People's Daily - August 7, 2026

"Let Domestic Demand Become the Main Driver of Economic Development" (The People's Commitment of the General Secretary)

By: 本报记者 王东辉 王 珂

Expanding domestic demand is a strategic move; boosting consumption is the top priority.

Among the eight key tasks to be grasped in this year's economic work, "adhere to domestic demand dominance, build a strong domestic market" is ranked first. The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on July 30 pointed out, "step up efforts to expand domestic demand and optimize supply."

General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to expanding domestic demand, emphasizing that "we must adhere to domestic circulation as the mainstay, correctly handle the relationships between consumption and investment, demand and supply" and "make domestic demand the main driving force for economic development."

These earnest words are consistently upheld. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed the need to "firmly grasp this strategic fulcrum of expanding domestic demand," guiding and promoting domestic demand to become the main driving force and stable anchor for economic growth.

Expanding domestic demand concerns both economic stability and economic security; it is not a stopgap measure but a strategic move.

On the coast of the East China Sea, vehicles and vessels come and go at Ningbo Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang. In 2025, it became the world's first major port with an annual cargo throughput exceeding 1.4 billion tons.

In the spring of 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping came here for an inspection in the rain.

"The current situation is already very different; the conditions for massive inflows and outflows have changed. We must propose new ideas to guide development based on the new situation." Condensing profound reflections on the past, present, and future, shortly after returning to Beijing, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly proposed fostering a new development pattern. In October of that year, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee made comprehensive arrangements for fostering a new development pattern.

"To foster a new development pattern, we must adhere to this strategic fulcrum of expanding domestic demand, so that production, distribution, circulation, and consumption rely more on the domestic market, forming a virtuous cycle of the national economy," General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out.

Expanding domestic demand has been continuously upgraded, and the results 有目共睹 (yǒu mù gòng dǔ – "have eyes to see together," obvious to all). In the first half of this year, final consumption expenditure drove GDP growth by 2.1 percentage points, and gross capital formation drove GDP growth by 1.7 percentage points.

Adhere to scientific policy implementation to expand domestic demand, enhancing the endogenous driving force and reliability of the domestic circulation.

At the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "we must adhere to this strategic fulcrum of expanding domestic demand, and adhere to the close integration of benefiting people's livelihoods and promoting consumption, and of investing in things and investing in people."

Looking at demand, people's needs are accelerating from "whether there is" to "whether it is good" ; looking at supply, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development remains prominent. Accelerating the filling of shortcomings that concern the people is a direct lever for expanding domestic demand.

In recent years, a series of policy documents such as the "Expanding Consumption '15th Five-Year' Plan" have been released successively, the trade-in policy for consumer goods has been strengthened and expanded, and various localities have held activities to promote consumption in light of consumption hotspots... Expanding domestic demand is rooted in the people's needs for a better life, injecting an inexhaustible source of fresh water for high-quality economic development.

In May 2023, at the first meeting of the 20th Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission, General Secretary Xi Jinping creatively proposed "closely combining 'investing in things' with 'investing in people.'"

"We must focus on benefiting people's livelihoods and increasing momentum, and promote investment to stop declining and stabilize." At the Central Economic Work Conference in December 2025, General Secretary Xi Jinping urged, "Regarding the decline in investment, we must both attach great importance and remain calm. From the perspective of basically realizing socialist modernization, whether investing in things or investing in people, there is broad space."

Currently, China's effective investment space remains broad. Making up for shortcomings in key core technology fields requires continuously increasing investment; the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, the growth and expansion of emerging industries, and the forward-looking layout of future industries will all form a steady stream of new momentum for investment development.

China's market has great potential, strong resilience, and sufficient vitality. The supporting conditions and basic trend of long-term economic improvement have not changed, and the domestic demand potential of economic growth will continue to be released.

Implementing the strategy of expanding domestic demand is necessary to maintain the long-term sustained and healthy development of China's economy, and also to meet the people's ever-growing needs for a better life.

Improving people's livelihood and well-being is the fundamental purpose of development.

Urban renewal is both a key carrier for stabilizing investment and promoting consumption, and an urgent need to realize the people's aspirations for a better life.

In July this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping walked into the Shimin New Village residential area on Ban Songyuan Road Street, Huangpu District, Shanghai. Here, four buildings built in the 1950s have undergone renovation and renewal, with independent kitchens and bathrooms installed and elevators added, significantly improving living conditions.

"'Every twig and leaf touches our heart' — the lives of ordinary people are family affairs, and even more so state affairs." Renovating old residential communities is both a matter of popular expectation and a matter of constant concern for the General Secretary. "The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to urban work, and clearly proposes to build modern people's cities that are innovative, livable, beautiful, resilient, civilized, and smart; renovating old urban residential communities is an important part."

Rural construction is the focal point for resolving the contradiction of unbalanced urban-rural development, and also where the huge potential for expanding domestic demand and promoting high-quality economic development lies.

In June this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Dezhou, Shandong for an inspection and walked into a villager's home. "I am very happy to see you living a good life." From one household, one village, one town, the General Secretary set his sights further. "Promoting integrated urban-rural development and gradually narrowing the urban-rural development gap — we have been doing this, and we must 坚定不移 (jiān dìng bù yí – "firm and unwavering," unswervingly) continue to do it."

On the new journey, implementing policy measures to expand domestic demand in all directions will surely promote the steady progress of our country's economy on the track of high-quality development.

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Focus on concrete actions and tangible results in serving the people (Establish and practice a correct view on performance)

By: 本报记者

At present, all regions, departments, and units continue to deeply carry out the study, education, and promotion of establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements, advancing in an integrated manner study, examination, and rectification, using theoretical armed forces to temper party spirit, using investigation and research to grasp the real situation, using open-door education to widely gather the voices of the people, using the establishment of rules and institutions to consolidate results, and striving to produce solid measures and seek practical results in benefiting the people.

