People's Daily - July 6, 2026

Xi Jinping's Excerpts on Grassroots Work Methods Published and Distributed

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 5 – The book Excerpts from Xi Jinping's Discourses on Grassroots Work Methods (《习近平关于基层工作方法论述摘编》), compiled by the Party History Research Center of the CPC Central Committee (中共中央党史和文献研究院), has been recently published by Central Party Literature Press (中央文献出版社) and distributed nationwide.

Grassroots are the foundation of the Party's governance and the source of its strength, and the foothold of all work. Whether during his time working in local areas or after coming to work at the central level, Comrade Xi Jinping has always valued the grassroots, cared about the grassroots, gone deep into the grassroots, and supported the grassroots, persistently making the work of focusing on and building a solid foundation at the grassroots a long-term plan and a strategy for consolidating the foundation, exploring and forming a series of grassroots work methods rich in theoretical significance and practical value. The series of important expositions by Comrade Xi Jinping on grassroots work methods are lofty in conception, rich in substance, and profound in thought. They scientifically answer major theoretical and practical questions such as what the grassroots are, how to go deep into the grassroots, and how to serve the grassroots, deepen the understanding of the laws governing grassroots work, and are of great significance for establishing a clear orientation toward vigorously focusing on grassroots work, for establishing and practicing a correct view of performance, for walking the mass line of the Party in the new era well, for continuously enhancing the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security, and for making Chinese-style modernization have the most reliable, deepest, and most enduring source of strength.

Excerpts from Discourses is divided into 9 topics, totaling 287 passages, drawn from over 190 important documents including Comrade Xi Jinping's reports, speeches, articles, instructions, and comments from April 1983 to April 2026. Some of the discourses are published for the first time.

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Private economy enjoys ever-broader stage (General Secretary's concern · echoes on the ground)

By: 本报记者 刘志强 王云娜

“Innovation, creation, and entrepreneurship cannot be separated from small and medium-sized enterprises. We must create better conditions for the development of private enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises.”
——Pointed out by General Secretary Xi Jinping during an inspection in Guangdong on October 24, 2018

Production lines run at high speed, vehicles shuttle back and forth, and parts for automotive welding assembly lines come off the line one after another. In Guangdong, Guangzhou Mingluo Co., Ltd. (广州明珞股份有限公司) is operating well and busy with production, with production plans scheduled through May 2027.

“Innovation, creation, and entrepreneurship cannot be separated from small and medium-sized enterprises. We must create better conditions for the development of private enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises.” In October 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized this during an inspection at this enterprise.

“The General Secretary’s words spoke to the hearts of us private entrepreneurs,” Yao Weibing (姚维兵), the person in charge of the company, told reporters. Over the years, government departments have continuously improved the business environment and provided support, and the company’s development has been getting better and better.

Respond to every call. In 2021, the company planned to expand production but encountered difficulties in building its own factory. After learning about the enterprise’s demands, Huangpu District, Guangzhou (广州黄埔区) actively coordinated the construction of a new industrial park. In October 2024, the park was put into use; the company leased factory space and also acquired a product R&D and testing center, giving it greater confidence in technological innovation.

Do not disturb when there is no business. Guangzhou City has comprehensively standardized administrative law enforcement inspections involving enterprises, strictly avoiding “multiple inspections and duplicate inspections.” Yunpu Subdistrict (云埔街道) has established an enterprise service mechanism of “do not disturb when there is no business, respond to every request,” and in conjunction with Guangzhou City’s key enterprise whitelist, it conducts “one entry through the door, inspect multiple matters” annually for enterprises on the list.

With increased support and reduced burdens, Mingluo Co., Ltd. is 心无旁骛 (xīn wú páng wù - “heart without distractions,” fully focused) in pursuing the real economy. Since 2018, the company’s products have been exported to more than 20 countries and regions, and its annual output value and sales revenue have grown substantially.

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The Party Central Committee has always adhered to the two unshakable principles (两个毫不动摇) and the three no changes (三个没有变), and has always regarded private enterprises and private entrepreneurs as its own people.”

He attended two symposiums on private enterprises and delivered important speeches, deployed the establishment of working institutions for the development of the private economy, promoted the issuance and implementation of policy documents to promote the growth and expansion of the private economy, and repeatedly visited private enterprises during local inspections… Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to private enterprises and the development of the private economy, pointing the way and injecting confidence for promoting the healthy and high-quality development of the private economy.

Bearing in mind the instructions and working earnestly, all regions and departments, 齐心协力 (qí xīn xié lì - “united hearts and concerted efforts,” working together), have made concerted efforts to accumulate momentum and empower the development of private enterprises—

Optimize the environment, lower thresholds, and continuously expand the development space for private enterprises.

On November 10, 2025, the Several Measures on Further Promoting the Development of Private Investment (关于进一步促进民间投资发展的若干措施) was released to the public, receiving praise from private enterprises. “We immediately noted an important measure—‘Treat civil investment projects 一视同仁 (yī shì tóng rén - “treat all equally,” impartially) in the process of commercial aerospace frequency licensing and launch approval,’” said Liu Chang (刘畅), co-founder of Galaxy Space (银河航天). This move directly addresses the practical difficulties currently encountered by private commercial aerospace enterprises in their operations and will strongly promote the verification and application of innovative technologies.

In major projects that concern the lifeline of the national economy, more and more private enterprises are appearing: In the high-speed rail sector, two high-speed railways under private capital control—the Hangzhou-Shaoxing-Taizhou (杭绍台高铁) and Hangzhou-Wenzhou (杭温高铁)—have been completed and put into operation; in the nuclear power sector, among the newly approved nuclear power projects in 2024 and 2025, 20 private enterprises have been introduced as shareholders, with the proportion of private capital increased to 10% to 20%. The construction of a unified national market is accelerating, items on the negative list for market access are being gradually reduced, and many measures directly target bottlenecks and blockages, helping private enterprises enter more fields and reap greater business opportunities.

Maintain regular communication, solve problems, and better respond to enterprises’ demands.

On September 1, 2025, the new national standard for electric bicycles was implemented, raising the upper limit of the total vehicle weight for electric bicycles using lead-acid batteries. This change originated from a demand raised by an entrepreneur during a face-to-face exchange with the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发展改革委).

Responding to the demand and synthesizing opinions, multiple departments acted efficiently together, facilitating the accelerated revision of the relevant standard. Currently, a normalized communication and exchange mechanism between development and reform departments at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels and private enterprises has been established.

Promote the rule of law and strengthen safeguards, so that private enterprises can develop with greater peace of mind and contentment.

On May 20, 2025, the Law on Promoting the Private Economy (民营经济促进法) came into effect, greatly inspiring the vast number of private entrepreneurs. Strengthening the protection of property rights and intellectual property rights, promulgating the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Promotion Law (中小企业促进法) and the Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment (优化营商环境条例), carrying out special actions to standardize law enforcement involving enterprises, and strengthening long-term supervision of fees involving enterprises… The foundational, expectation-stabilizing, and long-term safeguarding role of the rule of law has been better realized.

With strong policies and enterprise efforts, the private economy is thriving in our country. As of the end of April this year, the number of registered private enterprises nationwide was 61.022 million, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%; private enterprises in the “four new” (四新) categories numbered 24.619 million, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, accounting for 40.3% of the total number of private enterprises.

Striving forward in the “15th Five-Year Plan” (十五五) period, consistent care and support will continue, and private enterprises will step onto an even broader stage.

“Implement the Law on Promoting the Private Economy, improve the supporting regulations, policies, and institutional systems,” “continuously promote the fair opening of competitive areas in infrastructure to private enterprises,” “improve financing support policies for private enterprises”… The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, when deploying the “development and expansion of the private economy,” proposed a series of concrete policy measures.

“The state strongly supports private enterprises, and we are full of confidence in future development. It is the right time to 大显身手 (dà xiǎn shēn shǒu - “display one’s skills to the full,” to fully showcase one’s abilities)!” Yao Weibing said.

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Test the results of education and learning through tangible achievements in promoting development and improving people's livelihoods (Establish and practice a correct view of performance)

By: 本报记者

In recent days, all regions, departments, and units have solidly carried out education and learning on establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, promoting study, inspection, and rectification as an integrated whole, taking real action with genuine toughness, truly grasping and solidly working, testing the results of education and learning through the actual effectiveness of promoting development and benefiting people’s livelihoods.

Inward self-examination; identifying and resolving problems

All levels of Party committees (Party leadership groups) in Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, combine the identification of problems with the implementation of central work such as the “two barriers (两个屏障),” “two bases (两个基地),” and “one bridgehead (一个桥头堡),” as well as specific projects like Hulun Lake (呼伦湖) management and high‑standard farmland construction, comprehensively carrying out targeted identification; for problems included in the rectification and remediation ledger, they formulate rectification and remediation plans item by item, promoting the true and solid rectification of problems, ensuring they are rectified to the full extent and thoroughly.

Since the education and learning was carried out, the Party Committee of Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has turned the blade inward, deeply examining and carefully reflecting to precisely identify problems. Leading cadres at all levels practice the “four going down to the grassroots” (四下基层), go to the front line to conduct research using the “four no, two direct” (四不两直) method, extensively listen to opinions and suggestions from Party members and cadres, service targets, and people from all walks of life, focus on practical matters concerning people’s livelihoods such as shortcomings in rural road maintenance, deficiencies in border guard subsidy management, and untimely litigation fee refunds, establish rectification and remediation ledgers, manage by lists, advance by projects, and strive to solve the people’s urgent, difficult, anxious, and anticipated problems.

“The problem of energy‑saving streetlights at the village entrance that was raised last month is being gradually resolved,” said a resident at the old locust tree deliberation meeting of Jianhe Community, Suyu District, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. Suyu District insists on calibrating the view of political achievements through open‑door education, uses grounded deliberation meetings to ask the people about their needs and seek their advice, extensively collects opinions and suggestions on industrial development, town and village construction, etc., forms a list of urgent, difficult, anxious, and anticipated problems, and urges Party members and cadres to insist on making political achievements for the people and through hard work.

Focus on development; truly grasp and solidly work

“Previously we focused on R&D technology and paid insufficient attention to pro‑enterprise policies. The Party committee and government launched a ‘policy calculator’ (政策计算器), making it effortless to obtain subsidies for artificial intelligence computing costs,” said the head of an artificial intelligence technology company in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.

Since the education and learning was carried out, Ningbo City has insisted on promoting action through learning, launched measures such as a full lifecycle management mechanism for investment attraction projects and a “one‑stop inquiry, handling, and sharing” (一站通查通办通享) platform for enterprise‑related policy services, transforming the results of education and learning into actual effectiveness in promoting high‑quality development.

Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province, does not seek “temporarily good‑looking data” in promoting development, but instead puts effort into nurturing the industrial ecosystem and improving service efficiency. The locality also increases guarantees for green electricity, equipment leasing, public service platforms, etc., promoting the resonance of enterprise growth, industrial agglomeration, and the city’s overall economic and social development.

Nanpi County, Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, organized Party members and cadres to go down to the front line of enterprises, investigating prominent issues such as increased production but no income growth for hardware and electromechanical enterprises. On this basis, state‑owned enterprises took the lead in building a cross‑border e‑commerce platform in a market‑oriented manner, establishing a global foreign trade order database for electromechanical products, while combining online multi‑channel traffic guidance with offline organization of enterprises going abroad to participate in exhibitions, assisting the development of hardware and electromechanical enterprises.

Ningxiang City, Hunan Province, insists on promoting study, inspection, and rectification as a whole, deeply excavating development blockages, and optimizing the business environment with pragmatic pro‑enterprise measures. In response to the supervision gap of “black mixing stations” (黑搅拌站) for asphalt concrete, it proactively liaised with superior departments to clarify cross‑level supervision powers and responsibilities; in response to the lagging handling of a dispute involving farmers by an agricultural company, it optimized the cross‑departmental conflict coordination mechanism, promoting the extension of problem identification from surface issues to deep mechanisms.

Solidly advance; benefit the people

Since the education and learning was carried out, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, has closely focused on the people’s needs to implement, compared against shortcomings and weaknesses to make up for deficiencies, upgraded “Internet + medical insurance” services, and launched a series of convenience measures. It launched the Xi’an Medical Insurance mini‑program, providing special services such as family medicine cabinets and medical insurance maps; activated intelligent customer service incorporating large‑model technology to achieve round‑the‑clock intelligent consultation; promoted mobile payment and face‑scanning payment for medical insurance, effectively solving the pain points of “long queues and cumbersome payments” for people seeking medical treatment and purchasing medicine.

Huaibei City, Anhui Province, focuses on problems such as roof damage and leakage in old residential communities, advancing roof repair projects for old residential communities, allowing the people to bid farewell to the annoyance of “heavy rain outside, light rain inside,” transforming the effectiveness of education and learning into observable and tangible well‑being for the people. The project covers 112 old residential communities built before the end of 2000 in the old city area of Xiangshan District, adopting a cost‑sharing model where the government funds 80% of roof repair materials and residents fund 20%, implementing “one building, one plan” to ensure that the renovation work complies with public opinion and fits reality, benefiting over 40,000 households.

Neat cement roads, orderly streetlights, the air filled with a faint tea fragrance… At the end of April this year, in Baisha Township, Pu’an County, Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, newly built roads were opened to traffic one after another. “With the roads open, the tea leaves we send out are exceptionally fresh, and we can sell them for an extra 3 yuan per catty!” tea farmers praised. Pu’an County regards promoting practical work and solving people’s concerns as an important yardstick for testing the effectiveness of education and learning. Focusing on the transportation bottleneck reported by tea farmers, it raised funds to build roads in villages where the tea industry has reached scale, helping tea farmers achieve stable income growth on the basis of increased production.

(Reported by our correspondents Shi Yiqi (史一棋), Han Junjie (韩俊杰), Wang Weijian (王伟健), Liu Junguo (刘军国), Yang Xun (杨迅), Zhang Tengyang (张腾扬), Zhang Cheng (张枨), Su Bin (苏滨), Wang Dan (王丹), Jia Fengfeng (贾丰丰), Pang Rongzheng (庞嵘峥))

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Is Consecutive Summer Grain Harvests a Matter of Course? (Reader's Question · Common Concern)

By: 本报记者 郁静娴

When I was a child, I helped my family harvest wheat; my arms were sunburned and peeling, and sweat streamed down my face. From folks back home I hear that harvesting wheat is much easier now, and recent news reports say this year's summer grain harvest is already a foregone conclusion. With summer grain bumper harvests year after year, does that mean we no longer have to worry about grain from now on?
——A netizen from People's Daily Online

The summer grain has once again been harvested in bumper yields, and many readers share similar feelings with this netizen. One must understand: every grain is stored in the granary, and the "rice bag" is stable, but that does not mean the bumper harvest is "a matter of course."

A single grain of food, from the field to the dining table, must overcome many hurdles. Take winter wheat: from sowing to harvest it takes more than 200 days, passing through multiple checkpoints such as "late-spring cold," drought, lodging, dry-hot wind, and pests and diseases. At every checkpoint there are numerous variables. Farmers have to worry every moment.

This year's summer grain production has experienced 一波三折 (yī bō sān zhé - "one wave, three twists," full of ups and downs and setbacks). Last autumn, at the critical juncture of sowing, continuous rainy weather would not let up; frontline cadres and farmers worked together to find ways to drain the fields and rush the sowing. But the soil was still so wet that the Huang-Huai-Hai region's sowing period was generally delayed by 20 to 40 days compared to normal years, and the proportion of first- and second-class seedlings before winter dropped by 43.8% year-on-year. Whether a bumper harvest could be achieved was, from the start, an open question.

Grain production is an industry closely linked with nature; natural risks are great. As one of the countries in the world with the most severe natural disasters, in the past five years China's average annual area of crop damage has been as high as over 1.5 billion mu.

There is also market risk. At the beginning of this year, under the impact of geopolitical conflicts, international fertilizer prices experienced violent fluctuations, and the deep linkage between grain production and energy was once again "highlighted." Rising costs of agricultural inputs squeeze the profits from grain cultivation and affect production enthusiasm.

Contending with nature and wrestling with the market runs through every season of grain production. Things are never easy unless you have experienced them yourself. The reason everyone feels it is "effortless" is that we did these few things right.

Pro-farmer policies have been continuously exerting force. Faced with the unfavorable start of this year's summer grain production, the central finance (中央财政) advanced the disbursement of 2.95 billion yuan in funds for "one spray, three preventions" and pest and disease control, and urgently allocated 1.25 billion yuan to support turning weak winter wheat seedlings strong; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs dispatched 37 working groups and technology squads; agricultural technicians from all over sent technology to the fields, making every effort to catch up the late-sown seedling situation; multiple departments worked together to keep a watchful eye on the fertilizer supply chain, orderly releasing commercial reserves to ensure the stability of the domestic fertilizer market.

Technological means have been applied, and the effect of "storing grain in technology" is obvious. In recent years, by tapping the potential of new agricultural productive forces and promoting the integration and efficiency enhancement of good land, good seeds, good machinery, and good methods—from smart agricultural machinery to precise water and fertilizer management—farmers have taken up the "golden shoulder pole." Technology has laid a solid "foundation" for the large-scale improvement of grain crop per-unit yield. Last year, the contribution rate of per-unit yield increase to the national grain output increase exceeded 90%.

The advantage of China's socialist system in concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks has provided certainty for fighting disasters and securing bumper harvests. An ear of wheat ripens in one morning; on major expressways, more than 3,100 cross-regional operation reception service stations and over 6,900 priority, discounted fuel channels for agricultural machinery ensure that "wheat harvesters" travel unimpeded. The entire nation acts as a single chessboard, enabling the coordination of resources and forces on multiple fronts, providing a safety net for every season of grain production.

"Effortlessness" is a kind of rock-solid happiness. But that does not mean that grain production can "take a rest" or "be put aside."

Looking at history, grain production slides easily but climbs back with difficulty; it must not be relaxed for even a moment. Once output slides, dragging it back up requires 九牛二虎之力 (jiǔ niú èr hǔ zhī lì - "the strength of nine oxen and two tigers," tremendous effort). This is a consensus long held within the industry. Looking at recent years: severe autumn floods in 2021; the rare "rotten field rain" disaster in the Huang-Huai region in 2023; the summer 2024 "Dragon Boat Water" and "violent plum" rains... Which year's output was not fought for? We must maintain the bottom-line thinking of staying vigilant in peace, and a bumper harvest cannot fall from the sky.

Looking around us, the sensitive nerve of food security is still frequently triggered. Due to production cuts in some major exporting countries and regions, global wheat output in the 2026/27 marketing year is forecast to fall by 3.8%. The FAO's Food Outlook report shows that factors such as weather changes, energy and fertilizer market fluctuations caused by conflict, geopolitical tensions, trade policy uncertainty, and broader macroeconomic headwinds still deeply constrain the market outlook.

The issue of feeding people is a matter of paramount importance. "For 1.4 billion people to rely on anyone else for food is unreliable"—we must rely on ourselves. Against the backdrop of a world undergoing major changes unseen in a century, to deal with all kinds of complex challenges, only by keeping the string of food security taut at all times and doing a good job of grain production can we hold the Chinese people's rice bowl firmly and keep the initiative of stable production and supply assurance tightly in our own hands.

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Nurture all life in accordance with nature's way

By: 本报记者 董丝雨 顾仲阳

Nature protected areas are the core carriers of ecological construction, the precious assets of the Chinese nation, and important symbols of Beautiful China, holding a primary position in safeguarding national ecological security.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "Accelerate the construction of a nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay, nature reserves as the foundation, and various natural parks as supplements, to protect representative natural ecosystems and rare species habitats."

From June 30, 1956, when China's first nature reserve — Guangdong Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve (广东鼎湖山国家级自然保护区) — was established, to the present day when over 2,600 nature reserves have been built nationwide; from October 2021, when China formally established the first batch of 5 national parks, to the present when a nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay, nature reserves as the foundation, and various natural parks as supplements has been initially built… After 70 years of effort, in protecting biodiversity, preserving natural heritage, improving ecological environmental quality, and maintaining national ecological security, nature protected areas at all levels and of all types have played an important role, becoming significant achievements in practicing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and building Beautiful China.

Establishing systems and regulations, the construction of the nature protected area system has entered a new stage of rule-of-law and standardized development

In summer, Wuyi Mountain National Park (Jiangxi sector) (武夷山国家公园（江西片区）) has layered green forests, contiguous southern hemlocks standing quietly, and rivers rushing along the canyon.

Early in the morning, Ding Hongxiang (丁鸿翔), head of the Yejiachang Protection Station of the Jiangxi Administration of Wuyi Mountain National Park, led his team to Tongmu Pass to meet colleagues from the Tongmu Protection Station of the Fujian Administration of Wuyi Mountain National Park for joint patrol inspection and fire prevention publicity.

"Infrared cameras, drones, resource management systems, etc., have retained more baseline data for scientific research; patrol personnel have also installed patrol assistant software and BeiDou positioning systems to ensure patrol safety," Ding Hongxiang said. As of now, Wuyi Mountain National Park (Jiangxi sector) has recorded over 5,100 species of various biological organisms.

Wuyi Mountain National Park spans Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, and its management involves multiple departments such as natural resources, ecological environment, forestry, water conservancy, and public security. It once faced the dilemma of 九龙治水 (jiǔ lóng zhì shuǐ - "nine dragons governing water," referring to fragmented and overlapping management). "Previously, multiple management bodies with different standards constrained the overall protection and management effectiveness," Ding Hongxiang said.

Breaking down barriers requires legislation first. In May 2024, the regulations for Wuyi Mountain National Park were passed separately by Fujian and Jiangxi provinces. This was the first inter-provincial coordinated legislation by the two provinces, jointly coordinating and resolving major issues in the protection, construction, and management of the national park, effectively promoting "shared governance of one mountain (一山共治)."

"The various departments of the two provinces have closely cooperated, through regular joint meetings, joint law enforcement inspections, and other means, to jointly advance the ecological protection, resource management, scientific research monitoring, and other work of Wuyi Mountain National Park," said Fan Qiangyong (范强勇), Director of the Jiangxi Administration of Wuyi Mountain National Park.

Building an ecological civilization emphasizes establishing systems and regulations. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Only by implementing the strictest systems and the most stringent rule of law can reliable guarantees be provided for ecological civilization construction."

Thought sets the course. In building a nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay, "relying on systems and relying on the rule of law" runs through it throughout.

Documents such as the Overall Plan for Establishing the National Park System and the National Park Spatial Layout Plan were issued; the Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Nature Protected Area System with National Parks as the Mainstay divides China's nature protected areas into three categories: national parks, nature reserves, and natural parks;

The National Park Law, the Nature Reserve Regulations, the National Natural Park Management Measures, and the Scenic and Historic Area Regulations were promulgated or revised; the Ecological Environment Code incorporates "establishing and perfecting a nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay" into the code's norms;

All 5 national parks established in the first batch have completed the confirmation and registration of natural resource rights, providing a foundational and reliable property rights base for achieving holistic protection and systematic restoration…

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has strengthened top-level design, improved laws and regulations, optimized spatial layout, and innovated management systems, promoting the construction of a nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay into a new stage of rule-of-law and standardized development.

A relevant responsible person from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration stated that China's nature protected area system construction has entered a new stage of systematic integration and comprehensive advancement, and in the future, it will further improve the institutional mechanisms and strengthen systematic governance.

Protection and governance, ecosystem diversity, stability, and sustainability have steadily improved

On this year's International Day for Biological Diversity, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced good news: last year, 3 new Hainan gibbon infants were born, and the population grew to 7 groups of 44 individuals, making it the only continuously growing population among all gibbon species globally.

To protect the rare Hainan gibbon, the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park Administration (海南热带雨林国家公园管理局) and scientific researchers conduct round-the-clock monitoring of the Hainan gibbon population and individuals, gradually mastering their basic living habits and other information. They have also restored over 5,000 mu of habitat for them, built 38 rope corridors in and around the habitat, and replanted over 300,000 plants of various food-source species.

"By building corridors, planting trees, and 'building cafeterias,' we have restored and expanded the activity range of the Hainan gibbons and increased their food sources," introduced Han Wentao (韩文涛), Director of the Information Center of the Bawangling Branch of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park Administration.

Biodiversity is an important foundation for human survival and development. The purpose of establishing a nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay is "to maintain the authenticity and integrity of natural ecosystems and to protect biodiversity."

The first batch of 5 national parks integrated and optimized over 120 nature protected areas, effectively solving the problems of fragmented and isolated protection spaces. Nature protected areas at all levels and of all types adhere to the principle of natural restoration as the mainstay and artificial restoration as a supplement, adapting measures to local and temporal conditions and implementing zoning and classified policies.

Ecological corridor construction enhances habitat connectivity. The Giant Panda National Park (大熊猫国家公园), spanning Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces, protects nearly 1,400 wild giant pandas, accounting for over 70% of the country's wild giant panda population.

Wild giant pandas were once fragmented into 33 local populations due to human activity interference, with 24 of those populations facing survival risks. "If ecological corridors are not opened, isolated small giant panda populations will have reduced genetic diversity due to inbreeding, increasing the risk of extinction," said He Ke (何可), Director of the Endangered Species Conservation Research Center of the Sichuan Academy of Giant Panda Sciences.

Since the Giant Panda National Park was formally established in 2021, a total of 7 key ecological corridors have been planned and constructed, expected to achieve habitat connectivity for 13 local giant panda populations and solve the problem of blocked genetic exchange between populations. He Ke introduced that in recent years, over 150 instances of wild giant panda activity and multiple other rare and endangered wild animal activities have been monitored in the ecological corridor areas.

Technology assists in the restoration of endangered species populations. The Przewalski's horse is the only surviving wild horse species on Earth. The Xinjiang Kalamaili Ungulate Nature Reserve (新疆卡拉麦里山有蹄类野生动物自然保护区) is the largest Przewalski's horse protection base in China. Over the past 40 years, numerous experts and scholars have taken root in the desert hinterland to assist in the restoration of the Przewalski's horse population. Currently, China's Przewalski's horse population has exceeded 900, accounting for one-third of the global total.

Since 2024, the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding and Research Center has cooperated with universities to conduct genome sequencing of different individual Przewalski's horses and establish an accurate DNA molecular pedigree database. "DNA detection technology at the molecular level allows us to accurately identify horse genes through a tuft of hair or a grain of feces, effectively avoiding inbreeding," said Zhang Hefan (张赫凡), a senior engineer at the Management Center of the Xinjiang Kalamaili Ungulate Nature Reserve.

Currently, the reserve has built an "air-space-ground integrated" monitoring network, achieving 24-hour all-weather tracking of the Przewalski's horse population. Researchers can accurately grasp the movement trajectories and health status of the wild horses and study their migration activity patterns.

In the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (东北虎豹国家公园), infrared cameras captured the precious image of "one litter of five cubs," setting a new record for the highest number of wild Siberian tiger births in China. In the Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve (贺兰山国家级自然保护区), two released snow leopards successfully mated naturally, gave birth in the wild, and successfully raised their young, marking a breakthrough in China's snow leopard protection work… Through promoting the integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts, and through measures such as integrating and establishing protection and research centers for giant pandas, Asian elephants, gibbons, Père David's deer, crested ibis, and blue-crowned laughingthrushes, the nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay has effectively protected 90% of terrestrial ecosystem types and 74% of nationally key protected wild animal and plant populations.

Shared construction and shared benefits, achieving synergistic improvement of ecological benefits and people's livelihoods

Using sumac flowers for beekeeping to produce honey, hanging bags on leaves to produce Chinese gallnuts, interplanting under the forest with Chinese herbal medicines such as polygonatum and gastrodia — in the Kuankuoshui National Nature Reserve (宽阔水国家级自然保护区) in Suiyang County (绥阳县), Zunyi City (遵义市), Guizhou Province, the Red River Village (红河村) in Kuankuo Town (宽阔镇), relying on the good ecological environment, develops eco-friendly industries under the premise of strict protection.

Protect clear waters and green mountains, and hold the rice bowl of prosperity firmly. Kuankuo Town currently has 30,000 mu of sumac forests and has built a 20-kilometer demonstration belt of under-forest economy industries.

"Developing 'Chinese gallnuts + under-forest economy' can achieve an average annual profit of 11,000 yuan per mu," said Wang Guoquan (王国权), Party branch secretary of Red River Village. Last year, the village's Chinese gallnut industry output value exceeded 2 million yuan, driving over 600 households of farmers to increase their income, achieving a transformation from 'cutting trees to eat from the mountains' to 'planting trees to nourish the mountains.'"

"We must not only protect this mountain forest but also let more people eat 'ecological meals,'" said Lan Hongbo (兰洪波), Director of the Kuankuoshui National Nature Reserve Administration. He stated that in the future, while adhering to the principle of giving priority to ecological protection, they will continue to improve the production and living conditions of local people, guide and support the vigorous development of under-forest economy, nature education, etc., achieving the 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "each benefits from the other's presence, bring out the best in each other") of high-level protection and high-quality development.

"A good ecological environment is the most equitable public product and the most inclusive public welfare for people's livelihoods." Many towns and villages are distributed within and around China's nature protected areas. How to achieve the synergistic improvement of ecological benefits and people's livelihoods is an important issue in building a nature protected area system.

The National Park Law and the newly revised Nature Reserve Regulations stipulate that national parks and nature reserves are divided into core protection areas and general control areas, both of which allow original residents to carry out necessary production and living activities. In suitable areas of general control areas, public service activities such as science popularization and publicity, ecotourism, education, culture, and sports can also be reasonably planned.

"Strengthening the balance between the public nature of natural resources and people's livelihoods through the rule-of-law path helps local residents to orderly develop green industries such as ecological agriculture, cultural tourism, and research and study in compliance with ecological protection requirements, achieving a virtuous cycle where protectors benefit and beneficiaries protect," said Wang Wei (王伟), a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences.

Firmly establish and practice the concept that clear waters and green mountains are mountains of gold and silver (绿水青山就是金山银山) , adhere to ecological protection for the people and ecological benefits for the people, and strive to promote the unification of ecological protection, green development, and improvement of people's livelihoods. The first batch of 5 national parks has recruited nearly 50,000 farmers and herders as ecological rangers, with an average per capita wage income of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per year. Green industries such as "Yushu Juema (玉树蕨麻)," "Panda Honey (熊猫蜂蜜)," and "Qaidam Wolfberry (柴达木枸杞)" are flourishing. The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park has set up 10 eco-recreation routes and science education corridors in places such as Wuzhi Mountain, Diaoluo Mountain, and Limu Mountain, and built a tourism road around the tropical rainforest national park…

A relevant responsible person from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration stated that they will further promote the improvement of people's livelihoods in and around nature protected areas, guide and support local residents to participate in providing ecological products and services consistent with protection goals, promote the policy of selecting and hiring ecological rangers, and continuously expand channels for local residents to increase income and employment. At the same time, they will increase publicity and guidance, gather broad consensus, and stimulate the endogenous motivation of the entire people to protect nature protected areas.

…………

Nurture the life of all things by the way of nature. The Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Nature Protected Area System with National Parks as the Mainstay proposes that by 2035, the management effectiveness and ecological product supply capacity of nature protected areas will be significantly improved, the scale and management of nature protected areas will reach the world's advanced level, and a nature protected area system with Chinese characteristics will be fully established.

The "15th Five-Year Plan" period is a critical period for Beautiful China construction to build on past achievements and usher in a fundamental improvement in the ecological environment. Adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, establishing and perfecting a nature protected area system with national parks as the mainstay, and comprehensively promoting the construction of ecological civilization and Beautiful China will surely better meet the people's growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment and lay a more solid ecological foundation for building a great modern socialist country in all respects.

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Photo Report

On July 4, in the wheat fields of Ningzhouhu Village (宁州户村), Ershilidian Town (二十里店镇), Hutubi County (呼图壁县), Xinjiang, forklifts were orderly loading and transporting the baled wheat straw.

The local area vigorously promotes the comprehensive utilization of straw removed from fields; the recovered straw is processed into feed, biomass fuel, etc., achieving resource-based utilization, which both protects the ecological environment and helps farmers increase income.

Photo by Tao Weiming (陶维明).

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Unavailable.

Theory

Exploring a path of win-win collaboration between eastern and western regions across mountains and seas

Ninth edition

Understand China · Understand the Chinese Communist Party

"China's development must be attributed to the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party"

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Marching Forward Under the Party’s Banner on the New Journey to Build a Strong Country and Strong Military

The great enterprise for millennia, the great road is as smooth as a whetstone; the journey for a strong country and a strong military is as splendid as a rainbow.

"To build a strong country, we must build a strong military; only when the military is strong can the nation be secure." "On the new journey, we must fully implement the Party’s thought on strengthening the military for the new era, implement the military strategic guidelines for the new era, uphold the Party’s absolute leadership over the people’s military, and unswervingly follow the path of strengthening the military with Chinese characteristics." ... The important speech delivered by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the state, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping at the meeting celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China has, over recent days, evoked strong responses among officers and soldiers of the entire military.

The broad masses of officers and soldiers unanimously believe that General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech is 高屋建瓴 (gāo wū jiàn líng - "pour water from a high rooftop," a commanding view of the overall situation), profound in thought, rich in content, and inspiring. They will take this important speech as a guiding compass, keep the original aspiration and mission firmly in mind, bravely shoulder the heavy responsibilities of the era, anchor the goal of achieving the centenary goal of military construction by 2027 with concentrated efforts and hard work, and strive unremittingly to build the people’s military into a world-class military, not letting down the heavy trust of the Party and the people.

"Advancing the cause of building a strong country and a strong military is a pioneering undertaking. At present, the basic realization of socialist modernization has entered a critical period of laying a solid foundation and exerting full strength. The new ‘three-step’ strategy for the modernization of national defense and the military has reached a historic juncture of strategic transition." At the various departments and commissions of the Central Military Commission, the directly affiliated agencies of the CMC, and the CMC Joint Operations Command Center; at the various theater commands, services, and branches; at the directly affiliated units of the CMC and the People’s Armed Police — everyone immediately listened to and watched the important speech through media, learning and discussing it word by word and sentence by sentence in depth.

The Party’s absolute leadership over the military is an important political advantage of the Party and the state, and the foundation of building the people’s military and the soul of strengthening it.

"The formation of Xi Jinping’s thought on Party building marks a leap to a new realm in Marxist theory of Party building," said Gu Linhui (古琳晖), a professor at the Political College of the National Defense University. "Educators must first be educated. As political theory instructors, we must continuously deepen the armed force of the Party’s innovative theories, thoroughly study and implement Xi Jinping’s thought on Party building, stand firm at the three-foot podium, deeply engage in frontline education, guide students to profoundly comprehend the key code of why the Communist Party of China can succeed, and turn it into a powerful force guiding practice and driving work."

On July 1, outside the solemn and ancient Ye Family Ancestral Hall (叶家祠), reserve soldiers of the Yanling Squadron (炎陵中队) of the Zhuzhou Detachment (株洲支队) of the Hunan Provincial Corps of the People’s Armed Police swore their oath to join the Party. "Stationed in the place where the principle of ‘building the Party branch on the company level’ (支部建在连上) was put into practice, we deeply understand that the Party’s absolute leadership over the military is the soul and lifeline of our military — it must never change and must never be abandoned. All officers and soldiers unswervingly listen to the Party’s words and follow the Party," said Squadron Leader Gao Yuanpeng (高园鹏).

Abolishing the stale and establishing the new, tempering through fire to become steel. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has led the people’s military to deepen political rectification and advance political military building with unprecedented resolve and intensity, achieving significant results. Listening to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech live at the Great Hall of the People, national outstanding Communist Party member and First-Class Master Sergeant of a certain unit of the Rocket Force He Xianda (何贤达) was overcome with excitement: "As officers and soldiers of the Rocket Force in the new era, loyalty to the Party is our unchanging political nature, and ‘doing earth-shattering deeds while remaining nameless and unknown’ is our unchanging sincere sentiment."

Under the strong leadership of the Party, the people’s military advances on the great journey of building a strong country and national rejuvenation, continuously moving from victory to victory.

In the great power of the state, nothing is more important than the military. Seeing the 90-year-old veteran Wang Yuchang (王於昌) awarded the ‘July 1 Medal’ (七一勋章) greatly inspired the officers and soldiers of the ‘Model Ground-to-Air Missile Battalion’ of the Central Theater Command Air Force. "Having served in the unit where our senior veteran once served, we must redouble our efforts to carry forward fine traditions, actively explore tactics to defeat the enemy, continuously improve air defense combat capabilities through integration into the system, and safeguard the security of the motherland’s airspace," said First-Class Master Sergeant Song Xianbin (宋县宾) of the battalion.

The Party Committee of the Navy’s Red River Ship (红河舰), which was just named a National Advanced Primary-Level Party Organization, led officers and soldiers to a certain training sea area to conduct anti-drone raid and strike drills under complex conditions. "We focus on tempering and honing talent on the front line of major exercises and training, forging fierce, tenacious, and daring blood and courage in the thick of smoke and gunfire, ensuring that at a single command we can be pulled out, go into action, and win the fight, adding new glory to the heroic battle flag," said Fu Zhiyuan (付智渊), a member of the Red River Ship Party Committee.

Deep in the plateau hinterlands, a certain brigade of the Tibet Military Command arrayed its iron armor; practical training subjects such as command and communication networking, drone reconnaissance, and rapid firepower strikes unfolded in succession. "We bear the sacred mission of defending the border; with the tough style of ‘no lack of spirit despite lack of oxygen, hardship without fear of suffering, higher altitude with higher realm,’ we will surely complete the testing tasks of multiple new equipment types, continuously tap into the combat potential of new equipment, and drive the pace of shift and acceleration in the construction of troop combat capability," said First-Class Master Sergeant Wang Yanfeng (王艳峰) of the brigade.

General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech deeply moved Zhang Ying (张瑛), Party Branch Secretary of the Critical Care Medicine Department of the Joint Logistics Support Force Hospital 941 (联勤保障部队第九四一医院) and a full military outstanding Party affairs worker: "Through the ‘dual forging’ education mechanism [双向锻造], Party member backbone personnel in the department have been stationed on the plateau all year round, honing professional medical service capabilities under extreme conditions, using high-quality medical services to build a health barrier for border defense troops, and keeping the Party flag flying high on the plateau treatment front line at all times."

The military flag forever follows the Party flag. The broad masses of officers and soldiers unanimously expressed that they must focus on the main responsibility and main business of preparing for war and combat, and transform the Party’s political and organizational advantages into advantages of victory.

"Modernization of national defense and the military is an important component of Chinese-style modernization. During the ‘Fifteenth Five-Year Plan’ period, we will take theoretical foundation-building, data-driven methods, model support, and practical scenario verification as core starting points, closely align with frontline troop needs, accelerate the transformation and landing of scientific and technological achievements in ‘digital-intelligence sharpened combat’ (数智砺战), and go all out to accelerate the generation of new-domain and new-quality combat capabilities," said Geng Guotong (耿国桐), director of the Military Science Information Research Center of the Academy of Military Sciences.

Officers and soldiers of a certain unit of the Military Aerospace Forces stated after concentrated study of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech that they will carry forward the ‘two bombs, one satellite’ spirit and the space tracking, telemetry, and command spirit, effectively manage, use, and protect space assets, and continuously create new achievements worthy of the era and the people. A software R&D team of a certain unit of the Cyberspace Forces uses scientific and technological innovation to practice the mission of strengthening the military, build a solid line of defense for network security, and proactively improve the ability to scientifically anticipate changes, promptly perceive risks, and effectively meet challenges. Theoretical backbone members of a certain brigade of the Information Support Forces compiled the key points of the General Secretary’s important speech into micro-Party lessons, delivered them to duty computer rooms, task detachments, and remote posts, continuously promoting the in-depth and practical implementation of the ‘learn the speech, strengthen the links’ series of activities, and producing papers on strengthening the military from their combat posts...

Youth are the new force for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Xu Zedong (徐泽东), a ceremonial guard who escorted the ‘July 1 Medal’ into the venue, is a post-90s soldier from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Guard of Honor Ceremonial Unit. He once carried the military flag high through Tiananmen Square during the military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. He said: "Young officers and soldiers of the new era will surely run this leg well on the new journey, paving the way with youth and making ideals shine!"

The rivers and mountains are the people, and the people are the rivers and mountains. "Our country has now fully entered the major flood season. We will always put the safety of people’s lives first, carefully implement all responsibility measures, and do a good job in all flood prevention work," said Jiang Yuanlong (江沅龙), a political work officer of the Jiujiang Military Sub-Command (九江军分区) of Jiangxi Province, after reaffirming his Party membership oath at the ‘98 Flood Relief Theme Cultural Park’ (九八抗洪主题文化公园).

Today, we are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than at any time in history. The broad masses of officers and soldiers expressed that they will transform the political enthusiasm inspired by studying General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech into concrete action, resolutely fulfill the mission tasks of the new era entrusted by the Party and the people, and write a new chapter in strengthening the military and rejuvenating the military that is worthy of the revolutionary martyrs, worthy of the century-old foundation, and worthy of the great era.

(Xinhua Beijing, July 5 — Reporter Huang Yichen (黄一宸))

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Strong Nation Rejuvenation, Macao Contributes

The important speech delivered by General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, President of the People's Republic of China, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xi Jinping at the grand meeting celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China has deeply inspired and greatly encouraged all sectors of Macao society. Everyone has expressed that they will unite their hearts and efforts, work with practical action and responsibility, promote Macao's better development in the course of integrating into and serving the national development agenda, and make due contributions to the successful practice of "one country, two systems" (一国两制) and the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.

Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region Cen Haohui stated that General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech points the way forward for all Chinese people, including Macao compatriots, to strengthen confidence and continue striving on the new journey. The SAR government will join hands with all sectors of society to carry forward the great founding spirit of the Party, draw from it the spiritual strength to forge ahead, and transform it into concrete actions to build and prosper Macao, striving to enable Macao compatriots to share with the people of the motherland the historical responsibility of national rejuvenation and the great glory of a prosperous and strong motherland.

Macao media such as the Macao Daily News have in recent days reported on the front page the warm response aroused by General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech in all sectors of Macao, accompanied by commentaries. The Macao Daily News published an editorial pointing out that the century-old great Party is 风华正茂 (fēng huá zhèng mào - "wind and flower flourishing," at the height of its vitality), and hundreds of millions of people are confident and self-reliant. Striding on the new journey, the Communist Party of China will firmly rely on, unite with, and lead the people of all ethnic groups in the country to continuously create new great achievements.

President of the Legislative Assembly of the Macao SAR Zhang Yongchun stated that on the new journey, all members of the Legislative Assembly will strictly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests, participate in political affairs and discuss government from the overall interests of the country and the SAR, consciously uphold the principle of executive leadership, promote healthy interaction between the executive and legislature, and jointly enhance the effectiveness of law-based governance.

Several principal officials of the Macao SAR government expressed that they are sincerely proud of the great achievements made by the Communist Party of China in leading the country, will conscientiously study and comprehend the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, unswervingly implement the policies of "one country, two systems" (一国两制), "Macao people governing Macao" (澳人治澳), and a high degree of autonomy, implement the principle of "patriots administering Macao" (爱国者治澳), closely align with the national "15th Five-Year Plan" (十五五) and Macao's "3rd Five-Year Plan" (三五), work hard and act with responsibility, and support Macao in better integrating into and serving the national development agenda.

In his important speech, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that promoting the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao is an inherent requirement of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. All sectors of Macao feel a heavy responsibility and a glorious mission. Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of the Macao Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Cui Shichang stated that the Chamber of Commerce will broadly unite Macao's business community, work with one heart, be a good practitioner of national strategies, a promoter of economic diversification, a builder of social harmony, and a participant in improving governance effectiveness.

Deputy Director of the Committee on Culture, Historical Data and Education of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and President of the Macao Federation of Cultural Circles Wu Zhiliang stated that under the guidance of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech, the Macao cultural sector must more consciously transform the institutional advantages of "one country, two systems" into actual effectiveness in cultural construction, and integrate and serve the construction of Macao as "one base" (一基地) into the national strategy of building a culturally strong country.

Deputy to the National People's Congress from the Macao SAR and President of the Macao Neighborhood Association General Union Wu Xiaoli stated that she will, as always, unite neighborhood residents to support the SAR government in law-based governance, give full play to the role of backbone associations, and tell well the story of "The Communist Party is good, the country is good, Macao is good."

Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from the Macao SAR and President of the Macao Federation of Trade Unions Lin Lunwei stated that the Federation of Trade Unions will, in response to the needs of the country, the strengths of the SAR, and the aspirations of the people's livelihood, continuously optimize the service system; it will further improve the service network in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, helping Macao residents better study, live, find employment, and start businesses in the Greater Bay Area and the Cooperation Zone.

In his important speech, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that youth are the new force in realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The entire Party must value youth, care for youth, support youth, and create conditions for youth to grow and succeed. After listening to the important speech, Macao scientific researchers, educators, and youth groups felt their hearts surging with emotion and their morale high.

Vice Rector of Macao University of Science and Technology and Director of the Macao Center for Translational Medicine He Yao stated that he will continue to base himself on "one country, two systems," fully leverage the location advantages of East-West convergence and the platform advantages of internationalization, deeply integrate the wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine, emerging artificial intelligence technology, and modern translational medicine systems, and promote the quality improvement, efficiency enhancement, and diversified development of Macao's big health specialty industries.

Vice Principal of Macao Hou Kong Middle School Chen Hong stated that we bear a heavy responsibility on our shoulders, and will continue to inherit and carry forward the spirit of loving the country and loving Macao, cultivate builders and successors who can shoulder the historical responsibility and devote themselves to the cause of national rejuvenation, and contribute to the steady and sustained implementation of "one country, two systems."

President of the Macao Youth Federation Huang Jiezhen stated that without the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China, there would be no prosperity and strength of the motherland, nor the stability and development of Macao. Macao youth will certainly continue to inherit the core values of loving the country and loving Macao, and integrate personal growth into national development.

(Xinhua Macao, July 5 — Reporters Qi Fei, Song Chen, Guo Yuqi)

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Third Historical Resolution of the CPC Adopted (Great Journey)

By: 本报记者 史一棋

“Adopted!” On November 11, 2021, the second plenary meeting of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China was held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. All attending members of the Central Committee raised their right hands and unanimously adopted the Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party’s Centenary Struggle (hereinafter referred to as the “Resolution”).
Applause surged like waves, resounding throughout the hall. A document shining with the radiance of Marxist truth was born!
General Secretary Xi Jinping set a clear main tone for this plenary session and charted a clear course for the Resolution: “On the major historical juncture of the centenary of our Party’s founding and the start of a new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, comprehensively summarizing the major achievements and historical experience of the Party’s centenary struggle has great practical significance and profound historical significance for unifying the whole Party’s thought and action and for better creating a new situation in the cause of the Party and the state in the new era.”
For over a hundred years, at every important moment of historical transition, the Communist Party of China has always drawn wisdom and strength to continue moving forward from comprehensive review, deep reflection, and systematic summary of history.
The Party formulated the Resolution on Certain Historical Questions (关于若干历史问题的决议) in 1945 and the Resolution on Certain Historical Questions since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China (关于建国以来党的若干历史问题的决议) in 1981. Both resolutions played an important role in advancing and guiding the development of the Party’s cause.
When the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee was convened, 76 years had passed since the first historical resolution was formulated, and 40 years had passed since the second historical resolution. In those 40 years, the cause of the Party and the state had greatly advanced, and the Party’s theory and practice had also greatly advanced. At the centenary of the Party’s founding, the magnificent journey traversed through a century of turbulent change, the century-old great achievements forged through unremitting struggle, and the valuable experience accumulated through a century of seeking from above and below were condensed into this more-than-30,000-character Resolution.
The Resolution is a political declaration for Chinese Communists in the new era to keep in mind the original aspiration and mission and to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, and it is an action guide for taking history as a mirror (yǐ shǐ wéi jiàn - “take history as a mirror,” to learn from the past), creating the future, and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The Resolution summarizes and generalizes the historical significance of the Party’s centenary struggle from five aspects: it fundamentally changed the future and destiny of the Chinese people; it opened up the correct path to realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation; it demonstrated the powerful vitality of Marxism; it profoundly influenced the course of world history; and it forged the Communist Party of China at the forefront of the times.
The Resolution summarizes and generalizes the historical experience of the Party’s centenary struggle from ten aspects: upholding the Party’s leadership, upholding the primacy of the people, upholding theoretical innovation, upholding independence and self-reliance, upholding the Chinese path, upholding a global vision, upholding pioneering and innovation, upholding the courage to struggle, upholding the united front, and upholding self-reform.
“That the Party has established Comrade Xi Jinping’s position as the core of the Central Committee and the core of the entire Party, and has established the guiding position of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, reflects the common will of the entire Party, the entire military, and the people of all ethnic groups in the country, and is of decisive significance for the development of the cause of the Party and the state in the new era and for advancing the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” This expression in the Resolution aroused strong resonance among the vast number of Party members, cadres, and the masses.
Everyone expressed that the “two establishments” (两个确立) are the choice of history and the era, the historical fortune and era fortune of the Party and the state, a major historical conclusion drawn from deeply summarizing the Party’s centenary struggle and the great practice since the Party’s 18th National Congress, and a major political judgment that embodies the common will of the entire Party and reflects the common aspiration of the people.
Placed on the time coordinate of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, this plenary session was undoubtedly a grand gathering that paid tribute to history, and even more a grand gathering that set out toward the future.
At the moment of the adoption of the Party’s third historical resolution, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s words were incomparably heroic—
“Today, we are closer, more confident, and more capable of achieving the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than at any time in history. At the new starting point, the entire Party must maintain strategic focus, anchor the strategic goal, keep in mind the ‘country’s most important matters’ (国之大者), and run the leg of the relay that belongs to our generation in the process of realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
Taking history as a mirror and creating the future. We must keep in mind the fundamental question of what the Communist Party of China is and what it wants to do, always maintain strategic sobriety, strategic confidence, and strategic initiative, and run the critical leg of the historical relay.

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Building a Strong Science and Technology Nation to Support High-Quality Development

By: 本报记者 赵永新

Editor's Note: Recently, the Central Propaganda Department (中央宣传部), the Work Committee of Central and State Organs (中央和国家机关工委), the Ministry of Education (教育部), the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission (中央军委政治工作部), and the Beijing Municipal Committee (北京市委) jointly held a series of situation and policy report meetings themed "Safeguarding and Improving People's Livelihoods in High-Quality Development." On June 25, Yin Hejun (阴和俊), Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology (科技部), delivered a special report titled "Building a Science and Technology Powerhouse to Support High-Quality Development," which is now published in summary form as questions and answers.

Historic Achievements in Scientific and Technological Innovation, New Leap in Scientific and Technological Strength

Reporter: Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, what historic achievements has China's scientific and technological innovation made?

Yin Hejun: Since the 18th National Congress, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to scientific and technological innovation, always placing scientific and technological innovation in a prominent position in the overall national development, systematically planning and advancing it in a coordinated manner. Under the strong leadership of the Central Committee, a pattern of "one-chessboard" (一盘棋) for the nationwide scientific and technological work has basically taken shape. Scientific and technological innovation has achieved historic accomplishments, providing strong scientific and technological support for achieving high-quality development and safeguarding high-level security.

First, the capacity for scientific and technological innovation has been substantially enhanced.

1. The international standing of scientific and technological strength has improved year by year. In the Global Innovation Index released by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China rose from 34th place in 2012 to 10th place in 2025. National R&D investment increased from 1.03 trillion yuan in 2012 to 3.93 trillion yuan in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of over 10.8%; R&D intensity increased from 1.98% in 2012 to 2.8% in 2025. The number of PCT international patent applications has ranked first in the world for seven consecutive years, reaching 73,000 in 2025. The number of high-level international journal papers has ranked first in the world for five consecutive years.

2. The team of scientific and technological talent has continued to grow. In 2025, the full-time equivalent of R&D personnel in China reached 7.95 million person-years, firmly ranking first in the world for 13 consecutive years. The number of highly cited scientists from China's mainland reached 1,406 person-times, ranking second in the world. Young scientific and technological talent has become the main force in scientific research and the fresh force in innovation. In the National Key R&D Program, the proportion of young scientific and technological personnel under 45 serving as project leaders is 43.3%. 80% of projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation are undertaken by young people under 45. In major national science and technology projects such as Beidou and lunar exploration, as well as emerging fields like artificial intelligence, the average age of many project team members is only around 30.

3. The global influence of science and technology continues to rise. China has established scientific and technological cooperation relations with more than 160 countries and regions, signed 120 intergovernmental science and technology cooperation agreements, and joined more than 200 international organizations and multilateral mechanisms. International big science initiatives led by China, such as the "Deep Time Digital Earth" (深时数字地球), "Marine Negative Emissions" (海洋负排放), and "Human Proteome Navigation" (人体蛋白质组导航), are steadily advancing. China actively participates in multiple international big science projects such as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). China's influence as an important pole of global innovation is continuously being demonstrated.

Second, science and technology have strongly supported the construction of a modern industrial system.

Science and technology empower the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries. Through technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and big data, significant results have been achieved in promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of traditional industries. The unit comprehensive energy consumption of high-energy-consuming products such as steel and cement has generally reached the world's advanced level. The level of advanced manufacturing continues to improve; China has the largest number of "Lighthouse Factories" in the world, accounting for over 45%. Industrial robot applications have covered 71 major industrial categories of the national economy, with a total installed capacity exceeding 2 million units, firmly ranking first in the world. Major breakthroughs have been made in the independent development of major equipment such as tunnel boring machines.

Science and technology lead the vigorous development of emerging industries. New technologies are accelerating breakthroughs, continuously spawning new industries and new economic growth points. In 2025, China's export scale of the "New Three" (新三样 – electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products) approached 1.3 trillion yuan, a 3.5 times increase compared to 2020. In 2025, China's production and sales of new energy vehicles both exceeded 16 million units, ranking first globally for 11 consecutive years. The so-called "New New Three" (新新三样) – artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs – are also developing rapidly, with the potential to form new pillar industries.

Science and technology lay a solid foundation for the growth of future industries. Quantum technology is accelerating toward a new stage of industrialization. China has developed the "Zuchongzhi No. 3" (祖冲之三号) superconducting quantum computer and the "Jiuzhang No. 4" (九章四号) optical quantum computer, making it the only country in the world to achieve "quantum computational advantage" on both the optical and superconducting quantum computing technical routes. In the field of artificial intelligence, a number of internationally leading large models such as DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, and GLM have emerged, forming an open-source and open ecosystem. Breakthroughs have been made in the overall technology of humanoid robots, with progress in key technologies such as multimodal perception and brain-cerebellum models. Brain-computer interface technology is accelerating clinical application, achieving positive results in areas such as disability rehabilitation and the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases.

Third, science and technology have strongly enhanced social and people's livelihood well-being.

Scientific and technological innovation makes the sky bluer, the water clearer, food better, travel faster, and bodies healthier, strengthening the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security.

In terms of transportation, science and technology continuously empower, driving China from a "large transportation country" toward a "powerful transportation country." China's high-speed railway mileage has exceeded 50,000 kilometers, making it the country with the longest high-speed railway operation mileage and the highest speed in the world. The CR450 high-speed train set reached a maximum test speed of 453 km/h. The 600 km/h superconducting maglev train has completed development, continuously refreshing "China Speed." Domestically built large cruise ships, the "Ada Modu" (爱达·魔都号) and the "Ada Huacheng" (爱达·花城号), provide the people with a "more technological, richer, and more Chinese" consumption experience for sea travel. The Beidou navigation system achieves millimeter-level positioning, providing more accurate and convenient navigation services for transportation.

In terms of medicine and health, scientific and technological innovation empowers life and health, strongly supporting the construction of a Healthy China. In recent years, innovative drugs in China have shown explosive growth, reaching 48 in 2024 and 76 in 2025, with increasingly strong international competitiveness. The 5.0T magnetic resonance imaging system developed by China is 3 to 5 times clearer than the 3.0T equipment, capable of capturing small lesions such as early-stage stroke and small vessel blockages that are difficult for traditional equipment to identify, and also provides key evidence for the diagnosis of some difficult and severe diseases such as brain tumors and pancreatic cancer.

In terms of ecological and environmental protection, a series of major scientific and technological projects have been deployed and implemented to help win the three major battles for blue skies, clear waters, and clean soil. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the average PM2.5 concentration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas decreased by 27.7%. In 2025, the national average PM2.5 concentration was 28 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 4.4%, and the proportion of days with good air quality reached 89.3%. The proportion of surface water sections with excellent quality exceeded 90% for two consecutive years. The quality of the soil environment is steadily improving, and the quality of the ecosystem is stable and improving.

In terms of eating better, new agricultural forms such as smart farms are booming, and technologies such as smart logistics are accelerating development and application, providing important guarantees for the safety and freshness of food from field to table. Using technologies such as molecular design breeding and hybrid breeding, a number of major varieties have been cultivated, including high-yield and high-quality rice and Fusarium head blight-resistant wheat, which are significantly improved in terms of disease resistance, stress resistance, quality, and high yield. Currently, more than 95% of China's arable land is planted with seeds bred by ourselves, realizing that "China's grain" mainly uses "China's seeds," using Chinese seeds to ensure China's food security and firmly holding the rice bowl of the Chinese people in our own hands.

Fourth, science and technology have strongly safeguarded the national strategic interests.

In the aerospace field, from lunar exploration to Mars exploration, from manned launches to permanent space station residency, scientific and technological innovation has supported the aerospace industry in achieving one historic leap after another. In deep-sea exploration, independently built marine equipment such as the "Tansuo 3" (探索三号) and the "Fendouzhe" (奋斗者号) have completed comprehensive missions including Arctic sea ice, marine ecology, and deep-sea exploration, making China currently the only country in the world to conduct continuous manned deep dives in the dense Arctic sea ice area. In major projects, China ranks first in the world in operating and under-construction nuclear power capacity. The "Hualong One" (华龙一号) and "Guohe One" (国和一号) third-generation nuclear power plants are being built in batches, and the world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant, the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, has been put into commercial operation.

It can be said that scientific and technological innovation has provided strong support for China's two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, and has laid a solid material and technological foundation for development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. The achievement of these accomplishments fundamentally lies in the leadership and navigation of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and in the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Profoundly Grasp the New Situation, New Tasks, and New Challenges Facing China's Current Self-Reliance and Self-Strengthening in Science and Technology

Reporter: How should we understand the new situation and new requirements facing scientific and technological innovation at present?

Yin Hejun: At present, the world's once-in-a-century transformation is accelerating, the technological revolution and great-power games are intertwined, China's economic and social development has entered a new stage, and scientific and technological innovation faces new situations, new tasks, new challenges, and new requirements.

First, achieving high-quality development must be supported by scientific and technological modernization.

