Author: HeraldStar

Shenzhen, China — Mr. Qaiser Nawab, Chairman of the Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development – BRISD , visited the prestigious headquarters of BGI (formerly Beijing Genomics Institute) in Shenzhen, China, to explore opportunities for cooperation in the fields of health, biotechnology, and scientific capacity building across Belt and Road partner countries. Mr. Nawab was warmly received by Mr. Mao Zhixia, Senior Official at BGI and In-charge of South Asia affairs. During the high-level engagement, Mr. Mao provided a comprehensive briefing on BGI’s remarkable journey—from humble beginnings to becoming the world’s largest genomics research institution. He highlighted the organization’s…

An aerial view of the Qiaoxi Historical and Cultural Block in Hangzhou, China’s eastern Zhejiang Province, April 14, 2024. Situated at the southern end of the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal, the block was named after the west bank of the Gongchen Bridge, and it is designated a national-level tourism and leisure block. (Photo by Zhou Fangling) By Loro Horta Many Western observers tend to express biased opinions on China’s environmental policy. A mere decade ago, Western media were full of reports about the pollution in China’s major cities as well as rivers and lakes. Although some of these reports were not…

By Shamim Zakaria Lotus flowers in full bloom at the West Lake, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. (Photo by Xu Xun/China Pictorial) Every time visitors from around the world come to see me in China, alongside their obvious awe for the country’s grand infrastructure, they invariably notice two things about the streets. First, the sheer number of domestic car brands gliding past in a blur of modernity. Second, the green number plates. I often joke with them that once you spot a car model here, it’s almost guaranteed to vanish from sight forever. The variety is staggering. It’s like a showroom…

By Hadia Safeer Choudhry As the world’s two largest economies resumed high-level trade negotiations in London this month, the differences between China and the United States were not only in policy positions — but in postures, tone, and vision. Following a phone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, delegations from both sides began talks aimed at charting a new phase of economic engagement. While the American side — led by Trump himself — wasted no time in declaring “a done deal” through a flurry of social media posts, China remained characteristically composed. With a brief…

By Ewa Radomska A solar farm in Dunhuang, northwestern China’s Gansu Province. China’s achievements in solar and wind power generation are significant, with these energy sources now representing a large proportion of national electricity supplies. (Photo from Unsplash) Electric vehicle (EV) taxis queue at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital in Shenzhen, southern China’s Guangdong Province. Today, more than half of the new cars sold in China are electric or hybrid. (Photo from Unsplash) Global climate change poses a serious threat to the security of the global ecosystem and the socio-economic development of countries. China has actively addressed the impacts…

By Qaiser Nawab The Middle East is once again standing on the brink of a dangerous escalation following the Israeli regime’s brazen attack on Iranian soil — an act widely condemned across the region. Among those martyred in the Israeli assault were General Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), physicist Dr. Muhammad Mahdi Tehranchi, and nuclear scientist Fereydoon Abbasi — all prominent national figures whose contributions extended beyond Iran’s borders. This latest act of aggression reflects a deeply troubling pattern. It coincided with domestic political turmoil in Tel Aviv, where a crucial vote in the Israeli…

By Hadia Safeer Choudhry On June 11, the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.4% year-on-year in May, a slight increase from the 2.3% increase in April, but lower than the market expectation of 2.5%. It seems that after the United States imposed tariffs on the world, the CPI did not meet market expectations. But is this really the case? Real numbers will deteriorate soon The impacts of the pandemic-era government spending and monetary policy that helped support the U.S. economy have faded, and that makes the country vulnerable…

By Qaiser Nawab, Chairman, Belt and Road Initiative for Sustainable Development (BRISD) The release of the Nature Index Research Leaders 2024 underscores a tectonic shift in the global research and innovation landscape. China, for the first time with a wide margin, has firmly cemented its place at the apex of high-quality scientific output, leaving Western institutions, particularly from the United States and Europe, struggling to maintain previous leads. With eight out of the top ten global research institutions now based in China, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) continuing its reign at number one, the message is clear: science…

By Hadia Safeer Choudhry The violent unrest in Los Angeles following a wave of federal immigration raids has shaken the foundations of American federalism and revealed deep fissures in its political and economic systems. What began as a crackdown on undocumented immigrants has spiraled into a multi-layered crisis: one that pits the federal executive against state governments, endangers the constitutional balance of power, and exposes the critical role of immigrant labour in sustaining the United States economy. For the outside world, long conditioned to view the U.S. as a stable democratic model, the optics are disorienting: tear gas in the…

By Hamad Bashir Khattak In today’s digital-first world, climate advocacy no longer lives solely in protests, policy forums, or scientific journals. It thrives — and often struggles — in the algorithm-driven ecosystems of social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube have become the new battlegrounds for climate communication, shaping what people see, believe, and act upon. Algorithms, the invisible gatekeepers of these platforms, determine whether a post calling for urgent climate action reaches millions or disappears into obscurity. They can amplify powerful climate messages — but they can just as easily distort, trivialize, or bury…