Continuously strengthen theoretical armed forces
The Turpan Municipal Committee of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region continues to thoroughly study the original text of "Excerpts from Xi Jinping's Discourses on Establishing and Practicing a Correct View of Political Achievements," following up in the first instance to study General Secretary Xi Jinping's latest important speeches and important instruction and directive spirits, through the leading learning model of in-depth reading in study classes, in-depth interpretation in special guidance, and in-depth comprehension in centralized seminars, driving the normalization of theoretical study among leading bodies at all levels in the city. At the same time, nearly 1,700 leading cadres who are party members and over 2,300 secretaries of party branches at the municipal, district (county) levels combined with actual circumstances to deliver special party lectures, guiding party members and cadres to perceive the practical power of the party’s innovative theories.

Since the launch of the study and education, the Qinzhou City of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has continuously deepened the construction of the "Canal Party Flag Red · Serve as a Vanguard" party-building brand, formulated a theoretical study plan, moved the study and discussion site to the front line of the Pinglu Canal project construction, enterprise production, and resettlement areas, and propelled party members and cadres to establish and practice a correct view of political achievements in the high-standard, high-quality construction of the century-spanning project.

The China Ethnic Language Translation Center (Bureau) (中国民族语文翻译中心（局）) strengthened theoretical armed forces, held a special study class for the party committee leadership team, and carried out a "Establishing a Correct View of Political Achievements, Taking Concrete Actions to Build New Merits" training class. During the guarantee period for major party and state conferences, the Ethnic Language Simultaneous Interpretation Team used the fruits of theoretical study to improve work quality and efficiency, carefully prepared manuscripts, simulated scenario drills, and used professional ability and dedication to strictly control the political pass and quality pass, helping to accurately transmit the major national policies and principles to ethnic regions and ethnic minority cadres and masses.

Identify and thoroughly investigate prominent problems
The Party Working Committee of the Chongqing-Sichuan Gaozhu New Area (川渝高竹新区) insists on simultaneously examining and rectifying, immediately rectifying after discovering problems, exploring the reform of the moderate separation of economic zones and administrative zones, and deeply investigating the difficult and blocking points that hinder the efficient circulation and allocation of production factors. In government services, they compress administrative approval time, continuously transforming the results of study and education into concrete results of high-quality economic and social development.

Xingtai City, Hebei Province, insists on comprehensive and strict investigation, systematically forms a negative list of views on political achievements, deeply analyzes 87 problems discovered in various types of supervision and inspection in recent years, and issues them to relevant departments for comprehensive inspection and comparison. During the investigation process, a method combining centralized joint review and cross-review is implemented, focusing on reviewing key areas such as "new officials ignoring old accounts," green transformation, air pollution control, and safe production, and screening each item of the dynamically updated lists of leading bodies at or above the county and department level.

The Jiangsu Provincial Front Headquarters for Counterpart Support to the Yili Prefecture of Xinjiang (江苏省对口支援新疆伊犁州前方指挥部) uses investigation to break problems, uses rectification to increase efficiency, goes deep into schools, hospitals, enterprise parks, pastoral area yurts and other grassroots front lines to conduct research, while also collecting opinions and suggestions through multiple channels such as inspection and audit, daily research, and feedback from recipient areas, sorting out key task lists in areas such as livelihood security, industrial support to Xinjiang, and cultural exchanges, constructing a whole-process supervision and working mechanism for project tasks, and using genuine investigation and genuine rectification, concrete actions and practical results to help the recipient areas achieve long-term stability, peace, and prosperous development.

Attentively handle practical matters concerning people's livelihoods
China Merchants Bank insists on finance serving the people and serving the real economy, focusing on the fields of technology, green finance, inclusive finance, and elderly care, launching products such as Sci-Tech Innovation Loans, Green Finance, Inclusive Small and Micro Loans, and Elderly Care Finance, striving to solve enterprises' financing and the masses' financial service difficulties. To improve service quality, it establishes a "Whole Bank Serving One" mechanism to achieve seamless cross-regional integrated services.

"In the past, when there were many people, the water wouldn't come up; now it's good, there is water 24 hours a day," said Yang Minghua (杨明华), a villager of Daling Village, Huangjin Town, Zhong County (忠县), Chongqing, with a beaming smile. Zhong County, in response to 16 prominent problems, simultaneously studies, examines, and rectifies; targeting the difficulty of rural water use, it explores the "county-level unified management platform company + rural water supply association" model, builds a water conservancy management and protection network covering the entire county, and the rural tap water penetration rate reaches 96.5%.

Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, precisely targets the pain points and blocking points of property disputes, aiming at issues such as non-standard property services and untimely response to appeals, launching the "Anji Digital Smart Property" mini-program and opening a high-quality living service hotline, constructing a disposal channel where appeals can be directly made and quickly responded to; carrying out a special action to improve the quality of property communities, establishing a red-black list for property enterprise credit evaluation, using rigid constraints to force service quality improvement, and enhancing residents' sense of happiness.

On the smart monitoring screen of the Emergency Management Bureau Command Center of Tianzhu County (天柱县), Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, data on flood and drought disaster defense, geological disaster prevention, etc., are rolling and updating, with leading cadres taking turns on duty. Since entering the flood season, Tianzhu County has closely monitored points such as mountain flood channel mouths, reservoirs, and ponds, comprehensively checked for potential safety hazards, and at the same time organized party members and cadres to check household by household, guard one spot after another, ensuring the safety of people's lives and property.

The General Technology Group (通用技术集团) firmly serves the Healthy China strategy, transforming the results of study and education into concrete practices for improving the quality and efficiency of medical and health services. The group leverages the advantage of its extensive layout of medical institutions, builds a service brand, constructs a national integrated cross-regional dialysis service network, helping kidney disease patients solve difficulties in seeking medical treatment across regions; at the same time, vigorously promotes the "medical-care integration" demonstration project, embedding medical resources into elderly care scenarios, realizing the integrated development of medical, health, and elderly care.

