People's Daily - July 19, 2026

Promoting global AI development toward goodness and benefit for humanity

By: 本报记者 杜尚泽 胡泽曦

On July 17 in Shanghai, the brilliant chapter of major-country diplomacy and the splendid scene of technological innovation complemented each other.

The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance opened at the World Reception Hall on the banks of the Huangpu River.

People marvel at the foresight and leadership of this empowering nation, and are moved by the vigorous vitality of technological progress advancing at a 一日千里 (yī rì qiān lǐ - “one day, a thousand li,” advancing at a tremendous pace) pace. They also draw from President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at the opening ceremony, titled “Facing the Questions of the Times,” and from the prolonged applause after the speech and the scene of foreign guests rising one after another to shake his hand, to grasp the significance of this grand event for the common future of humanity.

Throughout history, attitudes toward the future have been tied to the fate of nations and the prospects of humanity. In modern times, China missed the wave of the technological revolution, fell behind, and was beaten. It has journeyed and striven all the way. Having come this far, it steadfastly follows the path of a shared future and embraces the world.

“Promote the development of global AI in a direction that is upward and good, benefiting humanity,” “Join hands to build a fair and reasonable global AI governance system,” “Create a better future for human society together”… President Xi Jinping’s words carried immense weight.

To seek progress for humanity and common good for the world is China’s commitment. This original aspiration is projected onto the wave of AI, transforming into a governance quest for “upward and good, benefiting humanity.” Accumulated step by step, it marches toward a grand journey.

Observing the Situation · Multiple Perspectives under the Changing Landscape

President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech began with the birth of the concept 70 years ago.

“Seventy years ago, a group of young scholars first proposed the concept of artificial intelligence at the Dartmouth Conference in New Hampshire, USA. Over the past 70 years, AI scientists and researchers from around the world have continuously explored the unknown, advanced through twists and turns, and broken through with perseverance.”

In the depth of the long passage of time, China’s technological development has seen “a light boat pass through myriad mountains.” From following to running alongside and even partially leading, time has marched forward in great strides. Hence, “70 years later, facing a new round of vigorously developing AI wave, we gather on the banks of the Huangpu River.”

What is jointly discussed is “promoting the development of global AI in a direction that is upward and good, benefiting humanity.” This is also President Xi Jinping’s consistent proposition.

“A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs, and global AI technological innovation has entered an unprecedented period of activity.” How to recognize change, respond to change, and seek change?

“Smart technologies of intelligent interconnection of all things, human-machine collaboration, cross-border integration, and co-creation and sharing are releasing enormous energy in superposition, containing both huge opportunities and governance challenges.” How to pursue benefits and avoid harms, uphold the right path and steer change?

This grand event conveys a sense of mission that many walk far together.

From the agricultural civilization that followed the seasons, to the industrial civilization with roaring machines, and then to the digital civilization of digital-intelligence evolution… the leap of civilizations is magnificent, and the once-in-a-century great transformation is accelerating.

A good chess player plans for the overall situation. President Xi Jinping regards AI as “another epoch-making major technological change after the steam engine, electricity, and the internet.”

Faced with change, China chooses to walk together with the world. The theme of this meeting on the banks of the Huangpu River is set as “Smart Partners, Co-create the Future.” The word “partners” makes clear China’s attitude in the face of opportunities and challenges. Guests at the meeting, in their speeches, praised President Xi Jinping’s “forward-looking vision” and commended China for “upholding the spirit of partnership” and for convening this meeting which is “significant and timely.”

This grand event conveys a dialectical view that safety and danger are interchangeable — 安危相易 (ān wēi xiāng yì - “safety and danger are interchangeable,” mutual transformation of opposites).

“Humanity has to face the questions of the times: When machines begin to think, how should humans interact with them? When algorithms participate in decision-making, how can safety be ensured? When technology challenges ethics, how can governance keep up? When the gap keeps widening, how can universal benefit be achieved? These questions require the international community to think deeply and answer together.” President Xi Jinping thinks dialectically and sees far.

Development and security are like two sides of a coin. AI has never been a one-way benefit of triumphant advance. At the venue, the “intelligence divide” was repeatedly mentioned. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern that “the relevant investment received by the vast number of developing countries is a 杯水车薪 (bēi shuǐ chē xīn - “a cup of water for a cartload of firewood,” a drop in the bucket).”

New technologies have always been double-edged swords. “Ensure that AI is always under human control” and “make AI, this thousand-li horse, run fast and steadily” — President Xi Jinping draws red lines for AI development.

This grand event conveys a systematic approach of comprehensive measures.

Global AI governance is entering a new deep-water zone. The difficulties are not limited to technology itself. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev frankly stated in his speech: “The era background of this technological transformation is one of geopolitical turmoil and a continuously worsening trust deficit.”

The development of AI is not a 空中楼阁 (kōng zhōng lóu gé - “castle in the air,” unrealistic fantasy); it is rooted in the soil of economy, culture, society, and so on. Whether it is “small yard, high fence,” “decoupling and severing supply chains,” or open cooperation and mutual benefit — all the changing winds and clouds are projected here.

The great path is not lonely; many walk far together. The grand event yielded abundant fruits:

A cooperation organization.

The night before the opening ceremony, the World AI Cooperation Organization 应运而生 (yìng yùn ér shēng - “emerge as the times require,” arise at the right moment) in Shanghai. Representatives of 29 countries signed one after another amid sustained warm applause. The vision from a year ago was transformed into actual results, “becoming an important milestone in the history of AI development.”

A governance system.

At the opening ceremony, President Xi Jinping solemnly proposed from four dimensions to jointly build a fair and reasonable global AI governance system. The international community calls it “a systematic plan worthy of being recorded in the history of technological development.”

A Chair’s Statement.

As an important outcome of the meeting, the “Chair’s Statement of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance” was smoothly released on the 17th. Seeking common ground while reserving differences, building consensus — “when the root is corrected, all things are ordered.”

Responsibility · Multiple Dimensions in Governance

To understand the systematic plan proposed by President Xi Jinping for building a fair and reasonable global AI governance system, it is advisable to take a longer view.

The four major global initiatives have long been 深入人心 (shēn rù rén xīn - “deeply rooted in people’s hearts,” widely accepted) in the international community, providing a cooperation platform for addressing the 层出不穷 (céng chū bù qióng - “emerge one after another without end,” endless) global challenges amid the intertwined turmoil of the international situation. Development, security, civilization, and governance — these four dimensions are precisely the ideological framework of the four points of opinion that President Xi Jinping put forward in explaining the governance system this time.

From the first sprouting to “entering an unprecedented period of activity,” the development of AI has seen continuous sedimentation of thinking on promoting “good intelligence” through “good governance.” China has always been a responsible participant, contributor, and leader.

From proposing the “Global AI Governance Initiative” in 2023, to successively promoting the UN General Assembly to adopt by consensus the resolution on strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity building proposed by China, releasing the “AI Capacity Building Universal Benefit Plan,” the “AI Global Governance Action Plan,” and the “AI+ International Cooperation Initiative,” and proposing the establishment of the World AI Cooperation Organization — China’s proposals are based on different stages and focus on different levels, demonstrating China’s responsibility in bridging the governance deficit.

At this moment, when AI development has reached a new critical juncture, and the all-round impact on economy and society, international relations, and human civilization has changed from a past possibility to a present reality, updating governance plans is 刻不容缓 (kè bù róng huǎn - “not a moment to delay,” urgent). What to advocate, what to oppose — in the choices and trade-offs, wisdom is tested and vision is demonstrated.

Examining closely the four points of opinion proposed by President Xi Jinping:

Development dimension: “Adhere to open and win-win cooperation, drive innovation and development.” It aims to activate development momentum through open innovation, prevent AI from becoming a moat for monopoly interests, avoid fragmentation of the global innovation ecosystem, and “enable AI to empower thousands of industries.”

Security dimension: “Strengthen risk awareness, ensure safety and controllability.” It aims to build a solid safety bottom line through risk governance, prevent technology from spiraling out of control and harming human welfare, avoid “pan-securitization” and “exclusive security” exacerbating the security deficit, and “AI should become a trustworthy tool for humanity.”

Civilization dimension: “Encourage inclusiveness and mutual learning among civilizations.” It aims to anchor the value direction through mutual learning among civilizations, prevent AI development and application from eroding and damaging the diversity of world civilizations and the cultural uniqueness of each country, avoid technological dependence becoming an obstacle to civilizational progress, and “carefully cultivate a garden of civilizations where each is beautiful in its own way and all are beautiful together.”

Governance dimension: “Advocate 和衷共济 (hé zhōng gòng jì - “work together with one heart,” cooperate in solidarity), improve global governance.” It aims to ensure fairness and universal benefit through global cooperation, prevent the principle of multilateralism from being hollowed out by technological hegemony, avoid creating new historical injustices in the AI field, and “form a global governance framework with broad consensus as soon as possible.”

Global governance has never been a neutral technical proposition; it is based on a specific ideological foundation and reflects different values. These four points vividly reflect China’s views on development, security, civilization, and global governance.

President Tokayev’s remarks at the conference help people understand the value foundation of China’s proposals: “We highly identify with the highly visionary concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and also believe that this concept has special practical value in the era of AI.”

Open source, openness, cooperation, sharing, universal benefit, inclusiveness… These concepts upheld by China’s proposals, in responding to problems and challenges, guide AI — this important force that leverages the era — to always develop in a direction conducive to building a community with a shared future for mankind and in a direction conducive to the progress of human civilization.

The newly established World AI Cooperation Organization, from design to operation, makes China’s concepts more concrete: following the purposes of the UN Charter, upholding the concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, adhering to the people-centered principle, aiming to promote international cooperation and global governance on AI, ensuring that AI develops healthily and orderly in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction, benefiting all humanity…

“This is a decision of historic milestone significance,” “This organization will become the core pillar of a globally universal AI governance system,” “This new international organization has huge potential and will profoundly shape the future global AI governance landscape”…

All parties actively participated at the first opportunity because they found resonance in it and also saw the future.

Walking Together · Multiple Handshakes on the Journey

Before the opening ceremony, the group photo at the World Reception Hall was warm and harmonious.

At the photo spot, President Xi Jinping shook hands and waved greetings with the attending heads of state, heads of government, heads of international organizations, and heads of delegations. He smiled and said to everyone: “Welcome to China!”

“Going to China” has become a “hot phenomenon” in the international community recently. From Global South countries to Western countries, from close neighbors to transoceanic partners, the list of visits to China is getting longer. In this world full of uncertainty, China is regarded by international opinion as a unique “bridge-builder,” “connector,” and “stabilizing force,” “able to conduct constructive dialogue with both Global South and Global North countries.”

During the conference, the bilateral schedule was busy and tight.

On the afternoon of the 16th, President Xi Jinping met with Kazakh President Tokayev.

On the afternoon of the 17th, he met successively with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, and UN Secretary-General Guterres.

Among the foreign dignitaries, there were new friends visiting China for the first time as national leaders, and more were old friends who frequently interact with China.

From the Silk Road friendship between China and Kazakhstan, to “China and Thailand as one family,” to the ironclad friendship between China and Cambodia… these close neighbors all have a long history of exchanges with China, and in each handshake, they deepen mutual strategic trust.

A China that is 日新月异 (rì xīn yuè yì - “changing with each passing day,” rapid transformation), a China full of vitality — this is the common impression of many foreign dignitaries. This time, several leaders 不约而同 (bù yuē ér tóng - “agree without prior consultation,” coincidentally) talked about a new topic: the open-source path of China’s AI large models.

Prime Minister Anutin said: “Developing countries need open-source models that can be independently adapted, and China’s open-source models are very successful.” President Tokayev stated: “China plays a leading role in open-source innovation, open platform building, and international scientific and technological cooperation, and has also created new development opportunities for all countries.” Prime Minister Hun Manet similarly remarked: “The prospects of the intelligent age cannot be fully realized by 单枪匹马 (dān qiāng pǐ mǎ - “single spear and horse,” acting alone).”

Data provides a footnote for this observation. In 2025, the cumulative downloads of China’s domestic open-source large models topped the world. Now, AI is regarded as one of China’s “new new three items” selling well globally. Not only are domestic large models widely popular, but smart products such as AI glasses and translators are also going abroad.

In recent years, China’s technological innovation vitality has surged, also opening up incremental space for all parties to upgrade cooperation with China. In President Xi Jinping’s bilateral foreign affairs activities, AI is mentioned with increasing frequency. Last year, China signed memorandums of understanding on deepening AI cooperation with Thailand and Cambodia respectively. China and Kazakhstan, in drawing a new blueprint for cooperation, have set their sights on cultivating new quality productive forces, focusing on new fields such as the digital economy and AI.

Witnessing more countries boarding the express train of the intelligent era thanks to China, some international media have reached a judgment: In AI development, China provides a new path, that is, the path of “public goods.”

“As a responsible major country, China has always been committed to being a provider of international public goods in the field of AI.” At the opening ceremony, the major cooperation initiatives announced by President Xi Jinping drew attention from all sides:

In the next five years, China will provide 5,000 AI-themed training and study slots for developing countries; build international AI application cooperation centers for ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, CELAC, the SCO, and BRICS; and promote the implementation of the meteorological intelligent early warning solution “Mazu” in 30 countries.

Like a microcosm, the cooperation story in the AI field reflects a grander narrative of the times: Today’s China is a contributor of opportunities in a turbulent era. As President Xi Jinping emphasized: “China does not pursue modernization that only benefits itself. We welcome more foreign friends to actively participate in the process of Chinese-style modernization.”

Secretary-General Guterres is an old friend of China. During the meeting, President Xi Jinping recalled his eight visits to China since taking office: “Every exchange with you has left a deep impression on me, and many of your views have been quite enlightening to me.”

“I am very grateful to China and to you personally for your support for multilateralism and the United Nations, especially under some complex and difficult circumstances. I have always believed that you are advancing our most important causes — addressing inequality, protecting the planet, and strengthening AI governance. These are things I will never forget.”

Leading · Diverse Scenes under the Wave

Shanghai, a city that has weathered many vicissitudes yet is full of vitality, is writing new stories of embracing the future every day.

General Secretary Xi Jinping once went deep into an innovation ecosystem community here, encouraging that “AI is a young cause and also a cause for young people.” He also attended a symposium on strengthening basic research here, deploying efforts to lay a solid foundation for building a strong science and technology nation. Eight years ago, the World AI Conference was inaugurated here, and President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter, with the proposition of “jointly promoting development, jointly safeguarding security, and jointly sharing achievements” leaving a Chinese imprint in the context of global AI governance.

This place itself is a vivid sample of China’s development and transformation.

On the evening of the 16th, President Xi Jinping walked into the World Reception Hall located on the North Bund of Shanghai. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he looked out at the vast river and sky at the confluence of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, and at the past and present of this city. The 风雨飘摇 (fēng yǔ piāo yáo - “tossed by wind and rain,” precarious) of yesterday’s China left traces, and today’s innovation boom in China is also left in the 星罗棋布 (xīng luó qí bù - “scattered like stars and spread like chess pieces,” dotted) urban landmarks…

The changes of history happen in the snap of a finger.

Looking back at modern times, a 闭关锁国 (bì guān suǒ guó - “close the country to international intercourse,” isolated and closed) China repeatedly missed the waves of technological revolution, gradually fell behind in science and technology, and its modernization process was 步履维艰 (bù lǚ wéi jiān - “walk with difficulty,” arduous).

Looking at the present, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is 风起云涌 (fēng qǐ yún yǒng - “winds rise and clouds surge,” surging vigorously). China, striving forward, has finally stood on the stage and reached the forefront of the times.

“Seemingly ordinary, yet most extraordinary; achieved as if easily, but with hardship.” Today, the 百舸争流 (bǎi gě zhēng liú - “a hundred boats contending in the current,” fierce competition) in this country’s AI development is also a story about the Communist Party of China and about China.

This grand event happened just after the meeting celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Foreign leaders expressed congratulations and also discussed their thoughts and insights on governance with President Xi Jinping.

In his speech at the opening ceremony of this World AI Conference, President Tokayev remarked: “China has achieved leapfrog development, completely eradicated absolute poverty, become a world-class major power, built a diversified economic system, and cutting-edge technologies are 遍地开花 (biàn dì kāi huā - “blossom everywhere,” widespread). This great achievement comes from the strong leadership of the world’s largest party, the Communist Party of China, and also from the outstanding and wise leadership collective led by President Xi Jinping.”

To understand China, one must first understand the Communist Party of China. From an international perspective, pondering the “key code to why the Communist Party of China can,” President Xi Jinping 娓娓道来 (wěi wěi dào lái - “speak eloquently and unhurriedly,” explain in a measured way):

“The reason why the Communist Party of China can continuously achieve brilliance in struggle, and why history and the people chose the Communist Party of China, fundamentally lies in the Party’s excellent qualities: unswervingly pursuing truth, deeply rooting itself in the people, bravely shouldering historical missions, following the trend of development, daring and being good at struggle, and focusing on strengthening itself.”

“The Communist Party of China has formed the thought on Party building in the new era through the great practice of governing and managing the Party, rejuvenating and strengthening the Party. This will continue to gather the mighty force for Chinese-style modernization.”

“You are a great leader and also a politician with a global vision, leading your people forward toward the future.” This is the admiration of foreign dignitaries after in-depth observation.

Looking back at the journey of climbing and catching up, people see the acumen of “seizing the first opportunity,” the tenacity of “running one leg after another,” the courage of “accelerating high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening,” and also the responsibility of “deepening open-source and open cooperation in technology”…

“What China says, it always delivers.” This deep impression of the international community is repeatedly corroborated. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan clearly states: promote the establishment of an AI governance framework with broad participation of all countries, jointly build an open global AI ecosystem of equal rights, mutual trust, diversity, and win-win, and support Global South countries in strengthening AI capacity building. Now, in the first year of the plan, within just a few months, China has demonstrated an action capability that amazes the world.

More than ten days ago, at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Conference of Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s words were 掷地有声 (zhì dì yǒu shēng - “makes a sound when thrown to the ground,” resounding and powerful): “Accelerate high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, march firmly toward the goal of building a strong science and technology nation by 2035, and solidly support and lead Chinese-style modernization with scientific and technological innovation.”

Then to this grand event. “The 15th Five-Year Plan draws a blueprint for China’s economic and social development in the next five years, and also provides a list of opportunities for the international community,” “Let this cutting-edge technology better benefit human society”… The banks of the Huangpu River witness the surging tide of intelligence.

Toward the future, toward the dream, a China that is forging ahead with determination is a cooperative force leading the world, and also a progressive force belonging to all humanity.

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High-tech manufacturing surges with dynamic momentum (Mid-year economic observation)

By: 本报记者 李君强

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Manufacturing must adhere to the direction of high-end, intelligent, and green development, continuously raising the technological content and added value of products."

High-tech manufacturing connects the frontier of technological innovation with the future of industrial development. From the accelerated mass production of the domestically produced large aircraft C919, to the second domestically produced large cruise ship Aida Huacheng (爱达·花城号) completing all sea trial projects in a single trial voyage; from the release and global first mass production of T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber, to the official release of the world's largest open-source model by parameter scale, Kimi K3; from the intensive approval of 38 "global first" innovative drugs, to the first successful controlled recovery of a first-stage booster of the Long March 10B carrier rocket... Since the beginning of this year, China's high-tech manufacturing has blossomed in many places, with original achievements emerging intensively.

In the first half of this year, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 13.3% year-on-year, 7.9 percentage points faster than the added value of all industries above designated size, becoming an important window for observing the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry and the conversion of old and new economic drivers.

Both production and sales ends perform brilliantly.

On June 28, the 15,000th embodied intelligent complete machine of Zhiyuan Robot (智元机器人) successfully rolled off the production line and was delivered to the factory for production line operations. From crossing the 10,000-unit mark to achieving the 15,000th unit off the line, it took only three months.

On one side, production speed is accelerating; on the other side, global orders continue to grow.

In Yantai, Shandong, Yantai Xingye Machinery Co., Ltd. (烟台兴业机械股份有限公司) focuses on the design of mine trackless equipment, and the underground unmanned autonomous remote-controlled LHD it developed has gained a large number of overseas orders due to its technological advantages; in Nantong, Jiangsu, the BYD "Jinan" carrying 7,273 new energy vehicles set sail from Nantong Port, setting a record for the largest single shipment of a single brand of automobiles by a single vessel in China.

Data confirms a series of changes—

Growth rate continues to lead. First look at output: in the first half of this year, China's industrial robot output increased by 28.0% year-on-year, and 3D printing equipment output increased by 48.5% year-on-year. Then look at industry added value: the added value of aerospace vehicles and equipment manufacturing, and electronic and communication equipment manufacturing increased by 16.3% and 17% year-on-year respectively.

Benefits have significantly improved. From January to May, profits of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 44.7% year-on-year, driving the profit growth of all industrial enterprises above designated size by 8.0 percentage points. Industries related to the semiconductor chain performed particularly prominently, with rapid profit growth in electronic special material manufacturing, optoelectronic device manufacturing, and other industries.

Investment continues to increase. In the first half of the year, investment in high-tech industries increased by 4.6% year-on-year, of which integrated circuit manufacturing and electronic special material manufacturing increased by 8.8% and 10% year-on-year respectively. Enterprise investment is increasingly tilting toward innovation links.

"From output growth to benefit improvement, and then to increased investment, high-tech manufacturing presents a virtuous cycle of mutual promotion among production, market, benefits, and investment," said Ji Fuxing (吉富星), professor at the School of Applied Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (中国社会科学院大学). "High-tech manufacturing has high technological content and strong resilience, and its endogenous growth and high-quality development characteristics have significantly strengthened."

Industrial support becomes more robust.

In the clean workshop of Aifu Guangtong Technology Co., Ltd. (艾佛光通科技有限公司) in Guangzhou, Guangdong, grain-sized filter chips are rolling off the production line, and will be widely used in 5G base stations, satellite terminals, drones, and other fields. After years of tackling key problems, the enterprise has achieved full-chain independent controllability of chip production, with mass production yield exceeding 95%, and this year's filter chip production capacity will exceed 1 billion units.

Wang Guanhua (王冠华), head of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the National Economy of the National Bureau of Statistics (国家统计局), stated that in the first half of this year, new drivers represented by high-tech manufacturing and digital product manufacturing, with an added value share of just over 20%, contributed nearly 50% of industrial growth, serving as an important engine driving industrial growth.

The driving role of high-tech manufacturing in high-quality economic development is becoming increasingly prominent. Where does the confidence come from?

Long-term innovation accumulation lays a solid foundation—

Zhongfu Shenying (中复神鹰) has been deeply cultivating the carbon fiber field for 20 years, finally achieving hundred-ton-level mass production of T1200-grade carbon fiber; Huawei has researched in the chip field for many years, proposed "Tao's Law" (韬定律), and successfully designed and mass-produced 381 chips in practice...

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's total R&D expenditure grew at an average annual rate of 10%, and the full-time equivalent of R&D personnel increased from 5.24 million person-years in 2020 to 7.95 million person-years in 2025. China entered the top ten of the Global Innovation Index ranking for the first time.

Years of high-intensity R&D investment have 厚积薄发 (hòu jī bó fā - "accumulate thickly, emit thinly," to achieve great results after long preparation), and the pace of domestic substitution of key core technologies has accelerated, providing solid confidence for high-tech manufacturing.

Resonance of domestic and foreign demand opens up space—

Since the beginning of this year, artificial intelligence has accelerated development, bringing an explosion in demand for high-end computing chips and memory chips. In the first half of the year, the output of integrated circuits by industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 23.1% year-on-year, reaching a scale of 279.8 billion units, with an average daily production of over 1.5 billion units.

On one side, domestic demand is continuously upgrading; on the other side, global market demand for high-tech products continues to grow.

In the first half of the year, the transaction value of out-licensing of China's innovative drugs reached approximately US$110 billion, a record high for the same period, reaching 80% of the total for the full year of 2025; after the release of several new models by Bond Laser (邦德激光), overseas orders surged, with order volume exceeding standard capacity by 70%, and both domestic and international markets pressed the "accelerator button" simultaneously.

Coordination of industrial and supply chains provides assistance—

The International Monetary Fund lowered its 2026 world economic growth forecast by 0.1 percentage point, while raising its China economic growth forecast by 0.2 percentage point. Between the one decrease and one increase lies the international market's recognition of the resilience of China's industrial and supply chains.

Wang Bingjie (王冰洁), assistant researcher at the Institute of Foreign Economic Relations of the Macroeconomic Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发展改革委宏观经济研究院), stated that in the face of the complex and volatile external economic and trade environment in the first half of the year, the resilience and competitiveness of China's industrial and supply chains have further stood out.

In the first half of the year, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size that are "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" (专精特新) "little giant" (小巨人) enterprises increased by 10.4% year-on-year, and half of the 16 newly added lighthouse factories came from China. A batch of high-quality enterprises deeply cultivating niche fields have 崭露头角 (zhǎn lù tóu jiǎo - "show one's horns," to stand out), effectively filling the gaps in the industrial chain.

Development potential continues to be released.

The development of high-tech manufacturing witnesses the acceleration of China's industrial transformation and upgrading, and also demonstrates the potential and staying power of China's high-quality economic development.

The advantage of the super-large market is evident—

In the first half of the year, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeded 60% for three consecutive months, driving lithium-ion battery output to grow by 39.3%. New products such as smart terminals and wearable devices are growing rapidly, also providing broad space for the electronic information manufacturing industry.

Artificial intelligence technology is rapidly entering multiple fields such as automobiles, factories, and healthcare; innovative drugs are continuously validated in a huge patient population and rich clinical needs; advanced medical equipment and electronic products can also iterate quickly in the large market. The super-large market is using real demand to drive technological innovation and using rich scenarios to promote industrial upgrading.

Continuous leap from "quantity" to "quality"—

Not long ago, the world's first 8-inch two-dimensional semiconductor engineering demonstration process line was fully completed in Pudong, Shanghai, marking that two-dimensional semiconductor technology has entered a new stage of engineering verification from the laboratory; Beijing has 197 advanced-level smart factories, 19 excellence-level factories, and 6 lighthouse factories, with 84% of manufacturing enterprises above designated size meeting the digital transformation standard. From expanding production capacity to improving innovation capability, from breakthroughs in individual links to coordination across the entire industrial chain, high-tech manufacturing is accelerating the transformation from quantitative growth to qualitative leap.

The industrial ecosystem continues to improve—

Jiangsu has established a "Special Fund for Building a Strong Manufacturing Province" (制造强省建设专项资金), focusing on key industry technological innovation, intelligent transformation, digital transformation, and network connectivity (智改数转网联) and other directions; the first 10,000-unit-level embodied intelligent robot super factory in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been put into operation on a large scale, with annual production capacity gradually ramping up... Currently, China has 17,600 national-level "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" "little giant" enterprises, and the number of lighthouse factories firmly ranks first in the world.

From policy support, to scale production, and then to application scenarios, the industrial ecosystem continues to improve, laying a solid foundation for the development of high-tech manufacturing.

In the second quarter of this year, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size grew by 14%, accelerating by 1.5 percentage points from the first quarter, and the trend of growth and expansion is still accelerating.

As more innovative achievements are accelerated to transform into real productive forces, high-tech manufacturing will surely continue to release surging momentum. Ji Fuxing stated: "The development of China's high-tech manufacturing has solid confidence, significant advantages, and broad prospects, and is fully capable of achieving higher-quality development while responding to challenges."

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Carry forward the red spirit, promote revitalization of old revolutionary base areas

By: 本报记者 李维俊

The Youjiang River surges onward, the sparks of fire pass down unceasingly.

In the height of summer, stepping into the Baise Uprising Memorial Hall (百色起义纪念馆) in Guangxi, the immersive situational "big ideological and political course" (大思政课) Right River Tide (《右江潮》) is being delivered. On the stage, scenes are reenacted of revolutionary forebears propagating the truth of Marxism, of the bloody resistance against the "encirclement and suppression" at Hengli Rock (恒里岩), and more; within the exhibition hall, revolutionary cultural relics and other displays vividly present to the audience that period of 峥嵘岁月 (zhēng róng suì yuè - "towering and rugged years," eventful and extraordinary times).

"From listening to explanations to immersive experiences, we strive to make good use of red resources and carry forward the red spirit," said Nong Yuping (农宇屏), curator of the Baise Uprising Memorial Hall.

