Economy & Business

Coronavirus: Shanghai rises to become world's most connected city

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2020/11/26 19:07

Today's Vocabulary

1. dethroned (v)
to beat someone who is the best at something, especially a sport, and become the best yourself

2. hub (n)
the central or main part of something where there is most activity

3. shake (v)
to move backward and forward or up and down in quick, short movements, or to make something or someone do this

4. spokesman (n)
someone who is chosen by a group or organization to speak officially to the public for them

5. mechanism (n)
a way of doing something that is planned or part of a system

6. progress (n)
movement to an improved or more developed state, or to a forward position

Coronavirus: Shanghai rises to become world's most connected city

Shanghai has dethroned London to become the world’s most connected city as the coronavirus shakes up international travel.

London has seen a 67% fall in connectivity in air travel, according to airline industry body IATA. Shanghai has risen up the ranks, and the world’s four most connected cities are now all in China.

“The dramatic shift demonstrates the scale at which the world’s connectivity has been re-ordered over the last months,” said Sebastian Mikosz, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Large transport hubs including London, New York and Tokyo have been hit hard by the dramatic reduction in flights in and out of their cities.

“There are no winners, just some players that suffered fewer injuries. In a short period of time we have undone a century of progress in bringing people together and connecting markets,” he added.

Air travel within China has broadly recovered and during its Golden Week holiday season 425 million people travelled around the country, according to the Chinese tourism ministry.

China has also been gradually opening up travel corridors and discussing quarantine-free travel agreements with a number of countries including Japan and Singapore.

The top four most connected cities in the world are now Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Chengdu. 

Earlier this week, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a “global mechanism” that would use QR codes to open up international travel.

Resource: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-55081925

Discussion
  1. China’s economy is growing 6 times faster than the rest of the world. Is this all good for China?
  2. Chinese could become the world’s number one language one day. What do you think about this?
  3. What springs to mind when you hear the country ‘China’?
  4.  

“I think the rise of China is inevitable, because China has moved from a low-cost producer, at low levels of technology, to higher levels of technology, and because it’s very competitive, even in some high-tech products they offer at very competitive rates – much lower than their competitors.“

Najib Razak

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