(Reporters from this newspaper: Shi Yiqi (史一棋), Wu Qiuyu (吴秋余), Liu Junguo (刘军国), Zhang Tengyang (张腾扬), Huang Xian (黄娴), Zhu Jiaqi (祝佳祺), Liu Botong (刘博通), A Erda Ke (阿尔达克), Bai Guangdi (白光迪), Wang Xinyue (王欣悦))

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Photo Report

The Nanhe Hub (南河枢纽), located at the intersection of the starting area of Hebei Xiong'an New Area and Baiyangdian, covers a total area of approximately 450 mu, and is a comprehensive water conservancy hub integrating multiple functions such as flood control barrier, cultural tourism and sightseeing, ecological experience, and inland navigation. At present, the hub project has been fully completed and has officially entered the operation phase. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Mou Yu (牟宇).

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Family Matters and State Affairs

By: 任 平

“What the common people think, the Communist Party does.”
While inspecting Shanghai on July 15, General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech profoundly clarified the practical path of governing for the Party’s public interests and seeking wellbeing for the people.
“The common people’s affairs are major affairs,” revealing the yardstick for decision-making and action.
“Handle the matters the common people care about one by one properly,” demonstrating the warmth of concrete and solid work.
“The common people’s daily life is a family matter, but even more a state matter,” embodying the dialectics of national welfare and people’s livelihood.
On July 30, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee demanded “taking multiple measures to strengthen livelihood guarantees.”
From the three pairs of relationships — minor and major affairs, warmth and height, people’s livelihood and development — one can deeply grasp the Party’s fine quality of “deeply rooting itself in the people,” and decode why Chinese-style modernization has the most reliable, the most profound, and the most enduring source of strength.

(1)
“Treat the trivial matters of the masses as our major affairs” — from this, one perceives the value yardstick for undertaking work and creating political achievements.
Advancing Chinese-style modernization means reaching the broad while exerting the subtle; benefiting the people is the fundamental value orientation.
From local to central levels, General Secretary Xi Jinping has elaborated on the relationship between minor and major affairs from different dimensions.
In December 2003, he pointed out that “the masses’ each and every ‘minor affair’ constitutes the ‘cells’ that make up the ‘major affairs’ of the country and the collective” and “for the common people, every trivial minor affair around them is a truly real major affair.”
In January 2007, he emphasized that doing practical work for the people “is manifested not only in the ‘major affairs’ that drive economic and social development and benefit the whole society, but also in the ‘minor affairs’ at the doorstep that are closely related to the common people’s daily lives.”
In January 2014, he pointed out “treat the masses’ affairs as one’s own affairs, treating the masses’ minor affairs as one’s own major affairs.”
In October 2020, he stressed “treat minor affairs as major affairs to handle, effectively solve the masses’ ‘urgent, difficult, worrying, and longed-for’ problems.”
…
Within this consistent people-centered sentiment lies an important method for enabling the people to have better lives.
Look at the “vegetable basket” (菜篮子).
“Locally they say, ‘Three days without seeing green, and eyes spark with gold.’ Whether you can get vegetables to eat is politics.” While working in Fuzhou, Comrade Xi Jinping made grasping the “vegetable basket” the top priority, checking vegetable prices every day. Under his leadership, Fuzhou, with the principle of “local production as the mainstay, external supply as supplement,” was rated a national advanced city in the “vegetable basket” project construction.
Today, Fuzhou’s “vegetable basket” capacity continues to expand. In 2025, total vegetable output reached 5.3013 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%, not only meeting local consumption but also enabling product transfer to other regions.
“Have vegetable prices risen?” “Are there many local vegetables?” On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2013, the General Secretary came to the Wuquan Vegetable Market in Chengguan District, Lanzhou (甘肃兰州城关区), Gansu, and inquired about the prices of vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, and onions.
Today, China’s annual vegetable output exceeds 800 million tons, accounting for more than half of global production. The nationwide supply of “vegetable basket” products is ample in quantity, rich in variety, and generally stable in price.
Livelihood is never a trivial matter; every leaf and branch stirs concern.
“Standing on the people’s standpoint to consider issues” — no matter how “small” the matters of mass concern are, they are major affairs; “properly resolving key minor matters of concern to the masses” is an important entry point.
“All issues that the masses strongly reflect must be taken seriously and dealt with; all acts that harm the interests of the masses must be resolutely corrected.”
Whatever the masses oppose and detest, we must resolutely guard against and correct. This is an inevitable requirement for practicing the purpose and adhering to the original aspiration.
“Adopt more tangible and perceptible concrete measures, and focus on meeting the people’s needs in employment, education, social security, housing, medical care, elderly care, childcare, and other areas.”
“What the people worry about, I must think of; what the people hope for, I must do.” This is the commitment every leading cadre should uphold.