In April 2021, during his inspection tour of Guangxi, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The lofty spirit of the Red Army officers and soldiers — 视死如归 (shì sǐ rú guī - "look upon death as going home," facing death unflinchingly), advancing toward death to live, 一往无前 (yī wǎng wú qián - "press forward with indomitable will," charging ahead without hesitation), daring to overwhelm all difficulties without being overwhelmed by any difficulty — will forever be worthy of our remembrance and promotion."

Mindful of General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions, Baise (百色) City has made great efforts to make good use of red resources, guiding cadres and the masses to remember revolutionary history and gather strength for endeavor.

The Baise Uprising Memorial Hall enters schools to lecture on red stories, holds cultural relic classes, and uses artificial intelligence technology to enhance interactive experiences, enabling nearly ten thousand teachers and students to receive red education at their doorstep. Nong Yuping introduced that over the past five years, the memorial hall has received a total of 7 million visitors, hosting an average of more than 60 red education activities per year.

"Today, the former revolutionary sites of the Baise Uprising (百色起义) have introduced digital display methods and launched research and study courses such as singing red songs, weaving straw sandals, and writing slogans, making red history more perceptible and knowable," said Huang Weilin (黄蔚林), director of the Administrative Office of the Former Revolutionary Sites of the Baise Uprising.

The red spirit continuously inspires the sons and daughters of the Zhuang countryside to 奋发有为 (fèn fā yǒu wéi - "rouse oneself and strive to achieve," to be energetic and enterprising).

Inside the production workshop of Rongrong New Material Technology (Guangxi) Co., Ltd. (榕融新材料技术（广西）有限公司), located in Baise City, white fibers as fine as hair are being made into alumina fiber needled felt through needling equipment. The company's person in charge, Guan Ketian (关克田), explained that through the enterprise Party organization's role in 牵线搭桥 (qiān xiàn dā qiáo - "pull strings and build bridges," act as a go-between), professional technical talent was introduced, promoting the implementation of the continuous alumina fiber product project, filling an industrial gap in the Southwest region. Currently, the products are exported to multiple countries.

The aluminum industry is Baise's advantageous industry. Behind its continuous technological innovation, the assistance of the "red engine" is indispensable.

"We have broken down barriers of department, region, and hierarchy, established a comprehensive Party committee for the aluminum industry chain, appointed 18 Party-building work instructors, and promoted the establishment of Party organizations in all 105 eligible aluminum-related enterprises, optimizing services such as resource integration, policy support, talent introduction, and information sharing, so that enterprises can develop together," said Wu Zhiwei (吴志伟), member of the Standing Committee of the Baise Municipal Party Committee and head of the Organization Department. From the end of 2024 to the present, the coverage rate of Party organizations in aluminum-related enterprises has risen from 30.7% to 86.07%.

Centering on resource advantages, Baise is accelerating its布局 (bù jú - "layout/arrangement") in fields such as new materials, new energy, and equipment manufacturing, promoting industrial transformation and upgrading. In 2025, Baise's aluminum industry output value reached 157.44 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%; the new materials industry output value was 12.29 billion yuan; and the new energy and equipment manufacturing industry output value was 29.77 billion yuan. With traditional industries and emerging industries advancing together like 两翼齐飞 (liǎng yì qí fēi - "both wings fly together," developing in tandem), the old revolutionary base area of Baise is striving to write a new chapter of high-quality development.

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Photo Report

On July 16, the Tarim 1.2 million tons/year Phase II Ethylene and Supporting Green Low-Carbon Demonstration Project of PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company successfully achieved first feed and startup. The project is located in the Petrochemical Industrial Park of Korla Shangku High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture (巴音郭楞蒙古自治州), Xinjiang, and has achieved the domestic application of full electric drive for the million-ton ethylene three-machine set. The picture shows the main production unit of the project—the ethylene cracking unit.

Photo by Wang Yun (王云) (People's Vision (人民视觉))

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Why Build a New Passage When the Three Gorges Already Has Ship Locks (Reader Inquiry · Common Concern)

By: 本报记者 邓剑洋

On June 8, construction of the Three Gorges New Waterway Channel (三峡水运新通道) project began. According to news reports, the Three Gorges ship locks will move from a "two-lane" to a "multi-lane" configuration. The Three Gorges Project already has ship locks, so why build the Three Gorges New Waterway Channel? What role can it play?

— A netizen from People's Daily Online

To answer the netizen's question, first look at two sets of data.

173 million tons — this is the throughput of the Three Gorges Hub in 2025. In 2011, the annual throughput of the Three Gorges Hub exceeded 100 million tons for the first time, reaching the designed throughput capacity 19 years ahead of schedule.

Over 420 million tons — this is the cargo throughput of Yangtze River mainline ports in 2025. Over the past 10 years, the high-grade waterways of the Yangtze River system have increased from 8,000 kilometers to 11,000 kilometers, and the cargo throughput of mainline ports has grown by 71%, firmly ranking first among the world's inland rivers.

Behind the rising data is the busyness of Yangtze River shipping. The Three Gorges–Gezhouba Hub river section is the critical throat of the Yangtze Golden Waterway, affecting the smooth circulation of the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze. Building the Three Gorges New Waterway Channel while existing ship locks are already in place involves both practical considerations and future foresight.

From the perspective of practical demand, the main channel of the Yangtze Golden Waterway must be unblocked.

The Three Gorges Project has powerfully changed the navigation conditions of the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. After the Three Gorges Project was completed and impounded, "since ancient times, the Sichuan River has not been navigable at night" became history, and 10,000-ton-class convoys can go directly from Shanghai to Chongqing. Shipping demand is growing day by day, and the navigation capacity of the Three Gorges Hub faces higher requirements.

From the perspective of future development, the Yangtze River contains the infinite possibilities of a vibrant China.

The advantages of the Yangtze River waterway are obvious. As a low-cost, long-distance transport corridor, the freight rate of the Yangtze River waterway is only one-fifth that of railways. Yangtze River shipping carries over 80% of the iron ore, thermal coal, and foreign trade cargo transport volume needed for the development of the regions along the river.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt (长江经济带) covers 11 provinces and municipalities along the river, spanning the three major plates of eastern, central, and western China, with a population size and economic output accounting for nearly half of the country. After the Three Gorges New Waterway Channel is completed, it will greatly enhance the navigation capacity of the Three Gorges Hub, strongly supporting the Yangtze River Economic Belt to run at "accelerated speed."

What is new about the new channel? The Three Gorges New Waterway Channel project mainly includes two parts: the new channel of the Three Gorges Hub and the capacity expansion of Gezhouba shipping. After the project is completed, the total annual throughput capacity of the Three Gorges Hub will reach 336 million tons, and the total annual throughput capacity of the Gezhouba Hub will reach 360 million tons, a substantial increase compared to the present.

From "10,000-ton-class convoys" to "10,000-ton-class single vessels," transport capacity has been significantly improved. According to preliminary estimates by experts, after the Three Gorges New Waterway Channel is completed, the annual cost savings from improved navigation efficiency and substitution of land transport can reach 18 billion yuan.

It can be said that optimizing this "key point" of the Three Gorges Hub will unblock the "main artery" of the Yangtze River and enliven the "whole chessboard" of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Looking to the long term, the benefits of the Three Gorges New Waterway Channel do not stop here.

With full release of transport capacity, the advantages of energy conservation and carbon reduction will be further realized. The carbon dioxide emissions of inland waterway transport are only one-thirteenth of road transport and less than half of rail transport. In terms of transport energy efficiency, the unit energy consumption of water transport is only one-eleventh of road transport. The Three Gorges New Waterway Channel will promote the "road-to-water shift" (公转水) for bulk cargo transport, reducing carbon emissions and environmental pollution.

Unblock the transport network. The navigation capacity of the Yangtze River's entire basin golden waterway will be further enhanced. The three-dimensional transport network promotes east-west two-way mutual support, drives regional coordinated development, and further stimulates the vitality of strengthening the domestic circulation (国内大循环).

Looking back 20 years ago, the main project of the Three Gorges Dam was fully completed, activating the Yangtze Golden Waterway. Looking to the future, the Three Gorges New Waterway Channel will welcome 10,000-ton giant ships "ascending step by step," and the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt will reach a new level.

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National electricity consumption up 5.3% year on year

Beijing, July 18 (People's Daily) — (Reporter Wang Yunshan) The reporter learned from the National Energy Administration that from January to June this year, the cumulative electricity consumption of the whole society was 5,099.9 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%.

In June this year, the electricity consumption of the whole society was 898.1 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 3.7%. Electricity consumption in the primary industry was 13.6 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 2.0%. Electricity consumption in the secondary industry was 573.4 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%; among which, industrial electricity consumption was 568.3 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%, and electricity consumption in high-tech and equipment manufacturing industries was 112.1 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%. Electricity consumption in the tertiary industry was 186.0 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%; among which, electricity consumption in the charging and swapping service industry and the internet data service industry were 14.8 billion kilowatt-hours and 9.1 billion kilowatt-hours respectively, with growth rates reaching 57.1% and 41.4% respectively.

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Express delivery volume up 5.0% year on year

Beijing, July 18 (People's Daily) — (Han Xin (韩鑫) and Wang Shuyan (王澍言)) Data released by the State Post Bureau (国家邮政局) show: In the first half of this year, China's express delivery business volume totaled 100.38 billion items, a year-on-year increase of 5.0%; express delivery business revenue totaled 771.41 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.3%.

In the first half of the year, the proportions of express delivery business revenue in the eastern, central, and western regions were 73.6%, 15.6%, and 10.8% respectively, and the proportions of express delivery business volume were 68.7%, 20.8%, and 10.5% respectively. Compared with the same period last year, the proportion of express delivery business revenue in the central region rose by 0.1 percentage point, and the proportion of express delivery business volume rose by 1.5 percentage points; the proportion of express delivery business revenue in the western region rose by 0.3 percentage point, and the proportion of express delivery business volume rose by 1.4 percentage points.

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Xi Jinping Meets with Chairman of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko

Youth makes ideals shine
Chasing dreams in the highest heavens, lifting the “divine arrow” to soar into the sky
Fifth Edition

Humanities Observation
The person who “paints a portrait” of modern Chinese
Seventh Edition

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Providing direction for building a fair and reasonable global AI governance system

By: 本报记者 宦 翔 陈尚文 崔 寅

On July 17, President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-level Meeting on Global Artificial Intelligence Governance at the Shanghai World Conference Hall (上海世界会客厅) and delivered a keynote speech, putting forward four points of opinion: "uphold openness and win-win cooperation to drive innovative development," "strengthen risk awareness to ensure safety and controllability," "encourage inclusiveness and mutual learning among civilizations," and "advocate unity and cooperation to improve global governance," and announced major measures by China to support global artificial intelligence development. Chinese and foreign individuals interviewed by our reporters believe that President Xi Jinping's keynote speech demonstrates China's sincere willingness to uphold the concept of joint discussion, joint construction, and joint sharing and to work with all countries to promote the inclusive development of artificial intelligence, pointing the way for building a fair and reasonable global artificial intelligence governance system.

"Providing practical and feasible solutions to the new challenges of the intelligent era"

At present, the world's century-old transformation is accelerating, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs, and global artificial intelligence technological innovation has entered an unprecedented period of activity. Intelligent technologies such as the Internet of Everything, human-machine collaboration, cross-border integration, and co-creation and sharing are叠加 releasing enormous energy, containing both huge opportunities and governance challenges. President Xi Jinping pointed out that China believes that all countries should uphold the concept of people-centeredness and striving for the good and upward, making artificial intelligence an important power source for promoting common prosperity and maintaining common security, and jointly building a fair and reasonable global artificial intelligence governance system.

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping is of great significance in the era of artificial intelligence. Kazakhstan fully endorses the Chair's Statement of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-level Meeting on Global Artificial Intelligence Governance, and also fully endorses the common vision of the good and inclusive development of artificial intelligence. These concepts will guide us to work together and let technological progress benefit all countries.

Thailand Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said that Thailand appreciates President Xi Jinping's foresight and thanks China for convening this important meeting and promoting international cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence governance. We must have a clear common goal: no one should be left behind in the process of artificial intelligence development.

"An innovative aspect of China's promotion of artificial intelligence governance is that it adheres to a people-centered approach, placing the people at the core of development planning and institutional construction. This concept helps promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, allowing artificial intelligence development to better serve the common interests of humanity," said Luo Yisha, a researcher at the Meritorious Autonomous University of Puebla in Mexico.

"'Build a solid safety bottom line, prevent abuse and malicious use, and ensure that artificial intelligence is always under human control' — this is particularly critical for the development prospects of embodied intelligence." Lu Cewu, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University who has long been engaged in research on embodied intelligence and robot learning, said that once robots enter the physical world, safety is no longer a virtual-level issue but a real-world issue concerning human life and society. "Safety is not a stumbling block to innovation, but a moat for innovation."

"President Xi Jinping's keynote speech responds to the problems existing in the current field of artificial intelligence governance and provides practical and feasible solutions to the new challenges of the intelligent era." Hassan Ragab, Dean of the School of Languages at Suez Canal University in Egypt, said, "I hope that Egypt and China can take this conference as an opportunity to promote the sharing of artificial intelligence technologies and jointly carry out more pragmatic cooperation in the fields of smart education, talent cultivation, and cultural exchanges."

"Exploring a model of coordinated development between innovation and governance"

President Xi Jinping emphasized that China adheres to placing equal emphasis on development and security, continuously improving relevant laws and regulations, policies and systems, application norms, and ethical guidelines to ensure that artificial intelligence is safe, reliable, and controllable.

Carme Artigas, Co-chair of the UN High-level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, believes that in recent years, China has made remarkable achievements in the field of artificial intelligence. China adheres to open cooperation and actively conducts international exchanges, providing valuable experience for global artificial intelligence development.

"Artificial intelligence can create a better future." Bovanshang, President of L'Oréal North Asia and CEO of L'Oréal China, said that placing scientific and technological innovation in a prominent position in modernization, coupled with rich application scenarios, an open innovation ecosystem, and a large number of innovative talents, China is at the forefront of the artificial intelligence field.

Luis Seco, a professor at the University of Toronto and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at the Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, believes that China's development achievements in the field of artificial intelligence benefit from the government's emphasis on basic research, continuous cultivation of high-level talents, and continuous promotion of deep integration between technological innovation and industrial innovation. These experiences have important reference significance for global technological development.

"China adheres to self-reliance and self-strengthening in science and technology, building an autonomous and controllable basic software and hardware system for artificial intelligence." Li Yanhong, founder of Baidu, said that China continues to promote full-stack self-research and autonomous controllability in fields such as chips, models, cloud computing, and intelligent agents, which not only consolidates the technical foundation for the development of the intelligent economy but also provides solid support for artificial intelligence to empower thousands of industries and serve the real economy.

Beatriz Juarez, a researcher on China's artificial intelligence governance at the Research and Innovation Center for Information and Communication Technologies in Mexico, said: "In recent years, China has gradually established a relatively complete governance framework around algorithm recommendation, deep synthesis, generative artificial intelligence, etc. While promoting technological innovation, China strengthens risk prevention, user rights protection, and social governance, exploring a model of coordinated development between innovation and governance, providing useful reference for countries to think about how to balance technological innovation and risk governance."

Li Kaifu, CEO of 01.AI, believes that China both promotes technological progress and promotes industrial implementation; both encourages open innovation and emphasizes safety and reliability; both serves China's development and provides practical experience for global artificial intelligence governance.

"Development and security are not a 'tug-of-war' where one rises and the other falls, but a 'mountain climb' where they synergistically move upward. China continuously improves laws and regulations, policies and systems, application norms, and ethical guidelines precisely to promote the simultaneous rise of security capabilities and technical capabilities, allowing artificial intelligence to both run fast and run steadily." Zhou Bowen, Director and Chief Scientist of Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, said that embedding safety throughout the entire process of research and development, evaluation, application, and standard construction, and promoting governance from post-hoc remediation to source construction, is a necessary and effective path to ensure that artificial intelligence is safe, reliable, and controllable, and to promote the good and upward, healthy development of artificial intelligence.

"Let Global South countries participate equally in artificial intelligence innovation and governance"

President Xi Jinping pointed out that with the joint efforts of all parties, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (世界人工智能合作组织) came into being in Shanghai. This is a major measure by China to respond to the call of the Global South and unite the international community to actively promote artificial intelligence development and governance, and will become an important milestone in the history of artificial intelligence development.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Artificial Intelligence Governance Initiative (全球人工智能治理倡议) in 2023, fully demonstrating China's leadership and sense of responsibility, and the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization is a natural outcome of this initiative. The theme of this conference, "Intelligent Partners, Co-creating the Future," indicates that a better future depends on global cooperation. Thank China for upholding this concept to facilitate this grand event.

Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Manet said that China has made constructive contributions to promoting international dialogue and cooperation on artificial intelligence governance. As one of the first signatories to the Agreement on the Establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, Cambodia is willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with China and all partners to jointly create an innovative, inclusive, safe, and sovereign-respecting artificial intelligence future.

Alibek Tajibayev, Director of the "Eurasian Monitoring" Analytical Research Center in Kazakhstan, said that the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization will become one of the important international platforms for formulating rules, standards, and mechanisms for cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence. This will provide new opportunities for Kazakhstan to acquire new technologies, strengthen its own artificial intelligence ecosystem, and consolidate its position as a regional digital hub.

"For African countries, open and shared technology, scientific research cooperation, and talent cultivation are very important." Abdon Atangana, Academician of the World Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Research and Innovation Committee of the African Mathematical Union, said that President Xi Jinping's announcement of major measures by China to support global artificial intelligence development fully demonstrates China's breadth of mind and sense of responsibility as a major country. "We look forward to the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization becoming an important platform for promoting international cooperation, allowing Global South countries to participate equally in artificial intelligence innovation and governance."

Serik Korzhumbayev, Editor-in-Chief of the Kazakhstani newspaper Delovaya Nedelya, believes that the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, upholding the spirit of multilateralism to promote international cooperation, is conducive to improving the accessibility of innovation achievements, bridging the digital and intelligence divide, and making artificial intelligence truly an important tool for promoting sustainable development and improving people's livelihoods.

(Our staff reporters Li Qiang, Wang Xiaobo, Dai Kairan, Shen Xiaoxiao, and People's Daily Online reporter Ma Zuopeng contributed to this article.)

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China's Resilient Economy Continues to Inspire Global Confidence (He Yin)

A China that continues to release its domestic demand potential, constantly gathers momentum towards new and superior drivers, and advances high-level opening up in depth will always be an important engine of world economic growth.

Recently, the half-year report on the Chinese economy for 2026 was released. In the first half of the year, China’s gross domestic product reached 69.5704 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7% at constant prices. “Showing relatively strong resilience,” “demonstrating steady performance,” “related industries such as artificial intelligence and renewable energy have performed outstandingly”… Through this “report card,” the international community has read the confidence and potential of the Chinese economy, strengthening its confidence in China’s development prospects.

In the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五), the Chinese economy has withstood pressure and operated within a reasonable range, continuing the development trend of overall stability and progress towards new and superior drivers, demonstrating strong resilience and vitality. It also brings broader market prospects and cooperation opportunities to the world. From the perspective of increment, the economic increment in the first half of the year was 3.6 trillion yuan, the largest increment for the same period in the past five years. On the ultra-large base of 140 trillion yuan, and facing multiple external shocks such as fluctuations in the global energy market and restructuring of industrial and supply chains, the Chinese economy continues to advance steadily: relatively rapid growth in production and supply, overall stable employment situation, moderate price increases, solid and powerful livelihood guarantees, and continuously demonstrated development resilience. Not long ago, the International Monetary Fund released a report, lowering its forecast for world economic growth in 2026 while raising its forecast for China’s economic growth by 0.2 percentage points. The simultaneous decline and increase confirm the international community’s generally optimistic view of China’s economic prospects and also highlight China’s value as an important engine of global economic growth.

“China is increasing its support for future industries such as artificial intelligence, hoping to cultivate new economic growth points through this.” The observation of China’s new economic drivers by DPA (德新社) has been clearly confirmed in the first half of the year’s economic performance. In the first half of the year, the added value of China’s high-tech manufacturing industries above designated size increased by 13.3% year-on-year. AI-related industries such as integrated circuit manufacturing and smart vehicle equipment manufacturing maintained high-speed growth of over 30%. New drivers represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital economy, and modern service industries contributed more than 40% to economic growth, showing a very clear trend of economic structural optimization and upgrading. Commercial aerospace saw successful launches of multiple rocket types; technological breakthroughs in frontier fields such as quantum information, integrated circuits, and nuclear fusion progressed steadily; large AI models continuously achieved performance breakthroughs and expanded application scenarios… China’s innovative development has always adhered to the concept of openness and sharing. The industrial implementation of frontier technologies not only injects endogenous impetus into its own economic growth but also provides new supply and new solutions for global industrial transformation and upgrading, driving the coordinated development of the global industrial chain upstream and downstream.

At this year’s US-Canada-Mexico World Cup (美加墨世界杯), Chinese elements could be seen everywhere. Chinese home appliances such as air conditioners, fans, and refrigerators brought “coolness” to consumers in many countries… In the first half of the year, China’s total import and export of goods was 25.4686 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%, maintaining its position as the world’s largest trader in goods. Looking at the export side, exports of electromechanical products increased by 20.1%, and exports of high-tech products and independent brands increased by 39% and 25.4% respectively. Chinese manufacturing is moving from “quantitative expansion” to “qualitative leap,” while both continuously improving the global supply chain system and providing high-quality, cost-effective goods for consumers in various countries. Looking at the import side, total goods imports were 10.7372 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.1%. China, with its continuously releasing domestic demand potential, is no longer just the “world’s factory” but has also become the “world’s market” with vast opportunities. In May this year, after China fully implemented zero-tariff measures for the 53 African countries that have diplomatic relations with it, from May to June, China’s imports from Africa increased by 23.5% year-on-year. This is a vivid microcosm of how China’s opening-up dividends benefit the world and its commitment to shared development with all parties.

Faced with the rising tide of anti-globalization sentiment, China has never stopped its pace of expanding opening up, always using its own development to create opportunities for countries around the world. As the world’s second-largest consumer market, the largest online retail market, and the second-largest import market, China, relying on its stable and predictable development environment, complete industrial system, efficient logistics network, and mature industrial supporting capabilities, continues to attract global resources and factors of production to gather. More and more multinational corporations regard China as an important part of their global layout, enhancing their global competitiveness while deeply cultivating the Chinese market. Michael Heldmann, Chief Investment Officer for equities at Allianz Global Investors, stated that China’s market has deep potential and abundant innovation vitality, “representing long-term investment opportunities.” This is a direct reflection of international investors’ confidence in China’s development.

The resilience and vigorous improvement of the Chinese economy are also important benefits for world economic recovery. A China that continues to release its domestic demand potential, constantly gathers momentum towards new and superior drivers, and advances high-level opening up in depth will always be an important engine of world economic growth. China will continue to share development opportunities with countries around the world through its own high-quality, sustainable development, promoting strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth of the world economy.

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Calibrate the Course of AI for Good, Jointly Build the Foundation of Global Governance

By: 本报记者 黄晓慧

On the afternoon of July 17, the forum "AI Global Governance and Sustainable Development: Challenges and Responses" of the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance was held at the Shanghai World Expo Center.

"When machines begin to think, how does humanity coexist with them? When algorithms participate in decision-making, how is security guaranteed? When technology challenges ethics, how does governance keep up? When the gap keeps widening, how is universal benefit realized?" Around these major concerns, the on-site discussion was heated. Participating guests stated that if coordination is lacking, the unbalanced development of artificial intelligence may exacerbate the digital-intelligence divide; the technological barriers erected by individual countries are not conducive to extensive international cooperation and standard coordination.

Libon, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications of Cameroon, believes that global AI governance requires practicing true multilateralism, and calls on all countries to establish mutually beneficial partnerships in areas such as training, research, knowledge transfer, financing, fair access to infrastructure, data and data resources, to ensure that the development and governance of AI can promote common prosperity and narrow the digital-intelligence divide.

The Global AI Innovation Governance Center (全球人工智能创新治理中心), built on the basis of Fudan University, is one of the forum's organizers. Du Ningkai (杜宁凯), co-chair of the center's International Strategic Experts Committee, presented to the audience two scenarios in his speech titled "AI and Society": a scene of human society 欣欣向荣 (xīn xīn xiàng róng - "flourishing and thriving," to describe a scene of prosperity) with the help of AI; and various endogenous and derivative risks that AI may trigger. "These two AI narratives cannot accurately describe the urgent needs of current global AI governance. The world needs a platform that can integrate technical expertise, social science research, and international collaboration, and requires cooperation among governments, enterprises, universities, and other parties." He believes that the global scientific community should undertake the public responsibility of knowledge innovation and contributing governance wisdom in the technological transformation of AI.

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Digital and Emerging Technologies, Amandeep Singh Gill, pointed out that global AI-related investments this year have approached 1 trillion US dollars, and this is an important moment for countries to learn from each other. The Global AI Capacity Development Network supported by the United Nations will become an accelerator for AI capacity building. Gill proposed that in the future, efforts should focus on promoting talent cultivation, summarizing the experience of data center construction in the Global South, and prioritizing projects that can deliver quick results, so that the dividends of development benefit the people of all countries.

Facing the dual challenges of governance fragmentation and sustainable development pressure, the Global AI Innovation Governance Center released at the forum a series of achievements including the Global AI Governance Index (2026) and the ethical review agent system "Yijian" (一鉴) 2.0. The R&D team demonstrated on the large screen how the "Yijian" system conducts explainable, traceable, and reviewable ethical review assistance in scenarios such as medicine, achieving three major upgrades in knowledge rules, agent capabilities, and application system, using the power of technology to lay the foundation for the reality of governance.

Over more than three hours, Chinese and foreign representatives engaged in in-depth exchanges, continuously building consensus through the collision of ideas: artificial intelligence is the common crystallization of wisdom of all humanity; only by jointly building a fair and reasonable global AI governance system can we calibrate the course toward goodness and jointly create a better future for human society.

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Wang Yi meets with guests from Indonesia, Lesotho, and Dominica respectively

July 18, Xinhua News Agency, Shanghai (Reporters Chen Shangwen, Huan Xiang) Wang Yi, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs, met separately in Shanghai on the 18th with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Lesotho Minister of Foreign Affairs Lejone Mpotjoane, and Dominica Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Vince Henderson, who were in China to attend the World Artificial Intelligence Conference.

When meeting with Airlangga Hartarto, Wang Yi stated that Indonesia's becoming one of the founding member states of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization reflects a positive attitude towards international cooperation on artificial intelligence. China is willing to work with like-minded countries to promote the development of AI in a universally beneficial and inclusive direction. China and Indonesia should strengthen the alignment of their development strategies and continuously deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields.

Airlangga Hartarto highly commended the strategic significance of President Xi Jinping's keynote speech, appreciated China's global leadership in the field of artificial intelligence, and stated that Indonesia looks forward to continuously expanding Belt and Road cooperation with China and further deepening trade and investment relations.

When meeting with Lejone Mpotjoane, Wang Yi stated that in the development of artificial intelligence, no country should be left behind. China's initiative to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization is precisely to enhance the capacity building of Global South countries, to realize AI's potential for good and benefit all of humanity. China encourages enterprises to invest and do business in Lesotho and welcomes more of Lesotho's specialty products for export to China.

Mpotjoane stated that Lesotho is greatly honored to become a founding member state of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization and looks forward to actively participating in the organization's construction. Lesotho regards China as a trustworthy strategic partner and sincerely thanks President Xi Jinping for the proposed zero-tariff policy for Africa.

When meeting with Dr. Vince Henderson, Wang Yi emphasized that China is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with developing countries, including Dominica, within the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, to make the organization more substantive and robust. China is willing to work with Dominica, guided by the consensus of the two countries' leaders, to strengthen the alignment of development strategies and deepen mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.

Henderson stated that Dominica fully endorses the important concepts and initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping in his keynote speech, supports China's close cooperation with the United Nations to promote AI as a fair and universally beneficial international public good, and is willing to deepen cooperation with China in various fields.

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2026 World Mayors Dialogue · Xishuangbanna: Rainforest and Urban Development

Xishuangbanna, July 18 (Reporter Ye Chuanzeng) — From July 14 to 16, the "2026 World Mayors' Dialogue · Xishuangbanna" event, themed "Rainforest and Home: Coexistence, Co-construction, and Sharing," was held in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. Over 100 mayors, mayoral representatives, experts, scholars, and media representatives from 24 countries, including China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, participated in the event, engaging in exchanges on topics such as ecological protection, urban governance, and industrial co-construction.

