.....alternatively, CX could address the problem at it's root cause.
Consider - does this happen in other ATC areas? - answer I would suggest is no.
So why does it happen just north of the border? -
Very simple - the noodle slurpers in whose airspace we fly, just crack on the whole time in some unintelligible verbal barbed wire that is meant to pass for mandarin / putonghua at a guess, not un-naturally one tends to switch off to random discussion about the market price of fish.
Consequently, when they do try and call an English speaking crew, because the controllers sound like they have a bunch of marbles in their mouth, it still sounds like barbed wire rather than English. Hence no reply.
So here's a suggestion - they want to be thought of as world leaders and the next super power, how about getting them off their peasant mentality of random chit chat on control frequencies, and when they do have something important to say - do it in f@rkn English!
Give Air China crews their due, they must have a mandate to talk in English, as they seem to do this even when the controllers talk to them in barbed wire!
Really, Chinese ATC need to get with the program, and CX, along with the other English speaking airlines who have to wade through the sludge of Chinese ATC, through ICAO should tell China to assemble their faeces in one sock. Unfortunately, the powers that be would rather patch holes in a broken system with the headset NTC which is clearly nothing more than a poorly thought out knee-jerk band-aid.