(2)
“A city must not only have height, but also warmth” — from this, one perceives the livelihood concern of “making things tangible and perceptible to the masses.”
One important reason Chinese-style modernization is “more clear, more scientific, more tangible and feasible” is that it continuously transforms the achievements of modernization into the quality of people’s lives.
“Taking the interests of the masses as the priority, taking the expectations of the masses as the concern.”
Take the renovation of old residential communities in urban renewal as an example.
Over more than 30 years, Shanghai has continuously advanced old housing renovation, historically solving the problem of “carrying chamber pots.”
During this inspection in Shanghai, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “This is a matter that the people eagerly hope for, and it is also a matter I have always been concerned about.”
Advancing the “toilet revolution” (厕所革命) aims to make up for the shortcomings that affect the quality of people’s lives.
In Zhaojiacun Village (赵家河村), Yanchuan County, Shaanxi (陕西延川县), the first gender-separated toilet in local history was built;
In Zhejiang, it was made clear that toilet renovation should become an important focus of the “Thousand-Village Demonstration, Ten-Thousand-Village Improvement” project (千万工程);
After arriving in Shanghai to work, he pointed out: “I think the hardest thing is to solve the toilet problem,” thereby accelerating the campaign of “cannot carry chamber pots into modernization.”
Urban renewal is a livelihood project, but also a popular support project.
“Shanghai has advanced old housing renovation for decades, one term after another, with long-term perseverance (久久为功, jiǔ jiǔ wéi gōng - “persist over a long time,” to persevere steadily without letup).”
“Shanghai’s alley renovation, Beijing’s hutong renovation, etc. — these all concern the common people’s peaceful living and happy work; they are the matters we should care about most. Continue to do them well!”
“Advancing urban renewal with high quality is an important lever for urban modernization; the people’s city concept must be fully practiced.”
The height and warmth of development are contained in “long-term perseverance,” embodied in “continue to do them well,” and displayed in “advance with high quality.”
After the concentrated contiguous problems are solved, in the face of sporadic residents’ demands, not a single household can be abandoned… This reflects the shift in urban development philosophy toward “paying more attention to people-centeredness”;
Tailoring measures to the specific conditions of each household, implementing “one file per household” and “one strategy per building,” flexibly exploring multiple solutions under spatial constraints… This employs “embroidery work” and embodies precision thinking in governance.
During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the country renovated more than 240,000 old urban residential communities in total, benefiting over 40 million households and 110 million people.
Ensuring that the fruits of modernization benefit all people more and more equitably lies not only in “dividing the cake well while making it bigger,” but also in making the people truly feel it, tangibly perceive it.
The warmth index relates to the happiness index.
To bridge the “temperature gap” between macro data and micro perceptions, the key is to increase the intensity of safeguarding and improving people’s livelihood, “properly resolving the major and minor matters around the common people, letting everyone have more smiles and feel warmer in their hearts.”
“Implement more measures with warmth, carry out more actions that warm people’s hearts, and use heart, emotion, and effort to properly solve the masses’ urgent, difficult, worrying, and longed-for problems.”
Only by warming people’s hearts can we gather popular support.

(3)
“Grasping people’s livelihood is also grasping development” — from this, one perceives the working method of “expanding development space while meeting livelihood needs.”
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: “The people’s happiness and well-being are the ultimate goal of promoting high-quality development.”
“Family matters” and “state affairs” are internally unified; the common people’s everyday matters, intimate matters, and concrete matters are continuously being integrated into the top-level design of national development.
Livelihood and welfare conceal surging development momentum; development runs through the value appeal of livelihood and welfare — this is a great secret of the Chinese economy’s strong resilience and vitality.
Take “the old and the young” (一老一小) as a grasp.
“I pay special attention to the key focus of ‘the old and the young’” … “Strengthen key livelihood guarantee services for ‘the old and the young’ and other groups” … “Pay close attention to ‘the old and the young’, improve the elderly care service system, and develop integrated childcare and elderly care services” … The General Secretary has been 一直挂念 (niàn zī zài zī - “always thinking of this,” to constantly bear in mind) about “the old and the young.”
On the eve of this year’s Spring Festival, the General Secretary pointed out during an inspection in Beijing that “the Party Central Committee is especially concerned about ‘the old and the young’” … “‘the old’ are our treasure” … “‘the young’ are our future.”
On July 30, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee demanded “doing a good job in the service guarantee for ‘the old and the young.’”
Dedicated to better solving the caregiving difficulties of “the old and the young,” “shared care for the old and young” has become a pilot practice in various localities. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued opinions on deepening the reform and development of elderly care services, proposing “building an integrated service complex for ‘the old and the young.’”
The elderly and children share joy together, balancing caregiving needs, reducing caregiving costs, promoting intergenerational exchange, and also opening a new track for the elderly care and childcare industries.
From implementing the home and community basic elderly care service improvement initiative, to continuously increasing and improving the supply of maternal and child health care, children’s medical care, and inclusive childcare services, to promoting the direct issuance of maternity subsidies and childcare allowances to individuals… Caring for “the old and the young,” strengthening “investment in people,” not only enhances livelihood and welfare but also expands domestic demand, boosts consumption, and stabilizes investment.
The “15th Five-Year Plan” outline proposes “accelerating the construction of an inclusive childcare service system” … “improving the policy mechanism for the coordinated development of elderly care undertakings and industries” … “vigorously developing the silver economy, enriching the supply of age-friendly products and elderly services.”
Data show that by 2030, the infant and toddler childcare market size will exceed 230 billion yuan; by 2035, the silver economy scale is expected to reach 30 trillion yuan.
“A big country has big responsibilities. 千头万绪 (qiān tóu wàn xù - “a thousand heads and ten thousand threads,” extremely numerous and complicated) matters, in the final analysis, are matters of 千家万户 (qiān jiā wàn hù - “a thousand households and ten thousand families,” every family and household).”
The “two new” policies (equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in) have been strengthened and expanded, giving consumers real benefits and adding vitality to the market.
In the first half of this year, consumer goods trade-in benefited over 150 million person-times, driving cumulative related commodity sales of 1.1 trillion yuan. Persistently closely integrating benefiting people’s livelihood with promoting consumption, using new demand to guide new supply, using new supply to create new demand, endogenous momentum accelerates release.
Unify solving high-quality development issues with meeting the people’s new expectations for a high-quality life, transforming the process of solving the principal social contradiction into a process of tapping development potential and strengthening development momentum.
This is the Communist Party of China in the new era’s deepened understanding and creative application of the “three laws” (the law of development of human society, the law of socialist construction, and the law of the Party’s governance).
“The four-sided lakes and mountains gather into the eyes; the joys and sorrows of ten thousand households come to the heart.”
A political party that “adheres to putting people’s livelihood first and strives to do more practical things for the masses” wins popular support.
A country that “maintains economic growth rate and promotes economic development, the fundamental point being to continuously and properly solve the prominent issues of general concern to the people” unites people’s hearts.

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Guide to Reading

Theory · A Comprehensive Reading of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Volumes 1-5
The Formation, Development, and World Significance of the Concept of Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind (人类命运共同体)
Ninth Edition

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Flexible manufacturing efficiently meets differentiated demands

What is Flexible Manufacturing?

