2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on Maritime Silk Road City Influence closes in China's Wenzhou

STORY: 2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on Maritime Silk Road City Influence closes in China's Wenzhou SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 24, 2023 DATELINE: Nov. 25, 2023 LENGTH: 0:01:14 LOCATION: WENZHOU, China CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of the conference 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): NICOLA CASARINI, Senior Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): AUGUSTO SOTO, Professor, Esade Ramon Llull University STORYLINE: The 2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on Maritime Silk Road City Influence wrapped up Saturday in east China's Wenzhou City, an important node along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. The two-day conference explored the history of the Maritime Silk Road and promoted the Silk Road spirit through city and people exchanges, advancing the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). SOUNDBITE 1 (English): NICOLA CASARINI, Senior Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali "Italy like China is an ancient civilization. And if we go back in time during the Song (960-1279) and

It's wrong to intervene in other countries under pretext of democracy: Spanish expert

STORY: It's wrong to intervene in other countries under pretext of democracy: Spanish expert DATELINE: March 25, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:43 LOCATION: Beijing CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of street scenes in the U.S. 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): AUGUSTO SOTO, ESADE Business School in Barcelona 3. various of street scenes in Iraq 4. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): AUGUSTO SOTO, ESADE Business School in Barcelona 5. various of street scenes in China STORYLINE: A Spanish expert has said it's wrong to intervene in other countries' internal affairs under the pretext of promoting democracy. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): AUGUSTO SOTO, ESADE Business School in Barcelona "The United States has to be careful. If you go move around and claim that this is for democracy, for example, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in different kinds of interventions around the world, that's wrong. That's absolutely wrong. Very often, this claim of democracy is an alibi in order to influence or impose certain norms upon others. We should not move around

China's whole-process people's democracy works for Chinese: foreign scholars

STORY: China's whole-process people's democracy works for Chinese: foreign scholars DATELINE: March 23, 2023 LENGTH: 0:02:18 LOCATION: Beijing CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. STANDUP (English): LIANG WANSHAN, Xinhua correspondent 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ADHAM SAYED, Assistant professor, Zhejiang Gongshang University 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): AUGUSTO SOTO, Professor, ESADE Business School in Barcelona 4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): ALI SHAH, Head of Research, NUST Institute of Policy Studies (NIPS), National University of Sciences & Technology in Pakistan STORYLINE: STANDUP (English): LIANG WANSHAN, Xinhua correspondent "An international forum themed 'Democracy: the Shared Human Values' has been held in Beijing. China's whole-process people's democracy is one of the topics most touched upon by experts attending this event. We have spoken with some of them to get their thoughts on Chinese democracy." SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ADHAM SAYED, Assistant professor, Zhejiang Gongshang University "The most important and

Spanish economy not to return to pre-COVID levels until 2024: economist

STORY: Spanish economy not to return to pre-COVID levels until 2024: economist DATELINE: Feb. 14, 2023 LENGTH: 00:02:46 LOCATION: Madrid CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE (English): OMAR RECHEDI, Professor of economics at Esade Business School STORYLINE: The Spanish economy will continue to grow during 2023 but the recovery will not be quick and it won't return to pre-COVID levels until 2024, an economist from the Esade Business School told Xinhua in an interview. SOUNDBITE (English): OMAR RECHEDI, Professor of economics at Esade Business School "The predictions of the central bank of Spain are for growth of the Spanish economy in 2023 of around 1.2 percent. So what this means is that the Spanish economy will recover to the level of economic activity that it had previously to COVID only in 2024. To some extent, there are mixed results. On one hand, much weaker growth notwithstanding the strong numbers, and on the other hand, the optimism that the economy has been able to withstand the negative shoc

Scholars share views on CPC's role in China's development

STORY: Scholars share views on CPC's role in China's development DATELINE: Nov. 5, 2022 LENGTH: 00:05:20 LOCATION: Beijing CATEGORY: POLITICS/ECONOMY/CULTURE SHOTLIST: 1. various of the symposium 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Russian): SHERADIL BAKTYGULOV, Kyrgyzstan's National Institute for Strategic Studies 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): AUGUSTO SOTO, Director of "the Dialogue with China" Project & Professor of ESADE Business School in Spain 4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): SEAN SLATTERY, English expert at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee 5. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MARTIN JACQUES, British scholar 6. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): KHALID TAIMUR AKRAM, Executive director of Pakistan Research Center for a Community with Shared Future (PRCCSF) 7. SOUNDBITE 6 (English): PEGGY CANTAVE FUYET, French expert at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee 8. SOUNDBITE 7 (English): DRAGANA MITROVIC, Director of Institute of Asian Studies of Political Science Department, Universit

Türkiye expects to welcome European tourists escaping surging winter heating bills

STORY: Türkiye expects to welcome European tourists escaping surging winter heating bills DATELINE: Sept. 17, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:44 LOCATION: BARCELONA, Spain CATEGORY: SOCIETY SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): PEDRO AZNAR, Associate Professor from Esade Business school in Madrid 2. SOUNDBITE 2 (Turkish): NALAN YESILYURT, Member of board of directors, Association of Turkish Travel Agencies STORYLINE: Türkiye was promoting a balmy winter stay along its southern Mediterranean coast for European tourists, as a tough winter looms amid the continent's prolonged energy crisis. Europeans are bracing for much higher household heating bills for the coming season as their countries continue to bear the brunt of natural gas shortages triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): PEDRO AZNAR, Associate Professor from Esade Business school in Madrid "Probably the most decisive element is that we have an almost unprecedented escalation in energy prices. This escalation in energy prices is the resu

Chinese currency RMB to become more important: professor in Madrid

STORY: Chinese currency RMB to become more important: professor in Madrid DATELINE: April 8, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:18 LOCATION: Madrid CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Renminbi 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): OMAR RACHEDI, Professor, Dept of Economics, Finance and Accountancy at ESADE 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): OMAR RACHEDI, Professor, Dept of Economics, Finance and Accountancy at ESADE STORYLINE: A professor at the ESADE business school in Madrid believe that Chinese currency renminbi (RMB) will continue to become more important on the world stage. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): OMAR RACHEDI, Professor, Dept of Economics, Finance and Accountancy at ESADE "Basically, the main sources that are behind this rapid growth are, first of all, the rapid increase in the share of Chinese GDP in world GDP, the stronger trade ties of China with international partners." According to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund, in the fourth quarter of 2021, the RMB accounted for 2.79 percent of the composition of w