China's Xizang region has seen its economy grow fast over the past decade. Official data shows its GDP exceeded about 29 billion US dollars last year, more than doubling the figures in 2012. What insights can we glean about the tangible transformation of the region from this economic progress?
Host Ge Anna is joined by Dr. Yao Shujie, Chueng Kong Professor of Economics, Chongqing University; Dr. Liu Zhiqin, Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China; and Mario Cavolo, Founder and CEO of M Communications Group and Senior Fellow, Center for China and Globalization.

Panel: How does the reality in Xizang compare to the portrayal in Western media?

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China and Arab states have wrapped up a major forum in Beijing in a sign of deepening cooperation. 

What factors are driving the deepening ties between China and Arab states? How can they work together towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, as well as a more equitable, multipolar world order?

Host Zhao Ying is joined by Zhang Chuchu, Deputy Director, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Fudan University; Steven Wright, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University; Mher Sahakyan, Director of "China-Eurasia" Council for Political and Strategic Research, Armenia; and Timothy Niblock, Emeritus Professor of Middle East Politics, Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.

Panel: What's behind the deepening ties between China and the Arab world?

① Xi Jinping has proposed five cooperation frameworks to step up the building of a China-Arab community with a shared future. What is drawing the two sides closer? (00:51) 
② Liu Jianchao, a senior official of the Communist Party of China, is on a visit to Japan, with resuming ruling party talks being at stake. (14:20) 
③ We look at possible central issues at this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. (25:27) 
④ Why does Thailand aim to become a BRICS member? (35:42)
⑤ Will the ruling ANC fail to win majority in South Africa’s election? (44:15)

How can China and Japan foster an objective mutual understanding?

① In a recent session of senior CPC officials, Xi Jinping stressed youth employment and said that full employment is a priority goal for social and economic development. What are the opportunities and challenges in China’s job market? (00:50) 
② We take a look at a new report released by the Chinese government on human rights violations in the US in 2023. (14:40) 
③ We explore why the US is not in a leading position in the EV sector. (24:44) 
④ A former intelligence chief will lead a right-wing coalition in Netherlands. What could be the new government’s policy directions? (34:51)
⑤ We look at Haiti’s political process where its transitional council has tapped a former prime minister to lead the country again. (42:06)

Xi Jinping’s emphasis on employment in policy priority

① Member states of the World Health Organization have decided not to invite Taiwan to the organization's annual assembly in Geneva. Who is politicizing a health issue to advance their own agenda? (00:54) 
② A decade after China launched the first phase of its semiconductor investment fund, the investment vehicle is now officially into its third phase. We discuss China’s goals on semiconductor. (13:02) 
③ What was behind the rise in China's industrial profit in April? (24:57) 
④ Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is in China to mark a decade of strategic partnership. (33:49)
⑤ The UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in Rafah after a deadly Israeli airstrike killed 45 Palestinians sheltering in a refugee camp. Are there still means to rein in Israel? (45:16)

What’s at stake in China’s new semiconductor investment fund?

① Leaders of China, South Korea, and Japan meet for their first trilateral talks in more than four years. We explore the signals from this move? (00:49) 
② Emmanuel Macron is in Germany for the first state visit to the country by a French president in 24 years. What are the issues where Paris and Berlin don’t really see eye to eye? And what can they agree on? (13:44) 
③ China is to host a major China-Arab cooperation forum this week. What are the issues expected to be the central topics for discussion during the meeting? (24:48) 
④ The International Court of Justice, an arm of the UN, has ordered Israel to suspend its military campaign in Rafah. How might the rulings affect the war in Gaza? (35:01) 
⑤ Nvidia, powered by AI boom, has reported soaring revenue and profits. (42:41)

Panel: How does the reality in Xizang compare to the portrayal in Western media?

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