Flexible manufacturing refers to a new production model that has emerged to meet the demand for mass customization. Specifically, it includes: first, the flexible response capability of production capacity, i.e., the small-batch production capability of machinery equipment; second, the agile and precise response capability of the supply chain, transforming from the traditional "produce according to sales forecasts" model of "production, supply, sales, personnel, finance, materials" to a "produce according to sales orders" model of "personnel, finance, production, materials, sales."

80 Overseas Customized Competition Garments, Delivered in 7 Days

By our reporter Shi Yu (施钰)

Seven days. Eighty competition garments customized and sent from Quanzhou, Fujian, to Australia, delivered.

Taking such orders used to be something for which even the delivery time could not be guaranteed, but now it has become the norm. "Even an order for a single garment — we can take it," said Zhao Wenhong (赵文宏), deputy general manager of Quanzhou Pengtai Garments Co., Ltd. (泉州鹏泰服饰有限公司).

In recent years, the market's demand for garment customization has grown, and small-batch orders have increased rapidly. Pengtai mainly produces competition garments, work uniforms, leisure sportswear, and the like, with most products sold overseas. Zhao Wenhong explained: "Take competition garments as an example. The sponsors change every year, and the number of participants is small — these are typical small orders and rush orders."

Yet a single production line needs at least 20 small orders a day to be "fully fed." "The raw materials, auxiliary materials, patterns, and cutting differ with each order. Managing production manually can no longer keep up with the new rhythm," Zhao Wenhong said.

In the traditional production model, e-commerce garment manufacturers also have to bear high inventory risks. "In the past, we produced based on forecasts and stockpiled. The summer clothing for the year would often have been produced in bulk by the end of the previous year and stored in the warehouse awaiting orders," Zhao Wenhong said.

"We have to take the initiative to adapt to market changes," he explained. Starting in 2015, Pengtai invested a total of over 120 million yuan to build more than 20,000 square meters of flexible manufacturing workshops and a 150,000-cubic-meter intelligent automated warehouse. Relying on a self-developed system, it launched a full-industry-chain intelligent model that automatically generates technical parameters based on customer needs, with production lines automatically scheduling production and the warehouse automatically handling inbound and outbound goods.

"This time, after receiving an order from an Australian rugby club, we quickly responded to the specific requirements, using an automatic pattern generation system to offer customers multiple choices. On the first day, we confirmed the pattern and style; on the second day, we completed the pattern making; on the third day, production came off the line; finally, we delivered by air," Zhao Wenhong said. Today, small orders and rush orders like this are no longer a problem for Pengtai.

The automatic pattern generation system can produce a garment pattern in five minutes and decompose and output the pattern-making technical parameters. In the procurement system, after checking inventory information, purchasers can quickly contact suppliers to retrieve missing materials. Digital printing equipment rapidly prints custom patterns onto fabric. Intelligent cutting machines automatically recognize fabric color and grain, use laser smart cutting technology to control errors within 0.2 mm, and enable single-piece single cutting. The cut fabric is then routed through the workshop's intelligent hanging system, which precisely matches each process step to the employee best suited for it.

"With full-process digital control, small-batch production achieves the same efficiency as large-batch production, and delivery time has been shortened by about 60% compared to before," Zhao Wenhong said.

Efficient production management benefits from the application of intelligent and digital technologies and also relies on the systematic restructuring of the industrial chain.

"The 'small orders, quick response' production model requires factories to improve management and also forces upstream suppliers to coordinate their transformation," said Zhang Taiping (张太平), head of Pengtai's weaving mill, which coordinates with seven dyeing and finishing factories. "Our weaving mill sends about 200 tons of grey fabric to the dyeing and finishing factories each month. Previously, the minimum batch for dyeing was 250 kilograms; now it has been reduced to 15 kilograms."

Despite the significant achievements of the transformation, the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain still need deeper coordination. "Some upstream dyeing, finishing, and auxiliary material enterprises still find it hard to profit from small-batch production. For now, we integrate common raw material needs and then incentivize them by combining large orders with small orders," Zhang Taiping frankly stated.

Policy incentives are also keeping pace. The "Certain Measures for Promoting the Work of Pilot Cities for Digital Transformation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Quanzhou" (泉州市推动中小企业数字化转型试点城市工作若干措施) proposes supporting "chain leader" enterprises, leading enterprises, and digital service providers in driving the digital transformation of upstream, midstream, and downstream SMEs in the industrial chain through industry ties, agglomeration incubation, upstream-downstream supporting, opening application scenarios, and technology diffusion.

"Last year, the enterprise's sales grew by 15%. By responding to market demands with high quality and high efficiency, we enhanced customer stickiness and maintained market competitiveness." Looking ahead, Zhao Wenhong said the company will continue to improve its flexible manufacturing capability: "We need to react faster to keep up with market changes."

A Personalized New Energy Vehicle, Delivered in 18 Days

By our reporter Wang Xinyue (王欣悦)

Eighteen days — that was the time from order to vehicle pickup for Mr. Zhang, a resident of Chengdu, Sichuan.

Blue body, 21-inch wheels, brown interior, plus a sport package... After Mr. Zhang entered his requirements and clicked to confirm, the production line of Avatr Technology Company (阿维塔科技公司) in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area (重庆两江新区), 300 kilometers away, received the order and began operations.

How can a personalized custom new energy vehicle be delivered in 18 days? How can the supply side exert force in response to consumers' diverse needs to achieve a higher-level virtuous cycle of supply and demand? The answer lies not in a single piece of equipment or a single process, but in the transformation of the production organization model.

"The customer taps a few times on their phone, and hundreds of production instructions are automatically generated," said Li Qian (李谦), business manager of production planning at Avatr Technology Company. In the past, a personalized order had to be manually entered and checked, taking two to three hours; now the system decomposes it in seconds, simultaneously distributing it to stamping, welding, painting, final assembly, and other workshops, while generating a material requirement list.