Entering a new stage of development, the principal contradiction in Chinese society has undergone profound changes, and high-quality development faces many challenges. It is necessary to rely on scientific and technological innovation to continuously increase labor productivity, accelerate the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones, ensure that development momentum does not wane and the development process does not stall, and provide solid scientific and technological support for meeting the people's aspirations for a better life.

Scientific and technological innovation is an inevitable choice for crossing the "middle-income stage." China is in a critical period of transitioning from the middle-income stage to the high-income stage. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, there is an even more urgent need to follow a growth path that relies on scientific and technological innovation, achieving quality change, efficiency change, and power change, accelerating the development of new quality productive forces, building a modern industrial system, and promoting China's economic and social development to a higher stage.

Scientific and technological innovation is the strategic support for achieving green development. During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, achieving "carbon peak" (碳达峰) faces severe challenges, and there is great pressure on emission reduction and carbon reduction. Adjusting the energy structure and improving the efficiency of energy and resource utilization and environmental governance urgently require strengthening scientific and technological innovation to consolidate the scientific and technological foundation for building a Beautiful China.

Scientific and technological innovation is a solid guarantee for improving the quality of people's lives and promoting comprehensive human development and social progress. With economic development and improvement of living standards, the people's needs for fresh air, safe food, beautiful environment, high-level medical care, and high-quality spiritual and cultural life are becoming increasingly strong. It is necessary to rely on scientific and technological innovation to provide more high-quality products and services, so that the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security is more substantial, more secure, and more sustainable.

Second, accurately grasp the historical opportunities of the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The new scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation will be one of the most difficult to control but must be faced uncertain factors; seize it, and it is an opportunity; fail to seize it, and it is a challenge." At present, science and technology are advancing with each passing day. Scientific research is deepening towards the extremely macro, the extremely micro, extreme conditions, and extremely comprehensive intersections, continuously expanding the new frontiers of human cognition. Cutting-edge technologies are showing a trend of accelerated breakthroughs, cross-integration, and group leaps. New technologies, new industries, and new business forms are accelerating integrated development in a wider range, broader fields, and deeper levels.

Artificial intelligence, as a strategic technology leading the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, is empowering thousands of industries with unprecedented breadth, depth, and speed, helping the manufacturing industry accelerate intelligent transformation and upgrading. AI for Science is promoting a paradigm shift in scientific research, showing great potential in improving research efficiency and accelerating scientific discovery and technological breakthroughs. Quantum technology is gradually entering a new stage of integrated advancement of scientific research and development, engineering application, and industrial cultivation. Quantum communication, quantum computing, quantum measurement and other paths are accelerating their evolution. Biotechnology is showing a trend of rapid development and rapidly declining costs. Gene editing, synthetic biology, etc., will bring new changes to biomedicine, bio-industry, and bio-agriculture. Cutting-edge technologies such as new-generation communication, brain-computer interfaces, nuclear fusion energy, and hypersonic flight vehicles are also showing a trend of accelerated breakthroughs.

The rapid advancement of new technologies will inevitably bring profound changes to economic and social development. We must deeply grasp the laws of science and technology, national strategies, and the historical position of our country, strive to seize the commanding heights of scientific and technological competition and industrial development, and inject strong momentum into the construction of Chinese-style modernization.

Strengthen Mission and Responsibility, Accelerate the Construction of a Science and Technology Powerhouse

Reporter: During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, what are the main key tasks for accelerating the construction of a science and technology powerhouse?

Yin Hejun: The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Outline of the National "15th Five-Year Plan" have made systematic arrangements for "accelerating high-level self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology, leading the development of new quality productive forces." They have set "a substantial improvement in the level of self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology" as one of the seven main goals for economic and social development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, and proposed strategic tasks such as strengthening basic research and key core technology breakthroughs, enhancing systematic innovation capabilities, and integrating the development of education, science and technology, and talent. We must conscientiously implement the strategic deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, with tenacious will and firm determination, 只争朝夕 (zhǐ zhēng zhāo xī - "seize the day, strive against time," to act with urgency), 奋发有为 (fèn fā yǒu wéi - "exert oneself and make a difference," to strive to achieve), and solidly promote the implementation and landing of various tasks.

First, strengthen high-quality scientific and technological supply to support high-quality economic and social development. Strengthen the strategic, forward-looking, and systematic layout of basic research. On one hand, grasp the world's scientific and technological frontiers, strengthen "from 0 to 1" original innovation, and bravely venture into the "no-man's land" of scientific and technological innovation. On the other hand, according to the country's urgent development needs, reversely sort out "from 1 to 0" scientific problems, accelerating the resolution of the underlying scientific principles of "stuck-neck" (卡脖子) technologies. At the same time, further strengthen the construction of basic conditions for science and technology, continuously improve the capacity for independent support. Adhere to building foundations, plugging loopholes, reinforcing weaknesses, and strengthening strengths. Promote the tackling of key core technologies in key areas such as integrated circuits, industrial mother machines, high-end instruments, basic software, advanced materials, and biological manufacturing through full-chain deployment and systematic layout, producing a number of major landmark achievements. Strengthen the role of science and technology in supporting the improvement of people's well-being, accelerate technological innovation in areas such as major disease prevention and treatment and pharmaceuticals and medical devices, improve the level of technology and equipment in areas such as production safety and major disaster response, accelerate the tackling of key technologies and the application of results in areas such as ecosystem protection and restoration, and use science and technology to make people's lives better.

Second, promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system. Accelerate the technological transformation, upgrade, and large-scale equipment renewal of traditional industries, optimize industrial layout, strengthen standard leadership, and enhance internationalization. Accelerate the clustered development of strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, aerospace, and low-altitude economy. Forward-lay out future industries, focusing on promoting quantum technology, biological manufacturing, hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications to become new economic growth points. Strengthen the principal role of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, accelerate the cultivation and growth of leading scientific and technological enterprises, strengthen enterprise-led industry-university-research collaborative innovation, and support enterprises in taking the lead in forming innovation consortia. Accelerate the efficient transformation and application of major scientific and technological achievements, lay out the construction of concept verification and pilot test platforms, and increase the construction and open sharing of application scenarios. Accelerate the development of science and technology finance, and support capital to invest early, invest small, invest long-term, and invest in hard technology.

Third, improve the regional innovation system and create growth poles and power sources for high-quality development. Promote the three international science and technology innovation centers of Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to enhance their functions as sources of original innovation, leaders of high-end industries, and gatherers of top talent, accelerating the construction of important strategic fulcrums for building a science and technology powerhouse. At the same time, strengthen the construction of regional science and technology innovation centers, and support local areas to build innovation highlands with their own characteristics based on their own endowments.

Fourth, integratively advance the development of education, science and technology, and talent, and give full play to their fundamental and strategic supporting roles. Coordinately advance independent scientific and technological innovation and independent talent cultivation. In the organization and implementation of major national science and technology tasks, gather and cultivate scientific and technological talent and innovation teams. Establish disciplinary adjustment mechanisms that correspond to national strategic needs, and lay out urgently needed disciplines and specialties. Cultivate and create more strategic scientists, leading scientific and technological talents, and great craftsmen of various types, and strengthen support for young scientific and technological talent. Vigorously promote the spirit of scientists, guide and motivate the vast number of scientific researchers to 志存高远 (zhì cún gāo yuǎn - "cherish high aspirations," to aim high), work hard, and commit to innovation. Continuously deepen the reform of science and technology evaluation, highlighting innovation capability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution. Improve the governance system for research integrity, resolutely punish academic misconduct, and effectively promote the formation of a 风清气正 (fēng qīng qì zhèng - "wind clear, spirit upright," a clean and upright atmosphere) scientific research ecosystem.

Fifth, strengthen international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, allowing science and technology to better benefit human society. Actively integrate into the global scientific and technological innovation network, actively strengthen intergovernmental bilateral, multilateral, and non-governmental scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, deeply implement the "Belt and Road" Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan, and create an open innovation ecosystem with global competitiveness. Enhance the level of global science and technology governance, actively participate in the formulation of international rules in emerging technology fields such as artificial intelligence, biology, and space, strengthen international joint research on issues such as climate change, food security, and energy security, and provide more Chinese solutions for jointly addressing global challenges.

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200 billion yuan in equipment upgrade funds fully allocated for the year

Our newspaper Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Liu Zhiqiang) — Since the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发展改革委) has, together with relevant departments, optimized the scope of support, improved the application process, strengthened review and approval, accelerated the work pace, and issued ultra-long-term special treasury bonds (超长期特别国债) in three batches to support equipment updates. The total 200 billion yuan of equipment update funds for the full year has now been fully allocated, supporting approximately 11,000 projects across 22 sectors.

This year's third batch of equipment update project lists and fund arrangements support equipment updates in sectors such as energy and electricity, logistics, education, elderly care institutions, offline commercial facilities, old operational trucks, old residential elevators, and the installation of elevators in old residential communities. The equipment update funds have provided strong support for accelerating industrial upgrading, promoting green development, improving people's livelihoods, and strengthening safety guarantees. From January to May this year, investment in equipment and tool procurement increased by 9.3% year-on-year, accounting for 17.5% of total investment, an increase of 2.2 percentage points over the same period last year.

The National Development and Reform Commission will, together with relevant departments, supervise and guide all parties to promptly push forward project construction, strengthen closed-loop management throughout the process, accelerate the formation of more tangible work volume, and fully leverage the utilization efficiency of central government funds.

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High-tech manufacturing logistics demand up 15.1% year-on-year in May

People's Daily, Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Ouyang Jie (欧阳洁)) The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (中国物流与采购联合会) released logistics operation data for the first five months: From January to May, the total value of social logistics nationwide reached 146.6 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. Among them, the total value of industrial product logistics increased by 5.4% year-on-year. Logistics demand maintained stable growth overall, with accelerated conversion of old and new growth drivers (新旧动能转换), and the trend of structural upgrading continued to emerge. At the same time, the total revenue of the logistics industry was 5.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%. The logistics prosperity level improved synchronously. From January to May, the average value of the China Logistics Prosperity Index (中国物流业景气指数) was 0.1 percentage points higher than the average from January to April.

Logistics demand in the high-end manufacturing sector maintained relatively fast growth. In May, logistics demand related to high-tech manufacturing increased by 15.1% year-on-year, and logistics demand related to equipment manufacturing increased by 9.5% year-on-year, both accelerating compared to the previous month.

Digital consumption logistics developed relatively quickly. From January to May, the total value of logistics for institutional and household goods increased by 4.0% year-on-year. Live-streaming e-commerce retail sales grew by 6.9%, with the growth rate accelerating by 0.2 percentage points compared to January to April. New business forms and new models continued to provide growth impetus for logistics demand related to people's livelihoods. In May, the e-commerce logistics total business volume index and the rural e-commerce logistics business volume index reached 128.3 points and 126.8 points, respectively.

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People-to-people exchanges inject vitality into China-Latin America community with a shared future

By: 本报记者 时元皓

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Municipal Theater was 金碧辉煌 (jīn bì huī huáng - "gold and green, resplendent," magnificent and splendid). Not long ago, the "China-Brazil Calligraphy and Painting Art Exhibition" was held here. A calligraphy work bearing the words "海内存知己，天涯若比邻" (within the four seas, all are brothers; though far apart, we are neighbors) attracted many Brazilian citizens to stop and admire. These ten short words are a vivid interpretation of the relationship between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries.

"There is an ancient Chinese poem that goes, '人生乐在相知心' (the joy of life lies in knowing each other's heart), and there is also a Latin American proverb: 'He who has friends has treasure.'" At the opening ceremony of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum held in May last year, President Xi Jinping pointed out that no matter how the international landscape changes, China will always be a good friend and good partner to Latin American and Caribbean countries. Over the past year or more, from announcing that China and Latin America and the Caribbean would join hands to launch the five major projects of unity, development, civilization, peace, and people-to-people bonds, to releasing the third edition of the China's Policy Document on Latin America and the Caribbean, China and Latin American and Caribbean countries have been moving toward each other, continuously enhancing dialogue between civilizations, deepening people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and injecting more humanistic strength into the building of a China-LAC community with a shared future.

Personnel exchanges become more convenient.

"Aren't you going to Hangzhou? We're about to board." At Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, a young Chilean man, Nicolás Figueroa, gently woke up a Chinese man who was sleeping on a seat near the boarding gate, reminding him to board.

Figueroa is a short-video blogger who has a Chinese name — Wang Zhili (王智利). On Wang Zhili's account, most of the videos are those he filmed during his travels in China: in Chongqing, showing the audience the magical urban landscape that appears to be flat ground but is actually on the 20th floor; in Zhengzhou, Henan, standing on the bridge of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project to introduce it; in Ngawa (阿坝), Sichuan, wearing traditional Qiang clothing and dancing with local residents...

Wang Zhili uses vivid expressions to present his experiences in China to Latin American audiences, and won an award in the third "China-LAC:天涯若比邻" short video competition. "Every face of China is worth knowing. Besides cool technology and novel experiences, I also hope to focus on areas that foreigners know less about, such as rural life," Wang Zhili told the reporter. He strives to show the real China from a life-close perspective, "hoping to promote people-to-people connectivity between Latin America and China through my creations, and encourage more Latin Americans to travel to China, study, and gain a deeper understanding of China."

As more convenient personnel exchange policies continue to be implemented, more Latin Americans like Wang Zhili visit China, and more and more Chinese travel to Latin America. From June 1, 2025, China will pilot a visa-free policy for holders of ordinary passports from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay; Air China plans to increase the frequency of its weekly route via Madrid to São Paulo, and China Eastern Airlines' "Shanghai–Auckland–Buenos Aires" route was officially opened at the end of last year; China UnionPay promotes cross-border QR code interconnection between China and Brazil... More measures of "soft connectivity" are being implemented, continuously deepening the "heart-to-heart connectivity" between Chinese and Latin American citizens.

"The visa-free policy is a concrete manifestation of an open attitude, and will significantly promote tourism, business exchanges, and cultural interaction. Opening more routes and flights will bring more flexibility, convenience, and room for growth," former Brazilian Minister of Tourism Vinicius Lummertz told the reporter.

In June this year, João, head of the Brazilian Portinari Project, brought paintings by the famous Brazilian painter Cândido Portinari to the National Museum of China for exhibition. He recently received a gift from a Chinese colleague — a calligraphy work bearing the words "相知无远近，万里尚为邻" (mutual understanding knows no distance; ten thousand li away, still neighbors). "Geographically, we are tens of thousands of miles apart, but in values and emotions, we are neighbors," João said.

Cultural activities become more abundant.

In early April, the first major event of the "China-Brazil Culture Year" — the "China-Brazil Culture Year" special concert was held in Brasília. The China National Symphony Orchestra and the Brazilian Claudio Santoro National Theater Symphony Orchestra jointly performed classic pieces such as "Golden Snake Dance", "Butterfly Lovers", "Brazilian Watercolor", and "The Little Train of the Caipira", bringing a musical feast to the audience.

After listening to the melodious tune of "Butterfly Lovers", Brazilian composer and cultural planner Pablo Castellar was deeply moved. "This is a very beautiful work. I hope to know more cultural stories related to it," Castellar told the reporter. Art can help people better "see" and "feel" a country's culture, thereby enhancing understanding and closeness between different cultures.

At the end of April, Castellar, together with Brazilian soprano Marília Vargas and Brazilian guitarist Fabio Zanon, went to China to reciprocate Chinese audiences with a concert themed "From the Yangtze River to the Amazon". The most representative natural and cultural images of the two countries were integrated into artistic expression, witnessing the 历久弥坚 (lì jiǔ mí jiān - "enduring and becoming stronger," increasingly firm with the passage of time) friendship between the two countries through beautiful and harmonious melodies.

In recent years, exchanges between China and Latin America in fields such as literature, art, film and television, archaeology, museums, sports, journalism and publishing, and academia have continued to deepen. The China's Policy Document on Latin America and the Caribbean proposes to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the humanities field and to cultivate the social foundation of the China-LAC friendship. Carlos Aquino, director of the Center for Asian Studies at the National University of San Marcos in Peru, believes that "China, like Peru, Mexico and other Latin American countries, has a long history and splendid civilization, and Latin America and China are carrying out more cooperation in fields such as comparative civilization research."

From the release of the Chinese edition of the important work on Brazilian social thought The Brazilians: The Formation and Meaning of Brazil in China, to the holding of the China-Argentina Contemporary Literature Dialogue and Translation Achievement Promotion Conference at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair; from the major exhibition of Maya civilization in Mexico meeting audiences at the Henan Museum, to the exhibition of mutual learning between the ancient Shu and Inca civilizations at the Inca Museum in Cusco, Peru; from Brazilian coaches going to China to teach, and Brazilian football stars appearing at the "Village Super League" in Guizhou, to the South American Chinese Kung Fu Championship held in Uruguay attracting thousands of kung fu enthusiasts to the scene... Events one after another have built bridges of mutual learning among civilizations, allowing Chinese and Latin American people to enhance their understanding and appreciation of each other's cultures through exchanges.

"Latin America and China are far apart and have relatively large cultural differences, so it is very necessary for both sides to enhance mutual understanding," Argentine sinologist He Guangsi (何广思) told the reporter. Diverse forms of cultural exchanges help increase the sense of identity among the people and promote the development of cooperation relations between the two sides in various fields.

Cognitive channels become more diverse.

In February this year, the Peru-China Friendship Day event was held in Lima, the capital of Peru. The building of the Ministry of Culture of Peru was 张灯结彩 (zhāng dēng jié cǎi - "hang lanterns and tie festoons," decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations). Accompanied by the resounding sound of drums and music, more than 20 students from the Juan XXIII Peru-China School, wearing horse-face skirts in various colors representing the 24 solar terms of China, demonstrated Chinese kung fu with precise movements, allowing the audience to experience traditional Chinese culture.

"The students wanted to express their love and respect for Chinese culture through the performance," said school principal Jennifer Payan. "We teach students Chinese language and culture, traditional customs, and have organized many trips for teachers and students to visit China for study, allowing students to improve their language skills while broadening their international horizons, letting them learn tolerance through contact with different cultures."

Nowadays, more and more Latin American people gain a deeper understanding of China by learning Chinese or Chinese culture. In Chile, the southernmost Confucius Institute in the world — the Confucius Institute at the University of Magallanes — was established in November 2025. In addition to regular Chinese language teaching, the institute has also designed special courses such as "Chinese + Polar Research" and "Chinese + Marine Science". In Brazil, the first Confucius Institute alliance in Latin America was established in September last year, and the Mid-Autumn Festival was officially included in the official activity calendar of São Paulo city in December last year...

Besides traditional Chinese culture, Chinese films and TV shows, games, and trendy toys are also favored by Latin American people. Not long ago, the first Mixue Ice Cream & Tea store in Brazil opened in São Paulo, and the "Snow King" wearing a No. 10 football jersey felt the enthusiasm of Brazilian customers; at the Pop Mart trendy toy store in Bogotá, Colombia, locals queued to buy "Labubu" blind boxes; the flagship store of Miniso in Costa Rica has become a popular spot for locals to check in — behind this is the recognition of more Latin American people for Chinese pop culture and lifestyle, further enriching their understanding of China.

Aquino told the reporter: "In the past, our understanding of China was limited to traditional elements. Now, through Chinese films, online dramas, news programs, as well as technology and cultural products, we have gained more knowledge of China's unique cultural expressions and social development. The cultural ties between Latin America and China are richer and more diverse, which helps to enhance the mutual understanding and affinity between the people of Latin America and China."

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Remember the Tokyo Trial, Guard Historical Truth and International Justice (International Forum)

By: 埃瑞克·福斯特

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials. This historic trial, which lasted two and a half years, brought together the judicial forces of 11 nations, comprehensively exposed the heinous crimes committed by Japanese aggressors in multiple Asian countries, embodied the common will of the anti-fascist Allied nations and the people of the world to pursue war responsibilities, and laid the legal cornerstone of the post-war international order. At a time when historical nihilism (历史虚无主义) and historical revisionism are resurfacing like 沉渣泛起 (chén zhā fàn qǐ - "dregs float up," undesirable things resurface) in an attempt to cover up war crimes, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials is of great significance for safeguarding historical truth and firmly remembering the lessons of history.

The Tokyo Trials safeguarded historical truth. Although Japan systematically destroyed a large amount of incriminating evidence before and after its surrender, the Tokyo Trials still, through painstaking and meticulous investigation and evidence collection and multinational collaborative cooperation, gathered a large amount of witness testimony, written affidavits, and court evidence, exposing with irrefutable facts the truth of Japanese militarist侵略 crimes and crimes against humanity such as the Nanjing Massacre. These trial records, court evidence, and historical archives remain to this day the important basis for refuting fallacious arguments that seek to reverse historical verdicts and for upholding historical truth.

In the Tokyo Trials, the testimony concerning the Nanjing Massacre was particularly weighty. The court heard and adopted a large amount of witness testimony, written affidavits, and original documents, and, in the form of an international tribunal judgment, conducted a special case hearing and comprehensive characterization of this unprecedented catastrophe in human civilization that caused the brutal slaughter of more than 300,000 Chinese people. Those restrained yet sorrowful testimonies not only made the suffering of the victims known to the world, but also caused the Nanjing Massacre, as irrefutable evidence of Japanese militarist侵略 crimes, to be formally recorded in the annals of international law and the historical memory of the world.

The Tokyo Trials were also an important exploration of international judicial justice. After experiencing a global catastrophe, the Allied nations hoped to thereby create a precedent for holding war criminals accountable. The International Military Tribunal for the Far East conducted the trial in accordance with the principles and procedures of fair trial, adhering to rigorous legal procedures, which provided guarantees for the continuity, legality, and authority of the trial, reflecting the tremendous efforts made by the international community to pursue war responsibilities. The historical records left by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East are indispensable and to this day deeply influence relevant discussions on contemporary war crimes trials.

My aunt, Helen Foster Snow, dedicated her life to making the voice of the Chinese people heard by the world, and Edgar Snow's Red Star Over China influenced the Western perspective on understanding the Chinese revolution. They recorded China through news reports and on-site interviews, transmitting the anti-Japanese war practices of the Chinese people to the world. The Tokyo Trials, on the other hand, used legal procedures, witness testimony, and court evidence to record the aggression crimes of Japanese militarism in the annals of international law. Together, the two demonstrate that historical truth not only needs to be witnessed and recorded, but also needs to be remembered.

Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials is significant not only for reviewing the past, but even more for warning the present. To this day, phenomena of glorifying, downplaying, and even denying the history of aggression still appear in different forms in some places. The Tokyo Trials serve as a warning to the world: aggression must be condemned, atrocities must be recorded, and guilt must be pursued. No matter how the years pass, no matter how the deniers quibble, historical truth cannot be erased, and international justice cannot be trampled upon. Remembering the Tokyo Trials means remembering the heavy price humanity has paid for peace and justice, means safeguarding the legal foundation of the post-war international order, and means protecting the peaceful future that the people of the world jointly pursue.

(The author is the nephew-in-law of Edgar Snow, author of Red Star Over China.)

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Creating a Brighter Future for China and Montenegro Together (Ambassador's Essay)

By: 陈绪峰

This year, July 6 marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Montenegro.

On the shore of the Adriatic Sea in July, the sea breeze gently blows, and all things flourish. In this season full of vitality, the China-Montenegro relationship has ushered in an important historical moment. Twenty years of spring blossoms and autumn fruits (chūn huá qiū shí - "spring flowers, autumn fruits," significant achievements over time). The two countries have always respected each other and treated each other as equals, becoming a model of friendly coexistence between countries with different social systems.

Consolidating political mutual trust and reinforcing the strategic foundation. Political mutual trust is an important guarantee for the stable and enduring development of China-Montenegro relations. Over the 20 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have always firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests and major concerns. The Montenegrin side has consistently adhered to the One-China principle, and the Chinese side appreciates and firmly supports Montenegro in following a development path that suits its national conditions. China and Europe, as two major forces, two major markets, and two major civilizations, have no fundamental conflict of interests, nor do they have geopolitical strategic contradictions. The correct positioning of their relations should be partnership, and the mainstream should be cooperation. China has always believed that Montenegro's integration into the European integration process and the development of relations with China can go hand in hand without conflict and mutually reinforce each other. This is the strategic consensus between the two countries, ensuring that China-Montenegro relations always maintain the correct course amidst changing international circumstances.

Deepening practical cooperation and enhancing development momentum. Practical cooperation is an important source of the sense of gain and happiness for the people of China and Montenegro. Under the framework of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and China-CEEC cooperation, practical cooperation between China and Montenegro has yielded fruitful results. The priority section of the North-South Expressway in Montenegro, constructed by a Chinese enterprise, has seen cumulative traffic of over 10 million vehicles, generating good economic and social benefits and becoming a veritable road of connectivity and development; in June this year, the second section of the North-South Expressway project officially commenced construction, which will further unblock the north-south traffic artery of Montenegro. The Mozura Wind Power Plant continues to deliver green energy, and the ecological renovation of the Pljevlja Thermal Power Plant is progressing steadily. Cooperation between the two sides in emerging fields such as the digital economy and artificial intelligence is just unfolding and not yet exhausted (fāng xīng wèi ài - "just rising, not yet ended," in the ascendant), injecting new impetus into Montenegro's modernization process. Not long ago, Prime Minister Spajić of Montenegro attended the Summer Davos Forum in China, where the leaders of the two countries reached new important consensus on deepening traditional friendship and expanding comprehensive mutually beneficial cooperation.

Promoting people-to-people and cultural exchanges and building bridges between hearts. The foundation of state-to-state relations lies in the affinity between the people. The Yugoslav film "Bridge," based on the Tara River Bridge in Montenegro, and its theme song "Bella Ciao" are household names in China. The Tara River Bridge renovation project funded by the Chinese government is giving this World War II "Heroic Bridge" a new lease on life. China has implemented a unilateral visa-free policy for Montenegro, making personnel exchanges more frequent. In 2025, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Montenegro exceeded 80,000. Montenegrin students have won the global overall championship three times in the "Chinese Bridge" Chinese proficiency competition. These cultural exchanges spanning mountains and seas promote the deepening of emotional integration between the people of the two countries and infuse traditional friendship with new vitality and vigor.

The 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations is not only a glorious milestone but also a new starting point for setting sail on a long voyage. At present, Chinese modernization is accelerating, continuously releasing the dividends of "China Opportunity 2.0" to the world. China is willing to work with Montenegro to implement the consensus of the two countries' leaders, promote greater development of bilateral relations, jointly run to achieve mutual benefit and win-win at an accelerated pace, enhance the well-being of the people of both countries with more practical results, and jointly create an even brighter future for China-Montenegro relations.
(The author is the Chinese Ambassador to Montenegro.)

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Photo Report

Since the new terminal at Maldives' Velana International Airport, constructed by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (中国港湾工程有限责任公司), was put into operation in July 2025, the airport's annual passenger handling capacity has increased from approximately 2 million passengers to over 7 million.

It is learned that during the peak period of the new terminal project construction, it directly employed over 2,000 local workers, and during the operation phase it stably provides more than 600 jobs, and through technical training and on-site practice it cultivates local engineering, technical and operation/maintenance personnel. The picture shows the exterior view of the new terminal.

Photo by Wu Di (吴狄).

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Ningbo-Colombo City Civilization Dialogue Held in Colombo

This newspaper Colombo, July 5 (Reporter Bai Yuanqi (白元琪)). The "Encounter and Appreciate" (遇·鉴) Civilization Exchange and Mutual Learning Event — "China's Ningbo Dialogue with Sri Lanka's Colombo" was held on the 4th in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo. This event, themed "Cultural Construction in the Development of Port Cities," aimed to implement the important consensus of the leaders of China and Sri Lanka, put into practice the Global Civilization Initiative, empower urban development through culture, and further connect the hearts and minds of the peoples of the two countries.

Hu Kaihong (胡凯红), Deputy Director of the Central Office of Spiritual Civilization Construction (中央精神文明建设办公室); Qi Zhenhong (戚振宏), Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka; and Balthazar (巴尔塔扎), Mayor of Colombo, attended the event and delivered speeches. More than 180 Chinese and international guests, including representatives from the Ningbo and Colombo municipal governments, heads of international organizations, university scholars, enterprise representatives, and media reporters, participated in the event.

Hu Kaihong stated that both China and Sri Lanka are ancient civilizations in Asia, with a history of friendly exchanges spanning thousands of years. Next year will mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Sri Lanka. He expressed the hope that taking this event as a starting point, upholding the view of civilization characterized by "equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness," promoting mutual understanding through exchange, mutual benefit through cooperation, and shared progress through mutual learning, the two sides will improve the mechanism for people-to-people and cultural cooperation, deepen the integration of industry, culture, and tourism, and jointly create a new chapter of mutual learning and mutual benefit between Chinese and Sri Lankan civilizations in the new era.

During the keynote speech session, participating experts shared practical experiences on topics such as "Integrated Planning of Port, Industry, City, and Culture," "Innovative Development and Inheritance of Maritime Civilization," and "Local Narratives and External Exchanges of Port Cities." They unanimously agreed that this dialogue highlighted the important value of culture for urban development and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries in an era of embracing the world and two-way opening up.

It is reported that concurrently with the event, the "Thousand Enterprises Cultural Sails: Entering Colombo" (千企文帆：走进科伦坡) exhibition was held. Guests from China and Sri Lanka also jointly unveiled the "One Meter Space" Cultural Station (Sri Lanka Station) ("一米空间"文化驿站（斯里兰卡站）).

This event was hosted by the State Council Information Office and the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka, and co-organized by the Information Office of Ningbo Municipal People's Government (宁波市人民政府新闻办公室) and the Sri Lanka-China Social and Cultural Cooperation Association (斯里兰卡—中国社会文化合作协会).

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Building Friendship Through Sports and Competition

By: 本报记者 施 钰

The 2026 "Kuliang Bonds" (鼓岭缘) China-U.S. Youth Baseball Friendship Match and Sports Exchange Week was recently held in Fujian. The event, with the theme "Crossing Mountains and Seas, Embracing the Future" (跨越山海  拥抱未来), was jointly hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (中国人民对外友好协会), the General Administration of Sport of China (国家体育总局), and the Fujian Provincial People's Government (福建省人民政府). Approximately 400 people participated, including eight Chinese and U.S. youth baseball teams, "Friends of Kuliang" (鼓岭之友), students from Flying Tiger Friendship Schools, and sister-city representatives.

Inside Fujian's Pingtan Baseball Park (平潭棒球公园), there were pitching, swinging, running, and cheering... The 2026 "Kuliang Bonds" China-U.S. Youth Baseball Friendship Match was held here (see photo, taken by Cai Lixin (蔡理昕)).

"The moment I changed into my uniform and stepped onto the field, I was filled with excitement. Win or lose, I wanted to enjoy the game and make new friends," said Jesse Daniel Hernandez, a player on the Virginia West Neighbors baseball team. "When an opponent made a good play, we genuinely praised them, appreciating and respecting each other."

On the field, players from both sides enthusiastically cheered each other's outstanding performances; after the games, they exchanged baseball caps and jerseys, shared snacks, took group photos together, and exchanged contact information. "Everyone gave their all during the competition and strictly observed court etiquette, but off the field we were very close, treating each other with sincerity and friendliness," said Cameron Bradford, a player on the Iowa baseball team. "Although we speak different languages, baseball tightly connects us and makes us friends."

Beyond the intense sports competitions, Chinese and U.S. youth also went together to Fuzhou's Kuliang (鼓岭) to learn about a century-spanning friendship. They jointly planted red maple saplings—symbolizing enthusiasm and enduring friendship—in the newly opened China-U.S. Youth Friendship Park; they visited several middle schools and universities in Fuzhou for sports interactions, intangible cultural heritage experiences, and science and innovation exchanges; and they toured places such as the Strait (Fuzhou) Panda World (海峡（福州）熊猫世界) and the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys (三坊七巷) historical and cultural district, immersively experiencing Fuzhou's ecological charm and cultural characteristics.

"During the exchange at Kuliang, we saw how the cultures of different countries blend together. It was a really cool experience," said Jackson Ryan Hill, a player on the Riverside Eagles baseball team of Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. In the activities, the youth from both countries thoroughly enjoyed each other's companionship and friendship.

"In the 55 years from 1971 to the present, the friendship between the American and Chinese peoples has remained ever fresh," said Hardy Hoala, a player on the Virginia West Neighbors baseball team. He noted that 55 years ago, the U.S.-China "ping-pong diplomacy" opened a door for people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. "Today, we are carrying forward that friendship through sports exchanges."

"This event provides a valuable platform for young athletes from the U.S. and China to come together and get to know each other," said Jeffrey Greene, President of the U.S.-China Aviation Heritage Foundation (美中航空遗产基金会). The foundation has innovatively launched the "Flying Tigers Games Project" (飞虎队运动会项目), covering baseball, football, basketball, drone racing, and other events. Previously, exchange competitions have been held in Yan'an, Shaanxi, and Changting, Fujian (福建长汀), and it will continue to use sports activities to help bring young people of the two countries closer.

Over the past three years, from the China-U.S. Youth Exchange Week, to the China-U.S. Youth Chorus Week, and then to the China-U.S. Youth Baseball Friendship Match and Sports Exchange Week... in implementing the "5-Year, 50,000-Person" initiative (5年5万), the "Kuliang Bonds" series of activities has gathered more youthful energy, allowing the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples to grow strong and flourish endlessly, like the thousand-year-old Chinese cedar trees on Kuliang.

Shen Xin (沈昕), Vice President of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, stated: "We hope that Chinese and American youth will gain friendship on the playing field, achieve growth through exchange, and use warmth and goodwill, tolerance and respect to carry forward the centennial Kuliang bond, becoming envoys of Sino-American people-to-people friendship in the new era."

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Test the results of education and learning through tangible achievements in promoting development and benefiting people's livelihoods (Establish and practice a correct view of performance)

By: 本报记者

In recent days, all regions, departments, and units have solidly carried out study and education on establishing and practicing the correct view on political achievements, integratedly advancing study, investigation, and rectification, tackling real problems and hard issues, truly grasping and solidly doing, and testing the results of study and education through the actual effectiveness of promoting development and benefiting people's livelihood.

Inward Examination: Identifying and Exposing Problems

The party committees (party groups) at all levels in Hulunbuir City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, combined the identification and exposure of problems with the implementation of central tasks such as the "two barriers" (两个屏障), "two bases" (两个基地), and "one bridgehead" (一个桥头堡), as well as specific projects like Hulun Lake remediation and high-standard farmland construction, and comprehensively carried out targeted investigation; for problems included in the rectification and remediation ledger, they formulated rectification and remediation plans item by item, promoting the true and thorough rectification of problems, ensuring they are rectified to the point and completely.

Since the study and education was carried out, the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture Party Committee in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (博尔塔拉蒙古自治州委) has turned the blade inward, deeply investigated and carefully scrutinized to accurately identify problems. Leading cadres at all levels practice the "four go-downs to the grassroots" (四下基层), go deep into the front line to conduct research using the "four noes and two directs" method (四不两直), widely listen to opinions and suggestions from party members and cadres, service targets, and people from all walks of life, focus on people's livelihood matters of concern to the masses such as shortcomings in rural road maintenance, poor management of border protection subsidies, and untimely refund of litigation fees, establish a rectification and remediation ledger, manage by checklist, advance by project, and strive to solve the masses' urgent, difficult, and anxious problems.

"Last month, the problem of the energy-saving street lights at the village entrance not working is gradually being solved," said a resident at the Old Locust Tree Discussion Meeting in Jianhe Community (涧河社区), Suyu District (宿豫区), Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. Suyu District insists on calibrating the view on political achievements through open-door education, and through a down-to-earth discussion meeting, asks the people about their needs and asks the people for their ideas, widely collects opinions and suggestions on industrial development, town and village construction, etc., forms a list of urgent, difficult, and anxious problems, and urges party members and cadres to persist in making political achievements for the people and making political achievements through solid work.

Focus on Development: Truly Grasp and Solidly Do

"Previously, I was focused on developing technology and paid insufficient attention to pro-enterprise policies. The party committee and government launched a 'policy calculator,' and I easily obtained a subsidy for artificial intelligence computing costs," said the person in charge of an artificial intelligence technology company in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province.

Since the study and education was carried out, Ningbo has insisted on promoting action through learning, and launched measures such as a full-lifecycle management mechanism for investment attraction projects and a "one-stop inquiry, processing, and sharing" (一站通查通办通享) platform for enterprise-related policy services, transforming the results of study and education into actual effectiveness in promoting high-quality development.

Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province, does not seek "temporary good-looking data" in promoting development, but instead puts effort into nurturing the industrial ecosystem and improving service efficiency. The locality has also increased support for green electricity, equipment leasing, public service platforms, etc., promoting the synchronous resonance of enterprise growth, industrial agglomeration, and the city's economic and social development.

Nanpi County (南皮县), Cangzhou City, Hebei Province, organized party members and cadres to go down to the enterprise front line to investigate prominent issues such as hardware and electromechanical enterprises increasing production but not increasing revenue. On this basis, state-owned enterprises took the lead in building a cross-border e-commerce platform in a market-oriented manner, establishing a global foreign trade order database for electromechanical products, and at the same time combining online multi-channel traffic guidance with offline organization of enterprises to go abroad for exhibitions, to help the development of hardware and electromechanical enterprises.

Ningxiang City (宁乡市), Hunan Province, insists on integrated advancement of study, investigation, and rectification, deeply excavates development bottlenecks, and optimizes the business environment with practical enterprise-benefiting measures. In response to the regulatory gap of "black mixing stations" for asphalt concrete, it proactively liaised with higher-level departments to clarify cross-level regulatory rights and responsibilities; in response to the lagging handling of disputes involving farmers by an agricultural company, it optimized the cross-departmental conflict coordination mechanism, promoting the extension of investigation from surface problems to deep-level mechanisms.

Solidly Advance: For the People's Well-being

Since the study and education was carried out, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, has closely followed the needs of the masses to grasp implementation, compared shortcomings and weaknesses to make up deficiencies, upgraded the "Internet + medical insurance" service, and launched a series of convenience measures. It launched the Xi'an Medical Insurance mini-program, providing special services such as family medicine cabinet and medical insurance map; activated intelligent customer service that introduces large model technology to achieve 24/7 intelligent consultation; promoted medical insurance mobile payment and face-scan payment to effectively solve the pain points of "long queues and cumbersome payments" for the masses when seeking medical treatment and purchasing medicine.

Huaibei City, Anhui Province, focused on problems such as roof damage and leakage in old residential communities, promoted roof repair projects in old residential communities, let the masses bid farewell to the worry of "heavy rain outside, light rain inside the house," and transformed the effectiveness of study and education into visible and tangible livelihood benefits for the masses. The project covers 112 old residential communities built before the end of 2000 in the old city area of Xiangshan District (相山区). The roof repair material costs adopt a cost-sharing model of 80% government funding and 20% resident funding, achieving "one building, one plan," ensuring that the renovation work conforms to public opinion and fits actual conditions, benefiting over 40,000 households.

Neat cement roads, orderly street lamps, the air filled with a faint tea fragrance... At the end of April this year, in Baisha Township (白沙乡), Pu'an County (普安县), Qianxinan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔西南布依族苗族自治州), Guizhou Province, the newly built roads were opened to traffic one after another. "With the roads open, the sent-out tea leaves are especially fresh, and can sell for 3 yuan more per catty!" Tea farmers gave thumbs up one after another. Pu'an County takes promoting practical work and solving people's worries as an important yardstick for testing the effectiveness of study and education, focuses on the traffic congestion problem reported by tea farmers, raises funds to build roads in villages where the tea industry has formed scale, and helps tea farmers achieve stable income increase on the basis of increased production.

(Our reporters Shi Yiqi (史一棋), Han Junjie (韩俊杰), Wang Weijian (王伟健), Liu Junguo (刘军国), Yang Xun (杨迅), Zhang Tengyang (张腾扬), Zhang Cheng (张枨), Su Bin (苏滨), Wang Dan (王丹), Jia Fengfeng (贾丰丰), Shang Rongzheng (尚嵘峥))

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Strengthen industrial empowerment, highlight employment orientation, and enhance the comprehensive effectiveness of central enterprises in aiding Xinjiang

URUMQI, July 5 (Xinhua) — From July 2 to 5, Zhang Guoqing, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, conducted research in Xinjiang on the work of central enterprises in supporting Xinjiang's industrial development and promoting employment. He stressed the need to thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speeches on Xinjiang work, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the Party's strategy for governing Xinjiang in the new era (新时代党的治疆方略), strengthen industrial empowerment, highlight the employment orientation, enhance the comprehensive benefits of central enterprises' aid to Xinjiang, and make new and greater contributions to building a modern socialist Xinjiang.

In Yili and Changji, Zhang Guoqing successively visited enterprises in industries such as mineral resources, steel and metallurgy, textiles and garments, and equipment manufacturing, gaining a detailed understanding of their production and operation, technological innovation, and employment generation. He emphasized that central enterprises should, in accordance with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, continuously deepen and expand practical cooperation with Xinjiang, and effectively transform the institutional advantages of aid to Xinjiang into development advantages and tangible benefits for people's livelihoods. They must closely align with Xinjiang's industrial foundation, resource endowments, and development plans, increase industrial layout, and promote the implementation of a batch of key industrial projects that are sustainable in development and strong in driving employment. They should actively participate in the construction of infrastructure such as roads, electricity and communications, oil and gas supply, and industrial and domestic water in Xinjiang, and improve public service conditions. They must fully mobilize the enthusiasm of state-owned enterprises from provinces and cities aiding Xinjiang, guide and support them to invest and start businesses in Xinjiang, intensify the expansion of the central enterprises' "workwear aid to Xinjiang" (工装援疆) initiative, and leverage the role of high-quality enterprises in absorbing employment. They should combine the requirements for further deepening the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, provide supporting policy support for central enterprises aiding Xinjiang in areas such as assessment and evaluation, and consolidate and expand the effectiveness of aid to Xinjiang with more concrete measures, providing strong support for the high-quality economic and social development of Xinjiang.

Zhang Guoqing stressed that we must adhere to driving employment through industry, and promote production expansion and job creation through industrial coordination. We must support Xinjiang in building pillar industries with strong roots and high stability, accelerate the cultivation and growth of advanced manufacturing clusters, expand and strengthen labor-intensive industries such as textiles and garments and deep processing of agricultural and sideline products, promote the high-quality and efficient development of the service industry, and increase employment capacity through multiple channels. We must promote the deep participation of Xinjiang's local enterprises in the cooperation of industrial and supply chains, strengthen industrial division of labor and project collaboration, enhance technological innovation capabilities, accelerate the pace of digital and intelligent transformation, and enhance market competitiveness. We must support the provision of labor skill training and employment assistance, organize school-enterprise cooperation and order-based training, and promote the employment and income increase of people of all ethnic groups.

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"I will tell the story of perseverance to more young people" (July 1 Medal recipient)

By: 本报记者 阿尔达克

Uhas Sulaiman (吾哈斯·苏来曼), former deputy chief physician of the Internal Medicine Department of the Yumin County Animal Husbandry Hospital (裕民县牧业医院) in Xinjiang, gently lifted the lid of the medical kit resting on his knee, revealing a stethoscope, rolled gauze, medicine bottles, and other items neatly arranged. This small medical kit has borne witness to Uhas's career as a doctor.
Abandoning urban work, he applied to take root in the pastoral area, made rounds on horseback for over 40 years, and cumulatively received and treated more than 100,000 patients. After retiring, he once again shouldered his medical kit and entered the community, establishing a health service room, initiating a volunteer service team, and devoting himself to patriotic education. Herders say, "As many flowers as there are on the grassland, that is how many good deeds he has done."
"I have to go back to the grassland"
In the 1960s and 1970s, medical resources in the pastoral areas of Yumin County were scarce, and seeking medical treatment was very difficult. The young Uhas concentrated on studying medicine and was admitted to Tacheng Health School (塔城卫校).
In 1975, as he was about to graduate, the registration notice from the Yumin County Animal Husbandry Hospital lay before Uhas. Should he choose a post in the county seat, or go to a grassroots pastoral area medical point? Remembering the herders waiting for treatment in the yurts of the pastoral area, he resolutely decided to submit a request to go to the countryside: "I have to go back to the grassland. Wherever the masses most need a doctor, that is where I will go."
In winter, Uhas's hands were often frozen stiff; to avoid causing discomfort to patients, he tucked the stethoscope inside his chest and warmed it before using it. In summer, the welts left by gadfly bites piled up new and old. In spring, when the snow melted and rivers ran swift, he fell into icy water along with his horse several times; climbing out and wringing out his clothes, he would hurry onward to the herders' homes.
When the pregnant woman Xialapati Tunhazi (夏拉帕提·屯哈孜) had a difficult labor, Uhas groped his way through wind and snow to assist the delivery, and mouthful by mouthful he sucked out the filth blocking the infant's throat, saving the lives of mother and child.
Today, standardized health rooms have long been built in the pastoral areas of Yumin County, equipped with mobile medical vehicles and a remote consultation system. But Uhas often tells his apprentices: "Conditions have improved, but our Communist Party members' original aspiration to serve the people should never be relaxed for even a moment."
"Personal losses are nothing"
"If it weren't for Uhas, my life would have been lost long ago," said Kaikaixi Woerzihali (开凯西·沃尔孜哈力), a herder from Yumin County.
Kaikaixi, now 75 years old, suffered from epilepsy in his youth. Uhas came to diagnose and treat him time and again, adjusting prescriptions, and forcefully pulled him back from the clutches of illness.
Kaikaixi's family was financially strained in the early years and often had no money to see a doctor or buy medicine. Uhas frequently left medicine behind without a word and proactively advanced medical expenses. "He always said, life is more important than money; treat the illness first, then we'll talk," Kaikaixi recalled.
For decades as one day (数十年如一日), Uhas often advanced medical expenses for impoverished herders and never went to demand repayment of debts. Faced with others' incomprehension, he responded: "Money that saves lives cannot wait. Personal losses are nothing."
Rounds in the pastoral area were long; Uwas often stationed at remote medical points and could only return home once every few months. Considering that Uhas had been on the front line for a long time and separated from his family, the organization planned to transfer him back to work in the county seat. Uhas thought it over for a night, but gave up the opportunity to return to the county town. "I have been worthy of the herders in the mountains; I am only sorry to my wife and family," Uhas said with emotion, looking back over the years.
"I understand his original aspiration. He guards the entire grassland; I guard our small home," said Uhas's wife, Nasifuhaixia Nuerhasen (那斯甫海霞·努尔哈森), who also voluntarily joined the local Loving Mothers Volunteer Service Team to help women start businesses. The couple, each in their own way, actively do good deeds and spread warmth.
"Let the spirit of dedication be passed down from generation to generation"
In 2015, Uhas formally went through retirement procedures. Having ridden horses in the pastoral areas for many years, his legs suffered from severe arthritis. Family members and colleagues urged him to stop and enjoy his old age in peace. But the day after retirement, Uhas once again shouldered his old cowhide medical kit.
In order to provide stable medical services to residents, in May 2019, Uhas formally established the "Uhas Health Service Room" (吾哈斯健康服务室), providing blood pressure measurements, heart and lung auscultation, and prescriptions—all free of charge. For elderly people and disabled individuals in the area who have difficulty moving, he insists on making home visits for consultations, regardless of wind or rain (风雨无阻, fēng yǔ wú zǔ - "wind and rain no obstacle," meaning unhindered by weather).
"One person's action" led to "many people's action." Uhas spearheaded the initiation of the "Uhas Health Benefits for the People" volunteer service project, which now includes approximately 350 members. The team regularly goes into pastoral areas, communities, and campuses to carry out health science popularization, policy briefings, and free medical services and medicine distribution, among other convenience services. To date, they have conducted over 5,300 briefings and provided over 890 home visits, benefiting more than 15,000 people from all ethnic groups.
In August 2021, Uhas cleared his own courtyard to create the "Uhas Small Courtyard" (吾哈斯小院) patriotic education base. He insists on serving as an explainer, telling young people stories about practicing medicine in pastoral areas and holding fast on the frontier. As of now, the small courtyard has received over 50,000 visitors from all walks of life and conducted more than 450 on-site ideological and political education sessions.
"I will tell more young people the stories of holding fast, so that the spirit of dedication is passed down from generation to generation," Uhas said.

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How Are Fast and Slow Lanes Divided on Flowing Water (New Economic Orientation)

By: 本报记者 韩 鑫

Every hour, over 2.36 million tons of cargo circulate through ports; every day, nearly 100,000 vessel calls enter and leave ports; every year, about 550 million person-trips travel by water.

Active shipping, full of the vigorous vitality of China's economy, also brings greater challenges to water traffic safety. Since the beginning of this year, China's maritime authorities have successively introduced new measures, making navigation management increasingly refined and efficient.

Demarcating routes, planning shipping

On June 5, the Yangtze River main line trial-operated a compound route for the first time, equivalent to dividing the Yangtze River channel into "fast and slow lanes", with large and small vessels each going their way, making river surface passage more efficient.

On flowing water, how are routes demarcated?

"The compound route is demarcated based on channel water depth conditions; large vessels with deep draft take the deep-water channel, small vessels with shallow draft take the shallow-water channel, implementing a system of main and auxiliary parallel operation and classified navigation," introduced Liu Qifeng (刘奇峰), director of the Navigation Mark Department of the Changjiang Waterway Bureau (长江航道局). Unlike lane lines on highways, water routes are marked and dynamically adjusted through information-based means such as setting virtual beacons. The captain only needs to open the "Changjiang Waterway Chart" application on their mobile phone, and route and water depth information becomes clear at a glance.

Now shift the view to the sea. In June, the Liaoning Coastal Ship Routing System (船舶定线制) was released and will be implemented on August 15, making Liaoning Province the first province to achieve full coverage of ship routing systems in its coastal waters.

"As an internationally recognized maritime traffic management system, the ship routing system effectively regulates vessel navigation order by scientifically designating traffic separation schemes, precautionary areas, connecting points, etc.," introduced a relevant official from the Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration (辽宁海事局).

Taking Liaoning as an example, through the ship routing system, the existing 42 public shipping routes along the coast have been optimized and integrated. While releasing some marine area resources, the system has been upgraded to a traffic separation scheme, with separation facilities standardized according to route widths, thereby reducing the risks of head-on and crossing encounters between vessels.

Demarcating routes and regulating shipping bear on navigation efficiency, cost, and safety.

"In the past, small vessels clustered in the main channel, causing large vessels to face high resistance and slow speeds," said Zhou Feng (周锋), deputy director of the Navigation Management Department of the Yangtze River Maritime Safety Administration (长江海事局). The opening of the compound route has realized "deep water for deep-draft vessels, shallow water for shallow-draft vessels" and the separation of large and small vessels, fast and slow vessels, diverting over 200 vessels per day to the shallow-water channel, greatly improving navigation efficiency.

As navigation speed increases, shipping costs have noticeably declined. Li Caihao (李才浩), captain of the cargo ship "Qiaotai 3", did a calculation: previously, vessels going upstream had to take the main channel, moving against the current with high fuel consumption; now, taking the compound route outside the main channel, where the current is weaker, fuel consumption has also dropped.

The greater significance lies in navigation safety. "In the past, commercial vessels and fishing vessels mainly navigated using recommended routes. As maritime traffic becomes increasingly dense, the risk of collision between commercial and fishing vessels has increased," said the relevant official from the Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration. What the routing system aims to achieve is spatial relative isolation to prevent the risk of collision between commercial and fishing vessels.

Technical support, collaborative co-governance

From recommended routes to mandatory routing, how has China's water traffic achieved refined management?

Behind this is the strong support of new technology, making the invisible channel "visible and distinguishable".

On the Yangtze River, vessel pilots rely on two products to identify beacons and select routes: the "Changjiang e+" application installed on mobile phones and the shipborne BeiDou terminal installed on the bridge. Opening "Changjiang e+", the electronic Yangtze River channel chart features complete elements and dynamic changes. After years of construction, this chart has been continuously extended, covering over 2,800 kilometers of the Yangtze River main line and more than 5,600 kilometers of the Yangtze River system. Now, vessel pilots can check key information such as water depth, beacons, and bridge clearance heights in real time.

In Shenzhen, Guangdong, a combination of intelligent cloud alerts, AIS (Automatic Identification System) virtual beacons, and other means has achieved an upgrade from "person watching vessels" to "system managing vessels"; in Zhejiang, drone + AR (Augmented Reality) technology has been applied in the field of collision prevention between commercial and fishing vessels, further enhancing smart supervision capabilities.

This also benefits from multi-department collaborative co-governance. Demarcating routes on water involves the re-allocation of water area resources and requires finding a balance among multiple interests.

With emerging industries such as offshore wind power, oil development, and marine ranching flourishing in the Bohai Sea, coupled with the continuous expansion of shipping scale, how can we ensure navigation safety while minimizing the encroachment on nearshore resources?

"We have established a consultation mechanism with departments of agriculture and rural affairs, natural resources, ecological environment, etc., to collaboratively resolve issues such as overlapping sea use, fishing vessel management and control, and route clearance," introduced Gao Jie (高杰), deputy director of the Navigation Management Department of the Liaoning Maritime Safety Administration. The actual water area used by this routing system is about 9,000 square kilometers, only about one-eighth of the nearshore sea area. Through refined planning, part of the marine area resources can be released under the premise of ensuring safety, while accommodating multiple demands such as shipping, fisheries, and aquaculture.

Breaking constraints, adapting to needs

From the compound route on the Yangtze River to the ship routing system in coastal waters, why have there been frequent actions in water traffic management this year?

This is the necessary path to break through the spatial resource constraints of water areas.

Statistical data show that in 2025, China completed over 10 billion tons of waterway commercial freight volume, of which coastal freight volume was about 4 billion tons. With increasingly busy water transport and ever-richer blue industries, the seemingly vast ocean actually has limited available space.

The Liaoning coast shoulders the maritime transport tasks of important materials such as coal, oil, and minerals, and is also an important natural fishing ground in the north, with shipping development and fishery production deeply intertwined.

"As port scale expands and the marine economy develops rapidly, vessel navigation density continues to increase, the problem of overlapping commercial vessel navigation and fishing vessel operations becomes increasingly prominent, and frequent collision accidents and near-misses have become a prominent bottleneck restricting the high-quality development of the regional economy," Gao Jie believes. The Liaoning Coastal Ship Routing System will become an effective measure to curb the frequent collision situation between commercial and fishing vessels in the region.

This is also an inevitable requirement for adapting to the continuous upgrading of inland waterway shipping.

In 2025, the cargo throughput of ports along the Yangtze River main line exceeded 4.2 billion tons, setting a new record and ranking first among inland rivers worldwide for many consecutive years.

"In recent years, the shipping density on the Yangtze River main line has been rising, with a clear trend toward larger and more diversified vessels. The existing route settings can hardly adapt to development needs," said Wang Haiyu (王海宇), director of the Yangtze River Maritime Safety Administration. Seeking space, efficiency, and safety from refined management has become the inevitable direction of water traffic governance.

From relying on experience to relying on data, from extensive management to meticulous refinement, China's water traffic is moving toward the goal of being safe, orderly, smooth, and green.

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Believe in Possibility, Seize Possibility, Create Possibility

By: 李荣灿

A friend shared an experience in life: a potted plant in the home withered, and the child was reluctant to replace it with a new one. The friend, with a “give it a try” attitude, looked up information together with the child, loosened the soil, pruned the branches, and tended it carefully. After a few days, the originally bare plant put forth new branches and sprouted tender buds. A turning point often lies in giving “possibility” an opportunity to sprout and grow.

In undertaking endeavors and starting enterprises, there is also a相通之道 (common principle). From the small scale of people’s daily life to the large scale of scientific and technological innovation, to realize a transformation from impossible to possible, what is valuable is to harbor hope in the heart, believe in the possible, examine the times and think about change, grasp the possible, and stand on solid ground to create the possible.

Believing in the possible stems from faith. Without the slightest ambition, without the least certainty, how could one “grind an iron pestle into a needle” or “drip water wears through stone”? (铁杵成针, tiě chǔ chéng zhēn - “grind an iron pestle into a needle,” to persist against great odds; 滴水穿石, dī shuǐ chuān shí - “drip water wears through stone,” perseverance leads to success)

A “green scarf” around the neck writes a legend. Through years of effort, people used a 3,046-kilometer green protection belt to completely encircle 340,000 square kilometers of yellow sand. The “edge-sealing” of the Taklamakan Desert succeeded, giving rise to a sand industry that “makes green and prosperity thrive together.”

A “bridge for fulfilling dreams” bravely sets first-class standards. Building a bridge over the Lingdingyang Estuary, “threading a needle” deep in the sea—the builders of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge used wisdom, effort, and sweat to create one world first after another.

The road may be far, but walking it will reach the destination; the task may be hard, but doing it will accomplish it. In persisting through 久久为功 (jiǔ jiǔ wéi gōng - “persist for a long time to achieve success,” sustained effort over time), in acting steadfastly before setbacks and difficulties, believe in “the power of belief,” and you will surely break out of encirclement and win yourself a world.

Grasping the possible manifests ability. Only by mastering the historical initiative, 因时而动 (yīn shí ér dòng - “act according to the times,” adapt to the times) and 顺势而为 (shùn shì ér wéi - “act in accordance with the trend,” follow the momentum), can one get things done.

The development experience of Yiwu, Zhejiang, offers considerable inspiration. From the rise of the commodity economy “鸡毛换糖” (jī máo huàn táng - “chicken feathers for sugar,” a historical barter trade of small goods), to the reform era of playing the innovation card and eating the innovation meal, to the new era of taking the road of opening up and sharing digital dividends… It is precisely the capturing and deep cultivation of the opportunities of the times that has enabled Yiwu to hit the “sweet spot” again and again, forging a high-quality development path that fits its own reality.

An article in Zhejiang New Language (之江新语) wrote: “Regard difficulties as a test, treat challenges as opportunities, turn passivity into initiative… like a carp leaping over the dragon gate—leap over and there is a new world, enter a new realm.”

The development of the times contains countless opportunities. Sitting by and waiting can only let them slip away; taking the initiative can break through inertia. With strategic vision to perceive the times and circumstances, with solid ability to seize opportunities, and with the spirit of historical initiative to radiate the energy for undertaking endeavors and starting enterprises, one can firmly grasp the initiative in development.

Creating the possible is accomplished through practical work. Being pragmatic is an essential quality of Communists. Visions turning into reality are achieved through hard work and struggle; there is no room for any empty effort.

Shanghai said goodbye to “拎马桶” (līn mǎtǒng - “carrying chamber pots,” old-style portable toilets). The renewal of a modern city relied on solid, down-to-earth effort. In the narrative of development, there is a measuring tape, “measure wherever you go”; there are notebooks, recording the pain points and difficulties of each renovation project, the issues and demands reflected by each resident… Every move of grassroots cadres revolves around the warmth and cold of people’s livelihoods and focuses effort toward the goal.

