen mikrofossilen Überreste und deren Ansicht unter dem Mikroskop.

Bygone beverage: ancient evidence of beer in southern China

In southern China, Archaeologists have discovered the oldest known evidence that a wake included a beer. The 9,000-years-old remains prove that China, which has found its return to a beer nation in recent decades, has a long tradition of barley and rice juice. Once considered a luxury commodity, the People's Republic now consumes twice as much beer as the USA and more than five times as much as Germany.

By Frank Sieren

Closeout at Evergrande – bankruptcy feared

Evergrande's default is emblematic of the systemic problems Chinese real estate groups are facing. For many years, the real estate boom fueled both the country's credit and construction industries. But now the group's shares are falling to their lowest level in six years. Fears of a domino effect are running high.

By Ning Wang

Solar power from space

China wants to send a 1-gigawatt solar power station into orbit by the mid-century. Generating solar power in space has long been considered science fiction. But the threat of a climate catastrophe and Beijing's growing ambitions in space are now moving technology to a whole new realm of possibility. First tests are already scheduled for this year. The Chinese are thus further ahead than their international competitors.

By Frank Sieren

"China must be high on the political agenda"

Annalena Baerbock doesn't think it's a good idea for Germany to go it alone on China policy - because in her view this weakens Europe's position. In the interview she explains her positions on economic decoupling and where cooperation with the People's Republic should take place. The top candidate of the Green Party answered the questions in writing. You can find more interviews with top representatives of German politics ahead of the 2021 federal election here.

By Felix Lee