"Demand drives new energy vehicle manufacturers to rapidly iterate technology and offer diverse configurations. If we stick to the old way of having one production line for one model and accumulating enough units before batch production, the switching is slow and the investment high. Once the production line is fixed, subsequent adjustments are costly," said Deng Jing (邓靖), director of the Institute of Urban and Regional Economics at the Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences (重庆社会科学院).

Flexible manufacturing is precisely one of the answers to personalized demand.

Traditional automobile manufacturing follows a "forecast – inventory – sales" model, where factories arrange production months in advance based on market forecasts. "Five years ago, producing a personalized custom car would take at least two to three months," said Wang Rui (王锐), senior deputy chief engineer of manufacturing technology planning at Changan Automobile. "Now, whatever the customer needs, we build."

Inside the stamping workshop, the roar is low and dense. A robotic arm picks up sheet metal one by one from the stack, moving lightly and steadily. Flat steel sheets acquire curved surfaces and edges in a few seconds.

The bigger change occurs during die changes. "In the past, switching a set of dies took one to two hours, so the factory could only produce in batches. Now it is compressed to a few minutes. One batch just finishes stamping car door panels, and the next immediately switches to SUV fenders," Wang Rui said.

After the stamped parts come off the line, they are sent to the welding workshop. Before the reporter approached, a fine spray of sparks was already visible. Thousands of robots line both sides of the production line, robotic arms rising and falling, welding torches going up and down, blue-white arcs flashing, sparks splattering like drizzle.

On the line, a sedan had just passed, and then an SUV slid in — the two vehicles have different wheelbases, different heights, and different weld points, but the production line did not pause. "In the past, changing models meant changing fixtures and reprogramming. Now, before each body enters the station, the system reads its identification information, the fixtures automatically adjust their positioning points, and the robots simultaneously switch programs. In simple terms, it recognizes each one as it comes," Wang Rui explained.

In the painting workshop, a blue car follows two white cars into the spray booth. Changing colors itself is not difficult, but the challenge lies in overall planning — bodies of the same color should be grouped as much as possible to reduce the number of nozzle cleanings and paint line switches, saving nearly an hour a day. "When scheduling production, the system has to factor in delivery time, color distribution, color-change costs, and the production efficiency of each workshop all at once. Flexibility is not about arbitrary scheduling; only when the sequence is optimized can costs be reduced and efficiency increased," Li Qian said.

Finally, the final assembly workshop: on both sides of the assembly line, automated guided vehicles shuttle back and forth, delivering seats, wheels, trim pieces, and more to the corresponding stations. Wang Rui told the reporter: "It is not the vehicle waiting for materials, but materials chasing the vehicle — this is a manifestation of deep coordination between the supply chain and the production flow."

Flexible manufacturing extends beyond the application scenario. Once an order enters the system, changes simultaneously propagate outward along the industrial chain: upstream suppliers can see demand shifts in advance, and downstream logistics can deliver precisely according to time windows.

For automobile production, when the OEM's production schedule changes, the logistics delivery sequence and arrival times must be adjusted accordingly. "Not only must we deliver quickly, we must also deliver accurately and keep up," said Wu Xi (吴锡), deputy director of the Yubei Inbound Logistics Project of Chongqing Changan Minsheng Logistics Co., Ltd. (重庆长安民生物流公司), which provides supply chain logistics services for Avatr.

In Chongqing, this coordination capability is being continuously amplified at the industrial cluster level. In 2025, Chongqing's total vehicle output reached 2.788 million units, of which new energy vehicle output was approximately 1.296 million units, an increase of about 36% year-on-year. Driven by enterprises such as Changan and Seres, the number of local auto parts supporting enterprises has expanded to 1,200, forming a complete local supply chain system covering stampings, three-electric system, seats, interior and exterior trim, and intelligent automotive electronics. The localization of the supply chain is also an important support for compressing the delivery cycle.

In the past, consumers adapted to factories: fewer color choices, fixed configurations, accumulate enough to produce in batches. Now the industrial chain continuously adapts to consumers: order first, then produce. Consumers have more choices, and the production cycle has been significantly shortened.

"Delivery time varies with factors such as configuration complexity, distance of parts origin, and length of transportation route. Only by making every link both fast and accurate can we maximize the reduction of delivery time," Wang Rui said. As the flexible manufacturing model continues to advance, personalization is no longer a luxury but is gradually becoming a routine choice for consumers.

Coordinator for this issue: Lü Li (吕莉)

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Anticipating the Arrival of the Era of Precise, Personalized Delivery (Midnight Notes)

By: 李心萍

The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to promote the flexible and customized production model for consumer goods. Why should flexible and customized production be promoted?

First, the market is calling for it. As the people’s living standards have risen, China’s imitative and wave-style consumption stage has basically ended, and individualized, diversified consumption has become mainstream. Consumption is shifting from “rigid demand underpinning” to “pleasing oneself and improving quality,” and customized demand is growing day by day.

Second, the technology can achieve it. In the past, manufacturing was mainly based on standardized, large-scale rigid production. This model greatly increased production efficiency and reduced manufacturing costs, but one production line could only produce one model of product, and the adjustment cycle of the production line was long and costly, making it unable to adapt to the rapidly changing personalized customization needs.

In recent years, intelligent manufacturing equipment and digital technology have become increasingly mature, and flexible production has gradually become a reality. Relying on intelligent production lines, by simply adjusting parameters, factories can quickly adapt to the production requirements of different products.

Besides flexibility, flexible production also has many other advantages.

It is more responsive. Flexible production often adopts a modular structure, with each functional unit being independent and standardized. This means that enterprises can, through module reorganization and local optimization, adjust and optimize products in a relatively short time based on market feedback, achieving rapid product iteration and continuous improvement.

It is more efficient. Flexible production lines are built based on technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, which means that flexible production can achieve rapid information sharing, and the agility and precise response capability of the supply chain are also enhanced, thereby making it possible to realize “just-in-time production” and “zero-inventory management,” improving the efficiency of resource allocation.

It can be said that the combination of timing and momentum makes promoting the new model of flexible production an important measure for creating new demand through new supply.