During the event, participating guests shared practical experiences from their cities in ecological governance, green development, cultivation of distinctive industries, and cultural heritage protection through formats such as main dialogues, situational dialogues, and field visits. They also visited tropical rainforest reserves, ecological tea gardens, and distinctive ethnic villages to learn about Xishuangbanna's exploration of integrating ecological protection with industrial development.

The "Xishuangbanna Initiative" released at the event, centered on four aspects — ecological coexistence, industrial co-construction, shared outcomes, and long-term mutual benefit — calls on all parties to jointly protect tropical rainforests and transboundary rivers, strengthen biodiversity conservation, deepen cooperation in areas such as agriculture and forestry, cultural tourism, commerce and trade, and youth entrepreneurship, promote the inclusive sharing of public services such as education and healthcare, and establish a regular mechanism for inter-city exchange and cooperation.

This event was guided by the State Council Information Office and hosted by the Information Office of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government and the People's Government of Xishuangbanna Prefecture.

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Belt and Road Forum Advisory Committee Holds 2026 Meeting

Urumqi, July 18 (People's Daily) — (Reporter Li Yanan) The 2026 meeting of the Belt and Road (一带一路) International Cooperation Summit Forum Advisory Committee was held on the 17th in Urumqi, Xinjiang, chaired by Ma Zhaoxu, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and convener of the Advisory Committee. Former Egyptian Prime Minister Sharaf, former Pakistani Prime Minister Kakar, and other committee members attended.

Ma Zhaoxu stated that the Belt and Road Initiative is a practical platform for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Against the backdrop of intertwined turbulence and transformation in the international situation, Belt and Road cooperation adheres to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits (共商共建共享), and is committed to enhancing political mutual trust, economic integration, and people-to-people connectivity among countries, as well as promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. China is a reliable cooperation partner for Belt and Road partner countries. The stable development of China’s economy creates favorable conditions for advancing Belt and Road cooperation. China is willing to work with all parties to seize opportunities, meet challenges, and promote the steady and sustained progress of Belt and Road international cooperation.

The committee members highly appraised the global significance and contemporary value of Belt and Road cooperation, believing that it provides resilience and growth potential for the world economy. They suggested coordinating the advancement of hard connectivity (硬联通), soft connectivity (软联通), and heart-to-heart connectivity (心联通), actively carrying out future-oriented international cooperation in fields such as green and low-carbon development, the digital economy, and artificial intelligence, and continuing to strengthen the international communication of the Belt and Road.

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Answers Questions on Nationalization of British Steel

Beijing, July 18 (Xinhua) — A Foreign Ministry spokesperson answered a question on the nationalization of British Steel on the 18th.

A reporter asked: It is reported that on the 16th, the British government announced that it has nationalized British Steel under the Steel Industry (Nationalization) Act, taking over the company previously held by China's Jingye Group (敬业集团), and will establish a compensation mechanism through secondary legislation with an independent assessment of compensation matters. UK Prime Minister Starmer said the decision secures the future of the British steel industry and protects skilled jobs. What is China's comment?

"The Ministry of Commerce (商务部) of China has already responded; you may refer to that," the spokesperson said. "What I would like to stress is that this matter has attracted high attention from the Chinese public. How the British side handles it will directly affect the views of Chinese investors on the investment environment in the UK, and the views of the Chinese public on the credibility of the UK government."

The spokesperson stated that China and the UK have signed an investment protection agreement, and the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of investors must be fully guaranteed in accordance with the law. China urges the UK side to earnestly respect market principles and the spirit of contract, and to find a solution acceptable to both sides, including how to handle compensation. China supports enterprises in using legal means to safeguard their rights, is closely following the progress of the incident, and will take measures to protect rights when necessary.

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China Meteorological Administration Releases "Mazu" Fengyun Satellite AI Toolbox

Beijing, July 18 (Reporter Jiang Xuehong (蒋雪鸿)) — On July 17, at the Meteorological Special Session of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, the China Meteorological Administration (中国气象局) officially released the Mazu (妈祖) Fengyun Satellite AI Toolbox, deeply integrating the comprehensive observation capabilities of the Fengyun meteorological satellites with AI technology to provide international users with an integrated satellite application solution.

The toolbox integrates functions such as satellite data reception, AI inference, multi-source data fusion, and operational applications. It can be rapidly deployed according to the business needs of different countries and regions, flexibly supporting multiple application scenarios including Internet users, users of direct-reception stations for Fengyun meteorological satellites, users of the China Meteorological Administration satellite broadcast system, and field emergency response, achieving a "one-stop" closed-loop process of satellite data acquisition, intelligent analysis, and operational application. The toolbox can help users quickly form meteorological service products that meet local needs, enabling advanced meteorological technology to truly reach the grassroots and serve the front line of disaster prevention and mitigation.

The release of the toolbox marks a critical step for China’s intelligent meteorological early warning solution Mazu from a shared product toward intelligent empowerment, contributing a new Chinese practice to enhancing global early warning capabilities.

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Gu Fangzhou's 100th Birthday Commemoration Held at UNESCO

Our newspaper Paris, July 18 dispatch (Reporter Shang Kaiyuan (尚凯元)) On the 16th local time, a commemorative event for the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gu Fangzhou (顾方舟) was held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. Many attendees praised Gu Fangzhou’s contributions in the field of poliomyelitis prevention and control, and called for carrying out civilizational exchange and mutual learning, so that innovation achievements benefit all humanity.

Luo Hui (罗晖), head of the delegation of the China Association for Science and Technology (中国科协), stated that the China Association for Science and Technology, as China’s largest organization of scientific and technological workers, co-hosted the Gu Fangzhou commemorative event with UNESCO, aiming to elaborate the inspiration that his life provides for the world today, namely that the value of scientific and technological innovation lies in benefiting humanity, the attainment of scientific and technological achievements requires upholding integrity and acting diligently, the course of scientific research and exploration must steadfastly adhere to science and technology for good, and the progress of human civilization cannot be separated from exchange and mutual learning.

Abou Amani, Acting Assistant Director-General for Science at UNESCO, said that Gu Fangzhou’s story can stimulate young people’s interest, curiosity, and scientific aspirations. He hopes to continue cooperation with institutions such as the China Association for Science and Technology, focusing on strengthening cooperation in areas such as science popularization and scientific literacy, jointly developing platforms, exhibitions, educational materials, and youth programs, to make science closer to the public and attract more young people to participate.

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Chinese and foreign guests share the spirit of the Long March in Lanzhou, Gansu

Lanzhou, July 18 (Reporter Song Chaojun (宋朝军)) — The “Walking the Long March Road Together: From the Great Long March to the Great Rejuvenation” Long March spirit (长征精神) sharing session was held on the 18th in Lanzhou, Gansu. The sharing session was hosted by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration Asia-Pacific Communication Center (中国外文局亚太传播中心) and the Gansu International Communication Center (甘肃国际传播中心). Nine guests, including recipients of the Chinese Government Friendship Award (中国政府友谊奖), foreign experts who have long worked in China, international media professionals, sinologists, researchers of the history of the Chinese Communist Party, descendants of the Red Army, and grassroots educators, shared their understanding of the history of the Long March and the Long March spirit from different perspectives, jointly presenting the value connotation and international significance embodied in the Long March spirit.

From July 13 to 18, experts, media professionals, and international friends from China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Netherlands, Brazil, New Zealand, and other countries, as well as researchers of the history of the Chinese Communist Party and descendants of the Red Army, formed a Chinese-foreign interview delegation. They successively visited Lanzhou, Min County (岷县), Lazikou (腊子口), Hadapu (哈达铺), Huining (会宁), and other places. Through various forms such as documentary short films, character interviews, in-depth text and images, short videos, and social media dynamic broadcasts, they told the story of the Long March and shared the Long March spirit to different audiences in multiple countries at home and abroad.

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Czech Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies to Visit China

Beijing, July 18 (Xinhua) — At the invitation of Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic Tomio Okamura will lead a delegation to visit China from July 20 to 24.

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Strengthening the Health Foundation of Chinese Modernization (Policy Interpretation)

By: 本报记者 白剑峰

Recently, the State Council issued the National Health “15th Five-Year Plan” (《国民健康“十五五”规划》) (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). How to comprehensively improve the national health level and consolidate the health foundation of Chinese-style modernization? Relevant responsible persons of the National Health Commission (国家卫生健康委) answered reporters’ questions regarding the Plan.

Q: What is the background to the introduction of the Plan?
A: At present, China’s population development presents trends such as aging, declining birth rate, and differentiation in regional growth and decline; the disease spectrum has undergone profound transformation; and the public’s demand for health services for the entire population, in all dimensions, and across the full life cycle is growing day by day. New driving forces such as technological innovation and digital health are accelerating their emergence, placing higher demands on health work. The Plan sets its sights on the goal of building a Healthy China (健康中国) by 2035, devises phased arrangements for implementing the health-priority development strategy and accelerating the construction of a Healthy China over the next five years, and clarifies the main targets and indicators, major strategic tasks, major reform measures, and major engineering projects for the construction of a Healthy China during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period.

The Plan integrates the health development plan and the medical and health service system plan into “two plans in one” (两规合一), adapting to the requirements of Healthy China construction entering a new stage. The Plan coordinates development and resource allocation, promotes the shift from a disease-treatment-centered approach to a health-centered approach, and aims to provide the people with more equitable and accessible, systematic and continuous, high-quality and efficient health services.

Q: How to achieve the goal set in the Plan of reaching an average life expectancy of 80 years by 2030?
A: During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China’s health development achieved notable results, and the national health level continuously improved. In 2025, China’s average life expectancy reached 79.25 years, placing it at the forefront of middle- and high-income countries. To achieve the goal of an average life expectancy of 80 years by 2030, we must adhere to China’s national conditions, enhance the balance and accessibility of health services, encourage the people to pay more attention to proactive health, accelerate the formation of production and lifestyle patterns and an economic and social development model conducive to health, and comprehensively improve the national health level.

Q: During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, what are the key tasks in implementing the Medical and Health Strengthening Foundation Project (医疗卫生强基工程)?
A: Implementing the Medical and Health Strengthening Foundation Project is a key measure to weave a tight grassroots medical and health service network and promote the implementation of the tiered diagnosis and treatment system (分级诊疗制度). During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the following work will be focused on:

Dynamically adjust and optimize the layout of grassroots medical and health institutions. Based on changes in population distribution, service radius, and public demand, scientifically allocate medical and health resources to ensure full coverage of basic medical and health services.

Strengthen the construction of close-knit county-level medical communities (紧密型县域医共体). The state will support about 1,000 close-knit county-level medical communities in improving their facilities and equipment levels and enhancing comprehensive capacity. Accelerate the construction of resource-sharing centers, promote “grassroots examination, county/district diagnosis, mutual recognition of results,” and basically ensure that township health centers and community health service centers all have physicians from higher-level hospitals stationed there, so that grassroots people can enjoy quality services at their doorsteps.

Strengthen the synergy of medical services, medical insurance, and pharmaceuticals to promote tiered diagnosis and treatment. Make full and good use of medical insurance policies supporting grassroots medical and health service development, fully leverage the leverage effect of medical insurance payments to guide patients to seek medical treatment rationally and orderly, and promote first diagnosis at the grassroots level. Strengthen the allocation, use, and pharmaceutical service management of drugs in close-knit county-level medical communities, strengthen the connection of drug use at the grassroots level, expand the scope of drug procurement, allocation, and use at the grassroots level, and ensure the drug needs of physicians during their stationing and patients after downward referral.

Q: During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, how to promote the implementation of the Rehabilitation Nursing Expansion and Upgrading Project (康复护理扩容提升工程)?
A: Implement the Rehabilitation Nursing Expansion and Upgrading Project, improve and perfect the rehabilitation nursing service network with secondary hospitals as the main body, grassroots medical and health institutions as the net bottom, tertiary hospitals providing guidance and support, and other institutions providing rehabilitation nursing services participating together. Encourage the development of rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care centers, and other institutions. Accelerate the establishment and improvement of mechanisms for referral and transfer of rehabilitation patients between institutions. Support areas with deep population aging and high demand for rehabilitation nursing services in optimizing the structure of medical resource allocation; guide secondary and lower-level medical and health institutions to expand rehabilitation nursing functions. Gradually improve and perfect rehabilitation departments, expand the talent team, innovate service models, and provide the people with high-quality and efficient, balanced and continuous, smart and diversified rehabilitation nursing services.

Q: In which aspects will efforts be focused to fill the shortcomings and weaknesses in the health field?
A: During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, focusing on the health issues that the people are anxious, needy, and longing for, efforts will be made to fill the shortcomings and weaknesses in the health field from the following aspects:

Weave a tight grassroots service net. Strengthen the construction of close-knit county-level medical communities, deepen connotation construction, continue to advance the “Quality Service at the Grassroots Level” (优质服务基层行) initiative, strengthen grassroots specialized departments, and improve the ability to diagnose and treat common and frequently occurring diseases. Do a good job in order-oriented medical student training and the college graduate rural doctor plan, and take multiple measures to strengthen the grassroots health workforce. Continue to promote the equalization of basic public health services, so that the people can enjoy quality health services nearby.

Improve emergency rescue and first aid capabilities. In response to public health emergencies and daily emergency medical needs, continuously strengthen the construction of medical emergency teams, improve the emergency medical rescue and pre-hospital medical first aid system, deepen the integrated connection between pre-hospital and in-hospital care, promote the development of digital-intelligent applications, continuously enhance first aid and medical emergency capabilities, and effectively guard the people’s life and health safety.

Improve the mental health and mental hygiene service system. Continuously implement the “Pediatric and Mental Health Service Year” (儿科和精神卫生服务年) campaign. Support qualified grassroots medical and health institutions in setting up mental (psychological) outpatient clinics. Strengthen comprehensive services for patients with severe mental disorders, develop community rehabilitation for mental disorders. Optimize the allocation of mental health resources.

Strengthen health services for the elderly and the young. Coordinate the implementation of special actions for elderly health promotion, promote the standardized construction of geriatrics departments, encourage the development of geriatric-specific comprehensive hospitals, and expand the supply of rehabilitation nursing and hospice care services. Accelerate the improvement of the birth support policy system, expand the coverage of maternity insurance, basically achieve personal “zero co-payment” for childbirth within the policy scope. Implement the plan to improve the ability to prevent and treat pregnancy and birth defects, and effectively strengthen health services for pregnant women and children.

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Building AI Factories to Boost AI Development (Striving for the 15th Five-Year Plan: Frontline Reports)

By: 本报记者 范昊天

Persist in placing the focus of economic development on the real economy, and persist in the direction of intelligentization, greenification, and integration.
— Excerpted from the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五规划纲要)

In Wuhan, Hubei, inside the workshop of Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (长飞光纤光缆股份有限公司), dozens of drawing towers over 30 meters tall, spanning five floors, operate automatically, and optical fibres as thin as a hair “flow” out at a speed of 3,500 meters per minute.

“During high-speed drawing, the working conditions fluctuate dynamically, and traditional processes are difficult to adapt and adjust in a timely manner, easily leading to fibre breakage and scrap. We have developed a multi-strategy drawing control technology based on artificial intelligence algorithms, which can sense the drawing conditions in real time and dynamically match the optimal control strategy and process parameters,” introduced Gu Lixin (顾立新), Dean of the Changfei Research Institute.

In the Changfei smart factory, the AI coverage rate has exceeded 80 percent, and it can routinely support the parallel and efficient production of hundreds of types of optical fibre and cable products. This project was also selected for the first batch of 15 national pilot-level smart factory (领航级智能工厂) cultivation lists released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Optical fibre has long since entered millions of households; is it still necessary to build a high-standard smart factory to produce it? Gu Lixin, who has worked at Changfei for 26 years, deeply understands its importance.

From being dependent on others for equipment, processes, and raw materials, to achieving independent research and development and manufacturing of key equipment for optical fibre preforms, optical fibres, and optical cables, Gu Lixin and his colleagues firmly believe that only by improving manufacturing capabilities can demand be converted into orders. In recent years, Changfei has spent at least 5 percent of its operating revenue on R&D each year, accumulating more than 1,300 domestic and foreign patents.

But when the development of the internet industry leveled off and the global optical fibre market growth rate declined, a one-kilometre length of optical fibre that could once sell for one to two thousand yuan has in recent years sold for less than 20 yuan. Changfei once again stood at a crossroads of transformation: if it did not transform, it could only “compete on price” in the low-end optical fibre track; if it transformed, it faced various pain points—discrete production processes, processes relying on manual promotion, and digitization not yet realized… The management repeatedly weighed the options: building a smart factory might solve the problems, but the investment was huge and the return unknown. Take a gamble!

To transform, the first step was to change mindsets. Previously, when manufacturing the raw material for optical fibre—the optical fibre preform—it was necessary to manually place fragile powder rods onto the machine tool, requiring precise clamping and smooth movement; the slightest mistake would cause breakage. When it was proposed to use industrial robots to automatically load and unload the rods, some colleagues responsible for production had doubts: “If the robot malfunctions and breaks the rod, my pass rate for this month will definitely be affected.”

Gu Lixin and the team came up with a method: they decomposed the robot’s process of reaching out to clamp the rod into several segments. After each segment of movement was completed, they first manually reviewed it, essentially “giving the robot a demonstration”; after confirming it was correct, they proceeded to the next movement… Gradually, the robot’s movements became more accurate and连贯 (lián guàn - coherent, smooth).

“‘Artificial intelligence plus big data’ has played a very large role,” Gu Lixin said. As data repeatedly accumulated and iterated, the machines became smarter. Changfei has explored 20 AI application scenarios, including intelligent monitoring of the carbon footprint of optical fibre and cable products, improving production efficiency and product quality.

After the smart factory was selected for the pilot-level smart factory cultivation list, Gu Lixin began to think about how to better play the “pilot” role.

Years of production experience have allowed Changfei to establish a production system around technology, standards, platforms, talent, and equipment. This system is not only applied to the construction of its own smart factories at home and abroad but also empowers upstream and downstream enterprises in non-ferrous metals, automotive parts, and other industries, accelerating the synergy of the industrial chain.

Not afraid of cultivating competitors? This is a question Gu Lixin is often asked.

“Helping others is also helping ourselves—this is our understanding of ‘pilot,’” Gu Lixin said. Sharing development experience helps reduce the costs of the enterprise itself and the industry as a whole, improving the efficiency and resilience of the industrial chain.

Use AI technology to build pilot-level smart factories, and use optical fibre products to support the development of the AI industry. “The development of AI places higher demands on computing power and signal transmission,” introduced Zhuang Dan (庄丹), Executive Director and President of Changfei. Since last year, the company has successively launched products such as hollow-core optical fibre that meet the needs of ultra-high speed, ultra-large capacity, and ultra-long distance transmission, changing the optical signal transmission medium from a glass fibre core to an air fibre core, thereby increasing signal transmission speed.

Overall planning for this issue: Zhang Anyu (张安宇).

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Using Technology and Intelligence to Understand the "Temperament" of Optical Fibers (First-Hand Account)

By: 李红专

Every optical fibre has its own “temperament,” and we process engineers are the ones who figure out that temperament and tame it. But in the past we relied on experience; now we use technology and intelligence.

If the drawing of an optical fibre preform deviates by 1 micron, the entire batch may have to be scrapped. Yet the production environment temperature reaches as high as 2,000 degrees Celsius, making micron-level control no easy task. In the old workshops, machines roared and waves of heat hit you in the face; producing optical fibre depended on the veteran masters’ 望闻问切 (wàng wén wèn qiè - “look, listen, ask, feel the pulse,” to diagnose through observation and inquiry), while we stood beside them, manually recording parameters every few minutes. Back then we were happy to receive high-end orders, but when it came to production we feared that process stability would not keep up.

A few years ago, the company said it was going to build a smart factory. I did not take it seriously at first: with such a huge investment, could it really succeed? Many veteran colleagues were intimidated: afraid they could not learn it, could not use it well, and that it would be too much trouble.

In the early stages of the factory’s construction, the accuracy of artificial intelligence did not meet the standard. We kept an eye on the equipment while learning the algorithms, “feeding” our operational know-how to the AI: when the equipment did not match, we modified it together with the engineers; when the system was unstable, we carried out intensive debugging. At the hardest point, it took a whole month to get a single parameter properly tuned. After the smart factory began running smoothly, the machines became more stable, the yield rate went up, and energy consumption came down. The high-temperature precision control that had previously been difficult to achieve could now be done by AI; the high-end customized optical fibre orders we once dared not accept are now being produced in stable, high-volume batches.

Watching the finished products leave the factory, enter data centres, and support the nation’s computing power network, I feel a deep sense of pride — we, too, have done our part in building the smart factory and developing the artificial intelligence industry. I believe that as long as we dare to innovate and are willing to work hard, as AI empowers thousands of industries, manufacturing will radiate new vitality.

(The author is a process engineer in the Optical Fibre Division of Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Limited Company (长飞光纤光缆股份有限公司); the article was compiled by our reporter Fan Haotian (范昊天).)

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Promoting global AI development toward goodness and benefit for humanity

By: 本报记者 杜尚泽 胡泽曦

In Shanghai on July 17, the splendor of major-country diplomacy and the spectacle of technological innovation complemented each other.

The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance opened at the World Reception Hall on the banks of the Huangpu River.

People marveled at the foresight and leadership of this empowering nation, and at the vibrant vitality of technological progress advancing at a breathtaking pace. They also drew insight from President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech, which “directly confronted the questions of the era,” from the prolonged applause that followed the speech, and from the scene of foreign guests rising one after another to shake his hand, to grasp the significance of this grand gathering for the shared future of humanity.

Throughout history, attitudes toward the future have been tied to the fate of nations and the prospects of humanity. In modern times, China missed the wave of the technological revolution and fell behind, suffering repeated defeats. After a long journey of struggle and continuous endeavor, it has arrived at today, steadfastly walking the path of a shared future and embracing the world with a broad vision.

“Promote the development of global AI in a direction that is upward and good, and that benefits humanity,” “jointly build a fair and reasonable global AI governance system,” “create a better future for human society together”… President Xi Jinping’s words carried immense weight.

To seek progress for humanity and common good for the world is China’s commitment. This original aspiration, projected onto the wave of AI, has been transformed into the governance quest for “upward and good, benefiting humanity.” Accumulating step by step, it strides toward a grand journey.

Observing the Situation: Multiple Perspectives Amid Transformation

President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech began with the birth of the concept 70 years ago.

“Seventy years ago, a group of young scholars first proposed the concept of artificial intelligence at the Dartmouth Conference in New Hampshire, USA. Over the past 70 years, AI scientists and researchers from around the world have continuously sought knowledge in the unknown, advanced through twists and turns, and broken through with perseverance.”

In the deep span of time, China’s technological development has “sailed past ten thousand mountains with a light boat.” From following to running alongside, and even leading in some areas, time has marched forward in great strides. Thus, “70 years later, facing a new wave of vigorous AI development, we gather by the banks of the Huangpu River.”

What they jointly discuss is “promoting the development of global AI in a direction that is upward and good, and that benefits humanity.” This is also President Xi Jinping’s consistent proposition.

“A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating breakthroughs, and global AI technological innovation has entered an unprecedented period of activity.” How to recognize change, respond to change, and seek change?

“Intelligent technologies of the Internet of Everything, human-machine collaboration, cross-border integration, and co-creation and sharing are releasing enormous energy in superposition, containing both great opportunities and governance challenges.” How to foster strengths, avoid weaknesses, uphold integrity, and steer change?

This grand gathering conveyed a sense of mission to go far together.

From the agricultural civilization that followed the seasons, to the industrial civilization of roaring machines, to the digital civilization of digital-intelligence evolution… the leap of civilizations is magnificent, and the once-in-a-century transformation is accelerating.

A good chess player seeks the overall situation. President Xi Jinping regards AI as “another epoch-making major technological change after the steam engine, electricity, and the Internet.”

Faced with change, China chooses to walk together with the world. The theme of this meeting by the Huangpu River is “Intelligent Partners, Co-Creating the Future.” The word “partners” makes clear China’s attitude in the face of opportunities and challenges. Guests at the meeting, in their speeches, praised President Xi Jinping’s “forward-looking vision” and commended China for “upholding the spirit of partnership,” saying that convening this meeting was “significant and timely.”

This grand gathering conveyed a dialectical view of the interchange of safety and danger.

“Humanity has no choice but to directly confront the questions of the era: When machines begin to think, how should humans interact with them? When algorithms participate in decision-making, how can security be ensured? When technology challenges ethics, how can governance keep pace? When the gap continues to widen, how can universal benefit be achieved? These questions require deep reflection and joint answers from the international community.” President Xi Jinping’s thinking was dialectical and his vision far-reaching.

Development and security are like two sides of the same coin. AI has never been a one-way benefit of rapid progress. At the meeting, the “intelligent divide” was repeatedly raised. UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed concern that “the relevant investment received by the vast majority of developing countries is a drop in the bucket.”

New technology has always been a double-edged sword. “Ensure that AI is always under human control,” “make AI, this thousand-li horse, both run fast and run steadily” — President Xi Jinping drew red lines for AI development.

This grand gathering conveyed a systematic approach of comprehensive measures.

Global AI governance is entering a new deep-water zone. The difficulties are not limited to technology itself. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev frankly stated in his speech: “The era background of this technological transformation is geopolitical turbulence and a continuously worsening trust deficit.”

The development of AI is not a castle in the air; it is rooted in the soil of economy, culture, society, and so on. Whether it is “small yard, high fence,” “decoupling and severing supply chains,” or open cooperation and mutual benefit, the changing winds and clouds are all reflected here.

The great path is not lonely; many traveling together go far. The grand gathering yielded abundant fruits:

A cooperation organization. On the evening before the opening ceremony, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (世界人工智能合作组织) was established in Shanghai at the right time. Representatives from 29 countries signed in turn amid sustained and warm applause. The vision from a year ago was transformed into concrete results, “which will become an important milestone in the history of AI development.”

A governance system. At the opening ceremony, President Xi Jinping solemnly proposed from four dimensions to jointly build a fair and reasonable global AI governance system. The international community called it “a systematic plan sufficient to be recorded in the annals of technological development.”

A chair’s statement. As an important outcome of the meeting, the “Chair’s Statement of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance” was smoothly released on the 17th. Seeking common ground while reserving differences, building consensus — “rectify the root, and all things will be in order.”

Responsibility: Multiple Dimensions in Governance

To understand the systematic plan proposed by President Xi Jinping for building a fair and reasonable global AI governance system, it is helpful to broaden the perspective.

The four major global initiatives have long been deeply rooted in the international community, providing a cooperation platform for addressing the endless global challenges amid the intertwined and chaotic international situation. Development, security, civilization, and governance — these four dimensions are precisely the ideological framework of the four points President Xi Jinping elaborated on the governance system.

From its initial emergence to “entering an unprecedented period of activity,” the development of AI has seen continuous sedimentation of thinking on promoting “good governance” to foster “good intelligence.” China has always been a responsible participant, contributor, and leader.

From proposing the Global AI Governance Initiative (全球人工智能治理倡议) in 2023, to successively promoting the UN General Assembly to adopt by consensus the resolution on strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity building proposed by China, releasing the AI Capacity Building Inclusive Plan (人工智能能力建设普惠计划), the Global AI Governance Action Plan (人工智能全球治理行动计划), and the “AI+” International Cooperation Initiative (“人工智能+”国际合作倡议), and proposing the establishment of the World AI Cooperation Organization, China’s proposals have been based on different stages and focused on different levels, demonstrating China’s responsibility in bridging the governance deficit.

Now, as AI development reaches a new critical juncture, its comprehensive impact on the economy and society, international relations, and human civilization has shifted from a possibility of the past to a reality before our eyes. Updating governance plans is urgent. What to advocate, what to oppose — between choices and trade-offs, wisdom is tested and vision is revealed.

Carefully examine the four points proposed by President Xi Jinping:

Development dimension: “Adhere to openness and win-win, drive innovation and development.” Aimed at activating development momentum through open innovation, preventing AI from becoming a moat for monopolistic interests, avoiding fragmentation of the global innovation ecosystem, and “enabling AI to empower thousands of industries.”

Security dimension: “Strengthen risk awareness, ensure safety and controllability.” Aimed at building a security bottom line through risk governance, preventing technological loss of control from backfiring on human welfare, avoiding “pan-securitization” and “exclusive security” from exacerbating the security deficit, and “AI should become a trustworthy tool for humanity.”