There is no smooth journey, nor is there easy-to-obtain achievement. The key variable for creating the possible lies in people, in practical work. Forging ahead on the new journey, realizing new possibilities, requires especially seeking truth from facts, being realistic and pragmatic, and truly and firmly acting — “implementing both historical perspective and strategic thinking into concrete actions” — to be resolute doers and pragmatists of Chinese-style modernization.

Which country can complete in a few decades the industrialization journey that took developed countries several hundred years? General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “In the hands of the Chinese people, the impossible has become possible.” With faith as the guide, ability as the support, and practical work as the orientation, we will witness more human miracles turning from impossible to possible.

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Nurture all life in accordance with nature's way

By: 本报记者 董丝雨 顾仲阳

Protected natural areas are the core carriers of ecological construction, the precious wealth of the Chinese nation, and an important symbol of a Beautiful China (美丽中国), occupying a primary position in safeguarding national ecological security.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Accelerate the construction of a protected natural area system with national parks as the main body, nature reserves as the foundation, and various types of natural parks as supplements, and protect representative natural ecosystems and rare species habitats.”

From June 30, 1956, when China’s first nature reserve—Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve in Guangdong (广东鼎湖山国家级自然保护区)—was established, to the present when over 2,600 nature reserves have been built across the country; from October 2021, when China officially established the first batch of five national parks, to the present when a protected natural area system with national parks as the main body, nature reserves as the foundation, and various types of natural parks as supplements has been initially formed… After 70 years of effort, in protecting biodiversity, preserving natural heritage, improving the quality of the ecological environment, and safeguarding national ecological security, various types and levels of protected natural areas have played an important role, becoming an important achievement in practicing Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization (习近平生态文明思想) and building a Beautiful China.

Establishing rules and systems, the construction of the protected natural area system has entered a new stage of legalization and standardized development.

In summer, the Wuyi Mountain National Park (Jiangxi section) has layered emerald forests, stretches of southern hemlock standing silently, and river water rushing along the canyon.

Early in the morning, Ding Hongxiang (丁鸿翔), head of the Yejiachang Protection Station (叶家厂保护站) of the Wuyi Mountain National Park Jiangxi Administration (武夷山国家公园江西管理局), led a team to Tongmu Pass to meet with colleagues from the Tongmu Protection Station of the Wuyi Mountain National Park Fujian Administration for joint patrol inspection and fire prevention publicity.

“Infrared cameras, drones, resource management systems, etc., have preserved more baseline data for scientific research; patrol personnel have also installed patrol assistant software and the Beidou positioning system to ensure patrol safety,” said Ding Hongxiang. As of now, the Wuyi Mountain National Park (Jiangxi section) has recorded over 5,100 species of various biological organisms.

Wuyi Mountain National Park spans Fujian and Jiangxi provinces, and its management involves multiple departments such as natural resources, ecological environment, forestry, water resources, and public security, once facing the dilemma of 九龙治水 (jiǔ lóng zhì shuǐ - “nine dragons governing water,” fragmentation of authority). “Previously, multiple management bodies with different standards constrained overall protection efficiency,” said Ding Hongxiang.

Breaking down barriers, legislation comes first. In May 2024, the Wuyi Mountain National Park regulations of Fujian and Jiangxi provinces were respectively passed. This was the first inter-provincial collaborative legislation between the two provinces, jointly coordinating to resolve major issues in the protection, construction, and management of the national park, effectively promoting “joint governance of one mountain.”

“The various departments of the two provinces work closely together, through regular joint meetings, joint law enforcement inspections, and other means, to jointly advance the ecological protection, resource management, scientific research monitoring, and other work of Wuyi Mountain National Park,” said Fan Qiangyong (范强勇), Director of the Wuyi Mountain National Park Jiangxi Administration.

Building an ecological civilization emphasizes establishing rules and systems. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Only by implementing the strictest systems and the most rigorous rule of law can we provide reliable guarantees for ecological civilization construction.”

Ideology sets the course. In building a protected natural area system with national parks as the main body, “relying on systems and relying on the rule of law” runs throughout.

Documents such as the Overall Plan for Establishing the National Park System and the National Park Spatial Layout Plan were issued; the Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Protected Natural Area System with National Parks as the Main Body divides China’s protected natural areas into three categories: national parks, nature reserves, and natural parks;

The National Park Law, the Regulations on Nature Reserves, the Administrative Measures for National-Level Natural Parks, and the Regulations on Scenic and Historic Areas were promulgated and revised; the Ecological Environment Code incorporates “establishing and improving a protected natural area system with national parks as the main body” into its codification;

The first batch of five national parks have all completed registration of natural resource rights, providing a basic and reliable property rights foundation for achieving integrated protection and systematic restoration…

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has promoted the construction of a protected natural area system with national parks as the main body into a new stage of legalization and standardized development by strengthening top-level design, improving laws and regulations, optimizing spatial layout, and innovating management systems.

A relevant official from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (国家林草局) stated that the construction of China’s protected natural area system has entered a new phase of systemic integration and comprehensive advancement, and in the future, the institutional mechanisms will be further improved and systematic governance will be strengthened.

Protection and governance: the diversity, stability, and sustainability of ecosystems have steadily improved.

On this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced good news: Last year, three baby Hainan gibbons were born, increasing the population to 7 groups of 44 individuals, making it the only continuously growing population among all gibbons worldwide.

To protect the rare Hainan gibbon, the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park (海南热带雨林国家公园) Administration and researchers conduct around-the-clock monitoring of Hainan gibbon populations and individuals, gradually mastering their basic conditions such as living habits. They have also restored over 5,000 mu of habitat, built 38 rope corridors in and around the habitat, and planted more than 300,000 supplemental food-source plants.

“By building corridors, planting trees, and ‘setting up cafeterias,’ we repair and expand the Hainan gibbons’ range of activity and increase food sources,” introduced Han Wentao (韩文涛), Director of the Information Center of the Bawangling Branch (霸王岭分局) of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park Administration.

Biodiversity is an important foundation for human survival and development. The purpose of establishing a protected natural area system with national parks as the main body is precisely to “maintain the authenticity and integrity of natural ecosystems and protect biodiversity.”

The first batch of five national parks integrated and optimized over 120 protected natural areas, effectively solving the problem of fragmented and isolated protection spaces; all types and levels of protected natural areas adhere to the principle of natural restoration as the mainstay and artificial repair as a supplement, adapting measures to local and temporal conditions, and implementing differentiated policies by region and category.

Ecological corridor construction improves habitat connectivity. The Giant Panda National Park (大熊猫国家公园), spanning Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, protects nearly 1,400 wild giant pandas, accounting for over 70% of the country’s total wild giant panda population.

Wild giant pandas were once fragmented into 33 local populations due to human activity interference, with 24 of these populations facing survival risks. “If ecological corridors are not opened, isolated small panda populations will suffer from reduced genetic diversity due to inbreeding, increasing the risk of extinction,” said He Ke (何可), Director of the Endangered Species Conservation Research Center of the Sichuan Provincial Academy of Giant Panda Sciences.

Since the official establishment of the Giant Panda National Park in 2021, seven key ecological corridors have been planned and constructed, expected to connect the habitats of 13 giant panda local populations and solve the problem of blocked gene exchange between populations. He Ke introduced that in recent years, over 150 incidents of wild giant panda activity and multiple other rare and endangered wild animal activities have been monitored in the ecological corridor areas.

Science and technology assist in the recovery of endangered species populations. The Przewalski’s horse is the only surviving wild horse species on Earth. The Kalamaili Mountain Ungulate Wildlife Nature Reserve in Xinjiang (新疆卡拉麦里山有蹄类野生动物自然保护区) is China’s largest Przewalski’s horse protection base. Over the past 40 years, numerous experts and scholars have taken root in the desert hinterland, helping to restore the Przewalski’s horse population. Currently, China’s Przewalski’s horse population has exceeded 900, accounting for one-third of the global total.

Since 2024, the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding Research Center has cooperated with universities to conduct genome sequencing of different individual Przewalski’s horses, establishing a precise DNA molecular pedigree database. “Molecular-level DNA detection technology allows us to accurately identify horse genes through a tuft of hair or a pellet of dung, effectively avoiding inbreeding,” said Zhang Hefan (张赫凡), Senior Engineer of the Management Center of the Kalamaili Mountain Ungulate Wildlife Nature Reserve in Xinjiang.

Currently, the reserve has built an “air-space-ground integrated” monitoring network, achieving 24-hour all-weather tracking of the Przewalski’s horse population, enabling researchers to precisely grasp the tracks and health status of the horses and study their migration patterns.

At the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (东北虎豹国家公园), infrared cameras captured the precious image of “one litter of five cubs,” setting a new record for the highest number of wild Amur tiger births in China; at the Helan Mountain National Nature Reserve (贺兰山国家级自然保护区), two released snow leopards successfully achieved natural pairing, gave birth in the wild, and successfully reared their young, marking a breakthrough in China’s snow leopard conservation work… Through promoting integrated protection and systematic management of mountains, waters, forests, farmlands, grasslands, and deserts, and by establishing integrated protection and research centers for giant pandas, Asian elephants, gibbons, Père David’s deer, crested ibis, and blue-crowned laughingthrushes, the protected natural area system with national parks as the main body has effectively protected 90% of terrestrial ecosystem types and 74% of nationally key protected wild animal and plant populations.

Co-building and sharing: achieving coordinated improvement of ecological benefits and people’s livelihoods.

Using sumac flowers for beekeeping to produce honey, hanging leaves in bags to produce Chinese gallnut, interplanting medicinal herbs such as polygonatum and gastrodia under the forest, in the Kuankuoshui National Nature Reserve (宽阔水国家级自然保护区) in Suiyang County, Zunyi City, Guizhou, Honghe Village in Kuankuo Town relies on the good ecological environment to develop eco-friendly industries under the premise of strict protection.

Protect lucid waters and lush mountains, secure a stable livelihood rice bowl. Kuankuo Town currently has 30,000 mu of sumac forest and has built a 20-kilometer demonstration belt for under-forest economy.

“Developing ‘Chinese gallnut plus under-forest economy,’ the average annual profit per mu can reach 11,000 yuan,” said Wang Guoquan (王国权), Party Branch Secretary of Honghe Village. Last year, the village’s Chinese gallnut industry output value exceeded 2 million yuan, driving income increases for over 600 farming households, achieving a transformation from “cutting trees to eat from the mountains” to “planting trees to nurture the mountains.”

“We must not only protect this mountain forest, but also let more people eat the ‘ecological meal’,” said Lan Hongbo (兰洪波), Director of the Kuankuoshui National Nature Reserve Administration. In the future, while adhering to the premise of prioritizing ecological protection, they will continue to improve the production and living conditions of local people, guide and support the vigorous development of under-forest economy, nature education, etc., achieving the 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - “each benefits the other, both shine,” complement each other) of high-level protection and high-quality development.

“A good ecological environment is the most fair public product and the most inclusive benefit to people’s livelihoods.” Many townships are distributed within and around China’s protected natural areas. How to achieve the coordinated improvement of ecological benefits and people’s livelihoods is an important topic in constructing the protected natural area system.

The National Park Law and the newly revised Regulations on Nature Reserves stipulate that national parks and nature reserves are divided into core protection zones and general control zones, both allowing original residents to carry out necessary production and living activities. In suitable areas of general control zones, public service activities such as science popularization, ecological tourism, education, culture, and sports can also be reasonably planned.

“Strengthening the balance between the public attribute of natural resources and people’s welfare through legalization helps local residents to orderly develop green industries such as ecological agriculture, cultural tourism, and study tours while meeting ecological protection requirements, achieving a virtuous cycle where protectors benefit and beneficiaries protect,” said Wang Wei (王伟), a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences (中国环境科学研究院).

Firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets (绿水青山就是金山银山), adhere to ecology for the people and ecology benefiting the people, and strive to promote the unification of ecological protection, green development, and improvement of people’s livelihoods. The first batch of five national parks has recruited nearly 50,000 farmers and herders as ecological rangers, with an average annual wage income of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan per person. Green industries such as “Yushu fern moss,” “Panda Honey,” and “Qaidam Wolfberry” are flourishing. The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park has set up 10 ecological recreation routes and science education corridors in Wuzhishan, Diaoluoshan, Limushan, etc., and built a tourist road around the tropical rainforest national park…

A relevant official from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration stated that they will further promote the improvement of people’s livelihoods in and around protected natural areas, guide and support local residents to participate in providing ecological products and services consistent with protection goals, promote the policy of selecting and hiring ecological rangers, and continuously expand channels for local residents to increase employment and income. At the same time, increase publicity and guidance, build broad consensus, and stimulate the endogenous motivation of the whole people to protect protected natural areas.

…

Nurture all living things by the way of nature. The Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Protected Natural Area System with National Parks as the Main Body proposes that by 2035, the management efficiency and ecological product supply capacity of protected natural areas will be significantly improved, the scale and management of protected natural areas will reach the world’s advanced level, and a protected natural area system with Chinese characteristics will be fully established.

The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical period for building a Beautiful China that carries forward the past and ushers in the future and achieves a fundamental improvement in the ecological environment. Adhering to the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization, establishing and improving a protected natural area system with national parks as the main body, and comprehensively advancing the construction of an ecological civilization and a Beautiful China will surely better meet the people’s growing needs for a beautiful ecological environment and lay a more solid ecological foundation for comprehensively building a socialist modernized power.

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Pursue Truth with Unwavering Commitment, Always Keep to the Correct Course of Progress (Commentator's Observation)

By: 李 拯

At the rally celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping succinctly summarized the six outstanding qualities of the Communist Party of China and explicitly demanded, "We must combine them with the new reality and continuously carry forward and develop the Party's outstanding qualities." From this day forward, this edition publishes a series of articles to join our broad readership in deeply understanding the Party's outstanding qualities. — Editor

Having traversed 105 years of 峥嵘岁月 (zhēng róng suì yuè - "towering and rugged years," extraordinary or eventful years), the world's largest ruling party is 风华正茂 (fēng huá zhèng mào - "wind and glory, just flourishing," in its prime).

From the time of the First National Congress of the Party when there were only over 50 Party members, to now where Party members exceed 100 million; from the time of the Party's founding when the mountains and rivers were shattered (山河破碎, shān hé pò suì - "mountains and rivers shattered"), people's livelihoods were withered (民生凋敝, mín shēng diāo bì - "people's livelihood withered"), and the country was 积贫积弱 (jī pín jī ruò - "accumulated poverty and accumulated weakness"), to today when the country is strong and prosperous, the people are proud and confident, and the prospects are bright, our Party has united and led the people of all ethnic groups across the country in unremitting struggle, writing the most magnificent epic in the several-thousand-year history of the Chinese nation. What is the key code to why the Communist Party of China can?

"The fundamental reason history and the people chose the Communist Party of China lies in our Party possessing outstanding qualities that other political parties and political forces cannot compare with." At the rally celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping succinctly summarized the six outstanding qualities of the Communist Party of China – this is both a summary looking back at history and a profound inspiration for creating the future.

Faith in Marxism, belief in socialism and communism, are the political soul of Communists and the spiritual pillar that enables Communists to withstand any test. Upholding truth and holding fast to ideals originated at the time of the Party's founding, are embodied in the journey of struggle, are forged into the spiritual bloodline, and guide generation after generation of Communists to firmly hold the correct direction and cross 万水千山 (wàn shuǐ qiān shān - "ten thousand waters, a thousand mountains," traversing great distances and hardships). "Persistently pursuing truth, always grasping the forward direction" is ranked first among the Party's six outstanding qualities, marking the political foundation of Communists.

Our Party takes Marxism as a powerful ideological weapon to transform the subjective world and the objective world, using the light of truth to illuminate the path of endeavor, ensuring that the cause of the Party and the people advances along the correct direction.

The echoes of history are 振聋发聩 (zhèn lóng fā kuì - "deafen the deaf, awaken the deaf," enlightening the benighted). Li Dazhao confidently predicted: "Just wait and see the future of the world – it will surely be a world of red flags!" Fang Zhimin 慷慨陈词 (kāng kǎi chén cí - "fervently state words," speak with fervor and righteousness): "Because the doctrine we believe in is the truth of the universe!" A party armed with scientific theory and grasping the laws of social development possesses the consciousness to explore the correct path and lead social change, and possesses the power that is 无坚不摧 (wú jiān bù cuī - "nothing is indestructible," invincible) and 百折不挠 (bǎi zhé bù náo - "a hundred folds not bent," indomitable).

On the Long March, when a cook comrade got up in the morning, he did not ask if there was rice to cook for the day, but first asked whether the march was heading south or north. This story reflects that our Party has always regarded political direction as the primary issue for the Party's survival and development. Looking back at the journey of struggle, in the great practices of revolution, construction, reform, and the new era, our Party has led the people through 千辛万苦 (qiān xīn wàn kǔ - "a thousand hardships, ten thousand bitternesses," countless hardships) and successfully opened up and upheld the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Today, the Chinese path to modernization is ever broader, and the new form of human civilization is 气象万千 (qì xiàng wàn qiān - "myriad scenes of grandeur," magnificent and varied). By following the correct direction and finding an effective path, the cause of the Party and the people has a solid foundation, and can continuously develop, grow, and 欣欣向荣 (xīn xīn xiàng róng - "joyfully flourishing," thriving and prosperous).

Focusing on revealing and applying truth in the movement of social contradictions, and being adept at testing and developing truth in practice, we continuously advance theoretical innovation based on practice, opening up new horizons in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism.

Engels said: "Marx's entire worldview is not dogma, but method." Marxism has profoundly changed China, and China has also greatly enriched Marxism; only by developing Marxism can we uphold Marxism.

Facing factors that weaken the Party's advanced nature and harm the Party's purity existing at all times, it put forward that "full and rigorous governance over the Party is always on the way" (全面从严治党永远在路上); facing the situation that the anti-corruption struggle remains grave and complex, it put forward "comprehensively advancing the efforts to ensure that officials do not dare to, cannot, and do not want to be corrupt" (一体推进不敢腐、不能腐、不想腐)… Xi Jinping's thought on Party building systematically answers what to do and how to do it in managing the Party and governing the Party in the new era, guiding the century-old Party to always maintain vigorous vitality.

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era scientifically answers the questions of China, the world, the people, and the era; it not only clears the fog and guides the direction for the development of the cause, but also achieves a new leap in the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism.

Persisting in taking Marxism as the guide means using its scientific worldview and methodology to solve China's problems, and continuously guiding new practice with new theory.

Problems are the voice of the times; answering and guiding the solution of problems is the fundamental task of theory. Under the guidance of the "Two Mountains" concept (两山理念), China has blazed a green development path that balances economic growth and ecological protection; accelerated the construction of a new development pattern, expanding the depth of a unified national market inward, and tapping into the increment of global trade and investment outward; guided by the theory of new quality productive forces (新质生产力), emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum technology have ranked among the world's leading positions…

The Party's innovative theory is both "nourishment" for transforming the subjective world and a "key" for transforming the objective world; it both deploys the task of "crossing the river" and guides the solution of the "bridge or boat" problem, providing a theoretical guide for the development of the Party and the country's cause in the new era.

105 years of unremitting struggle have demonstrated the powerful vitality of Marxism. From sinking to rising, from decline to rejuvenation, history has eloquently proved: why the Communist Party of China can work, why socialism with Chinese characteristics is good, in the final analysis, it is because Marxism works, and the Sinicized and modernized Marxism works. Forging ahead on the new journey and making achievements in the new era, taking scientific theory as a torch and lofty ideals as a bright lamp, we have a clear direction, full confidence, and the mission will surely be accomplished.

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Reading Water to Understand Development (On-Site Commentary)

By: 江 南

“Xizi charm, Taihu grandeur” — looking at Dongqian Lake at her doorstep, Zhao Fen (赵芬), a resident of Yinzhou District (鄞州区), Ningbo, Zhejiang, is filled with emotion in her heart and eyes. Having demolished the old factory building where her parents worked for decades and now operating a new Chinese-style guesthouse, Zhao Fen today has gained an extra measure of peace of mind and joy.

Why is she so motivated and joyful at heart? This is closely related to the transformation of Dongqian Lake. Dongqian Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Zhejiang, and also a relict sea lake with a thousand years of cultural history. More than 20 years ago, the water quality of Dongqian Lake once deteriorated to Class IV, and some areas even became Class V. Faced with the pain of ecological degradation, the local authorities changed their thinking and consolidated consensus: “Better to slow down development a little, and protect the environment well. Better to invest a little more, and remediate the environment well.”

Develop in protection, protect in development. Now when visiting Dongqian Lake, one can see the icefish, extinct for more than 30 years, return to the lake, and water shield, which has very high water quality requirements, frequently appearing in the lake. Local officials sigh with emotion, “The lakeshore has played a beautiful ecological harmony melody, unfolding a beautiful scroll of the lake and the city coexisting and thriving together.”

Using ecology as a boat and culture as a sail, finding a development path of one’s own between tradition and innovation — this is the governance secret of Dongqian Lake, from which one can also perceive how various places in Zhejiang have used water to crack the problem and write the great essay of high-quality development.

Reading the rivers, lakes, and seas of “Zhe” here, one can read the endlessly flowing urban epic and cultural scroll, and also read the vibrant development threads, explorations, and practices.

Reading “Zhejiang’s waters” one can know the city; governing water is governing the city. The problem lies in the water, but the root is still on the shore. The “key” to water governance lies in water, but even more in economic transformation and industrial upgrading. In governing Dongqian Lake, one must handle the relationship between what is in the water and what is on the shore. The local authorities, with the determination of 壮士断腕 (zhuàng shì duàn wàn – “the brave warrior cuts off his wrist,” resolute determination to take a painful but decisive action), shut down over 60 high-pollution enterprises around Dongqian Lake, closed more than 20 breeding sites, and renovated 11 villages around the lake. Dredging silt, intercepting sewage, demolishing illegal structures, and restoring greenery — they deployed a “combination punch,” gradually “dressing up” the lake’s water system.

At the same time, one must handle the relationship between protection and utilization. More than 10 years ago, Dongqian Lake was listed as a national-level ecological lake protection pilot site; today it is a national-level tourist vacation area. The “Travel Coffee Life” themed activity in 2025 drove a 40% increase in revenue for “village coffee,” and “Qianhu Night” activated the night economy of tent camps, recreating the scene of “a boat full of clear dreams weighing down the starry river.” Only by protecting water resources well can one write the “water essay” well.

Water governance has a Way, and development follows the Way. Starting from the “origin,” do source governance and systematic governance well; based on the characteristics of water, adapt measures to local conditions and follow the laws… Only by emphasizing science, methods, systems, and coordination can one achieve 有的放矢 (yǒu dì fàng shǐ – “to shoot the arrow at the target,” to act with purpose and precision) and 事半功倍 (shì bàn gōng bèi – “half the effort, double the result,” achieving more with less effort).

Reading “Zhejiang’s waters” one can also know the culture; water veins are also cultural veins. If building a city by water is a concerto of protection and development, then passing on cultural veins through water veins is a symphony of the ancient and the modern. History and culture flow here, and also grow and innovate.

Take the Hangzhou section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal as an example; the legend of “the water route is the opera route” continues here. The Grand Canal’s water route, rushing for a thousand li, is also an opera route sung for a thousand years, promoting the fusion of northern and southern opera, allowing opera along the river to bloom in a hundred flowers. Hangzhou’s Gongshu District (拱墅区), at the southern end of the Grand Canal, was historically a gathering place of “southern accents and northern tunes.” Today, protecting, passing on, and utilizing the precious cultural heritage of the Grand Canal, the southern end of the canal is building a cultural performance cluster area, attracting more people to “journey to a city for a performance.”

Water veins are brilliant, cultural veins are long and deep. Come to Hangzhou, take an opera-themed cruise ship, where actors take turns performing classic excerpts of Yue Opera, Huangmei Opera, Mu Opera, and more on the deck stage; along the canal banks, immersive experience projects like “opera blind boxes” are diverse, and tourists praise “the experience of listening to opera on the boat, sipping tea on the shore, and hearing tunes while the boat travels is truly memorable.” Restoring ecology while building a stage, clearing the water route while opening the cultural path — the ecological culture and cultural ecology along the canal 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng – “to bring out the best in each other,” each enhancing the other’s brilliance), suffused with a lingering cultural charm.

Centered on water, comprehensive environmental protection is continuously integrated into urban organic renewal; the protection, inheritance, and utilization of China’s excellent traditional culture continuously sets brush to paper; green development and green benefits for the people continuously compose new chapters. “Zhejiang’s waters” flow across the land of Zhijiang, water and city, water and culture, water and people radiate and reflect each other’s brilliance, and the “water essay” is continuously taking on a new contemporary style.

(The author is a reporter from this newspaper’s Zhejiang branch)

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Understanding Thousands of Households' Needs, Weaving a Dense Support Network

By: 丁嘉炜

When it comes to social assistance and charitable support, what people care about most is fairness. My job is to thoroughly ascertain the true family circumstances of applicants, so that relief funds and charitable donations flow to those who need them most. Information such as social insurance payment status, whether family members have registered businesses, and whether they own real estate—these pieces of information are scattered across multiple departments including human resources and social security, market regulation, and natural resources. What we must do is, like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, piece together the data scattered in various places completely and accurately, providing a precise basis for approval and upholding the bottom line of fair relief.

In relief verification work, one sometimes must learn to "think conversely." Some people in difficulty who do not understand policies, or severely ill patients with limited mobility, may not even know about temporary relief, nor understand the specific procedures and plans. If we just sit and wait for applications, how can we talk about fairness? Only by thinking one step further and taking one step proactively can we see the overlooked difficulties and enable more people in need to enjoy relief guarantees. To this end, we go down to community grids, walk through fields and villages, and conduct promotional activities at the doorsteps of ordinary people, breaking down the "hard policies" and explaining them in plain language and everyday matters that everyone can understand, so that relief steps off the page and warms people's hearts.

Only by walking ten thousand li and thoroughly understanding the difficulties of a thousand households can we warm ten thousand families. Uncle Huang, an acute leukemia patient, was a person in difficulty discovered by grassroots staff during door-to-door visits. Within one month of admission, his medical expenses exceeded 100,000 yuan, and his family might fall into hardship as a result. Faced with this kind of sudden difficulty, the masses cannot wait or endure. We did not follow the routine steps; instead, we immediately activated the "green channel," carried out 容缺办理 (róng quē bàn lǐ - "tolerate missing documents," handling applications while allowing incomplete documentation), completed his minimum subsistence guarantee approval while he was hospitalized, and strived to let the life-saving money outrun the disease; at the same time, we coordinated with the medical insurance department to advance relief subsidies and medical reimbursement in an integrated manner. Only by taking steps and running more errands, doing work before the masses have to speak up, and delivering assistance when difficulties occur, can we better 雪中送炭 (xuě zhōng sòng tàn - "send charcoal in snowy weather," provide timely help) to those "silent seekers of help" who do not know the application channels or how to ask.

Doing relief work well relies on proactivity, but also on coordination. With the nation's rapid development, the scope of social assistance is continuously expanding. The Social Assistance Law, effective from July 1, clearly stipulates that families on the edge of the minimum subsistence guarantee (最低生活保障边缘家庭) and families with rigid expenditure difficulties (刚性支出困难家庭) are among the targets of social assistance. Relief is not a government monologue; it must be coordinated and connected with social forces. In practice, we have found that there is an information barrier between the two, and poor communication can lead to coverage blind spots and duplicate relief. By forging "iron feet" (tireless legwork), making good use of new technologies, building bridges through mechanisms, and breaking down data barriers, assistance will have both warmth and precision.

Previously, in a minor care service project donated by a charitable organization in Suzhou, Jiangsu, we actively connected and used the relief information verification platform to conduct a full-volume comparison of data on minors among the city's minimum subsistence guarantee and extremely poor populations from multiple dimensions such as disability grade and disability type, screening out over 3,200 pieces of information on minor persons with disabilities, providing an effective reference for the "precise drip irrigation" (精准滴灌) of charitable resources. The government shoulders responsibility, society transmits love, and by promoting information interconnection and interoperability, forming a relief synergy where minds are united and efforts are concentrated, we can continuously weave the safety net more densely.

In the past year, the nation has guaranteed 39.104 million urban and rural minimum subsistence guarantee recipients and 4.861 million extremely poor persons. Each of these numbers is a microcosm of the stable operation of the social assistance system, and a narrative jointly completed by countless relief workers like myself at their respective posts. Striving to make every relief service a warmth that the masses can touch, a happiness they can perceive, we will hold fast to our original aspiration and are full of confidence.

(The author is a staff member of the Civil Affairs Comprehensive Service Center of Xinyang City, Henan Province. This article is selected and compiled from an email submission.)

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Photo Report

The construction of the logistics network concerns the smooth flow of the economic bloodline. From January to May this year, the cumulative volume of express delivery business reached 82.87 billion items, a year-on-year increase of 5.2%. Behind this is a modern operational system of "corridors + hubs + networks". 181 national logistics hubs, over 500,000 business outlets, 427,000 village-level integrated express delivery logistics service stations... From the top-level hubs to the end-point circulation, the overall efficiency of logistics has improved, effectively serving the high-quality development of the real economy.

Just this:
Warp and weft weave thoroughfares,
Post stations dot every country dwelling.
Cargo flows connect the four seas,
Commercial arteries spread across the five lakes.

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Micro-dramas also need high quality

By: 牛梦笛

Not long ago, the National Radio and Television Administration (国家广播电视总局) held a work deployment and promotion meeting for the "Micro-Short Drama High-Quality Creation and Dissemination Plan." 11 provinces arranged special support funds, and 6 online audiovisual platforms will invest at least 60 billion yuan to support the creation and dissemination of excellent live-action micro-short dramas. On one hand, AI (artificial intelligence) is driving a sharp decline in the production costs of micro-short dramas; on the other hand, policies are focusing on supporting high-quality live-action micro-short dramas. These appear to be different directions, but in fact point to the same proposition: on what basis can micro-short dramas achieve high-quality development?

Data show that in 2025, approximately 60,000 AI micro-short dramas were launched in total; by 2026, this figure had increased to 200,000. AI is greatly lowering the production threshold for micro-short dramas and accelerating the speed of content supply. However, an increase in the speed of supply has never automatically translated into an improvement in content quality. If cost reduction through technology evolves into low-price volume expansion, it will only intensify low-quality and homogenized competition.

For the micro-short drama industry to mature, it must shift from chasing short-term traffic to focusing on quality and efficiency. In recent years, the division of labor in the production of live-action micro-short dramas has been continuously refined, professionalization has gradually improved, and supporting business forms such as scene services, equipment rental, accommodation, and catering have also developed. Live-action micro-short dramas are not just a type of content product; they are also connected to an industrial chain covering creation, production, dissemination, and consumption. Supporting high-quality live-action micro-short dramas does not mean excluding AI micro-short dramas, but rather consolidating and enhancing the professional production system that has already taken shape.

Whether the application of technology truly achieves cost reduction and efficiency increase must be calculated based on the full industry account. AI micro-short dramas still bear costs such as repeated generation, manual correction, computing power operation and maintenance, and copyright authorization. If low-price volume expansion continues to squeeze the space for live-action creation, it may lead to a reduction in professional positions, idling of supporting facilities, and interruption of talent cultivation. When judging the efficiency of technology application, we must look not only at whether the cost of individual works has been reduced, but also at whether the production capacity for high-quality content has been enhanced.

The value of live-action creation lies even more in the "sense of presence" (在场感) that AI finds difficult to simulate. "Escape from the British Museum" uses personification to tell the story of cultural relics' loss and the imagination of their return home. What moves the audience is not only the clever setup, but also the resonance formed between the actors' performances, the real-life settings, and the cultural emotions. "Inside and Outside the Home" (家里家外) develops character relationships starting from dialect dialogues, regional spaces, and family daily life, presenting the texture of ordinary people's lives. These works show that what touches people's hearts in micro-short dramas is not just novelty in subject matter, but also the concretely perceptible "sense of presence" and "sense of living people" (活人感). And this creative ability, which is difficult to replace, is precisely built upon the long-term accumulation of professional teams and talent cultivation systems. From this perspective, special funds support not only specific projects, but also the production capacity for complex content, the gradually maturing professional division of labor, and the employment space that results from this.

Only by consolidating the industrial foundation of live-action creation, leveraging the efficiency advantages of AI, and promoting a reasonable division of labor and effective collaboration among creators, technology companies, platforms, and capital, can technological progress be transformed into content increment. The competitive advantage of micro-short dramas must ultimately be built on content quality and a healthy industrial ecosystem.

(Excerpted from Economic Daily, originally titled "Micro-Short Dramas Cannot Only Compete on Low Costs")

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The Nourishing of Family and Country on a Young Spirit (Jintai Essay)

By: 李忱阳

“Which weapon sounds formidable just by its name?” “Dongfeng-5C (东风-5C).” “How do you convey youth without mentioning youth itself?” “Pure love, only for China.” …
Not long ago, a video of a question-and-answer session at a scenic spot sparked heated discussion. Faced with these questions, the children gave answers that at first hearing surprised and on reflection drew admiration. Innocent faces matched with passionate responses — each line more stirring than the last.
The “children’s Q&A” answered with the 锐不可当 (ruì bù kě dāng - “sharp edge cannot be opposed,” irresistible) spirit of youth, and even more with a 一脉相承 (yī mài xiāng chéng - “come down in one continuous line,” inherited) sentiment of family and country, and with the confident and composed characteristics of the era. These seemingly ordinary questions and the unusual answers pointed to a pure and bright spiritual foundation. The confidence that came out naturally, the sincerity that required no thought — both were from the heart.
In fact, the value orientation of each generation is the product of interweaving the country’s development trajectory with the individual’s growth process, displaying distinct marks of the times.
Since reform and opening up, the post-80s generation was placed in a temporal and spatial backdrop where China benchmarked itself against the world and linked up with international standards; their consciousness of striving to excel and catching up to the frontier was strong.
The post-90s generation personally experienced the era’s tide of China going to the world; their consciousness of being diverse and open and highlighting individuality was prominent.
The post-00s generation grew up in the era when China rapidly rose and overtook on curves in emerging fields; their “level-viewing mentality” (平视心态) of being confident, composed, and bold in expression became increasingly prominent.
These inter-generational characteristics, to a certain extent, reflect how different stages of the country’s and society’s rapid development shape individuals, and how individuals in turn devote themselves to the times, becoming witnesses and participants in change.
In today’s youth, this inter-generational characteristic manifests even more compound features. Along with historic achievements and historic transformations in economic and social development, material conditions are more abundant and life experiences richer; the rapid iteration of information technology has effectively broadened horizons, activating innovative consciousness and creative ability…
The young generation resonates at the same frequency and in the same phase with the accelerated advancement of Chinese-style modernization and the process of strengthening the country and rejuvenating the nation, and is deeply nurtured and soaked by excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture. Therefore, they display even firmer confidence and an even more distinct sense of national identity.
Thus, we continually see the young generation raise the spirit of youth, set grand youth aspirations, and achieve youthful feats. Among these: Tang Fan (唐凡), who said “there is no lying flat in the post-00s dictionary, only going hard” and won the gold medal in aircraft maintenance at the WorldSkills Competition; swimmer Pan Zhanle (潘展乐), who when asked about his birthday wish during a competition firmly replied “first for the country, then for the family”; and Su Yiming (苏翊鸣), who on his birthday won China’s first gold medal at the Milan Winter Olympics and expressed the wish to “dedicate the gold medal to the motherland”…
No matter what kind of skeptical eyes or unknown challenges they face, they always keep the family and country in their hearts and look out at the world, advance bravely and forge ahead, and with the 不卑不亢 (bù bēi bù kàng - “neither humble nor arrogant,” dignified and confident) youth oath and the 不屈不挠 (bù qū bù náo - “unyielding and untiring,” indomitable) youth struggle, bloom with the vigorous brilliance that belongs to Chinese youth.
The youthful spirit of the young generation possesses both the inherited, self-reliant and self-strengthening red character, and the elevated, equal and confident backbone of family and country, and also the open, composed, brave and fearless atmosphere of the times.
“If indeed the youth of the entire country become true youth, then our China will be a country of the future, and its progress will be immeasurable.”
Today and now, the youthful spirit attracts attention because it amazes the world with a single feat, and is unforgettable because of a cavity of hot blood. Only by transforming the mission of bearing the family and country in mind, the self-reliant and self-strengthening struggle spirit, and the elevated posture of viewing the world on an equal footing into solid actions for participating in Chinese-style modernization construction can such youthful spirit endure long and become ever new.
May the high-spirited and vigorous young men grow into the very appearance they so yearned for in their youth. And may our youthful China, as one baton is passed to the next, run forward toward the great rejuvenation of the nation and the building of a strong country!

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本版责编：陈凌 尹双红 李铁林

This section’s email: rmrbpl@peopledaily.cn (When submitting, please indicate the column name.)

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Compiling a Comprehensive History to Showcase Dunhuang’s Two Millennia of Splendor (Continuing the Historical Legacy)

By: 本报记者 宋朝军

Biographical Sketch
Zheng Binglin (郑炳林), born in July 1956, from Huangling, Shaanxi. Distinguished Professor under the Ministry of Education's "Changjiang Scholar Award Program" (长江学者奖励计划), Cuiying Scholar (萃英学者) First-Class Professor at Lanzhou University (兰州大学), Director of the Dunhuang Studies Institute (敦煌学研究所), and National Outstanding Communist Party Member (全国优秀共产党员). He primarily engages in research on Dunhuang studies and Northwest historical geography, has published over 330 papers, and has presided over the completion of more than 30 various scientific research projects, among which the Dunhuang General History (敦煌通史) won the first prize of the 10th Ministry of Education Outstanding Achievements in Scientific Research Award (Humanities and Social Sciences).

On July 1, the list of National Outstanding Communist Party Members, National Outstanding Party Affairs Workers, and National Advanced Primary Party Organizations was released. Zheng Binglin, Cuiying Scholar First-Class Professor at Lanzhou University and Director of the Dunhuang Studies Institute, received the title of "National Outstanding Communist Party Member."

Starting from 2007, he led his team to diligently carry out research on the Dunhuang general history, and in 2023 published the seven-volume Dunhuang General History of over 3.3 million Chinese characters.

“What are the differences between the Wusun horse, Dayuan horse, Mongol horse, and Hequ horse? As these several kinds of horses pass through the passes of Dunhuang and traverse the Silk Road, what can they reflect about the livestock situation in different regions at that time?” Taking out bamboo slip transcriptions, interpreting relevant information... At Hengshan Hall (衡山堂) of Lanzhou University, Professor Zheng Binglin was giving a lecture to graduate students.

Regarding the history of Dunhuang, from large topics like political and economic systems down to small ones like the living customs of residents, the 70-year-old Zheng Binglin took his students on a journey through the long river of history, and for an entire morning, from the Western Han to modern times, teachers and students engaged in in-depth discussion.

“To study the history of Dunhuang continuously from the Western Han down is truly not easy,” Zheng Binglin said.

Leading like the head goose, writing a thick volume
Yumen Pass (玉门关) and Yang Pass (阳关), two passes of great renown, are both located in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, approximately in the same area and not far apart.

Why did the Han Dynasty set them up this way? Was it superfluous? In the desert and Gobi, the cost of operating each pass in terms of manpower and material resources was extremely high; did the people at that time not think it wasteful?

In the past, many enthusiasts interested in Northwest history had asked similar questions. In the Dunhuang General History: Volume on the Two Han Dynasties, Zheng Binglin specifically used the section "The Establishment of Yumen Pass and Yang Pass in Dunhuang Commandery of the Western Han" to examine the time and function of the establishment of the two passes. From the beginning of the establishment of Dunhuang Commandery, it was an important transportation hub and a convergence point of diverse civilizations. In historical research on this land, there are many questions similar to those about Yumen Pass and Yang Pass.

Therefore, to more comprehensively and systematically excavate Dunhuang's history, it was necessary to connect the historical research on Dunhuang, and writing a comprehensive history of Dunhuang became inevitable.

In 2007, as one of the judges, Zheng Binglin participated in the review of major bidding projects of the National Social Science Fund (国家社科基金) in Beijing. During a break in the review, academic colleagues exchanged recent research results. Lin Ganquan (林甘泉), a member of the Academic Division of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (中国社会科学院), said to Zheng Binglin: “The Dunhuang Studies Institute of Lanzhou University is a major center for Dunhuang studies. Can you take the lead in compiling a Dunhuang General History?”

Counting from 1981 when he stayed on at the university to participate in the establishment of the Dunhuang Studies Research Office, by 2007 Zheng Binglin had been diligently working on Dunhuang studies for over 20 years, but mostly focused on the history of Dunhuang during the late Tang, Five Dynasties, and early Song. Although his achievements were considerable, the study of Dunhuang's history had not yet been connected through the ages.

After repeated deliberation, Zheng Binglin made up his mind: “We must compile a Dunhuang General History, and strive to keep the discourse power of Dunhuang studies in the hands of Chinese scholars!”

Compiling the Dunhuang General History was a massive cultural project. All members of Zheng Binglin's team were doctoral students or postdoctoral fellows he had trained bit by bit himself. “We applied the most elite forces to the most challenging tasks. We knew there would be difficulties, but we were very confident,” Zheng Binglin said emotionally, recalling events from nearly 20 years ago.

During the compilation, the Dunhuang General History: Volume on the Two Han Dynasties was the largest in size, with the main text exceeding 500,000 characters. Zheng Binglin took the heavy burden upon himself and began writing together with doctoral student Si Haoqiang (司豪强).

“These pieces of Dunhuang Han bamboo slips are a treasure trove for research!” Zheng Binglin said, taking out a transcription of Han slips. It turned out that the Dunhuang of the Two Han periods was not heavily covered in historical texts like the Book of Han and Book of the Later Han, with only a few sentences. During the preparation process, the Gansu Museum of Han Bamboo Slips (甘肃简牍博物馆) was established, which is the largest thematic museum in the country for the collection of Han slips. Zheng Binglin's team contacted the museum and obtained a large number of transcriptions of Dunhuang Han slips, among which the Xuanguan Posthouse (悬泉置) Han slips, among others, covered all aspects of Dunhuang's history in the Western Han.

From administrative and military documents, records of Sino-foreign exchanges, to geographical and transportation archives, social logs of clothing, food, shelter, and travel, private letters, and so on. The Dunhuang Han slips are vast in volume and rich in content. “Where did the population come from? How did they live? How did culture exchange? I would read a single Han slip more than 30 times at most, repeatedly comparing and researching, and each time I made new discoveries,” Zheng Binglin said.

Setting up pillars and beams, coordinating the seven volumes into a book
“This book, published half a year ago, was reprinted again not long ago.” Picking up a copy of A Concise History of Dunhuang, Wei Yingchun (魏迎春), Deputy Director of the Dunhuang Studies Institute, discussed recent plans with Zheng Binglin.

The 650,000-character A Concise History of Dunhuang was condensed from the 3.3-million-character Dunhuang General History, and has been reprinted twice so far. As the “senior sister” of the team born in the 1970s, Wei Yingchun is a member of the middle generation. Under Zheng Binglin's guidance, Wei Yingchun and the others worked together to set up pillars and beams, continuously improving in the field of general history research.

“Compiling a general history involves not only a large word count but also systematic coordination,” Wei Yingchun said. Take the division into volumes as an example: how many volumes a general history is divided into does not depend on dynasties or duration, but rather on the research value of historical materials from different time periods. “Historical research should adhere to the principle of speaking only as much as the materials allow; this is also the basic principle everyone followed in compiling the Dunhuang General History,” Wei Yingchun said.

When the task of compiling the Dunhuang General History began, the team had fewer than ten people, and how to divide the work became the biggest problem. Zheng Binglin and Wei Yingchun had in-depth discussions with each writer and, combining their respective research directions, determined the theme and writer for each volume.

“It both continued the writing style of traditional historiography and highlighted important events, while at the same time ensuring that there were no excessive differences in length between volumes.” Through these discussions with everyone, Wei Yingchun also gradually improved her ability to compile general histories.

The seven-volume Dunhuang General History took 17 years to meet the public. “How to adjust the work pace, determine the writing direction without excessively interfering with the authors' writing style, and how to coordinate manuscript return times between authors and publishers — in this ‘real combat,’ we learned a lot,” Zheng Binglin said.

Soon after the publication of the Dunhuang General History, Zheng Binglin's team received an invitation and began compiling the Liangzhou General History (凉州通史). Dunhuang is in northwestern Gansu, while Liangzhou (present-day Wuwei) is in central Gansu. Although the two places are far apart, with the experience of compiling the Dunhuang General History, the team members quickly and efficiently and enthusiastically threw themselves into the work. After a little over two years, the Liangzhou General History (ten volumes) was published and released at the end of last year.

New talents probe the subtle, filling gaps of many generations
In Dunhuang over a thousand years ago, a farmer discovered that the processing fee for wheat had decreased. As an ordinary person living off agriculture and heaven's will, he felt this was a big change. Over a thousand years later, through Dunhuang documents, this change in processing fees was noticed by Chen Jihong (陈继宏), a lecturer at the Dunhuang Studies Institute far away in Lanzhou.

“Did the decrease in processing fees mean that there were more processing tools and higher efficiency in this period?” Chen Jihong, born in the 1980s, compiled various materials on industry, agriculture, commerce, education, and military together for research when compiling the Dunhuang General History: Volume on the Tibetan Empire (吐蕃卷).

“When studying ancient daily life, one should consider it from the perspective of the ancient people,” Chen Jihong recalled that Zheng Binglin had reminded her at the time.

In Dunhuang historical research, many dynasties lack official historical records. Documents such as accounting records and purchase contracts in Dunhuang manuscripts are important evidentiary materials. “Only by using a historical perspective to project oneself into ancient life can one discover the more realistic side of history,” Chen Jihong said.

To fill the gaps, team members extracted essence from various language materials. Since starting her master's degree, Chen Jihong, encouraged by Zheng Binglin, learned Tibetan, and compared with collections of Tibetan documents compiled by previous scholars, began to understand, construct, and contrast bit by bit. “History is continuous; supplementing and connecting the history of Dunhuang from different eras allows a more comprehensive understanding of the historical evolution logic of this northwestern city,” Chen Jihong said.

Also putting great effort into studying languages was Chen Guangwen (陈光文), an associate professor born after 1985. Chen Guangwen was responsible for the Dunhuang General History: Volume on the Western Xia, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties (西夏元明清卷), which had the longest time span and the weakest foundational materials. During this period, due to the rise of maritime trade, Dunhuang's role as a node in commerce and foreign exchanges declined, “but many people still continued to travel along this route and left many travelogues, observations, and records of local customs,” Chen Guangwen said.

Among the collected materials, the large proportion of materials in the Tangut script (西夏文) became a difficulty that had to be overcome.

In academia, there is considerable controversy over the period of Western Xia rule over Dunhuang. During his research, Chen Guangwen retranslated and interpreted a two-line Tangut inscription on the southern wall of the corridor of Cave 297 at the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. Using lexical databases, reference tools, and other materials, he proposed a new view, which became an important part of the Dunhuang General History.

“For this period, Professor Zheng encouraged us to innovate and strive to fill gaps more and better,” Chen Guangwen recalled. The gap-filling was not smooth; from materials to viewpoints, it was almost “starting from zero.” However, Zheng Binglin demanded that he: “Maintain a research state every day, do not slack off, accumulate little by little.” For Chen Guangwen, completing a book also meant undergoing a rigorous academic training.

The team's research has not stopped. “We can only say we have made a start,” Zheng Binglin said. He and his team members are continuously delving into research, and are currently polishing the manuscript of “The History of Dunhuang in the Han and Tang Dynasties,” preparing to launch new research results such as Annals of Historical Events in Dunhuang during the Western Han (敦煌西汉史事编年) and others.

Reporter's Note
“Refinement in Detail” and “Integration into the Framework”

During the interview, from Zheng Binglin's narration, one could feel that although he has studied Dunhuang history for a long time, to compile a general history with quality and quantity, one must inevitably sit on the “cold bench” for a longer time and wade through more “deep waters” that few in academia venture into. This requires both a scientific research responsibility of “not indulging in empty fantasies, not chasing after false reputations” (不驰于空想，不骛于虚声) and tests the academic skill of grasping “details and the overall situation.”

“Refinement in detail” is a methodology for academic innovation and digging “deep wells.” Studying history values speaking only as much as the materials allow. The seven-volume Dunhuang General History covers everything from a one- or two-line wall inscription to the changes of an entire region over time. It is precisely because scholars focused on each detail, meticulously researching, verifying, and discussing day and night, that they gradually built and perfected “flesh-and-blood” academic achievements.

“Integration into the framework” is a methodology for drawing on diverse strengths and connecting the “veins.” Compiling a general history embodies the painstaking efforts of the research team and integrates the academic essences of different scholars. During the interview, all team members mentioned that Zheng Binglin set the direction, requiring each member to do their own job, while fully respecting their individual initiative and innovation. The combination of the two, converging on the same academic goal, is what made the Dunhuang General History both excellent and compelling.

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Skilled hands forge iron paintings, chiseling myriad scenes to life (Master Craftsmanship)

By: 本报记者 史自强

Guo Mohan (郭墨涵) is a representative inheritor of Hebei Province’s intangible cultural heritage — Guo’s iron plate relief sculpture (郭氏铁板浮雕), a teacher at Hebei Vocational University of Industry and Technology (河北工业职业技术大学), a master of arts and crafts of Hebei Province, and a National March 8th Red-Banner Pacesetter (全国三八红旗手). She carries forward the traditional metal-chiseling technique, creates three-dimensional paintings, and has developed the wax-dyeing and hot-color iron plate relief technique, for which she has won multiple national and provincial awards.

Stepping into the Iron Plate Relief Art Museum of Hebei Vocational University of Industry and Technology, one hears the crisp, resonant sound of hammer and chisel without pause.

At the workbench, Guo Mohan, dressed in a black apron, holds a fine chisel steady against a 1 mm thick iron plate in one hand while wielding a small hammer with the other, controlling the force of the blows with ease. Behind her, on a wooden wall, hundreds of hammers of varying lengths and shapes hang neatly along a rail.

On a square inch of iron plate, the downy fur of a panda is fluffy down to each strand, and the layers of peony petals spread open. The originally cold, rigid black iron plate, after thousands of hammer blows and chisel cuts, is transformed into a three-dimensional painting with rich layers and natural light-and-dark transitions, the interplay of black, white, and gray resembling a hand-drawn sketch. Leaning in to observe closely, even details such as the split ends of animal fur and the creases of petals are vividly visible. It is hard to believe that these lifelike images are forged by hand, one hammer strike and one chisel cut at a time.

Guo’s iron plate relief technique is born from the traditional chiseling technique passed down through millennia. Unlike soft-metal chiseling on gold, silver, or copper, iron plate has high hardness and poor malleability and cannot be softened by heating. Overcoming the challenge of cold forging on iron plate — “embroidering a painting” on hard iron — is the unique skill that two generations of the Guo family have painstakingly cultivated for decades. “Guo’s iron plate relief directly fixes the iron plate onto a wooden pad and cold-forges it with hammer and chisel. There are no molds, no welding. A single faulty hammer blow can ruin the entire plate. The 16 steps are interlinked — from tracing the design, outlining with the chisel, hammer forging, to rust removal, bluing, polishing, local heat coloring, waxing, and framing. Not the slightest oversight is allowed at any step,” says Guo Mohan.

What most tests skill is detail shaping: to render fine animal fur on a thin iron plate, one must select a specially made chisel as fine as a strand of hair, and control the force of the hammer strike within the narrowest margin.

“A fraction more force and the iron plate cracks; a fraction less and the texture does not appear,” says Guo Mohan. When carving textures such as petal veins, the metal must be hammered back and forth on both sides following its grain to achieve a naturally curled, translucent quality.

Guo Mohan majored in industrial design in university. Influenced artistically by her father, Guo Haibo, she gave up her job as a designer in 2012, returned to her hometown to learn the craft, and threw herself headlong into the clanging life of “hammering iron.”

At the outset of her apprenticeship, the hardness of the iron plate and the strictness of the craft set many obstacles for Guo Mohan. “The hardest part was the early learning phase: standing for more than ten hours a day, swinging the hammer tens of thousands of times. Within half a day, my arms would be so sore and swollen I could not raise them. If the angle of the chisel shifted even slightly, the hammer would come down heavily on my hand. Swollen, bruised fingers were routine, and chafed, bleeding fingertips were the norm,” says Guo Mohan. Many semi-finished pieces that had taken over a month of work would often be scrapped entirely because of one wrong hammer strike, and waste plates piled up in the storage room.

During the day, Guo Mohan repeatedly practiced hammer techniques and controlled force; at night, she studied ancient texts on traditional chiseling, breaking down and practicing one by one the hammer-forging methods her father had summarized over decades. Layer upon layer of fresh and old scars covered her hands, and she finally forged a solid foundation of “accurate eye, steady chisel, even hammer.”

Preserving the old methods is necessary, but even more so is opening new horizons. Her father pioneered the copper-color heat-coloring technique. Building on this, Guo Mohan jointly developed the wax-dyeing and hot-color iron plate relief technique, breaking the limitation that iron plate works could only have black, white, and gray. Through high-temperature temperature control and wax-sealed layered coloring, the iron plate takes on a colorful, glaze-like sheen — varied in color and unique — filling a domestic gap in the craft of colored iron plate relief.

In her creations, Guo Mohan does not confine herself to the traditional framework of flowers, birds, and landscapes. She travels to various places to gather inspiration and closely engages with themes such as red culture, producing a number of fine works. Possessing a unique skill, she does not forget to pass it on. Now, as a teacher, Guo Mohan has turned her workshop into an intangible cultural heritage classroom, built a university student training and practice base, and explored ways to integrate intangible cultural heritage skills with university education.

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Building a Strong Science and Technology Nation to Support High-Quality Development

By: 本报记者 赵永新

Editor's note: Recently, the Central Propaganda Department (中央宣传部), the Central Work Committee for Central and State Organs (中央和国家机关工委), the Ministry of Education (教育部), the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission (中央军委政治工作部), and the Beijing Municipal Committee (北京市委) jointly held a series of situation and policy report meetings on 'Ensuring and Improving People's Livelihoods in High-Quality Development.' On June 25, Yin Hejun (阴和俊), Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology (科技部), delivered a special report titled 'Building a Strong Science and Technology Country to Support High-Quality Development,' which is now published in a Q&A format.

Reporter: Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, what historic achievements have been made in China's scientific and technological innovation?

Yin Hejun: Since the 18th National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to scientific and technological innovation, always placing it in a prominent position in the overall national development, systematically planning and advancing it in a coordinated manner. Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee, the 'one chessboard' pattern of national science and technology work has basically taken shape, and historic achievements have been made in scientific and technological innovation, providing strong scientific and technological support for achieving high-quality development and ensuring high-level security.

First, scientific and technological innovation capacity has been significantly enhanced.

One, the international position of scientific and technological strength has improved year by year. In the Global Innovation Index published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, China rose from 34th place in 2012 to 10th place in 2025. National R&D investment increased from 1.03 trillion yuan in 2012 to 3.93 trillion yuan in 2025, with an average annual growth rate of over 10.8%; R&D intensity rose from 1.98% in 2012 to 2.8% in 2025. The number of PCT international patent applications has ranked first in the world for 7 consecutive years, reaching 73,000 in 2025. The number of high-level international journal papers has ranked first in the world for 5 consecutive years.

Two, the team of scientific and technological talents has continued to grow. In 2025, China's full-time equivalent of R&D personnel reached 7.95 million person-years, ranking first in the world for 13 consecutive years. The number of highly cited scientists from China's mainland reached 1,406 person-times, ranking second in the world. Young scientific and technological talents have become the main force in scientific research and the new force in innovation. In the National Key R&D Program, the proportion of project leaders under the age of 45 is 43.3%. In the National Natural Science Foundation, 80% of projects are undertaken by young people under 45. In major national science and technology projects such as Beidou and lunar exploration, as well as emerging fields like artificial intelligence, the average age of many project team members is only around 30 years old.

Three, the global influence of science and technology has been continuously enhanced. China has established scientific and technological cooperation relationships with more than 160 countries and regions, signed 120 intergovernmental science and technology cooperation agreements, and joined over 200 international organizations and multilateral mechanisms. The international big science programs initiated by China, such as the 'Deep-Time Digital Earth,' 'Marine Negative Emissions,' and 'Human Proteome Navigation,' are advancing steadily. China actively participates in several international big science programs, including the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). China's influence as an important pole of global innovation is increasingly demonstrated.

Second, science and technology has strongly supported the building of a modern industrial system.

Technology empowers the optimization and upgrading of traditional industries. Through technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and big data, significant results have been achieved in promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of traditional industries. The comprehensive energy consumption per unit of high-energy-consuming products such as steel and cement has generally reached the world's advanced level. The level of advanced manufacturing continues to improve. China has the largest number of 'lighthouse factories' in the world, accounting for over 45%. The application of industrial robots has covered 71 major categories of the national economy, with a total installed capacity of over 2 million units, firmly ranking first in the world. Major breakthroughs have been made in the independent development of major equipment such as tunnel boring machines.

Technology leads the vigorous development of emerging industries. New technologies are accelerating breakthroughs, continuously spawning new industries and new economic growth points. In 2025, the export scale of China's 'new three items' (new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaics) approached 1.3 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.5 times compared to 2020. In 2025, China's new energy vehicle production and sales both exceeded 16 million units, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years. Dubbed by the media as the 'new new three items,' artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs are also developing rapidly and are expected to form new pillar industries.

Technology solidifies the foundation for the growth of future industries. Quantum technology is accelerating toward a new stage of industrialization. China has developed the 'Zuchongzhi No. 3' superconducting quantum computer and the 'Jiuzhang No. 4' optical quantum computer, becoming the only country in the world to achieve 'quantum computational advantage' along both the optical and superconducting quantum computing technical routes. In the field of artificial intelligence, a number of internationally leading large models such as DeepSeek, Qianwen, Kimi, and GLM have emerged, building an open-source and open ecosystem. Breakthroughs have been made in whole-body technology for humanoid robots, and progress has been achieved in key technologies such as multimodal perception and brain-cerebellum models. Brain-computer interface technology is accelerating clinical application, with positive results in areas such as disability rehabilitation and the diagnosis and treatment of neurological diseases.

Third, science and technology has significantly improved the well-being of the people.

Scientific and technological innovation has made the sky bluer, the water clearer, food better, travel faster, and health better, giving the people a stronger sense of gain, happiness, and security.

