The Resort of Universal Studios in Beijing Set to Boost Tourism

After nearly 20 years of preparation and construction, the Universal Studios resort in Beijing finally opened on September 20, 2021. At 0:00 on September 14th, tickets to the world-renowned theme park officially went on sale. Due to the huge number of visits, the official APP of Universal Studios collapsed for a while. Eight hours later, the official APP and multiple third-party ticketing platforms showed that all tickets for the National Day had been sold out.

Before the opening of Universal Studios, Beijing Happy Valley, which has a history of 15 years, remained the best choice for Beijing’s theme park goers for a long time. However, as for the profit, Happy Valley is making far less money than Universal Studios does. One ticket to Universal Studios is enough to play in Happy Valley for at least a whole year. This comparison is a vivid portrayal of the market appeal gap between “local” theme parks and Universal Studios and Disney. According to the latest data, during the National Day of 2021, Disney and Universal Studios accounted for the top two in the sales of domestic theme park tickets. China still has a long way to go to build its own world class theme parks.

Sino-U.S. Relations Showing Signs of Easing

On October 6, 2021 local time, Yang Jiechi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, met with Sullivan, United States National Security Advisor in Zurich, Switzerland. The two sides exchanged extensive, candid and in-depth views on Sino-US relations and international and regional issues of common concern.

The Biden administration has been seeking to adjust Sino-US relations since it came to power at the end of January 2021. After several months of ups and downs, the two sides finally made positive progress. The high-level meeting between China and the United States in Zurich was constructive for enhancing mutual understanding. However, Yang voiced China’s opposition to defining the bilateral relationship as “competition”. This meeting came in the wake of a series of diplomatic disputes between China and the United States since president Biden took office. At the same time, government departments of Biden administration have also begun to take further actions to ease Sino-US tensions.

Merkel’s Upcoming Retirement Will Mark the Start of a New Era

In the past years, many of the political leaders from major powers have cooperated with Merkel. Now their names sound like historical figures. However, Merkel has always been active in world politics until the latest German election. When she steps down this fall, a generation of Germans will have to begin to adapt to an era without Merkel. The world will miss her as a politician who focuses on facts and evidence, not interested in polarization, and just wants to solve problems. This kind of pragmatism will be missed by the world.

Over the past 20 years, the world has changed from embracing globalization to questioning globalization. The once marginal far-right parties have risen, and she has worked hard to maintain the political integrity of Germany, Europe, and the world. In short, the departure of Merkel heralds the arrival of a new era.

Leading Private Publishers in China are Rushing to Get Listed

With widely spread doubts, leading private publishers have not been eliminated by the seemingly sweeping trend of digitalized publications in the past ten years. On the contrary, they have quietly grown into prosperity. This has something to do with market-oriented reform of the publishing industry and the help of capital in the past ten years. In fact, from 2014 to 2019, the sales of printed books increased by more than 10% every year. Digitalized publications have brought huge impacts on newspapers and periodicals, but when it comes to books, this concern of failing seems to be pointless. In 2021, some leading private publishers will go public one after another.

In recent years, the top private publishers that have received policy and capital assistance have ushered in a new wave of listings. The listing is of special significance to the top private publishers, and it may also mean that they will use stronger funds for industrial integration and accelerate the exploration of the cultural industry’s evolution.