VOICES

“The Beijing 2022 could not have achieved this level of excellence without the support of the Chinese people. We could feel their warmth， energy， hospitality and support. They were greatly committed to the success of the Games.”

—The International Olympic Committee （IOC） has awarded the Olympic Cup to the Chinese people， IOC President Thomas Bach announced during the 139th IOC session on February 19.

“The risk is that the economic crisis of inflation and higher interest rates will spread due to financial fragility. Tighter global financial conditions and shallow domestic debt markets in many developing countries are crowding out private investment and dampening the recovery.”

—World Bank Group President David Malpass said in a report on February 15. The report showed that 46 percent of businesses in developing countries are expected to fall into arrears， warning that loan defaults could now “sharply increase”.

“We can end the COVID-19 pandemic as a global health emergency this year. We have the tools…. Compared with the costs of another year of economic turmoil， 16 billion dollars is， frankly， peanuts.”

—WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on February 18. He called on all countries to fill the urgent financing gap of US$16 billion for the Access to COVID-19 Tools （ACT） Accelerator to make vaccines， tests， treatments and personal protective equipment available globally

21.8%

China's tablet computershipments expanded 21.8 percentyear on year in 2021， the highestgrowth rate in nearly seven years.Tablet computer shipments

totaled around 28.46 millionunits， according to the industryreport published by the globalmarket research firm InternationalData Corporation （IDC）.In thefourth quarter of last year， China'sshipments of tablets jumped20.9 percent year on year to7.42 million units.IDC's dataalso revealed that global tabletmanufacturers shipped 168 milliontablet devices in 2021， the highestlevel since 2016.

US$2.85

Bilateral trade between BruneiDarussalam and China has reached a record high of US$2.85 billion in 2021， said Chinese Ambassador to Brunei Yu Hong during an online media briefing on February 17.

This was a 46.6-percentincrease compared to the previous year， she said. Chinese exports to Brunei reached US$630 million， up 35.2 percent year on year， while Chinese imports from Brunei reached US$2.22 billion， up 50.1 percent year on year. The growth rate between China and Brunei is faster than the 28.1-percentgrowth rate between China and ASEAN in 2021.

67.3%

The Asian and African marketsplayed an important role in the growth of Vietnam’s trade thanks to positive import-export figures in 2021， according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam. Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the Asia-Africa regions topped US$444 billion in 2021， up 23 percent year on year， or 67.3 percent of Vietnam’s total trade value. Vietnam’s exports to the two blocs hit US$165.9 billion， a year-on-year increase of 15 percent or equivalent to 50.2 percent of the country’s total export turnover.