In terms of transportation, technology continues to empower, driving China from a 'transportation big country' to a 'transportation power.' China's high-speed rail mileage has exceeded 50,000 kilometers, making it the country with the longest high-speed rail operation mileage and the fastest speed in the world. The CR450 high-speed train set achieved a test top speed of 453 kilometers per hour. A 600 km/h superconducting maglev train has been developed, continuously setting new 'China speed' records. The domestically built large cruise ships 'Adora Magic City' and 'Adora City of Flowers' provide consumers with a 'more technological, richer, and more Chinese' experience for sea travel. BeiDou navigation achieves millimeter-level positioning, providing more accurate and convenient navigation services for transportation.

In terms of medicine and health, scientific and technological innovation empowers life and health, strongly supporting the construction of a Healthy China (健康中国). In recent years, China's innovative drugs have shown explosive growth, reaching 48 in 2024 and 76 in 2025, with increasingly strong international competitiveness. The 5.0T magnetic resonance imaging system developed by China has a resolution 3 to 5 times higher than that of 3.0T equipment, capable of capturing tiny lesions such as early stroke and small vessel blockages that are difficult to identify with traditional equipment, and also providing key evidence for the diagnosis of some difficult and severe diseases such as brain tumors and pancreatic cancer.

In terms of ecological and environmental protection, a series of major science and technology projects have been deployed and implemented to help win the three major battles of blue sky, clear water, and clean soil (蓝天、碧水、净土三大保卫战). During the '14th Five-Year Plan' (十四五) period, the average PM2.5 concentration in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding areas decreased by 27.7%. In 2025, the national average PM2.5 concentration was 28 micrograms per cubic meter, a year-on-year decrease of 4.4%, and the proportion of days with good air quality reached 89.3%. The proportion of surface water sections with excellent water quality exceeded 90% for two consecutive years. Soil environmental quality has steadily improved, and ecosystem quality is stable and improving.

In terms of better food, new agricultural business forms such as smart farms are thriving, and technologies such as smart logistics are accelerating development and application, providing important guarantees for the safety and freshness of food from field to table. Using technologies such as molecular design breeding and crossbreeding, a number of major varieties such as high-yield high-quality rice and Fusarium head blight-resistant wheat have been cultivated, with significant improvements in disease resistance, stress tolerance, quality, and yield. Currently, over 95% of China's farmland is planted with seeds bred by China itself, achieving the goal that 'China's grain' mainly uses 'China's seeds,' using Chinese seeds to ensure China's food security and firmly holding the Chinese people's rice bowl in their own hands.

Fourth, science and technology has strongly safeguarded national strategic interests.

In the aerospace field, from lunar exploration to Mars exploration, from manned launches to permanent presence in space, scientific and technological innovation has supported one historic leap after another in the space industry. In deep-sea exploration, independently built marine equipment such as 'Tansuo No. 3' and 'Fendouzhe' (Striver) have completed comprehensive missions including Arctic sea ice, marine ecology, and deep-sea exploration, making China the only country in the world to conduct continuous manned deep dives in the dense Arctic sea ice area. In major projects, China ranks first in the world in the scale of nuclear power under operation and construction. The 'Hualong No. 1' (华龙一号) and 'Guohe No. 1' (国和一号) third-generation nuclear power plants are being built in batches, and the world's first fourth-generation nuclear power plant, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, has been put into commercial operation.

It can be said that scientific and technological innovation has provided strong support for China's two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability, and has laid a solid material and technical foundation for development during the '15th Five-Year Plan' (十五五) period. The fundamental reason for these achievements lies in the leadership and guidance of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, and in the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Reporter: How to understand the new situation and new requirements currently facing scientific and technological innovation?

Yin Hejun: At present, the world's once-in-a-century transformation is accelerating, the technological revolution and major-power rivalry are intertwined, China's economic and social development has entered a new stage, and scientific and technological innovation faces new situations, new tasks, new challenges, and new requirements.

First, achieving high-quality development must rely on the support of scientific and technological modernization.

Entering a new stage of development, China's principal social contradiction has undergone profound changes, and high-quality development faces many challenges. It is necessary to rely on scientific and technological innovation to continuously improve labor productivity, accelerate the conversion of old and new drivers, ensure that development momentum does not falter and development progress does not stagnate, and provide solid scientific and technological support for meeting the people's aspirations for a better life.

Scientific and technological innovation is an inevitable choice for crossing the 'middle-income stage.' China is at a critical period of moving from the middle-income stage to the high-income stage. During the '15th Five-Year Plan' period, it is more urgent to embark on a growth path relying on scientific and technological innovation, realize changes in quality, efficiency, and drivers, accelerate the development of new quality productive forces (新质生产力), build a modern industrial system, and promote China's economic and social development to a higher stage.

Scientific and technological innovation is the strategic support for achieving green development. During the '15th Five-Year Plan' period, achieving 'peak carbon emissions' (碳达峰) faces severe challenges, and emission reduction and carbon reduction face great pressure. Adjusting the energy structure, improving the efficiency of energy resource utilization and environmental governance urgently requires strengthening scientific and technological innovation to consolidate the scientific and technological foundation for building a Beautiful China (美丽中国).

Scientific and technological innovation is a solid guarantee for improving the quality of people's lives and promoting the all-round development of people and comprehensive social progress. With economic development and improvement in living standards, the people's demands for fresh air, safe food, a beautiful environment, high-level medical care, and high-quality spiritual and cultural life are becoming increasingly strong. It is necessary to rely on scientific and technological innovation to provide more high-quality products and services, so that the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security are more substantial, more guaranteed, and more sustainable.

Second, accurately seize the historical opportunity of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: 'The new scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation will be one of the most difficult to control but must be faced uncertain factors. If we seize it, it is an opportunity; if we fail to seize it, it is a challenge.' At present, science and technology are developing rapidly. Scientific research is advancing towards the extreme macro, extreme micro, extreme conditions, and extreme interdisciplinary integration, continuously expanding new boundaries of human cognition. Frontier technologies are showing a trend of accelerated breakthroughs, cross-integration, and group leaps. New technologies, new industries, and new business forms are accelerating integrated development on a larger scale, in a wider field, and at a deeper level.

Artificial intelligence, as a strategic technology leading the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, is empowering thousands of industries with unprecedented breadth, depth, and speed, helping the manufacturing industry accelerate intelligent transformation and upgrading. AI for Science is driving a change in research paradigms, showing great potential in improving research efficiency, accelerating scientific discovery, and technological breakthroughs. Quantum technology is gradually entering a new stage of integrated advancement of scientific research, engineering application, and industrial cultivation, with multiple paths such as quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum measurement accelerating evolution. Biotechnology is showing a trend of rapid development and rapidly decreasing costs. Gene editing, synthetic biology, etc., will bring new changes to biomedicine, bioindustry, and bioagriculture. Frontier technologies such as new-generation communication, brain-computer interfaces, nuclear fusion energy, and hypersonic flight vehicles are also showing a trend of accelerated breakthroughs.

The rapid advancement of new technologies will inevitably bring profound changes to economic and social development. We must deeply grasp the laws of science and technology, the national strategy, and the historical position of our country, strive to seize the commanding heights of scientific and technological competition and industrial development, and inject strong momentum into the modernization of Chinese-style modernization (中国式现代化).

Reporter: During the '15th Five-Year Plan' period, what are the main key tasks for accelerating the building of a strong science and technology country?

Yin Hejun: The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the national '15th Five-Year Plan' outline have made systematic arrangements for 'accelerating high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement, leading the development of new quality productive forces,' and listed 'significantly improving the level of scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement' as one of the seven main goals for economic and social development during the '15th Five-Year Plan' period, putting forward strategic tasks such as strengthening original innovation and tackling key core technologies, enhancing systematic innovation capabilities, and promoting the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent. We must earnestly implement the strategic deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, with tenacious will and firm determination, 只争朝夕 (zhǐ zhēng zhāo xī - 'seize the day and night,' to race against time), work hard and make a difference, and solidly advance the implementation of various tasks.

First, strengthen high-quality scientific and technological supply to support high-quality economic and social development. Strengthen the strategic, forward-looking, and systematic layout of basic research. On the one hand, grasp the world's scientific and technological frontiers, strengthen original innovation 'from 0 to 1,' and bravely venture into the 'no-man's land' of scientific and technological innovation. On the other hand, according to the urgent needs of national development, reverse-engineer scientific problems 'from 1 to 0' to accelerate the solution of the underlying scientific principles of 'bottleneck' technologies. At the same time, further strengthen the construction of basic scientific and technological conditions, continuously improve independent support capabilities. Adhere to casting the base, plugging loopholes, making up for shortcomings, and strengthening strengths, deploy the entire chain and systematically layout to promote key core technology breakthroughs in key areas such as integrated circuits, industrial mother machines, high-end instruments, basic software, advanced materials, and biological manufacturing, and produce a number of major landmark achievements. Strengthen scientific and technological support for improving people's livelihood and well-being, accelerate technological innovation in areas such as major disease prevention and treatment, drugs and medical devices, improve the level of technical equipment in areas such as safety production and major disaster response, accelerate technological breakthroughs and application of results in areas such as ecosystem protection and restoration, and use science and technology to make people's lives better.

Second, promote deep integration of scientific and technological innovation and industrial innovation, and accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system. Accelerate technological transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and large-scale equipment renewal, optimize industrial layout, strengthen standard leadership, and improve internationalization. Accelerate the cluster development of strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, aerospace, and low-altitude economy. Forward-looking layout of future industries, focus on promoting quantum technology, biological manufacturing, hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and sixth-generation mobile communications to become new economic growth points. Strengthen the principal role of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation, accelerate the cultivation and growth of leading science and technology enterprises, strengthen enterprise-led industry-university-research integrated innovation, and support enterprises to take the lead in forming innovation consortia. Accelerate the efficient transformation and application of major scientific and technological achievements, layout and build concept verification and pilot test verification platforms, increase the construction and open sharing of application scenarios. Accelerate the development of science and technology finance, support capital investing early, small, long-term, and in hard technology.

Third, improve the regional innovation system and create growth poles and power sources for high-quality development. Promote the three international science and technology innovation centers of Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta), and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to enhance their functions of original innovation sourcing, high-end industry leadership, and top talent aggregation, and accelerate the building of important strategic fulcrums for a strong science and technology country. At the same time, strengthen the construction of regional science and technology innovation centers, support localities to build innovation highlands with their own characteristics based on their own endowments.

Fourth, promote the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, and give full play to their fundamental and strategic supporting role. Coordinate the promotion of independent scientific and technological innovation and independent talent cultivation, gather and cultivate scientific and technological talents and innovation teams in the organization and implementation of major national science and technology tasks. Establish a disciplinary adjustment mechanism that conforms to national strategic needs, and layout urgently needed disciplines and majors. Cultivate and create more strategic scientists, leading scientific and technological talents, and great country craftsmen and other types of talents, and strengthen support for young scientific and technological talents. Vigorously promote the spirit of scientists, guide and encourage the vast number of scientific researchers to aim high, work hard, and dedicate themselves to innovation. Continuously deepen the reform of scientific and technological evaluation, highlight innovation capability, quality, effectiveness, and contribution. Improve the scientific research integrity governance system, resolutely punish academic misconduct, and effectively promote the formation of a clean and upright scientific research ecosystem.

Fifth, strengthen international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, so that science and technology can better benefit human society. Actively integrate into the global scientific and technological innovation network, actively strengthen intergovernmental bilateral, multilateral, and non-governmental scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation, deeply implement the 'Belt and Road' (一带一路) Science and Technology Innovation Action Plan, and create an open innovation ecological environment with global competitiveness. Improve the level of global science and technology governance, actively participate in the formulation of international rules in emerging technology fields such as artificial intelligence, biology, and space, strengthen international joint research on issues such as climate change, food security, and energy security, and provide more Chinese solutions for jointly addressing global challenges.

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2026 Global Invention Convention (China) Competition Beijing Regional Held

Our newspaper reports from Beijing on July 5 (Reporter Pan Junqiang (潘俊强)) The 2026 Global Invention Conference (China) Competition Event — Beijing Division competition commenced and successfully concluded on the 5th at Beijing No.5 Experimental School (北京第五实验学校).

This competition was hosted by the China Friendship and Peace Development Foundation (中国友好和平发展基金会). The competition theme revolves around the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, guiding students to conduct exploration in areas such as an accessible world, sustainable communities, a low-carbon future, and biodiversity protection. The competition is open to current students nationwide from primary school, junior high school, and senior high school (including secondary specialized schools and vocational high schools). Teams of 1 to 4 members are allowed. Each participating team must submit an original invention prototype, an invention log, a novelty search report, and an invention display board, and must complete a roadshow video production and an on-site defense, comprehensively assessing the students' overall competencies.

The competition effectively established a high-quality platform for exchange and display of science and technology innovation education in Beijing’s primary and secondary schools, further inspiring the enthusiasm of young people to love science, be brave in innovation, and dare to practice, providing new ideas and new directions for the construction of school science and technology innovation courses and the cultivation of students’ innovation abilities.

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Daqing, Heilongjiang attracts talent back home to boost rural industrial development

Daqing, July 5 (Reporter Zhu Dawei (祝大伟)) — “The village has set up a grain enterprise, so we can earn an extra share of income,” said Liu Ning (刘宁), a farmer from Liqiang Village, Gulu Town, Zhaoyuan County, Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province. During the slack farming season, he works at a grain enterprise started by a returning college graduate, handling grain transport, and can earn over 150 yuan per day.

In recent years, Daqing City has been pushing forward the “Returning Wild Geese” initiative (归雁行动). Using hometown sentiment as a bond and policy as a safeguard, it has stepped up efforts to attract outstanding talent back, focusing on solving the rural problem of “who will do the work, and how to keep them.” According to reports, Daqing has already brought back 964 “returning wild geese,” with each village dynamically maintaining a reserve of at least two backup personnel, of whom those who had worked or done business outside, as well as skilled wealth-creators, account for more than 60%.

Daqing City has also carried out project construction centered on collective and mass common prosperity. Through development models such as village-enterprise cooperation for contract production, bundling use of special funds, and cross-village cooperative management, Daqing has organized 84 village Party organizations to form joint construction pairings, and 69 enterprise Party organizations have formed production-and-marketing communities with 113 villages, continuously strengthening village-level industries. Villages with collective annual income above 500,000 yuan account for 71.8% of the total; the city has fostered 509 village-level industrial projects, showing sustained growth momentum, making the industrial foundation for promoting comprehensive rural revitalization more solid.

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Zhang Yanchun, Liu Juanxi, Wang Bo

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Old building elevator installation halted for nearly a year (Letter investigation)

By: 本报记者 金 歆 沈童睿

Comrade Editor:

I am a resident of No. 128 Jinhua Zhi Street, Jinhua Street, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province. Our building is an old residential building. In February of last year, we launched a project to add an elevator. But by August of last year, after the original staircase had been demolished and the new elevator had not yet been installed, the project was halted because funds had been misappropriated. For nearly a year now, we have had to rely solely on a temporary metal staircase to go up and down, making it very difficult to get around. Moreover, the demolition of the old staircase was not carried out according to proper procedures, and cracks have appeared in some parts of the building. We have reported the issue through multiple channels, but the problem has never been resolved.

Mr. Lao, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province

Current situation: The elevator addition project has been stalled for nearly a year. The original staircase has been demolished. Going up and down the temporary staircase is difficult. The floors of some households have developed cracks.

On June 25, a reporter came to Jinhua Street, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, as mentioned in the reader's letter. This is an old building with two units, Nos. 128 and 130 Jinhua Zhi Street.

The reader is referring to No. 128. Entering the unit door, there is a narrow passage ahead, and a metal frame extending upward on the right side is rusted. Residents explained that this is the elevator shaft under construction. Some construction debris and waste paper scraps were scattered haphazardly on the ground. During the few minutes the reporter stayed, two rats scurried past quickly.

Walking along the passage leads to a metal staircase, also covered in rust. "When building the elevator shaft, the construction party demolished the original staircase from the first to the third floor and temporarily installed this metal staircase for going up and down," Mr. Lao told the reporter.

Why was the staircase demolished? "Due to site limitations, the design was to install the elevator in the location of the original staircase, rebuild a concrete staircase, and reduce the space it occupies. There is one elevator each from the first to the third floor, and from the third to the ninth floor," resident Mr. Zhang explained, holding the design drawings.

The reporter climbed the metal staircase and found each step so narrow that only a little more than half a foot could fit. It had just rained in Guangzhou that day, and the steps were very slippery. The metal staircase was also steeper than a normal staircase, making climbing quite strenuous.

Upon reaching the third floor, the reporter saw another elevator shaft with a similarly rusted metal frame, with construction materials scattered messily beside it. In many places throughout the building, the brickwork and concrete of the walls were exposed, and some walls had holes knocked through them, temporarily blocked with wooden boards.

This situation has persisted for nearly a year. Mr. Zhang, as a resident representative who has handled related matters, explained that residents of this building have been planning to add an elevator since 2020. One resident recommended a company called Gaoyuan Company (高远公司), whose person in charge is Chen Mou. Residents agreed that Chen Mou would handle a series of procedures for adding the elevator on their behalf.

In October 2024, the preliminary approval procedures for adding the elevator were completed. The 84 homeowner households elected representative Mr. Xu to sign a general contract with Gaoyuan Company, with a total price of 1.2 million yuan. In February 2025, the first installment of 300,000 yuan was paid to Gaoyuan Company; on February 19, the elevator project commenced.

The reporter saw this general contract, which stipulated: "Must be fully completed within 180 days (including elevator installation)."

"At the beginning, the project was proceeding normally. From about May onward, they worked one day and stopped for two days; later it became working one day a week. By August, it stopped completely." Mr. Lao showed the reporter a group chat called "No. 128 Elevator Addition Group": starting from June 2025, homeowners were constantly urging progress on the project. Chen Mou responded actively: "Probably next week we will do the platform first," "In the next day or two... I will calculate the time"... "Chen Mou's attitude was good, but after he said things, the work still didn't resume," said resident representative Ms. Lao. "The workers told us that Chen Mou wasn't paying them."

"From February to April 2025, according to the project progress, we paid Gaoyuan Company in three batches totaling 840,000 yuan. Logically, there shouldn't have been a funding problem," Mr. Zhang said. Later, he heard Chen Mou say the company's capital chain had broken.

The elevator has been delayed indefinitely, and residents are forced to use the temporary staircase daily, making safety a major worry in their hearts.

"Before April this year, the staircase didn't even have railings or handrails. I was apprehensive going up and down every day," said resident Ms. Liu.

"I fell once at the beginning of this year and was laid up for over a week!" said 82-year-old resident Aunt Pan. "There are many elderly people in this building, and people often fall on the stairs. I've fallen three times on these stairs myself this year."

Not only that, "There used to be a small platform at the staircase entrance on the third floor, with a beam underneath that should have been load-bearing. It was demolished during construction!" Mr. Zhang pointed to the original elevator design drawing and told the reporter. Comparing it with the drawing, the reporter saw that the beam had indeed been removed.

Resident Mr. He said he works in on-site project management and, based on his experience, many construction operations were not done according to standards. For example, after the original staircase on the fourth floor was demolished, the upper floor slab spanning over 6 meters had no support. Only after his strong demands did the construction party add two support columns, "and these two columns are still tilted." During an on-site observation, the reporter did notice a tilt.

Another resident, who claimed to have relevant work experience, said that currently all the steel structure in the elevator shaft was not fully welded but rather used spot welding. If not corrected, installing the elevator would pose a major hazard.

Some residents also believe that the non-standard construction has already caused practical problems. "Over the past year, cracks have started to appear in our floors and walls," said Mr. Zhang, who lives on the eighth floor. There were multiple cracks on his floor. Cracks also appeared on the wall of Ms. Lao's balcony outside her door, "clearly indicating subsidence."

Seeing the elevator addition project at a standstill, since October 2025, homeowners have been repeatedly reporting the issue to the subdistrict office (街道) requesting assistance in resolving it, and have reported the case three times to the public security authorities on suspicion of fraud and misappropriation of funds by Chen Mou.

Mr. Zhang explained that after they reported the issue to the subdistrict, they discovered that when Chen Mou was entering the project commencement information with the subdistrict, the contractor listed on the general contract was actually a company called Kefu Company (科服公司), whereas the contract signed with the homeowners was with Gaoyuan Company. "The two contracts are identical except for the contractor's name. On the contract filed with the subdistrict, the signature of homeowner representative Mr. Xu was clearly forged."

"We suspect he wanted to use 'dual contracts' (阴阳合同) to evade his obligations and defraud the homeowners of their money. However, when we reported it to the public security authorities, they refused to file a case all three times," Mr. Zhang said.

Problem: Removal of the secondary beam "poses a certain safety hazard." The construction unit admitted to misappropriating over one hundred thousand yuan of elevator funds, but the police believe it does not constitute the crime of misappropriation of funds.

Is the situation as the homeowners described? The reporter interviewed relevant parties.

First, the issue of the project delay. Chen Mou did not mince his words: the homeowners' reports were basically factual. "If it's my problem, I won't hide from it, and I am actively trying to find a solution," Chen Mou said. In the middle of last year, the company's capital chain broke due to operational problems, coupled with family issues, and he did indeed misappropriate over one hundred thousand yuan from the elevator funds.

Regarding the homeowners' accusation of "dual contracts," Chen Mou explained that at the time, Gaoyuan Company's construction enterprise safety production permit had expired, making it impossible to complete the project information entry. Therefore, he discussed with Kefu Company and used its name to "create a contract" to complete the information entry.

Although Hu Mou, the person in charge of Kefu Company, denied helping Chen Mou "create a contract," the signature of Mr. Xu on the contract signed with Kefu Company differed significantly in handwriting from that on the Gaoyuan Company contract. Mr. Xu said, "That signature was forged by Chen Mou."

How did the relevant authorities respond to the safety concerns raised by the public?

"After receiving reports from the public, we conducted multiple on-site inspections," said Wang Quancai (王全才), Section Chief of the Quality and Safety Management Section of the Liwan District Housing and Urban-Rural Construction and Garden Bureau (荔湾区住建园林局). The secondary beam structure under the small platform on the third floor was removed, which, it should be said, poses a certain safety hazard. However, no structural safety issues were found in other aspects. The housing and construction department also retrieved the building safety assessment test documents from before construction started and found no problems. "No cracking or subsidence has currently been found in structural elements such as beams, slabs, and columns," Wang Quancai said.

As for the cracks reported by residents in their homes, Wang Quancai stated that no in-home inspections had been conducted previously, but they would investigate further later. "We have issued rectification requirements for some safety issues, such as the temporary staircase from the first to the third floor lacking handrails and guardrails, and paper scraps piled under the elevator shaft from the third to the ninth floor. We have urged the construction unit to correct these," Wang Quancai said.

The "Measures for Adding Elevators to Existing Residential Buildings in Guangzhou" (《广州市既有住宅增设电梯办法》) stipulates that the district housing and urban-rural construction department and the market supervision department where the existing residential building is located shall carry out inspections according to law and strengthen the supervision and management of construction safety and quality safety of elevator addition projects in existing residential buildings. During the entire construction process, did the relevant departments conduct supervision in accordance with regulations?

In response, Wang Quancai explained that the elevator addition project at No. 128 Jinhua Zhi Street, based on its amount and area, is a small-scale project below the threshold. According to regulations, it does not require a construction permit; it can commence after completing information entry with the subdistrict. The housing and construction department primarily conducts industry supervision, while specific daily inspections are carried out by the subdistrict. The housing and construction department selects 5% of small-scale projects for expert inspection.

Lin Haihui (林海辉), Section Chief of the Special Equipment Safety Supervision Section of the Liwan District Market Supervision Bureau (荔湾区市场监管局特种设备安全监察科), stated that the regulatory responsibility of the market supervision department as outlined in the measures pertains to the elevator itself. As the elevator for this project has not yet been installed, it is not currently involved.

Regarding the residents' reports of "fraud," Luo Yusen (罗宇森), Deputy Director of the Jinhua Police Station (金花派出所) of the Liwan Branch of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, explained that after investigation, although Chen Mou is suspected of forging a contract, he did fulfill part of the contractual obligations. The subsequent failure to continue performance was due to the capital chain breaking. Therefore, they could not establish that he had the "intent to illegally possess" required for the crime of fraud, and thus made the decision not to file a case.

Regarding the residents' accusation against Chen Mou for misappropriation of funds, a police officer at the station explained that Chen Mou holds the vast majority of equity in Gaoyuan Company and is responsible for company affairs. In this situation, Chen Mou's use of company funds should be considered a matter of confusion between the company and the shareholder's personality, and it is not appropriate to consider it the crime of misappropriation of funds.

Suggestion: "We must still hold the construction party responsible," "We should choose enterprises with qualifications and good credit."

Adding an elevator was supposed to be a good thing, but has now become a worry. To continue the repair, Chen Mou has no money. To sue Chen Mou, the police have determined it is not fraud. How can the 84 homeowner households solve the predicament they face?

"We must still hold the construction party responsible," said Tu Xiaobao (涂小宝), a member of the leadership team of Jinhua Subdistrict. Regardless of whether it was handling preliminary procedures or entering the project information with the subdistrict, the subject was Kefu Company. Therefore, Kefu Company should be the one to complete subsequent construction. "On June 8, we convened a tripartite consultation with homeowner representatives, Kefu Company, and Gaoyuan Company. An oral agreement was reached that Kefu Company would sign a supplementary agreement with the homeowners to complete the elevator addition project," Tu Xiaobao said.

However, according to the homeowners, the negotiation with Kefu Company regarding the supplementary agreement has not been smooth. The person in charge of Kefu Company stated, "At most, we can supervise, but the project still needs to be undertaken by Gaoyuan Company; after all, the money was given to them."

"Regardless of whether the homeowners and Kefu Company can reach an agreement, I will continue to carry out this project," Chen Mou stated. "In April this year, I obtained another 100,000-plus yuan in loans through some channels. I have already paid the previously owed workers' wages, and made initial payments to two elevator manufacturers. They have started scheduling production of the elevators. Under normal circumstances, the elevator installation can start in 45 days."

On June 26, Chen Mou said, "Tomorrow (the 27th) we can start installing the elevator shaft glass channels. Once the rust removal and painting work is done within a week, we can start installing the outer glass."

Although workers did indeed come to No. 128 for construction on June 29, the homeowners were not satisfied. One homeowner expressed that Chen Mou had made multiple promises about the timeline before, which he had not fulfilled, and they no longer trusted him. Some homeowners said that without resolving the safety hazards in the elevator shaft, starting to install the glass channels was either "just going through the motions to relieve pressure from the relevant departments" or disregarding homeowner safety and pushing ahead recklessly.

A relevant individual told the reporter that No. 128 is not an isolated case; instances of stalled elevator addition projects have occurred multiple times just in Guangdong Province. An important reason is that homeowners are not familiar with the relevant procedures or construction requirements. For example, the homeowners of No. 128 even entrusted the project supervision entirely to Chen Mou to handle on their behalf, leaving the entire construction process oversight completely hollowed out.

"In the matter of adding an elevator, the construction unit is the homeowners themselves," said a relevant responsible person from Jinhua Subdistrict. However, most homeowners are unfamiliar with the procedures and points of attention involved, and only know to report problems when they arise. The subdistrict has done some publicity in the past, "but it's not enough; in the future, we must go door-to-door to ensure publicity is thorough."

Regarding the homeowners' lack of discernment in the elevator addition process, a relevant responsible person from the Liwan District Housing and Urban-Rural Construction and Garden Bureau stated, "When the public adds an elevator, when selecting a construction and installation unit, they should still choose enterprises with qualifications and good credit."

The relevant responsible person from the Liwan District Housing and Urban-Rural Construction and Garden Bureau introduced that in April this year, Guangzhou, in response to related issues, has already issued an implementation plan for advancing the reform of temporary construction projects and small-scale construction projects below the threshold. Aiming at the quality and safety risks of such projects, it promotes the implementation of an "insurance + inspection" management model, establishes a management model combining a "directory of construction enterprises" with a "registration system for operators," establishes an intelligent integrated information platform, and pushes the focus of supervision to extend deeply from "managing projects" toward "managing entities, managing personnel, and managing conduct."

This newspaper will continue to follow up on subsequent developments.

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Bus Stop Located Inside Greenbelt (Everyday Matters)

At the Construction Bureau stop and the Riverside Garden stop of Bus No. 1 in Donghai County, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, the two stops have been placed inside a green belt (see picture). Lush shrubs tightly encircle the stops, making it impossible for boarding and alighting passengers to reach the stops from the non‑motorized vehicle lane; they can only cross the roadway, which is extremely inconvenient and poses a safety hazard. It is hoped that the relevant department will as soon as possible install bus shelters connected to the non‑motorized vehicle lane, or open up a waiting area, to facilitate the travel of the public.

A reader from Donghai County, Jiangsu  Qiantangjiang (黔塘江)

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Recommendations

Spread policies benefiting farmers
Let entrepreneurial farm households avoid detours

A while ago, a distant relative in the countryside said that a livestock farm he had built on his own had been ordered to stop by the relevant department because it had not been submitted for approval, becoming a "half-finished project." This livestock farm is a pity to abandon, but continuing construction will result in corresponding penalties, and he does not know what to do.

The relative had been leasing someone else's hillside land in the countryside to raise black goats for many years. In recent years, the livestock market has improved, and he wanted to expand his operation, so he built several livestock sheds on a barren slope using cement and bricks on his own. Unexpectedly, as soon as he was halfway through construction, the township authorities discovered it and demanded rectification and self-demolition; otherwise, there would be forced demolition and fines.

Of course, without approval from the relevant departments, privately changing the nature of land use is illegal. Even expansion requires approval from the environmental protection department and the agricultural department.

As a farmer, although the relative has been engaged in livestock farming for many years, he is actually not clear about many industrial policies, laws, and regulations. It is suggested that the relevant departments increase the dissemination of industrial policies to farmers. On the one hand, the relevant departments should provide proactive services, take the initiative to visit and clarify the nature of the land, inform them of the filing process, and guide them in completing the formalities. For projects that comply with livestock farming plans and do not touch ecological red lines, they should provide a rectification path and offer guidance for obtaining permits. On the other hand, when farmers inadvertently violate laws and regulations, they should also try to provide assistance. Where policies and regulations permit, help farmers solve practical difficulties, reduce their economic losses, and also reduce resource waste.

Comprehensive rural revitalization depends on tens of millions of hardworking and down-to-earth farm households. It is hoped that functional departments, while adhering to compliance baselines, will provide more patient guidance and more convenience services; engage in less post-event accountability and more pre-event reminders, so that farm households dare to start businesses, can start businesses, and succeed in starting businesses. Letting policies reach the fields and villages, and letting services touch the hearts of farmers, is the key to solving grassroots development difficulties and advancing comprehensive rural revitalization.

Ganzhou City, Jiangxi Province  Lai Shichun (赖世春)

Safety warnings are not "exemption cards"
Posting warnings should also be followed by prompt rectification

Recently, the author noticed around the residential community and on some streets that many building exterior walls have signs saying things like "Wall plaster falling off, vehicle damage at owner's own risk." Some signs have been up for years and have faded and turned yellow.

Objectively speaking, in the face of safety hazards such as building construction and wall plaster falling off, posting warning signs to inform of risks is a necessary temporary measure. It can remind passersby and vehicles to be careful and, to a certain extent, reduce the probability of safety accidents. But "temporary" does not mean "permanent." The function of a warning sign is to provide early warning, not to exempt from liability. If the sign is only posted without action, leaving safety hazards hanging in the air, the warning sign loses its original meaning and instead becomes a "shield" for the responsible parties to shirk their duties.

A slogan like "Wall plaster falling off, vehicle damage at owner's own risk" seems to clearly delineate responsibility, but in fact exposes the malady of a lack of responsibility. Maintenance of building exterior walls and supervision of construction safety are inherently the duties of the relevant departments. Posting a warning sign is only the first step; what is more important is to take corrective measures, clarify a timeline for repairs, and promptly eliminate safety hazards, rather than considering the problem solved once the sign is up.

What is even clearer is that a warning sign is absolutely not an "exemption card." According to the Civil Code, if a building, structure, or other facility, or an object placed or suspended on it, falls off and causes harm to others, and the owner, manager, or user cannot prove that they are not at fault, they shall bear tort liability. It is hoped that the responsible parties will take the initiative; after issuing safety warnings, they should promptly rectify and eliminate hazards.

Shenyang City, Liaoning Province  Song Dongze (宋东泽)

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Influencer-Driven Filter Marketing at Scenic Spots Must Stop

By: 赵 兵 陆 地

“Little Sanya,” “Little Switzerland,” “Little Altai”… In recent years, many netizens have had this experience: scrolling through social media to see a string of recommendation posts for “hidden gem check-in spots,” with pictures that can be called “blockbusters”; but when they excitedly rush to the scene, they find the scenic spot is unremarkable, or even a bit 不堪入目 (bù kān rù mù - “cannot bear to look at,” unbearably unsightly).

In recent years, a “Pink Beach” located in a certain southwestern province has frequently gone viral, once hailed by some travel bloggers as “the only pink beach in China.” From the pictures they reposted, one could see: under the setting sun, an endless stretch of pink beach, the lake surface as clear as glass. Some pictures with exaggerated special effects would have a note in the corner saying “Contains AI-generated content,” but most similar pictures were not marked with any prompt.

However, some netizens who went there on the strength of its reputation found that there was no “Pink Beach” at all—only brick-red mud ground, which was rough and uneven, and the lake water was somewhat murky, not at all as clear as the pictures published by travel bloggers. A local person said bluntly, “The ‘Pink Beach’ is entirely a marketing gimmick.” According to reports, this place is a scenic spot that has not undergone large-scale commercial development.

In recent years, internet-famous scenic spots such as “Sky Mirror” and “Cliff Swing” have emerged one after another, and “check in and photograph the same style” once became all the rage on social media. However, many consumers have reported that behind these beautiful and magnificent photos are in fact simple artificial setups, assembly-line shooting processes, and severely shrunken service promises. A scenic spot called “Sky Mirror” appears in pictures like a fantasy realm connecting heaven and earth, where people seem to be walking on clouds. But when tourists arrived at the scene, they found it was only a crude mirrored platform, with a few simple props such as a wooden ladder, a bar counter, and a swing scattered on it—far from the dreamlike scene online. Many tourists reported that, with the mindset of “since we’re here anyway,” they wanted to have a photo taken, but encountered the merchant’s assembly-line operation, finishing in less than a few minutes, and the shooting effect was also unsatisfactory.

What is more worthy of vigilance is that many undeveloped “wild scenic spots” have been over-packaged, planting hidden dangers for tourists’ personal safety. The internet-famous spot “Love Heart Pool (爱心潭)” located in a certain southern province—a pool shaped like a heart in bloggers’ lenses—is actually an undeveloped wild pool, with crisscrossing underwater currents and slippery rocks without protection. According to reports, in August 2025, heavy rain caused the pool’s water to surge, sweeping away 6 tourists, and 5 of them died.

How exactly did these internet-famous scenic spots become popular? Journalists’ investigations found that some scenic spots rely on third-party intermediary agencies to “inflate” traffic, and a mature marketing industry chain has already formed. Industry insiders revealed that scenic spots spend money to purchase marketing plans, and intermediary agencies, on one hand, contact internet-famous bloggers to check in and promote, and on the other hand, recruit hundreds or thousands of ordinary bloggers to act as “paid posters.” All promotional posts are meticulously designed in the most traffic-attracting format, causing “photos” to be alienated into “photo scams.”

Why are there so many scenic spots everywhere following the trend? Dong Chenyu (董晨宇), associate professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, Renmin University of China (中国人民大学新闻学院), believes that in the era of social media, the logic of marketing has undergone a profound transformation, and some scenic spots have fallen into an unprecedented “traffic anxiety,” afraid of being overwhelmed by the massive amount of content.

“The attributes of media shape user habits. On highly visual social platforms, visual impact directly determines click-through rates,” Dong Chenyu analyzed. “This has undoubtedly triggered round after round of visual stimulation competition: if you use one layer of filter, I will use two; if you retouch to 80 points, I will retouch to 100 points. Under ‘involution,’ it is bound to end in distortion, even leading to a situation of ‘bad money driving out good.’”

What is more worth mentioning is that Dong Chenyu believes the definitional standard for “internet-famous filters” is relatively vague. Where is the boundary between “reasonable beautification” and “false advertising”? There are no quantitative parameters or unified measures, leading to governance difficulties. Based on this, he proposed two definitional criteria: First, whether it changes the factual attributes of the scenic spot itself—that is, whether it deliberately distorts or fabricates; second, whether there is commercial interest. If both are satisfied at the same time, then it should be subject to regulation.

If tourists are deceived, can responsibility be pursued? Wu Shenkuo (吴沈括), deputy director of the Research Center of the Internet Society of China (中国互联网协会研究中心), believes: “As the advertiser, the scenic spot should bear primary responsibility. According to Article 28 of the Advertising Law, advertisements that deceive consumers with false or misleading content constitute false advertising and will face corresponding penalties. As for internet-famous bloggers acting as ad publishers or endorsers, if they promote goods or services in the form of experience sharing or consumption reviews, they must prominently mark the word ‘advertisement.’ If they produce and publish false content, they should bear joint and several liability with the advertiser. If the circumstances are serious, they may constitute the crime of false advertising or fraud.”

To this end, Wu Shenkuo suggested strengthening cross-departmental coordinated supervision. Departments such as culture and tourism, cyberspace administration, and market regulation should establish a normalized joint law enforcement mechanism and carry out special rectification. At the same time, online platforms should assume their main responsibilities. In May this year, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (中央网信办) explicitly required platforms to fully implement six categories of “mandatory labels” (including fictional dramatization, AI-generated content, marketing information, etc.), and content publishers must label them before publishing; platforms should continuously optimize algorithmic recommendations, avoid promoting traffic to “photo scam” content that seeks eyeballs, and increase the weight of genuine reviews.

Dong Chenyu believes, “Platforms have responsibility, but their capabilities are limited; post-hoc punishment is difficult to root out the problem. Bloggers are huge in number and extremely mobile, making it hard to pursue responsibility. The MCN (Multi-Channel Network) institutions and advertising agencies that lie between the two are currently a gray area with insufficient supervision.” He suggests establishing entry thresholds, filing systems, and credit files for intermediary agencies, strictly investigating and punishing violators, so that “filter marketing” no longer 大行其道 (dà xíng qí dào - “to go one’s own way widely,” to be prevalent).

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Call for Submissions

The People's Daily "Reader Letters" section and the People's Net "Leadership Message Board" are jointly conducting a collection of urgent difficulties and concerns from the masses. Readers are welcome to provide clues and suggestions on "safety production risks and hidden dangers."

Email: rmrbdzlx@126.com

Mobile terminal: People's Daily Client "Exposure Platform"

People's Net "Leadership Message Board" Client

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Zhao Bing

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Upgraded Shopping Experience for Tourists in China

By: 本报记者 王 观 欧阳洁

On July 1, as key measures of the departure tax refund policy version 2.0, "full-process paperless" and "small-amount spot-check system" were officially implemented. After the optimized measures were put into effect, many overseas travelers experienced the new convenience of a smooth tax refund brought by the policy upgrade.

Farewell to "paper anxiety," with a single code in hand, handling becomes more convenient.

"Previously for tax refunds, paper invoices and tax refund forms were needed, which took time to issue and print, and had to be kept throughout the journey, afraid of losing them." On July 1, at the departure tax refund window of Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport, a traveler from Romania, David, presented his "departure tax refund service code" and quickly completed all procedures. This trip to Beijing, he bought a watch; when shopping, he scanned a code at the tax refund store to generate an electronic tax refund form, and when departing, he went to the airport customs window to scan the code for verification and inspection; the entire process used only one code, convenient and worry-free.

In the past, what overseas travelers worried most about when handling departure tax refunds was "lost forms, spoiled invoices, missing stamps." Now, overseas travelers only need to scan a code via their mobile phone browser in any setting after entry, enter their personal identity information once, and can generate a nationwide universally applicable exclusive "departure tax refund service code," which can be used for "one-code universal swiping" at any tax refund store or departure port nationwide, and can also view all information including electronic tax refund forms, electronic invoices, processing progress, etc. on their mobile phone at any time; the entire tax refund process is visualizable and traceable.

The full-process paperless operation has also brought a new upgrade to the business handling model of departure tax refund stores. "Previously during peak seasons with large passenger flow, just issuing tax refund application forms could lead to long queues," said a staff member of the Lawson tax refund store at Beijing Capital International Airport. Now, by scanning codes through the online information system, electronic collection of passenger identity information can be completed, and an electronic tax refund application form is automatically generated and pushed to the passenger simultaneously; the whole process requires no handwriting or printing. "Guests don't have to wait, and we are also much more relaxed, and can avoid the trouble of adding printing equipment."

"After implementing full-process paperless, customs no longer needs to sign and seal paper application forms; by scanning the passenger's exclusive service code, they can retrieve the complete electronic tax refund form and electronic invoice from the system with one click, and complete the customs online verification and inspection online. The entire verification and inspection process is more convenient and faster, and passenger business handling time is further reduced," said relevant staff of the Capital Airport Customs under Beijing Customs.

In response to the situation where some overseas travelers are still accustomed to using paper documents, relevant service measures are also being further optimized. Shanghai Customs has developed a new generation of departure tax refund customs intelligent verification and inspection terminal, providing passengers with a better customs clearance experience through an integrated service of "front-end intelligent terminal + verification and inspection platform collaborative support." If a passenger discovers they forgot to bring the paper invoice when handling tax refund at the airport, they can initiate a connection through this device, and the customs command center will then retrieve online the tax refund application and invoice information previously submitted by the passenger to other relevant business management departments, eliminating the manual inquiry step, achieving intelligent verification and inspection and paperless handling.

Cracking the problem of time-consuming queuing, small-amount spot-check tax refunds are more efficient.

On the morning of July 1, at the departure tax refund processing point at Futian Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong, several overseas travelers were waiting in an orderly manner. Yang Liqin (杨立勤), a Hong Kong traveler who frequently travels between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, smoothly completed the tax refund business. This time he purchased a smart gimbal camera, with a tax refund amount of about 530 yuan. "Today, I was not selected for the physical inspection link, and completed all procedures in a few minutes. The implementation of the new policy makes it more convenient for us to purchase various high-quality domestic products," said Yang Liqin.

According to relevant policy provisions, starting from July 1, for tax refund application orders with a tax refund sales amount of less than 10,000 yuan, a certain proportion will be randomly selected for physical inspection. For tax refund application orders with a tax refund sales amount of 10,000 yuan or more, each order will still undergo physical inspection.

At the departure tax refund processing site at Futian Port, customs set up conspicuous business guidance signs and arranged dedicated personnel for guidance and diversion, directing passengers to handle business according to different tax refund amounts.

"The small-amount spot-check system optimizes the tax refund process with a risk management approach; most small-amount tax refund travelers can be exempted from physical inspection, no longer needing to queue for a tax refund of just a few hundred or even tens of yuan. For travelers not selected for physical inspection, customs quickly guides them to subsequent procedures; for travelers selected for physical inspection, dedicated personnel are assigned to complete the inspection process, ensuring smooth and orderly steps, effectively enhancing the tax refund experience of overseas travelers," said Sun Yiming (孙逸明), Deputy Section Chief of the Baggage and Articles Supervision Section of the Mail and Traveler Inspection Division of Shenzhen Customs.

In order to allow overseas travelers to fully enjoy intelligent convenience, Hangzhou Customs, in coordination with tax authorities, banks, airports and other parties, has built a full-process service closed loop of consultation, verification and inspection, and refund payment, setting up dedicated personnel and posts at the port business site of Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport to provide "one-stop" guidance, and relying on the departure tax refund information management system to achieve real-time cross-departmental data exchange; it has fully deployed the self-developed "Departure Tax Refund Appointment Service" mini-program and "E-Customs Connect" self-service station, achieving 7×24-hour online pre-review, self-service inquiry, and intelligent Q&A.

Enriching commodity supply, selecting diverse good products leads to greater satisfaction.

Sea cucumber gift boxes, handmade mother-of-pearl shell carvings, spotted seal plush toys... While visiting popular scenic spots in Dalian, Liaoning, Russian tourist Marina was also attracted by the 琳琅满目 (lín láng mǎn mù - "a dazzling array of beautiful things," a wide variety of goods) on display. "The tax refund process is very simple, and the tax refund amount is credited on the spot. I want to buy some more cultural creative gifts for my family and friends."

As the departure tax refund policy continues to be implemented, the number of departure tax refund stores nationwide is constantly expanding, and the supply of goods is becoming increasingly rich. Intangible cultural heritage handicrafts with regional characteristics, local specialties, and global trend products are put on shelves simultaneously. Diverse choices allow overseas travelers to shop more to their heart's content, and the convenient tax refund service also brings stable overseas customer sources to merchants, truly broadening store revenue channels.

"In April this year, after we applied to become a departure tax refund 'buy now, refund now' store, foot traffic doubled compared to before the application," said Mr. Zhang, store manager of the Adidas Originals store at Darongcheng in Chongqing. The store's commodity sales revenue achieved through "buy now, refund now" has accounted for 6% of total revenue.

Since this year, Chongqing's departure tax refund services have been continuously upgraded, with 73 new departure tax refund stores added, bringing the city's total to 363. Among them, "buy now, refund now" stores increased by 28, reaching a total of 78. "We have also added 'buy now, refund now' centralized refund points in major overseas tourist consumption business circles such as Jiefangbei, Chaotianmen, Guanyinqiao, and Mixc, and are piloting cross-regional mutual recognition services for 'buy now, refund now' with several provinces," said Li Lin (李林), Deputy Director of the Export Tax Refund Service and Administration Bureau of Chongqing Municipal Taxation Bureau. He indicated that in the next step, they will continue to increase tax refund merchants, expand characteristic product categories, and expand convenient tax refund application scenarios.

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E-commerce Law Amendment Keeps Rules Abreast of the Times (Economic Commentary)

By: 林丽鹂

Promote e-commerce platform operators to effectively enhance their awareness and capability of compliant operation, becoming incubators of new business forms and models, drivers of digital-real integration, and enablers of high-quality development.

On July 4, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the Ministry of Commerce publicly solicited opinions on the draft amendment to the E-commerce Law. The amendment to the E-commerce Law not only involves e-commerce platform operators but also concerns the interests of tens of millions of online business operators, numerous flexible-employment personnel, and more than 900 million online consumers, drawing widespread social attention.

Since the E-commerce Law was implemented in 2019, it has played a positive role in regulating e-commerce development and promoting the integration of the digital economy and the real economy. With the rapid development of new technologies, new industries, and new models, new e-commerce business forms such as live-streaming e-commerce, short-video e-commerce, and social e-commerce have continuously emerged, necessitating timely amendments to the E-commerce Law to respond to these new changes. The draft amendment for public comment keeps pace with the times and has many highlights.

Coverage is more diversified. This amendment expands the scope of legal adjustment. On the basis of the current platforms and in-platform operators, it adds provisions for protecting the rights and interests of workers in new employment forms, and further clarifies the rights and obligations of other participants in the platform economy, such as operators of new-business-form e-commerce platforms and platform-related entities. It is worth noting that this amendment establishes a refined principle of matching responsibilities — "bearing corresponding obligations according to the type of platform service" — preventing new-business-form platforms from evading primary obligations and responsibilities on the pretext of "incomplete functions," achieving parity of rights and responsibilities, and effectively filling regulatory gaps.

Governance is more coordinated. This amendment clarifies a mechanism for joint regulatory efforts, adds the principle of unified management of online and offline businesses under the same jurisdiction, and strengthens integrated supervision through interdepartmental coordination and central-local collaboration. In particular, this amendment explicitly includes workers in the collaborative governance system. Workers are on the front line of platform economy operations and have the most direct perception of whether algorithm rules are fair, whether working conditions have hidden risks, and whether consumer rights and interests are damaged. They can provide regulators with the most authentic and timely market signals, forming a virtuous closed loop, thereby resolving problems in their nascent stages, and helping to improve the governance capability and level of the platform economy.

Penalties are more proportionate. Currently, penalties under the E-commerce Law are mainly fixed-sum fines — a maximum fine of RMB 2 million — and orders to suspend operations for rectification. The draft amendment revises these bipolar penalty provisions and establishes a multi-tiered legal liability system where the punishment fits the offense, introducing penalties such as "ordering suspension of user registration," "suspension of related business," and "suspension or cessation of network access services," forming a graded penalty structure that matches the severity of punishment with the extent of illegality. In particular, this amendment introduces a "proportionate fine (比例罚)." When the illegal conduct of an e-commerce platform operator is especially serious in nature, has an especially adverse impact, and causes especially severe consequences — meeting these three "especially" conditions — then the State Council’s market regulation and other departments shall, according to their duties, impose a fine of not more than 5% of the preceding year’s turnover. Introducing the "proportionate fine" is not a general increase in penalty intensity, but rather the deployment of responsibility tools that match the platform’s scale and risk spillover capacity. This mechanism has already been applied in legislation related to antitrust and personal information protection, effectively enhancing legal deterrence.

In addition, the draft amendment to the E-commerce Law strengthens rights protection and expands openness and cooperation… A series of amendments are necessary to promote the sustained and healthy development of the platform economy, to create a fair competition environment in the online market, and, moreover, to foster the development of new quality productive forces and serve the overall situation of high-quality development.

The amendment of the E-commerce Law is by no means a restraint on innovation, but a safeguard for development. We look forward to the public solicitation of opinions on this draft amendment to the E-commerce Law, which, while better protecting the legitimate rights and interests of all parties involved in the platform economy, will promote e-commerce platform operators to effectively enhance their awareness and capability of compliant operation, and become incubators of new business forms and models, drivers of digital-real integration, and enablers of high-quality development.

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China abolishes, revises 123,000 policies restricting competition over past decade

Beijing, July 5 (People's Daily) — (Reporter Lin Lili (林丽鹂)) A reporter learned from the State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局): Since June 2016, when the State Council issued the "Opinions on Establishing a Fair Competition Review System (公平竞争审查制度) in the Market System," the whole country has cumulatively reviewed 1.88 million policy measures over the past 10 years, and has abolished and revised 123,000 policy measures that exclude or restrict competition.

The fair competition review system aims to regulate government economic promotion behaviors and to prevent the introduction of policies that exclude or restrict competition at the source. In order to break the prominent problems of local protection and administrative monopoly, the State Administration for Market Regulation, successively in 2019 and 2023, together with the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发展改革委), the Ministry of Finance (财政部), and the Ministry of Commerce (商务部), a total of four departments, jointly carried out the work of cleaning up policy measures that impede a unified market and fair competition. In 2019, the whole country sorted out a total of 1,069,781 existing policy measures, and cleaned up 5,999 policy measures that had problems impeding the national unified large market (全国统一大市场) and fair competition; in 2023, a total of 690,448 policy measures of various types involving the economic activities of business entities were sorted out, and 4,218 problematic documents were cleaned up, and a batch of local protection and market segmentation behaviors that business entities had strongly reflected upon were rectified. Since the implementation of the "Fair Competition Review Regulation (公平竞争审查条例)" on August 1, 2024, market regulation departments at all levels have carried out fair competition review on a total of 90,600 policy measures to be issued by the people's governments at the corresponding level, and have proposed review and amendment opinions on more than 15,000 pieces and coordinated with the drafting units to adjust them to comply with regulations, effectively preventing the newly added policy measures of the people's governments in various places from containing content that impedes a unified market and fair competition.

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Yun-12F Atmospheric Comprehensive Aerial Survey Aircraft Completes Maiden Flight Successfully

This newspaper, Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Qiu Chaoyi (邱超奕)). The national fixed-wing aircraft platform for comprehensive atmospheric environment detection — the Yun-12F atmospheric comprehensive aerial survey aircraft — successfully made its first flight at Harbin's Pingfang Airport (平房机场) in Heilongjiang. As China's first comprehensive aerial survey aircraft, the successful first flight of this model marks an important breakthrough in the "Airborne Multi-Pollutant and Cloud Water Chemistry High-Sensitivity Detection Technology" (机载多污染物及云水化学高灵敏探测技术) project under the key special project of "Atmospheric and Soil, Groundwater Pollution Comprehensive Control" (大气与土壤、地下水污染综合治理) of the National Key R&D Program (国家重点研发计划). It is understood that the Yun-12F atmospheric comprehensive aerial survey aircraft is mainly used to verify national comprehensive atmospheric aerial survey technology and will contribute important strength to China's comprehensive and precise detection and effective management of the atmospheric environment.

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Empowering industrial development with data as a key factor

This newspaper, Hefei, July 5 (electronic dispatch) (People's Daily Online reporter Du Yanfei (杜燕飞)). The 2026 Rural Revitalization Conference (2026乡村振兴大会), hosted by People's Daily and supported by Anhui Yingjia Group (安徽迎驾集团), was held on the 4th in Huoshan County (霍山县), Anhui Province. The theme of this conference is "Digital Intelligence Empowerment · Industrial Revitalization." It gathered people from government, enterprises, research, and other sectors to jointly explore the practical path of transforming lucid waters and lush mountains into gold and silver mountains, gathering wisdom and pooling strength for comprehensive rural revitalization.

Attending guests stated that the digital wave is surging forward, and new quality productive forces are taking root and thriving in the vast countryside. Mobile phones are "new farming tools" for cultivating fertile fields, and massive data is "new agricultural resources" for improving quality and increasing efficiency. Various localities closely follow their resource endowments, base themselves on actual development conditions, use technological strength to strengthen rural industries, revitalize cultural tourism resources, broaden income channels, firmly hold the bottom line of people's livelihood, and promote comprehensive rural revitalization through digital transformation.

Concurrently with the conference, the "Rural Revitalization · Good Scenery and Good Products High-Quality Database" (乡村振兴·好景好物高质量数据库) was launched, creating a data highland for rural characteristic resources through standardized collection, structured governance, and authoritative annotation, to empower industrial development with data elements. The "People's Preferred · Production-Marketing Connection Ecological Partner Plan" (人民优选·产销对接生态合作伙伴计划) platform was also launched, linking multiple entities from government, enterprises, production, research, etc., to build a rural industry development ecological platform that shares resources, complements advantages, and coordinates linkage.

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How to Get the Best Deal on Multi-Trip Tickets for Family Outings

By: 本报记者 李心萍

On July 1, the 62-day 2026 national railway summer transportation period began. From July 1 to August 31, the national railways are expected to transport 1.01 billion passenger trips, with an average daily passenger volume of 16.29 million passenger trips. China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (中国国家铁路集团有限公司) has arranged to operate distinctive tourist trains for family trips, study tours, red tourism, health and wellness travel, and other themed tours.

To accommodate the concentrated release of demand for family trips, the railway authorities have recently introduced a new measure: child passengers (ages 6–14) may also purchase railway tour package tickets and enjoy the child discount ticket policy.

With tour package tickets, how can families traveling during the summer vacation buy tickets more cost-effectively?

Tour package tickets operate under the model of "one purchase, segmented travel, valid for 15 days." After passengers have determined their travel destinations, they can log in to the Railway 12306 mobile application, go to the "Multi-Ride and Period Tickets" (计次·定期票) section, select the "Tour" option, and then choose the corresponding tour package ticket product.

Taking the product "Zhengzhou-Kaifeng-Luoyang: Tang and Song Splendor Time-Travel Tour" (郑汴洛·唐宋风华穿越之旅) as an example, suppose a passenger wishes to visit the three cities of Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Luoyang in Henan Province in one trip; they can add three itineraries in the system: from Zhengzhou to Kaifeng, from Kaifeng to Luoyang, and from Luoyang to Zhengzhou, select corresponding seats, submit the order, and pay the fare.

"When purchasing the multi-ride ticket product, the fare for each segment enjoys discounts of varying degrees, with the minimum being 85% of the average executed fare for all trains on the same route and same seat class," said a responsible person from the Passenger Transport Center of China State Railway Group (国铁集团客运中心). Compared with passengers purchasing tickets segment by segment, the multi-ride ticket product is more economical.

After purchasing a tour package ticket, how exactly is it used?

After purchasing a tour package ticket, passengers need to activate it within 30 days; within 15 days of activation, they can take any train on the selected itinerary segments.

"As long as a passenger successfully makes a reservation or checks in and boards any one segment of the itinerary, the product is considered activated," said Li Peng (李彭), head of the Sales Management Department of the Ticket Office at the Zhengzhou Railway Bureau of China State Railway (国铁郑州局客票所售票管理部). If not activated within 30 days, the order will automatically become invalid and a full refund will be made through the original payment channel.

Except during peak passenger transport periods, passengers holding tour package ticket products can arrive at the station and then select the train, and it also supports boarding at multiple stations in the same city. There are a total of 26 railway tour package ticket products, covering 242 stations, linking together many popular scenic spots and cultural tourism commercial districts.

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One-stop service streamlines new car registration process

By: 人民网记者 申佳平

To further facilitate new car license plate registration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部) and the Ministry of Public Security (公安部) recently jointly issued a notice to comprehensively promote pre-inspection work for domestic small passenger cars. Through efficient cross-departmental networked sharing of motor vehicle certificate of conformity information, data transmission at the "second-level" is achieved, making data run more and the masses run less.

After the new regulation takes effect, how much time can car owners save? A reporter visited several auto dealership stores in Beijing that have completed system integration and learned that car owners using the "Traffic Management 12123" APP (交管12123) can complete the entire license plate registration process in a few minutes.

"It's so convenient! Save time, save energy, save cost." Ms. Zhang (张女士), who had just completed registration via her phone, exclaimed. Car owner Mr. Zhang (车主张先生) also said: "I didn't expect that buying a car today would allow direct registration. The one-stop service is very worry-free."

According to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, the national car ownership in 2025 reached 366 million vehicles, with 26.19 million newly registered cars. After the full implementation of the new regulation, it will cover more than 20 million domestic small passenger cars each year.

A relevant person in charge from the Equipment Industry Development Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部装备工业发展中心) introduced that this time, using "data running ahead" to replace "masses running to the site," the registration time has been greatly shortened. All procedures can be completed within the fastest one hour, and "buy a car the same day, pay the same day, register the same day" will become the norm.

The new regulation can also effectively "reduce burdens" for auto enterprises. Previously, auto manufacturers needed to arrange dedicated personnel to organize and transmit paper materials such as motor vehicle certificates of conformity. Now, the two departments have more comprehensive information sharing, and the requirements for paper materials have been correspondingly reduced, effectively saving manpower, material resources, and financial resources.

According to the new regulation, with a unified data transmission interface, enterprises only need to upload once to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology information such as certificates of conformity, vehicle identification numbers, and vehicle standard photos, and the relevant data can be shared with the public security department. The vehicle management office can complete verification online. At the same time, the public security department has abolished links such as spot-check audits for pre-inspection, achieving full online processing and one-time processing of business.