Looking ahead, consumption upgrading continues. Consumers are often no longer just purchasing a commodity; they may be subscribing to a lifestyle. More and more consumers will not only be passive recipients of products but also active creators. Relying on flexible production, consumers can directly join the design process, realizing participatory production, enabling the supply side to more accurately match the differentiated demands of the demand side.

Customizing a car in 18 days, customizing 80 competition uniforms in 7 days, customizing a refrigerator magnet in a few minutes… We look forward to the arrival of an era of precise delivery for 千人千面 (qiān rén qiān miàn - “a thousand people, a thousand faces,” highly personalized).

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From the 3.6 trillion yuan increment: new drivers and improved structure

By: 本报记者 韩 鑫

When analyzing economic performance, many people are accustomed to looking at economic growth rates. For a super-large economy like China's, looking at the economic increment also has important practical significance and reference value.

Compared with the first half of last year, China's GDP increment reached 3.6 trillion yuan, the largest increment for the same period in the past five years.

3.6 trillion yuan — what level is that?

Vertically, it is roughly equivalent to the economic size of Jiangxi Province for the entire year last year, equivalent to creating another emerging industrial province; horizontally, it is comparable to the total annual economic output of many medium-sized economies.

In an international environment interwoven with change and turmoil, China's economy has always remained as stable as Mount Tai. A half-year increment of this scale further highlights China's role as a "stable anchor" for the global economy. Recently, the International Monetary Fund lowered its forecast for world economic growth this year while raising its forecast for China's growth by 0.2 percentage points. This "one decrease, one increase" is a "vote of confidence" cast by the international community in the Chinese economy.

What does 3.6 trillion yuan mean?

From it, one can see the newness of economic momentum —

Many scenes reflect the vigorous and improving appearance of the opening year: Huawei released the "Tao's Law" (韬定律) in the semiconductor field, shocking the global industry; among the top 10 global open-source large models, China's large models performed impressively; Changxin Technology (长鑫科技) sharpened a sword for ten years, creating the largest technology stock IPO (initial public offering) in A-share history… From hardware to software, from manufacturing to "intelligent manufacturing," the myriad phenomena of new quality productive forces display the vitality and dynamism of innovative China.

More indicators provide insight into the trajectory of China's economic shifting gears and upgrading: the export volume of integrated circuits denominated in RMB increased by nearly 90%; new drivers represented by high-end manufacturing, the digital economy, and modern services contributed over 40% to economic growth… New products have become the "top trend" in going overseas, new industries are shouldering the "main beam," and the "newness" content of China's economy is richer.

From it, one can see the excellence of economic structure —

To observe China's economy, one must look not only at quantitative growth but also at qualitative improvement. Looking at the supply side, in the first half of the year, the digital and intelligent transformation of manufacturing advanced solidly, investment in multiple emerging fields achieved double-digit growth, and the number of authorized AI-related patents increased by 34.8% year-on-year… Traditional industries are "renewing," emerging industries are "leading the race," future industries are "breaking ground," the industrial structure is upgrading in all dimensions, and the foundation of the real economy is more stable. Looking at the demand side, in the first half of the year, total retail sales of consumer goods and services increased by 2.7% year-on-year, and retail sales of services increased by 5.3%. The consumption structure is continuously shifting toward equal emphasis on goods and services consumption, making the "main engine" of consumption more powerful.

A better economic structure has forged stronger development resilience. Since the beginning of this year, the global energy market has experienced剧烈波动, with some countries facing energy shortages and soaring prices; in contrast, China, relying on energy structure transformation and precise price regulation, has achieved overall supply-demand balance and overall price stability. Not only "freedom to use electricity" and "freedom to use air conditioning," but also "snapping up Chinese air conditioners" and "going to China to escape the heat" have repeatedly exploded on overseas social media platforms… This real "temperature difference" has become a vivid portrayal of the strong resilience and stable growth of China's economy.

Is 3.6 trillion yuan sustainable?

Entering the second half of the year, the foundation of "stability" is still being consolidated.

From the Yangtze River沿岸 high-speed railway to urban pipeline networks, the construction of the "two major" (两重) projects is refreshing its progress, with investment in multiple fields accelerating; from study tours to the performance economy, cultural and tourism integration is deepening and improving quality, and summer consumption is going "full throttle"; from air conditioners and transformers to chips and robots, global "hot products" are accelerating their overseas shipments, and the momentum of foreign trade is increasingly strong… Since July, the "three carriages" have been fully powered, effectively consolidating the foundation of stability.

Looking from the half year to the full year, the trend of "newness" is still strengthening.

In July, the PMI for equipment manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing maintained rapid expansion, significantly higher than the overall manufacturing sector, driving the manufacturing industry toward newness and excellence; the so-called "new three new items" (新新三样) — artificial intelligence, robotics, and innovative drugs — are developing rapidly… With the accelerated growth of new drivers and the emergence of new forces, the development engine of China's economy will become even more powerful.

The recently held meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee made a clear judgment: "China's economy is showing a development trend of momentum turning new and structure turning excellent," and put forward a series of specific deployments for economic work in the second half of the year. Strengthen confidence, put action first, fully and accurately implement the Party Central Committee's scientific judgment on the economic situation and its decisions and deployments on economic work, and the stability of development and the newness of momentum can be further consolidated, promoting China's economy to continuously develop toward newness, excellence, and improvement, and striving to achieve a good start to the "15th Five-Year Plan" (十五五).

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Strengthen data development and utilization in sci-tech finance

Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Wu Qiuyu (吴秋余)) — To strengthen the joint construction and sharing of data, the People's Bank of China and nine other departments recently jointly issued the Notice on Strengthening the Development and Utilization of Data in the Field of Science and Technology Finance.

The Notice encourages localities to provide authorized and open information channels to sci-tech enterprises, and to promote models such as information inquiry and joint modeling; encourages regions where conditions permit to strengthen the development and utilization of enterprise revenue and expenditure flow data; and supports market-oriented credit information agencies in building databases of sci-tech enterprises. The Notice focuses on links such as financing matchmaking, intelligent risk control, and product innovation, guiding financial institutions to build digital credit profiles of sci-tech enterprises and develop science and technology finance products. It encourages financial institutions to carry out analysis of capital flows along the industrial chain, draw up maps of key industrial chains, and accurately match financial resources.