Civilization dimension: “Encourage inclusiveness and mutual learning, promote inter-civilization exchange.” Aimed at anchoring value direction through inter-civilization exchange, preventing AI development and application from eroding and damaging the diversity of world civilizations and the cultural uniqueness of countries, avoiding technological dependence from becoming an obstacle to civilizational progress, and “carefully cultivate a garden of civilizations where each is beautiful in its own way and beauty is shared.”

Governance dimension: “Advocate unity and cooperation, improve global governance.” Aimed at ensuring fairness and universal benefit through global cooperation, preventing the principle of multilateralism from being hollowed out by technological hegemony, avoiding new historical injustices in the AI field, and “forming a global governance framework with broad consensus as soon as possible.”

Global governance has never been a neutral technical proposition; it is based on a specific ideological foundation and reflects different values. These four points vividly reflect China’s views on development, security, civilization, and global governance.

President Tokayev’s words at the conference help people understand the value foundation of China’s proposal: “We highly identify with the highly visionary concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and we also believe that this concept has special practical value in the era of AI.”

Open source, openness, cooperation, sharing, inclusiveness, and universal benefit… The concepts upheld by China’s proposal, in responding to problems and challenges, guide AI, this important force that leverages the era, to always develop in a direction conducive to building a community with a shared future for mankind, and in a direction conducive to the progress of human civilization.

The newly established World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, from design to operation, makes China’s concepts more concrete: following the purposes of the UN Charter, upholding the concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, adhering to the people-centered principle, aiming to promote international cooperation on AI and global governance, ensuring that AI develops healthily and orderly in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction, and benefiting all of humanity…

“This is a decision of historic milestone significance,” “This organization will become the core pillar of a universal global AI governance system,” “This new international organization has enormous potential and will profoundly shape the future global AI governance landscape”…

All parties actively participated at the first opportunity because they found resonance and saw the future in it.

Walking Together: Multiple Handshakes Along the Way

Before the opening ceremony, the group photo at the World Reception Hall was warm and harmonious.

At the photo spot, President Xi Jinping shook hands and waved to the attending heads of state, heads of government, heads of international organizations, and heads of delegations from various countries. He smiled and said to everyone: “Welcome to China!”

“Going to China” has become a “hot phenomenon” in the international community recently. From Global South countries to Western countries, from neighboring countries to partners across the ocean, the list of visitors to China is growing longer. In this world full of uncertainty, China is regarded by international opinion as a unique “bridge-builder,” “connector,” and “stabilizing force,” “able to conduct constructive dialogue with both Global South and Global North countries.”

During the conference, the bilateral schedule was busy and tight.

On the afternoon of the 16th, President Xi Jinping met with Kazakh President Tokayev;
On the afternoon of the 17th, he met successively with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, and UN Secretary-General Guterres.

Among the foreign dignitaries, some were new friends visiting China for the first time as national leaders, but more were old friends who frequently interact with China.

From the Silk Road friendship between China and Kazakhstan, to “China and Thailand as one family,” to the ironclad friendship between China and Cambodia… these neighboring countries have long histories of exchanges with China, and each handshake deepens their strategic mutual trust.

A China that is changing with each passing day, a China full of vitality, is a common impression shared by many foreign dignitaries. This time, several leaders coincidentally mentioned a new topic: China’s open-source path for AI large models.

Prime Minister Anutin said: “Developing countries need open-source models that can be independently adapted. China’s open-source models are very successful.” President Tokayev stated: “China plays a leading role in open-source innovation, open platform building, and international scientific and technological cooperation, and has created entirely new development opportunities for countries around the world.” Prime Minister Hun Manet also remarked: “The prospects of the intelligent age cannot be fully realized by going it alone.”

Data provide a footnote for this observation. In 2025, the cumulative downloads of China’s domestically produced open-source large models topped the world. Now, AI is regarded as one of China’s “new three new items” (新新三样) that sell well globally. Not only are domestic large models widely popular, but smart products such as AI glasses and translators are also going abroad.

In recent years, China’s technological innovation vitality has surged, opening up incremental space for all parties to upgrade cooperation with China. In President Xi Jinping’s bilateral diplomatic activities, AI is mentioned with increasing frequency. Last year, China signed memorandums of understanding on deepening AI cooperation with Thailand and Cambodia respectively. China and Kazakhstan, in drawing a new blueprint for cooperation, have set their sights on cultivating new quality productive forces, focusing on new areas such as the digital economy and AI.

Witnessing more countries boarding the fast train of the intelligent age thanks to China, some international media have reached a judgment: In AI development, China offers a new path, that is, the path of “public goods.”

“As a responsible major country, China has always been committed to being a provider of international public goods in the field of AI.” At the opening ceremony, the major cooperation initiatives announced by President Xi Jinping drew attention from all sides:

In the next five years, China will provide 5,000 AI-themed training and研修 (研修) slots for developing countries; build international AI application cooperation centers for ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS; and promote the application of the intelligent weather early warning model “Mazu” (妈祖) in 30 countries.

Like a microcosm, the cooperation story in the AI field reflects a grander narrative of the era: Today’s China is a contributor of opportunities in turbulent times. As President Xi Jinping emphasized: “China does not pursue modernization that benefits only itself. We welcome more foreign friends to actively participate in the process of Chinese-style modernization.”

Secretary-General Guterres is an old friend of China. During the meeting, President Xi Jinping recalled his eight visits to China since taking office: “Every exchange with you leaves a deep impression on me, and many of your views have inspired me.”

“I am very grateful to China and to you personally for your support for multilateralism and the United Nations, especially under some complex and difficult circumstances. I have always believed that you are advancing our most important causes: addressing inequality, protecting the planet, and strengthening AI governance. These are things I will never forget.”

Leading: Diverse Scenes Under the Wave

Shanghai, a city that has weathered many vicissitudes yet brims with vitality, writes new stories of embracing the future every day.

General Secretary Xi Jinping once visited an innovative ecological community here, encouraging that “AI is a young cause, and it is also the cause of young people.” He also attended a symposium on strengthening basic research here, deploying efforts to consolidate the foundation for building a strong nation in science and technology. Eight years ago, the World AI Conference was inaugurated here, and President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter, with the proposition of “jointly promoting development, jointly safeguarding security, and jointly sharing achievements” leaving a Chinese imprint on the global AI governance landscape.

This place itself is a vivid sample of China’s development and transformation.

On the evening of the 16th, President Xi Jinping walked into the World Reception Hall on the North Bund of Shanghai. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, he looked out at the vast sky and river at the confluence of the Huangpu River and Suzhou Creek, and at the past and present of this city. The traces of yesterday’s China, battered by storms, remain; today’s China’s innovation fervor is also etched in the scattered urban landmarks…

The changes of history happen in the blink of an eye.

Looking back at modern times, a closed and isolated China repeatedly missed the waves of the technological revolution, its science and technology gradually fell behind, and its modernization process was arduous.

Looking at the present, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is surging. A China striving forward has finally stood on the stage and reached the forefront of the era.

“Seemingly ordinary, yet most extraordinary; achieving success appears easy, but it is actually arduous.” Today, the hundred boats contending in this country’s AI development is also a story about the Communist Party of China and about China.

This grand gathering happened to take place after the meeting celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Foreign leaders expressed congratulations and also discussed their thoughts and insights on governance with President Xi Jinping.

In his speech at the opening ceremony of this World AI Conference, President Tokayev remarked: “China has achieved leapfrog development, completely eliminated absolute poverty, become a world-class major power, built a diversified economic system, and cutting-edge technologies are flourishing everywhere. This great achievement comes from the strong leadership of the world’s largest party, the Communist Party of China, and from the exceptionally wise leadership collective led by President Xi Jinping.”

To understand China, one must first understand the Communist Party of China. Reflecting on “the key code to why the Communist Party of China can succeed” from an international perspective, President Xi Jinping explained:

“The reason why the Communist Party of China can continuously achieve brilliance in its struggle, and why history and the people chose the Communist Party of China, lies fundamentally in the Party’s excellent qualities: its unwavering pursuit of truth, its deep roots among the people, its courage to undertake historical missions, its compliance with the trend of development, its daring and ability to struggle, and its focus on strengthening itself.”

“The Communist Party of China has formed the thought on Party building for the new era in the great practice of governing and strengthening the Party, which will continuously gather the mighty force for Chinese-style modernization.”

“You are a great leader and a politician with a truly global vision, leading your people forward toward the future.” This is the admiration of foreign dignitaries after in-depth observation.

Looking back at the journey of climbing and catching up, people see the keenness to “seize the first opportunity,” the tenacity of “passing the baton from one leg to the next,” the courage and determination to “accelerate the achievement of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening,” and the responsibility of “deepening open-source and open cooperation in technology”…

“What China says, it always delivers.” This deep impression of the international community is repeatedly corroborated. The outline of the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” clearly states: promote the establishment of an AI governance framework with broad participation of all countries, jointly build an open global AI ecosystem of equal rights, mutual trust, diversity, and win-win, and support Global South countries in strengthening AI capacity building. Now, in the first year of the plan, within just a few months, China has demonstrated an action capability that amazes the world.

More than ten days ago, at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Conference of Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s words were resounding: “Accelerate the achievement of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, march firmly toward the goal of building a strong nation in science and technology by 2035, and solidly support and lead Chinese-style modernization with scientific and technological innovation.”

Then to this grand gathering. “The ‘Fifteenth Five-Year Plan’ draws a blueprint for China’s economic and social development in the next five years, and also provides a list of opportunities for the international community,” “Let this cutting-edge technology better benefit human society”… The banks of the Huangpu River witness the surging tide of intelligence.

Toward the future, toward the dream, a China forging ahead with determination is a cooperative force leading the world and a progressive force belonging to all humanity.

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All-out scientific rescue efforts, strict prevention of secondary disasters, and meticulous care for the安置 and basic needs of affected residents.

Xinhua News Agency, Chongqing, July 18 – According to the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the requirements of Premier Li Qiang, Zhang Guoqing, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, led relevant department heads to Pengshui County (彭水县), Chongqing on the evening of the 17th to guide the search and rescue and emergency response work at the mountain collapse disaster site.

After arriving, Zhang Guoqing immediately went to the mountain collapse disaster site to learn in detail about the rescue progress and difficulties. On the morning of the 18th, Zhang Guoqing again came to the disaster site to study and optimize the rescue plan, and went to the county people’s hospital and temporary resettlement sites to visit the injured and the relocated and resettled people, conveying General Secretary Xi Jinping’s care and concern. He then presided over a meeting, conveyed the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions and directives and Premier Li Qiang’s instructions and requirements from the video call, and studied and deployed support and assistance for Chongqing’s rescue and relief work. He pointed out that General Secretary Xi Jinping is very concerned about the safety of the people in distress, very concerned about the progress of rescue and relief, repeatedly stressed that the safety of people’s lives must be put first, and made important instructions on scientifically organizing search and rescue, preventing secondary disasters, properly treating the injured and handling the aftermath, 举一反三 (jǔ yī fǎn sān - “raise one and infer three,” to learn from one instance to apply to many) deeply investigating and eliminating hidden dangers such as geological disasters, further implementing safety work responsibilities, and strengthening monitoring and early warning as well as patrol and risk elimination. Premier Li Qiang put forward clear requirements on scientifically carrying out rescue and disposal, resettlement and livelihood guarantees for the affected people, and doing a good job of geological disaster monitoring, early warning, prevention, and response. Chongqing municipality and relevant parties must resolutely implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions and directives and Premier Li Qiang’s requirements, and grasp and carry out all work in a solid and detailed manner.

Zhang Guoqing stressed that every possible means must be used to search and rescue the missing persons. In light of the limited rescue operation space at the disaster site, the high risk of secondary disasters, and continuous rainfall, on-site command and safety control must be strengthened, and professional rescue forces and suitable rescue equipment should be organized to carry out search and rescue. There is still a risk of collapse of the surrounding mountain body, so real-time monitoring and early warning of slopes and residual landslide mass must be strengthened and linked with rescue operations, and secondary disasters during the rescue process must be strictly prevented. Every effort must be made to treat the injured people, carefully and thoughtfully console the families of the deceased and missing persons, strengthen psychological counseling, and ensure the basic living needs of the relocated people. He stressed that the current situation for disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief is severe, with extreme weather occurring frequently and often. All regions and relevant parties must strengthen bottom-line thinking and extreme thinking, and further tighten and press down on responsibility measures at every link, including hazard investigation, early warning and response, transfer and avoidance, and rescue and relief. Close attention must be paid to high-risk points such as buildings near mountains and rivers, and houses built on cut slopes; professional patrol and risk elimination must be strengthened; the role of grassroots grid workers must be fully utilized; when danger is found, transfer must be decisive and resolute; and the safety of people’s lives and property must be effectively guaranteed.

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Multi-agency coordination, full-scale search and rescue

By: 本报记者

At around 9:00 on July 17, a sudden mountain collapse disaster occurred near Wujiang Third Bridge in Hanjia Subdistrict (汉葭街道), Pengshui County (彭水县), Chongqing. Chongqing City swiftly activated an emergency response; relevant national ministries and commissions rushed to assist; rescue forces from all sides traveled 星夜兼程 (xīng yè jiān chéng - "travel by star and night, covering double distance," to press on day and night) and coordinated operations, and rescue efforts unfolded intensively at the collapse site.

The Ministry of Emergency Management (应急管理部) quickly dispatched resources. The China Anneng Chongqing Rescue Team (中国安能重庆救援队) entered the battle at the first moment. The rescue team deployed more than 120 personnel, carrying over 60 sets of specialized equipment including multi-arm drills and demolition excavators, and adopted a method of "dividing into zones and blocks, from top to bottom, layer-by-layer search, meticulous rescue, exposing the bottom when the sky lightens" to conduct a carpet-style search and rescue on the collapsed mass. "The biggest obstacle at present is a giant boulder at the site with a volume of approximately 3,000 cubic meters and a weight of nearly 10,000 tons, plus continuous rainfall, which brings great difficulties to the rescue." said Feng Yu (冯宇), on-site commander of the China Anneng Chongqing Rescue Team.

The Chongqing Municipal Health Commission (重庆市卫生健康委) immediately activated the medical and health emergency response, dispatching national emergency medical rescue teams and municipal-level rescue teams to the scene. A treatment team composed of 33 multidisciplinary experts from 8 municipal-level and regional tertiary grade-A hospitals implemented "one person, one strategy, one team" treatment for critically injured personnel and provided psychological counseling for the lightly injured. The National Health Commission (国家卫生健康委) dispatched experts from Beijing Jishuitan Hospital (北京积水潭医院) for on-site guidance and supported treatment through remote consultation.

The Ministry of Natural Resources (自然资源部) urgently conducted video dispatching, coordinating remote sensing and surveying forces to generate panoramic images and three-dimensional models of the disaster area, providing a base map for command decision-making. The Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau (重庆市规划和自然资源局) organized 144 experts and technical personnel carrying specialized equipment to rush to the scene to assist in carrying out emergency rescue.

The Pengshui County Public Security Bureau (彭水县公安局) mobilized all police; special police officers assisted in searching for trapped personnel on the front line; traffic control police ensured the smooth flow of surrounding rescue passages; local police officers knocked on doors one by one to check and evacuated elderly and children with limited mobility.

"We have already conducted inspections of high-risk areas throughout Pengshui County, delineated 6 zones, and focused on inspecting hidden danger points such as housing built on cut slopes and slope edges along mountain roads," said the relevant responsible person of the Chongqing Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau. The whole city is deepening special inspections during the flood season, conducting focused monitoring of areas with similar topography and geomorphology, and adding new equipment such as slope radar to ensure that hazards are discovered early, warned early, and dealt with early.

At present, rescue and relief operations are still under way intensively. The relevant responsible person of the on-site command headquarters said that forces from all sides will be coordinated and deployed to make the greatest efforts to save lives, reduce disaster losses, and at the same time do a good job of post-disaster health and epidemic prevention and the resettlement of the affected population.

In addition, our reporter learned from the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发展改革委) that, in accordance with the National Natural Disaster Relief Emergency Plan (国家自然灾害救助应急预案), the National Development and Reform Commission has arranged 30 million yuan (CNY) from central budget investment to support post-disaster emergency recovery from the mountain collapse disaster in Pengshui County.

On the 17th, the Office of the National Disaster Prevention, Mitigation, and Relief Committee (国家防灾减灾救灾委员会办公室), the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Water Resources, and the Ministry of Emergency Management issued an urgent notice, deploying all regions, relevant departments, and units to earnestly carry out inspections and patrols of geological disaster risk hazards and disaster prevention and response work.

On the 18th, the Ministry of Natural Resources, together with relevant departments, urgently deployed nationwide inspections and patrols of geological disaster risk hazards, requiring natural resources departments of all provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) to work together with relevant departments, to closely monitor the grassroots terminal, to strengthen the focus on prevention, and to organize forces to do a good job of geological disaster inspection and patrol work.

(Our reporters Li Zenghui, Jiang Feng, Liu Xinwu, Wang Xinyue, Shen Jingran, Liu Zhiqiang, Liu Wenxin, Chang Qin)

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Racing against time in extreme heat and torrential rain

By: 本报记者 姜 峰 王欣悦

At 15:00 on July 17, reporters arrived at the landslide disaster site in Hanjia Subdistrict (汉葭街道), Pengshui County (彭水县), Chongqing.

On the bank of the Wujiang River, the entire mountainside could be seen sliding, with rock and soil pouring down; more than ten residential buildings were completely buried. Boulders were piled up, the largest one almost five stories high. Inside the cordon, personnel in various uniforms moved hurriedly. Rescue was a race against time.

Waves of heat rolled, temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius. Sweat dripped from his forehead into his eye sockets; blinking a few times and shaking his head, he continued staring at the remote control — Armed Police soldier Zhang Guangxian (张光宪) was the drone operator, responsible for monitoring the mountain’s condition and providing guidance and risk warnings for the rescue.

Zhang Guangxian had entered the core rescue zone on the morning of the 17th and had been operating continuously for more than five hours, swapping batteries but not the operator; his camouflage uniform was covered in white salt stains. “The comrades cannot do without this ‘sky eye.’”

On the monitor, officers and soldiers of the Chongqing Armed Police Corps Fifth Detachment (武警重庆总队执勤第五支队) were divided into three groups operating more than 160 pieces of rescue equipment, clearing broken stones and collapsed beams, opening a passage for rescue personnel and equipment…

When he entered the site, a remark from a resident by the roadside made Zhang Guangxian feel he had to live up to that trust: “When the ones in military uniforms come, we feel secure inside.”

Nearby, there were also figures holding their ground. Local public security police were responsible for perimeter control and traffic guidance.

Zeng Xilin (曾玺霖), Deputy Director of Gaogu Police Station (高谷派出所) of Pengshui County Public Security Bureau (彭水县公安局), was checking hazards “inch by inch” along the rock face. Zeng Xilin’s husband, Chen Hong (陈洪), Squadron Leader of the Urban Squadron of the Traffic Management Brigade of Pengshui County Public Security Bureau, was stationed on the adjacent National Highway 221, having guided more than 300 vehicles that day.

Their child called: “Mom and Dad, be careful.” After hastily telling the child, who was home alone, a few words, Zeng Xilin shoved her phone back into her soaked pocket, turned, and walked back toward the inspection area.

A few dozen meters away, Chen Hong was directing traffic in the middle of the road, shouting at the top of his voice. The cordon separated the two at opposite ends; they could not see each other.

The sky grew dark, and thunder sounded. Around 23:00, rain poured down in torrents.

The slope was already loose, and the harsh weather made the on-site environment even more complex. The core rescue zone remained brightly lit, and the Armed Police forces organized officers and soldiers to continue rescue operations.

The political instructor of a certain squadron of the Chongqing Armed Police Corps Fifth Detachment issued a loud order: “Ensure on-site safety — can everyone do it?”

Two rows of soldiers stood at attention and shouted three times: “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

One by one, young figures walked quickly into the rain. The uniforms stayed on their bodies; the people stayed on the scene.

On the 18th, the second day of rescue.

13,000 sets of emergency supplies were deployed and distributed in an orderly manner.

Rescue personnel from China Anneng Group (中国安能集团) rotated for rest; operator Yu Chengyang (余成洋) had just come down from the work face, and someone else was preparing to go up. Rescue forces dispatched by the Ministry of Emergency Management (应急管理部) kept arriving: long-arm excavators, integrated drilling machines, demolition engineering vehicles… 15 pieces of heavy equipment were put into use successively.

The militia contingent had already been fighting continuously for more than 30 hours. Wang Xinbin (王信斌), Platoon Leader of the 2nd Platoon of the Pengshui County Militia Emergency Company (彭水县民兵应急连), grabbed a bottle of water from an ice bucket and gulped it down: “There can’t be too many people on the work face; we’ll go up again in a bit.”

At 22:00, it rained again. The search and rescue continued.

On-site observation, the feeling is only two words: persistence. Under the叠加 of high temperature, torrential rain, fatigue, and risk, they chose to keep moving forward.

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Photo Report

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Call me 'Daughter Secretary,' I love it (National 'Two Excellences and One Pioneer' Profiles)

By: 本报记者 方 敏

In the Jinkang Community, Jinmingchi Subdistrict, Urban-Rural Integration Demonstration Zone of Kaifeng City, Henan Province, Liu Fang, the community Party committee secretary and neighborhood committee director, put on a red volunteer vest and began her day's rounds — a habit she has maintained for over a decade.

"Girl, you're here again?" an elderly stallholder said with a smile upon seeing Liu Fang. In Jinkang Community, many elderly residents call Liu Fang "Girl Secretary."

Jinkang Community comprises nine residential compounds. Built long ago, problems such as unauthorized construction, vegetable gardening on public land, and clutter accumulation were once quite prominent. Residents were dissatisfied, property management was unwilling to intervene, and governing it well was no easy task.

Since 2018, Liu Fang has served as the Jinkang Community Party Committee secretary. Faced with the problem of dirt, disorder, and disrepair, she did not flinch.

Liu Fang started with the community's Party members, calling on Party cadres and members to begin with themselves — demolishing their own illegal structures, clearing their own vegetable plots... The residents saw this and were convinced, joining in to improve the community environment. Soon, charging points for electric vehicles were installed, the basement water leakage problem was resolved, and new changes came one after another.

Later, the Jinkangyuan Compound within the community was included in the old residential area renovation project. At that time, Liu Fang had just given birth not long before. She kept a daily eye on the "Residents' Group" and "Renovation Group" on WeChat, and when she saw conflicts arising between residents and the construction party, she could not sit still. "Renovating a residential compound involves a thousand threads and a tangled skein; at a critical moment, I have to take the lead!" After settling things at home, Liu Fang returned to her post.

Liu Fang discovered that the difficulty of renovation sometimes lay not in the engineering itself. To build a parking lot, two trees belonging to an elderly resident, Granny Li, needed to be relocated. These two trees had been planted by Granny Li's late husband, and she adamantly opposed moving them — "Once the saplings are moved, they'll die," "Who will take care of them after transplanting?"

Liu Fang did not push ahead forcefully. She visited Granny Li multiple times, patiently doing persuasion work. Upon learning the elderly woman's concerns, she put forward a plan: arrange for workers to carry out a careful transplant, making every effort to ensure the trees survived. She also invited Granny Li to serve as captain of the community's green volunteer service team, allowing her to participate in the compound's greenery management and protection.

Sincerity moves people the most. Granny Li not only voluntarily cooperated with the tree transplant and parking lot renovation but also became a skilled hand at the compound's greening.

When installing an elevator in an old building, a new difficulty arose. Elevator installation involves multiple departments — housing and construction, electric power, heating, water utilities — making coordination extremely challenging. Even more棘手 was the staunch opposition of an elderly man living alone on the first floor, Grandpa Hu.

"We visited and communicated with him many times, but Grandpa Hu's attitude was very firm," Liu Fang said. But she did not give up. Instead, she paid more attention to the elderly man's daily needs, often arranging for staff to deliver necessities such as fruit and vegetables to him.

One day in 2023, a neighbor upstairs noticed something unusual about Grandpa Hu's home. Upon learning of this, Liu Fang decisively contacted the police to break down the door and check, finding Grandpa Hu collapsed and unconscious in a corner of the bedroom. After emergency transport to the hospital, the elderly man was out of danger.

When Grandpa Hu woke up and saw the community staff caring for him attentively, and learned that it was the upstairs neighbor who had promptly noticed something was wrong, he was deeply moved. He immediately agreed to the elevator installation, saying, "My life was saved by everyone. Making things convenient for everyone is making things convenient for me."

In old residential area renovation, "three parts construction, seven parts management." After the renovation was completed, how to maintain the results?

Property management fees could not be collected, and property companies were unwilling to move in. Liu Fang led the community to explore a "points system" for property management — residents could accumulate points through daily consumption, volunteer service, and participation in building a civilized community, which could be directly used to offset property management fees. The community mobilized 180 business entities to participate; breakfast shops, hair salons, bookstores, and fruit stores all hung signs reading "Points System Participating Store." The property company also used a WeChat mini-program to provide residents with expanded services such as elderly care, home appliance repair, and pipe unclogging. Soon, the homeowners' enthusiasm was mobilized; they proactively paid property management fees, and the community atmosphere became more harmonious.

Jinkang Community also established a "Red Steward" service system composed of building chiefs and grid supervisors, integrating the property management, homeowners' committee, and Party member activity room into a service station. The community delineated exclusive Party member responsibility zones, organizing Party members to voluntarily claim public areas such as corridors, green spaces, and parking spaces, posting their names and responsibilities publicly. All seven compounds in the jurisdiction that previously had no property management were brought to zero.

Looking at Jinkang Community today, the compounds are shaded by trees, vehicles are parked in an orderly manner, fire access routes are wide and clear, and the community's appearance has taken on an entirely new look. The residents all see Liu Fang's dedication. In daily life, whenever the elderly have any matters, they promptly tell Liu Fang; they hold her hand and call her "Good Girl" and "Girl Secretary."

"Calling me 'Girl Secretary' — I love hearing that. It means they don't see me as an outsider," Liu Fang said. Going forward, she will continue to work diligently, striving to resolve the urgent, difficult, anxious, and期盼 issues of the masses, and be a person the masses feel close to.

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"China in Family Letters" campaign launched

This newspaper, Beijing, July 18 (Reporters Liu Fawei (刘发为) and Chen Yuanyuan (陈圆圆)) — In order to deeply study and implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourse on attaching importance to family, family education, and family traditions, to pass on the Chinese cultural lineage, to promote mainstream values, and to cultivate civilized customs, the thematic activity “China in Family Letters” (家书里的中国) was launched in Beijing on the 18th. The activity is hosted by the Central Office for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization (中央精神文明建设办公室), the All-China Women’s Federation (全国妇联), and the National Archives Administration (国家档案局), and is organized by the People’s Daily Overseas Edition, Renmin University of China, and the China Media Group Film, TV Drama and Documentary Center (中央广播电视总台影视剧纪录片中心).

The launch ceremony was divided into three chapters. Taking representative family letters from different historical periods as the vehicle, and through multiple forms such as situational performances, expert narrations, dance performances, and immersive recitations, it vividly presented the profound heritage and contemporary value of family-letter culture.

Along with the launch of the thematic activity, a collection of family letters has been opened to all sectors of society. The scope of the collection includes letters from various eras, in forms including handwritten manuscripts, emails, videos, and audio.

After the activity is launched, the organizers will, based on the collection and sorting of family letters, continuously publish family-letter stories in the People’s Daily Overseas Edition, launch a thematic exhibition “China in Family Letters” at relevant venues, and create an “everlasting family-letter exhibition” online.

In addition, the thematic activity will also incorporate the collected works into archival management, compile outstanding family-letter stories and fine readings into books and audio-video publications, and use the texts, audio-video, and digital products formed during the activity to establish a family-letter database, a cultural-theme topic database, etc., which will be opened for use by the vast number of literary and artistic workers, as well as historical and sociological researchers.

As of now, the People’s Daily Overseas Edition has published 60 issues of “People’s Family Letters” (人民家书) all-media reports around themes such as the memory of the War of Resistance, the spirit of the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the sentiments of overseas Chinese, and cross-strait family affection. It has cumulatively published more than 400 family letters. The reports have been reproduced and landed in media from dozens of countries, and the total overseas dissemination volume of related content has exceeded 50 million views.

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C919's first international route to launch on August 12

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 18 - Reporter Wang Yuhao) The reporter learned from Air China that starting from August 12, the Beijing to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, route will be operated by the domestically produced large aircraft C919, and this route will become the first international route operated by the C919.

This route is planned to operate one round-trip flight per day. The outbound flight departs from Beijing Capital Airport at 15:00 and arrives in Ulaanbaatar at 17:15. The return flight departs from Ulaanbaatar at 18:30 and arrives at Beijing Capital Airport at 20:35.