Sun Guiyang (孙贵洋), Vice President of BAIC New Energy (北汽新能源), calculated an account: After the new regulation is implemented, in the vehicle registration service link, the enterprise can compress 1,200 work hours per month and reduce 15 full-time clerical staff. "The new regulation also optimizes the enterprise's operating model. First, delivery efficiency is improved, which helps enhance customer satisfaction and brand competitiveness; second, data sources are standardized and digitized, reducing human errors; third, it further promotes the enterprise's digital transformation. In the future, it can rely on shared data to expand more service scenarios and better serve consumers."

The masses are worry-free, enterprises have reduced burdens. The optimization of the new car registration process is a vivid microcosm of the transformation and upgrading of government services.

In January this year, the General Office of the State Council (国务院办公厅) issued the "2026 First Batch of Key Matters List for 'Efficiently Handling One Matter' (高效办成一件事)", focusing on areas of people's livelihood that concern the masses, and promoting the transformation of government services from "able to handle" to "good to handle, easy to handle." The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline clearly states that it is necessary to develop ubiquitous, accessible, smart, convenient, fair, and universally beneficial digital and intelligent government services.

Convenience cannot be separated from strong guarantees of data security. The two departments have made clear that the electronic information sharing of certificates of conformity strictly follows national cybersecurity and data security related laws and regulations, adopting measures such as encrypted transmission, permission control, and log auditing to ensure that car owner and enterprise information is not leaked or misused.

It is understood that, in the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Public Security will continue to consolidate existing reform achievements, accelerate the promotion of digital application of certificates of conformity, and explore extending the coordination model to vehicle management-related service scenarios, further optimizing the business environment and improving public satisfaction.

Buying a car and getting a license plate is "a small step," government service reform is "a big step." Efficient cross-departmental data flow and deepening digital services make the practical effects of reforms that benefit the people and enterprises visible and tangible, and also convey the warmth of digital government services to millions of households.

(Zhao Yitong (赵忆桐) contributed to the reporting.)

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本版责编：吕钟正 吴 凯 韩文榕

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Exploring a Path of Win-Win Cooperation Between East and West Across Mountains and Seas

By: 福建省习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心

Carrying out East-West collaboration is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with a view to promoting coordinated regional development and advancing common prosperity. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions on normalizing and improving East-West collaboration work are highly political, ideological, and guiding. Min-Ning cooperation (闽宁协作) is a model of East-West collaboration personally deployed and promoted by Comrade Xi Jinping during his work in Fujian. This year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五), the 30th anniversary of Min-Ning cooperation, and the first year of regularized paired assistance. Deeply comprehending the forward-looking thinking and exploratory practice of Comrade Xi Jinping in promoting Min-Ning cooperation during his work in Fujian, and drawing valuable experience and inspiration from it, is of great significance for continuously deepening East-West collaboration (东西部协作).

Deeply comprehending the pioneering exploratory practice. During his work in Fujian, Comrade Xi Jinping personally took charge of coordinating all aspects of Min-Ning cooperation, and made a series of forward-looking strategic plans and pioneering exploratory practices around major issues such as “why to assist, what to assist, how to assist, and how to improve the effectiveness of assistance,” laying a solid foundation for the steady and sustained progress of Min-Ning cooperation.

Deeply grasp the strategic deployment of East-West collaboration. The initiation and advancement of Min-Ning cooperation was a major measure by Comrade Xi Jinping, based on the national strategy, to solve the problem of unbalanced regional development. In 1996, the Party Central Committee made a strategic deployment for East-West poverty alleviation cooperation. In October of the same year, the “Fujian Province Paired Assistance to Ningxia Leading Group,” headed by Comrade Xi Jinping, then Deputy Secretary of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee, was formally established. Comrade Xi Jinping clearly stated that Min-Ning paired poverty alleviation cooperation was a political task that we must resolutely complete. Comrade Xi Jinping, with a view to promoting coordinated regional development, narrowing the gap in regional development, and enhancing national unity and mutual assistance, always promoted Min-Ning cooperation from an overall perspective, emphasizing that with the heroic spirit of “he who has never been to the Great Wall is not a true man” (不到长城非好汉), we should work together with the people of all ethnic groups in Ningxia, wholeheartedly and effectively, to carry out paired poverty alleviation cooperation, making Min-Ning cooperation a pioneering model for implementing this strategic deployment.

Adhere to promoting economic development in poverty-stricken areas as the center, and solving the problem of adequate food and clothing for the masses in poverty-stricken areas as an important task. When Comrade Xi Jinping worked in Fujian, Ningxia was in a difficult stage where its economic foundation was weak and the problem of adequate food and clothing for the masses had not yet been fully solved. Comrade Xi Jinping went to Ningxia for investigation and research, and through going down to the grassroots and among the masses, he identified the root causes of poverty and found solutions. When inspecting the Diaozhuang Yuyuanquan resettlement site (吊庄玉泉营) in Xiji County (西吉县), Comrade Xi Jinping proposed the idea of building Minning Village (闽宁村): concentrate efforts and funds to build it into a model Min-Ning cooperation demonstration village with exemplary significance, so that migrants can move out, settle down, and get rich. Ningxia’s abundant energy, land, labor and other resource conditions provided a good venue for Fujian to leverage its advantages in capital, technology, products, and management. To this end, Comrade Xi Jinping proposed to take promoting economic development in poverty-stricken areas as the center, take solving the problem of adequate food and clothing for the masses in poverty-stricken areas as an important task, extensively and deeply carry out various forms of poverty alleviation cooperation, and promote the common development of both Fujian and Ningxia. These important expositions and practices clarified the issue of “what Fujian should assist Ningxia with” and provided a scientific basis for Min-Ning cooperation to adopt targeted poverty alleviation measures.

Focus on giving play to the leading role of the government and extensively rally the strength of all sectors of society. How to effectively assist Ningxia with limited funds was a mandatory question. Comrade Xi Jinping, oriented by the needs of Ningxia’s poverty alleviation targets, mobilized resources from all sides, took solving the problem of adequate food and clothing for the masses as the foundation, made industrial poverty alleviation cooperation the key, took stimulating endogenous motivation as the fundamental, and explored and formed a diversified poverty alleviation cooperation model featuring government coordination and leadership, active enterprise participation, and extensive social support. At the government level, Comrade Xi Jinping decided to provide Ningxia with an annual assistance fund of 15 million yuan (RMB) without compensation, coordinate the promotion of livelihood projects such as resettlement (吊庄移民), digging wells and cellars, and converting slopes to terraces, and dispatch outstanding cadres and scientific, technological, educational, and medical workers to Ningxia to participate in poverty alleviation and development work, effectively consolidating Ningxia’s foundation for poverty alleviation and development in poor areas. At the social level, under Comrade Xi Jinping’s promotion, Fujian’s state-owned enterprises, “three types of foreign-funded enterprises” (三资企业 - Sino-foreign joint ventures, cooperative enterprises, and wholly foreign-owned enterprises), township enterprises, and private enterprises went to Ningxia to jointly establish or set up economic entities; the Lin Zhanxi (林占熺) team used Juncao technology (菌草技术) to help local farmers increase income, allowing the collaborative strength of mountain and sea joining hands, solidarity and mutual assistance to fully surge.

Consolidate and expand the achievements of Min-Ning cooperation, and promote the establishment of a long-term mechanism. During his work in Fujian, Comrade Xi Jinping attached great importance to consolidating and expanding the achievements of Min-Ning cooperation through long-term mechanisms, and promoted the establishment of a cooperation mechanism featuring joint promotion through meetings, paired assistance, industrial driving, mutual learning and assistance, and social participation. In terms of joint promotion through meetings, he proposed that the two provinces (regions) strengthen top-level design, establish a joint meeting system, hold a joint meeting once a year in rotation, with the main responsible comrades of the party committee and government attending. In terms of paired assistance, he promoted the first establishment of a paired assistance mechanism between cities and counties, layer by layer consolidating assistance responsibilities and detailing assistance measures. In terms of industrial driving, he encouraged Fujian entrepreneurs to invest and develop in Ningxia, bringing Fujian’s advanced concepts and high-quality projects to Ningxia. In terms of mutual learning and assistance, he advocated carrying forward the Chinese nation’s patriotic feelings of mutual help in times of need and the fine tradition of aiding the poor, and promoted exchanges and cooperation between the two provinces (regions) through forms such as cadre exchange, expert support, skills training, and talent cultivation. In terms of social participation, he coordinated multiple forces to activate the participation of all sectors of society in poverty alleviation cooperation. These five mechanisms complement and integrate with each other, laying a solid foundation for the standardized, normalized, and institutionalized operation of Min-Ning cooperation.

Deeply understand the enduring value of the times. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Over the past 30 years, East-West collaboration has played an important role in helping to fight poverty and promoting coordinated regional development, demonstrating the political advantages of our Party and the superiority of our socialist system.” Min-Ning cooperation, personally promoted by Comrade Xi Jinping during his work in Fujian, profoundly answered the epochal question of how to narrow the development gap between the East and the West, and provided a pioneering demonstration for improving paired assistance relations in the new era. This model of East-West collaboration spanning mountains and seas demonstrates an enduring value of the times.

Consolidate the foundation for industrial hematopoietic development and explore an effective path for activating the endogenous driving force of common prosperity in the new era. Comrade Xi Jinping, based on the comparative advantages of the two provinces (regions), promoted the deep integration of Fujian’s technology, market, and enterprises with Ningxia’s resources, base, and products, helping Ningxia’s characteristic industries develop from nothing, from weak to strong, and from scattered to concentrated. Over the past 30 years, the two provinces (regions) of Fujian and Ningxia have always followed the collaboration orientation of industrial hematopoiesis, combining Fujian’s advanced aquaculture technology with Ningxia’s saline-alkali land resources, exploring new models of “raising southern fish in the north” (南鱼北养) and “fish-vegetable symbiosis” (鱼菜共生), and concentrating efforts to build characteristic industries such as wine, goji berries, and beef cattle; focusing on the construction of industrial park carriers, building the Minning Industrial Park on the former Gobi desert, and effectively transforming the actual results of industrial collaboration into benefits for the people. This industry-promoting endeavor, spanning thirty years, focuses on the synchronic resonance of industrial cultivation and people’s livelihood improvement, contributing successful experience for strengthening the industrial support of East-West collaboration and consolidating the foundation for the masses to increase income and become prosperous in the new era.

Hold the bottom line of ensuring universal access to people’s livelihood, enhancing the quality of happiness for the people in the new era. Comrade Xi Jinping attached great importance to the fundamental role of people’s livelihood in Min-Ning cooperation, insisting on giving priority to solving the production and living difficulties of the masses in Ningxia, and solving the problem of adequate food and clothing and improving life with tangible livelihood projects. Over the past 30 years, the two provinces (regions) of Fujian and Ningxia have always followed the collaboration orientation of putting people’s livelihood first, focusing on strengthening weak links in the field of education, promoting the establishment of paired assistance relationships between 122 schools and 41 hospitals in Fujian and 84 schools and 29 hospitals in Ningxia respectively, continuously improving the level of education and medical services in the recipient areas; broadening channels for employment and income increase, guiding Fujian enterprises to develop labor-intensive industries in Ningxia, and through building assistance workshops, developing new business forms such as e-commerce live streaming, helping local farmers get employed nearby and locally for more than 200,000 person-times. This people-benefiting endeavor, spanning thirty years, focuses on the simultaneous improvement of people’s livelihood security and public services, using perceptible and tangible warmth of people’s livelihood to confirm the value height of mountain and sea working together and achieving win-win collaboration.

Strengthen the exchange and cooperation of cadres and talents, providing intellectual support for promoting coordinated regional development in the new era. Comrade Xi Jinping adhered to the clear orientation of nurturing talents and revitalizing the region, empowering through knowledge transfer, two-way exchanges, and mutual learning and assistance, promoting the deep integration of Fujian’s advanced concepts and management experience with Ningxia’s reality, and helping Ningxia build a development force that can stay, be used, and perform well. Over the past 30 years, the two provinces (regions) of Fujian and Ningxia have always followed the collaboration orientation of co-cultivating talents, continuously deepening educational group assistance, vocational skills training, and two-way exchange of cadres and talents. Fujian has sent 14 batches of 254 cadres to Ningxia for temporary posts and assistance, and more than 7,000 professional talents to support Ningxia’s development; Ningxia has sent 23 batches of 381 cadres to Fujian for temporary posts and training, continuously consolidating the intellectual support for the coordinated development of the two places. This talent-cultivating endeavor, spanning thirty years, focuses on awakening development consciousness through ideological guidance, making up for capacity shortcomings through paired assistance, and exploring an effective path to ensure the long-term development of less developed regions.

Weave a tight bond of ethnic mutual assistance and integration, condensing spiritual momentum for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation in the new era. Comrade Xi Jinping promoted the mutual help of the masses in the two provinces (regions) in industrial collaboration, mutual learning and reference in talent exchange, and mutual integration and communication in cultural exchanges. Over the past 30 years, the two provinces (regions) of Fujian and Ningxia have always followed the collaboration orientation of mutual assistance and integration, running the promotion of ethnic unity and progress through the entire process of collaboration, and through various carriers such as intangible cultural heritage project displays, series of cultural and art exchanges, youth hand-in-hand summer camps, and basketball friendship matches, promoted the masses of the two places to become closer and closer through interactions, exchanges, and integration. This united endeavor, spanning thirty years, focuses on equal emphasis on economic and trade exchanges and people-to-people connectivity, emotional integration and ethnic unity and progress, allowing the concept of “the Chinese nation is one family” (中华民族一家亲) to take root, blossom, and bear fruit across thousands of miles of mountains and seas.

Build an inter-provincial paired assistance system, establishing a practical model for deepening East-West collaboration in the new era. During his work in Fujian, Comrade Xi Jinping built a collaboration framework featuring party-government leadership, multi-party participation, and long-term linkage, pushing Min-Ning cooperation onto a track of institutionalization, normalization, and long-term development. Over the past 30 years, the two provinces (regions) of Fujian and Ningxia have always followed the collaboration orientation of paired assistance, continuously enriching the diversified connotation of collaboration in industrial co-construction, labor docking, people’s livelihood assistance, and social participation; persisting in deepening all-region paired co-construction by layers and categories, with 39 relatively economically developed counties (cities, districts) in Fujian pairing up to assist 9 poverty-stricken counties and Minning Town in Ningxia, accelerating the transformation of assistance resource advantages into development momentum for factor connectivity, complementary advantages, and mutual benefit and win-win. This co-construction endeavor, spanning thirty years, focuses on the connection between top-level design and grassroots practice, the linkage between government leadership and social participation, fully demonstrating the significant advantages of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics in promoting coordinated regional development and common prosperity.

Deeply grasp the valuable experience and inspiration. When inspecting Ningxia in 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Min-Ning cooperation has blazed a broad path. This valuable experience can be promoted nationwide as a model to achieve common prosperity.” In his important instructions on normalizing and improving East-West collaboration work, he emphasized: “We should summarize and apply the beneficial experiences such as those from Min-Ning cooperation, further improve the collaboration mechanism, optimize collaboration methods, expand collaboration fields, and promote industrial complementarity, personnel interaction, technology mutual learning, concept exchange, and work style mutual learning between the East and West, achieving mutual benefit, win-win, and common development.” We must deeply grasp the valuable experience contained in the series of important concepts and major practices of Comrade Xi Jinping in promoting Min-Ning cooperation during his work in Fujian, and draw wisdom and strength from them to deepen East-West collaboration and solidly advance common prosperity.

Always adhere to the overall leadership of the Party, and firmly grasp the political direction of East-West collaboration. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has taken East-West collaboration as a major political task for overall planning, promoting the filling of shortcomings, strengthening weak links, and promoting development in the western region. This is highly consistent with the political stance of Comrade Xi Jinping, who, during his work in Fujian, always placed Min-Ning cooperation in the overall context of the Party and the country’s development for overall consideration. To normalize and improve East-West collaboration work, we must adhere to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, firmly support the “two establishments” (两个确立), resolutely achieve the “two upholds” (两个维护), implement the Party Central Committee’s decisions and deployments on East-West collaboration more decisively and forcefully, and ensure that all assistance work never deviates or goes astray; consolidate the main responsibilities of the party committees and governments of both sides in assistance, through normalized joint promotion meetings, departmental linkage, and thematic dispatch, to break through the “last kilometer” (最后一公里) of assistance implementation; give full play to the Party’s political and organizational advantages, relying on measures such as cadre exchange, talent connectivity, and party branch pairing, to lead the high-quality development of East-West collaboration with high-quality party building.

Always adhere to putting the people first, and solidify the livelihood foundation of East-West collaboration. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has focused on the livelihood issues of the western region, innovated grassroots assistance governance mechanisms, and turned paired collaboration into a livelihood project benefiting millions of people. This is consistent with the political performance view of Comrade Xi Jinping, who during his work in Fujian always adhered to the fundamental position of putting the people first and placed the people’s settled and happy life at the top of Min-Ning cooperation. To normalize and improve East-West collaboration work, we must firmly establish and practice a correct view of political performance, continuously benefit the people, continue to carry out skills training, deepen labor collaboration, strengthen entrepreneurship policy guidance, and comprehensively enhance the endogenous development capacity of the masses in the western region; firmly root ourselves among the people, fully grasp the needs of the masses and the actual situation at the grassroots, and fully mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the people to participate in collaboration, ensuring that all collaboration measures accurately connect with people’s livelihood and warm people’s hearts.

Always adhere to a systematic approach, and promote East-West collaboration to go deeper and more solid. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has continuously improved the collaboration mechanism, broadened the collaboration fields, and raised the collaboration level, gradually forming a new pattern of East-West collaboration with upper and lower linkage, left and right coordination, and joint management. This is in the same direction and frequency as the vivid practice of Comrade Xi Jinping during his work in Fujian, who always used systematic thinking to build a multi-level, wide-ranging collaboration system. To normalize and improve East-West collaboration work, we must strengthen forward-looking thinking, both focusing on the present consolidation and expansion of poverty alleviation achievements and planning for the long-term promotion of common prosperity; strengthen overall planning, establish a multi-field coordinated linkage assistance system; strengthen holistic advancement, promote industrial collaboration to improve quality and efficiency, universal access and availability of people’s livelihood services, coordinated tackling of key issues in scientific and technological innovation, and synergistic efforts in ecological protection.

Always adhere to reform and innovation, and activate the strong driving force of East-West collaboration. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has been determined to reform, promoting the transformation and upgrading of East-West collaboration from large-scale assistance to high-quality deep cultivation, from one-way blood transfusion to two-way empowerment, from short-term campaign to long-term development. This is in the same line as the historical initiative spirit of Comrade Xi Jinping, who during his work in Fujian innovated collaboration models and paths around the overall situation of Min-Ning cooperation and activated Ningxia’s endogenous development momentum. To normalize and improve East-West collaboration work, we must actively benchmark against the requirements of high-quality development, dare to break through fixed models, and boldly explore new paths for collaboration; innovate and break through in fields such as land use, financial support, and industrial cultivation, making collaboration measures more suitable for the development needs of the western region; normalize the exchange of cadres for temporary posts, the stationing of technical talents for assistance, and precise training of professional skills between East and West, activating the development momentum of the western region with the vitality of talents.

Always adhere to joint building and shared benefits, and drive East-West collaboration to help achieve common prosperity. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has both united and led the people of the whole country to win the fight against poverty, and practiced the responsibility of a major country, helping developing countries to get rid of poverty within its capacity. This is inherently consistent with the development concept of always adhering to joint building and shared benefits in the process of promoting Min-Ning cooperation by Comrade Xi Jinping during his work in Fujian. To normalize and improve East-West collaboration work, we must take factor circulation as the key, break down administrative barriers and market segmentation between East and West, and promote the free flow, precise matching, and efficient allocation of various factors across regions; take mechanism co-construction as the guarantee, strengthen the connection and linkage of East-West development plans, industrial policies, and major projects, improve the system for sharing benefits, sharing costs, and co-managing risks in industrial cooperation, and ensure the continuity and stability of East-West collaboration work. This also indicates that to build a community with a shared future for mankind, all countries must regard poverty reduction as a common mission, and promote common development through complementary advantages, shared responsibility, and shared benefits.

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Grasping the Dialectical Unity of "Immediate and Long-Term" Perspectives on Political Performance

By: 吴 浩

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “We must establish a correct view of political achievements, properly handle the relationships between stability and progress, establishment and abolition, the virtual and the real, the superficial and the fundamental, the near-term and the long-term, adhere to bottom-line thinking, strengthen risk awareness, and consciously apply the new development philosophy throughout the entire process of economic and social development.” The near-term and the long-term, at the philosophical level, have never been two poles that are mutually separate and opposed, but rather a dialectical and unified whole that complement each other and cannot be neglected. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important exposition provides fundamental guidance for Party members and leading cadres to clarify the orientation of political achievements and to take concrete actions and assume responsibility to thrive in their undertakings.

“He who does not plan for the long term cannot plan for the short term; he who does not plan for the whole cannot plan for a part.” This ancient maxim takes into account both temporal depth and spatial scope, elucidating the internal mechanism by which the near-term and the long-term coexist and intertwine. To establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, understanding the near-term and the long-term in terms of time means properly handling the dialectical unity between the present and the future, the short term and the long term, visible achievements and latent achievements, cultivating historical patience and maintaining strategic resolve. We must both base ourselves on the present, do our utmost, carry out concrete matters that the people can see, cannot touch, and benefit from, strive to solve the people’s urgent, difficult, anxious, and expectant problems, crack the deep-seated difficulties that constrain regional and departmental development, and create visible achievements that yield immediate results; and also look to the future, act in accordance with objective laws, work one batch after another, carry a single blueprint through to the end, and accumulate latent achievements that lay the foundation, increase momentum, and benefit the long term. To discern the near-term and the long-term in terms of space means properly handling the dialectical unity between the part and the whole, between the department and the overall, between China and the world, both cultivating a domain intensively and bearing the overall situation in mind. In concrete practice, we must adhere to systemic thinking, be adept at “playing the piano”, grasping the principal contradiction and the principal aspect of the contradiction to achieve breakthroughs in key areas; and also firmly establish the thinking of the whole country as a single chessboard, achieving development according to local conditions and differentiated development; and also coordinate both domestic and international imperatives, striving to promote high-quality development.

In Zhijiang New Journal (之江新语), Comrade Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out: “In all our work, we must make overall plans and take all factors into consideration, and properly handle the relationship between the present and the long term. We emphasize seeking practical results and planning for the long term; what we seek is not only temporary results, but more meaningfully, we seek long-term results.” The formulation of the “Eight-Eight Strategy” (八八战略) was aimed at solving various deep-seated problems and contradictions faced by Zhejiang’s development, such as “inherent deficiencies” and “growth pains.” Over more than 20 years, as the provincial development planning blueprint and top-level design for Zhejiang, the “Eight-Eight Strategy” has led Zhejiang to undergo earth-shaking tremendous changes, profoundly reflecting the wisdom and power of scientifically handling the dialectical unity of the near-term and the long-term. From the temporal dimension, the “Eight-Eight Strategy” focuses on achievements for a thousand years, not on temporary accomplishments. From the spatial dimension, the “Eight-Eight Strategy” is committed to a strategic leap from intensive cultivation of a domain to embracing the overall situation, promoting Zhejiang to solve problems such as internal and external linkage in open development. Comrade Xi Jinping also used the “Sweet Potato Theory” (地瓜理论) to explain the endogenous logic of “leaping out of Zhejiang to develop Zhejiang, basing on the whole country to develop Zhejiang.” This important thesis broke down provincial limitations and placed Zhejiang’s development within the overall planning of the national and even global development situation.

Properly grasping the dialectical unity of “near-term and long-term” in the view of political achievements is an inherent requirement for promoting high-quality development. High-quality development is development that embodies the new development philosophy, development in which innovation becomes the primary driving force, coordination becomes an endogenous characteristic, green becomes a universal form, openness becomes the only path, and sharing becomes the fundamental goal. The five development concepts of innovation, coordination, green, openness, and sharing are interrelated, integrated, and mutually supportive, demonstrating from theoretical logic and practical logic the dialectics of using the long-term to govern the near-term and accumulating the near-term to achieve the long-term: without long-term innovation layout, coordinated linkage, green accumulation, opening up to the outside world, and sharing goals, short-term development can easily become superficial and unstable; lacking the step-by-step implementation of the present moment, the grand blueprint of high-quality development will only become a castle in the air.

The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical period for consolidating the foundation and making full efforts to basically realize socialist modernization. To establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, we must properly grasp the dialectical unity of the near-term and the long-term. In terms of time, use long-term planning to temper the achievement of small steps; in terms of space, use the momentum of the overall situation to inspire progress in a specific domain. With the realm and responsibility of “achievement does not necessarily need to be mine, but the achievement must have me in it”, pursue the unity of visible achievements and latent achievements, strive to create actual achievements that can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history, and strive to write a new chapter in Chinese-style modernization.

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Strengthen grassroots efforts to solidify the foundation of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief

By: 韩自强

If the grassroots level is strong, then the foundation of safety is stable; if the basic level is solid, then the resilience of governance is sufficient. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out when presiding over the 25th collective study session of the 20th Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee: “The grassroots level is the front line for resisting natural disasters; the work of focusing on the grassroots and strengthening the foundation must never be relaxed.” This important exposition profoundly elucidates the foundational position of the grassroots level in the systems of disaster prevention, mitigation, relief, and emergency management. On June 30, General Secretary Xi Jinping chaired a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to study and arrange flood and drought prevention work. The meeting pointed out that it is necessary to adhere to tilting resources toward the grassroots level and sinking forces to the front line, and to make great efforts to improve the grassroots level’s flood prevention, disaster mitigation, and relief capabilities. We must deeply study, implement, and carry out General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief and the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee, continuously improve the effectiveness of grassroots emergency management, use the focus on the grassroots to consolidate the foundation of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief, and build a solid safety barrier for the people to 安居乐业 (ān jū lè yè - “live in peace and work happily,” to live and work in peace), for society to be stable and orderly, and for the country to enjoy 长治久安 (cháng zhì jiǔ ān - “long-term peace and stability”).

The grassroots level connects every household; it is not only the front line for risk prevention, but also the forward position for conducting preliminary response, timely rescue, and post-disaster relief. Experience in disaster response at home and abroad shows that community self-rescue and mutual rescue are among the most effective emergency rescue methods. Modern emergency management includes pre-event prevention and preparation, in-event emergency response, and post-event recovery and improvement; the grassroots level is the key link for the effective implementation and operation of this chain. Disasters are the result of the interaction between exogenous risk shocks and endogenous vulnerabilities. Effective grassroots emergency management must focus both on preventing risks and on making preparations, so as to make efficient responses at the first opportunity, minimize disaster losses to the greatest extent possible, and protect the safety of people’s lives and property. In recent years, China’s grassroots disaster prevention, mitigation, and emergency management work has been continuously strengthened. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the annual average number of people affected by natural disasters, the number of deaths and missing persons due to disasters, and the ratio of direct economic losses from disasters to GDP all decreased significantly compared with the previous five years. At the same time, it must also be noted that there is still much room for China to improve the disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities of grassroots cadres and strengthen grassroots risk prevention and emergency preparedness, and it is necessary to further improve the effectiveness of emergency management.

Enhance the disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities of grassroots cadres. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “Strengthen education and training to improve the disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities of cadres at all levels.” Grassroots cadres are the first responders in protecting the safety of people’s lives and property in all kinds of emergencies. We must firmly establish the value stance of 人民至上、生命至上 (rén mín zhì shàng, shēng mìng zhì shàng - “people first, life first,” putting the people first and life first) and the sense of responsibility of 时时放心不下 (shí shí fàng xīn bù xià - “constantly unable to set one’s mind at ease,” being constantly concerned), and consciously improve our disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities. Incorporate emergency management capacity building into the education and training of grassroots cadres, carry out case teaching and scenario training around risk assessment, on-site command, mass transfer, public opinion response, etc., and regularly organize comprehensive drills to improve handling capabilities in real scenarios. To address issues such as insufficient grassroots emergency experience and inadequate learning resources, organize authoritative experts to record video courses on emergency management, fully utilize modern distance learning systems, and enable grassroots cadres to enhance their disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities through autonomous and continuous learning.

Establish a daily work mechanism for preventing risks, making preparations, and strengthening resilience. Correcting the tendency of “emphasizing relief over prevention” and promoting the transformation of the public safety governance model to pre-event prevention are key points of emergency management work during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. We must have a risk awareness of 见微知著 (jiàn wēi zhī zhù - “see the small and know the large,” to discern the whole from a small sign), pay attention to subtle changes in production, life, and the ecological environment around us, fully understand local disaster risk points and their dynamic evolution, grasp the emergency needs of specific groups, and comprehensively improve the insight and foresight of risk prevention. Put effort into normal times, treat emergency preparedness as basic work, and through comprehensive and multi-dimensional preparatory work such as risk screening, hazard rectification, plan drills, science popularization and education, and material reserves, fight the proactive battle of disaster prevention and mitigation.

Adhere to group monitoring, group prevention, group governance (群测群防群治), and social co-governance, and effectively improve the whole people’s awareness and ability of disaster prevention and risk avoidance. Improving emergency effectiveness requires relying on the broad masses of the people. We must vigorously carry out science popularization, education, and publicity work, fully utilize modern technology, encourage innovation under the premise of ensuring scientificity, and enrich the supply of emergency science popularization materials. Carry out various activities, enrich the forms of emergency science popularization and safety education entering enterprises, entering villages, entering communities, entering schools, and entering households, and enhance the public’s awareness of disaster prevention and risk avoidance and their self-rescue and mutual rescue capabilities. Make good use of the mayor’s hotline, the “12350” reporting hotline, and related online platforms, mini-programs, and other co-governance channels, provide timely feedback on governance measures, increase public participation, and truly form a pattern of 共建共治共享 (gòng jiàn gòng zhì gòng xiǎng - “joint contribution, joint governance, and shared benefits”). Improve the grassroots co-governance network, support the development of grassroots social worker teams and community civil organizations, improve the level of volunteer service, create opportunities for consultative governance, enhance neighborly trust and social cohesion, and lay a good social foundation for efficiently mobilizing various resources at critical moments.

Strengthen early warning linkage and forward-looking action. Early warning is the most effective method to reduce disaster casualties. In recent years, with technological progress, disaster forecasting has become increasingly accurate, and the effectiveness of effective early warning and advance action has been continuously enhanced. We must further strengthen early warning theoretical research and model development, improve the accuracy of disaster-imminent warnings, and explore expanding the forecast time window forward. Promote the transformation from weather forecasting to impact warning; not only must we forecast how heavy the rain or snow will be, but we must also tell people where the danger is and what actions they should take. Further improve the early warning call-and-response mechanism, clarify the chain of authority and responsibility for early warning and preliminary action at the county, township, and village levels, standardize the emergency material guarantee and personnel pre-positioning mechanisms, and explore emergency relief models that suit grassroots realities.

Strengthen technology empowerment to improve the accessibility of disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief technologies. The improvement of grassroots emergency management effectiveness urgently needs scientific and technological support, but resources and technical reserves are limited; central or provincial authorities can promote coordinated supply. Make good use of the results of the national natural disaster risk survey, explore the establishment of refined and real-time updated risk maps and website platforms for the understanding and use of grassroots cadres and the public. Targeting the characteristics and difficulties of grassroots disaster risk governance and emergency response, develop a batch of convenient and easy-to-use miniaturized and intelligent equipment, and promote their use at the grassroots level. Advocate the concept and actions of ecological disaster reduction, promote the construction of green disaster prevention infrastructure, and improve urban and rural disaster prevention and mitigation capabilities according to local conditions.
(Author’s affiliation: Center for Risk Governance and Emergency Management, Shandong University (山东大学风险治理与应急管理研究中心))

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Better leverage the circular economy to support resource security and green low-carbon transition

By: 本报记者 刘志强

Q: What is the background for the issuance of the Plan?
A: Developing the circular economy is a major strategy for China’s economic and social development. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China’s circular economy development has achieved notable results: policies and institutions have been continuously improved, development models have been constantly innovated, the industrial scale has continued to expand, and the level of resource recycling in the whole society has steadily risen. In 2025, China’s main resource productivity increased by approximately 77% compared with 2012, while energy and water consumption per unit of GDP dropped significantly; the comprehensive utilization rate of bulk solid waste exceeded 60%, the recycling volume of major renewable resources exceeded 410 million tonnes, and scrap steel and scrap non-ferrous metals accounted for 27% and 30% respectively of raw material supply for the production sector; the output value of the resource recycling industry reached 5 trillion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of around 10%.
At present, the global governance system is undergoing profound changes, the importance of resource security is becoming increasingly prominent, and the competition over green and low-carbon development is complex and severe. Using recycling to strengthen resource security and accelerate green and low-carbon transformation has become a global consensus. The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical period for China’s high-quality development and a decisive period for achieving the carbon peak target. The tasks of resource security and comprehensive green transformation are arduous, and the importance and urgency of resource recycling are even more pronounced. It is necessary to further intensify circular economy efforts, strengthen resource security, enhance the resilience of industrial and supply chains, and support the timely achievement of the carbon peak target.
At the same time, it must also be noted that, compared with the requirements of high-quality development, China’s circular economy still faces problems such as low resource output rates in key industries, blocked recycling channels for certain categories of waste, bottlenecks in key technologies and processes that need to be broken through, and suboptimal industrial layout. There is an urgent need to strengthen institutional design, optimize industry management, promote technological innovation and industrial upgrading, and accelerate the improvement of the high-quality development level of the circular economy.

Q: What are the main contents of the Plan?
A: The Plan is guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implements the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and all plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, earnestly implements the deployments of the Fourth Plenary Session (四中全会), fully, accurately, and comprehensively implements the new development philosophy, firmly establishes a resource concept of conservation, intensive use, and recycling, adheres to a systemic approach, focuses on key areas and critical links, deploys specific measures, and promotes new achievements in circular economy development during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. It mainly includes three aspects.
The first part is the overall requirements and main objectives. It clarifies the guiding ideology and working principles for circular economy development during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, and sets out the work targets for developing the circular economy in the coming period. By 2030, the main resource productivity will increase by about 16% compared with 2025, the annual comprehensive utilization volume of bulk solid waste will reach about 4.5 billion tonnes, the annual recycling volume of major renewable resources will reach 510 million tonnes, and the output value of the resource recycling industry will reach 8 trillion yuan. By 2035, a high-quality development system for the circular economy will be basically established, and the efficiency of main resource utilization will reach the international advanced level.
The second part is key tasks. On the one hand, in accordance with the concept of “reduction, resource recovery, and reuse” (减量化、资源化、再利用) in the circular economy, it comprehensively strengthens resource recycling in all fields and links, and puts forward three key tasks: comprehensively building a solid foundation for reduction, accelerating the improvement of resource recovery levels, and continuously expanding the scale of reuse. On the other hand, it is problem-oriented, focusing on current bottlenecks and difficulties such as blocked recycling channels and low industrial development levels, and puts forward two key tasks: effectively unblocking the waste recycling network and vigorously promoting the upgrading of the circular economy industry.
The third part is safeguard measures. It proposes measures such as improving the legal and regulatory system, optimizing standards, labeling and certification systems, improving statistical and evaluation systems, and strengthening comprehensive policy support, and clarifies the requirements for organization and implementation.

Q: What are the highlights and innovations of the Plan?
A: On the basis of integrating existing management policies for the circular economy across various fields, the Plan adheres to a problem-oriented approach, improves the policy measures for whole-chain resource recycling, and better leverages the role of the circular economy in supporting resource security and green and low-carbon transformation. The main highlights and innovations can be summarized as “three furthers.”
The first is to further strengthen the supporting and safeguarding role of the circular economy for resource security. Adapting to the resource security situation and work needs during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the Plan deploys key tasks for resource recycling across the entire chain of production, consumption, recycling, and utilization. In promoting source reduction of resource consumption, by implementing green design, cleaner production, and green consumption, resource utilization efficiency will be improved, with the main resource productivity increasing by about 16% by 2030 compared with 2025. In increasing the domestic supply of renewable resources, by focusing on resource recycling in key areas such as industry, agriculture and forestry, and construction, the comprehensive utilization volume of bulk solid waste will reach about 4.5 billion tonnes by 2030, and the recycling volume of major renewable resources will reach 510 million tonnes. In broadening channels for utilizing overseas renewable resources, by improving the working mechanism for import utilization, optimizing management procedures, expanding import categories, and strengthening the import and standardized utilization of overseas renewable resources, the level of resource recycling will be enhanced.
The second is to further fill the gaps in the recycling of important categories of renewable resources. The Plan specifically sets up three columns: “Enhancing the Capacity for Comprehensive Utilization of Bulk Solid Waste,” “Accelerating the High-Value Development and Utilization of Traditional ‘Urban Mines’,” and “Improving the Recycling System for Solid Waste from the ‘Three New Items’.” Focusing on issues such as insufficient standardization of recycling, prominent environmental risks, and low resource utilization levels, it refines recycling pathways by category. In the field of bulk solid waste, by expanding the disposal channels for bulk solid waste such as coal gangue, fly ash, tailings, and construction waste, it increases the scale of resource utilization and further brings into play the resource attribute of solid waste. In the field of traditional “urban mines,” by accelerating standardized recycling and refined dismantling, it improves the high-value utilization level of traditional “urban mines” such as end-of-life vehicles, waste electrical and electronic products, scrap steel, scrap non-ferrous metals, waste plastics, and waste textiles. In the field of “three new items” solid waste, targeting the currently more prominent problems of waste power batteries, waste wind power equipment, and waste photovoltaic equipment — the “three new items” solid waste — it improves the level of standardized recycling and utilization by improving scrap management, clarifying disposal responsibilities, and perfecting the recycling network.
The third is to further accelerate the industrial upgrading of resource recycling. On the basis of summarizing over 20 years of experience in the development of the circular economy, the Plan, in response to new situations and new problems such as insufficient incentives for using recycled materials, imperfect market-oriented mechanisms, low-level competition in the industry, and inadequate information-based regulatory capacity, puts forward specific policy measures such as improving laws, regulations and standards, perfecting statistical evaluation, strengthening comprehensive policy support, and reinforcing industry supervision. It further optimizes industrial layout, accelerates the improvement of technologies and processes, cultivates backbone enterprises, changes the “small, scattered, and weak” appearance of the resource recycling industry, and promotes the high-quality development of the circular economy.
In the next step, the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发展改革委) will earnestly fulfill its responsibilities as the national competent department for circular economy development, strengthen overall coordination, refine the list of tasks, consolidate responsibilities of all parties, strengthen dynamic monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the Plan, accelerate the implementation and landing of all tasks in the Plan, and promote new and greater achievements in the development of the circular economy during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period.

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Multiple departments deploy flood control efforts

Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Jiang Xuehong (蒋雪鸿)) — Meteorological monitoring shows that on the daytime of July 5, under the influence of Typhoon Maysak, heavy wind and rain occurred in Guangxi, Guangdong and other areas. At 17:00 on July 5, the center of Maysak was located within the territory of Nanning City, Guangxi, with a maximum wind force of 9 (23 m/s) and a minimum central pressure of 990 hPa.

The National Meteorological Center (中央气象台) forecasts that Typhoon Maysak will move toward northern Guangxi. Specifically, Maysak will move in a north-northeasterly direction at a speed of 15–20 km per hour, its intensity gradually weakening, and will weaken to a tropical depression on the morning of the 6th, moving into the territory of Hunan Province on the morning of the 6th. It is forecast that parts of Guangxi and Hunan will experience heavy to extremely heavy rainstorms. Specifically, from the night of July 5 to July 7, parts of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong and other areas will experience rainstorms to heavy rainstorms, with local extremely heavy rainstorms in parts of Guangxi. In addition, eastern Inner Mongolia, the Northeast, North China, and the Huang-Huai region will see scattered showers or thundershowers, with dispersed heavy to rainstorm-level precipitation, and locally accompanied by severe convective weather such as thunderstorm gales or hail.

At 18:00 on July 5, the National Meteorological Center continued to issue a blue typhoon alert, continued to issue a yellow severe convective weather alert, continued to issue an orange rainstorm alert, issued a meteorological risk alert for small and medium river flooding, and issued a waterlogging risk meteorological alert; the Ministry of Water Resources (水利部) and the China Meteorological Administration (中国气象局) jointly issued a red mountain flood disaster meteorological alert; the Ministry of Natural Resources (自然资源部) and the China Meteorological Administration jointly issued an orange geological disaster meteorological risk alert.

Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Deng Jianyang (邓剑洋)) — The reporter learned from the Ministry of Water Resources that, affected by Typhoon Maysak, from July 5 to 7, the cumulative area-average rainfall over most of the Xijiang River (西江) in Guangxi of the Pearl River Basin will be 80–190 mm, of which the central and southern parts of Guangxi will receive 200–400 mm, and locally will exceed 500 mm. The main stem of the West River (Xijiang) in the Pearl River Basin and its tributaries, including the Liujiang River (柳江), Guijiang River (桂江), Yujiang River (郁江), and Beiliu River (北流河), will experience flood processes exceeding the warning level; within the rainstorm area, small and medium rivers such as the Dongbanjiang River (东班江) and Xinjiang River (新江河), tributaries of the Yujiang River, and the Dafeng River (大风江) and Maoling River (茅岭江) along the southern Guangxi coast may experience relatively large floods. The Information Center of the Ministry of Water Resources issued a yellow flood alert, reminding the public in relevant areas of Guangxi, Guangdong and other provinces (autonomous regions) to take precautions. The Ministry of Water Resources raised the Level IV flood defense emergency response for the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region to Level III at 18:00 on July 5. Currently, a working group from the Ministry of Water Resources is on the front line of Guangxi's rainstorm and flood defense assisting and guiding.

Affected by rainfall, the water level at the Xinhezhuang Hydrological Station (新河庄水文站) on the Shuiyang River (水阳江) (Xuancheng (宣城), Anhui), a tributary of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, rose to the warning water level (11.50 meters) at 14:25 on July 5. According to the regulations for numbering major river floods, this flood is numbered as the "2026 No. 1 Flood of the Shuiyang River."

The Ministry of Water Resources closely monitors the developing flood situation on the Shuiyang River and guided the Water Resources Department of Anhui Province in dispatching the Gangkouwan Reservoir (港口湾水库) to pre-lower the water level in advance, fully storing and retaining water when the flood arrived, for a total of 0.9 billion cubic meters of flood storage, effectively reducing the flood control pressure on the urban area of downstream Xuancheng; it also guided the increase of the outflow discharge at the Mashanbu Sluice (马山埠闸) on Nanyi Lake (南漪湖), with a cumulative lake outflow of 1.64 billion cubic meters after the start of the plum rain season.

Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Liu Wenxin (刘温馨)) — On the morning of July 5, the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (国家防总办公室) and the Ministry of Emergency Management (应急管理部) organized a multi-department joint consultation to further study and deploy flood control and typhoon prevention work in key areas. On the basis of the working group sent by the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to Guangxi for flood control and typhoon prevention, the Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched two additional disaster relief working groups to Guangxi and Liaoning to assist and guide local authorities in carrying out disaster relief and assistance work.

The consultation pointed out that the current flood control and typhoon prevention work faces two challenges: first, under the influence of Typhoon Maysak, the residual vortex circulation moves northward, with heavy rainfall continuing in South China, the area south of the Yangtze River, and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; numbered floods may occur on major rivers, and the risks of mountain torrents and geological disasters, small and medium river floods, and urban waterlogging are high. Second, rainfall in the northern regions is increasing and intensifying, with prominent extremes. In the next few days, scattered heavy rain to rainstorms are still expected in Inner Mongolia, the Northeast, North China, the Huang-Huai region, and elsewhere. Currently, it is the main flood season and the active typhoon season, compounded by factors such as dense summer tourist flows and numerous water-related activities, making the task of flood control and typhoon prevention arduous. All relevant departments must further implement flood control responsibilities, intensify monitoring and rolling forecasts. They must further strengthen response linkage and conduct in-depth investigation and rectification of risks and hidden dangers. Flood control headquarters at all levels must strengthen their role in taking the lead and coordinating, strengthen inter-departmental coordination and information sharing. They must dynamically investigate risks and hidden dangers in key locations such as reservoirs, dikes, highways, bridges and tunnels, elderly care institutions, schools, hospitals, construction sites, guesthouses and agritainment establishments, and urban underground spaces, carry out closed-loop rectification and remediation, strengthen control over water-crossing road sections, flooded roads and bridges, tunnels and culverts, and ensure personnel safety.

In response to disasters such as typhoon, rainstorm flood, and wind and hail in Guangxi, Liaoning and other areas, on July 5, the Office of the National Commission for Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Relief (国家防灾减灾救灾委员会办公室) and the Ministry of Emergency Management sent a working group to the two provinces (autonomous region) to inspect the disaster situation on the ground, and to assist and guide local authorities in carrying out disaster relief work. In accordance with the needs of flood control, typhoon prevention and disaster relief work, they coordinated with the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration (国家粮食和物资储备局) to allocate 15,000 items of central government disaster relief materials, including tents, folding beds, summer quilts, family emergency kits, and family lighting lamps, to disaster areas such as Guangxi and Liaoning, to support local authorities in properly providing basic living assistance to affected people.

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Heading to Summer Pastures

By: 新华社记者 连 振摄影报道

On July 1, before dawn, the morning mist had not yet dispersed. The family of Siqin Bate'er (斯琴巴特尔), a herder living in Shari Baote Gacha (沙日包特嘎查) of Bayan Wendur Sumu (巴彦温都尔苏木), Ar Horqin Banner (阿鲁科尔沁旗), Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, had already packed their bags and penned their livestock, preparing to embark on the annual nomadic migration route. Siqin Bate'er is 56 years old this year, his wife Siqigema (斯其格玛) is 55; they have walked this migration route for several decades. “The journey of over 40 kilometers used to take three days, but now it only takes one day; nomadism is becoming more and more convenient,” Siqigema said. More than ten days earlier, Siqin Bate'er's family had already set up several houses at the summer pasture. His family has been running a pastoral family inn since 2022, and over the years it has become more and more prosperous, with income also increasing. Siqin Bate'er's son Buren Dalai (布仁达来) works at the hospital in the banner, and this year he moved along the route together with his wife Suriguga (苏日古嘎). As the sky brightened, people drove their cattle and sheep toward the summer pasture. On this day, a total of more than 1,200 herder households from 22 gachas of Bayan Wendur Sumu, driving nearly 85,000 head (head) of livestock, set out on their summer migration journey along three routes — east, central, west — toward six core nomadic areas.

In 2022, the Ar Horqin Grassland Nomadic System (阿鲁科尔沁草原游牧系统) was recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (全球重要农业文化遗产). This year, to protect the ecology of the summer pastures, the local authorities have activated artificial-intelligence counting equipment at all checkpoints on the nomadic passage, strictly prohibiting livestock exceeding the quota from entering the nomadic area. The people who have lived on this grassland for generations both adhere to the tradition of moving with water and grass and allowing the grassland to rest and recuperate, and fully utilize modern technology, forging a path that coordinates ecology and economy.

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Earth's Magnetic Field Experiences Continuous 24-Hour Geomagnetic Storm

Beijing, July 5 (Our Dispatch) — (Reporter Jiang Xuehong (蒋雪鸿)) A reporter learned from the China Meteorological Administration National Space Weather Monitoring and Alert Center (中国气象局国家空间天气监测预警中心) that starting from 8:00 a.m. Beijing time on July 4, the Earth’s magnetic field experienced a geomagnetic storm for 24 consecutive hours. This is the second occurrence of relatively strong geomagnetic activity since January 20 this year.

This geomagnetic activity also originated from solar eruptions. On July 1, solar active region 14479 erupted with an X1.1-class flare, accompanied by a coronal mass ejection. This typical rapid release of solar energy and matter provided the conditions for the geomagnetic storm.

Currently, judging from the solar wind speed, matter temperature, density, and the state of the magnetic field, the effects brought by this coronal mass ejection are gradually passing.

However, at 4:41 a.m. on July 5, the Sun once again erupted with a flare activity, reaching an intensity of X1.3-class, which is higher than the one on July 1. Affected by this, shortwave communication signals in North America experienced significant attenuation, especially frequencies below 20 MHz, which were temporarily unusable. When this eruption activity occurred, most of our country was still in the nighttime, so it was not significantly affected.

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Yellow River Basin advances coordinated ecological protection and grass-based livestock development

Beijing, July 5 (People's Daily) — (Reporter Yu Jingxian (郁静娴)) The launch meeting for Phase II of the Yellow River Basin Grassland and Livestock Industry High-Quality Development Project was recently held in Zhangjiachuan Hui Autonomous County (张家川回族自治县), Tianshui City, Gansu Province.

In 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs launched the Yellow River Basin Grassland and Livestock Industry High-Quality Development Technology Integration and Demonstration Project, implemented by the National Animal Husbandry Station (全国畜牧总站). Over three years, the station organized more than 30 scientific research and extension units, including Lanzhou University and the Gansu Provincial Animal Husbandry Technology Extension Station (甘肃省畜牧技术推广总站), to integrate and promote a number of practical technical models for the grassland and livestock industry in six counties (cities, districts) — Huan County (环县), Gansu; Huangyuan (湟源), Qinghai; Yuyang (榆阳), Shaanxi; Dengkou (磴口), Inner Mongolia; Lankao (兰考), Henan; and Changyi (昌邑), Shandong — and achieved a series of landmark results. The meeting reported that the various project sites, through the integrated promotion of technical models such as grain-forage rotation, water-efficient grass cultivation, grass increase and grain savings, and grass-livestock matching, have increased the supply of high-quality forage while effectively improving soil quality, enhancing grain production potential, reducing costs and increasing efficiency in cattle and sheep breeding, and promoting the coordinated advancement of ecological protection and grassland-livestock industry development.

In Lankao, the local government promoted the "3-year alfalfa + 2-year wheat" grain-forage rotation technique, using alfalfa to improve mildly saline-alkali low-yield fields; after rotation, wheat yield per mu increased from 250 kilograms to 400 kilograms. In Huangyuan, using the yak grass-increase and grain-saving breeding technique, a mixed silage of forage oat and forage pea partially replaced concentrate feed; under 130 days of confined feeding, net income per yak increased by 350 yuan. In Yuyang, Lankao, and Changyi, through the promotion of an alfalfa pest green prevention and control technical model, chemical pesticide application was reduced by 30%.

Phase II of the project will add nine new project sites on the existing basis, achieving full basin coverage, further integrating grassland and livestock industry technologies, and continuously expanding the technology radiation and driving scope.

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Populations of 19 nationally protected bird species stable or increasing

本报北京7月5日电  （记者董丝雨）记者从国家林草局举行的2026年鸟类保护成果新闻发布会上获悉：全国第二次陆生野生动物资源调查重点物种专项调查结果数据显示，朱鹮、黑脸琵鹭、遗鸥、黑嘴鸥、黑琴鸡、褐马鸡、灰孔雀雉、冠斑犀鸟等19种国家重点保护鸟类种群呈稳定或增长态势。2025年完成的全国青头潜鸭越冬同步调查结果显示，我国青头潜鸭种群数量达2555只，与2012年的1000只相比实现倍增；蓝冠噪鹛由2024年的550只增加至660只左右，绿孔雀则增长至超过1000只。
　　鸟类是自然生态系统的重要组成部分。保护鸟类资源，是建设生态文明的重要内容，也是维护生物多样性、守护地球生命共同体(Building a Community of Life on Earth)的重要举措。
　　“我国是世界上鸟类资源最为丰富的国家之一，现有鸟类1505种，约占世界鸟类总种数的1/6。我国也是全球候鸟跨境迁飞的重要通道，全球九大候鸟迁飞通道中，有4条途经我国。”国家林草局野生动植物保护司司长王维胜介绍，近年来，我国陆续推出一系列强有力的保护管理举措。2022年修订通过野生动物保护法；先后于2021年、2023年调整发布《国家重点保护野生动物名录》《有重要生态、科学、社会价值的陆生野生动物名录》，将国家重点保护鸟类扩大到394种，“三有”鸟类扩大到1028种，98.4%的鸟类被纳入法律保护范围；明确了1140处候鸟迁飞通道重要栖息地，进一步筛选出821处关键栖息地，全面加强保护修复，完善保护监测网络建设，为迁飞、繁殖、越冬等提供良好的生态环境；将朱鹮、绿孔雀、丹顶鹤等14种鸟类纳入“十四五”抢救性保护物种范围，推动将青头潜鸭、东方白鹳等21种鸟类新增纳入“十五五”抢救性保护范围。
　　为严厉打击破坏鸟类资源违法犯罪行为，我国连续6年开展“清风行动”“网盾行动”“春季护鸟专项行动”等，强化多部门联合执法。“特别是自去年9月起，17个部门联合启动了为期3年的全国保护鸟类活动和打击非法捕猎贩卖鸟类专项行动，线上线下协同发力，构建从野外巡护、市场监管到司法追责的全链条监管体系。”王维胜说。
　　系列保护措施取得显著成效。今年开展的越冬水鸟同步监测共记录到越冬水鸟9目19科167种，水鸟总数量达632.4万只，较2016年总数量增长158.9%。
　　“此次越冬水鸟同步监测记录到157种、517.1万只水鸟个体在自然保护地内栖息越冬，占所监测到水鸟物种数的94.0%，占水鸟总数量的81.8%，凸显自然保护地建设对越冬水鸟生存的重要意义。”王维胜表示。此外，还监测到一些罕见的水鸟种类和新分布地，如在甘肃金昌和新疆麦盖提记录到红胸黑雁，在四川西昌邛海和云南昆明滇池记录到细嘴鸥，在广东雷州半岛记录到中华秋沙鸭和遗鸥等。

Beijing, July 5 (Xinhua) — (Reporter Dong Siyu) The reporter learned from the 2026 Bird Protection Achievements Press Conference held by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (国家林草局) that data from the key species special survey of the second national terrestrial wildlife resource survey show that 19 species of nationally key protected birds, including the Crested Ibis, Black-faced Spoonbill, Relict Gull, Saunders's Gull, Black Grouse, Brown Eared Pheasant, Grey Peacock-pheasant, and Oriental Pied Hornbill, are showing stable or increasing populations. The results of the national synchronized wintering survey of the Baer's Pochard completed in 2025 show that the population of Baer's Pochard in China has reached 2,555 individuals, doubling compared to 1,000 in 2012; the Blue-crowned Laughingthrush increased from around 550 in 2024 to about 660, while the Green Peafowl increased to over 1,000 individuals.

Birds are an important component of natural ecosystems. Protecting bird resources is an important part of building an ecological civilization (生态文明) and also an important measure for maintaining biodiversity and safeguarding the community of life on Earth (地球生命共同体).

"China is one of the countries with the richest bird resources in the world, currently having 1,505 species of birds, accounting for about one-sixth of the world's total bird species. China is also an important passage for global migratory bird cross-border migration. Among the nine major global migratory bird flyways, four pass through China," said Wang Weisheng (王维胜), Director of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (野生动植物保护司) of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. In recent years, China has successively introduced a series of strong protection and management measures. In 2022, the Wildlife Protection Law was revised and passed; in 2021 and 2023 respectively, the List of National Key Protected Wild Animals and the List of Terrestrial Wild Animals with Important Ecological, Scientific, and Social Value were adjusted and released, expanding nationally key protected birds to 394 species and "three-has" (有重要生态、科学、社会价值的陆生野生动物) birds to 1,028 species, bringing 98.4% of birds under legal protection; 1,140 important habitats along migratory bird flyways were identified, and 821 key habitats were further selected, comprehensively strengthening protection and restoration, improving the protection monitoring network, and providing good ecological environments for migration, breeding, and wintering; 14 bird species including the Crested Ibis, Green Peafowl, and Red-crowned Crane were included in the "14th Five-Year Plan" rescue protection species scope, and efforts were made to add 21 bird species including the Baer's Pochard and Oriental Stork to the "15th Five-Year Plan" rescue protection scope.

In order to severely crack down on illegal and criminal acts that damage bird resources, China has carried out the "Clear Wind Action," "Net Shield Action," and "Spring Bird Protection Special Action" for six consecutive years, strengthening multi-department joint law enforcement. "Especially since last September, 17 departments jointly launched a three-year nationwide special action to protect bird activities and combat illegal hunting and trafficking of birds, coordinating online and offline efforts to build a full-chain regulatory system from field patrol and market supervision to judicial accountability," Wang Weisheng said.

The series of protection measures have achieved notable results. The synchronized monitoring of wintering waterbirds carried out this year recorded a total of 167 species of wintering waterbirds across 9 orders and 19 families, with the total number of waterbirds reaching 6.324 million individuals, an increase of 158.9% compared to the total number in 2016.

"This synchronized monitoring of wintering waterbirds recorded 157 species and 5.171 million individual waterbirds inhabiting and wintering within nature protected areas, accounting for 94.0% of the monitored waterbird species and 81.8% of the total number of waterbirds, highlighting the important significance of nature protected area construction for the survival of wintering waterbirds," Wang Weisheng stated. In addition, some rare waterbird species and new distribution sites were also monitored, such as the recording of the Red-breasted Goose in Jinchang, Gansu, and Maigaiti, Xinjiang; the Slender-billed Gull in Qionghai, Xichang, Sichuan, and Dianchi Lake, Kunming, Yunnan; and the Chinese Merganser and Relict Gull on the Leizhou Peninsula, Guangdong.

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Zhang Ye, Zhang Xiaoyu, Zhang Yifu (Page Editors)

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Finding Direction for Improvement from Enterprise and Public Feedback (Efficiently Handling One Task at a Time)

By: 本报记者 王崟欣

Staring at the innovation voucher (创新券) that had arrived in his "One-Stop Online Services" (一网通办) account, Wang Jingfang (王靖方), chairman of Shanghai Paihong Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (上海湃鸿生物科技有限公司), immediately dialed the R&D team and said decisively: "Optimize the plan, try it tonight!"

Paihong Biotechnology is an innovative drug R&D enterprise. "Whether the medicine works or not, you only know after testing," Wang said. As a startup, money must be spent where it counts. That day, Wang received a text message reminding him that there was an innovation voucher quota to be withdrawn. Logging into the "One-Stop Online Services" platform, he found that the company account indeed had 300,000 yuan in technology innovation vouchers (科技创新券). "The system matched directly; I never filled out a single application form, never went to a single window," Wang said.

In 2018, Shanghai took the lead in the country in launching the "One-Stop Online Services" reform. In May this year, Shanghai issued the "Shanghai Deepening the 'One-Stop Online Services' Reform – Creating the Best Experience Place for 'Efficiently Accomplishing One Thing' Action Plan" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), promoting the upgrade of "One-Stop Online Services" from ease of handling to smart handling, and clearly stating that the perception of enterprises and the public is the yardstick for testing the effectiveness of the reform. The content of this "Action Plan" is a further optimization of the "One-Stop Online Services" reform, with the optimization direction almost entirely coming from the suggestions and evaluations of enterprises and the public.

