Hello and welcome to the 17th issue of Beijing Review.

Cover design by Cui Xiaodong

COVER STORY

A Decent Kick-Off focuses on China's better-than-expected economic performance in the first quarter of 2016. This should come as welcome relief to the global economy in which China plays an increasingly prominent role.

NATION

A Matter of Life and Death is an uplifting interview from a top cardiac surgeon in Beijing. Liu Peng has worked relentlessly for over 30 years, barely seeing his family and never going on holiday, yet he's saved countless lives; though his dream was to become a soldier. The operating table is his battlefield.

CULTURE

A Comic Carnival is a light-hearted piece about a recently popular comic strip. The cartoon involves a pair of penguins on a ship.

Copyedited by Dominic James Madar

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