At present, passengers can already purchase tickets for this route through channels such as the Air China app.

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China has built 120,000 high-quality datasets nationwide

Beijing, July 18 (People's Daily) — (Reporter Wang Yunshan (王云杉)) The reporter learned from the National Data Bureau (国家数据局) that China continues to increase the supply of high-quality data and has built 120,000 high-quality datasets.

As of the end of June, the total volume of high-quality datasets built nationwide in fields such as scientific research, industrial manufacturing, medical and health care, education and teaching has exceeded 1,565 petabytes (PB), an increase of more than 60% compared with the end of the first quarter. The current volume is equivalent to approximately 547 times the total digital resource volume of the National Library of China, providing strong support for the development of artificial intelligence.

At the same time, China’s data annotation industry is accelerating its development, effectively supporting the construction of high-quality datasets. As of the end of June, the annotation scale of the seven data annotation pilot cities — Chengdu, Sichuan; Shenyang, Liaoning; Hefei, Anhui; Changsha, Hunan; Haikou, Hainan; Baoding, Hebei; and Datong, Shanxi — exceeded 119 petabytes, and the number of data annotation practitioners reached 140,000.

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High-tech manufacturing surges with dynamic momentum (Mid-year economic review)

By: 本报记者 李君强

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Manufacturing should adhere to the direction of high-end, intelligent, and green development, continuously raising the technological content and added value of products.”

High-tech manufacturing connects the frontier of scientific and technological innovation with the future of industrial development. From the accelerated mass production of the domestically produced large aircraft C919, to the second domestically produced large cruise ship Aida Huacheng (爱达·花城号) completing all sea trial tasks in a single voyage; from the release and global first mass production of T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber, to the official release of the world’s largest parameter-scale open-source model Kimi K3; from the intensive approval of 38 “global first” innovative drugs, to the successful first controlled recovery of a first-stage subassembly of the Long March 10B carrier rocket… Since the beginning of this year, China’s high-tech manufacturing has blossomed at multiple points, with original achievements emerging intensively.

In the first half of this year, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 13.3% year-on-year, 7.9 percentage points faster than the added value of all industries above designated size, becoming an important window for observing the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry and the shift between old and new economic drivers.

Outstanding performance on both production and sales ends

On June 28, the 15,000th embodied intelligence complete machine of Zhiyuan Robot (智元机器人) successfully rolled off the production line and was delivered to the factory for production line operations. From crossing the 10,000-unit mark to achieving the 15,000th unit offline took only three months.

On one side, the production pace is accelerating; on the other, global orders continue to grow.

In Yantai, Shandong, Yantai Xingye Machinery Co., Ltd. (烟台兴业机械股份有限公司) focuses on the design of mine trackless equipment, and its developed underground unmanned autonomous remote-controlled scraper has gained a large number of overseas orders thanks to its technological advantages; in Nantong, Jiangsu, BYD’s “Jinan” (济南号) ship, carrying 7,273 new energy vehicles, set sail from Nantong Port, setting a record for the largest single shipment of a single brand of automobiles by a single vessel in China.

Data confirms a series of changes—

Growth continues to lead. Looking first at output, in the first half of this year, China’s industrial robot output increased by 28.0% year-on-year, and 3D printing equipment output increased by 48.5% year-on-year. Looking next at industry added value, the added value of the aerospace and equipment manufacturing industry and the electronics and communication equipment manufacturing industry increased by 16.3% and 17% year-on-year respectively.

Benefits have significantly increased. From January to May, profits of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 44.7% year-on-year, driving up the profit growth of all industrial enterprises above designated size by 8.0 percentage points. The performance of industries related to the semiconductor industry chain was particularly outstanding, with profits in electronic special material manufacturing, optoelectronic device manufacturing, and other industries growing rapidly.

Investment continues to increase. In the first half of the year, investment in high-tech industries increased by 4.6% year-on-year, of which integrated circuit manufacturing and electronic special material manufacturing increased by 8.8% and 10% respectively year-on-year. Enterprise investment is increasingly tilting toward innovation links.

“From output growth to benefit improvement, and then to increased investment, high-tech manufacturing presents a virtuous cycle of mutual promotion among production, market, benefits, and investment,” said Ji Fuxing (吉富星), professor at the School of Applied Economics, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “High-tech manufacturing has high technological content and strong resilience, and its endogenous growth and high-quality development characteristics have been significantly enhanced.”

Industrial support becomes more powerful

In the clean workshop of Guangdong Guangzhou Aifo Guangtong Technology Co., Ltd. (艾佛光通科技有限公司), rice-grain-sized filter chips are rolling off the production line, and will be widely used in fields such as 5G base stations, satellite terminals, and drones. After years of tackling key problems, the enterprise has achieved full-chain autonomous control of chip production, with mass production yield exceeding 95%, and this year the capacity of filter chips will exceed 1 billion.

Wang Guanhua (王冠华), head of the Comprehensive Statistics Division of the National Economy of the National Bureau of Statistics, stated that in the first half of this year, new drivers represented by high-tech manufacturing and digital product manufacturing, with a value-added share of just over 20%, contributed nearly 50% of industrial growth, and are an important engine driving industrial growth.

The driving role of high-tech manufacturing in high-quality economic development is becoming increasingly prominent. Where does the confidence come from?

Long-term innovation accumulation lays the foundation—

Zhongfu Shenying (中复神鹰) has been deeply engaged in the carbon fiber field for 20 years, finally achieving the 100-ton-level mass production of T1200-grade carbon fiber; Huawei has been researching in the chip field for many years, proposed Tao’s Law (韬定律), and successfully designed and mass-produced 381 chips in practice…

During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China’s total R&D expenditure increased at an average annual rate of 10%, and the full-time equivalent of R&D personnel increased from 5.24 million person-years in 2020 to 7.95 million person-years in 2025. China entered the top ten of the Global Innovation Index for the first time.

Years of sustained high-intensity R&D investment have accumulated strength and paid off, and the pace of domestic substitution of key core technologies has accelerated, providing solid confidence for high-tech manufacturing.

Resonance between domestic and foreign demand opens up space—

Since the beginning of this year, the accelerated development of artificial intelligence has brought about an explosion in demand for high-end computing chips and storage chips. In the first half of the year, the output of integrated circuits by industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 23.1% year-on-year, reaching 279.8 billion units, with an average daily production of over 1.5 billion units.

On one side, domestic demand is constantly upgrading; on the other, global market demand for high-tech products continues to grow.

In the first half of the year, the total value of out-licensing deals for China’s innovative drugs reached approximately 110 billion US dollars, a record high for the same period and reaching 80% of the total for the full year of 2025; after Bodor Laser (邦德激光) released several new models, overseas orders surged, with order volume exceeding standard capacity by 70%, and the “accelerator pedal” was pressed simultaneously in both domestic and international markets.

Coordinated support from the industrial chain and supply chain—

The International Monetary Fund lowered its 2026 world economic growth forecast by 0.1 percentage points, while raising its China economic growth forecast by 0.2 percentage points. Between the one decrease and one increase lies the international market’s recognition of the resilience of China’s industrial and supply chains.

Wang Bingjie (王冰洁), assistant researcher at the Institute of Foreign Economic Research of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research of the National Development and Reform Commission, stated that in the face of the complex and volatile external trade environment in the first half of the year, the resilience and competitiveness of China’s industrial and supply chains have been further highlighted.

In the first half of the year, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size that are specialized, refined, unique, and innovative “little giant” enterprises (专精特新“小巨人”企业) increased by 10.4% year-on-year, and half of the 16 newly added Lighthouse factories came from China. A batch of high-quality enterprises deeply cultivating segmented fields have emerged, effectively filling the weaknesses of the industrial chain.

Development potential continues to be released

The development of high-tech manufacturing bears witness to the accelerated pace of China’s industrial transformation and upgrading, and also demonstrates the potential and staying power of China’s high-quality economic development.

The advantages of the ultra-large-scale market are obvious—

In the first half of the year, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeded 60% for three consecutive months, driving the output of lithium-ion batteries to increase by 39.3%. The rapid growth of new products such as smart terminals and wearable devices also provides broad space for the electronic information manufacturing industry.

Artificial intelligence technology is rapidly entering multiple fields such as automobiles, factories, and medical care; innovative drugs are continuously validated in a huge patient population and rich clinical needs; advanced medical equipment and electronic products can also be quickly iterated in the large market. The ultra-large-scale market is precisely using real demand to guide technological innovation and using rich scenarios to promote industrial upgrading.

A continuous leap from “quantity” to “quality”—

Not long ago, the world’s first 8-inch two-dimensional semiconductor engineering demonstration pilot line was fully completed in Shanghai Pudong, marking the entry of two-dimensional semiconductor technology from the laboratory into a new stage of engineering verification; Beijing has 197 advanced-level smart factories, 19 excellence-level factories, and 6 Lighthouse factories, with 84% of manufacturing enterprises above designated size meeting the digital transformation standard. From expanding production capacity to improving innovation capability, from breakthroughs in individual links to coordination across the entire industrial chain, high-tech manufacturing is accelerating the transition from quantitative growth to qualitative leap.

The industrial ecosystem continues to improve—

Jiangsu has set up a “Special Fund for Building a Strong Manufacturing Province,” focusing on key industrial technological innovation, intelligent transformation, digital transformation, and network connectivity (智改数转网联); the first 10,000-unit-level embodied intelligence robot super factory in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region has been put into operation at scale, with annual capacity gradually ramping up… At present, China has 17,600 national-level specialized, refined, unique, and innovative “little giant” enterprises (专精特新“小巨人”企业), and the number of Lighthouse factories ranks first in the world.

From policy support, scale production, to application scenarios, the industrial ecosystem continues to improve, laying a solid foundation for the development of high-tech manufacturing.

In the second quarter of this year, the added value of high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 14%, 1.5 percentage points faster than the first quarter, and the momentum of development and growth is still accelerating.

As more innovation achievements are accelerated to transform into real productivity, high-tech manufacturing will surely continue to release surging kinetic energy. Ji Fuxing said: “The confidence of China’s high-tech manufacturing development is solid, the advantages are distinct, and the prospects are broad. It is fully capable of achieving higher-quality development while meeting challenges.”

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China's New Energy Industry Leads Global Green Transition

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Chasing the Nine Heavens, Lifting the "Divine Arrow" to the Sky (Dream Chasers · Youth Makes Ideals Shine)

By: 本报记者 刘博通

Over the Gobi Desert beneath a vast sky, the "divine arrow" soars into the heavens. Not long ago, the Long March 2F Y23 carrier rocket (长征二号F遥二十三运载火箭) propelled the Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft into its预定轨道, as China's aerospace program once again inscribed a new legend.

Behind this lies an emergency launch mission攻关 team for China's manned space program's Long March 2F carrier rocket, in which young people account for over 60 percent. With a craftsmanship spirit of ceaselessly seeking perfection, they safeguard zero errors in rocket assembly, and have been awarded the 2026 China Youth May Fourth Medal Collective (中国青年五四奖章集体). Let us follow the reporter's steps, listen to the struggle stories of these aerospace youth, and feel the surging power of Chinese youth in the new era who bravely shoulder their missions and pursue their dreams as they move forward.

— Editor

"3, 2, 1, ignition!" At 23:08 on May 24, the Long March 2F Y23 carrier rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft ignited and launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The roar resounded across the Gobi Desert, the tail flame burst forth suddenly, and the rocket pierced the night sky, soaring straight into the clouds.

About 10 minutes later, the spacecraft successfully separated from the rocket and entered its预定轨道. The astronaut crew was in good condition, and the launch was a complete success! Applause rang out on the ground. Li Yong (李勇), a rocket general assembly worker at Capital Aerospace Machinery Co., Ltd. (首都航天机械有限公司), let out a long sigh of relief — yet another heavy burden had been lifted from his mind.

Born in 1989, Li Yong has experienced more than 10 such "big scenes." The team he belongs to, in which young people account for over 60 percent, is China's only professional unit with the full-process production capability for manned rockets. For years running, it has completed the development of supporting rockets for the Shenzhou series spacecraft to a high standard. Just last year, they successfully accomplished an emergency launch mission of exceptional specificity in the history of China's manned space program development, safeguarding the Chinese nation's dream of soaring into the heavens with their responsibility and dedication.

Racing Against Every Second:
Running a Race with Time, 16 Days to Lift the "Ark of Life"

In Li Yong's phone is a photo he took with colleagues at the airport last November. In the picture, he looks somewhat weary, not even facing the camera. "My mind was full of things at the time — thoughts were tangled, the pressure was considerable." Speaking of the past, Li Yong's memory is still vivid.

In early November 2025, Li Yong and his colleagues had just completed the rocket launch mission for Shenzhou-21 and returned to Beijing to reunite with their families. A few days later, a concerning piece of information arrived: the Shenzhou-20 manned spacecraft was suspected of being struck by tiny space debris, and the originally planned Shenzhou-20 return mission was postponed.

Could there be an emergency re-launch? Just as everyone was discussing the matter, on November 7, Capital Aerospace Machinery Co., Ltd. received an official notice to reassemble the team, return to the launch site, and initiate the emergency launch procedure. The Shenzhou-20 crew would return aboard the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft. The emergency launch mission攻关 team needed to complete an urgent launch as quickly as possible to ensure the safe return of the Shenzhou-21 crew.

Their luggage barely unpacked, their fatigue not yet dissipated — among the team members, some had to attend to sick family members, fulfilling long-overdue promises; others had begun long-planned vacations and had just reunited with their parents... But as soon as the order came down, the team members responded swiftly, forming the team, preparing materials, and loading vehicles within 36 hours, then heading to Jiuquan.

For this mission, Li Yong's responsibility was that of assembly commander. "Everyone came in a hurry. As soon as we got off the plane, looking at our colleagues' slightly 'scruffy' appearances, we couldn't help but laugh," Li Yong said. A colleague suggested taking a group photo, which was immediately met with everyone's agreement. "Everyone, look at the camera!" A moment worth remembering was thus frozen in time.

"This was our first time executing an emergency launch mission, and also an extremely challenging 'real-combat drill.' Much of our previous experience was rendered useless," said Xiao Nan (肖楠), the dispatcher, who is the "big brother" of the team and undertook much of the task breakdown and process optimization for the emergency launch. "Every compression of the process, every衔接 of the工序, directly concerns the safety of the astronauts and the success or failure of the mission. We had to ensure 万无一失 (wàn wú yī shī - "not a single mistake in ten thousand," absolutely foolproof)," Xiao Nan said with deep feeling.

The original assembly cycle of over 30 days was compressed to 16 days. How could efficiency be improved while ensuring precision? The攻关 team challenged the traditional serial工序流程 and creatively adopted a new model of "parallel operations + checklist-based control." "We transformed the originally interlocking key工序 — such as the basic-stage assembly of the rocket, installation of the escape tower, and the enclosure mating of the spacecraft with the fairing — into multiple simultaneously advancing 'assembly lines,' achieving coordinated operations and seamless衔接 across multiple workstations and the entire chain," Xiao Nan said.

Every evening, the team members would receive a message from Li Yong with the next day's work tasks and shift assignments. To ensure that all tasks were completed within the stipulated time, Xiao Nan and Li Yong frequently met to go over the workload and personnel situation again and again, and to prepare contingency plans for possible changes.

"We had to break the task down to the hour, formulate a tight reverse-countdown plan, and then assign each item of work to a specific person." For Li Yong, arranging the work over those 16 days was no easy task. "To make up time, the plan changed every day. The biggest difficulty was the shortage of manpower," Li Yong admitted. "'Serial tasks' changed to 'parallel tasks' — the workload increased, but the standards never changed. There was no slack left in any工序."

Even with meticulous preparation, plans could never keep up with changes. This mission did not require carrying a crew, but the volume of cargo transport increased substantially. A sister department proposed that one important工序 needed to be completed one day earlier. "We had originally scheduled three days to finish it, and the personnel were precisely allocated according to the workload. Where was I supposed to conjure up extra people?" Li Yong was troubled.

"Just get it done!" To Li Yong's relief, when he conveyed this information, the team members gave a crisp reply. They reassessed task priorities, adjusted the sequence of some tasks and the shift schedule, and colleagues from other departments also came to help... Personnel in assembly, process engineering, inspection and other positions cooperated closely. The team members meshed like gears, smoothly衔接, and finally managed to snatch back one day.

Deep in the Gobi Desert, the rocket launch platform stood silently, bearing witness to the team members' days and nights spent under the stars and moon. Over those 16 days, all team members raced against time toward a single goal, striving to lift the "Ark of Life" for the astronauts. On November 25, 2025, the Long March 2F Y22 carrier rocket carrying Shenzhou-22 successfully launched — China's manned space program's first emergency launch mission was a complete success. At that moment, many team members had tears streaming down their faces at the scene.

Pursuing the Ultimate:
Using Professionalism and Care to Safeguard Zero Errors in Rocket Assembly

In manned spaceflight, human lives are at stake. Aerospace is a cause full of risks and challenges.

"Our mission is to use our professionalism and meticulousness to strive for 万无一失 in rocket assembly," said Li Hongyu (李洪宇), a post-90s rocket general assembly worker.

The Long March 2F carrier rocket is mainly composed of the escape tower, the fairing, the core second stage, the core first stage, and four boosters. "Assembling a finished rocket from a vast quantity of components requires going through multiple stages: preparation, general assembly, testing, delivery, and launch," Li Hongyu explained. "Take the core first stage, for example. It contains a large number of electrical components and instruments. We have to install them correctly according to the blueprints, and then connect them with cables. Every step of the operation must be cautious and careful, not allowing the slightest error."

During the production process, Li Hongyu frequently has to crawl into the舱段 to work. The hardest part is entering the booster: "The internal working space inside the booster is extremely limited — dark and cramped, only big enough for one person, and it's hard even to turn around." To complete the assembly and fixing of the electrical system, Li Hongyu sometimes has to twist himself "like a twisted dough stick," maneuvering in the confined space, working for two or three hours straight. "The entire operation is highly tense. After one session, my anti-static suit is completely soaked with sweat," Li Hongyu said with a smile.

For Li Hongyu, rocket assembly is both a delicate task and a physical one. When the emergency launch mission reached the fairing enclosure-mating stage, Li Hongyu and his colleagues were responsible for installing the safety locks. "The spacecraft is inside the fairing, and dozens of safety locks must open simultaneously to ensure the safety of the spacecraft and the astronauts," Li Hongyu said. The fairing is near the top of the rocket. The team members had to climb a work platform four stories high, carrying their tools, and stay there for three to four hours at a time. To prevent instability and objects from falling, the team members used safety ropes to secure themselves, their tools, and their equipment in place. Hooking the locks, applying torque, securing the safeties, confirming inspections... More than ten team members worked in close coordination, laboring from afternoon until nearly midnight.

Time could be compressed, but quality could never be compromised. To ensure zero errors, the team implemented a model of "self-inspection + peer inspection + specialized inspection." Liu Minxing (刘敏行), a general assembly inspection worker, is the person on the team responsible for "finding fault."

Now 33 years old, Liu Minxing majored in mechanical manufacturing and automation in university and has already worked at the factory for 11 years. In the final assembly workshop, to reduce the error rate, a single operational step often requires two assembly workers and one inspection worker. After completing each action, the operator first conducts a self-inspection, then a peer inspection by a colleague, and afterward the inspection worker conducts a specialized inspection.

The specialized inspection work is not easy. "We are like the 'shadow' of the assembly personnel. No matter how late they work, we have to follow through to the end," Liu Minxing explained. "The most crucial thing is still possessing the ability to identify problems. The rapid development of the aerospace industry places increasingly higher demands on our professional competence." Operating valuable and rare equipment, checking that hundreds of connectors are properly inserted and marked, inspecting the airtightness of mechanical products... Over the years, Liu Minxing has been continuously learning. "The more rocket models I come into contact with, the greater the challenge. I like this kind of life," Liu Minxing said.

Over the years, Liu Minxing has seen the sunrise gradually rising above the sea horizon by the coast, and the magnificent, majestic sunset over the Gobi Desert, but he feels the most beautiful sight is still the dazzling tail flame when the rocket lifts off. "Every mission is a brand-new challenge, and I must give it my all," Liu Minxing said.

Chasing Dreams with Kindling Sparks:
Travelling the Same Path as the Aerospace Endeavor, Gathering Starlight into a Galaxy

From the moment they step into the factory area, this rocket assembly team begins their busy day. Tallying components, laying pipes, debugging instruments, checking for hazards... This is their daily work routine. To keep up with the assembly schedule, they often stay at their workstations around the clock; the outdoor launch site is inconvenient to access, they face biting cold winds in winter and scorching heat in summer. If there is one thing that touches the heart the most, it is the frequent "drop-everything-and-go" field assignments and the daily reality of being separated from loved ones.

Over the past year, Li Yong spent more than 100 days at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center; Liu Minxing's business trips totaled over 200 days; Chen Xiaoyu (陈小雨), a post-95s process technician, hails from Tianjin but only gets to reunite with his parents during holidays... One after another, instant departures for the field, wave after wave of long-distance separations — this is the most ordinary aspect of their work. This group of people, with their perseverance and dedication, escort every aerospace mission to a successful launch.

Bringing back local specialty gifts from business trips is a tacit understanding between Li Hongyu and his daughter. Once, Li Hongyu promised to take his daughter out to play, but an urgent mission suddenly came up, and the promise was broken again. The little girl, feeling wronged, cried out, "Daddy doesn't keep his word!" But this small complaint could not overcome the pride deep in her heart. When the live broadcast of the rocket launch began, the child jumped for joy, shouting excitedly, "Look, the rocket Daddy built is going to the sky again!"

Coming from all corners of the motherland, with different life trajectories, they nevertheless stand shoulder to shoulder on the journey toward the stars and the sea. Although their work is hard, the faces of these aerospace workers are filled with contentment and pride.

Chen Xiaoyu has harbored a dream of manned spaceflight since childhood. "When I was a child, I watched Yang Liwei fly into space aboard Shenzhou-5, and I was filled with excitement. I never imagined that after growing up, I would be able to devote myself to this sacred cause." After graduating with a master's degree from Dalian University of Technology, he unhesitatingly threw himself into the front line of aerospace.

Cui Mengyuan (崔梦圆), a rocket general assembly worker, has a heavy workload on the job. At the work site, communication is often inconvenient, and phone calls frequently go unanswered. Whenever a brief moment of free time comes, Cui Mengyuan always immediately checks his phone and carefully replies to his wife's messages. On one side is the small family he cannot bear to leave; on the other is the aerospace cause he loves. "For me, taking good care of my small family and shouldering my mission is the most solid happiness in this life," Cui Mengyuan said.

Zhang Yu (张宇), born in 1997, is one of the few female assembly workers on the team. She has been doing assembly work since 2018 and has participated in four manned space launch missions. Even carrying heavy tools, she can move nimbly and freely on the launch platform.
…

Because of their passion, this group of aerospace people has grown together with China's manned space program, participating in and witnessing miracle after miracle of Chinese speed, submitting a report card of hardcore commitment.

Over the years, the team has produced 11 technical experts and 9 young骨干, participated in the攻关 of multiple major engineering tasks, and updated more than 40 assembly technical standards in the professional field. This year, the team was awarded the 2026 China Youth May Fourth Medal Collective.

"From the first rocket launch of New China to the 100th launch took 37 years, while the most recent 100 launches took just over a year. This is the golden age we are living in!" Li Yong said. "Each one of us is like a single spark. Gathered together, we shine brightly, gathering starlight into a galaxy, joining forces to lift every rocket as it races toward the sky."

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"Build oneself as if building a new China" (Youth Perspective)

By: 胡笑源

Another graduation season has arrived. A cohort of young students are about to head to the western regions of the motherland, taking root at the grassroots through volunteer services and other forms, pouring the sweat of their youth into the places where the motherland and the people need it most. At the departure ceremonies of many universities, post-00s volunteers have firm eyes, responding to the call of the times with their choices. Why choose to go far to the border regions and actively accept tempering? One volunteer of the Western Plan (西部计划) answered: Taking root in the west is not a one-way dedication by young people, but a two-way journey between the individual and the country. When personal ideals are anchored to the coordinates of the family and the country, the path of youth gains solid confidence and abundant strength.

This inevitably reminds one of a phrase that was popular among young people not long ago: "Build yourself just as you would build New China; plan yourself just as you would plan each Five-Year Plan." Behind this vivid and graphic language lies the contemporary youth's conscious resonance with the country's development and their self-awareness of calibrating the course of their lives within the country's development process. The magnificent journey that New China has traversed not only engraves the code of the country's development but also provides the best textbook for young people to establish themselves, become talented, and pursue their dreams.

"Build yourself just as you would build New China" — independence and self-reliance, hard struggle are the first lesson. At the beginning of the founding of New China, it was poor and blank, with everything waiting to be done. Generations of builders relied on their own efforts, buried their heads in hard work, and opened up a new situation of development. This spirit of self-reliance and self-strengthening has merged into the blood of young people in the new era. Facing family difficulties, Pang Zhongwang (庞众望), a doctoral student at Tsinghua University, did not bow to fate, supporting his family and completing his studies through part-time jobs and other means. Growing towards the sun despite being in adversity — this is not only a personal adherence to character but also a vivid microcosm of youth struggle. Only by engaging in concrete work and struggling hard can young people build a solid foundation for their future and live a life of calm and composure.

The country's development cannot be separated from reform and innovation. From following and catching up to leading and surpassing, reform and innovation have always been the driving force pushing the times forward. The same is true for the growth of young people; they need to constantly break through the shackles of thought and shatter the barriers of cognition. Wang Xingxing (王兴兴), a post-90s, led Unitree Robotics (宇树科技) to develop humanoid robots, achieving independent research and development of key components as well as high-performance perception and motion control algorithms, promoting robots to empower thousands of industries and deeply integrating technological innovation with industrial innovation. The growth of young people in the new era has never been a replication of following rules and regulations, but a creation of daring to venture and try. Only by breaking through barriers with the power of innovation can youth shine in innovation and creation.

The path of youth growth is not a smooth road, just as the country's development also faces risks and challenges. Maintaining strategic focus, forging resilience, and concentrating on doing one's own things well are the methods for responding to changes. Facing external suppression, risks, and challenges, we have always maintained strategic resolve, firmly grasping the initiative in development amid uncertainty. This wisdom of development, calm and composed, is equally applicable to the growth of young people. When encountering anxiety and confusion in the process of growth, and being swept along by external noise and impetuous trends, one must understand that the greatest confidence for growth has never been following trends blindly, but rather settling oneself and focusing on one's original intention. Concentrate on honing skills, forge a tenacious character through tempering, and only then can one navigate through the fog of growth, withstand the storms of life, and steadily march toward the future.

Behind the concept of "build yourself just as you would build New China" lies the contemporary young people's sincere recognition of the country's development, as well as the value consciousness of integrating the small self into the larger self and rushing with youth toward the family and country. This year is the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五). Young people shoulder heavy responsibilities, increasing their talents through tempering at the grassroots, tempering and growing through taking responsibility and dedication, and writing a youth answer sheet worthy of the era.

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I Serve as CEO in the Countryside (Youth Diary)

By: 金智婉

I was once a teacher, and now I have become a rural CEO (manager of the rural collective economy), responsible for the collective economic development of 18 villages in the entire town and the cause of helping farmers increase income. From the lectern to the fields, one experience of going to the countryside solidified my original aspiration to return home and put down roots.

A few years ago, I took students on a study trip to the countryside and invited an elderly man over 80 to shoot a video. The old man was simple and warm-hearted; he actively brought over a cabbage he had grown himself and insisted on giving it to me. During small talk, I praised his sunglasses for looking good; he pulled down the lens, and I then discovered that one of his eyes had long been blind. His wife had passed away, and his children were working hard elsewhere; the old man lived alone. That year, a heavy snow caused the cabbages in the field to freeze and rot, leaving them unsellable, leaving the old man 一筹莫展 (yī chóu mò zhǎn - “cannot find any solution,” at a loss). He tightly grasped my hand and asked, “Child, will you come back to the countryside in the future?” This simple sentence moved me. At that moment, I resolved that I must return to the countryside and do something concrete for my hometown. So I resolutely gave up my teaching job and applied for the position of rural CEO.