The 300,000 yuan innovation voucher that "fell from the sky" for Paihong Biotechnology benefited from the "Application-Free Immediate Enjoyment" (免申即享) reform regarding Shanghai's technology innovation vouchers in the "Action Plan".

The innovation voucher is specifically designed for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting them in purchasing professional services during R&D and encouraging them to dare to try and err. However, some enterprises have reported that the use of innovation vouchers is not convenient enough and the payment is not fast enough.

In response to the problems reported by enterprises, the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission (上海市科委) organized symposiums, distributed questionnaires, and conducted telephone visits to extensively collect evaluation opinions from enterprises and experts. In this process, a batch of common suggestions were compiled:

"Can the application process be more convenient?" "Can the scope of enterprises be larger?" "Can the fund payment be faster?"

............

Combined with Shanghai's requirements for innovation vouchers, the Municipal Science and Technology Commission expanded the scope of innovation vouchers to technology-based SMEs, specialized and sophisticated SMEs that produce novel and unique products (专精特新中小企业), and SMEs among high-tech enterprises, and clarified that "innovation vouchers are meant to be application-free and immediately enjoyed." Zhou Xucheng (周许承), a staff member of the Platform Development Department of the Shanghai R&D Public Service Platform Management Center, said: "To achieve application-free immediate enjoyment, we must first unblock data bottlenecks. The data of these three types of enterprises are scattered among the Science and Technology Commission, the Data Bureau (数据局), the Economic and Information Technology Commission (经信委), and other units."

Shanghai listed "application-free immediate enjoyment" as a key task. The General Office of the Municipal Government (市政府办公厅) took the lead, coordinating multiple departments. In the reform of technology innovation vouchers, the Municipal Development and Reform Commission (Municipal Credit Platform) (市发展改革委（市信用平台）), the Economic and Information Technology Commission, the Bureau of Statistics (统计局), and the Data Bureau joined together. The Municipal Development and Reform Commission (Municipal Credit Platform) assisted in enterprise credit verification, the Economic and Information Technology Commission provided data on specialized and sophisticated SMEs that produce novel and unique products, and the Data Bureau participated in unblocking enterprise legal person data...

On September 1, 2025, Shanghai's technology innovation vouchers achieved application-free immediate enjoyment. "The voucher usage platform was also launched simultaneously, aggregating over 59 types and more than 3,000 service products," introduced Zhai Jinguo (翟金国), Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission. The cycle for voucher payment was also effectively shortened.

As a specialized and sophisticated SME that produces novel and unique products, Paihong Biotechnology, where Wang Jingfang works, was included in the innovation voucher application-free immediate enjoyment library, with an annual quota of 300,000 yuan automatically distributed.

Wang Jingfang opened the "One-Stop Online Services" platform, and the common service providers in the biomedical field were all there. Selecting a testing service worth 200,000 yuan, when Wang placed the order, the system automatically displayed: innovation voucher can offset 100,000 yuan. Wang said: "This not only gives money, but also the courage to try and err." Since the full implementation of application-free immediate enjoyment for innovation vouchers, the amount of vouchers used by enterprises and the amount of support have both reached twice that of the same period last year.

It is not only enterprise matters; a batch of livelihood matters have also achieved application-free immediate enjoyment.

Just after giving birth and arriving at the postpartum care center for only two days, Shanghai resident Yao Menghan (姚梦涵) received a message from "Sui Shen Ban" (随申办, a mobile app for Shanghai government services) reminding her to claim her maternity insurance in time. Yao said: "100,000 yuan, only entered the bank card number throughout."

Like the innovation voucher policy, the optimization reform of maternity insurance also originated from public evaluations: "After the child is born, it is a time when parents are in a flurry; can things be handled more conveniently?"

Based on the evaluated public opinions after research, the Shanghai Municipal Medical Insurance Bureau (上海市医保局) connected information with multiple departments including public security and health, promoting the achievement of application-free immediate enjoyment for maternity insurance. Not only that, Shanghai further launched the integrated processing of "One Thing for Birth" (出生一件事), incorporating a total of 11 items including the issuance of birth medical certificates and the issuance of vaccination certificates. Fu Chen (付晨), Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (上海市卫生健康委), introduced: "Before the reform, 11 items required 14 round trips to different units. Now, at most one trip, or even zero trips, and the process has been compressed from over 20 steps to two steps: application and document collection."

As of now, a total of 826 policy projects at the municipal and district levels in Shanghai have achieved application-free immediate enjoyment, serving enterprises over 7.06 million times, with the proportion of municipal-level policy projects achieving application-free immediate enjoyment reaching 50%.

With the promotion of the integration of the Yangtze River Delta (长三角), can "One-Stop Online Services" become more convenient for residents of the Yangtze River Delta? On May 1, the coordinated legislation for the Yangtze River Delta "One-Stop Online Services" was formally implemented, further promoting the "One-Stop Online Services" of the Yangtze River Delta government services from project coordination to institutional coordination. Currently, over 400 items including "One Thing for Birth", cross-provincial medical treatment record filing, and cross-provincial housing provident fund withdrawal for house purchase have been achieved across provinces in the Yangtze River Delta. At the same time, the "Action Plan" proposes to further expand the application field, launching integrated services for "one category of things" (一类事) such as technological innovation, financial services, industrial chain development, and specific groups, achieving "efficiently handling one category of things" in a larger scope.

The reporter's interview found that the reform not only facilitated enterprises and the public, but the feelings of cadres were also obvious:

"Before the reform, there were many materials, cumbersome review, and verifying the authenticity of materials was also a major problem," said Zhu Nianyi (朱念伊), a staff member of the Pudong New Area Real Estate Registration Affairs Center (浦东新区不动产登记事务中心). "Now the operation process is more simplified, and also safer and more standardized. Data such as ID cards, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and household registration books that were originally scattered among departments such as public security and civil affairs, relying on the big data center to be connected, verification has become a matter for the 'system'." Zhu Nianyi introduced that after the implementation of the "One-Stop Online Services" reform, various business processes are clear and standardized, with full traceability. After submission, the items are automatically processed by the system according to rules and time limits, and the processing information of each link is archived for future reference, allowing the public to check the progress of their affairs in real time. Relying on this operating mechanism, the whole city has unified review standards and completion time limits, and enforcement has become more standardized.

"The biggest change is the work philosophy," said Shi Yi (施毅), Deputy Director of the Registration and Licensing Division of the Shanghai Municipal Market Supervision Administration (上海市市场监管局登记注册处). "We have learned more about the work content and difficulties of other departments, and have begun to think from the overall perspective of optimizing the business environment, and think from the source about how to optimize government services."

The reform is still ongoing. "Shanghai should take the government affairs good and bad evaluation (好差评) work as a lever to improve the sense of experience, ask the people for their needs and advice, and through broader listening to demands and more forceful implementation of rectification, promote service quality improvement and enhance the sense of experience, so that enterprises and the public truly 'willing to evaluate, dare to evaluate, their words are effective, and their evaluations produce results,'" said Zhou Xiaoyan (周小燕), Deputy Director of the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government.

Extension Reading

Shanghai Unified Policy Release Platform Launches Trial Operation

Report from our newspaper Shanghai, July 5 (Reporter Ju Yunpeng (巨云鹏)) The Shanghai Unified Policy Release Platform, built by the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government together with the Municipal Data Bureau and other departments, officially launched trial operation. The platform integrates policy resources across departments, levels, and regions, incorporating nearly 10,000 valid policies published by 770 policy entities in the city. In the future, departments and units at all levels will publish policies in real time on this platform, achieving centralized and unified policy release and "one-stop online inquiry" (一网通查).

The platform not only makes public "big policies" such as plans, guidance, and management measures, but also includes "small policies" of practical types such as application notices and handling rules that are closely related to the needs of enterprises and the public and are high-frequency and rigid needs, ensuring that all useful and practical policies are "uploaded as much as possible" (应上尽上).

The platform strengthens the standardized management of policy interpretation, providing supporting policy Q&A, one-picture understanding, and other interpretation methods according to actual needs, continuously improving the pertinence and practicality of policy interpretation, and striving to make policies "understand at a glance" (一看就懂). The platform also promotes real-time linkage between policy release and policy implementation. For policy documents containing "One-Stop Online Services" items, a unified "read-handle linkage" (阅办联动) icon is set up. When browsing policies, enterprises and the public can jump to the corresponding "One-Stop Online Services" service guide, online application, and policy implementation portal, achieving a one-stop connection of "query policy, understand policy, handle policy" (查政策、懂政策、办政策), and promoting "one click to handle" (一点就办) after reading the policy.

A relevant responsible person from the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government said that the platform has set up a feedback window for questions and suggestions on the homepage. Enterprises and the public can report any opinions, suggestions, and needs at any time during use, and the platform will handle them in a timely manner with relevant departments and units.

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Public Appeals Must Not Only Be "Heard" but Also "Received" (Editor's Note)

By: 赵晓曦

The evaluations and appeals of the masses are the most direct inspection report on government services. In recent years, many departments have broadened the channels for reflecting the masses’ opinions and suggestions, from the “Snap-and-Share” (随手拍) promoted in streets and communities to the “Message Board” opened on government portal websites, actively providing forward-leaning services in the process of observing the people’s conditions and resolving their concerns.

Listening to appeals and evaluations is not the end point, but a direction and opportunity for improving services. The masses’ appeals must “have a place to be voiced,” and even more must “have someone to take them.” Which policy is not smoothly implemented, which link causes the masses to make extra trips, which type of problem is repeatedly complained about… these not only test the cadres’ ability to connect with the masses, but also set higher demands on their ability to solve problems. One must neither treat negative reviews as “white noise” and selectively ignore them, nor treat appeals as “tasks” and respond mechanically.

Efficient and precise response to appeals cannot merely “discuss matters on their own merits” (就事论事 - jiù shì lùn shì - “discuss the matter on its own merits,” to handle issues in isolation without addressing underlying problems), but must ask one more question, think one more level, and be adept at seeing common problems from a single appeal. When the masses point out a service window “queue for one hour, process for five minutes,” on the surface it appears that there are not enough service windows, but behind it, are there data barriers and cumbersome procedures? When an enterprise reports that “subsidy applications are slow and materials are submitted repeatedly,” is it simply a matter of arranging a dedicated specialist to provide assistance and agency services, or should one improve pro-enterprise policies and optimize approval procedures, upgrading “special handling for special cases” (特事特办) into “institutional universal handling”? The answer is self-evident (不言自明 - bù yán zì míng - “it goes without saying,” self-evident).

Treat appeals as clues for improvement, and evaluations as mirrors for correcting deviations. Upon seeing a particular pain point, find similar bottlenecks; do not be satisfied with “having handled it,” but pursue “having handled it well” — only then can services be upgraded, processes optimized, and matters handled properly.

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Accelerating Innovation Integration to Cultivate Momentum for Future Industries

By: 本报记者 田先进 窦 皓

Cultivating and developing future industries is a key measure for developing new quality productive forces, building a modern industrial system, and seizing the initiative in international competition. Currently, various localities are accelerating their布局 (bù jú - "layout, deployment") around new tracks such as future energy, quantum technology, embodied intelligence, biomanufacturing, and low-altitude economy, and the role of enterprises as the main body of innovation is becoming increasingly prominent.

Entrusted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Gao Yunlong, Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, led a research group to conduct a key investigation and research in Anhui, Zhejiang, and other places, focusing on the theme of "accelerating innovation integration and giving full play to the leading role of enterprises in developing future industries."

Systematically master the latest dynamics of the engineering and industrialization of cutting-edge technologies

The research group went deep into grassroots sites to understand the development situation, main advantages and potential, and development demands of relevant enterprises in the field of future industries. At the same time, they delved into scientific research institutes and science and technology service institutions, financial investment institutions, industrial parks and public service institutions, relevant government departments, and relevant industry organizations to ascertain the current situation and understand the situation.

At Origin Quantum Computing Technology (Hefei) Co., Ltd. (本源量子计算科技（合肥）股份有限公司) located in Anhui, the research group learned that the "Origin Wukong" (本源悟空) 72-bit superconducting quantum computer launched by the enterprise has provided quantum computing power services to 163 countries and regions around the world, achieving quantum computing power exports, undertaking a number of major scientific research projects, and driving the industrial chain to break through "bottleneck" (卡脖子) technologies.

The Wuhu Humanoid Robot and Intelligent Robot Future Industry Pilot Zone has formed a robot body and key component enterprise cluster with multiple enterprises as the leaders, integrating a full industrial chain encompassing robot core components, industrial robots, and service robots. At Eft Intelligent Robot Co., Ltd. (埃夫特智能机器人股份有限公司), the research group learned about relevant products and scenario applications.

The research group also went to Zhejiang, successively conducting inspections in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, Jinhua, and other places. At the Hangzhou Embodied Intelligence Exhibition and Application Promotion Center, multiple humanoid robots were selling goods, practicing boxing, and playing chess, vividly demonstrating the path from laboratory to commercialization. At Zhejiang Lab (之江实验室), the research group learned about the in-orbit operation of 12 computing satellites and the in-orbit deployment verification of artificial intelligence models through the "Three-Body Computing Constellation" (三体计算星座) command center. At Shaoxing Xinlian Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (绍兴芯联集成电路制造股份有限公司) and the Shaoxing Low-Altitude Economy Comprehensive Service Center, the research group learned about the construction of the integrated circuit manufacturing and low-altitude flight service guarantee systems, respectively.

The research group walked, observed, and inquired along the way, learning in detail about the development situation, main advantages and potential, and development demands of relevant enterprises, and systematically grasping the latest dynamics of the engineering and industrialization of cutting-edge technologies.

Identify prominent problems that restrict enterprises from playing a leading role

"What major risks do future industries face in terms of technological breakthroughs, market applications, capital investment, and other aspects?" "How is the support and implementation of government procurement and state-owned enterprise procurement for innovative products?" ... The research group deeply understood the situation of enterprises playing a leading role in the development of future industries, summarized a number of good experiences and good practices of private enterprises in laying out future industries, promoting innovation integration, and leading industrial transformation, and identified deep-seated obstacles and prominent problems that restrict enterprises from playing a leading role.

Regarding the implementation of application scenarios, at Fusion New Energy (Anhui) Co., Ltd. (聚变新能（安徽）有限公司), the research group listened to the introduction of the "experimental device - engineering reactor - commercial reactor" strategy, inspected the latest progress of nuclear fusion energy moving from the laboratory to the application field, and expressed concern about the enterprise's working mechanism of "laying eggs along the way, transforming on the spot" (沿途下蛋、就地转化).

The unsound capital investment and risk-sharing mechanism is a prominent shortcoming that restricts enterprises from exploring diversified technology routes. "In response to the characteristics of future industry enterprises having light assets and lacking collateral, we have promoted banks to innovate service models, launching full-life-cycle credit products from 'concept verification loans' in the start-up period, 'pilot test loans' in the growth period, to 'merger and acquisition loans' in the maturity period." At the symposium held in Hangzhou, the relevant responsible person from the Financial Office of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China stated that the Zhejiang financial system is building a diversified and collaborative financial service system to fully support enterprises in playing an innovative leading role in future industries.

This research focuses on the industrial transformation link, centering on the deep integration of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain, with a focus on understanding the practices, effectiveness, difficulties, challenges, demands, and suggestions of enterprises in exploring diversified technology routes, discovering typical application scenarios, shaping feasible business models, and promoting the industrialization and implementation of technologies.

Smooth the integration channels of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain

In response to the problems discovered during the research, the research group held multiple symposiums in Hefei, Hangzhou, and other places, conducted in-depth exchanges with responsible persons of relevant functional departments, private entrepreneurs, and chamber of commerce representatives, systematically understood the measures, effectiveness, and existing problems of the two places in accelerating integrated innovation and giving full play to the leading role of enterprises, and fully utilized methods such as online questionnaire surveys to conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis of the problems and suggestions raised by enterprises.

The research group believes that the layout of future industries in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces is accelerating, hardcore technologies are making breakthroughs at an accelerated pace, the main role of enterprises is becoming increasingly prominent, and a number of local leading enterprises and specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative (专精特新) science and technology enterprises are emerging. From the world-leading quantum precision measurement to the breaking of international monopolies in bio-based materials, from the implementation of embodied intelligence scenarios to the domestic breakthrough of hydrogen energy equipment, enterprises are becoming the core force driving the development of future industries.

The research group suggests that it is necessary to base on the regional industrial foundation and the development advantages of the private economy, gather the joint forces of the government, enterprises, scientific research institutions, financial institutions, etc., and seize the innovation window period. It is necessary to strengthen the dominant position of enterprise innovation, take market demand as the guide, scientifically lay out industries, rely on precise government services, and optimize the innovation ecology; it is necessary to innovate support methods, elevating the construction and operation of strategic public infrastructure to the height of industrial ecosystem cultivation; it is necessary to improve the talent introduction and cultivation mechanism, support leading enterprises to deeply co-build characteristic majors with universities, carry out order-based training, and promote the establishment of a talent sharing mechanism between state-owned enterprises, universities and research institutes, and private enterprises; it is necessary to optimize regulatory governance, accelerate the establishment and improvement of standards, testing, and certification systems in fields such as bio-based materials and low-altitude economy, and establish a risk early warning platform for international trade frictions and intellectual property rights in future industries, providing comprehensive support for enterprises to cope with unfair competition overseas.

The research group pointed out that developing future industries must adhere to the combination of an effective market and a competent government. The government must be a forward-looking planner, a builder of the industrial ecosystem, and a tolerant and prudent escort, fully stimulating the innovation vitality of enterprises. It is necessary to address the practical obstacles faced by enterprises in terms of market access, scenario opening, pilot testing and maturation, talent introduction and cultivation, further deepen the reform of systems and mechanisms, optimize policy supply, and smooth the integration channels of the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain.

The research group stated that enterprises are the main body of scientific and technological innovation, and are also the key force in developing future industries. The research group will carefully sort out the good experiences and good practices discovered during this research, deeply analyze the deep-seated obstacles and prominent problems reflected by enterprises, study and propose targeted countermeasures and suggestions, and contribute to promoting the continuous improvement and development of future industries and accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system.

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"With their guardianship, we feel at ease."

By: 本报记者 冯学知 任彤彤

On the morning of July 4, the sea breeze over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour was cool. The navy ships Nanning (南宁舰) and Hengyang (衡阳舰), moored at the Ngong Shuen Chau military port (昂船洲军营码头) of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison, welcomed their second public open day in Hong Kong.

Around 9 a.m., the entrance of the Ngong Shuen Chau barracks was 车水马龙 (chē shuǐ mǎ lóng - "carriages like water, horses like dragons," heavy traffic). The temporary bus route 6R, carrying visiting citizens, pulled over at the roadside, and people alighted one after another. At the entrance, PLA soldiers warmly guided the crowd in and reminded them of safety instructions.

From the largest-caliber naval gun currently in active service in the country, to the 64-cell universal vertical launch system, to the Z-9 shipborne helicopter… Boarding the Nanning, people followed the guide of the navy soldiers, walking from bow to stern, occasionally exclaiming in admiration. An elderly man excitedly shouted, "The motherland loves me, I love the motherland."

A Z-9 helicopter stood on the flight deck, drawing the gaze of every visitor. An elderly couple from Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, enthusiastically held up their phones, taking photos of the helicopter from every angle. The elderly gentleman told reporters: "Our warship and helicopter are very beautiful, and the PLA soldiers are all very warm."

Inside the cabin, a chart of the Nanning's track since its commissioning five years ago was displayed. Because the Nanning's track covers all three oceans, totaling enough distance to circle the Earth's equator 11 times, it has been affectionately called the "Sea Full-Attendance King" by netizens. As a petty officer on the Nanning, Chen Yufei (陈宇菲) has accompanied the ship multiple times on important missions such as escort missions in the Gulf of Aden. Chen Yufei said this was her first time in Hong Kong, and seeing so many citizens arriving with enthusiasm, with whole families coming to visit, deeply moved her.

Descending the gangway from the Nanning, citizen Ms. Zhou was having her photo taken with a navy soldier, leading her daughter. In an interview with reporters, Ms. Zhou said this visit made her truly feel the rapid development of the country. She deliberately brought her daughter, who is in primary school, along in order to cultivate patriotic feelings.

Besides boarding the ships, the open day also featured interactive exchange activities such as military experiences, training demonstrations, and cultural performances, along with corresponding souvenirs. University students in Hong Kong, Yan (闫同学) and Fan (范同学), were 爱不释手 (ài bù shì shǒu - "love it so much they can't bear to put it down") with the exquisite fridge magnets and bookmarks they received. Yan said that during the visit they saw the PLA soldiers' professional excellence, and "with their protection, we feel very reassured." Liang Qiurui (梁秋瑞), an officer on the Hengyang, introduced: "This open day emphasizes immersive ship viewing and interactive experiences. We have opened weapons platforms such as the main gun and vertical launch system. Many young students took the initiative to ask about basic ship knowledge and learn about the officers' and soldiers' life at sea, and some even expressed a longing and aspiration to join the navy."

"Singing for our beloved motherland, from now on toward prosperity and strength…" During the flash mob segment of songs and dances, officers, soldiers, and citizens sang classic songs such as Ode to the Motherland and Night of the Military Port together, waving five-star red flags as the clear melody drifted over the harbour.

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本版责编：季健明 李佩阳 迟嘉瑞

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Do These Body Signals Really Indicate Disease? (Service Window)

By: 本报记者 王美华

The topic “The ends of the fingers become thicker and rounder, like drumsticks—is there a problem with the heart?” has sparked heated discussion online. There are many similar topics: “Blue or purple lips may indicate a bad heart,” “A crease on the earlobe means beware of coronary heart disease,” “Fewer nail moons means insufficient qi and blood”… Do these claims have a medical basis? Do bodily surface signals truly predict disease?

Determining a bad heart solely by blue lips is too one-sided
If accompanied by chest tightness, chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, blackouts, etc., seek medical attention promptly

Reporter: Some people say that blue lips mean a bad heart. Is this claim scientific?

Hu Rong (胡荣), Director of the Health Management Center and Chief Physician of the Cardiology Department at Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University: This claim is not comprehensive; blue lips need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.

First, there are physiological factors. Some people naturally have darker lip color, which is a normal individual difference and unrelated to disease. In addition, in cold environments, constriction of the lip capillaries and slowing of blood flow may cause temporary blueness, which usually resolves on its own after warming. In high-altitude areas, thin oxygen can cause systemic hypoxia leading to blue lip color, which may recover after leaving the hypoxic environment.

Second, there are pathological factors. Blue lips are medically called “cyanosis of the lips” (口唇发绀), often a signal of body hypoxia, commonly involving heart and lung diseases. Regarding heart diseases, it is often seen in congenital heart disease (e.g., tetralogy of Fallot), heart failure, etc., where abnormal shunting or insufficient pumping leads to inadequate blood oxygenation and cyanosis. Regarding lung diseases, such as pulmonary embolism, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), severe pneumonia, etc., all seriously affect lung ventilation function, leading to insufficient blood oxygen and causing blue lips. Regarding the blood system, it is commonly seen in abnormal hemoglobinopathies, such as methemoglobinemia caused by accidental ingestion of industrial salt, which causes hemoglobin to lose its oxygen-carrying capacity, resulting in tissue hypoxia and cyanosis.

Therefore, concluding that the heart is bad solely based on blue lips is too one-sided and requires comprehensive judgment.

Reporter: From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), what does blue lips mainly reflect? How to distinguish whether it is a normal phenomenon or a pathological signal?

Huang Ye (黄烨), Director of the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit, and Chief Physician at Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences: TCM believes that bluish-purple, dull lip color reflects poor flow of qi and blood. In terms of visceral attribution, blue lips are closely related to dysfunction of the heart and lungs. TCM holds that “the heart governs blood vessels” and “the lungs govern qi and manage respiration”; dysfunction of the heart and lungs directly leads to blood stasis and qi stagnation, which manifests as bluish-purple lip color.

In daily life, a simple distinction can be made by two points: if the lips are naturally darker, the oral mucosa and nail beds are ruddy, and the body has no discomfort, it is mostly a normal constitutional difference or a physiological response, no need for concern; if the lip blueness persists and is accompanied by chest tightness, chest pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, blackouts, etc., it may be a pathological condition and medical attention should be sought promptly.

Reporter: Under what circumstances is further examination needed? What specific examinations should be performed?

Wang Zhiyi (王志翊), Director of the General Practice Department and Chief Physician at Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua University: After excluding physiological factors, if the cyanosis of the lips persists and is accompanied by symptoms such as chest tightness and shortness of breath after activity, palpitations, dizziness, fatigue, cough, lower limb edema, waking up at night due to breathlessness, etc., one should promptly visit the cardiology or respiratory department.

Earlobe crease does not equal having cardiovascular disease
Mostly suggests poor flow of qi and blood, related to dysfunction of the heart and kidney organs

Reporter: Is there a relationship between an earlobe crease and cardiovascular disease? Which people with an earlobe crease should be alert? What examinations are recommended?

Wang Zhiyi: A deep diagonal crease on the earlobe, approximately 45 degrees, extending from the tragus backward and downward to the edge of the earlobe, is medically called “Frank’s sign” (earlobe crease sign). Studies have found it has a certain correlation with cardiovascular disease, possibly related to systemic atherosclerosis, but it cannot serve as a diagnostic criterion, only as a reference clue. Earlobe creases may also originate from congenital factors, aging, weight loss, or long-term side sleeping, etc.; such creases are usually shallow, irregular in shape, and are physiological folds. Therefore, having a crease does not equal having cardiovascular disease.

The key to assessing risk lies in whether cardiovascular risk factors are present, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, obesity, smoking and other unhealthy lifestyles, and a family history of premature coronary heart disease (first-degree relatives with diagnosed coronary heart disease in men <55 years old, women <65 years old), etc. For middle-aged and elderly people or those who already have the “three highs” (hypertension, hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia), if a typical Frank’s sign appears, attention should be paid.

If there is an earlobe crease combined with multiple of the above risk factors, and symptoms such as chest tightness and chest pain occur during daily activities (e.g., brisk walking, climbing stairs), one should seek medical attention promptly, check blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood glucose, and if necessary, complete examinations such as electrocardiogram, carotid ultrasound, or coronary CT angiography to comprehensively assess cardiovascular disease risk. Conversely, if there are no risk factors and no abnormal sensations, there is no need to worry; simply maintain a healthy lifestyle and have regular check-ups.

Reporter: How does TCM view the relationship between the ear and physical health? What other details on the ear can reflect health?

Huang Ye: TCM believes that “the ear is where all the meridians converge,” and the ear is closely connected to the five zang and six fu organs. A distinct earlobe crease mostly suggests poor flow of qi and blood, related to dysfunction of the heart and kidney organs. If there are bilateral earlobe creases combined with the aforementioned risk factors, and accompanied by discomfort such as palpitations, chest tightness, shortness of breath, further medical examination is needed.

There are other health signals on the ear, such as dry, dull helix accompanied by tinnitus, soreness and weakness of the lower back and knees, suggesting possible deficiency of kidney essence; overall or local bluish color of the auricle mostly indicates cold syndrome or blood stasis in the body; tender points or local nodules on the ear may reflect dysfunction of corresponding organs. These can all be used as references for daily health observation, but cannot replace professional medical diagnosis. If accompanied by obvious discomfort, such as severe ear pain, sudden hearing loss, chest tightness, palpitations, etc., one should promptly seek medical attention to clarify the cause.

The size and number of nail moons vary from person to person
Significant changes within a short period warrant vigilance

Reporter: What are the nail moons? Is it normal for the moons to become smaller?

Wang Zhiyi: The nail moon, scientifically called the “lunula” (甲半月), is the newly formed, not yet fully keratinized part of the nail at the base. The size and number of moons vary from person to person; as long as they remain stable over the long term and the body has no discomfort, it is normal.

If the moons undergo significant changes within a short period, vigilance is required: a marked reduction or disappearance of the moons may be related to thyroid dysfunction, malnutrition, or certain consumptive diseases; reddening of the moons requires vigilance for hyperthyroidism or connective tissue diseases; bluish discoloration may be related to hypoxia or cardiovascular issues. If accompanied by symptoms such as fatigue, significant weight changes, intolerance to cold or heat, palpitations, shortness of breath, one can go to a general practice or dermatology department for a complete blood count, thyroid function tests, serum ferritin, liver and kidney function tests, etc., and if necessary, add cardiac ultrasound, autoantibody tests, etc.

Reporter: How does TCM view nail moons? What does a smaller, paler moon indicate?

Huang Ye: TCM believes that “the nails are the surplus of the sinews and the external sign of the liver.” The growth and gloss of the nails depend on nourishment by liver blood and the warming and propelling effect of yang qi. When liver blood is sufficient and yang qi flows smoothly, the moons are moderately white and moist; when liver blood is deficient and yang qi is insufficient, the moons tend to become smaller, paler, and even disappear. If the moons suddenly disappear or are accompanied by dry, brittle nails that crack easily, it mostly suggests insufficiency of qi and blood. One can adjust sleep patterns, avoid staying up late which depletes liver blood, and consume nourishing foods such as angelica, red date, and longan porridge, or wolfberry and pork liver soup to supplement blood.

Reporter: What other features of the nails and fingers are worth noting? What problems do they indicate respectively?

Hu Rong: Pale nail color may suggest anemia; a blood test can be done. Clubbing fingers (finger ends enlarged like drumsticks) indicates long-term hypoxia, commonly seen in chronic cardiopulmonary diseases such as cor pulmonale. If fingers are persistently cold, it indicates poor peripheral circulation.

A single signal usually does not have decisive significance
Self-check can be done from 5 aspects

Reporter: Are there any simple, easy health self-check methods suitable for home operation?

Wang Zhiyi: One can self-check from 5 aspects:

Diligently observe: Every morning while washing up, observe lip color, eyelids, and skin color.

Count the heartbeat: At rest, feel the radial artery at the wrist; normal pulse is 60–100 beats per minute; note whether it is regular.

Measure blood pressure: Keep an upper-arm electronic blood pressure monitor at home and monitor blood pressure regularly.

Check stool: Pay attention to bowel regularity; if black stools or blood in the stool occurs, be alert for digestive tract issues.

Monitor body weight: Unexplained weight change of more than 5% within one month may indicate occult disease.

Reporter: Some netizens tend to match bodily surface abnormalities with diseases and become overly anxious. How should we correctly view bodily surface abnormalities?

Wang Zhiyi: Bodily surface abnormalities are only reference clues and cannot replace professional diagnosis. The following 3 aspects can be considered regarding bodily surface abnormalities:

Normal mind, dynamic view: A single signal usually does not have decisive significance; the key is whether multiple signals appear simultaneously, or whether the sign has undergone drastic changes within a short period.

Diligently record, good for seeking medical care: Once an abnormality is noticed, record the time of onset, specific accompanying symptoms, and factors that worsen or alleviate it. This is crucial for doctors to judge the condition.

Trust science, early screening: Instead of worrying about certain bodily surface features, it is better to have regular health check-ups and continuously monitor indicators such as blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood glucose.

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Three Dives to Rescue Trapped Driver from Sinking Car

By: 本报记者 尹晓宇

On the morning of June 27, Tang Yan (唐燕) was driving as usual on Provincial Highway 239 in Liyang (溧阳), Changzhou, Jiangsu. As a specimen courier for a partner unit of Liyang People's Hospital (溧阳市人民医院), she was transporting specimens from a town hospital to the city hospital. When she reached the T-junction at the 66-kilometer mark of Provincial Highway 239 and was about to turn right, she noticed a car going straight had crashed into a utility pole, and there were many broken fragments on the road. Following these fragments to look ahead to the right, Tang Yan discovered a car overturned in a scenic river. It turned out that after a rear-end collision between two vehicles, the front vehicle lost control, careened off the road, and plunged headfirst into the river next to the road. Tang Yan had just learned to swim last year. Without time to think further, she parked her car and immediately jumped into the scenic river. "The water wasn't deep, about up to my chest," Tang Yan recalled. After Tang Yan entered the water, citizen Xia Yude (夏玉德) quickly followed her in. He was also driving past the accident scene and immediately called 110 to report after seeing the submerged vehicle. Tang Yan told reporters that she thought there must be someone in the driver's seat, so she pulled hard on the car door. But because there was mud in the water, it took great effort to open the door just a small crack. She reached her arm in and felt around, and immediately touched a foot. She and Xia Yude tried to open the door a bit more, but failed. Seeing people watching from the shore, Tang Yan immediately shouted, "The water isn't deep, everyone can come down and help!" Citizens Tan Zhiyun (谈志云), Yan He (严合), and Rao Guoqiang (饶国强) entered the water one after another. Everyone wanted to pull the person in the water out together, but the seatbelt was stuck tight, and they couldn't release it while standing in the water; it required getting into the driver's cabin. Someone asked, "Who can swim?" Tang Yan loudly said, "I can swim, I'll do it!" Tang Yan dove underwater twice in a row but couldn't unbuckle the seatbelt, and her strength was gradually waning. "I must unbuckle the seatbelt, I must get the person out," Tang Yan steadied herself, took a deep breath, and dove into the water once more, groping desperately in the cramped interior of the car. "Underwater I already felt chest tightness, but I just kept thinking about holding on a little longer." Supported by this conviction, Tang Yan struggled to get closer to where the seatbelt was, and this time, she succeeded in unbuckling it. "I pushed from inside the car while the people outside pulled, and together we rescued the person in the water from the car and carried them to shore." From the time Tang Yan entered the water to the time the person was brought ashore, it took less than four minutes. Tang Yan breathed a slight sigh of relief, but she did not immediately go ashore. Instead, she went to the passenger seat to check whether there was anyone else, and only after confirming there were no other persons in the water did she go ashore. On shore, Xia Yude began performing chest compressions on the person rescued, and Tang Yan gave rescue breathing. Soon, some foam came out of the person's mouth and nose. After cleaning it, everyone continued taking turns performing CPR on the person. At this point, Yao Guodong (姚国东), who was driving by, also joined the rescue effort. The rescued person's complexion slowly changed from purple to white. Tang Yan saw that his eyes opened slightly and he resumed spontaneous breathing. Everyone's tense hearts finally relaxed. After traffic police arrived at the scene, the person rescued was taken to the hospital for treatment. Tang Yan tidied up and continued to deliver specimens. The Liyang Public Security Bureau (溧阳市公安局) immediately visited the scene to gather evidence, investigated and verified, and in accordance with laws and regulations completed the confirmation of an act of bravery for a just cause (见义勇为) for Tang Yan and five others. The Changzhou and Liyang Foundations for Acts of Bravery for a Just Cause (常州市、溧阳市见义勇为基金会) swiftly responded and simultaneously activated the city-wide unified rapid response mechanism. On July 1, the Liyang Foundation for Acts of Bravery for a Just Cause paid a visit of sympathy and encouragement to Tang Yan. This was not the first time Tang Yan had saved someone. A few years ago, she had rescued a young woman who suddenly fainted. Because of that experience, the rescued young woman obtained a Red Cross First Aid Certificate, hoping that she too could reach out to help when others are in danger. It is understood that the rescued person is still in the hospital receiving treatment. "So many people worked hard to save him; I hope he recovers soon," Tang Yan said.

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Care for outdoor workers

In many places in the north, high temperatures persist, and numerous cities have launched diverse forms of services, stocked heatstroke prevention and cooling supplies, and provided heat shelters and heat prevention facilities, bringing coolness to the vast number of outdoor workers.

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China has built 540 "seafarer service stations"

This newspaper, Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Han Xin (韩鑫)) — The reporter learned from the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport (交通运输部海事局) that China has built 97 seafarer rights protection centers (船员权益保障中心) and 540 seafarer stations (船员驿站), and more than 1,380 port areas and docks have further provided convenience services by issuing seafarer entry and exit service guides, opening seafarer buses, installing smart locker cabinets, and other means.

As of the end of 2025, the total number of registered seafarers in China is over 2.08 million, including 990,000 sea-going seafarers and 1.09 million inland waterway seafarers. In recent years, the Ministry of Transport has accelerated the network of service sites, solidly and effectively safeguarding seafarer rights. The “Maritime Pass APP” (海事通APP) seafarer service map function has been officially launched, enabling one-click inquiry and smart navigation of thousands of service points nationwide, including seafarer government service stations, seafarer stations, training institutions, medical examination institutions, and others, effectively bridging the “last mile” of seafarer services. By 2027, the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport will promote the establishment of seafarer rights protection centers in all prefecture-level cities or branch locations under the jurisdiction of its directly affiliated maritime safety administrations.

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Guangxi weaves a tighter mental health safety net for the elderly

Our newspaper Nanning, July 5 (Reporter Zhang Yunhe (张云河)). The reporter learned from the Health Commission of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区卫生健康委) that: Guangxi has in recent years deeply implemented the national strategy for actively responding to population aging, and vigorously carried out the elderly care action. It has coordinated the promotion of multiple special actions including elderly oral health, nutritional improvement, psychological care, and palliative care, among which the elderly psychological care project has achieved full coverage of all 111 counties (cities, districts) in Guangxi.

Guangxi has continuously expanded the scope of the elderly psychological care project, adding 41 new national elderly psychological care service project sites in 2025, initially building a psychological care service network that is “vertical to the bottom, horizontal to the edge.” It has innovatively established a full-chain service mechanism of “screening and assessment — graded intervention — follow-up and tracking,” providing personalized services such as emotional counseling, psychological comfort, and crisis intervention for the elderly, effectively alleviating psychological problems such as loneliness and anxiety in old age, and weaving a dense “protective net” for elderly mental health.

Guangxi has set up 127 elderly psychological care sites, providing mental health services to a total of 34,000 elderly people.

As of the end of 2025, Guangxi’s population aged 60 and above has reached 10.19 million, accounting for 20.42% of the permanent resident population, entering a moderately aging society. Facing the new situation of aging development, Guangxi continues to consolidate the construction of the elderly health service system, and through multiple measures such as holding “Elderly Health Publicity Week” (老年健康宣传周) and “Respect the Elderly Month” (敬老月) activities, it improves the health literacy of the elderly.

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Youth Employment Service Campaign Launched for College Graduates and Young People

The Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Qiu Chaoyi (邱超奕)) — The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (人力资源社会保障部) recently issued a notice, deploying and launching the 2026 Employment Service Campaign for College Graduates and Other Young People. The campaign, under the theme "Services Never Cease, Campaigns Promote Employment," targets 2026 graduates who have left school and are not employed and registered unemployed young people, providing comprehensive employment services such as real-name registration, career guidance, capacity enhancement, recruitment matching, difficulty assistance, and rights protection. The campaign will run from July through December.

The notice clearly states that employment service channels will be made public early, and "five lists" will be rolled out: a list of employment and entrepreneurship policies, a list of employment and entrepreneurship service projects, a list of service institution directories, a list of avenues for seeking help, and a list of recruitment channels. It will refine handling services such as job registration, subsidy applications, and file transfers, and promote the efficient handling of "one-stop" services for individual entrepreneurship and employee recruitment, so that college graduates and other young people can enjoy convenient and efficient services.

Employment assistance will be fully implemented, with concentrated assistance provided to unemployed college graduates and registered unemployed young people, generally offering at least one policy briefing, one career guidance, three job referrals, and one skills training or employment internship opportunity. Ensure bottom-line assistance for graduates facing difficulties, organize Party members, cadres, and service institutions to pair up "one-on-one" with these graduates, give priority to pushing high-quality job information, give priority to organizing training internships, and give priority to providing career guidance. Strengthen the responsibility of public employment services at the place of habitual residence, and provide equal employment services for college graduates and other young people who are non-local household registrants seeking employment.

Implement the Youth Skills Enhancement Action, advance the Million Employment Trainee Position Development Plan (百万就业见习岗位开发计划), promote pilot areas to carry out college student science and technology internships, organize employment training activities, enhance young people's practical abilities, and help young people integrate into the workplace and find jobs as soon as possible.

Intensively hold activities such as the Hundred-Day Ten-Thousand Recruitment (百日千万招聘), the National City Joint Recruitment Autumn Special Session, the Golden Autumn Recruitment Month (金秋招聘月), and the Human Resources Market College Graduate Employment Service Special Action. Encourage and support local governments to flexibly hold regional, specialized, small-scale recruitment activities that are "small yet fine" and "specialized yet refined," support the application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence in job-seeking and recruitment scenarios, increase efforts in live-streamed job promotion, and improve the effectiveness of activities.

Strengthen employment safety education, increase efforts to prevent telecommunications fraud, promptly issue warnings about recruitment traps, continuously regulate the order of the human resources market, strengthen market supervision and law enforcement, keep complaint and reporting channels unblocked, effectively protect the legitimate employment rights and interests of college graduates and other young people, and guide them to establish new concepts of employment and career selection.

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Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Third Vocational Skills Competition Opens

Ordos, July 5 (Our correspondent Zhao Jingfeng) — The Third Vocational Skills Competition of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region recently officially began in Ordos. Adhering to the principles of "open, fair, green, and clean," the competition concurrently holds two events: the "Create Win Future" 2026 Entrepreneurship Competition Inner Mongolia Selection and the Fourth Specialized Business Competition of Public Employment Services of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Through promoting learning through competition, promoting training through competition, promoting evaluation through competition, and promoting construction through competition, it guides more workers onto the path of becoming skilled talents and serving the country through skills.

This competition scientifically arranges its competition projects in response to the development needs of new quality productive forces, promoting the organic integration of traditional techniques with cutting-edge technology, and local characteristic industries with future emerging tracks. The competition sets up tracks related to the low-altitude economy, incorporating emerging occupations such as drone assembly, adjustment, and maintenance, and drone operation (plant protection) into the competition system. Focusing on rural revitalization and the development of characteristic industries, it sets up nine autonomous-region-level characteristic industry projects, including milk tea making and ethnic costume making. Centering on areas such as advanced manufacturing, information and communication, and intelligent operation and maintenance, it sets up competition events such as industrial robot system operation and maintenance, and artificial intelligence engineering technology, pushing the skill capability system of talent toward digitalization and intelligence, and aligning with the demand for composite technical-skilled talents in industrial transformation and upgrading.

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Tang Tianyi, Fu Mingli, Liu Zihe

Graphics for this edition: Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰)

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China Developing Planetary Defense System Against Asteroids

By: 本报记者 李君强

On June 30, 1908, an object about 50 meters in diameter exploded over the Tunguska region of Siberia, Russia, instantly destroying more than 2,000 square kilometers of forest. To commemorate this startling small-body impact event, the United Nations adopted a resolution in 2016 designating June 30 as International Asteroid Day.
As of June this year, more than 40,000 near-Earth asteroids have been discovered and catalogued worldwide. “Although no asteroid has been found that will definitely hit Earth in the foreseeable future, we must not be careless about the risk of impact, nor should we be overly anxious,” said Li Mingtao (李明涛), chief scientist of the Asteroid Monitoring and Early Warning Research Center of the National Space Administration (国家航天局小行星监测预警研究中心).
Li Mingtao explained that the world’s major spacefaring nations are continuously enhancing their asteroid monitoring and early warning capabilities. As a responsible spacefaring country, China is now developing an asteroid defense system.
China’s asteroid defense system will include an integrated space-ground monitoring and early warning network (天地一体化监测预警网络) as an important component. On the ground, excellent site locations will be selected to establish multiple large-aperture optical telescopes, forming a geographically well-balanced ground-based monitoring system that achieves long-range vision, broad coverage, and accurate measurement. In space, a space-based monitoring constellation will be deployed, sending telescopes into orbit to avoid atmospheric interference and the day-night alternation limit, with a focus on addressing threats from the direction of the Sun. Coordinated space-ground operations will enable continuous day-and-night observation.
In the view of experts, regarding the risk of “hitting Earth,” the more noteworthy concern is the near-Earth asteroids that have not yet been discovered.
For near-Earth asteroids larger than 1 kilometer in diameter that could trigger global catastrophe, it is estimated that over 95% have been discovered, and none of them poses any possibility of hitting Earth in the next hundred years. For near-Earth asteroids about 140 meters in diameter that could destroy a small or medium-sized country, only about 45% are estimated to have been discovered. For asteroids tens of meters in diameter, the discovery rate is even lower. “They are extremely numerous, very faint before they approach, and may even suddenly bear down from the direction of the Sun,” Li Mingtao said. “That is precisely why the world is accelerating efforts to build near-Earth asteroid monitoring and early warning capabilities, so as to establish dossiers for these asteroids as soon as possible.”
Recently, fireball meteors (火流星) have often been mentioned in the media. A fireball meteor is essentially an airburst phenomenon caused when a meter-sized or sub-meter-sized fragment of a near-Earth asteroid enters the atmosphere, accompanied by a relatively bright flash and an explosive sound. “Because of their small size, it is currently difficult to achieve effective early warning for fireball meteor events. The vast majority of fireball meteors burn up completely in the atmosphere, and since 70% of Earth’s surface is ocean, along with vast uninhabited areas, fireball meteor events generally do not cause damage to life or property on the ground,” Li Mingtao said.
At present, the means of preventing asteroids from hitting Earth can be divided into two main categories.
The first category is instantaneous-action deflection technology, which applies kinetic energy to an asteroid through a high-velocity impact, altering its orbit so that it will miss Earth several years later. “Kinetic impact has the advantages of simple principles and reliable technology, and is one of the most feasible means currently available for dealing with the threat of near-Earth asteroid impacts,” Li Mingtao said.
The second category is sustained-action deflection technology, including gravity traction, attachment and push-off, ion-beam push-off, laser ablation, etc. Generally speaking, the effect is very weak, and an early warning time of more than a decade or even longer is needed to effectively deflect an asteroid’s orbit.
“Detecting threats as early as possible and issuing warnings as early as possible are of extreme importance for asteroid defense,” Li Mingtao said. Early warning time varies with the size of the asteroid and the timing of its discovery. Larger asteroids can cause greater damage, but they are easier to discover in advance; smaller asteroids are harder to discover, but they can cause less damage.
“Ideally, for larger asteroids, through long-term sky survey observations, we can anticipate the risk and respond years, decades, or even centuries in advance,” Li Mingtao said.
Today, China has already made initial breakthroughs in models and algorithms for asteroid impact risk early warning, and is developing an operational near-Earth asteroid risk early warning system. Li Mingtao said that once a telescope detects a suspicious target, the system will automatically calculate the orbit and assess the probability of impact. After review and determination that the threat is credible and urgent, a reporting mechanism will be promptly activated, and a report will be immediately submitted to the competent authorities. Then, pending confirmation of the accuracy of the information, the facts, the probability of risk, and the countermeasure guidelines will be concisely communicated to the public.

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Minors going online, beware of these new problems (Decoding · Focusing on summer life)

By: 本报记者 金 歆

As the summer vacation arrives, children going online has become a concern for many parents. The internet has become an important space for minors to study, entertain, and socialize. Relevant authorities are continuously strengthening online protection for minors, but at the same time, individual new problems have emerged, with greater concealment, deception, and harm, becoming new pain points in online protection for minors.

Borderline and curiosity-driven content involving minors shows new trends

The first is "borderline merchandise promotion" (擦边带货).

"Such a young child, taking photos like this." Ms. Zhang, a mother in Yangpu District, Shanghai, showed a reporter a "girl's outfit" post on a certain social platform. In the picture, a young girl with a childish figure, wearing a tank top, white stockings, and a short skirt, strikes "model" poses of twisting her waist and leaning her head. The caption reads "Summer vitality outfit," with a product link pointing to children's underwear and swimsuits. Soon, the post was deleted by the platform.

Siqin (斯琴), an associate professor at Northwest University of Political Science and Law who has long followed online merchandise promotion, said that nowadays, some merchandise promotion content targeting minors is quietly changing its nature, with soft pornography elements being packaged as "daily sharing" and mixed into the information flow.

Siqin said that its characteristics are "adultified dressing + vulgar posing." Some accounts use keywords such as "child model shooting" and "swimsuit review" to attract traffic and promote merchandise; other accounts promote age-inappropriate products such as cosmetics, colored contact lenses, and health supplements, having minors appear on camera wearing makeup.

In June, the Xiaohongshu platform stated that accounts such as "Dong Moumou" and "Yuan Moumou" released content that excessively exposed children's bodies and shot minors in vulgar poses when promoting children's swimsuits, underwear, and other products. The involved accounts were given measures such as traffic limitation, account suspension, or banning depending on the severity.

Micro-dramas involving minors are another area that may harm the physical and mental health of minors.

"Forced to marry at age 7, gave birth at 15..." In January of this year, the micro-drama "Forcing the Koi to Marry the Living King of Hell in Place, the Manor's Fortune Is Completely Cut Off" was launched. The drama cast an 11-year-old girl to play the female lead, included indecent scenes, and was filled with adult metaphors such as "raising the partner." Soon, the drama was removed from all platforms.

Such micro-dramas where "children perform adult roles" are not isolated cases. The ancient costume micro-drama "Stealing the Palace" opens with a brutal murder scene, with several actors only 11 or 12 years old; in "Please, Daddy, Our Family Really Isn't Ordinary," a 5-year-old actor says, "This stock will hit the daily limit in one hour; I'll buy it with all my funds and add 100 times leverage."

What such micro-dramas damage is not only the physical and mental health of the participating children. Some experts believe that these micro-dramas rely on dense plot reversals to capture attention, combined with algorithmic recommendations, making them inherently easy to get hooked. "If the protagonist is a minor, children watching will have a stronger sense of substitution, become more easily addicted, and some may even develop distorted values."

Miao Mengjing (缪蒙京), a mediator of the China Internet Literary and Artistic Intellectual Property Rights Dispute People's Mediation Committee, said that such content has already violated the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Minors and the "Regulations on the Administration of Minor Programs" that strictly prohibit the rendering of minors' adultified emotions, and also violates the requirement of the National Radio and Television Administration that children shall not perform adultified plots.

Using new technological means, violations become more disguised

AI (artificial intelligence) technology is developing rapidly, and some new problems have also emerged regarding online protection for minors.

Under the scorching sun, outside a certain hospital, a child kneels on the ground, barefoot and covered in mud, with a cardboard sign in front saying: "Acute leukemia" and "Please scan the code"... Previously, a short video titled "A minor sick, kneeling and begging at the hospital entrance" sparked heated discussion among netizens. After relevant authorities intervened, they found that it was generated by an account using AI technology, intending to trick users into interacting, attract fans, and gain traffic.

There are also accounts that attempt to use new technology to circumvent regulations related to minor protection.

A short video of a minor protagonist "hot dancing" attracted attention. But upon closer inspection, a line of transparent small text was found in the corner: "AI generated, no minors appear on camera."

A relevant person in charge of the short video platform said that new technological means indeed give some violations involving minors a strong disguise, deception, and concealment. In response, the platform will also increase its crackdown efforts.

Beyond the above issues, new online protection problems for minors that have emerged in recent years also include: using new carriers popular among minors such as trading cards, stories, and anime to concoct online black slang and stale memes, fabricating and amplifying bloody and violent plots, packaging and beautifying bad subcultures, and advocating bad values; maliciously publishing short video content featuring minors with bad guidance, staging fake scenarios such as "pranking children" and "siblings fighting."

"Traffic is the lifeline of an account." A practitioner from an MCN (Multi-Channel Network) institution believes that borderline and curiosity-driven content involving minors tends to attract specific users more.

In stark contrast to high profits is the low cost of violations. Currently, measures against such violations are mostly platform content removal, traffic limitation, and account banning. Even if investigated and punished by regulators, the fine amounts are often far lower than the profits.

A person in charge of a certain platform said that individual parents, harboring the idea that "children should become famous early," actively cooperate with institutions to create "child internet celebrities" and even have their children film borderline content or perform in bad micro-dramas. In the platform's 2025 summer governance campaign, multiple cases of parents taking their children to film vulgar scripts for profit were investigated and dealt with.

Siqin said that "borderline merchandise promotion" plays the "soft pornography" edge ball; much content is only adultified suggestion, making it hard to directly classify as obscene or pornographic, with blurred boundaries, making it difficult for platform review to grasp standards; bad micro-dramas hide wrong values within the plot. Viewing a single episode may not show obvious violations, but the orientation problem becomes apparent only when watched continuously, posing great challenges to content review.

How to break the cycle of "rectification, rebound, re-rectification"

In recent years, the "Qinglang" (清朗) series of special actions have repeatedly carried out rectifications on online protection issues for minors. Facing the new challenges of online protection for minors, all parties are continuously exploring solutions.

Institutional construction is the fundamental guideline for governance. Effective from January 1, 2024, the "Regulations on the Protection of Minors in Cyberspace" (未成年人网络保护条例) were implemented. This is China's first administrative regulation specifically targeting online protection for minors, laying out the basic framework for governance and clarifying the main responsibilities of network product and service providers.

As for the problem of insufficiently detailed punishment rules, eight departments including the Cyberspace Administration of China jointly issued the "Measures for Classifying Online Information That May Affect the Physical and Mental Health of Minors" (可能影响未成年人身心健康的网络信息分类办法), effective from March 1, 2026. This measure, for the first time, refines information that may affect minors' physical and mental health into a specific list, clarifying concrete situations such as inducing irrational consumption, advocating bad views on love and marriage, and adultified vulgar suggestions, providing clearer operational standards for platform review and law enforcement supervision.

At the same time, as a key link in content distribution, the intensity of platform governance directly determines the effectiveness of protection. Recently, more and more platforms have shifted from "post-event rectification" to "pre-event prevention," actively upgrading the protection mechanism for minors.

For example, Douyin carried out a special governance campaign in the summer of 2025, clearing a total of 430,000 videos involving minor violations and handling 16,000 accounts. Among them, targeting behaviors of improperly profiting from minors, 107,000 videos were cleared, 3,860 live-streaming rooms were dealt with, and more than 10,000 accounts were punished with measures such as restricting monetization or banning. Xiaohongshu established a special review pool for minor content, raising the review level for content involving children's clothing, underwear, swimsuits, etc., focusing on cracking down on over-adultified and vulgar marketing.

Qiao Basheng (乔巴生), a distinguished professor at Zhejiang Normal University, believes that to fundamentally cure the chronic ills of online protection for minors, it cannot rely solely on regulators "fighting alone." The cycle of "rectification, rebound, re-rectification" must be broken, constructing a governance closed loop with multi-party coordination among the government, platforms, families, schools, and society. At the same time, the responsibility boundaries of various entities such as MCN institutions, merchants, and platforms should be clarified to avoid mutual buck-passing. For third-party content service providers, a filing system and a blacklist mechanism should be established to control the production of bad content at the source.

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Special action "Qinglang·Rectification of Online Entertainment Group Live-streaming Chaos" launched

Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Jin Xin) — Reporters learned from the Cyberspace Administration of China: According to the 2026 "Qinglang" series special action plan, in order to strengthen the governance of problems in the field of entertainment group live-streaming, the Cyberspace Administration of China is launching a two-month nationwide special action "Qinglang·Rectification of Online Entertainment Group Live-streaming Chaos" (清朗•网络娱乐团播乱象整治), focusing on rectifying prominent problems in entertainment group live-streaming in aspects such as account registration, rule design, scene setting, member behavior norms, and online protection for minors, reinforcing the management responsibilities of relevant platforms and MCN institutions, and creating a healthy online group live-streaming ecosystem.

The special action focuses on six categories of problems: First, violations in group live-streaming account registration and use, including the account homepage not displaying the name of the MCN institution to which the account belongs, and the same group live-streaming team registering matrix accounts in batches. Second, illegal PK between groups or group members to stimulate tipping, including using PK results to control group members' behavior, carrying out vulgar and crude punishments with personal insult nature, or performing dangerous actions. Third, using improper group live-streaming play styles to induce tipping, including real-time display of the amount of tips received by the anchor, inciting users to compete in tipping, or inducing users to turn off tipping limits and consumption reminder functions. Fourth, vulgar and bad content in group live-streaming scenes, including using ambiguous, curiosity-driven, and other illegal and bad images on the entrance page of the live-streaming room to attract traffic and induce users to click. Fifth, group live-streaming infringing on the rights and interests of minors, including organizing and recruiting minors who do not meet the conditions stipulated by law to join group live-streaming, wearing children's clothing, school uniforms, backpacks, and other clothing with obvious minor characteristics during live-streaming. Sixth, management irregularities of group live-streaming MCN institutions, including organizing internal accounts to send gifts, post danmaku, and engage in self-tipping, creating a false consumption atmosphere.

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China's 16th Arctic Expedition Sets Sail

This newspaper Dalian, July 5 (reporter Hu Jingyi (胡婧怡)) – The Xuelong, Xuelong 2, and Jidi, part of China's 16th Arctic Ocean expedition organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, set sail on the 3rd from Dalian, Liaoning. This is the first Arctic Ocean expedition organized and implemented by China in the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, jointly carried out by the aforementioned three ships and the Tansuo 3 – four ships in total. It is expected to complete the expedition tasks in early October.

Currently, driven by global climate warming, the Arctic natural environment is undergoing rapid and profound changes, with trends such as sea ice melt intensifying. Continuously conducting comprehensive Arctic expeditions is an important foundational support for responding to global climate change and promoting sustainable development in the Arctic region.

This expedition will focus on responding to global climate change and its impacts, carrying out comprehensive survey and monitoring in key areas of the Arctic Ocean in fields such as sea ice, hydrology, biology, ecology, and atmospheric environment. It will conduct exploration and research on international Arctic frontier issues such as the accretion mechanism of the Gakkel Ridge and the dynamic evolution of the oceanic crust, and will collaborate with scientists from Russia, Germany, and other countries to carry out coordinated operations, providing scientific support for China and the international community to better understand and protect the Arctic and to carry out Arctic governance.

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Two departments issue document to promote diversified cinema operations

Our newspaper, Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Liu Yang) — The National Film Administration (国家电影局) and the State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局) have jointly issued the Notice on Promoting Diversified Operations of Cinemas and Prospering and Developing Cinema Culture. The notice proposes multiple measures around prospering and developing cinema culture, and promoting innovation in cinema business formats, models, and services.

In terms of diversified business format integration, the notice proposes supporting cinemas in innovating special food and beverage offerings, and introducing business formats such as high-quality dining, light meals and snacks, baked goods and desserts, and coffee book bars. It encourages cinemas to expand into cultural and creative retail formats, establishing film derivative specialty stores and cultural and creative product collection stores. It supports cinemas in integrating leisure and entertainment formats, strengthening linkages with culture and arts, science popularization and education, etc. It encourages cinemas to enhance aesthetic quality, introducing business formats such as cultural and creative markets, art exhibitions, and IP pop-up stores.

