Deep Dive

Africa was once the world’s most vulnerable part in the pandemic. A lack of vaccines and other medical resources left the continent in desperate hardship. But recently, the World Health Organization indicated that Africa is on track to control the pandemic this year. What’s the situation there now? How has the continent emerged from the novel coronavirus? We check in with China Media Group reporter Gao Junya who’s worked and lived in Zimbabwe for 5 years.

A herd of wild Asian elephants became global stars last year during a long trip in China’s Yunnan Province. What’s going on with them now? Why did they take that trip? Was it an awakening call for us to take actions to protect nature and its biodiversity? We spoke with CGTN reporter Tao Yuan who’s been following this herd.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent trip to Middle East has opened a new era for the relations between China and the Arab world. He attended two regional summits both held in Saudi Arabia and paid a state visit to the country. How important is China for Saudi Arabia? Why is Riyadh pushing for larger-scale cooperation between the two sides? We check in with CGTN reporter Lu Sirui who has been following China's ties with Arab countries.

China has significantly changed its response to COVID-19, from what it calls the dynamic zero policy to a new approach expected to better balance the pandemic control and economic recovery. What has the country achieved and learned from its fight against the coronavirus over the past three years? Why has it decided to make the change? How are people living under the eased control measures? We check in with CGTN reporter Huang Yue.

China vows to further immunize its older population, who are the most vulnerable to COVID-19 infections. The country announced a slew of measures on Wednesday to further optimize its COVID-19 response and getting the elderly vaccinated is one of them. At the same time, a new inhalable vaccine has become popular among the elderly as a booster. Is the new vaccine going to help increase vaccination rates among the elderly? How is the government carrying out the immunization drive for this group? We speak with CGTN reporter Liu Jiaxin for this.

Beijing is hosting a week of diplomacy with visits by state leaders from Cuba, Mongolia, and Laos. A senior European official also arrived on the heels of these visits. Why are these politicians visiting China? What did they discuss? And most importantly, what will follow these talks? We check in with CGTN reporter Huang Yue.

When world leaders gather, meet and talk, we often ask why it matters. During a time when face-to-face meetings are a rarity, the significance of leaders' meetings like the one between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden seem elevated. For this episode, we speak with CGTN current affairs reporter Dong Xue to explore how these meetings could change the political landscape of the world.

Bangkok kicked off the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Friday with talks on trade starring on the agenda. In this episode, we will look at one of Thailand's most signature products: durian. The spiky, pungent fruit makes up a big part of trade across Asia. The two ends of the trade see Thailand being the biggest exporter and China the biggest buyer. How did durians win over the Chinese palate? We check with CGTN Bangkok correspondent Chaowarat Yongjiranon.

Right after the G20 summit wrapped up in Bali, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo witnessed virtually a trial run of the first high-speed railway in Indonesia, built with Chinese technologies. Who's behind the building of the railway? What does this railway mean for the local people? We spoke with CGTN Southeast Asia correspondent, Dusita Saokaew.

This week in Shanghai, companies, governments and individuals gathered elbow-to-elbow for the China International Import Expo. They say the CIIE is a stage to showcase what they’ve got and serves as a communication platform for getting closer to the Chinese market. How does this platform work? What kinds of displays can we find at the expo? Why is the CIIE lucrative for the participants? We explore the event with CGTN Radio reporter Dou Hongyu.