When I first arrived in the countryside, I was full of enthusiasm, wanting to rely on the resources of mountains, waters, and tidal flats to create a social-media-worthy check-in spot and develop a new agricultural-cultural-tourism business format, but everyone thought I was young and not grounded (不接地气), which made me feel as if a basin of cold water had been poured over my head. In moments of confusion, I would always think of that elderly man living alone and tell myself I could not retreat. So, from scratch I taught myself new media operations, staying up late to practice video editing and writing scripts, and slowly groped my way toward a grounded way of helping farmers. A middle-aged uncle in the village accidentally injured his back, and 3,000 sugarcane stalks went unsold; I picked up my phone and truthfully recorded the uncle’s difficulties and the vast sugarcane field. The simple images moved netizens; in just one day, all the sugarcane was sold out, helping the farming household resolve an urgent need — 燃眉之急 (rán méi zhī jí - “urgency as if eyebrows are burning,” imminent crisis). Shanzhen Town’s (山福镇) thousand-mu lotus pond had beautiful scenery, but it had always been unknown. Throughout the entire blooming period, I persisted in photographing the lotus pond in the morning light at dawn and the lotus shadows under the moon at night, using the lens to showcase the natural beauty of the countryside. After the short videos went viral, thousands of tourists came attracted by the fame; the surrounding agritainment businesses flourished, and the incomes of villagers selling local products rose steadily.

The days of putting down roots in the countryside are full of toil and growth. Every time the bayberry harvest season comes, I enter the mountains at 3 AM to collect goods; I, who used to be unable to lift heavy objects, can now carry a basket of bayberries weighing dozens of jin. In the early days of starting the business, there was no team; sorting, packing, order-taking, and logistics were all handled by me alone. Facing customers’ incomprehension and doubts, I drove overnight to deliver goods, reviewed problems, and optimized processes, winning the trust of villagers and customers with my conscientiousness and responsibility. Along the way, I have filmed over a hundred rural short videos, with sales helping farmers reaching over a million yuan. Now I have formed a youth team to create a four-season study tourism business format — spring tea picking, summer lotus viewing, autumn fruit picking, winter water chestnut digging — turning local scenery into wealth-generating resources, allowing my hometown’s fine products to leave the mountains and fields and step onto a larger stage. I have gradually come to understand that youth is not only about rushing to the city; putting down roots in the countryside can also allow one to chase the light and shine brightly. I am willing to continue empowering the countryside with the power of youth, leading my fellow villagers toward a better life.

(The author is a rural CEO of Shanzhen Town, Lucheng District (鹿城区), Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. This article was recorded and compiled by our reporter Yang Hao (杨昊).)

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Yang Hao

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"That team from back then is still here" (On the Path to a Strong Military)

By: 本报记者 任彤彤

“I swear: to obey the leadership of the Communist Party of China, to serve the people wholeheartedly……”

At the foot of Yunshi Mountain (云石山), the oath was resounding. Officers and soldiers of the Armed Police Jiangxi Corps Ganzhou Detachment Ruijin Squadron (武警江西总队赣州支队瑞金中队) stood solemnly, raised their right fists, and under the witness of the “First Mountain of the Long March,” reaffirmed their military oath, completing a lesson of extraordinary significance in their military careers.

Ruijin, Jiangxi, has long been known as the “Red Capital” (红色故都) and the “Cradle of the Republic” (共和国摇篮). More than 90 years ago, the Red Army soldiers set out from here on the long march. Stationed on this red fertile soil, the squadron’s officers and soldiers have internalized the Long March spirit in their hearts and externalized it in their actions. Whenever new soldiers join the squadron, the squadron organizes them to “drink water from the Red Well (红井), sing red songs, attend red lessons, read red books, and walk the Long March road,” to comprehend the original aspiration and mission through immersive experiences.

Generations of officers and soldiers have continued the red bloodline, keeping the revolutionary torch 生生不息 (shēng shēng bù xī – “live and live without ceasing,” endless succession). The squadron has been commended by the corps for 20 consecutive years as a “grassroots pacesetter (advanced) squadron,” commended by the detachment for 6 consecutive years as an advanced unit of the “Four Iron” (四铁), and in 2019 was commended by the Armed Police Force as a “grassroots construction pacesetter squadron.” It has successively been awarded one collective first-class merit, four second-class merits, and ten third-class merits.

“Ruijin’s more than 100 revolutionary sites are the most vivid textbooks for the squadron’s education, and also an inexhaustible precious spiritual wealth for officers and soldiers,” introduced Zhou Quan (周全), political commissar of the Ganzhou Detachment.

In this squadron, the seeds of faith are being sown, and the conviction of strengthening the military is growing vigorously.

“When you come, you are a piece of pig iron; when you leave, you are a piece of refined steel.”

After a questionnaire survey, Shen Guohao (沈国昊), the squadron’s political instructor, was flipping through the returned questionnaires when his gaze suddenly fixed on a line of text: “It’s a pity that I can only sacrifice for the country once.”

Shen Guohao stared at this sentence, his mind unable to calm down for a long time.

The one who wrote this sentence was Peng Xiang (彭翔), a private first class who enlisted in March last year. When mentioning Peng Xiang, Shen Guohao admitted that he had once been quite troubled. When Peng Xiang first joined the squadron, he always thought of “avoiding” difficult training subjects, and occasionally “got confused” in daily work. But it was just such a new soldier whose quality was not outstanding at enlistment, but after more than a year of tempering in the squadron, he now wrote such a sincere expression of his heart.

What was he thinking in his heart when he wrote this sentence?

“At that time, the figure of martyr Qiu Shaoyun (邱少云) suddenly appeared in my mind. I thought, if I faced such a choice, I would also be willing to sacrifice everything for the country and the people,” said Peng Xiang, his eyes full of determination when facing the reporter’s question. “If there is anything regrettable, I would regret that I only have one chance to sacrifice for the country.”

Peng Xiang’s ideological transformation did not happen suddenly. Since joining the squadron, every visit, every lesson, every experience brought him some ideological触动. On the fertile soil of the Red Capital, the day-by-day nurturing like 春风化雨 (chūn fēng huà yǔ – “spring breeze and rain,” beneficial influence of nurturing) made his ideals and beliefs increasingly firm. “After coming to Ruijin as a soldier, I saw the Red Well mentioned in textbooks for the first time, and tasted the first mouthful of well water. It was really sweet,” Peng Xiang said with a smile.

The Red Well, Yeping (叶坪), Huawu Village (华屋村), Yunshi Mountain (云石山)… Each of Ruijin’s red revolutionary sites is both a classroom for collective learning by officers and soldiers, and also where volunteer red docents are active. Second-class sergeant Cui Liguang (崔理广) is one of them.

When he first served as a docent, Cui Liguang’s enthusiasm was not high; he was always restless inside and found it hard to engage. “At that time, I thought that training military skills well was the priority, and other things were not so important.”

Once when his family came to visit the unit, Cui Liguang accompanied them to visit nearby red scenic spots, but his introduction was hesitant and unclear. “You’ve been here for five or six years, how can you still not clearly tell these stories?” His family’s doubt made him feel very ashamed and also suddenly awakened him. He made up his mind to learn well and tell the red stories of the station well.

The first time he practiced at the scenic spot, Cui Liguang mustered up his courage, walked up to a tourist couple from Fujian, and told them the story of Comrade Mao Zedong’s former residence. He recited the prepared commentary word by word. After the explanation, the lady nodded: “It was very clear.” Before he could be happy, she added, “But emotionally, it wasn’t very engaged.”

This sentence was like a needle, gently pricking him. Cui Liguang returned to the unit and repeatedly pondered, realizing that he was only retelling the story, but had not let the story pass through his heart.

After identifying his shortcomings, he immediately took action. In addition to duty and training, he devoted himself to going through revolutionary historical materials of the Soviet Area (苏区), organizing the deeds of red figures, repeatedly watching propaganda videos, and continuously polishing his trial lectures. From the thousand-year-old tree at the Yeping site that caught a shell, to the family and country righteousness of the 17 martyrs of Huawu Village… Now, Cui Liguang’s explanations have both the restoration of historical details and the interpretation of the red spirit, becoming more vivid each time.

“When you come, you are a piece of pig iron; when you leave, you are a piece of refined steel.” Shen Guohao often says this. “Based on the rich red resources of the station, the squadron has explored and formed a set of solid and effective talent cultivation model.” On this red land, every soldier is like a green pine, rooting in the fertile soil of history, standing tall at the sentry post of the times, growing ever more upright through wind and rain.

“Glory lies in the ordinary, hardship lies in the long duration.”

Walking into the squadron’s honor room, the cabinets full of medals and certificates shine brightly. This is the squadron’s “red family tree,” and also the spiritual high ground in the hearts of officers and soldiers.

“Do you know the squadron’s history? Do you know why the honor number starts from No. 71? After being awarded an honor number, what should you do in the future?” In the honor room, the squadron was holding an honor nameplate awarding ceremony for new soldier Feng Tianlong (冯天龙). Shen Guohao solemnly handed over the No. 198 honor nameplate and solemnly posed the “three honor questions” to Feng Tianlong.

When the squadron was commended by the Armed Police Force as a “grassroots construction pacesetter squadron” in 2019, the squadron Party branch, to encourage officers and soldiers to cherish honor and strive further, set up honor numbers for each officer and soldier. Who would be No. 1? After discussion, everyone considered that the squadron’s historical evolution had already exceeded 70 years, and unanimously agreed to leave Numbers 1 to 70 for the predecessors who had worked hard for the squadron’s construction, and start numbering from 71. The honor number accompanies the officers and soldiers throughout their military careers, and everyone values it greatly and cherishes it especially.

“My honor number is No. 198,” Feng Tianlong said with full pride. “This honor nameplate awarding ceremony made me feel the heavy weight of ‘No. 198,’ inspiring me to strive unremittingly in the future and complete every task well.”

What does honor mean? For the squadron’s officers and soldiers, it is an affirmation, and even more a call. The spiritual monument forged by the predecessors with their lives still stands tall today.

“During the Long March of the Red Army, medic Chen Zhihua, regardless of danger, shuttled through gunfire to transport the wounded; during march breaks, he traversed the mountains and fields to find herbs, treating the soldiers’ injuries and illnesses…” During a communication, squadron medic Sha Minda (沙敏达), taking his post as an entry point, told his comrades about the deeds of Red Army medics during the Long March period.

“The predecessors did their utmost to protect the lives of their comrades in adversity. Now I am also a grassroots medic; protecting the health of officers and soldiers and safeguarding training and combat readiness is my responsibility,” Sha Minda said. “Times have changed, but that original aspiration remains unchanged.” When he put on this military uniform, he realized that greatness has never been an adjective in textbooks, but rather the persistence in ordinary posts.

“Glory lies in the ordinary, hardship lies in the long duration.” Private Yi Fangzhou (伊方洲) sighed, “I think this sentence is talking about us.”

He said that choosing to be a soldier was to protect the people. Flood fighting, rescue, and extinguishing mountain fires all require the people’s soldiers to charge forward. “I want to be the first to step forward when the people need it most.”

After joining the squadron, Yi Fangzhou truly understood the connotation of this protection. Countless late nights, when the entire city was deep in sleep, he and his comrades stood guard at their posts; every festival, when thousands of families were reunited and lights were bright, they guarded the tranquility of the station. It is this responsibility in the long years that gives glory a concrete form.

“Officers and soldiers change batch after batch, but this friendship has never been interrupted.”

“The land beneath our feet is dyed red by the blood of revolutionary martyrs. If our training is not solid and our skills are not up to standard, we would be ashamed of our predecessors and ashamed of this military uniform.” At a mobilization meeting before an assessment, squadron leader Liu Zhenxing (刘振兴) spoke with resounding words.

During the period of preparing for the assessment, the entire squadron was united as one, and the training ground was full of figures giving their all. On the shooting range, soldiers practiced holding guns and aiming under the scorching sun. Even if their arms were scraped raw, they continued with gritted teeth after simple bandaging. In the tactical training area, veterans 倾囊相授 (qīng náng xiāng shòu – “pour out the bag to teach,” to teach all one knows) and led new soldiers in correcting movements again and again. During physical training, no one gave up easily, and many soldiers voluntarily added extra training. Even the short training breaks became “spiritual charging stations,” where everyone took turns telling Long March stories, drawing spiritual strength from the deeds of their predecessors.

With the efforts of all officers and soldiers, the squadron was successfully rated as advanced, submitting a qualified answer sheet on this red fertile soil.

“We want to train real hard skills, so that the people can truly feel that the team from back then is still here,” Liu Zhenxing said. This simple sentence is their deep tribute to the Red Army predecessors. Guided by the red spirit, the squadron regularly carries out mass training and competition activities such as “eliminate failures, improve excellence rates, everyone becomes a sharp soldier,” turning red faith into the driving force for strengthening the military.

In recent years, the squadron has successively completed more than 100 urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks such as security duty, flood fighting and rescue; whenever the people encounter accidental injuries or sudden illnesses, there are always officers and soldiers stepping forward and charging ahead. They use their practical actions to make the spiritual banner of “Red Capital, Red Soldiers” fly high in the old revolutionary base areas.

“In the dead of night, oh, longing for dawn; in the deep winter, oh, longing for spring breeze…” On the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, from the Guangrong Elderly Home in Xianghu Town (象湖镇光荣敬老院), Ruijin City, came a melodious tune. Zhu Fengzai (朱凤仔), an elderly man over 70, played the hulusi, while the officers and soldiers of the Ruijin Squadron sat around him, singing in unison “Azalea” (映山红).

As the song ended, some soldiers rolled up their sleeves and made zongzi with the elderly, some bent down to trim hair for the elderly with limited mobility, and others picked up tools to clean the courtyard and wipe windows and doors.

After the activity, Shen Guohao said to everyone, “In the future, if you miss the grandpas and grandmas, come back often to see them.” This instruction originated from a friendship that has lasted for 35 years.

Since the 1990s, the squadron’s officers and soldiers have formed a partnership with the Guangrong Elderly Home, visiting the home during holidays and festivals, and lending a hand whenever they have free time. “Officers and soldiers change batch after batch, but this friendship has never been interrupted,” Shen Guohao said.

Charitable education support is another relay race that the Ruijin Squadron has continued for many years.

This summer vacation, Gu Jiawang (古家旺), a sophomore who had been helped by the squadron, came again to that familiar military camp. Using his knowledge from the physical education major, he became the squadron’s “external instructor.” On the training ground, he bent down to correct the soldiers’ training movements: “The forward shift of the center of gravity should be decisive, the hip force should be like a spring fully extending!” Squad leader Zhang Jun (张俊) gave a thumbs up: “Jiawang’s movement training model is very scientific, very helpful for improving the 3000-meter run and 400-meter obstacle performance.”

The story between Gu Jiawang and the squadron’s officers and soldiers began in 2021. That year, he, who was excellent in character and learning, encountered a family变故 and once fell into a low point in life. After learning of the situation, the squadron’s officers and soldiers quickly launched a spontaneous relay of love, saving from their monthly allowances to donate to him, picking him up on rest days to tutor him, eat together, talk, and participate in cultural and sports activities. Gu Jiawang thus became the third student supported by the squadron’s relay.

In the summer of 2024, Gu Jiawang was admitted to Beijing Normal University with excellent results. The moment he received the admission notice, he joyfully rushed to that group of “soldier brothers.” The officers and soldiers crowded around him, and many had reddened eyes.

“Before, the military gave me a home. In the future, I want to use what I have learned to help more people in need. This is probably a kind of inheritance.” When talking about the future, Gu Jiawang’s eyes were clear and firm.

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Understanding the Deep Bond Between the People and the PLA Behind 'The Liberation Army Has Arrived'

By: 李龙伊

In July, Typhoon Maysak, wrapped in fierce winds and torrential rain, brought severe waterlogging to many areas. Guigang Senior High School in Guangxi had its water and power cut off, teachers and students were trapped, and food and drinking water were in short supply. In that anxious moment, one saw boat after boat of assault boats cutting through the floodwaters and speeding toward them. The teaching building instantly erupted, children waving their hands vigorously, and some shouted loudly: “The People’s Liberation Army is here (解放军来了)!”

When the rescue video was posted online, that shout instantly blurred the eyes of netizens. “The People’s Liberation Army is here” — such a simple five-word phrase — why is it always able, at critical junctures of danger, to make people unable to hold back their tears?

Because within that shout is contained a solid sense of security. When disaster strikes, the appearance of a patch of camouflage is like a light in the dark night, giving the anxious heart something to rely on.

This writer has seen scenes like this on the flood-fighting front line: a soldier who had just come off the levee sat against the wall, took off his combat boots, and his feet were soaked white and wrinkled by the floodwaters, his skin like paper that had been steeped through. During rest breaks, the officers and soldiers fell into deep sleep on the muddy ground; some wolfed down a few mouthfuls of cold rice, then turned and rushed back to the front line. Someone asked: why not rest a little longer? Why sleep in the mud? A soldier answered bluntly: “As long as the flood hasn’t receded and the danger hasn’t been eliminated, we must be ready to charge at any moment.” In fact, many of them, not far in age from the high school students they were rescuing, are also children their parents worry about, and they too get tired, feel pain, and bleed. But once they put on this camouflage, they stand themselves up as a “levee” that cannot be washed away.

This trust from the masses is the popular support that generations of Chinese soldiers have won by risking their lives to fulfill their mission. Looking further back: in the flames of the War of Resistance, at Liulaozhuang (刘老庄) in Huaiyin, Jiangsu, 82 New Fourth Army soldiers, to cover the evacuation of the masses, held their positions with their flesh and blood to the death, fought to the end against more than a thousand Japanese and puppet troops, and all died heroically. The later-reconstituted “Liulaozhuang Company” has passed down this loyalty and bravery of fighting for the masses from generation to generation. Looking closer: protection in peacetime has never been absent. In the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, the Fifteen Paratrooper Heroes, under extreme conditions of no meteorological data, no ground markings, and no command guidance, leapt from several thousand meters high, just to bring the hope of survival to the disaster-stricken masses one second earlier.

Today, the resolute faces on the assault boats amid the surging floodwaters, the upright silhouettes carrying sandbags on the muddy levees — how similar they are to the fearless figures in history! The heroic bloodline has never been severed; the true nature of the soldier is passed down generation after generation.

What underpins this solid sense of security? The superb capabilities honed through daily accumulation of science-based, realistic training are the confidence that allows the soldiers of the people to dare to charge in disasters. A certain unit of the Rocket Force specializes in mastering water rescue — approaching and leaving the shore, navigating assault boats, water salvage, capsizing and self-rescue — more than ten skills, honed one by one, practiced over and over. In the operations duty room of a certain detachment of the Fujian Corps of the Armed Police, cadres closely monitor meteorological dynamics, combining past experience in typhoon resistance with the characteristics of the jurisdictional terrain, and refine and complete rescue plans through the night. In responding to disaster risks, soldiers answer with action: nothing is more important than the safety of the masses, nothing is more noble than the mission on their shoulders.

This rush to go against the danger is not limited to the flood-fighting front line. From disaster relief and rescue to defending the nation’s borders, from peacekeeping battlefields to the return journey of evacuating overseas Chinese… wherever the mission calls, there are camouflage-clad figures; wherever the masses look forward, there is the steadfastness of the People’s Army. “I don’t know who you are, but I know who you are for.” The people remember the appearance of this camouflage, and the army holds fast to the original intention of serving the people. The oath “the People’s Army serves the people” is engraved in every charge toward danger, in every step forward, and in the most朴实 phrase of the common people: “The People’s Liberation Army is here.”

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"Racing Life" in the Military Camp (Voice of the Soldiers)

By: 方周福

26 years ago, just turned 18, I entered the military camp with a cavity of hot blood, expecting to vigorously and dynamically accomplish a great career. On the training ground during that period, there was always a tireless figure — others practiced once, I practiced three times; others ran 3 kilometers, I gritted my teeth and ran a few more laps.

Persisting day after day, I smoothly passed all physical fitness assessments and grew into a power supply vehicle driver in an Air Force unit, beginning my “flying life.”

When I sat in the cab, holding the steering wheel and secretly feeling proud, a special situation ruthlessly poured a basin of cold water on me.

That day, I was driving the power supply vehicle to supply power to a fighter jet when the equipment suddenly stalled. I was so anxious that I was sweating profusely, and multiple attempts also were 无济于事 (wú jì yú shì - “of no help to the matter,” useless). At the critical moment, the squad leader pulled me aside, crawled under the vehicle, and quickly fixed the problem. I was so ashamed that I had no place to hide myself (无地自容, wú dì zì róng - “no place to hide oneself,” extremely ashamed). He said sternly: “A military driver who cannot repair a vehicle is like a cripple, let alone we are power supply vehicle drivers directly supporting flight.”

From then on, whenever I had free time, I would study theoretical books, and for parts I didn’t understand, I would stick sticky notes on them. In order to figure out common vehicle problems such as stalling, oil leakage, and loose circuit connections, I chased after technical backbone personnel one by one to ask, and for each problem solved, I would tear off a sticky note. As the sticky notes became fewer and fewer, my ability also 水涨船高 (shuǐ zhǎng chuán gāo - “as water rises, the boat rises,” one’s ability improves with circumstances), and I soon became a well-known “soldier expert” in the company.

In 2010, the company began to field new-type support vehicles. Having just been appointed as the squad leader of the company’s power supply vehicle squad, I discovered that the new equipment occasionally exhibited a strange “surge” phenomenon. I consulted many experts, and they all said it was “an occasional isolated case, does not affect use.” But I felt uneasy. My comrades and I spread the blueprints all over the floor, inspected each circuit one by one, and finally successfully pinpointed the fault point.

“This discovery is very valuable for vehicle improvement!” The factory experts couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. I was also commended by my superiors as an “Advanced Individual in Standardized Management of Aviation Materials.”

Later I was transferred to serve as squad leader of the air conditioning vehicle squad. Facing a new field and new equipment, my previous experience was not applicable, and I had to learn everything from scratch. The post changed, but the momentum to “fly” forward did not diminish.

In 2015, at the military parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, I had the honor to provide support. At the oath-taking rally, I secretly set a military pledge for myself: “Must guarantee 100% support,” and during training I maintained zero errors and zero mistakes. On the day of the parade, I stayed on the front line of the airport, watching the fighter jets I supported slide off the runway and soar into the sky. When I saw on the broadcast footage that the aircraft formation flew over Tiananmen without being off by a meter or a second, my eyes reddened, and all the fatigue and sweat instantly turned into full-hearted pride.

Nowadays, before each batch of new soldiers takes up their posts, I still like to bring them into the cab — a cramped space, yet it is my broadest classroom. I point out to them the numbers on the dashboard, tell them about my experiences facing special situations, and convey to them a belief: the true “flying” is being able to steady the direction and hold onto hope at any time.

As time passes, some of the soldiers I have trained have grown into squad leaders, and some have taken up cadre positions. On the road ahead, there may be bumps and unevenness, but I believe that as long as we hold onto this rigor and tenacity, we will always have the confidence to overcome all difficulties.

(The author is a First Class Sergeant of a certain unit of the Air Force. Collated by Ren Tongtong (任彤彤) and Mei Xueyuan (梅学远).)

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Setting the "Classroom" on the Frontline of Training and Exercises (National Defense Perspective)

By: 王宏阳 王佳乐

Gunsmoke filled the air, and machinery roared. In the height of summer, at a field training site in eastern Shandong, a live demolition exercise of a brigade of the 80th Group Army of the PLA Ground Force was in full swing. "Detonate!" At the command of the commander, a loud explosion rang out, and in the target area earth and rocks flew, smoke rising to the sky.

As the smoke cleared, Company Political Instructor Zhuang of the Demolition Company brushed the dust off his uniform, gathered the officers and soldiers on the spot to sit around the excavator, and a "position micro-lesson" (阵地微课) began.

"Comrades, in the live demolition operation just now, you all demonstrated great courage. Do you know that over 70 years ago, our predecessors did not have such advanced equipment; they relied on a kind of fearless blood and guts..." The officers and soldiers sat in a circle, listening intently.

Such scenes were common at various training and exercise points throughout the brigade. "The engineer and chemical defense units move a lot and spread out. The old way of 'gather for class, dismiss after class' is becoming less and less feasible," admitted a leader from the brigade's Political Work Department. Previously, whenever education was conducted, it was a headache — personnel could not be assembled, time could not be aligned, and content did not resonate, so the effectiveness of education was discounted.

The party committee of the brigade deeply recognized: "Times have changed, the target audience has changed, and education must change accordingly." They broke away from the fixed mindset of "conducting classes in barracks, listening in classrooms," moved the education classroom from indoors to outdoors, from barracks to positions, and from peacetime to wartime, exploring and forming models such as "position micro-lessons," "carriage classrooms," and "tent education."

"Similarly, when conducting education, for officers and soldiers in demolition specialties, the focus should be on combat spirit and blood and guts; for those in chemical defense specialties, the emphasis should be on mission responsibility and scientific spirit; for engineering equipment operators, the focus should be on craftsmanship spirit and making contributions in their posts..." Speaking of the innovation in educational content, Section Chief Yu (于科长) of the brigade's Propaganda Section opened up.

In a certain chemical defense company, officers and soldiers in full protective gear, after finishing contaminated zone reconnaissance training, sat down on the spot in a circle to discuss. "The post of a chemical defense soldier is closest to danger. But the more dangerous it is, the more it highlights our value." The words of Company Political Instructor Ai (艾指导员) deeply moved soldier He Kang (何康) of the company. He said: "Before, I always thought chemical defense soldiers had a hard and tiring job; now I understand that what we protect is the lives of our comrades."

"The form of ideological and political education can change, the content can be lively, but the direction of serving combat readiness and warfighting cannot change," said the brigade leader resolutely.

Not long ago, the brigade participated in a certain training exercise. Facing the reality of tight time, heavy tasks, and high standards, they set up their "classroom" on the front line of the exercise, loudly proclaiming the combat slogan: "First battle use me, use me and win!" (首战用我、用我必胜).

During the mission, a certain bridge company had to conduct long-distance maneuver under night fog conditions and lay a heavy mechanized bridge in unfamiliar terrain. Late at night, Battalion Commander Hu (胡营长) of the battalion where the company was stationed came to the bridge-laying site, picked up a megaphone: "Comrades, our predecessors were able to build a bridge of victory with their flesh and blood. With such good equipment today, can we complete the mission?" "Yes! Yes! Yes!" The officers and soldiers' answers resounded through the night sky.

In the end, they completed the bridge-laying mission nearly half an hour faster than the scheduled time, ensuring the smooth passage of subsequent troops. "In the face of a mission, a good lesson makes everyone work with greater drive," Battalion Commander Hu said with deep feeling.

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Li Longyi

Layout design: Cai Huawei (蔡华伟)

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The People Who 'Draw Portraits' of Modern Chinese (Cultural Observation)

By: 本报记者 耿 磊

翻开学生时代的记忆，除了课本与老师的讲授，相信很多人脑海中都会浮现出这样一个画面：在辞书的方寸之间，探寻字词的奥秘。

Opening the memories of one's student days, aside from textbooks and teachers' lectures, many people will surely have this image emerge in their minds: within the small space of a dictionary, exploring the mysteries of words and characters.

今年4月，五卷本《现代汉语大词典》（以下简称《大现汉》）的面世，再次唤醒了这份文化记忆。这部1200余万字、收录15.7万余词条的大型辞书，系统呈现了百年现代汉语词汇的真实面貌，是一部在中国现代辞书史上具有里程碑意义的大型词典。

In April of this year, the publication of the five-volume Modern Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语大词典) (hereinafter referred to as "the Dictionary") once again awakened this cultural memory. This large-scale reference work, containing over 12 million characters and more than 157,000 entries, systematically presents the true appearance of a century of modern Chinese vocabulary. It is a large dictionary of milestone significance in the history of modern Chinese lexicography.

千淘万漉虽辛苦，吹尽狂沙始到金。这部现代汉语活态发展的“百科全书”出版背后，是新中国三代辞书工作者20多年的躬耕不辍。

"Though a thousand siftings and countless washings bring hardship, only after blowing away all the dross does one reach the gold." Behind the publication of this "encyclopedia" of the living development of modern Chinese are three generations of lexicographers in New China who have toiled without cease for over twenty years.

20多年坚守
只为完成一项艰难而有意义的事业

More than twenty years of perseverance, solely to complete a difficult and meaningful undertaking.

一部词典的编纂，往往是一场跨越数年甚至数十年的“马拉松”，考验着编纂者的学识、毅力与情怀。

The compilation of a dictionary is often a "marathon" spanning years or even decades, testing the compilers' knowledge, perseverance, and dedication.