In terms of brand operation, the notice clearly encourages cinemas to strengthen IP operation and brand building, creating diverse forms such as art cinemas, technology cinemas, community cinemas, and special-themed cinemas, and cultivating cinema brands with cultural distinctiveness and market influence. It encourages cinemas to fully tap the cultural value of space, launching themed screening halls, film culture exhibitions, and developing distinctive cultural and creative products, digital collectibles, and derivative content. It encourages cinemas to carry out precision services and personalized recommendations, finding corresponding audiences for films and matching suitable films for audiences. It encourages the film industry associations to establish and improve a cinema star-rating evaluation system, promoting cinemas to improve operational service quality.

In addition, the notice also proposes encouraging cinemas to actively carry out equipment and technology upgrades and renovations, and supporting the screening of virtual reality films. It encourages cinemas to improve their capacity for film publicity and distribution services, standardize service procedures, and raise service levels.

It is understood that the National Film Administration and the State Administration for Market Regulation will guide local film authorities and market regulation departments to strengthen business guidance and industry management for the diversified operations of cinemas, provide support for lawfully handling relevant licensing matters for eligible cinemas, continuously optimize work procedures, and provide facilitation conditions.

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Anhui accelerates development of brain-computer interface technology and industry.

Our newspaper, Hefei, July 5 (Reporter Li Junjie (李俊杰)) The General Office of the Anhui Provincial People's Government (安徽省政府办公厅) recently printed and distributed the "Anhui Province Action Plan for Accelerating the Development of Brain-Computer Interface Technology and Industry (2026–2030)", clarifying the province's roadmap for brain-computer interface innovation and industrialization development: by 2028, the level of brain-computer interface technology and industrial development will enter the national first echelon; key technologies such as electrodes, chips, and algorithms will be at the forefront of the country; no fewer than 10 typical application scenarios in medical and other fields will be created; no fewer than 3 approvals will be obtained to conduct clinical trials for invasive brain-computer interface systems; no fewer than 5 types of brain-computer interface systems for industrial, consumer, special applications, etc. will be developed; no fewer than 3 leading enterprises in the industry will be attracted and cultivated. By 2030, a self-controllable, safe and reliable brain-computer interface technology and industry development system will be basically formed; the level of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation for diseases such as neurological system disorders and mental disorders will be significantly improved; phased breakthroughs will be achieved in multi-domain integrated applications; product research and development, production, and demonstration applications will be at the forefront of the country.

On the innovation front, Anhui will form a brain-computer interface research and development institution, led by the University of Science and Technology of China, in collaboration with the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院合肥物质科学研究院), the Clinical Research Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院临床研究医院), the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China (Anhui Provincial Hospital) (中国科学技术大学附属第一医院（安徽省立医院）), and advantageous forces from enterprises in the industrial chain, to construct at a high level, and carry out basic research and frontier exploration in brain cognition, brain signal processing and interaction, key devices and systems, etc., to enhance the technology origin capability of brain-computer interfaces; on the product front, it will target key areas such as medical rehabilitation, special operations, industry, and consumer use, to develop and implement a batch of application products.

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33rd "Open Door to the Arts" Summer Arts Festival Opens

Beijing, July 5 (Our newspaper reporter Pan Junqiang (潘俊强)) — On the evening of the 3rd, the 33rd “Open the Door to Art” (打开艺术之门) Summer Arts Festival opened at the Beijing Zhongshan Park Concert Hall (北京中山公园音乐堂). Conductor Tan Lihua (谭利华) wielded the baton for the Beijing Symphony Orchestra (北京交响乐团), using a symphony concert that combined both classical depth and popularization guidance to sound the prelude for the nearly two months of the summer arts festival to come.

From July 3 to August 30, 47 performances, 8 lectures in the “Chinese People’s Opera” (中国人的戏曲) series, 5 intangible cultural heritage experience camps, a robot music week, art summer camps, and others will be held in succession. As a cultural-benefit brand that has been held for 33 consecutive editions, the “Open the Door to Art” Summer Arts Festival has diverse forms, broad coverage, and strong participation. It has already stepped beyond the category of a single youth art activity, attracting audiences of different ages and from different circles to share the art feast. The arts festival is guided by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism (北京市文化和旅游局) and has received support from the Beijing Cultural and Arts Fund (北京文化艺术基金).

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Zhi Chunli, Xiao Yao, Cao Yiqing

Graphics by: Zhang Danfeng

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Wrestling "dark horse" emerges from straw mats (I exercise, I am happy)

By: 本报记者 叶传增

A rural middle school wrestling team, at its founding, had nothing — 一穷二白 (yī qióng èr bái - “one poor, two blank,” to be impoverished and have no resources): there were no training facilities, so the physical education teacher led the students to cut rice straw in the fields, spread it on the ground, and layer a few old cotton quilts on top to make a makeshift wrestling mat; there were no textbooks, so they enlisted the art teacher and drew more than 800 wrestling moves stroke by stroke. In 2026, Duofale Middle School (多法勒中学) of Mengzi City (蒙自市), Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (红河哈尼族彝族自治州), Yunnan Province, emerged as a “dark horse” and achieved outstanding results in a national competition.

A 73-kilogram “challenge” to 33 kilograms: a special wrestling match

On the sun-scorched wrestling mat, two figures — one big, one small — stood facing each other; a wrestling match was about to begin.

The small one was Pu Jiayi (普嘉怡), a second-year student at Duofale Middle School (see photo 1 right, taken by Liu Bingjie). She was thin and small, weighing only 33 kilograms. The opponent before her was a full 40 kilograms heavier.

The whistle blew. Pu Jiayi’s gaze suddenly turned sharp. With a quick step, she crouched forward, wrapped her arms around the opponent’s right leg, and smoothly used her waist and abdomen for power. With a “thud,” the opponent hit the ground. Coach Old Feng blew the whistle: “Pu Jiayi wins!”

In just three seconds, the reporter who had come to “exchange techniques” was thrown down by Pu Jiayi. “You’re really good!” Hearing the praise, the Hani girl grew a little shy, a world apart from the fierce competitor on the mat just moments ago — 判若两人 (pàn ruò liǎng rén - “to seem like two different people”). Old Feng, standing nearby, said to the reporter with a smile: “Don’t be discouraged; you lost to a national runner-up.”

At the 2026 National Youth International-Style Wrestling Open, Pu Jiayi won silver in the U15 women’s freestyle 33-kg division. Her team, the Duofale Middle School wrestling team, as a “dark horse,” took 3 gold, 3 silver, and 3 bronze medals and finished third nationally in the U15 women’s freestyle team event.

Cutting rice straw to spread as wrestling mats, PE and art teachers “hand-rubbing” textbooks

How did a rural middle school wrestling team achieve such outstanding results in a national competition? The answer is closely tied to “Old Feng,” as the children call him.

Old Feng’s name is Feng Shouqian (冯寿乾); he is 55 years old. He walks with a slight limp, a lingering effect of a sudden cerebral infarction two years ago. “I started learning wrestling at 14; before retirement I was a Yunnan provincial champion and a national first-class athlete.” When talking about his younger self, Old Feng could not hide the pride in his voice.

In 1991, after graduating from a physical education vocational school in Honghe Prefecture, Yunnan, Old Feng came to teach at Duofale Middle School. Duofale Village is a multi-ethnic settlement. During festivals, people from all ethnic groups hold wrestling activities together, giving the area a strong folk wrestling atmosphere. Between classes, students often imitated and practiced wrestling moves on the playground. The raw yet earnest look of the children touched Old Feng and gave him the idea of teaching wrestling. Old Feng formed a wrestling team, scouting and training rural children who liked wrestling, taking them to see a bigger world.

When the wrestling team was first established, there was neither a dedicated venue nor training equipment. The training ground was the school basketball court; only after the basketball players left after school could the wrestling team start training. There were no wrestling mats, so Old Feng took the team members to the fields to cut rice straw, spread it on the ground, and then layer a few old cotton quilts on top — that became a makeshift wrestling mat. Old Feng also had a habit: every time he went to compete away from home, he brought the team members at least half a day early. “By arriving early we can use other people’s facilities and let the kids wrestle a couple of rounds on a real wrestling mat.” Old Feng laughed.

The tough conditions did not dampen the wrestling team’s enthusiasm. Starting from basic stances, throws, and coordination, Old Feng explained and demonstrated moves again and again. With no textbooks, Old Feng enlisted the school’s art teacher, and together they drew more than 800 wrestling moves stroke by stroke, adding written explanations themselves, and handmade two wrestling “secret manuals.” A team with zero foundation was thus built up by Old Feng.

Effort does not let down those who put their hearts into it. The year after its founding, the wrestling team took second place in the Honghe Prefecture wrestling team competition, and in the following years it repeatedly won awards at the provincial level. After the team gained some fame and received attention, with help from kind-hearted people, the children’s training conditions improved considerably. Over 35 years, the Duofale Middle School wrestling team has represented the prefecture and city in competitions at all levels, winning a total of more than 70 provincial gold medals and sending more than 200 outstanding talents to professional sports teams and physical education colleges.

Falling and rising again: rural youths show their youthful style

Because of its outstanding wrestling results, Duofale Middle School has been rated a “Yunnan Province Traditional Wrestling School” and a “Yunnan Province Wrestling Reserve Talent Training Base,” and has been named an “Advanced National Youth Sports Work Collective,” becoming a wrestling talent cradle 名副其实 (míng fù qí shí - “the name matches the reality,” worthy of the name).

Today, the school has incorporated wrestling into its school-based curriculum, covering students from grade 7 to grade 9. Promising seedlings discovered in class have the opportunity to join the wrestling team, forming a virtuous cycle of talent cultivation. Pu Jiayi is one of them.

Pu Jiayi comes from a remote county in Honghe Prefecture. Her parents work as migrant laborers in Mengzi City, and she attends Duofale Middle School as a child accompanying them. When she first entered school, Pu Jiayi was less than 1.5 meters tall and was introverted; her voice was almost inaudible when answering roll call with “here.” But once she stepped onto the mat, she seemed a different person. Every time she was thrown down, she quickly got back up, her eyes showing a spirit that refused to admit defeat.

“This is a tough little girl!” After observing her for a while, Old Feng discovered that although Pu Jiayi was thin and weak, she had quick reactions, fast speed, and quickly grasped technical points. Old Feng recruited Pu Jiayi into the wrestling team and trained her carefully. She improved rapidly, especially excelling in techniques like “double leg takedown” and “head lever and snap-down.” Pu Jiayi’s silver medal at the 2026 National Youth International-Style Wrestling Open embodied the passion and tenacity of a rural youth.

“I want to win. I will keep working hard, and I believe next time I can definitely take the championship.” Pu Jiayi’s gaze was firm. She was like a tree taking root in the mountains — stubborn and tenacious.

In fact, Old Feng knew in his heart that only a few can become champions. For him, the greatest reward in 35 years of perseverance is not medals and honors, but watching rural children temper their will, become confident and strong through wrestling, and become champions of their own lives.

“It doesn’t matter if you fall; get up and keep fighting.” On the training ground, Old Feng’s words drifted in the hot summer wind. The mat scorched under the sun. The teenagers leaped up, fell, and got up again and again.

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"Let Everyone See a Brand New Self" (New Forces in Sports)

By: 本报记者 陶相安

“The greatest gain from this competition is this gold medal.” Stepping down from the podium, Chinese gymnast Yang Haonan (杨皓楠) displayed the gold medal he had just won. In the men’s rings final of the 13th Asian Gymnastics Championships, Yang Haonan won the championship with a score of 14.566 points. Talking about his preparation before the competition, Yang Haonan was very calm: “I have practiced the ring exercises very skillfully; I paid more attention to the dismount. Only by landing steadily can I have a chance to win the championship.”

During this Asian Championships, Yang Haonan’s gains were not limited to this. In the men’s team final held on the first day, Yang Haonan and his teammates fought side by side to recapture the men’s team gold medal at the Gymnastics Asian Championships, and he also won a silver medal in the individual all-around final. Mentioning his performance at this Asian Championships, Yang Haonan set higher demands on himself, “The stability of completing the movements still needs to be strengthened.”

The results were hard-won; the effort behind it 不言而喻 (bù yán ér yù - “without words it is understood,” self-evident). In 2019, the 初出茅庐 (chū chū máo lú - “first out of the thatched cottage,” young and inexperienced) Yang Haonan won five gold medals at the Second National Youth Games, 一举成名 (yī jǔ chéng míng - “to become famous with one move,” to achieve instant fame). One year later, Yang Haonan, who had been promoted to the senior division, also won the men’s individual all-around gold medal at the National Gymnastics Championships held that year, becoming a potential rising star in everyone’s eyes. However, an accidental injury made Yang Haonan’s career full of uncertainties.

At the men’s individual all-around final of the 2022 National Gymnastics Championships, the 19-year-old Yang Haonan fell off the horizontal bar event and was diagnosed with a torn ankle ligament. This was undoubtedly a major blow for him, who excelled in events such as floor exercise and vault that test lower limb strength. The road back to the competition arena was not easy, but Yang Haonan always believed in himself: “If I slowly get through that period, it will be fine.”

After a three-year recovery period, Yang Haonan returned to the competition arena at the 2025 National Gymnastics Championships. Although he only finished seventh in the men’s individual all-around final, for him it was already a successful start. During this year’s winter training, Yang Haonan focused on strengthening his training in floor exercise, rings, vault, and parallel bars, solidifying his technical movements. He said, “There are many major competitions this year; I hope the results of winter training can be used in the competitions.”

The effort paid off. At the National Gymnastics Championships held in May this year, Yang Haonan not only helped the Zhejiang team win the men’s team gold medal but also won the championship in the individual all-around final. Regarding the long-awaited gold medal, Yang Haonan did not appear particularly excited. He said, “I didn’t expect to win the championship; I mainly focused on my own movements. If I perform well, the ranking won’t be too bad.” As for his experience overcoming injury, Yang Haonan said lightly, “They have passed; now I need to do well in the things that come after.”

From the National Championships to the Asian Championships, Yang Haonan announced his return with one excellent performance after another, and each achievement also inspired him to further improve himself. “During summer training, I will make further breakthroughs in floor exercise, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar,” Yang Haonan said confidently. “In the second half of the year, I will let everyone see a 焕然一新 (huàn rán yī xīn - “to take on a completely new look,” to be renewed) version of myself.”

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How to Choose Among the Many Types of Sports Shoes (Fitness Service Station)

By: 本报记者 施 钰

Basketball shoes, running shoes, tennis shoes, badminton shoes... As the public's enthusiasm for sports rises, people's choices in footwear are also becoming increasingly diverse. What are the differences between sports shoes for different events? How should sports shoes be maintained? The reporter interviewed Shi Chuanjin (石传晋), deputy director of the China Leather and Footwear Research Institute (Jinjiang) Co., Ltd. (中国皮革和制鞋工业研究院（晋江）有限公司).

Under different sports scenarios, due to different functions, the design and materials of the sole and upper also have corresponding differences. One should make reasonable choices to reduce sports injuries and optimize the sports experience.

Common professional sports shoes have distinct design features. For example, basketball involves much running, jumping, sudden stops and starts. Basketball shoe soles have higher requirements for all-directional anti-slip and shock absorption, with deeper grooves; to protect the ankle, the upper mostly uses high-strength composite materials or leather-type materials that are not easily deformed. In addition, in basketball, playing different positions, the choice of shoes also differs slightly. The center usually has greater weight; it is recommended to choose high-top shoes that protect the ankle, while guards have high requirements for speed, with many sudden stops and accelerations; it is recommended to choose low-top shoes with better anti-slip performance and increased flexibility.

In addition to also requiring shock absorption, running shoes focus more on lightness, heat dissipation and breathability. The upper is thinner and lighter, and the sole is mostly longitudinally anti-skid. Of course, even for running shoes, their design also varies according to different exercise time, stride frequency, and speed. Professional competitive running shoes often use carbon plates in the sole and design the shoe with the forefoot tilted upward to enhance energy feedback during running; while daily jogging shoes pay more attention to shock absorption and comfort, with slightly thicker soles; fitness walking shoes have soles that are thinner and flatter.

Tennis shoes, table tennis shoes, and badminton shoes each have different emphases in design according to the sports characteristics of each event, but they also have similarities: due to frequent lateral movement during the sport, the sides of the upper are usually reinforced, and the sole is mainly with transverse patterns to achieve lateral anti-slip. Volleyball shoes are overall lighter and more agile, with outstanding anti-skid performance on the sole, moderate shoe collar height, balancing shock absorption and quick response.

Can sports shoes be worn interchangeably? Tennis shoes, badminton shoes, and table tennis shoes have similar movement patterns; ordinary people can wear them interchangeably when playing related ball sports for leisure; basketball shoes are relatively heavy, can be worn for daily walking and ordinary ball sports, but wearing them for a long time will increase foot burden. It should be noted that professional running shoes using carbon plates have relatively hard soles, upturned toes, and forward-leaning center of gravity; when worn for ordinary jogging or daily walking for a long time, they can easily affect gait, and instead cause foot discomfort. Moreover, only when the exerciser's stride frequency and speed reach a certain level can the carbon plate function. Therefore, daily fitness does not need to blindly pursue the "top configuration."

The design of children's sports shoes is more special. Since children are still in the stage of growth and development, one can choose shoes where the front one-third of the sole is bendable and the rear half is relatively hard, so that the child's foot muscles get sufficient exercise. At the same time, the toe cap should be reinforced and protected to avoid bumps and injuries.

In summary, when selecting sports shoes, one should combine one's own usage scenarios and different sports needs such as anti-slip, shock absorption, speed, and breathability.

In addition, proper maintenance of sports shoes can extend their service life. If the upper has dirt, try to wipe the stains with a wet wipe or a cleaning cloth containing a small amount of alcohol. When cleaning, do not soak for a long time to avoid the shoes coming unglued, the upper turning yellow, material aging, etc.; for mesh or fabric uppers, do not scrub with a hard brush to avoid damaging the three-dimensional structure of the textile material. For the inside of the shoe, ventilation and drying are the main methods. After exercise, do not directly store them in a closed shoe cabinet to avoid dampness breeding bacteria and producing odors. If further cleaning is needed, you can remove the insole and clean and dry it separately.

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Fast Runner, Handsome Racer

On July 4, the ethnic equestrian events of the 11th Traditional Ethnic Minority Sports Games of Gansu Province opened at the Suolangge Racecourse (索朗格赛马场) in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County (肃南裕固族自治县), Zhangye City. This edition's ethnic equestrian events set competitive programs such as ethnic horse racing and walking horse races. The photo shows riders performing a multi-person multi-horse equestrian show on the racecourse.
Photo by Yang Xiao (杨潇) / People's Vision (人民视觉)

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Zhang Jiale wins women's hammer throw gold

Beijing, July 5 (People's Daily) — (Reporter Liu Shuoyang (刘硕阳)) In the early morning of the 5th, in the women's hammer throw event of the 2026 World Athletics Diamond League Eugene leg, the world youth (U20) record holder, 19-year-old Chinese athlete Zhang Jiale (张家乐) won the championship with a final throw of 77.94 meters, while Asian record holder, Chinese athlete Zhao Jie (赵杰) placed fifth with 75.63 meters.

In this leg, the women's hammer throw event brought together several world-class stars including Rogers, Price, and Wlodarczyk. In the first round of attempts, Paris Olympic champion, Canadian athlete Rogers threw 77.81 meters to take the lead, a result that also surpassed the world youth record of 77.25 meters that Zhang Jiale set at last year's National Athletics Championships.

However, Zhang Jiale performed very steadily in this competition, exceeding 76 meters twice and 75 meters three times in the first five rounds of attempts. Entering the final round of attempts, Zhang Jiale delivered a superb throw of 77.94 meters, surpassing Rogers to win the championship and set a new personal best. Rogers finished second with a deficit of 13 centimeters, and 2019 Doha World Championships champion, American star Price took third with 76.95 meters. Zhao Jie, who just broke the Asian record this season, placed fifth.

Zhang Jiale said after the race that she was very happy to end several months of training and competing abroad with a championship. Since April, Zhao Jie and Zhang Jiale have accompanied their coaching team to the United States to engage in a series of competitions. After this leg, the two athletes will return to China to prepare for the Nagoya Asian Games. The Eugene leg is the ninth leg of this season's Diamond League. As of now, Feng Bin (冯彬) and Yan Ziyi (严子怡) have secured their qualification for the season-ending final in women's discus throw and women's javelin throw, respectively.

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China wins one silver and one bronze

Beijing, July 5 (People's Daily) — (Reporter Zeng Huafeng) On the 4th, in the 2026 IFSC Climbing World Cup stop in Krakow, Poland, the Chinese team won a silver medal in the men's four-lane speed event and a bronze medal in the mixed speed relay event.

The four-lane speed event is a recently introduced discipline. A test event was held in Madrid, Spain in October 2024, it made its debut at the Chengdu World Games in August 2025, and it became a World Cup discipline this season. The four-lane speed event has four lanes labeled A, B, C, and D, with four athletes competing simultaneously each time. In this competition, Chinese team athletes Zhao Yicheng and Chu Shouhong successfully advanced to the men's top four. Ultimately, U.S. team athlete Samuel Watson won the championship with a time of 4.60 seconds, Zhao Yicheng took the silver medal with 4.69 seconds, and Chu Shouhong placed fourth.

The mixed speed relay event is a new addition to this World Cup stop. This event was pioneered by China, making its first appearance at the 2025 Chinese Speed Climbing Series stop in Quannan (全南), Jiangxi. A total of 32 teams participated in this event at this stop. China Team 1 successfully advanced to the top four and ultimately won the bronze medal with a time of 11.17 seconds, setting a new Asian record.

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Chinese team sweeps men's and women's doubles titles

Beijing, July 5 (Reporter Sun Longfei) — On July 4 Beijing time, the 2026 WTT World Table Tennis US Grand Smash entered competition on its penultimate match day in Los Angeles. Chinese pairs Wen Ruibo/Yuan Licen and Lin Shidong/Huang Youzheng swept the men's doubles title and runner-up, while Wang Manyu/Kuai Man won the women's doubles title.

The two Chinese pairs successfully met in the men's doubles final. After both sides battled to a deciding game, Wen Ruibo and Yuan Licen reached match point first and ultimately defeated the current world No. 1 men's doubles pair, Lin Shidong and Huang Youzheng, 3‑2 to claim the title. "When difficulties arose, my partner and I always encouraged each other," Yuan Licen said in his post-match summary. "After this, we still need to communicate well and continue to improve our technique."

In the women's doubles final, Wang Manyu/Kuai Man faced the Japanese pair Miwa Harimoto/Hina Hayata. In the first game, the former squandered six game points while leading the score before winning 13‑11 with difficulty; in the second game they lost 4‑11 as their opponents leveled the match. Thereafter, Wang Manyu and Kuai Man withstood the pressure, gained the upper hand in the contesting of key points, and ultimately won the match with a total score of 3‑1.

Having paired with Kuai Man again after a long interval, Wang Manyu acknowledged that the early stages of the match still felt a bit unfamiliar. "To have won the final in the end, there are quite a few points in the process worth summing up," she said. In this event, Wang Manyu, seeded No. 2, lost 0‑3 to Japanese player Hitomi Sato in the second round of the women's singles main draw, regrettably failing to advance to the round of 16. "The singles did not go as hoped, but winning the doubles title boosted my confidence," she said.

It is worth noting that in the women's singles quarterfinal, Kuai Man went the full seven games with Hitomi Sato. Trailing 1‑3 in the match, Kuai Man won three consecutive games and fought to 18‑16 in the deciding game to win the match. Afterward, Kuai Man said her victory came from being "very determined and never giving up." In addition, Chinese player Sun Yingsha swept her teammate Chen Xingtong in four straight games, and Wang Yidi defeated South Korean player Joo Cheon-hui, as three Chinese players jointly advanced to the women's singles semifinals. In the women's singles semifinals, held in the early hours of the 6th, Sun Yingsha faced Wang Yidi, while Kuai Man met Miwa Harimoto.

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本版责编：罗彦 高佶 曹继炜

Layout design: Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰)

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How Côte d'Ivoire Cultivates Its 'Golden Fruit'

By: 本报记者 黄培昭

In the afternoon, the blazing sunlight sprinkled over the land, the air filled with the scent of dry earth and light fruit fragrance. In a cashew plantation on the outskirts of Bouaké, central Côte d’Ivoire, the dense cashew tree crowns were like giant umbrellas, the oval leaves swaying in the breeze, the branches laden with heavy cashew apples, the golden fruits exceptionally dazzling.

Farmer Amadou emerged from among the trees, shaking the dirt off his hands. He wore an old T‑shirt and a sun hat, with a curved pruning knife tucked at his waist. He placed fruit after fruit into a bamboo basket, his movements skillful and unhurried. “In recent years, the harvest has increased and the price has improved,” Amadou smiled and said to our reporter. “What we manage is no longer just the fruit; it is more like a road leading to abundance.”

Indeed, this road starts from the fields, leads to processing plants, extends to the port, crosses the oceans, and connects the world. The cashew industry is increasingly becoming an important channel for local farmers to shake off poverty and achieve prosperity (脱贫致富, tuō pín zhì fù – “cast off poverty and move toward prosperity”). At the same time, China‑Africa mutually beneficial cooperation continues to deepen and solidify, bringing new opportunities for Côte d’Ivoire to develop its cashew specialty industry.

Pillar industry supports the livelihoods of millions.

At 3 p.m., in front of a cashew purchasing station outside the political capital Yamoussoukro of Côte d’Ivoire, several trucks loaded with cashews were queuing for weighing. Purchaser Diallo stood beside the scale, holding an account book, occasionally checking the plumpness of the nuts. He told the reporter that the cashews delivered here daily range from at least 70–80 tons to over a hundred tons.

The central and northern regions of Côte d’Ivoire, including Bouaké, have a tropical savanna climate with abundant sunlight year‑round and distinct dry and rainy seasons. The sandy soil there provides good drainage, offering ideal conditions for cashew growth. Since the introduction of commercial cultivation in the 1960s, the local cashew industry has gradually developed and grown into one of the pillar industries of the national economy.

According to a report by the “West Africa Economic Gateway” (西非经济门户网), since 2015, Côte d’Ivoire has surpassed traditional producing regions such as India and Vietnam to firmly hold the position of the world’s largest cashew producer, accounting for about 40% of global output. In 2025, the country’s cashew production reached 1.5 million tons, with export revenue of about US$623 million. Cashew has become Côte d’Ivoire’s third largest export‑earning agricultural product after cocoa and natural rubber.

According to data published by the Cotton, Cashew and Shea Committee of Côte d’Ivoire (科特迪瓦棉花、腰果与乳木果委员会), the cashew industry contributes about 7% to the country’s GDP. More than 400,000 farming households in the country grow cashews, and millions of people are engaged in related work such as cashew purchasing, transportation, processing, and trade. Amadou’s family cashew orchard covers over 15 hectares. He said: “Cashew is the most reliable source of income for our family, a veritable 名副其实 (míng fù qí shí – “name matches reality,” true to its name) ‘golden fruit.’”

Striving to raise the level of the industrial chain and value chain.

For a long time, although Côte d’Ivoire is a large cashew producer, it has faced the predicament of being “big but not strong”: over 80% of cashews are exported at low prices as primary raw materials in the form of raw cashew nuts in shell, with deep processing and high value‑added links being weak points in the industry. Official Kouassi of the Cotton, Cashew and Shea Committee of Côte d’Ivoire told the reporter that the fruit structure of cashew is special, with a hard shell containing corrosive components; it must undergo complex processes such as sun‑drying, boiling, shelling, roasting, and peeling to become an edible product. In earlier years, Côte d’Ivoire mainly exported unprocessed cashews to markets such as Vietnam and India. Processed shelled cashews from Asian countries like Vietnam and India account for about 80% of global total, and cashew growers in Côte d’Ivoire obtain only a small portion of the final selling price.

To promote the upgrading of the cashew industry, in December 2025 the Côte d’Ivoire government launched the “Cashew Transformation and Development Plan” (腰果转型发展计划), proposing a goal to increase the local processing rate of cashews to 50% by 2030. At the beginning of 2026, the country initiated a gradual investment plan totaling nearly 200 billion CFA francs (1 yuan renminbi is about 84 CFA francs), of which 120 billion CFA francs are used for cashew industry upgrading, promoting the transition from primary product export to high value‑added local processing through building new processing facilities and integrating the value chain.

The Côte d’Ivoire government, through policies such as tax reductions and low‑interest loans, attracts domestic capital and foreign investment to build modern processing plants. Currently, the country’s local cashew processing rate has jumped from 6.67% in 2014 to 43.97% by the end of 2025. The number of cashew processing plants nationwide increased from 17 in 2016 to 37 by the end of 2025, with an annual processing capacity of 830,000 tons. At the same time, the government is also using cashew shells to develop bio‑energy, enhancing the industry’s profit margins with a circular economy concept.

The Côte d’Ivoire government has also implemented multiple preferential policies and agricultural subsidies to further expand cashew planting area and consolidate the industry development foundation: establishing a cashew research institute, cultivating high‑yield and disease‑resistant new varieties, providing farmers with quality seedlings, fertilizer subsidies, and technical training, and promoting modern cultivation techniques such as scientific pruning and pest and disease control. It has set an official protected purchase price, with the Cotton, Cashew and Shea Committee of Côte d’Ivoire supervising market price fluctuations to prevent middlemen from lowering prices and to safeguard the basic income of growers.

As the dividends of the policy “combination punch” continue to be released, the sustainable development momentum of Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew industry is increasingly evident, and growers are becoming more hopeful. “The government helped us build roads and dig wells, taught us scientific cashew cultivation, and the purchase price is guaranteed. I plan to increase the planting area by another 5 hectares, striving to build a new house and send my children to study in the city,” Amadou said, full of hope for the future.

China‑Côte d’Ivoire mutually beneficial cooperation opens up broader markets.

The reporter walked into a cashew processing plant on the outskirts of Yamoussoukro. Inside the workshop, the assembly line was running at high speed, raw cashews moving forward on the conveyor belt. On a sorting line, several local female workers moved their fingers quickly among the kernels in rhythm with the machine, focusing on picking out defective kernels.

Long Ling (龙灵), the person in charge of this cashew processing plant named Sg Agro, pointed to the production line and introduced to the reporter that raw cashews from various places first enter automatic screening equipment to remove impurities; then they are sent to a steaming system to soften the shell under high‑temperature steam, an automatic shelling machine precisely cuts to separate the hard shell from the kernel; then through a color sorter for grading and screening, finally entering the packaging process.

At a time when Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew industry is accelerating its transformation, Chinese enterprises have brought advanced technology and equipment. The Sg Agro cashew processing plant is one example. The plant started production in 2020, and currently its automation rate exceeds 80%, with capacity increasing from an initial 24,000 tons per year to 35,000 tons, expected to reach 50,000 tons by the end of this year. Liu Haipeng (刘海鹏), Executive President of Southland Ressources Group, to which Sg Agro belongs, said: “We hope to help improve local cashew processing levels by introducing advanced technology and management experience, driving the upgrading of related industries and extending the industrial chain.”

Greater benefits are being implemented at the policy level: on May 1 of this year, China fully implemented a zero‑tariff measure for 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with it. Industry insiders in Côte d’Ivoire said that this is the tariff facilitation measure with the greatest intensity and widest coverage in China‑Africa cooperation, meaning that cashews from Côte d’Ivoire can enjoy zero‑tariff treatment when entering the Chinese market, which will significantly lower trade barriers and enhance the competitiveness of African specialty agricultural products in the Chinese market. “The zero‑tariff policy has opened a huge market of more than 1.4 billion consumers for us,” Kouassi said. “This will greatly enhance our product competitiveness, expand the scale of exports to China, and inject stronger momentum into industrial development.”

The sun was setting, golden afterglow spilling over the 一望无际 (yī wàng wú jì – “as far as the eye can see,” stretching endlessly) cashew orchard. Standing in the orchard, Amadou looked at the bountiful cashew trees and said: “Cashew is the gift of the land to us, and the advanced technology and huge market brought by the Chinese side are our precious opportunities. Our days will surely shine like this ‘golden fruit.’”
(People’s Daily, Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire)

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Latin American Countries Increase Taxes on Sugary Drinks

By: 本报记者 程是颉

Recently, the Pan American Health Organization released a report systematically reviewing the progress of various countries in the region regarding taxation of sugary drinks. In recent years, many Latin American countries have incorporated weight management and other comprehensive health management measures into their policy frameworks, using fiscal tools such as sugary drink taxes and a series of comprehensive measures to promote healthy lifestyles and improve national health levels.

As one of the earlier countries in Latin America to impose a sugar-sweetened beverage tax, Mexico has further intensified its policy efforts in recent years, raising the applicable tax rate on sugary drinks to approximately 3 Mexican pesos per liter (about 1.16 yuan) starting in 2026, substantially higher than the previous level. According to a special report released in March this year by Mexico's National Institute of Public Health, after Mexico imposed a tax of 1 Mexican peso per liter on sugary drinks in 2014, the increased beverage prices were essentially passed through to consumers in line with the tax. Two years after the tax was imposed, sales of related products fell by about 7.6%, with the decline especially pronounced among low-income households. In terms of resident health, sample survey data show that the decline in sugary drink sales has played a significant role in improving adolescent dietary structure and reducing obesity, while also promoting oral health among the population.

Currently, Latin America has become one of the most active regions globally in terms of sugary drink tax policies. According to statistics from the "2025 Global Report on the Use of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes" released by the Pan American Health Organization in January this year, 21 out of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries have imposed taxes on sugary drinks. While expanding coverage, some countries are also exploring more refined designs such as linking tax rates to the sugar content of beverages, and the policy focus is shifting from "whether to tax" to "how to tax more effectively." For example, regarding Colombia's recent practice of implementing a tiered tax based on sugar content, a survey published in 2025 by the University of the Andes in Colombia showed that after the tax system was implemented, Colombian companies successively adjusted the formulas of processed foods and beverages, particularly by actively reducing sugar content.

The increasingly serious obesity problem among the populations of Latin American countries is one of the important reasons for the continuous escalation of sugary drink taxation in the region. The "2025 Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean" jointly released in February this year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Children's Fund, and the World Food Programme shows that the adult obesity rate in the region rose to 29.9% in 2022, double the rate in 2000. Another statistic from the Pan American Health Organization shows that the proportion of adults who are overweight or obese in the entire Americas region reached 67.5% in 2022, and without effective intervention, this proportion is expected to continue rising by 2030. The obesity problem has placed considerable pressure on local healthcare systems and finances, and improving comprehensive health management has become a priority direction for public policies in many countries of the region.

In addition to taxing sugary drinks, many Latin American countries have also adopted measures such as adding health warning labels on food and beverage packaging and restricting calorie content of campus foods. Chile has established a packaging warning label mechanism, using black warning labels indicating "high sugar, high salt, high fat" to facilitate consumer identification. Argentina requires that high-calorie products may not use cartoon characters, toys, or other forms to market to minors under 14 years of age. Starting in 2025, Mexican health authorities have required that all schools nationwide prohibit the sale of high-calorie snacks and sugary drinks on campus. Multiple measures are working in tandem, forcing food processing enterprises to phase out old formulas and adopt healthier formulas.

Against the backdrop of high incidence of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases caused by obesity, Latin American countries are gradually establishing comprehensive health management systems covering taxation, food labeling, public publicity, and dietary guidance, by promoting the public to strengthen weight management and change lifestyles, thereby generating positive public health benefits.

(This newspaper, Mexico City, July 5)

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Global Scan

Events Held Across the United States to Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of Independence — Over 60% of Surveyed Citizens Believe the Events Are "Overly Politicized"

This newspaper, Washington, July 5 (Reporter Li Zhiwei) — This year marks the 250th anniversary of American independence. On July 4, "Independence Day," a series of celebratory events were held across the United States.

In Philadelphia, the site of the signing of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, bells chimed at noon on the 4th, and people dressed as militiamen marched in formation on the lawn of Independence Square. In New York, a crystal ball "drop ceremony" was held at Times Square at midnight on the 3rd to welcome "Independence Day," and a fleet of multiple sailboats slowly sailed on the Hudson River on the 4th, subsequently passing landmarks including the Statue of Liberty. On the 4th, the U.S. capital, Washington, held a celebration featuring a military aircraft flight performance and a large-scale fireworks display.

The political divisions displayed within the celebrations also sparked discussion. According to U.S. media reports, after Trump's second term as president, his administration designated the "Liberty 250" (自由250) organization as the sole official preparatory body responsible for planning national and local celebrations. During these celebrations, the organization hosted the "Great American States Exposition" (伟大的美国州博览会) on the National Mall in Washington. Due to its strong partisan overtones, it drew criticism and boycotts from some quarters. Multiple states governed by the Democratic Party refused to send delegations to attend, and some artists also declined to perform out of concern that the event carried a partisan color.

A latest opinion poll jointly conducted by Reuters and Ipsos Group shows that 63% of respondents believe the 250th-anniversary celebrations are "overly politicized."

Iran Holds Public Farewell Ceremony for the Body of the Late Supreme Leader

According to Xinhua News Agency, Tehran, July 4 (Reporters Chen Xiao and Shadati) — According to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency on the 4th, the public farewell ceremony for the body of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei began early that morning at the Imam Khomeini Mosque in the capital Tehran, with a large number of Iranian people going to the scene to participate in mourning activities.

According to reports, millions of people from all walks of life and different age groups participated in the mourning activities. On July 3, a farewell ceremony for Khamenei's body had already been held in Tehran, attended by individuals from all sectors of Iranian society, religious leaders, and officials from multiple countries.

According to officially announced plans, a funeral procession for the bodies of Khamenei and his family members will be held on July 7 in the Shiite holy city of Qom. At the request of individuals from all walks of life in Iraq, funeral processions will be held on July 8 in the Iraqi Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala. On July 9, a burial ceremony will be held in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad, which is Khamenei's birthplace.

"OPEC+" Major Oil-Producing Countries Decide to Continue Increasing Production in August

According to Xinhua News Agency, Vienna, July 5 (Reporters Liu Haiyan and Meng Fanyu) — The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) issued a statement on the 5th saying that seven major "OPEC+" oil-producing countries have decided to increase daily crude oil production by 188,000 barrels in August, and reiterated their commitment to maintaining market stability. At this point, major oil-producing countries have announced production increases for five consecutive months.

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Unit 731 Files Declassified: New Hard Evidence of Japanese Chemical Warfare Crimes During Invasion of China

Xinhua News Agency, Harbin, July 5 (Reporters Yang Siqi, He Shan) -- On July 5, the Exhibition Hall of the Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army (侵华日军第七三一部队罪证陈列馆) publicly disclosed for the first time the archives of the “Personnel Declaration Forms” (身上申告书) of Unit 516 of the Japanese Imperial Army (hereinafter referred to as “Unit 516”). These are important military career record archives collected by the Chinese side in recent years from Japan through cross-border evidence gathering, and are new ironclad evidence exposing the crimes of chemical warfare by the Japanese Imperial Army.

Unit 516, namely the Chemical Department of the Japanese Kwantung Army, was a specialized chemical warfare unit established in China by the Japanese Imperial Army, with its garrison located in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. The “Personnel Declaration Forms” of Unit 516 released this time total 148 pages, covering the personal information of 108 members of this unit, including identities such as military civilian employees, technical officers, military doctors, veterinarians, chemical soldiers, etc., and detailing their military transfer records and post-war demobilization trajectories.

Researcher Jin Shicheng (金士成) of the Exhibition Hall of the Evidence of Crimes Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army introduced that by comparing the newly discovered information of the 108 individuals with the previous “Reserve Personnel Register” (留守名簿) (wartime personnel information archives of the Japanese army) of Unit 516, it was found that 17 people appeared repeatedly. At this point, the total number of Unit 516 personnel currently known has increased to 505, providing strong support for systematically sorting out its personnel scale and organization.

The archives reveal the chain of collaborative crimes among the biological and chemical warfare units of the Japanese Imperial Army. In the “Personnel Declaration Form” of member Nan Bo (楠博), it is clearly recorded that he conducted “research experiments” in Unit 516 and went to the Education Department of Unit 100 to conduct veterinary epidemic business training. Some archives record that members engaged in work related to “gas” (poison gas), directly confirming that Unit 516 carried out chemical weapons development and field experiments.

“These archives, from the perspective of personnel transfers, prove that within the Japanese Imperial Army, through methods such as mutual personnel transfers and technology sharing, an integrated network of biological and chemical warfare covering ‘human—livestock—environment’ was constructed,” Jin Shicheng said.

In addition, these archives also show the post-war movement trajectories of Unit 516 members. After Japan’s surrender in August 1945, among the demobilized personnel of this unit after defeat, 55 remained stranded in China, and 49 were captured by the Soviet army and taken to the Soviet Union.

Industry experts believe that the “Personnel Declaration Forms” confirm the frequent business interactions between Unit 516 and institutions such as the Japanese Army Science Research Institute and the Army Medical School, and further prove that the chemical warfare of the Japanese Imperial Army integrated research and development, training, logistics, etc., and was a top-down organized national crime.

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Seoul Records Net Population Outflow for 35 Consecutive Years

By: 本报记者 莽九晨

Recently, multiple core economic indicators released by the Korea National Data Office (韩国国家数据处) show that Seoul’s urban competitiveness is continuously weakening, with high housing prices considered a key driver. In 2025, Seoul’s industrial production and retail scale fell by 7.7% and 2.7% year-on-year respectively, the employment rate dropped by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year, and the acceleration of population outflow and low birth rate further persisted. These phenomena have sparked concerns in South Korean public opinion as to whether Seoul, as South Korea’s political, economic, and cultural center, is experiencing a decline in its urban competitiveness.

A 29-year-old office worker surnamed Kang lives in Gwanak District (冠岳区), Seoul, with a monthly salary of 2.9 million won (1 RMB yuan is approximately 226 won), and spends about 900,000 won on rent and management fees. According to Korea’s Asia Today (今日亚洲), last year the median pre-tax monthly income of South Korean young people aged 25 to 29 was about 2.8 million won. If living in Seoul, the average rent and management fee expenditure exceeds 30% of monthly wages, resulting in “excessive housing cost burden.” Kang said: “The salary just passes through my bank account briefly before it’s gone, and saving or investing is out of the question.”

South Korea’s Asia Daily (亚洲日报) recently published a commentary arguing that the “leaving Seoul” trend triggered by high housing prices is reshaping South Korea’s urban structure and youth values. Data from the Korea Real Estate Board (韩国房地产院) shows that in 2025, the price of apartment-style housing in Seoul rose by 13.5% year-on-year. Data from the KB Real Estate Transaction Platform (KB不动产交易平台) shows that from August 2015 to August 2025, the average sale price of apartments in Seoul rose from 512 million won to 1.422 billion won, far exceeding the national average increase. Also, according to a recent report by South Korea’s Daily Economic (每日经济), based on Seoul’s average monthly income, to purchase an apartment at the city’s average price, even without eating or drinking, would require at least 26 years.

High housing prices directly accelerate Seoul’s population outflow, further weakening the city’s development foundation. According to data released by the South Korean government, Seoul has experienced net population outflow for 35 consecutive years since 1990, with a total of about 27,000 people moving out in 2025. Among them, the main production and consumption demographic in their 30s and 40s, unable to bear the pressure of high housing prices, continuously migrate to the peripheral areas of the capital region such as Gyeonggi Province (京畿道) and Incheon. At the same time, Seoul also faces the superimposed pressure of natural population decline, with a total fertility rate of only 0.63, the lowest level in South Korea, and the problem of population structure imbalance is becoming increasingly prominent.

South Korea’s NEWS1 News Agency (NEWS1通讯社) reported that as Seoul’s population outflow accelerates, especially the departure of the main production and consumption demographic, Seoul’s production, consumption, and employment are all declining simultaneously, and the foundation for economic development will be weakened.

Currently, South Korea has begun to introduce measures to address the plight caused by high housing prices. Starting from May this year, the South Korean government imposes high taxes on the sale of homes by holders of multiple properties to curb real estate speculation. The Seoul Metropolitan Government has also launched a special population policy to alleviate the pressure of high housing prices and address population decline. The Basic Plan for Seoul’s Population Policy (2024–2028) (《首尔市人口政策基本规划（2024—2028）》) formulated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2024 warns that if Seoul’s production and consumption population continues to decrease, the city’s economy is expected to enter negative growth by 2050. According to the plan, the city government will provide loan benefits and cash subsidies for newlyweds and families with children when purchasing homes, and provide cash support for newlyweds and families with children who do not own a home.

(Our newspaper, Seoul, July 5 – Dispatch)

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Editor: Yue Linwei, Liu Gang, Wei He

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Oriental Childlike Charm, Global Appreciation: Animated Series "Safety Sheriff Labuladuo" Wins International Communication Award at the 31st Shanghai TV Festival

The BabyBus original animated series Safety Sheriff Labuladuo ingeniously integrates safety knowledge into detective stories, allowing children to master knowledge about home safety, traffic safety, privacy protection, and more as they follow characters in solving cases and uncovering mysteries, while conveying the concept that “true bravery is not about challenging danger, but about protecting oneself,” helping children establish values of mutual help, friendship, bravery, and inclusiveness. At present, the work has been translated into 11 languages and disseminated in over 160 countries and regions, with overseas views exceeding 10 billion times in 2025. In the future, Safety Sheriff Labuladuo will continue to accompany children around the world as they grow up safely.

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China's Development Must Be Attributed to the Leadership of the Communist Party of China

Why has China been able to successfully forge a path of socialism with Chinese characteristics? Why has the Communist Party of China been able to win the people’s hearts? What inspiration do China’s development experiences offer to other countries?
On the occasion of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, a reporter from this newspaper spoke with German Marxist scholar, China researcher, and writer Michael Geiger to interpret the achievements and experience of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Geiger has long been engaged in the study of Marxist philosophy and has continuously followed China’s development practice. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China in 2021, he organized a number of German experts and scholars to publish the book China’s Century (Chinese translation Praise China), exploring the great achievements of the Communist Party of China from the perspectives of philosophy, sociology, economics, and others.

Interlocutors:
Guo Ziyun (郭梓云), reporter from the European Center Bureau of this newspaper
Michael Geiger, German Marxist scholar, China researcher, and writer

“China is exploring an exciting and entirely new path of social development”

Q: What is the reason for your strong interest in China?

A: I have been observing and researching China for about 20 years now, and have read a large number of books on China’s history, culture, and development path. I am full of interest in China because China is exploring an exciting and entirely new path of social development, breaking new ground. As far as I know, no other country has yet attempted to solve problems of comparable complexity. As a Marxist scholar, this is both a spiritual inspiration and the driving force behind my research on China.

Marx and Engels pointed out in the Communist Manifesto that after the proletariat seizes political power, it must “increase the total of productive forces as rapidly as possible.” This means that Communists should create space for the development of new productive forces. Finding a feasible path to achieve this goal is very difficult, but the Communist Party of China has driven the development of productive forces at an astonishing speed. Today, China ranks among the world’s top in high-tech fields such as new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic products, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology. Some once believed that the socialist path was unworkable, but China is proving it is feasible, and this has also prompted the global academic community to reexamine the theoretical connotations of Marxism.

Q: You once said, “To understand China’s path, one cannot remain in the ‘Western thinking’ model.” What deviations does traditional “Western thinking” have in its understanding of China’s path?

A: China is a large country with a vast territory, long history, and rapid development—a complex and pluralistic existence. However, for a long time, some mainstream public opinion in the West has tended to focus more on the periodic problems encountered in China’s development and amplify them, while lacking attention to China’s tremendous achievements. As with a bottle of water, some people see the part that is already full, while others see only the empty part. I believe this cognitive deviation is closely related to the mode of social thinking. Western society places greater emphasis on individual subjectivity, while countries like China and other Asian nations attach more importance to the coordination between the individual and the collective, between personal interests and public interests, stressing common development. There are inherent differences between the two value systems, which leads some Western observers to habitually apply their own ingrained experience in judging China, making it impossible for them to see the internal logic behind China’s social development.

Q: What was your original intention in publishing China’s Century?

A: Everything happening in China attracts the world’s attention. The academic community often discusses to what extent China’s achievements are due to the Communist Party of China. In my view, China’s development must be attributed to the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Looking back at modern Chinese history—from completing the Long March of 25,000 li, winning the War of Resistance against Japan and the War of Liberation, to advancing socialist construction, promoting the cause of reform and opening up, and achieving rapid national development—it has always been the Communist Party of China that has pointed the way forward for the Chinese people. For this reason, to understand China, one must understand the Communist Party of China.

For a long time, for the media in some Western countries, attacking China has been a “habit”; they fear “a specter is haunting Europe—the specter of communism.” We must do our small part to tell some things from a different perspective, to introduce China and the Communist Party of China to Western countries. Publishing China’s Century was precisely an attempt to provide more observational perspectives.

“China has a more thorough understanding of Marxism”

Q: Many countries have explored and attempted the socialist path. Why has China been able to successfully forge a path of socialism with Chinese characteristics?

A: The key is that China has a more thorough understanding of Marxism, is able to continuously advance the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism, and handles various contradictions with highly creative thinking.

Decades ago, it was still unimaginable how a planned economy and a market economy could be compatible. At that time, many socialist countries in Europe also tried to coordinate the two economic models, but were constrained by multiple factors and ultimately could not implement them. China boldly broke through existing frameworks to carry out practice, achieving major practical breakthroughs in mixed-ownership reform, and has now reaped tangible results.

Marx and Engels believed that any transition from an old society to a new society must go through a transitional period. The transition from capitalist society to communist society requires an even longer and more complex historical process. In the process of building socialism, the Communist Party of China grasped the complex characteristics of this historical process, designed a basic economic system with public ownership as the mainstay and diverse forms of ownership developing together, and innovatively solved various problems encountered on the development path. It can be said that China’s practice truly conforms to the original essence of Marxism.

Q: You once discussed the “return on investment” of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. How do you view this “return on investment” now?

A: To objectively evaluate the value of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism over more than a hundred years, one must base the assessment on the complete course of China’s development. Now, “return on investment” is no longer sufficient to describe the achievements of the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism. I would rather phrase it differently: Marxism is a catalyst for social change, and the Sinicization and modernization of Marxism has greatly enriched and activated this theory itself. China has combined the basic principles of Marxism with China’s fine traditional culture, shaping a path of socialism with Chinese characteristics through its own experience. This is a successful exploration of the theory of social development.

To this day, some Western scholars persist in severing the internal connection between Marxism and China’s history and culture, but China’s development practice has fully proven that the integration of the two is not only feasible but has also achieved great success. One key point of the Communist Party of China’s major achievements lies in its ability to combine the current historical background with its own profound historical and cultural accumulation, continuously exploring new paths for socialist development. China’s development experience is worth studying and learning from by all countries, including developed ones.

Q: Has China’s long-standing culture given Marxism new soil and nourishment?

A: Earlier I mentioned China’s emphasis on the collective. In the history recorded in ancient Chinese texts, the state was responsible for building infrastructure, carrying out water conservancy projects, and allocating water resources according to drought and flood conditions in various regions, thereby ensuring overall agricultural production. This collective mode of thinking has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the Chinese people for a long time. From a cultural perspective, traditional Chinese philosophy, especially the thought of Confucius, emphasizes human responsibility and proactive action.

Marx also paid great attention to the relationship between the individual and the collective, proposing that the essence of man is the sum of all social relations. Both traditional Chinese philosophy and Marxist theory place great importance on achieving harmony between society and the individual. This has enabled Marxism, after entering China, to engage in dialogue with traditional Chinese thought and find a unique foundation for development within Chinese society.

“Putting the people above all else has become ingrained in the blood of the Communist Party of China”

Q: What do you think is special about the Communist Party of China?

A: Even though it has created world-renowned 举世瞩目 (jǔ shì zhǔ mù - “the whole world’s attention,” attracting worldwide attention) development achievements, the Communist Party of China still maintains a sober and pragmatic attitude. It never claims to possess absolute truth, nor does it export its development model or demand that other countries copy its development path. Insisting on summing up experience based on national conditions and continuously exploring a development path suitable for itself is the key to China’s great success.

It is precisely because the Communist Party of China has this mode of thinking that it always takes the initiative to carry out self-reform. As a long-term ruling party, the Communist Party of China always remembers its responsibility to the people, always correctly addresses problems arising in the course of development with a pragmatic spirit, and continuously undergoes self-reform. This ability for self-purification can not only promptly eliminate opportunists within the party and rectify corruption, but also enable the party to continuously adapt to the new demands of the times.

The Communist Party of China also has long-term thinking. Communists have a different understanding of time; this thinking is not measured in years, but looks toward a longer time dimension. This patience and determination, as well as the ability for long-term planning, are also important factors for success.

Q: In your view, why has the Communist Party of China been able to win the people’s hearts?

A: The level of support the Chinese people have for the Communist Party of China is something some political parties in Western countries “would not even dare to dream of.” If a political party can continuously gain the recognition of the broad masses over a long period, it shows that it has responded to the people’s actual needs to a large extent and improved the people’s lives.

The Communist Party of China places great emphasis on the mass line, insisting on coming from the masses, going to the masses, entering among the people, discovering problems from the people’s practice, and then transforming the experience of solving problems into actionable policies. Some socialist practices in Europe relied too much on theoretical texts, hoping to find answers directly from classical works, without fully listening to the real needs of the people. Throughout more than a hundred years of development, the Communist Party of China has always been able to constantly adjust itself and respond to the people’s concerns; this is an important reason for its continued vitality. The Communist Party of China is always rooted in the masses; putting the people above all else has become ingrained in the blood of the Communist Party of China.

For ordinary people, whether a political party is worth supporting is not judged on the basis of abstract theory, but on whether their own lives have improved and whether the future is full of hope. In just a few decades, China has greatly raised the level of productive forces, lifted several hundred million people out of poverty, and brought tremendous changes to people’s lives. This is an important reason why the Communist Party of China has won the people’s support. Taking China’s poverty reduction efforts as an example, I understand that millions of Party members have worked on the front line of poverty alleviation for a long time. They were not just putting on a show, but went deep into the poorest areas to understand the practical difficulties facing each family and find specific solutions. This fully demonstrates the close connection between the Communist Party of China and ordinary people.

Q: China’s comprehensive deepening of reforms combines top-level design with “crossing the river by feeling the stones.” How do you evaluate the “river-crossing wisdom” of the Communists?

A: I very much like the expression “crossing the river by feeling the stones.” In building a modern socialist country, there are simply no ready-made answers; one must feel and verify step by step. Feeling each “stone” as you move forward tentatively, sometimes having to adjust in time, to reach the other side of the river—this pragmatic attitude is extremely important.

In Germany, we often say, “The end of one game is the beginning of the next.” China has overcome countless difficulties and crossed many rivers, but new rivers will appear ahead. China needs to continue “crossing rivers,” and new problems may arise along the way, but the Communist Party of China has proven through its more than one hundred years of practice that it is fully capable of meeting challenges and forging ahead through the waves.

“The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind is a highly far-sighted worldview”

Q: What reference significance does China’s development experience have for other countries, especially developing countries?

A: China has not only achieved moderate prosperity in all respects, but has also provided valuable experience for countries around the world to think about new problems, engage in ideological confrontation, and explore modernization paths.

For example, how to combine macro-control by the government with market allocation of resources is a major issue facing the world. Some Western countries that strongly advocate market economies have also encountered problems in their current development, which shows that the market is not omnipotent. In its opening up, China has always maintained the initiative; while attracting more foreign capital and technology, promoting industrial upgrading and technological innovation, it has always retained the autonomy of development. For the vast number of developing countries, it is crucial to understand how to open up without losing autonomy.

China’s long-term planning ability is also worth learning from. China continuously formulates and implements five-year plans (规划), publicly announces the goals to be achieved, summarizes the implementation of the plans every five years, and adjusts and optimizes the planning content in a timely manner based on actual progress to ensure the smooth achievement of development goals. This practice is worth emulating by all countries.

Q: Faced with an increasingly turbulent international situation, arguments such as the “inevitability of war” continue to spread. What contributions has China made to resolving international differences and maintaining peace and stability?

A: In my view, China has shown the world a path different from the logic of traditional great-power competition. A globally influential major power does not necessarily have to safeguard its own interests through expansion and confrontation. China’s development process shows that a major country can choose a path of peaceful development, handling complex international relations with restraint and rationality.

In the current conflict-ridden international environment, maintaining strategic focus and avoiding falling into confrontation is an extremely difficult challenge. What impresses me is that China always emphasizes drawing clear principled bottom lines while maintaining sufficient patience and restraint, seeking a balance in complex situations, which reflects mature strategic wisdom. This way of balance is also consistent with the traditional Chinese philosophical methods of 执两用中 (zhí liǎng yòng zhōng - “grasp both extremes and use the middle,” to hold two extremes and apply the mean) and 守中致和 (shǒu zhōng zhì hé - “guard the mean to achieve harmony,” to maintain the center to reach harmony). Truly superior political wisdom does not consist of a simple choice between confrontation and compromise, but of finding the proper balance between safeguarding one’s own interests and promoting long-term stability.

Q: What significance do China’s proposals in the field of global governance have for the world?

A: I particularly admire the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind put forward by China. In my view, it is a further deepening of the concept of peaceful coexistence. Peaceful coexistence means getting along on the premise of mutual respect and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs. The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind further emphasizes that, in the face of global challenges, no country can remain 独善其身 (dú shàn qí shēn - “to cultivate one’s own virtue alone,” to look after one’s own interests without regard for others), and that there are more and more common interests among countries, requiring interdependence. The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind is a highly far-sighted worldview, an important idea contributed by the Communist Party of China to improving global governance.

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A Strong Signal of Solidarity

Layout design: Cai Huawei (蔡华伟)

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Foreign Capital Increases Investment in China as Seen Through Panda Bonds

By: 葛孟超

At the 2026 Lujiazui Forum, People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng stated that the Panda bond market will be steadily developed. Panda bonds are renminbi-denominated bonds issued by overseas institutions within China. This year, the issuance of Panda bonds has seen a notable rise in activity, with over 130 billion yuan issued in the first five months, and the full-year total is expected to set a new record.

From the issuance of the first batch of Panda bonds in 2005 to the present, the Panda bond market has been developing for more than 20 years. In recent years, it has entered a phase of rapid growth, with market depth and breadth continuously expanding and its appeal steadily increasing, displaying new characteristics. First, sovereign institutions, large multinational institutions, and other overseas entities have become an important force in issuing Panda bonds. Currently, Panda bond issuers include sovereign institutions, international development institutions, major international financial institutions, multinational corporations, and others. In particular, since the start of this year, sovereign issuers such as Pakistan and Kazakhstan have completed issuances, and the number of Panda bond issuers has increased markedly. Second, the market structure has improved and trading has become more active. The proportion of medium- and long-term Panda bond issuances has risen, reflecting the issuers’ firm confidence in long-term development and deep cultivation of the Chinese market. At the same time, the number of institutions participating in Panda bond trading has continued to increase, and market activity has risen significantly.