早在上世纪六七十年代，我国语言学界就曾动议编写一部大型现代汉语词典。然而，受限于当时条件，这项工作几经波折，三度搁浅。直至2005年，时任中国社会科学院副院长、后来的《大现汉》主编江蓝生接过了接力棒，这一干就是20多年。

As early as the 1960s and 1970s, China's linguistics community had proposed compiling a large-scale modern Chinese dictionary. However, constrained by the conditions of the time, this work encountered many twists and stalled three times. It was not until 2005 that Jiang Lansheng (江蓝生), then Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and later chief editor of the Dictionary, took up the baton, and this effort continued for over twenty years.

“当时老韩找到我，说起吕叔湘和丁声树两位先生曾嘱托要编纂一部大型词典。”回忆立项之初的情景，江蓝生十分感慨，“我对编纂辞书的辛苦已有所耳闻，但作为学生后辈，我感到有责任完成前辈的期望与嘱托。”

"At that time, Old Han came to me and told me that Mr. Lü Shuxiang and Mr. Ding Shengshu had entrusted us with the task of compiling a large dictionary," Jiang Lansheng recalled with deep emotion about the situation at the beginning of the project. "I had already heard about the hardships of dictionary compilation, but as a student and junior, I felt it was my responsibility to fulfill the expectations and entrustment of our predecessors."

江蓝生口中的老韩，就是后来担任《大现汉》副主编的韩敬体，他曾参加过著名语言学家丁声树先生主持的《现代汉语词典》编纂工作，对于老一辈学者的愿望和这项工作的意义很了解。

The "Old Han" Jiang Lansheng referred to was Han Jingti (韩敬体), who later served as deputy editor-in-chief of the Dictionary. He had participated in the compilation of the Modern Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语词典) under the direction of the renowned linguist Mr. Ding Shengshu, and he understood well the wishes of the older generation of scholars and the significance of this work.

为何编纂一部大型现代汉语词典会成为几代辞书人的夙愿？这还要从我国辞书发展历程说起。

Why did compiling a large-scale modern Chinese dictionary become the long-cherished wish of generations of lexicographers? This must be traced back to the development history of lexicography in our country.

早在新中国成立之前，我国老一辈学者就曾组织编纂过《辞源》和《辞海》等大型辞书。新中国成立后，先后编纂过《新华字典》《现代汉语词典》两部重要的语文辞书，在普及教育和语言文字规范化等方面发挥了积极的作用，但都是中小型的，不能完全满足读者的需要。

Even before the founding of New China, our country's older generation of scholars organized the compilation of large dictionaries such as Ciyuan (辞源) and Cihai (辞海) . After the founding of New China, two important language dictionaries, Xinhua Dictionary (新华字典) and Modern Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语词典) , were compiled successively, playing an active role in popularizing education and standardizing language and writing. However, they were both medium- and small-sized dictionaries and could not fully meet the needs of readers.

横向来看，上世纪七八十年代，日本小学馆推出《日本国语大辞典》，在世界范围内积极推广日语；有着百年历史的《牛津英语词典》也于1989年推出了第二版，词汇量极大扩展。而我们手里只有中小型辞书，甚至在收到外国友人赠送的百科全书时，回赠的只是一部小小的《新华字典》。

From a horizontal perspective, in the 1970s and 1980s, Japan's Shogakukan published the Nihon Kokugo Daijiten (日本国语大辞典) , actively promoting the Japanese language worldwide; the century-old Oxford English Dictionary also released its second edition in 1989, with a greatly expanded vocabulary. Yet we only had medium- and small-sized dictionaries on hand, and when receiving encyclopedias as gifts from foreign friends, the only return gift we could offer was a small Xinhua Dictionary.

所以编纂一部现代汉语大词典，就成为社会的需要、时代的召唤。

Thus, compiling a large modern Chinese dictionary became a social need and the call of the times.

“既是前辈的嘱托，也是现实需要。”江蓝生说，“编纂《大现汉》就是我们这一代辞书人的使命。”

"It is both the entrustment of our predecessors and a practical need," Jiang Lansheng said. "Compiling the Dictionary is the mission of our generation of lexicographers."

《大现汉》的编写工作，像极了一场艰难曲折的攀登。

The editorial work on the Dictionary was very much like a difficult and winding climb.

“《大现汉》第四次上马时，中国社会科学院语言研究所（以下简称“社科院语言所”）原本参与过《现代汉语词典》编纂的一些同事已经退休，还有人承担着其他研究任务。”江蓝生回忆道，“人手不足一直是困扰我们的难题。”

"When the Dictionary was launched for the fourth time, some colleagues at the Institute of Language, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (中国社会科学院语言研究所, hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Language) who had originally participated in the compilation of the Modern Chinese Dictionary had already retired, and others were undertaking other research tasks," Jiang Lansheng recalled. "A shortage of personnel was a persistent problem that troubled us."

在江蓝生和韩敬体两位先生的多方努力下，2005年底，近30人的编写组组建完成。其中不少是新手，只能“边干边学”。

Through the strenuous efforts of Mr. Jiang Lansheng and Mr. Han Jingti, by the end of 2005, an editorial team of nearly thirty people was assembled. Many of them were novices and could only "learn by doing."

从立项到付梓，二十载寒暑，其间虽经历项目调整、人员进出，但“坚持下来，这次绝不能再夭折”始终是编纂团队的共识。

From project approval to publication, twenty years of cold and heat passed. Although the project underwent adjustments and personnel changes, the consensus of the editorial team remained: "Persevere; this time it absolutely must not die prematurely."

他们翻阅各类语料库，广泛研读近百年来的各类文献，搜集历史词汇；通过专题研究带动编写工作；积极“开门编词典”，征集读者意见；召开专家审稿会，听取同行学者建议……一项项工作逐次推进、落地完成。20多年中，编写组成员有人从壮年熬到了两鬓斑白，有人从青涩的大学生成长为研究室骨干，而这部词典也一点点厚实起来，逐渐打磨成器。

They scoured various corpora, extensively studied all kinds of literature from the past century, and collected historical words; they used thematic research to drive the editorial work; they actively "opened the door to compile the dictionary," soliciting readers' opinions; they held expert review meetings to hear suggestions from fellow scholars… One task after another was advanced sequentially and completed. Over more than twenty years, some members of the editorial team went from middle age to graying temples, some grew from inexperienced college students into backbone researchers, and the dictionary itself gradually thickened and was polished into a finished work.

今年4月，在《大现汉》首发发布会上，江蓝生满带使命感地说：“我们应当打造与中华优秀文化和人民需求相匹配、能够帮助群众正确运用和传承祖国语言文字的辞书产品。”韩敬体感慨：“这是社科院语言所三代学人寄托梦想和期望并为之不懈奋斗的一部力作。”

In April of this year, at the launch press conference for the Dictionary, Jiang Lansheng said with a strong sense of mission: "We should create dictionary products that match the excellent culture of China and the needs of the people, and that can help the masses correctly use and pass on the mother tongue." Han Jingti remarked with emotion: "This is a masterpiece on which three generations of scholars at the Institute of Language have placed their dreams and expectations and for which they have struggled unremittingly."

“汉语语言学的发展，从来不是一人之功、一时之绩，而是代代学人薪火相传、携手奋进的接力征程。《大现汉》的出版问世，既是对吕叔湘、丁声树等前辈学者学术思想与治学精神的传承弘扬，也是当代语言学界集体智慧的结晶。”著名语言学家、北京大学资深教授陆俭明说。

"The development of Chinese linguistics has never been the achievement of one person or the accomplishment of a single moment; rather, it is a relay journey in which generations of scholars pass the torch and strive forward hand in hand. The publication of the Dictionary is both a continuation and promotion of the academic thought and scholarly spirit of predecessors such as Lü Shuxiang and Ding Shengshu, and the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the contemporary linguistics community," said Lu Jianming (陆俭明), a renowned linguist and senior professor at Peking University.

做经世致用的学问
写一部既有学术含量，又有可读性的辞书

Pursuing scholarship that is of statecraft and practical use, writing a dictionary that has both academic substance and readability.

“内容丰富”“严谨规范”……今年4月，在《大现汉》学术研讨会上，专家学者们毫不吝啬对这部巨著的赞许。

"Rich in content," "rigorous and standardized" … At the academic symposium on the Dictionary in April this year, experts and scholars did not stint on their praise for this magnum opus.

不过，当这部词典走向大众时，普通读者的评价却出人意料——“生动”“有趣”“新鲜”“好读”成了高频词。

However, when the dictionary reached the general public, ordinary readers' evaluations were surprising—"vivid," "interesting," "fresh," and "readable" became high-frequency words.

“我们想要编的是一本既可以查，也可以‘读’的词典。”江蓝生说。

"We wanted to compile a dictionary that can be not only consulted but also 'read,'" Jiang Lansheng said.

翻开《大现汉》，许多意想不到的惊喜跃然纸上：读者能一睹百年前的文字风貌，比如当时的“知识”常写作“智识”，“揭幕”称作“除幕”；还能看到“爱咋咋”“哪儿跟哪儿”等鲜活的日常口语。

Opening the Dictionary, many unexpected surprises leap off the page: readers can glimpse the state of written language from a century ago—for example, at that time "knowledge" was often written as "智识," and "unveiling" was called "除幕"; they can also see vivid everyday colloquialisms like "爱咋咋" (whatever) and "哪儿跟哪儿" (what are you talking about).

不仅如此，这部词典还收录了因误用而通行开来的词，如“回怼”的“怼”，就在说明中解释了其原本释义。

Not only that, but this dictionary also includes words that have become common due to misuse, such as "怼" in "回怼" (to retort), with an explanation of its original meaning in the notes.

这些兼具历史厚重感与网络鲜活感的词语，让《大现汉》跳出“被动查询的工具书”，成为一部兼具学术价值与可读性的作品。

These words, which combine a sense of historical weight with the vibrancy of the internet, enable the Dictionary to transcend the role of a "reference book for passive consultation" and become a work with both academic value and readability.

这一切都离不开《大现汉》的编纂理念。

All of this is inseparable from the editorial philosophy of the Dictionary.

“编写辞书或教材最忌雷同，要编就要突破前人，有特色、有新意。”秉持吕叔湘先生的治学理念，编写组跳出传统辞书编纂范式，在理念上大胆突破——正如《大现汉》前言所写：“共时性与历时性相结合”“规范性与描写性相结合”“学术性与实用性相结合”。

"What is most taboo in compiling dictionaries or textbooks is sameness; if you compile one, you must surpass your predecessors, with distinctiveness and novelty." Adhering to Mr. Lü Shuxiang's scholarly philosophy, the editorial team broke out of the traditional paradigm of dictionary compilation, making bold breakthroughs in concept—just as the preface of the Dictionary writes: "Combining synchronicity with diachronicity," "combining normativity with descriptiveness," and "combining academic nature with practicality."

简单来说，就是既关注语言词语当下的意义与使用方法，也追溯其演变脉络；既提供准确、简明、严谨的释义，也补充语用规则、文化内涵等深层信息，力求让词典适配更广泛的读者群体。

In simple terms, it means paying attention not only to the current meaning and usage of words but also tracing their evolutionary lineage; providing not only accurate, concise, and rigorous definitions but also supplementing deeper information such as pragmatic rules and cultural connotations, striving to make the dictionary suitable for a broader readership.

想要编出一部新颖且有深度的大型词典，需要从海量语料中提取大量的词汇作支撑。

To compile a large dictionary that is both novel and deep, it is necessary to extract a large number of words from massive corpora as support.

为此，编纂团队广泛调研各类已出版辞书，利用多种语料库等资源，遴选尚未收录的有价值词语。

To this end, the editorial team extensively surveyed various published dictionaries, used resources such as multiple corpora, and selected valuable words that had not yet been收录.

特别是为了打捞散落在岁月长河中的旧词语，编写组翻阅近百部民国小说，从许地山、梁实秋、林语堂、郁达夫等名家的小说与散文集中勾乙第一手资料。

In particular, to salvage old words scattered in the river of time, the editorial team went through nearly a hundred novels from the Republican era, excerpting first-hand materials from the novels and essay collections of famous writers such as Xu Dishan, Liang Shiqiu, Lin Yutang, and Yu Dafu.

“有时候吃着饭，脑子里突然蹦出一个词，就赶紧掏出手机发到工作群里，生怕漏掉。”《大现汉》编写组成员、社科院语言所《新华字典》编辑室副主任范文杰的笑谈，生动勾勒出编纂团队的“收词狂热”。

"Sometimes while eating, a word suddenly pops into my mind, and I quickly take out my phone to send it to the work group, afraid of missing it," said Fan Wenjie (范文杰), a member of the Dictionary's editorial team and deputy director of the Xinhua Dictionary Editorial Office at the Institute of Language, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This jest vividly sketches the "word-collection fervor" of the editorial team.

把工作融入生活中，已经成为常态，也正是这种学用结合的治学态度，使编写组在浩瀚语海中“淘沙拣金”，筛选出前人未曾收录的有价值的词目。

Integrating work into daily life has become the norm, and it is precisely this attitude of combining learning with application that has enabled the editorial team to "sift sand for gold" in the vast sea of language, selecting valuable entries that predecessors had not included.

正如著名语言学家、北京师范大学资深教授王宁所说，“《大现汉》较为全面地呈现了正在使用和发展中的现代汉语真实面貌。更为难得的是，它在共时描写中融入历时视角，让我们从这部词典里掇拾到百余年社会变迁的微观记忆。”“它不仅提供个体词语的形音义查检，更有助于我们全面认识现代汉语，是一部具有时代意义的语言大典。”

As Wang Ning (王宁), a renowned linguist and senior professor at Beijing Normal University, said: "The Dictionary presents a relatively comprehensive picture of the true state of modern Chinese as it is being used and developed. What is even more valuable is that it integrates a diachronic perspective into synchronic description, allowing us to glean from this dictionary the micro-memories of over a hundred years of social change." "It not only provides the form, sound, and meaning of individual words for lookup but also helps us to comprehensively understand modern Chinese. It is a great dictionary of language with epoch significance."

三代人的传承
能够择一事终一生也是一种幸运

The inheritance across three generations: to be able to choose one thing and devote a lifetime to it is also a kind of fortune.

“当初接下《大现汉》主编的担子，是因为不知道它有多难。但能坚持做完，靠的是责任感与使命感。”多年后，手捧已出版的《大现汉》，江蓝生依然记得接到编纂任务时的感受。

"When I first took on the responsibility of chief editor of the Dictionary, it was because I didn't know how difficult it would be. But being able to persevere and finish it depended on a sense of responsibility and mission." Many years later, holding the published Dictionary in his hands, Jiang Lansheng still remembered his feelings when he received the compilation task.

超过15.7万个词条，大多数条目都要亲自审改。因常年伏案工作，她的颈椎和腰椎出现严重问题，先后动了3次大手术。在住院期间，她仍放心不下词典编纂工作，在工作群里及时与大家交流沟通。

With more than 157,000 entries, most of which had to be personally reviewed and revised. Due to years of desk work, her cervical and lumbar spine developed serious problems, and she underwent three major surgeries in succession. While hospitalized, she still could not let go of the dictionary compilation work and communicated promptly with everyone in the work group.

“辞书编纂是一项磨炼人的工作，既能增长知识、提升思维概括能力，又能淬炼坚毅的意志品质。”江蓝生说，“语言研究者能将基础研究与应用相结合，为国家文化教育事业作贡献，便实现了学者的人生价值。那些吃过的苦头，都是必交的学费，是值得的。”

"Dictionary compilation is a tempering work; it can not only increase knowledge and improve the ability to generalize in thinking, but also forge a resolute will and character," Jiang Lansheng said. "If language researchers can combine basic research with application and contribute to the country's cultural and educational undertakings, then they have realized the life value of a scholar. All the hardships we have endured are necessary tuition fees; they are worthwhile."

如今，辞书队伍的成长建设与这门学问的传承，是江蓝生最关心的事。

Today, the growth and development of the lexicography team and the inheritance of this discipline are the matters Jiang Lansheng cares about most.

编纂《大现汉》的过程也是精神与学问的传承。《大现汉》编写组成员、社科院语言所《新华字典》编辑室原主任王楠告诉记者：“通过《大现汉》的编纂工作，许多当年的‘年轻人’积累了经验，成长为骨干。”她介绍，正在开展的《现代汉语词典》第8版修订中，这些人已有不少成为主力。

The process of compiling the Dictionary was also a transmission of spirit and scholarship. Wang Nan (王楠), a member of the Dictionary's editorial team and former director of the Xinhua Dictionary Editorial Office at the Institute of Language, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told reporters: "Through the compilation of the Dictionary, many of the 'young people' from back then accumulated experience and grew into backbone members." She noted that in the ongoing revision of the 8th edition of the Modern Chinese Dictionary (现代汉语词典) , many of these individuals have become the main force.

《大现汉》编写组成员、社科院语言所词典编辑室副主任苏颖，便是其中之一。在她看来，能够坚持完成《大现汉》的编纂工作，既有榜样的感召，也有责任与热爱的支撑，更离不开团队的相互扶持。

Su Ying (苏颖), a member of the Dictionary's editorial team and deputy director of the Dictionary Editorial Office at the Institute of Language, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is one such person. In her view, being able to persevere and complete the compilation of the Dictionary was due to the inspiration of role models, the support of responsibility and love, and, even more, the mutual support of the team.

“老一辈学者治学严谨，热心传帮带，对解答我们的问题极有耐心。工作中，年轻人遇到问题，随时可以推门请教，前辈们总会放下手头工作，耐心给予指导。”苏颖说。

"The older generation of scholars are rigorous in their scholarship, enthusiastic about passing on knowledge and mentoring, and extremely patient in answering our questions. At work, when young people encounter problems, they can at any time push open a door to ask for advice, and the seniors always put down their current work to patiently provide guidance," Su Ying said.

如今，社科院语言所拥有15位专业的辞书编纂研究人员，其中博士11人，专业方向涵盖训诂学、文字学、词汇学、语法学、计算语言学等领域。团队中既有冷门绝学学科、现代语言学各分支的研究者，也有前沿应用交叉学科的探索者，为各类辞书编纂修订奠定了坚实基础。

Today, the Institute of Language, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has 15 professional dictionary compilation researchers, including 11 with doctoral degrees, with specializations covering exegetics, philology, lexicology, grammar, computational linguistics, and other fields. The team includes researchers in niche esoteric disciplines and various branches of modern linguistics, as well as explorers at the frontier of applied interdisciplinary studies, laying a solid foundation for the compilation and revision of various dictionaries.

《大现汉》的顺利面世离不开中国社会科学院的大力支持，编写工作相继被列为社科院重点课题和院创新工程项目。“编词典和做基础研究不太一样，成果不能立竿见影地显现。”范文杰告诉记者，“这些年院里、所里相继出台了很多支持政策，比如更加科学完善的辞书岗位考核评价体系，极大消除了大家的后顾之忧，让我们能够专注词典编纂工作。”

The smooth publication of the Dictionary could not have happened without the strong support of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The editorial work was successively listed as a key project of the Academy and an Academy innovation engineering project. "Compiling a dictionary is not the same as doing basic research; the results cannot be seen immediately," Fan Wenjie told reporters. "In recent years, the Academy and the Institute have successively introduced many support policies, such as a more scientific and comprehensive assessment and evaluation system for lexicography positions, which has greatly eliminated people's worries and allowed us to focus on dictionary compilation."

各方面的关心和支持之外，学术的积累发挥了更大作用。王楠是1995年进入社科院语言所的，至今已工作30多年。她记得刚到社科院语言所时，为了搜集资料，每年要从报纸、杂志等手写摘抄约1000张新词、新义卡片，如今所里还存放着当年抄写的近百万张卡片。“虽然现在已不再手写卡片，但随时随地关注新词、新义，时时刻刻思考字词释义已经成为习惯，一直保留了下来。”她说。

Beyond the care and support from all sides, academic accumulation played an even greater role. Wang Nan joined the Institute of Language, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1995 and has worked there for over 30 years. She remembers that when she first arrived at the Institute, in order to collect materials, she would hand-copy about 1,000 cards of new words and new meanings each year from newspapers, magazines, etc. The Institute still stores nearly a million cards copied back then. "Although I no longer write cards by hand, paying attention to new words and new meanings anytime and anywhere, and constantly thinking about the definitions of characters and words, has become a habit that I have retained," she said.

“人生最美的事，莫过于事业与热爱的双向奔赴。”王楠动情地说，“现在想来，编辞书虽辛苦，但翻开几代人都在用的《新华字典》——如今发行量已达约7亿册，编写、修订者却只有几十个人，自己能成为其中一员，是件很幸运的事。《大现汉》也会是这样一部书，一部让我们一生都为之骄傲的书。”

"The most beautiful thing in life is nothing more than the mutual pursuit of career and passion," Wang Nan said emotionally. "Thinking about it now, compiling a dictionary is hard work, but when I open the Xinhua Dictionary (新华字典) that generations have used—its circulation has now reached about 700 million copies, yet only a few dozen people have compiled and revised it—it is a very lucky thing to be able to be one of them. The Dictionary will also be such a book, a book that we will be proud of all our lives."

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Understanding the Mountains and Rivers, and the Sentiments, in Letters from Home (Cultural Salon)

By: 何思琦

For a long time, the public has often been enamored with grand history when reading history — reading about emperors, kings, generals, and ministers, appraising great achievements and feats, overlooking rises and falls from a grand narrative. However, what official histories record is often filtered and revised by later generations, inevitably bearing the choices of the historians. In recent years, as archaeological and cultural relic research work has continuously deepened, one after another family letter that had slept for a thousand years has reappeared in the world, opening a completely new perspective on reading history for people. These private communications unearthed from underground and unseen in official histories allow people to step out of the grand narrative, see more details of history, and capture the close-up view of history.

Family letters, as private correspondence, have an irreplaceable authenticity. When ancient people wrote family letters, they mostly did so to pour out family affection, explain family matters, and reveal their innermost thoughts, never imagining that these plain words would cross a thousand years and be seen and interpreted by later generations. Precisely because of this, they truthfully restore the living conditions and inner world of ancient people. If the succession of dynasties constructs the skeleton of history, then the 悲欢离合 (bēi huān lí hé - "sorrows and joys, partings and reunions," the vicissitudes of life) of ordinary people carried by each family letter are the fresh flesh and blood that fill the skeleton of history, becoming the most truthful and delicate window reflecting the era.

Consider one example. "Heifu (黑夫) and Jing (惊) dare to bow again and ask Zhong (衷): Is mother well?" In the late Warring States period, in the family letters sent from the front by Qin army soldiers "Heifu" and "Jing," after beginning by greeting their elder brother and mother, they then spoke of their real experiences on the battlefield. "If the family does not send [money], then I will die. Urgent, urgent, urgent." — "Jing" begged his mother to send money to the front as soon as possible, the urgency of his tone distressing. The plain description "Heifu and others are directly assisting at Huaiyang (淮阳), attacking the rebellious city for a long time, the injuries are not yet known" conveys the confusion and fearlessness of being in a dangerous war situation. According to research, the Heifu wooden-slip family letters were written in 223 BC, precisely the critical period when Qin was destroying Chu. According to the Qin conscription system of "drawing two out of three adult males" (三丁抽二), the brothers "Heifu" and "Jing" were conscripted into the army and followed the Qin army far away to fight at Huaiyang. These two family letters sent from the Huaiyang front to Yunmeng (云梦) in Hubei were finally unearthed in the tomb of their elder brother "Zhong," becoming the earliest physical family letters discovered in our country to date. In that turbulent historical turning point, these two ordinary soldiers, never recorded in any history book and 默默无闻 (mò mò wú wén - "obscure and unheard of," unknown and nameless), allow us a thousand years later not only to see the grand narrative of "Qin destroys Chu" and "Qin unifies the six kingdoms" in history books, but also to see a different historical cross-section belonging to ordinary people.

Turning our gaze to the frontier fortresses of the Great Tang, the soldiers guarding the border also, through family letters, allow later generations to see a more vivid and full history. At the Keyak Kuduke (克亚克库都克) Beacon Tower site in Xinjiang, a batch of Tang Dynasty Chinese-language document materials were excavated, including some precious private letters. "My lady, do not worry; take care of the wheat and sheep, do not let them fall." In this unsent family letter, a frontier soldier comforts his hardworking wife managing the household, urging her to tend to farm work and look after livestock, the 字里行间 (zì lǐ háng jiān - "between the lines," the implied meaning in the text) full of longing and concern for his family. The place names Shazhou (沙州), Hezhou (河州), Yongzhou (雍州), etc., that repeatedly appear in many letters indicate that at that time many people left their homeland, using their youth and blood to protect the peace of the Western Regions and the smooth flow of the Silk Road.

The "Hong Yi Family Letter" (洪奕家书) currently housed in the Turpan Museum expresses this sentiment of family and country even more fervently — "Hong Yi now endures the hardships of service, but will never decline" and "Mountains and rivers obstruct both ways, control is not by my own will." During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang, Hong Yi left home to garrison the border, and two years later was ordered to participate in battle. Fearing he would never return, he took up his brush to write this family letter, wanting to send his final concerns home. However, this family letter was ultimately never sent, forever remaining on this land where he guarded the border. The letter fully depicts the perseverance of a frontier soldier: knowing full well that mountains and rivers block the way and there is no hope of return, yet because military orders bind him, loyalty and filial piety ultimately cannot both be fulfilled. These handwriting traces spanning a thousand years are all true testimony of ordinary people 以身许国 (yǐ shēn xǔ guó - "to dedicate one's body to the country," to devote oneself to the nation) and steadfastly upholding the great righteousness of family and country.

Every ordinary person who integrates into the course of history does not know how the era they live in will be defined by later generations; they simply follow the trajectory of the times, persevering, rushing forward, and dedicating themselves. Most of them do not leave their names in history books, yet they are the most vivid protagonists of history in the long river of time. From a micro perspective, what unique value does the history of ordinary people have? The story of a small person, a small family, often contains the traditions and roots of a nation. The concern, responsibility, loyalty, and righteousness revealed between the lines of family letters precisely confirm the thousand-year tradition of the Chinese nation that values family affection, upholds loyalty and filial piety, and cherishes benevolence and righteousness. They are 深入人心 (shēn rù rén xīn - "deeply enter people's hearts," to be deeply ingrained), 代代相传 (dài dài xiāng chuán - "passed down from generation to generation"), and have settled into an enduring national foundation.

The people are the creators of history. Each family letter spanning a thousand years allows us no longer to gaze at history from afar, but to personally touch the texture and temperature of history. Those ordinary people never recorded in official histories, with concern they write warmth, with perseverance they build mountains and rivers, with ordinariness they forge greatness, integrating individual destinies into the torrent of the times, ultimately converging into a 波澜壮阔 (bō lán zhuàng kuò - "waves vast and magnificent," grand and magnificent) history. In this sense, understanding the mountains and rivers and the sentiments within family letters is to understand a history book written by countless ordinary people.

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Ink washes over ancient village, intangible cultural heritage revitalizes the countryside (Rural Vistas)

By: 本报记者 窦瀚洋

Nestled against mountains and beside water, with clear streams winding through alleys, a poetic picture of an ancient village in southern Zhejiang unfolds slowly in Dongyuan Village, Pingyangkeng Town, Ruian City, Zhejiang (浙江瑞安市平阳坑镇东源村).

Though the village is not large, it has no shortage of treasures—here are gathered China's movable-type printing technique, the national-level intangible cultural heritage (国家级非遗) blue夹缬 (蓝夹缬) technique, the provincial-level intangible cultural heritage Ruian paper horse block printing technique (瑞安纸马雕版印刷术)… It is an "intangible cultural heritage treasure ancient village."

When visiting Dongyuan Village, the wooden movable-type printing exhibition hall is a must-see; the village's cultural lineage and roots are deeply planted in the handcraft techniques passed down through generations. It is the height of summer, and tourists and study groups from all over the country come in an endless stream. Some queue up to experience picking characters and typesetting, some hold ink to experience brushing character molds, and inheritors demonstrate on-site their special skills such as "reverse writing," "carving characters," and "printing" of wooden movable type.

"In our place, compiling genealogies is an important family matter; every 10 to 20 years the clan genealogy must be reprinted, gradually giving rise to the niche profession of 'genealogy master (谱师).'" On site, a volunteer docent tells the history of wooden movable-type printing technique, and the tourists listen attentively. "So it turns out that Dongyuan Village's wooden movable-type printing technique, through the labor of generations of 'genealogy masters,' has preserved the essence of ancient Chinese movable-type printing technique in its original form," sighed Zhang Qi (张琪), a tourist from Shandong.