The large-scale issuance of Panda bonds by major international issuers marks a high degree of international market recognition of China’s institutional environment, development expectations, and the renminbi. Specifically, three reasons are key.

First, the comparative advantage in financing costs makes borrowing in renminbi more attractive at present. Currently, U.S. dollar interest rates are at relatively high levels, while China’s lower financing costs make Panda bonds welcome in the international market. In addition, the renminbi exchange rate has been able to remain broadly stable in the face of the complex international trade and economic environment, which has significantly strengthened the confidence of bond issuers and investors. Apart from the accelerated development of the Panda bond market, the dim sum bond (Hong Kong offshore renminbi bond) market is also developing 如火如荼 (rú huǒ rú tú - "like fire and like the white flower of reeds," flourishing vigorously), indicating that under the current environment the renminbi has considerable room for development as a global financing currency.

Second, the continuous improvement of the basic institutional framework for Panda bonds has enhanced financing convenience. In recent years, China has continuously strengthened the construction of the basic institutional framework for the Panda bond market in areas such as market access, information disclosure, and fund use. This has not only optimized the registration and issuance mechanism but also relaxed relevant regulations on the management of raised funds, clarifying that raised funds may be remitted abroad for use, making the use of funds more flexible. This has notably increased the appeal of the Panda bond market and strengthened overseas institutions’ confidence in the steady development of the Panda bond market.

Third, the popularity of Panda bonds is closely related to the accelerated pace of renminbi internationalization. In recent years, the international acceptance and recognition of the renminbi have been continuously improving. More and more people around the world are using the renminbi for trade and investment, and more enterprises are including the renminbi as a currency in their global fund management. Issuing Panda bonds can better match issuers’ needs for renminbi payments and cross-border settlement, and also help promote the diversification of their debt structures.

The continuously developing Panda bond market is forming a virtuous interaction with the international use of the renminbi. Looking ahead, as the basic institutional framework for Panda bonds continues to improve, renminbi internationalization steadily advances, and the domestic bond market further opens up, Panda bonds are expected to achieve new breakthroughs in issuance scale, product innovation, and investor breadth. Panda bonds will not only provide diversified renminbi financing channels for overseas issuers but will also boost the process of renminbi internationalization and contribute to the high-level opening up of China’s financial market to the outside world.

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Nanyang Rose: How Does a Small City Bloom in Global Markets?

By: 本报记者 朱佩娴

Entering Nanyang, Henan, roses are in full bloom, a blaze of flowers all the way, too beautiful to be taken in.

The rose is not only the city flower of Nanyang, but the rose industry is also a green industry for enriching the people and a sunrise industry of Nanyang City. According to statistics, in Nanyang, the rose planting area is stable at 155,000 mu, with an annual output of 1.6 billion seedlings from nurseries, occupying 80% of the domestic market and 70% of national exports, sold to more than 20 countries and regions, making it the largest rose seedling breeding base and supply base in the country. In 2025, the comprehensive output value of the city’s rose industry exceeded 4 billion yuan.

Why are Nanyang roses able to bloom all the way and waft fragrance for thousands of miles?

Using the conference as a medium, over 20 years of stable cooperation

On a summer morning, as the sky faintly brightens, the ten-thousand-mu rose base in Shiqiao Town (石桥镇), Wolong District (卧龙区), Nanyang, is already bustling with activity. More than 20 workers, bent over with backs hunching, hold specially made small shovels and skillfully dig up sturdy bare-root rose seedlings one by one. These roses have developed root systems and thick branches; after pruning, washing, and grading, they are quickly sent to the packaging workshop, ready for shipment.

“These are the ‘Blossom’ and ‘Lovely Ice Cream’ varieties, new varieties we developed in cooperation with the Beijing Academy of Landscape and Greening Sciences (北京市园林绿化科学研究院),” said Xu Chunfeng (许春峰), deputy general manager of the Nanyang Rose Base (南阳月季基地). “Foreign clients especially like these pink and white series of floribunda roses. This batch of roses will be shipped to the Netherlands, a total of 50,000 seedlings, and must complete quarantine and container loading before noon today.”

In the packaging workshop, workers follow strict standard procedures: each unit consists of 10 seedlings, roots are wrapped with special moisture-retaining moss, then placed in breathable plastic bags, and neatly packed into cardboard boxes. The outermost layer is a pallet wrapped with moisture-proof film, with a label reading “Plant Quarantine.”

Unlike cut flowers, Nanyang’s rose exports are mainly seedlings and rootstocks. Relying on the unique climate, abundant sunlight, and organic-rich soil of the Central Plains, Nanyang roses have developed root systems and strong stress resistance, occupying a pivotal position in the global rose seedling market. The Nanyang Rose Base was established in 1983, specializing in the production of rose seedlings. It is a private enterprise integrating scientific research, production, and sales. Currently, it has a planting area of over 5,000 mu, with more than 1,000 fine and superior rose varieties, and is the leading enterprise in China for rose seedling research, breeding, and sales.

The export of the Nanyang Rose Base can be traced back to 1998, when the enterprise took the lead in establishing contact with international peers through the internet, and successively, flower and rose experts from all over the world came to China: in 2001, it exported to Japan, completing its first export business; in 2002, it exported to Germany, with the original contract for 200,000 seedlings, but due to superior quality, 1.2 million seedlings were actually shipped, and for the following decade or more, annual cooperative exports exceeded 5 million seedlings; in 2003, at the Third Flower Viewing and Ordering and Technical Exchange Conference in the Hometown of Chinese Roses (Shiqiao), after inspection, Dutch rose breeding experts directly ordered 500,000 seedlings, and the cooperation has continued to the present…

Why has the cooperation lasted over 20 years? “The products are excellent and trustworthy; that is the foundation of cooperation,” Xu Chunfeng said. The standards for rose exports to Europe are strict; European merchants have clear standards and parameters for the main stem, root system, and branching points, and there must be no insect eggs or pests and diseases before they can pass strict inspection and quarantine. “Whether by sea or by land, through careful selection and packaging, our seedlings have a survival rate of over 95% at the local destination,” Xu Chunfeng said. “The customers we have accumulated now are all repeat customers.”

Exports achieve win-win and simultaneously promote cooperation. In May 2025, the Nanyang Rose Base not only went out, but also brought in, signing a cooperation contract with the French Meilland Rose Company (法国玫昂月季公司) to establish a cooperative production base in Nanyang to optimize and breed new varieties. “These are low-maintenance ecological landscape rose series varieties that we have jointly developed and bred. They have characteristics such as disease resistance, wind resistance, drought tolerance, high temperature tolerance, and vigorous growth. They are very suitable for use in places like urban viaducts and road medians, greatly reducing daily maintenance costs,” Xu Chunfeng said.

Using the internet as an intermediary, product iteration and upgrading

In the evening, as the sky curtain opens, in Liaohe Town (潦河镇), Wolong District, Nanyang, in the open rose industry planting base there is a planting greenhouse, inside which is Qiao Deshuan’s (乔德栓) live-streaming room. At this moment, he has already stepped in front of the screen and started his live-streaming sales: “Original soil, original pot, original condition! For flower friends who don’t know how to care, click follow, join the fan group…” In just two hours of live streaming, he sold more than 2,000 orders, with sales exceeding 100,000 yuan.

Qiao Deshuan is the head of Nanyang Lusen Horticulture Co., Ltd. (南阳绿森园艺有限公司). The company’s developed “Lollipop” variety has performed excellently in the market in recent years. The lower part has a straight trunk of moderate thickness, and the upper part is a cluster of colorful flowers, like a huge lollipop. “We focus on home gardening, and the ‘Lollipop’ variety is very suitable for planting in family courtyards,” Qiao Deshuan said.

Qiao Deshuan’s first overseas order came from an online sales platform. “In 2019, someone left a message on an e-commerce platform, asking for 500 rose seedlings to be exported to Vietnam,” Qiao Deshuan said. At first, he didn’t pay attention and didn’t reply. But later, the other party kept leaving messages to inquire and even called to learn the details, which then drew his attention. “Export, I had never done before, but the other party was very patient in telling me how to package and go through customs.”

How to maintain competitiveness in the international market? Like Xu Chunfeng, Qiao Deshuan gave the same answer: “Products must first be of good quality and affordable price, and more importantly, be constantly updated and iterated.” In recent years, he has always focused the company’s efforts on new product development. “For some high-end markets, we prioritize launching varieties with independent intellectual property rights.”

Earlier this year, Qiao Deshuan’s company innovatively developed a cold-resistant New Year flower. “It blooms beautifully even during the winter New Year. It not only sells well domestically, but is also especially popular in high-cold countries and regions,” Qiao Deshuan said. In 2025, his company earned over US$3 million from exports, exporting to multiple countries including Vietnam, the Netherlands, Kyrgyzstan, and Canada, accounting for about 35% of total sales, with all orders coming from e-commerce platforms.

Putting people first, sharing the dividends of opening up

Nanyang roses not only bloom all the way and waft fragrance globally, but are also “flower of wealth” and “flower of happiness” for 150,000 people in Nanyang to increase their income.

Nanyang City innovates the interest connection mechanism of “leading enterprises + cooperatives + farmers + bases” (龙头企业+合作社+农户+基地), and through methods such as land transfer, employment work, technical services, and order purchasing, drives 150,000 people in the city to increase income and become prosperous. The average annual income per mu of farmers in the main rose-producing areas exceeds 10,000 yuan.

Through the regular conduct of training in planting techniques, e-commerce marketing, and flower arrangement, a number of local skilled talents and rural wealth leaders are cultivated. Using the internet to vigorously develop live-streaming e-commerce and online sales, a group of flower farmers have transformed into “e-commerce anchors,” turning traffic into sales, and online rose sales have grown year by year.

In order to better enable the rose, as a sunrise industry and an industry for enriching the people, to go abroad, Zhengzhou Customs (郑州海关) strengthens the application of research results on foreign technical trade measures, precisely pushes risk warning information to enterprises, and facilitates the EU to allow the export of Chinese rose seedlings with a growth cycle of one year to the EU, reducing the original isolation planting time by 50%, saving nearly one million yuan in production costs for rose export enterprises each year.

Staff from the Inspection and Quarantine Department of Nanyang Customs (南阳海关) told reporters, “Previously, sea transport to Europe took 40 days. Now, through the China-Europe Railway Express (Zhengzhou) (中欧班列（郑州）), it can reach Hamburg, Germany in 13 days, and then to the Aalsmeer Flower Auction in the Netherlands, the entire journey takes no more than 20 days. This greatly reduces the loss rate of seedlings during transportation.”

On the Belt and Road Initiative (一带一路), Nanyang roses are using their brilliant petals to communicate with the world and connect globally. “I hope that one day, when mentioning China, everyone will think of roses, just as when mentioning the Netherlands, one thinks of tulips,” Qiao Deshuan said.

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Investing in People in Ancient Chinese Texts (Learning Economics Through History)

By: 杨 成

Entering the new stage of development, “investing in people” (投资于人) is becoming an important concept for promoting high-quality development. China’s economic development increasingly emphasizes the enhancement of people’s capabilities and their comprehensive development. Whether cultivating new quality productive forces, strengthening development resilience, or expanding domestic demand, all increasingly require taking people’s development as an important support.

Valuing the people’s wellbeing and emphasizing “thickening the people’s livelihood” (厚生) is deeply rooted in the development thought that has been formed over the long course of Chinese civilization. “厚生” comes from the Book of Documents and is an important concept in traditional Chinese economic thought, reflecting the clear orientation of enriching and nurturing the people in traditional Chinese governance. Successive dynasties, through institutional arrangements such as the ever-normal granary (常平仓) and the community granary (义仓) to stabilize grain prices and provide disaster relief, all reflected ancient China’s sustained attention to ensuring the people’s livelihood and social stability. “厚生” not only embodies attention to the people’s wellbeing, but also contains the governance wisdom of achieving long-term stability by enriching and pacifying the people, constituting an important foundation of traditional Chinese economic thought.

However, traditional “厚生” thought was more established on the basis of an agricultural society; its core was still a governance ethic and a concept of people’s livelihood, with the main goal of maintaining social order and the stability of the small-scale peasant economy. Although “the people” received attention, they were still more objects of governance than the main force driving social production and historical development. Traditional “厚生” thought contains profound people-oriented wisdom, yet it had not yet formed a systematic understanding of the relationship between people’s comprehensive development and the development of social productive forces.

The “investing in people” emphasized today is not a simple continuation of traditional “厚生” thought, but, under the guidance of Marxist theory, a modern development concept formed through the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional economic thought. It places greater emphasis on people’s emancipation and comprehensive development, truly transforming “people” from ethical objects in traditional governance into subjects that drive the development of social productive forces and historical progress. People are not only the goal of development, but also the core force driving economic growth, social progress, and the evolution of civilization. “Investing in people” thus transcends the traditional concept of people’s livelihood governance and begins to become an important driving logic of modern economic development and an important practical direction for Chinese-style modernization.

From “厚生” to “investing in people” reflects precisely the continuously rising historical position of “people” in China’s development philosophy. Today, the reason “investing in people” is becoming increasingly important has a deep background: as Chinese-style modernization advances, people’s comprehensive development is accelerating its transformation into modern productive forces. Since reform and opening up, China’s rapid economic development has been built on the foundation of industrialization, urbanization, and large-scale factor input; after entering the new stage of development, the driving structure of development is undergoing profound change, and people’s creativity is increasingly becoming the key variable driving economic growth and social progress. Whether cultivating new quality productive forces, promoting industrial upgrading, strengthening development resilience, or expanding domestic demand, all increasingly require high-quality laborers, innovative talent, and vibrant human resources. Therefore, “investing in people” is not just a livelihood investment, but also a future-oriented development strategy, related to the shaping of the driving force for modern development.

The “investing in people” emphasized today is not merely a continuation of the traditional “厚生” concept in modern society, but also reflects a new understanding of “people” in the process of Chinese-style modernization. In the new era, “investing in people” places greater emphasis on people’s growth, their creative vitality, and their subjective value. Chinese-style modernization means not only economic growth, material abundance, and technological progress, but also the continuous enhancement of people’s capabilities, the constant expansion of development opportunities, and the unceasing release of creative potential. “Investing in people” is precisely the embodiment of the people-centered development thought in the new era. Only in the process of Chinese-style modernization can the traditional “厚生” thought truly transform into a real force driving modern development. Ultimately, modernization is not only the modernization of things, but also the modernization of people.

(The author’s institution: Renmin University of China School of Economics (中国人民大学经济学院); compiled by our reporter Ge Mengchao (葛孟超))

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Deng Jianyang

Layout design: Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰)

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Commercial Spaceflight Gets a Boost from This Powerful Tool (Innovation Talk)

By: 屈信明

Providing support for the development of commercial aerospace is a vivid portrayal of how science and technology insurance (科技保险) helps build a modern industrial system.

From basic research and technological breakthroughs to the transformation of achievements and industrial implementation, the insurance industry has great potential and should make great contributions at every link in developing new quality productive forces (新质生产力).

The launch pace is accelerating, the networking process is speeding up… In recent times, good news has been frequent in the commercial aerospace field, and the momentum of industrial development continues to strengthen.

At the same time, the insurance industry and commercial aerospace are also engaging in a “two-way rushing towards each other.” At the end of April this year, the Beijing Commercial Aerospace Insurance Co-insurance Body (北京商业航天保险共保体) handed over its “first-year” report card: In the past year, the launch insurance for the first-flight projects of private commercial rockets provided risk coverage of over 100 billion yuan for 25 private commercial aerospace launches, and the overall inquiry and underwriting cycle shortened by 20%…

Exploring the vast sea of stars is a cause full of unknowns and challenges. Making up for this shortcoming in risk management is an important task for stimulating the vitality of the commercial aerospace industry. Accelerating insurance service innovation and clearing development bottlenecks requires taking demand as the traction. Among these, “forming a co-insurance body” is a targeted remedy. The single launch insurance sum for commercial aerospace may reach hundreds of millions of yuan, and a single insurance company often has concerns about underwriting. In March last year, the Beijing Commercial Aerospace Insurance Co-insurance Body was formally established, with 18 property insurance institutions, 2 reinsurance companies, and 1 insurance intermediary forming a risk-sharing collaborative model, which significantly enhanced product innovation capacity and willingness. At the same time, insurance products for risk scenarios such as R&D testing, rocket launch, satellite on-orbit, and third-party liability have accelerated innovation and improvement, also injecting a full-chain “sense of security” into commercial aerospace, helping commercial aerospace-related enterprises unleash their hands to invest in technological breakthroughs.

To break the bottleneck in commercial aerospace insurance development, it is also necessary to pool the development forces of both supply and demand and develop more exclusive products. For example, for insurance institutions, they should intensively cultivate in the commercial aerospace subdivision fields, strengthen industrial technology research and risk data collection, cooperate with scientific research institutes to build professional risk assessment models, optimize actuarial pricing mechanisms, and develop targeted exclusive products such as R&D interruption insurance, on-orbit loss insurance, and intellectual property infringement insurance; aerospace enterprises should strengthen risk management awareness, actively participate in cross-enterprise and cross-industry insurance laboratory construction, strengthen data sharing such as risk information, better engage in insurance product design, and promote the embedding of insurance coverage into the entire industrial process.

Promoting the development of aerospace insurance is inseparable from support at the policy level. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes, “Establish a science and technology insurance policy system, enrich science and technology insurance products.” In March this year, four departments jointly issued the “Several Opinions on Accelerating the High-Quality Development of Science and Technology Insurance Strongly Supporting High-Level Technological Self-Reliance,” introducing a series of pragmatic measures in areas such as improving the risk diversification mechanism for major technological breakthroughs, strengthening insurance coverage in key areas, and accelerating innovation in science and technology insurance products and services. For example, encouraging regions with conditions to build a multi-participant science and technology insurance data integration and public service platform, and reflecting encouraging policies for operating science and technology insurance business in areas such as regulatory rating… The continuous release of policy dividends will provide solid support for clearing service difficulties in aerospace insurance.

It must also be noted that, compared with the broad prospects and coverage needs of commercial aerospace, insurance services still face considerable challenges. Influenced by factors such as rapid industrial technology iteration and limited accumulation of historical risk data, risk pricing is difficult and products tend to be homogeneous, resulting in relatively insufficient insurance coverage, and the coverage gaps for some key links need to be filled more quickly.

Providing support for the development of commercial aerospace is a vivid portrayal of how science and technology insurance helps build a modern industrial system. From basic research and technological breakthroughs to the transformation of achievements and industrial implementation, the insurance industry has great potential and should make great contributions at every link in developing new quality productive forces. It is hoped that all parties will take this as an opportunity to continuously expand the coverage of insurance, use financial innovation to escort technological innovation, and escort industrial innovation.

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The Path of Establishment and Breakthrough in a Major Appliance Town (Innovation in Towns)

By: 本报记者 李 刚

Driving south from Guangzhou City, Guangdong, then west, crossing the Chencun Waterway (陈村水道), one arrives at Beijiao Town (北滘镇), Shunde District (顺德区), Foshan City — a small town of 92 square kilometers. Looking around, factories stretch in clusters, trucks shuttle back and forth, and it appears no different from an ordinary industrial town in the Pearl River Delta region. Yet today, one out of every 20 domestically produced industrial robots comes from here. How did this small town, known for home appliance manufacturing, become the country’s largest industrial robot production base?

The birth of a robot

Entering the Haichang Dazu Robotics Smart Manufacturing City (海创大族机器人智造城), a collaborative robot undergoing testing is particularly striking: its orange mechanical arm can complete operations within an error of 0.02 millimeters.

“How many enterprises do you think are in this building?” Qiu Zhan’ou (丘展欧), deputy general manager of Haichang Dazu, pointed to one of the factory buildings and smiled, extending two fingers. “Over 20. Some make reducers, some make servo motors, some make robot bodies, and some make robot system integrations. Components produced upstairs are sent downstairs by elevator and can be directly assembled.”

“After finishing drawings on the first floor of the park in the morning, components can be sent down from the second floor in the afternoon, and verification on the machine can be done the same day,” interjected Tao Yuanming (陶渊明), secretary-general of the Shunde District Robot Association (顺德区机器人协会). In Beijiao, “design in the morning, verify in the afternoon” has become routine.

“For a robot, over 90% of the supply chain can be found in Beijiao, and components can be fully assembled within half a day,” said Huang Jinshuo (黄金烁), general manager of Foshan Yunwei Robot Technology Co., Ltd. (佛山云未机器人科技有限公司).

Qiu Zhan’ou introduced that the park currently gathers over 200 enterprises in robotics and related industries; when all reach full production, the annual output value is expected to reach 10 billion yuan.

“In the park, going upstairs and downstairs means upstream and downstream; the industrial park is the industrial chain,” said Yuan Xuehua (袁学华), deputy general manager of Guangdong Renzhan Robot Co., Ltd. (广东仁展机器人有限公司). Here there are both producers of parts and users of equipment. This timely response and collaboration greatly shortens the entire process cycle from design to prototyping and verification, forming a true industrial micro-circulation.

A complete industrial chain is like a powerful magnetic field, attracting a large number of system integrators to come and seek one-stop solutions.

The transformation of a sheet metal shed

“Beijiao’s move into robotics was forced by circumstances,” said Hu Bing (胡冰), member of the Beijiao Town Party Committee and deputy town mayor.

Beijiao Town is known as the “Heavy Town of China’s Home Appliance Manufacturing Industry” and is Guangdong’s second “hundred-billion-yuan town,” giving birth to a series of well-known enterprises such as Midea. Benefiting from the pioneering spirit of reform and opening up, the people of Shunde carved out a space in the home appliance industry, but the people of Beijiao knew in their hearts that the home appliance industry would always have a ceiling.

Around 2010, the growth rate of the home appliance market slowed, and labor costs continued to rise. “If we didn’t automate, we wouldn’t be able to deliver orders,” Tao Yuanming said. Market pressure was the first driving force for Beijiao’s transformation into the robotics industry.

The confidence for transformation came from Beijiao’s deep manufacturing foundation. Beijiao’s home appliance industry has accumulated over 900 manufacturing enterprises, including sheet metal processing, injection molding, motors, surface treatment… For the core servo motor of robots, Midea’s subsidiary Welling Motor (威灵电机) is the industry leader; reducers require precision gear processing, which can be completed by surrounding mold factories… The large enterprises in Beijiao and its surrounding areas have been carrying out automation transformation for over a decade, cultivating a large number of engineers who understand processes, equipment, and control. These people went on to start their own businesses, becoming the first “seed players” of Beijiao’s robotics industry.

“Beijiao’s transformation is not 另起炉灶 (lìng qǐ lú zào – ‘start a new stove,’ to start afresh or set up a new enterprise), it is climbing upward along the industrial chain,” said Wang Jialun (王家伦), deputy secretary of the Beijiao Town Party Committee.

Despite 天时地利人和 (tiān shí dì lì rén hé – ‘favorable timing, advantageous terrain, and harmonious people,’ perfect conditions), a major problem still lay before the people of Beijiao: the past production model of “every village lights a fire, every household emits smoke” had resulted in almost no industrial land available around 2018.

At this time, Shunde launched the village-level industrial park renovation. Xihai Village (西海村) had 1,500 mu of sheet metal sheds, with waste recycling and low-end processing clustered together. After land acquisition, demolition, and preparation, 700 mu of industrial land were freed up here. The first phase of the Haichang Dazu Robotics Smart Manufacturing City, covering 225 mu, was built on top.

The renovated Xihai Erzhi area changed: the floor area ratio increased from less than 0.8 to 4.0, 9-meter-long trucks can drive directly to the top floor for unloading. Previously, land was available for any investment; now it targets the robotics industry chain—core components, body manufacturing, system integration—supplementing whatever is lacking. The transformation of the Xihai Village Industrial Park gave Beijiao confidence, and the embryonic form of a robotics industry cluster emerged.

With the KUKA China factory establishing a presence in Beijiao, a world-class robotics “dream team” also “air-dropped” into the town. Upstream and downstream enterprises followed the leading dragon, and the entire industrial chain was connected and linked up.

The counterattack of an “ugly duckling”

The story of Huayan Robot (华沿机器人) has become a well-told tale in the Haichang park.

In 2018, the management committee of the Foshan Sino-German Industrial Service Zone (Foshan Sanlongwan Science and Technology City) (佛山中德工业服务区（佛山三龙湾科技城）) “encountered” the Huayan Robot team at the Hannover Messe in Germany. At that time, although this enterprise possessed collaborative robot technology, it was troubled by costs and space, and development faced obstacles. Over the next two years, the investment promotion team visited several times, speaking of Shunde’s industrial foundation and Beijiao’s manufacturing soil, and finally moved them.

“At that time, they had technology in hand, but no cash in hand; their situation was not good,” Tao Yuanming said bluntly.

Beijiao gave the enterprise the three things it most lacked: modern factory buildings provided by the Haichang Dazu Robotics Smart Manufacturing City gave Huayan a real “home”; the park gave Huayan “chain leader” treatment, with upstream and downstream enterprises collaborating innovatively, forming an industrial ecosystem; from credit guarantees to intellectual property services, the government patiently “accompanied the run,” giving Huayan full lifecycle support.

In March 2025, Huayan Robot formally moved its headquarters to Beijiao. On March 30, 2026, the enterprise was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

To attract and cultivate talent, Beijiao also brought educational resources to the doorstep of the park—jointly building a robotics college with Northeastern University, where students attend classes in the morning and intern at enterprises in the afternoon; cooperating with East China Normal University to establish a top innovative talent training base, reserving mathematical and scientific talent from the basic education stage. The Youth Talent Station provides free accommodation for job seekers, giving newcomers a “first stop.” Hospitals, talent community parks, etc., have been successively put into use…

Currently, the Smart Manufacturing City Enterprise Service Station provides “one-stop” services in more than 10 areas including commercial registration and financing matchmaking. Targeting the pain points of robotics enterprises—light assets and lack of collateral—Beijiao explores intellectual property pledge financing; one robotics enterprise obtained 42 million yuan in credit with just three patents.

A good industrial ecosystem is not just about attracting enterprises, but also about making them take root and grow into trees—providing sufficient space, ensuring supporting facilities, retaining talent, and having financing channels. What Beijiao has done around the robotics industry is exactly such a systematic project of “come and you can take root.”

The enlightenment of a small town

Currently, embodied robots are hot, but Beijiao seems unmoved. “We still need to develop according to our own industrial characteristics,” Tao Yuanming said.

This sober determination led Beijiao to choose a differentiated path: not competing with first-tier cities for training grounds and algorithm talent, but deeply cultivating industrial robot bodies, core components, and the industry.

Langyuxin Technology (朗宇芯科技) makes robot controllers; after moving to the park, its operating costs dropped by 30%, and output value increased year by year. Here there are also robots for cleaning photovoltaic panels, underwater robots for cleaning swimming pools, robots for cooking, and special robots for cleaning glass curtain walls.

A small town, traditional industries give birth to emerging industries, and then “endogenously” produce a complete industrial cluster. The home appliance industry contributes the largest scale of application scenarios, equipment manufacturing provides the most complete supporting capabilities, leading enterprises bring out the most core technical routes, and a global perspective pushes talent, technology, and the industrial chain to the forefront of the industry… All conditions combined, Beijiao’s robotics industry has its present day.

But the challenges are equally clear. Entering the workshops of some robot enterprises, core components are right in front of you, but on the production lines there are still imported labels. “Home appliances require millimeter-level precision; robots require micron-level,” introduced Fu Shenghua (付升华), member of the Beijiao Town Party Committee. Beijiao still needs to strengthen the precision machining link.

More thorny is talent. High-end talent in software algorithms is an indispensable human resource for developing the robotics industry, but they are more inclined to go to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.

“Beijiao is ‘making up for lessons.’ The Zhongda Leader (中大力德) South China base has been established, focusing on reducers; Midea’s Blue Orange Laboratory (蓝橙实验室) has released open projects globally to tackle core technologies for heavy-load robots…” Hu Bing said.

From dismantling sheet metal sheds to promoting industry moving upstairs, from a home appliance heavy town to a robotics highland, Beijiao took 10 years to forge a robotics industry chain. First-tier cities compete on original technology, venture capital, and talent density; Beijiao competes on manufacturing capability, application scenarios, and industrial supporting facilities… The exploration of Beijiao’s robotics industry cluster shows that developing new quality productive forces (新质生产力) means being application-oriented, taking manufacturing as the foundation, supported by industrial chain coordination, and doing what one is best at to the extreme.

Transformation and upgrading of traditional industries is the general trend. How to “transform” and how to “upgrade” require careful consideration. 因地制宜 (yīn dì zhì yí – “adapt measures to local conditions”), first establishing then breaking (先立后破), making good use of advantages, laying a solid foundation, moving forward step by step, and realizing the leap from a home appliance heavy town to the “Home of World Industrial Robots” — this is the revelation of Beijiao Town’s industrial development, and also the dialectics of developing new quality productive forces.

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Innovation means pushing yourself to the limit (The Smartest Minds Around Me)

By: 闫龙龙

Beside a steelmaking furnace at 1600 degrees Celsius, waves of heat rush toward you, and orange-red molten steel surges with light. Here, my workmates and I had to answer an almost harsh question: can the deviation in carbon content within one ton of molten steel be controlled to within 40 grams? This was the real test we faced when tackling the research and production of austenitic stainless steel for use in nuclear power demonstration fast reactors.

I have worked on the steelmaking front line for 14 years. What I smelt is not ordinary steel, but the "foundational material" of high-end manufacturing — special steel, which is widely used in fields such as nuclear power, heavy engineering machinery, ultra-high-pressure vessel equipment, aerospace, and energy equipment. In my view, steelmaking is like a game of precision: refining crude molten steel, removing impurities from the molten steel bit by bit, meticulously controlling the dosage of each alloy raw material, and "blending" the crude molten steel to the utmost purity.

Previously, there was no domestic production experience for this type of steel; everything had to start from zero. We repeatedly pondered over traditional smelting processes, and later broke out of the old mindset, innovated the "dynamic vacuum decarburization method" (动态真空脱碳法), and combined it with composite deoxidation and other techniques to give the molten steel a deep "purification."

During that most critical period, team members took turns running between the furnace platform and the laboratory, standing guard in front of the instruments. When the laboratory sent back the news that "all testing indicators have fully met the standards," everyone was too excited to speak.

Later, we recorded every operational step and every parameter change, repeatedly refined and optimized them, and compiled a set of standardized operating procedures. The single-furnace smelting time was shortened from 23 hours to 9 hours, and production efficiency more than doubled. Today, this special steel for nuclear power has been put into batch production, steadily supporting the construction of key national nuclear power projects.

The team then turned its focus to cost reduction, efficiency enhancement, and green production. The production of nitrogen-containing special steel had always relied on expensive chromium nitride alloy to supplement the nitrogen element. Could common nitrogen gas be used to replace chromium nitride alloy? That would both simplify the production process and reduce costs.

The idea was good, but implementation was fraught with difficulties — directly blowing nitrogen gas into the molten steel either resulted in most of the nitrogen escaping without integrating into the molten steel, or caused local nitrogen content to exceed the standard, directly affecting the quality of the entire furnace of molten steel. To make the nitrogen evenly "drill" into the molten steel, the furnace temperature, bottom-blowing nitrogen pressure, and vacuum degree had to be precisely coordinated.

To get this "single breath" right, we immersed ourselves on the furnace platform, repeatedly adjusted parameters, recorded thousands of sets of data, and groped our way to a set of "positive-pressure negative-pressure segmented bottom-blowing method" (正压—负压分段底吹法). This allowed us to completely say goodbye to expensive chromium nitride alloy and instead use industrial nitrogen gas to achieve nitrogen addition to the molten steel. This process innovation alone saves nearly 5 million yuan in costs per year. More critically, the utilization rate of nitrogen gas has been greatly improved, the fluctuation of nitrogen content in molten steel has significantly decreased, and product quality has become more stable.

Over these years, we have also solved many technical difficulties. Behind the seemingly minor parameter adjustments lies our almost stubborn pursuit of the word "precision." In the future, we will continue to focus on the material demands of high-end equipment, keep a close eye on frontier technological directions, persistently carry out process iteration, new product research and development, as well as cost reduction and quality improvement work, fully ensure the steel supply for key national industries and major projects, and use furnace after furnace of high-quality special steel to safeguard the high-quality development of China's high-end equipment manufacturing industry.

(The author is the Key Skills Leader of Inner Mongolia North Heavy Industries Group Co., Ltd. (内蒙古北方重工业集团有限公司) and the squad leader of the Refining Squad of Workshop 101, Special Steel Business Division. The article was compiled by this newspaper's reporter Zhao Jingfeng (赵景锋).)

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Layout Editor: Gu Yekai

Layout design: Zhang Danfeng (张丹峰)

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A Bitter Summer to Remember

By: 云 德

A person who by nature fears summer heat does not fear the brightness of the sun, but rather that unrelievable muggy heat. The cold of winter can be warded off by clothing, can be warmed by a stove fire; but summer’s heat rolls in 铺天盖地 (pū tiān gài dì - "blanket the sky and cover the earth," overwhelming and everywhere), assailing one with a 无孔不入 (wú kǒng bù rù - "no opening not entered," seeping into every crevice) entanglement; in the thinnest of clothes, hiding in the coolest corner, one still cannot escape. Thus, high summer, to a heat-fearing person like me, not only has no passionate romance to it, but instead feels like a 旷日持久 (kuàng rì chí jiǔ - "long days lasting long," protracted and drawn-out) and unbearable ordeal.

The word "bitter summer" (苦夏) has been deeply imprinted on my mind since I was old enough to understand. Every year when summer came, I would lose my appetite because of the heat, my figure would grow noticeably thinner, and my grandmother, invoking "bitter summer," would go to an old TCM doctor and have a few doses of something called Liu Yi San (六一散) prescribed. Whether it did any good after being drunk is another matter, but the label of "bitter summer" was firmly planted in my heart, and the fear of heat has accompanied me through most of my life. To this day, the symptoms of heat intolerance are still as clear as yesterday. Just after the Start of Summer (立夏), when others are still wearing jackets, I am already in short sleeves; a folding fan and a handkerchief are indispensable items whenever I go out. During three meals a day, my cheeks are often slick with sweat; before eating, at home I must take off my outer shirt, and when out I subconsciously look for a window, and I particularly dote on air-conditioner vents that others avoid. Though not a good habit, it has helped me dodge many social engagements. Because whenever I go out to a group meal, my wife always cheerfully warns me: "Hey, take it easy! Don’t end up dripping with sweat, making it look like you’re scrambling for food." This teasing jab is like the Tightening Spell the Tang Priest recited; once I start sweating at the table, I immediately dare not move my chopsticks again; but the moment I get nervous, the sweat comes even faster, so I simply stop eating, and often after a big feast I am still ravenous and have to go home and make a bowl of instant noodles to fill my stomach. Hence, I decline most dinner invitations.

Fear of heat and profuse sweating, according to TCM theory, is "blood heat" (血热), a pathological state in which heat pathogen invades the blood portion, the body’s yang qi is excessive, causing blood circulation to speed up and functions to become hyperactive. It might be better to call it not a constitutional defect, but rather an inborn fate. It has invisibly shaped my unique neural sensitivity; I have an abnormal sensitivity to temperature, like an overly sensitive thermometer that records the subtlest changes in heat throughout the summer. When temperatures gradually rise in early summer, people who have just come through winter generally enjoy the warmth of the sun, but the bitter-summer sufferer already feels sweltering heat. Once the dog days (伏天) set in, the summer heat completely loses all measure, and hot currents surge mightily toward the human world. The gentleness of the morning sunrise is but a flash in the pan, instantly turning into a scalding furnace. There is not a breath of wind in the air; it is stagnant like airtight cotton wadding, heavily smothering the earth, the streets, the treetops, and pressing down on people’s hearts. When I get up in the morning and open the window, a surging wave of hot air immediately rushes in my face, instantly enveloping body and mind; even my breath carries a burning texture.

By noon, the blazing sun is like fire; the intense glare spreads out like hundreds of millions of silver needles densely packed, and the whole world becomes a giant kiln. Hot currents splash wantonly over the earth, the air itself almost turns into transparent flames; if you look closely, you can see it distorting and steaming on the pavement, and distant buildings become illusory in the wavering heat. Every kind of tree by the roadside hangs its leaves dispiritedly, uniform, like scorched paper scraps. The little grass at the edge of the street loses its former verdancy; the leaves curl limp and languid, lazy and strengthless. Only the cicadas in the trees scream desperately, 撕心裂肺 (sī xīn liè fèi - "tear heart split lungs," heart-wrenchingly), cry after cry, as if strenuously denouncing the deadly heat. On squares and open ground not covered by grass and trees, the tiles or cement pavement are ruthlessly saturated with light and heat; stepping on them feels like treading on red-hot iron plates. People walking through such spaces take every step as a severe physical test. No one dares to walk quickly, dares to lift their head and face the sky; they only lower their heads and shuffle slowly. If you count steps and move forward, within a hundred meters your back is soaked through, your undergarments stick to your skin, stuffy and itchy. Sweat beads densely ooze from the temples, slide down the sideburns, and fall onto the neck and shoulders. The palms are clammy, the fingertips have a sticky feel, and even the strength to raise a hand and wipe off sweat is quietly drained away by the oppressive heat. If you continue walking, sweat no longer slowly seeps from the skin but gushes out of the body; in no time you are drenched all over. A little later, map-like white salt blooms form on the clothes, their lines no less intricate and vivid than a Picasso abstract painting.

People who suffer bitter summer usually do not dare to go out at noon. But even if you hide indoors, it is still suffocatingly hot. With doors and windows closed, though you avoid the blazing sun, the room becomes a sealed steamer; the air is turbid and stagnant, and even breathing feels heavy. No matter how tightly you draw the curtains, they cannot block the hot air seeping in through the window gaps, under the door, or even along the cracks in the walls. Indoors it is dim, and time seems to congeal; the second hand on the clock moves especially slowly—tick, tock—each beat striking your nerves. Sitting still for a moment, you become fully hot and restless, 心神不宁 (xīn shén bù níng - "heart and spirit not at peace," agitated). Turning a page, your fingertips are lightly sweaty; taking a sip of tea, the warmth entering your throat only adds to the irritation. In your heart you are always longing for a breeze, craving coolness, but reality only doubles the heat. Nothing helps except shaking your palm-leaf fan more vigorously or turning the electric fan to the highest setting; but these devices only send out hot air, merely stirring the hot air around you, as if someone were blowing a hot-air blower at you—the burning feeling is not reduced one bit. Sometimes, unable to bear it, I take a cold shower, but as soon as I come out of the bathroom, a thin layer of sweat immediately forms on my body, sticky, like a coat of diluted glue. Fanning, washing—no matter what artificial intervention, it is always impossible to resist the boundless, suffocating summer heat.

During my working years, staying indoors was certainly impossible. The best way to avoid the heat was to leave early and come back late: go to work at daybreak, then bike home after sunset. That turned out to be a 歪打正着 (wāi dǎ zhèng zháo - "slanting hit lands squarely," do the right thing by accident), giving others a good impression of my diligence at work. The most unbelievable thing is that man’s calculations are no match for heaven’s; when the unit was distributing housing back then, due to seniority and rank, my home was assigned—by an 阴差阳错 (yīn chà yáng cuò - "yin error yang mistake," a strange twist of fate)—to the top floor of the dormitory building. I never expected to live there for more than 20 years. Every day after work, after climbing four flights of stairs, the heat wave on the top floor would promptly open its enthusiastic arms to you, giving you a panic you could not tolerate yet could not refuse. When the door opened, the room felt like a high-temperature dry sauna; the smell of scorched concrete pouring down from the ceiling mixed with the stale odor of old clothes evaporating inside, rushing straight into the nostrils, and a wave of uncontrollable itching immediately swept through the throat. While 马不停蹄 (mǎ bù tíng tí - "horse never stops its hoof," non-stop) opening windows for ventilation and turning on fans to drive out the heat, my family and I would often flee the room on the pretext of buying groceries or shopping. Once back on the street, we would find that the hot wind outside seemed more bearable than the stale air at home.

Although I tried every trick to cool down, the heat wave on the top floor never retreated all night. Lying in bed at night, the light coming through the window was dark red; the fan blew out a hot, earthy-smelling current; this agitated atmosphere had not a trace of tranquility. The straw mat under me was soon warmed by my body heat; if I turned over to another spot, it became damp and hot again in a moment; I tossed and turned like a pancake—翻来覆去 (fān lái fù qù - "turn over and over," to toss and turn)—and never slept well for an entire summer. Sometimes, too exhausted to bear it, I simply slept on the floor. This misery did not end until the late 1990s, when we finally installed an air conditioner at home.

In the years before air conditioning became common, the greatest gain from my fear of heat was that it forced me to become a heat-avoidance expert. The subway became the best refuge in summer; whenever I went out, or even purely to escape the scorching heat above ground, I would try every means to prolong my stay in the subway. The cool, damp air from the subway tunnels, though not pleasant to smell, could quickly dry the sweat on my forehead and bring a rare moment of brief comfort. At the same time, my experience of seeking coolness taught me exactly which mall had the strongest AC, which park had the densest woods, which riverbank was the coolest, and what time to go out to best avoid the high temperatures. Although this knowledge never made it into public travel guides, it was genuinely a survival secret unique to people with an extraordinary sensitivity to temperature.

The sweltering heat is just like this: it torments you, tires you, yet it also makes you remember its unabashed, unvarnished honesty. Only when the autumn wind suddenly rises, driving away the summer heat demon, and you look up at the high sky and light clouds of autumn, and listen to the faint chirping of insects in the distance, does all the accumulated summer gloom disperse, and the tense body and mind relax. Even when you enter the bitter cold of winter, you feel a natural closeness to the piercing cold, because you have already selflessly dedicated all your sensitive nerve endings to the heat. The experience of bitter summer teaches you that all preferences in this world may originate from past suffering; only after enduring the ordeal do you truly understand how to cherish every wisp of breeze, every inch of shade, and every gentle sunset and sunrise that you encounter after crossing the summer heat.

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Poetry is a beam of light (Reflections)

By: 丁 鹏

I once invited a peasant poet to attend a poetry gathering. Soon I received his rustic reply: "Right now I am busy with spring plowing; I must first tend the fields well, so I won't go." In this peasant poet's heart, not missing the farming season is more urgent than attending a poetry gathering.

Some people think that a poet is someone who takes poetry as a profession. In fact, full-time poets are very few; the vast majority of poets come from all walks of life, and are, like you and me, ordinary people who struggle and wrestle through life.

Poetry may not be able to sustain the daily necessities of rice, oil, salt, and firewood, but poetry is a beam of light that can illuminate life and can withstand the long passage of years. I once interviewed a female poet who ran a small village shop. She said that her level of education was low — she had not even graduated from junior high school — but this did not prevent her from looking up at the starry sky and allowing her soul to reach a certain height of life. Writing poetry gave her confidence and self-assurance.

The emergence of such grassroots poetry writers has brought a fresh new wind to the poetry scene. In the past, some poetry was criticized for being homogenized, colloquial, or empty, obscure, and pretentiously profound. Today, more and more grassroots poets are stepping forward, using vivid and flesh-and-blood brushstrokes to write poems of life and poems of labor, adding footnotes of the era to ancient poetic propositions such as "poetry arises from emotion" and "the laborer sings of his work."

We have seen their "breaking out of the circle." "Courier poet" Wang Jibing (王计兵) and "Peasant poet" Yimeng Second Sister (沂蒙二姐) have even stepped onto the stage of CCTV's Spring Festival Gala. Wang Jibing's poems have also "gone overseas," published in Italian media. This brings to mind the commoner poets of the Tang Dynasty, Han Shan (寒山) and Shide (拾得). These two recluses, inconspicuous in their own time, nevertheless traveled through time and space with their simple poetry and became renowned overseas.

Why are so many people writing poetry? Borrowing the famous line from the German poet Hölderlin: Full of merit, yet poetically, man dwells on this earth. While we certainly need labor to settle our bodies and secure our lives, we also need poetry to settle our hearts. The acute perception of the external world and the self-sufficiency of the inner world — this poetic state is becoming ever more scarce and precious.

Why pursue a poetic existence? The renowned scholar Mo Lifeng (莫砺锋), who has long devoted himself to the study of Tang and Song poetry, says: "Because that is the highest realm of life, the true meaning of life." Poetry is so extensively and deeply integrated into the daily lives of Chinese people. The verses we have read have become our collective memory and cultural底色 (dǐsè - background color, foundation). Our personality cultivation is poetic — "When the belly is filled with poetry and books, the spirit shines forth." Our attitude toward life is poetic — "Poetry and wine, seize the day." Our pursuit of distant horizons is also poetic — "Just by journeying, there is naturally poetry." Poetic feeling even spreads into the realm of consumption; even some advertising slogans are full of poetry.

Poetry can use brevity to overcome length, bringing profound shock to people; it can heal the soul — "Picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, leisurely I see Nanshan." It can nurture a great bosom — "How can I get a vast mansion of a thousand rooms to shelter all the world's cold scholars with joyful faces?" Poetry has fed our souls and ignited our passion. We are using poetry as a boat to cross the river of time.

In this self-media era where everyone is a creator, many creators have emerged who specialize in short, creative videos focused on poetry. Niche poetry is now breaking boundaries with the help of new media. On short video platforms, a warm current of poetry is now quietly surging.

Let us read poetry together.

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The Beauty of Qilou

By: 王国华

Walking in the old city of Wuzhou, Guangxi, one sees arcade buildings (骑楼) everywhere. An arcade building leaves a passageway on the ground floor, with residences above and shops and sidewalks below.

The walls are mottled, exuding an atmosphere of time. As I walk, I look around: rice noodle shops, grocery shops, hardware stores, lottery shops, sweet soup shops, glasses shops, acupuncture shops, tobacco and liquor shops, general wholesale shops… Occasionally, one or two swallows dart past under the eaves, and for a moment it feels like returning to the last century.

This type of arcade building originally flourished in Southeast Asia. In 1897, Wuzhou was designated as a treaty port and became a commercial hub on the golden waterway of the Xijiang River. Merchants from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, and Southeast Asia poured in; at its peak, the city had over 1,500 commercial establishments.

In 1924, a major fire broke out in Wuzhou, burning down contiguous bamboo-and-wood buildings in the old city. The authorities launched a project to demolish the city walls, widen the streets, and uniformly build arcade buildings, modeling them after the arcade style of Guangzhou, creating a contiguous arcade block.

A century has passed in the blink of an eye. Over 560 of these arcade buildings remain, mostly two to four stories, located in the Hedong old city area. This contiguous arcade complex is rare in China for its scale, quantity, and completeness of preservation.

While walking under the arcades, I noticed iron rings on the square pillars—one low, one high. When I asked about their use, it turned out they were built for tying boats. It turns out that Wuzhou suffered frequent floods, often submerging the streets, and even completely covering the ground floor. Residents could only go out by small boats, which became a necessary means of transport; an iron ring was a makeshift dock.

Since flooding was frequent, why not build houses on higher ground? A local friend replied: Although the old city area is low-lying and the flat land narrow, it was close to the docks. For early merchants and residents, the shipping benefits and wealth brought by the low-lying area far outweighed the property losses from floods. People preferred to stay in the low-lying area rather than give up this golden location. Moreover, arcade buildings also have a certain disaster resistance. In particular, after building materials shifted from bamboo and wood to brick, tile, and cement, they could withstand flood immersion. When floodwater rose to the first floor, shopkeepers only needed to stack a few bricks to continue business as usual; if the water rose further, goods and people would be moved upstairs floor by floor.

Before the sturdy modern flood-control levees were built, the people of Wuzhou relied on these locally adapted arcade buildings to realize a survival philosophy of "people contending for land with water, coexisting with floods." A local friend told an amusing story: when a big flood came, the older generation still leisurely played mahjong. The calmness and 随遇而安 (suí yù ér ān – "adapt to circumstances," to be content with whatever happens) in the local character are evident from this.

Besides the old city, there are also quite a few arcade-style buildings in the new city. During the rainy season, people walk freely under the continuous corridors without needing umbrellas. The corridors are like giant umbrellas. At the junctions between arcade buildings, one needs to take a few quick steps or make a small leap; at such moments, raindrops falling on one's body add a touch of amusement. As soon as the weather clears, the temperature rises quickly. Pedestrians and shopkeepers again have shade from the sun. One can often see several people sitting on chairs, a small bamboo table in front of them, leisurely drinking Liubao tea.

In the old and new arcade buildings of Wuzhou, I saw people living their lives. The arcade buildings here have the sweet and sour, the bitter and spicy, the 悲欢离合 (bēi huān lí hé – "joys and sorrows, partings and reunions," the vicissitudes of life); the buildings and people depend on each other, and everywhere is the lively atmosphere of daily life.

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Wheelbarrows overwhelm mountains and seas

By: 刘立云

Rosy dawnlight is ignited by that small flag inserted on the wheelbarrow
December rosy dawnlight flowing over the snow-covered ground; December
From north to south, from dawn to midnight
From main roads to paths, from an old man with white hair and ruddy complexion to a spirited and vigorous youth
The wheelbarrows advance with a thunderous roar, the wheelbarrows are overwhelming

The earth trembles, the snow on the earth is repeatedly crushed
Leaving deep and numerous wheel ruts. Countless wheelbarrows
Are inserted with countless triangular small flags, they are
Fluttering noisily! Like advancing drums and horns beating and blowing all along
Uttering the roars and shouts of a class
The footsteps of a class advancing irresistibly with triumphant songs

Raw or cooked, what was usually hidden to survive famine, as long as
It can be used to stave off hunger, all are loaded onto the carts
Sent to where the sounds of gunfire resound, such as rice, wheat, sorghum
Such as pigs and sheep; such as pancakes, green onions, dried sweet potatoes

This winter, besieged by countless heavy snows, countless
Wheelbarrows thunderously pour in and gather
An invisible encirclement is shrinking smaller and smaller
Smaller and smaller. Who can stop the first new green of this land, flame-like, from growing out of the wheel ruts in the snow
Out of the footprints they have trodden along the way
Next year will grow the first touch of flame-like new green of this land

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Photo Report

Chinese painting "Midsummer" (盛夏图) by Li Kuchan (李苦禅), collection of the National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆).

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Village Party Secretary (Encounter)

By: 纪红建

The road winds upward. White-walled, black-tiled three-sided courtyard houses are half-hidden among the green of mountain forests, spreading out a serene picture unique to a mountain village. In the fields near the houses, several elderly people are bending over planting sweet potatoes.

The small village is called Taipingkan (太平坎), located in Yudai Township (玉带乡), Wanyuan City (万源市), eastern Sichuan. On the south side of the village road, there is a house built of piled stones; it was a warehouse from the 1960s, now converted into a village history museum. It turns out that this small village once flourished because of the Lychee Road (荔枝道) of the Tianbao era (天宝年间) of the Tang dynasty, possessing unique geographical features, a long history and culture, and a wealth of surviving traditional ancient buildings.

But the small village was once destitute. Now in Taipingkan village, village roads crisscross, are smooth and clean; the houses, fields, and industrial bases are arranged in 井井有条 (jǐng jǐng yǒu tiáo - "wells well-ordered and rows arranged," in perfect order).

I tried to find the internal cause of this mountain village's transformation. The east side courtyard of a three-sided courtyard house is the home of the village Party branch secretary and village committee director Xie Zongping (解宗平). Xie Zongping is just over forty, with a dark-skinned face that radiates the honest and simple energy of a mountain person. Hearing that I wanted to interview him, he looked shy and repeatedly said he had nothing to say for himself, that what he did was only what a Communist Party member should do. He said I could go interview the village folks; the village having today's situation, the methods were thought up by everyone, and the work was done by everyone together.

I could only go from house to house in the village, chatting with villagers by the roadside. Strolling on the slopes and ridges of Taipingkan village, what I heard most was the story of "Haiwa'er (海娃儿)." The elderly in the village affectionately call Xie Zongping "Haiwa'er." In the eastern Sichuan dialect, the character "解" is pronounced "hai."

There was an elderly person in the village who got up to use the toilet in the middle of the night, accidentally fell, and hit his face, covering it with blood. The old man's children were not at home, and his spouse was seriously ill in bed. After hearing the news, Haiwa'er threw on his overcoat and rushed over. After simply treating the old man's wounds, he drove him to the township health center. The villagers all said, a Haiwa'er so thoughtful, where could you find one?

In the Majiabian Group (马家边组), I met a man named Xie Yuanli (谢元礼). He told me that when he was two years old, his left leg was burned and became disabled; two years ago, cancer was discovered in his left leg, and eventually the entire left leg had to be amputated. At that time his spirits 一落千丈 (yī luò qiān zhàng - "fall a thousand zhang in one drop," to plummet drastically), and he even lost the courage to live. In his most difficult time, Haiwa'er accompanied him every day and encouraged him. Haiwa'er said, who doesn't have difficulties? Don't think about other things; just think about your two daughters, you have to persist. Later the surgery was very successful; before Xie Yuanli was discharged, Haiwa'er had already arranged for staff to handle his subsistence allowance procedures. Xie Yuanli said that it was far more than that; over the years, every time his daughters could not go up or down the mountain due to rain or snow, Haiwa'er made special trips to pick them up and drop them off; Haiwa'er had almost become their family's dedicated "babysitter."

A college graduate who had left the village became a professor. Originally influenced by some negative news online, he had some opinions about village cadres. Once when he returned to the village, he took his wife to visit the cave where his grandfather once lived. While coming down, he accidentally broke his leg. At that time it was winter, the wind was biting cold, and it was getting dark; the situation was urgent. Hearing this news, Xie Zongping put down his bowl, ran all the way to the opposite side of the mountain, found the professor, carried him on his back and headed downhill. On the way they encountered a river; Xie Zongping did not bother to take off his shoes and socks, directly wading across the river. He carried the professor back to the village, drove him to the township health center at the foot of the mountain for treatment. Thus this professor not only regained a new understanding of village cadres, but also voluntarily signed up for some village construction projects, such as donating streetlights to the village.

I visited again, wanting to interview Xie Zongping. This honest fellow thought for a moment and said that he was not good at talking; if forced to talk about his ideas, it was to find every way to serve the villagers well. Next, he wanted to widen the village's main road, as well as the 6-meter-wide two-way asphalt road from the village to Caoba (草坝), otherwise large vehicles cannot enter the village, and the villagers' potatoes cannot be hauled out.

For Taipingkan village, Xie Zongping has not done any 轰轰烈烈 (hōng hōng liè liè - "roaring and blazing," vigorous and spectacular) big deeds, but one by one, piece by piece, small, meticulous, heartwarming matters have persistently warmed the hearts of the villagers.

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Oil Tea as Morning Tea (Duoweizhai)

By: 牛旭斌

This bowl of oil tea originates from the Longyou granary in Cheng County (成县), Gansu. Wheat whose ripe ears bend from their weight, old-tree walnuts with white kernels, sweet and fragrant mountain almonds, rich and aromatic rapeseed oil, and wild agastache by the roadside — this land and its waters have brewed this flavorful delicacy.

Using oil tea as morning tea has a relatively early origin in Cheng County. In childhood memories, every household, at the entrance to the main room, would set up a fire table level with the earthen bed. At the first glimmer of dawn, firewood was lit in the brazier; the flames burned bright red. A coarse earthenware tea pot was simmered — pot-shaped, quite large, with a bulging belly and a constricted neck. One pot of oil tea was stir-fried, with water added multiple times and slowly simmered, enough for the whole family's breakfast.

The tea pot relied on the fire to heat the oil. Red onions, Sichuan pepper, and dried ginger were stir-fried until fragrant. A pinch of spring-tip tea leaves was added; they were stir-fried until the leaves turned white. Agastache was added, and the mixture was stirred with a tea strainer. When the whole house was filled with fragrance, wheat flour was added and fried until slightly scorched. Then, pre-toasted crispy walnut pieces and almond pieces were sprinkled in. After stirring evenly, the combined "oil-flour tea" was pressed firmly against one side of the pot wall. Then, freshly drawn mountain spring water was added, fine firewood was replenished, and the pot was placed over a slow flame to slowly come to a boil. At this moment, the bread slices arranged around the brazier were roasted golden on both sides; a bite and they crumbled crisply. The whole family ate the roasted bread and drank the oil tea — a solid and brand-new day, together with the sky's canopy, began.

In the county town, as soon as the sun peeks over the Phoenix Mountain ridges, the streets and alleys are already steaming and 人声鼎沸 (rén shēng dǐng fèi - "people's voices like a boiling cauldron," bustling with noise). In several snack streets, crowds surge to drink and fetch oil tea. Some pair the scalding oil tea with crispy fried dough twists, while others eat it with freshly baked oil-crust flatbread. Oil tea has become the breakfast of choice for the small-town people to nourish the stomach and warm the body, and also a famous local dish for entertaining guests.

In Wujia Lane (武家巷), people pour oil tea boiled in large pots into specially made large teapots and sell it from carts. Customers follow the oil tea carts, forming a moving scene. Nowadays, the old streets are being demolished and renovated one after another; some people have opened specialized oil tea shops in the new urban district, and agritainment establishments and homestays also offer oil tea seasonally. Others have set up small processing plants, producing oil tea products in a variety of flavors. As more and more people leave their hometown, oil tea is sent through express delivery to 天南地北 (tiān nán dì běi - "heaven south, earth north," far and wide).

When autumn arrives, the weather gradually turns cold, the temperature difference between morning, noon, and evening is large, and the annual agastache has grown to the time of its most intense fragrance. The newly picked Sichuan pepper of the year has been sun-dried to a red and numbing color, aroma, and taste. As a National Geographical Indication Protection Product, Cheng County walnuts have plump kernels; shelled and roasted until crisp and fragrant, they are the main ingredient that gives Cheng County oil tea its aroma, making a bowl of paste as thick as hulatang (胡辣汤) savory and mellow. At the moment it enters the mouth, if one accidentally bites into a Sichuan pepper kernel, the fresh and numbing tingle lingers on the tongue for a long time.

The writer Lu Yao (路遥) once recalled a childhood story. At the age of nine, he walked with his father to Qingjian City, Shaanxi (陕西清涧城). That morning, his father spent one mao to buy him a bowl of oil tea, which he downed in one gulp.

Oil tea, stir-fried with oil and salt, is a specialty of the Shaanxi-Gansu region, and also a key to unlocking the 风土人情 (fēng tǔ rén qíng - "wind, earth, people, feelings," local customs and traditions) and daily life of this land.

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Zhou Shuyi

Contributions from readers are welcome. Submissions must be original and first-published, not simultaneously submitted to multiple outlets. Email of this section: dadi@peopledaily.cn

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