Walking out of the exhibition hall, following the stone-paved road, the scent of ink mingles with the aroma of coffee. Sitting in the coffee bookshop, tourists sip the shop's specially blended "Ink Fragrance Coffee" while flipping through the wooden movable-type works album on the table—another kind of experience.

"The character spacing and ink color of handmade movable type carry warmth; this is precisely the core value of our intangible cultural heritage, and also the key to market recognition of us," said Wu Kuisheng (吴魁胜), Party secretary of Dongyuan Village. To preserve the craft and consolidate the foundation, and to enable the thousand-year-old intangible cultural heritage to be transmitted in a living state, Dongyuan Village has been making frequent moves in the past two years.

In April this year, the village two committees (村两委) took the lead in establishing a company controlled by the village collective, abandoning the mass production model. The village collective deeply cultivates pure handmade wooden movable-type ancient book publishing and printing, relying on the unique texture and warmth of hand-carved characters, typesetting, and printing to create scarce cultural and creative products of ancient books.

In Wu Kuisheng's view, this village collective operation model not only preserves the traditional craft but also gives the intangible cultural heritage industry a sustainable self-sustaining ability.

During this period, the village is busy renovating ancient houses to build exclusive display and teaching platforms for intangible cultural heritage inheritors. "I have guarded the movable-type craft all my life; my greatest wish is that this ancient technique will not be lost and can go far," said Wang Fawan (王法万), Wenzhou municipal-level representative inheritor of the wooden movable-type printing technique intangible cultural heritage. Now with an exclusive teaching space, he can peacefully take on apprentices, teach skills, and devote himself to creation.

Revitalizing the countryside through intangible cultural heritage is not limited to technique inheritance; it is more about empowering rural revitalization with culture. Dongyuan Village deeply binds the development of the intangible cultural heritage industry with the protection of ancient villages, the improvement of the living environment, and the upgrading of public services. It systematically renovates and upgrades old buildings and idle plots, and transforms waste spaces into cultural tourism positions and livelihood carriers.

Not only that, the village also deeply excavates its local cultural lineage to create cultural spaces. The former site of the Wang clan school in the village has been restored and transformed into Dongyuan Academy (东源书院) through ancient building repair, providing an immersive learning space for village children and study groups; the old dangerous building of the village elderly association has been renovated and upgraded into a Genealogy and Block-printing Culture Hall (谱牒梓辑文化馆), incorporating digital experience scenes, making traditional genealogy culture and movable-type techniques visible, tangible, and experiential…

In the past two years, the once idle farmhouses and barren plots in the village have been revitalized one by one, orderly transformed into cultural venues, leisure parks, and cultural tourism experience scenes, giving Dongyuan Village's cultural lineage inheritance more footholds.

"We insist on not doing 'bonsai-style' cultural tourism; we must not only polish the intangible cultural heritage brand, but also fill the shortcomings in people's livelihoods, so that villagers can share the fruits of development, and tourists can retain their nostalgia and memories," said Wu Kuisheng.

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Geng Lei

Layout design: Shen Yiling

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Cast a bronze statue to forever remember Jiao Yulu (Journey Like a Painting · A Monument)

By: 吴为山

“Which commoner does not love a good official? Tears on the Jiao tung tree become rain.”

Recently, earnestly studying the important article “Being a County Party Secretary of the Jiao Yulu Type” republished by Qiushi journal, and revisiting the lyric “Nian Nu Jiao · Recalling Jiao Yulu,” I cannot help but feel my heart and mind stirred. As the years change, the Jiao Yulu spirit has long leaped beyond textual narrative, becoming a precious spiritual wealth that tempers the original aspiration and hones responsibility, guiding countless people to hold fast to the people-centered heart, bravely shoulder the heavy tasks of the era, and vow to rush to serve the mountains and rivers.

In this world, there are ten thousand forms of heroic appearance, and the most touching is to completely merge oneself into the land under one’s feet, to bear the livelihood of the people with one’s own flesh and blood. Jiao Yulu gave the last 400-plus days and nights of his life entirely to Lankao and to the people. At that time, this land, shackled by alkaline soil, gnawed by yellow sand, and besieged by barrenness, broke free from desolation and accumulated vitality because of his sincere original intention to serve the people, acquiring from then on a warm foundation and upward strength. As a sculptor, casting a bronze statue to freeze the bones of a pure-hearted son, to retain his burning gaze of serving the people wholeheartedly, became my solemn mission.

Ten years ago, with profound admiration for Jiao Yulu, I traveled to Lankao three times. The yellowed manuscripts in the memorial hall, together with the only single photograph, constantly struck my heart. His diary words were searing: facing the raging sandstorms, he swore to “risk my old life and go all out”; even when pain tormented him day and night, he still wrote his wish that “even if I die, I must watch you make the sand dunes well”; and there was a sincere confession — “I thank the Party for sending me to the most difficult place.” Among the pages there were no grandiloquent words, only the solid deeds of treading over barren dunes, and the compassion that cared for the common people. As a literary and artistic worker carefully nurtured by the Party and the state, I stood before the words and images left by Jiao Yulu, as if conversing across time with this predecessor, my heart filled with shock and empathy. This personality power, which took root in hardship and suffering, and was tempered and sublimated in plainness and ordinariness, was tranquil and majestic, becoming the spiritual core of my creation of the Jiao Yulu statue (see image).

To shape the form, first shape the bones; to shape the bones, even more shape the soul. Only by crystallizing the spirit and character of the person can the work traverse the dust of the years and strike the heart forever. To match Jiao Yulu’s life foundation, I made the statue’s form homogeneous with the texture of Lankao’s sand dunes, echoing his steadfastness of “born a sand dune, dead a sand dune,” allowing the person, his native land, original aspiration, and responsibility to merge and coexist, turning into the deepest spiritual resonance.

The entire statue is awe-inspiring and resolute. The crisp, capable outlines and the thin, gaunt skeletal points conceal the dust and toil of his years of hurrying over sand dunes and tramping through the countryside, and also contain his tough, fearless endurance as he suppressed the severe pain of liver disease, faced the sandstorms, and rose to the challenge. The firm and steady character interprets the selfless dedication of a good Party member and good cadre whose original aspiration has not changed.

When portraying his eyes, I wanted to blend two depths of meaning between the brows and eyes: a gaze warm and clear, hiding his tender warmth in caring for the people and worrying about the common people; within the eyes there is a calm sharpness, the 铮铮铁骨 (zhēng zhēng tiě gǔ - “clanking iron bones,” indomitable spirit) of facing the suffering of sandstorms and bravely shouldering the heavy responsibility of sand control. The sincere heart of loyalty to the Party and devotion to the people is fully condensed in this affectionate gaze — firm yet not cold, tough yet with feeling. I did not wish to create an unattainable heroic symbol; I only sought the coexistence of resolute character and warm benevolence, restoring the true image of a public servant rooted in the native soil and concerned with the people’s warmth and cold.

In the moment of his turning his head back, his head and neck are erect, steady and dignified, exactly depicting a Communist Party member with firm faith and broad vision. A single cloth garment, washed clean of ostentation, fully reveals his simple daily life of living and eating together with the common people at the grass-roots level and sharing hardships and joys. The true color of a public servant naturally flows out in the extremely simple form.

Through years of studying the historical materials on Lankao’s local conditions and sensing the rural customs, I have come to understand ever more clearly that Jiao Yulu’s personal glory is rooted in the humanistic foundation of the Chinese cultural lineage that cares for the common people, carries the intellectual’s family-nation sentiment of saving the world and securing the people, and even more practices the Communist Party of China’s fundamental purpose of serving the people wholeheartedly. It is a vivid reflection of the mutual fusion and coexistence of the national spirit and the red original aspiration. With reverence, I donated the carefully carved bronze statue to the Henan Jiao Yulu Cadre Academy (河南焦裕禄干部学院). Today, this statue also stands at the National Museum of China, the Party School of the Henan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (中共河南省委党校), and other places, using a tangible bronze body to bear intangible spiritual power, so that everyone who stops to gaze can read the weight of original aspiration, the true meaning of responsibility, and the essence of great love.

Using sculpture as a carrier to continue the spiritual lineage and to build a mental bridge across time, allowing people to comprehend original aspiration and inherit the spirit of character in silent contemplation — this is my pure and steadfast pursuit in literary and artistic creation. From the ancient philosophers, sages, and men of letters to the modern models of serving the country and the vanguards of the time, each gleaming soul is given concrete form and renewed vitality through carving and engraving. Precisely because they are rooted in the common life and closely linked to the era, the works possess enduring vitality across the years.

“The moon is still as bright as before, thinking of you night after night, my heart is washed clean like fresh.”

The times need such a spiritual monument! Before his death, Jiao Yulu made a wish: to lie forever on the sand dunes, quietly waiting for Lankao to be renewed. Time does not betray sincerity; the land finally repays the original aspiration. The ambition to enrich the people and rejuvenate Lankao, which he sought all his life and steadfastly held to, has finally turned into a beautiful landscape of prosperity and peace for ten thousand families. Today, this spirit statue, forged by fire, looks at the myriad phenomena of the new era with comfort. This scene is exactly what I wished for in my heart when I created this statue.

Heroes have never gone far; their sincere hearts transcend time, touching countless hearts. “A finger is exhausted as firewood, but the fire is transmitted, never knowing its end.” Bronze has form, and will eventually become mottled; the spirit and character, 万古长青 (wàn gǔ cháng qīng - “ten thousand years always green,” everlasting). I express my feelings through sculpture, to pay respect to Jiao Gong’s eternal sincere heart.

(The author is Deputy Secretary-General of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League.)

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Changes and Constants in Art and Design Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

By: 吴 琼

Currently, AI (artificial intelligence) has been widely integrated into artistic design and creation, profoundly altering the production processes and methods of text, images, video, and other content, and bringing a tremendous impact to the definition of the traditional subject of artistic design and the criteria for evaluating artistic design. In human–AI collaborative creation, AI output is not entirely an extension of human intent, exhibiting characteristics such as autonomous adaptation and “emergent creation,” which has transformed the modes of knowledge acquisition, skill cultivation, and cognitive shaping in the field of artistic design education: the value of knowledge transmission has sharply declined, skill efficiency is no longer critical, and the cognitive approach has shifted from linear accumulation to iterative dialogue. At the same time, the organizational form of education—the content, form, and methods of teaching, the relationship between teachers and students, and the relationship among industry, academia, and research—has also undergone major changes. Artistic design education must rethink questions such as “why,” “what to teach,” and “how to teach.”

Recently, the Tsinghua Art Open Course held at the Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts (清华大学美术学院) focused on the theme “AI and Painting,” jointly exploring new pathways for the integration of art and science in the AI era, responding to important concerns in the field of artistic design education against the backdrop of rapid AI development, and attracting attention from academia, the education sector, and society. The changes we discuss are more specifically directed at that kind of narrowed and rigidified artistic design education. In such education, technical skill training is regarded as the core of teaching, while the pursuit of art and the humanities is relegated to the margins. The impact of AI has 暴露无遗 (bào lù wú yí - “exposed without concealment,” completely revealed) the drawbacks of this educational model: when technology develops to the point where it can replace a large amount of skill-based work, talents who are only proficient in technique lose their competitiveness. Therefore, change is not a negation of artistic design education itself, but a correction and reconstruction of an alienated and instrumentalized form of education.

In the wave of rapid AI development, artistic design directly confronts the conflict between “embodied cognition” and “machine generation”—when bodily experience is simulated by algorithms, when intuitive judgment is swayed by data, where exactly does human subjectivity and irreplaceability lie? This questioning makes the fundamental issue of “what makes a human human” increasingly prominent in the transformation of artistic design education. Artistic design takes exploratory, creative, and critical practice as its main characteristics. The introduction of AI has given rise to complex creative subjects and work forms—“artist/designer + AI model + dataset + algorithm system.” New features of artistic design language, evaluation dimensions, and ethical norms urgently need systematic construction, including clarity of problem awareness, uniqueness of artistic expression, depth of cultural excavation, rationality of human–machine division of labor, and adherence to a human-centered stance. It should be noted that the changes brought by AI are not some kind of supplementary addition at the application level, but a fundamental reshaping that touches the “operating system” of artistic design education, urgently requiring systematic theoretical sorting and practical responses.

The object of education is always human. The expressionist painter Edvard Munch once said: “A camera will never be as good as a brush and paint—it cannot show heaven or hell.” Today, this judgment remains profound: technology can simulate form, but it is difficult to endow soul. In the wave of AI, the wise must both embrace the possibilities brought by technology and safeguard those fundamental values that make “humans human.” The mission of artistic design education is to cultivate creators who can harness technology, transcend technology, and illuminate the era with the light of art—not appendages of technology, but masters of technology; not copyists of form, but creators of meaning. Facing the challenges brought by AI, the Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts adheres to the integration of art and science, setting the educational benchmark of “high vision and high skill” (眼高手高). We firmly believe that “the integration of art and science” is not about making up for each other’s shortcomings, but is based on mutual deep understanding, with co-research and co-creation premised on the complementarity of thinking, methods, and abilities. It is necessary to uphold the cultivation of cultural spirit and aesthetics, and to uphold the training that integrates mind, brain, hand, and eye. When digital generation is increasingly rampant, the real tactile feel of materials, bodily movements, and on-site experience become all the more precious—modeling, materials, and craftsmanship cultivate intuitive judgment of proportion, structure, light and shadow, space, and rhythm; field investigation and social research cultivate profound insight into reality, keen grasp of problems, and genuine empathy for people. All these are not mere skill training, but embodied cognitive processes. No matter how technology evolves, the human-centered core of education will not change, and empathy and aesthetic judgment are the fundamental supports that safeguard this core.

The enrichment of artistic language, the complexity of creative subjects and objects, the transformation of teaching paradigms, and the updating of evaluation criteria—these are inevitable changes driven by technology; yet the core of art has always been the pursuit of truth, goodness, and beauty, the profound expression of human emotion and experience, and the continuous questioning of the meaning of life. The ultimate goal of talent cultivation—shaping complete individuals with aesthetic ability, creativity, and humanistic spirit, as well as adherence to the essence of art—is the constant that must be anchored. In the dialectic of change and constancy, only by proactively responding and systematically planning can artistic design education open up a brilliant development path toward the future.

(The author is the Dean of the Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts.)

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Entering Ouxiang Hall, Understanding Yun Nantian (Reading Paintings)

By: 蒋 旎

Cicadas chirp in high summer; at this time, to read a painting, none is more fitting than Nantian’s.

In Yun Nantian’s Ouxiangguan Sketching Album (瓯香馆写生图册), there is a leaf of “tiger lily” (see illustration), whose bloom coincides with high summer. Nantian painted it not by chance, but because his heart was stirred. A single stem of tiger lily is like the rising sun—it does not contend, yet it blooms most intensely. The red is not fiery, the green leaves have a clear radiance; the whole flower seems to have grown out of the paper, quiet yet full of vitality.

Yun Shouping (1633–1690), style name Nantian, courtesy name Zhengshu, was a native of Wujin (now part of Changzhou, Jiangsu). His landscapes captured the cold, detached, secluded, and refined manner of the Yuan dynasty, and he was also renowned for “Nantian’s boneless” (没骨) technique. He was one of the “Six Masters of the Early Qing” and founded the Changzhou School of painting. His representative work, the Ouxiangguan Sketching Album, consists of ten leaves, now preserved in the Tianjin Museum. It is a masterpiece from Yun Nantian’s mature period, using the boneless method to depict peach blossoms, peonies, tiger lilies, loquat fruits, and other flowers and fruits, along with one leaf of ink-wash pine and plum after Yang Buzhi (杨补之)’s “Two Friends.”

“Ouxiangguan (瓯香馆)” was the main residence where Yun Nantian lived and created in his later years. It was located on the banks of the former Baiyun Stream, within what is now Yiyuan Garden (意园) in Changzhou, Jiangsu, and was originally a small riverside cottage belonging to Jiang Yingruo (蒋颖若), the maternal uncle of Qing dynasty scholar Hong Liangji (洪亮吉). In the 22nd year of the Kangxi reign (1683), the 50-year-old Yun Nantian returned to his hometown and rented this place, renaming it “Ouxiangguan.” The elegant sobriquets “Ouxiang Sanren (瓯香散人)” and “Baiyun Waishi (白云外史)” all originate from this.

Nantian’s life was filled with legendary color; through ups and downs he steadfastly upheld his moral integrity. Just like the flowers and fruits of the four seasons depicted in the Ouxiangguan Sketching Album, he pursued the realm of yi ge (逸格). He believed that “painting prizes simplicity as the highest virtue” and “the simpler, the more difficult.” He advocated “learning from the spirit rather than the traces” and also viewed dialectically the relationship between “formal likeness” and “unlikeness,” employing in boneless sketching “the utmost likeness to seek unlikeness,” borrowing form to convey spirit. These ideas not only guided his own creative practice but also exerted a profound influence on Qing dynasty and later painting.

Yun Nantian’s flower-and-bird paintings manifest a profound skill based on sketching from life, deeply studying and copying to strive for vividness and lifelikeness. One can say the whole paper is filled with quietude, sketching captures truth, and painting conveys emotion. His boneless method especially reached the realm of entering antiquity while emerging anew—without using ink lines to outline contours, he directly dabbed and applied colors with free and elegant brushwork to form the painting. The veins and orientation of flowers and leaves are clear, bright and graceful, full of natural charm.

To understand this master of the “Orthodox School of Sketching from Life,” one may open the Nantian Painting Colophons (also called Ouxiangguan Painting Colophons) to glimpse his diverse and profound creative mindset. If the Ouxiangguan Sketching Album is the crystallization of Yun Nantian’s painting practice, then the Nantian Painting Colophons is the systematic presentation of his artistic thought. This treatise on painting, compiled by later generations from his colophons, though not a rigorously systematic work, is full of original insights, systematically expounding aesthetic ideas such as the “theory of capturing emotion (摄情论)” and “lofty detachment (高逸),” and profoundly influencing later Chinese painting theory.

Most people know Yun Nantian’s boneless flower painting, but often overlook his more comprehensive artistic achievements. In fact, he was skilled in all three: poetry, calligraphy, and painting, known at the time as “Nantian’s Three Perfections (南田三绝).” It can be said that Yun Nantian was a true “all-round talent”—in painting he established a school, and in poetry, calligraphy, and even theory he made achievements. Yun Nantian’s artistic world is far richer than the four characters “boneless flower painting.” He took nature as teacher, sketching as method, capturing emotion as soul, and the untrammeled style as realm, opening a path of his own in the early Qing painting world, when the trend of imitating antiquity prevailed.

“Brush and ink are inherently without emotion; one must not allow the one who wields brush and ink to be without emotion. Painting lies in capturing emotion; one must not allow the viewer of the painting to be devoid of emotion.” Ouxiangguan bears not only a chapter of art history, but also a heart that “roams beyond forms (游于象外)”—a transcendent and sincere soul.

(The author is an associate professor at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts.)

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Fingertip Plateau Aesthetics

By: 龚仕建

More than a decade ago, walking deep into the crisscrossing paths of the Hehuang Valley (河湟谷地) in Qinghai and pushing open an ordinary courtyard gate, one could often see this scene: sunlight slanted gently into an old house, an Ama sat beneath the window, needle in hand, head bowed in silence. As the needle rose and fell, a flower, a bird, a wisp of cloud would slowly "come alive" on the cloth. This was Qing embroidery (青绣) — the beautiful flower of the six long-settled ethnic groups of Qinghai — Han, Tibetan, Hui, Tu, Mongol, and Salar — in inheriting and carrying forward the fine traditional Chinese culture. As time flows on, Qing embroidery, passed down for a thousand years, has now stepped out of farmhouse courtyards, appearing in livestream rooms and on major art stages at home and abroad. How has this fingertip art composed such a moving highland aesthetic?

The beauty of Qing embroidery first comes from its unique aesthetic expression. Unlike the understated grace and elegance of Jiangnan embroidery, the sunlight and natural features of the highlands give Qing embroidery a warm and exuberant color palette. Bold hues such as red, blue, and green are used daringly, complemented by the flash of gold thread outlining, brimming with the unrestrained vitality of the highland peoples while retaining a delicate and refined elegance. This contrast and balance in color is 一脉相承 (yī mài xiāng chéng - "from one vein, mutually inherit," consistent with) the rugged yet beautiful scenery and aura of the Hehuang Valley. In terms of pattern, Qing embroidery presents a rich rural flavor; concrete natural elements such as towering snow-capped mountains, herds of cattle and sheep, and rare snow leopards are interwoven with traditional motifs and folk totems, both a depiction of nature and a symbol of the spirit, revealing the inner world of the highland people.

A rich and rigorous system of stitch techniques endows Qing embroidery with myriad artistic styles. Plain stitch, lock stitch, coiled stitch… dozens of ancient stitching techniques have been 代代相传 (dài dài xiāng chuán - "passed down from generation to generation"), each stitch demanding fine, smooth thread lines and neat, precise needlework. Among them, the "one needle, two threads" technique of the Tu coiled embroidery is particularly unique, giving the embroidered surface a thick, gorgeous texture akin to bas-relief; Huangzhong (湟中) piled embroidery creates a highly three-dimensional effect through layer upon layer of stacking; Guinan (贵南) Tibetan embroidery features intense colors and a simple stitching method, often depicting religious subjects; Huangyuan (湟源) leather embroidery uses cattle and sheep hide as the base material, the leather's own texture forming a wonderful contrast with the silk thread; Salar embroidery is delicate in its stitching and excels at floral patterns; Mongol embroidery has bold, even stitches, embodying the heroic spirit of the grassland peoples. As Tang Zhongshan (唐仲山), vice-chairman of the Qinghai Provincial Folk Literature and Art Association (青海省民间文艺家协会), remarked, these different technical schools and aesthetic orientations nourish one another, ultimately forming the rich artistic foundation of Qing embroidery. On a single Hehuang embroidered robe, you can simultaneously see the colors of Guinan Tibetan embroidery, the stitch techniques of Tu coiled embroidery, and traditional Han auspicious patterns. This is precisely the most enchanting aspect of Qing embroidery: it is a river converged by needle and thread, accommodating the aesthetic wisdom of multiple highland ethnic groups.

Qing embroidery, bearing the cultural memory of the Hehuang Valley, at one time faced the dilemma of 后继无人 (hòu jì wú rén - "no one to carry on," lacking successors). To protect this traditional skill, Chen Yuxiu (陈玉秀), a representative inheritor of Hehuang embroidery as a Qinghai provincial-level intangible cultural heritage item, made thorough visits to Huangzhong and the surrounding villages. Over more than a decade, she rescued and organized over 50,000 old embroidery pieces dating from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China period. Inside the China Qing Embroidery Inheritance and Protection Base (中国青绣传承保护基地), for which she is primarily responsible, hang many replicated ancient patterns, displaying the technical evolution and aesthetic lineage of Qing embroidery. There, you can see a pillow top from the late Qing and early Republic period, using the now-lost "double-fish playing with lotus" stitch; you can also see the "grandmother's embroidery patterns" restored by Chen Yuxiu's team — those patterns bearing no signature yet filled with the ingenuity and craftsmanship of generations of Hehuang women — she has given each of them new life.

Thanks to the dedicated guardianship of inheritors like Chen Yuxiu, Qing embroidery has not only regained its splendor but also become an important vehicle for cultural exchange between China and other countries. This spring, when the First Lady of Mozambique visited Qinghai, she was deeply captivated by the live embroidery display and could not help exclaiming: "This is a poem painted with needle and thread." The boundary of art is pierced by a thin embroidery needle, and the warmth of the Eastern highlands’ handcraft thus flows into the hearts of visitors from afar. Qing embroidery works have also appeared at the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Expo, and other events, allowing more people to appreciate the unique humanistic and artistic beauty of the Hehuang Valley.

From the everyday needlework beneath the window and by the pillow to an artistic treasure on international stages, Qing embroidery, with its unique aesthetic character, is stitching onto the world's art map a beauty that belongs to the highlands.

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Photo Report

Summer (oil painting)
Zheng Guangxu (郑光旭)

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Let Flower-and-Bird Painting Radiate New Contemporary Charm (Brush Notes from the Art World)

By: 任军伟

Recently, the China National Academy of Painting held the "Era Spirit and Language Innovation" academic seminar and invitational exhibition, focusing on contemporary flower-and-bird painting创作. Through the combination of exhibition and research, it re-examines the contemporary value and innovative path of flower-and-bird painting. This is the latest instance of the series delving into the internal self-reflection of Chinese painting, following the 2024 focus on landscape painting and the 2025 focus on figure painting.

As one of the three major branches of Chinese painting, flower-and-bird painting possesses unique value: it emphasizes the contemplation of life and the projection of personality. Throughout the ages, flower-and-bird painters have observed things to capture images and used objects to express emotions, employing flowers, trees, birds, insects, grass, and fish to sense the vitality of heaven and earth, to convey the aspirations of literati, and to express an understanding of the relationship between humans and nature. The brush and ink have always been threaded with the spiritual atmosphere of the era. This shows that flower-and-bird painting, like landscape painting and figure painting, is an important carrier for continuing the Chinese cultural lineage and writing the spirit of the times. How to imbue flower-and-bird painting with a new contemporary charm has become a common课题 facing current creators.

Judging from relevant exhibitions held in recent years, many creators are attempting new explorations. Some painters seek breakthroughs in subject matter, ranging from potted greenery, vegetables, and fruits to rare birds and beasts, as well as forest plants – a wide variety of topics. Some painters absorb the compositional methods of graphic design and modern art, breaking through the traditional branch-and-flower layout. Some painters use rock pigments and mixed media for expression, breaking the boundary of Xuan paper and ink wash. Still other painters are no longer satisfied with entrusting objects to express aspirations; instead, they extend from the relationship between humans and nature to a contemplation of contemporary society, developing towards large-scale, panoramic compositions to adapt to long-distance viewing in public spaces. These valuable explorations have opened up innovative space for flower-and-bird painting.

However, overall, there remains a scarcity of flower-and-bird painting works that simultaneously possess a high level of character, depth of artistic conception, and strength of innovation. Some works have modern subject matter but lack inner content; some are confined within traditional paradigms, with exquisite brush and ink but lacking individual expression; some are novel in form but overly pursue technical experimentation, losing the observation of nature and empathy for life; and some large-scale works have imposing momentum but insufficient rhythmic vitality... These phenomena reflect the many problems currently faced by creators of flower-and-bird painting – weak cultivation of mind and spirit, shallow learning and insight, poor calligraphy foundation, and susceptibility to the gallery effect, putting too much effort into compositional design and layout. This not only makes it difficult to achieve originality in conception but also neglects the tempering of brush and ink, making it hard to support the work's style and artistic conception.

"Using the rules of the ancients to open up one's own new realm" is the path for innovation in contemporary flower-and-bird painting. Adhering to the rules of the ancients means坚守 the principles of flower-and-bird painting creation and the spirit of brush and ink; opening up one's own new realm is built on the foundation of delving deeply into life and responding to the times. The charm of flower-and-bird painting lies in the creative spirit of entrusting objects to express aspirations and the perceptual mode of borrowing objects to convey feelings. The Ming Dynasty philosopher Wang Yangming once said, "When you have not seen this flower, this flower and your mind are both in a state of stillness. When you come to see this flower, then the color of this flower becomes clear all at once." This realm of mind and things being one, where self and object are both forgotten, enables flower-and-bird painting to transcend superficial depiction and enter the dimension of "idea." The creation of flower-and-bird painting in the new era focuses on integrating current personal emotions, life perceptions, and the recognition of the era's spirit into lyrical expression.

How, then, should flower-and-bird painting resonate with the aesthetic experience of contemporary people? On a smaller scale, one can introduce special observational perspectives, using technologies such as micro-photography and time-lapse to observe the dynamic details of an insect's wing flutter or the moment a flower blooms, thereby magnifying artistic sensation. On a larger scale, one can integrate contemporary issues, incorporating contemporary concerns such as ecological protection and urban life into creation – for example, conducting in-depth investigations of local culture, incorporating the logic of garden landscaping into the picture's layout; conducting field surveys, and combining new understandings of nature to create works that display the beauty of all things coexisting.

"Within a single flower lies a world." The essence of flower-and-bird painting lies not only in brush-and-ink techniques but also in humanistic spirit and the moral character of the era. Only by坚守 the free realm where brush follows the mind, the emotional warmth of using objects to express aspirations, and the unique life experience of delving deeply into life can one achieve a flower-and-bird painting that spans past and present, connecting you and me.

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Xu Hongmei, Wu Yanli

Email of this section: msfk@peopledaily.cn Layout design: Cai Huawei (蔡华伟)

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