In addition, the Notice releases relevant catalogs, covering 8 major categories and 26 data indicators, including enterprise lists and scientific and technological innovation attributes. It supports the formation of regionally distinctive lists for the development and utilization of science and technology finance data in various localities, and the construction of provincial-level supporting information facilities for the development and utilization of data in the field of science and technology finance.

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Delivering cool relief during the dog days of summer

During the dog days of summer, with continuous high temperatures, all regions and departments have rolled out warm-hearted measures, caring for outdoor workers, ensuring that production and service work proceeds safely under the high temperatures.

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State Taxation Administration Issues Guidelines on Tax-Related Services for International Transport

Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Wang Guan (王观)). The State Taxation Administration (国家税务总局) recently released its first cross-border tax industry guidance, the Guidelines on Tax-Related Services for International Transport (国际运输涉税服务指引), providing a full-chain, standardized, and actionable tax compliance reference for business entities engaged in cross-border transport industries such as international maritime, aviation, and road transport.

The guidelines are divided into an "Inbound Chapter" and an "Outbound Chapter," distinguish among the various modes of transport, and, centered on the questions of "whether tax should be paid, what tax to pay, how much tax to pay, and how to pay tax," sort out relevant tax matters from eight dimensions: tax liability, withholding obligation, taxable income, tax calculation, tax incentives, treaty benefits, tax filing procedures, and tax risk reminders. At the same time, by compiling publicly available tax-related cases, they explain the law through cases, providing an intuitive warning of tax risks in cross-border operations.

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BeiDou Navigation Satellite System completes full in-orbit upgrade

Our newspaper, Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Liu Shiyao (刘诗瑶)) — According to news from the China Satellite Navigation System Management Office (中国卫星导航系统管理办公室), the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has fully completed its on-orbit upgrade. Going forward, on the basis of ensuring stable operation, the system will enrich and develop new navigation technology means, providing more stable and reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services for global users.

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Suzhou Industrial Park Holds the Key to China's Market Appeal (Witness: China's Opportunities)

By: 本报记者 王伟健

Located inside the super factory of the US-based Danaher Group, a biotechnology enterprise in Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu, automated reagent production lines are running at full capacity. Robotic arms are automatically “identifying” and grabbing different models of materials, and a single production line can “handle” differentiated products for multiple orders. “Now one line can do multiple things at once; in the past, several lines had to run simultaneously,” said workshop manager Ma Jinshan (马金山).

In 1994, the Suzhou Industrial Park, a cooperation project between the Chinese and Singaporean governments, drove the first construction pile into the marshy fields by Jinji Lake. Three years later, Danaher built an assembly plant here, which has now developed into a base integrating local R&D manufacturing, innovation incubation, and more. Over 30 years, high-rises and factories have “grown” in succession within the park, one piece of marshland after another transformed into a modern new city, and the park’s business has also transitioned from simple processing to manufacturing and R&D. Why has this 278-square-kilometer land become a “hot investment destination” for global enterprises? Recently, reporters went to the production frontlines of many enterprises in the park to explore the code for why foreign companies “don’t want to leave once they come.”

From “Global Sourcing” to “Local Supporting”

Entering the mechanical performance lab of Philips Medical (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., R&D staff Li Rui (李瑞) is flexibly manipulating the joystick, and the next-generation vascular angiography machine, over one person tall, stretches its “body” and precisely completes a series of complex movements such as rotation, elevation, and positioning. “This is our star product, with a global market share exceeding 40%,” Li Rui said. In the past, over 90% of this product’s components relied on imports; now it has achieved “find a supplier right outside the door.” After more than a decade of development, Suzhou has become one of Philips’ three global comprehensive manufacturing bases, forming an integrated ecosystem of “R&D—Manufacturing—Service,” with products sold to over 100 countries and regions worldwide.

Such an industrial ecosystem was not 一蹴而就 (yī cù ér jiù - “accomplish in one step,” achieved overnight). Danaher’s experience is very profound. “When we first set up, we were like an ‘isolated island factory’; raw materials for producing reagents, precision components for instruments, etc., all had to be imported from overseas,” recalled Wu Jie (吴洁), head of Danaher Suzhou R&D and Manufacturing Base. Twenty or thirty years ago, the park’s leading industries were labor-intensive industries such as electronic information and general machinery manufacturing, with the upstream and downstream of biomedicine almost blank.

Time goes back to the end of the last century. At the start, relying on Singapore’s investment attraction channels and experience, the park quickly completed the agglomeration of foreign capital. However, the processing trade model of “both ends outside, large imports and large exports” soon exposed the hidden danger of weak risk resistance. When the 1997 Asian financial crisis broke out, overseas investment channels were blocked, orders fluctuated sharply, and the park soberly realized that a path relying solely on labor-intensive processing and manufacturing would not go far. Under the crisis, the park took proactive measures, laid out high-value-added industries ahead of time, and jumped out of the path dependence on traditional processing and manufacturing. In 2005, it launched the three major plans of “Manufacturing Upgrade, Service Industry Doubling, and Technology Leap”; in 2006, it officially established biomedicine, nanotechnology application, and artificial intelligence as the three emerging industries... Through continuous transformation and upgrading, it gradually filled the gaps in the industrial chain.

Slowly, Danaher’s “neighbors” changed. Upstream raw material suppliers and downstream precision processing factories settled one after another. The park’s Chinese and foreign “partners” grew more numerous, and the high localization of the supply chain made foreign companies 如鱼得水 (rú yú dé shuǐ - “like fish in water,” in a favorable environment). In the medical field alone, the park has gathered over 2,000 enterprises, covering segments such as innovative drugs, medical devices, and pharmaceutical R&D and production outsourcing services. Now, the supply chain localization rate of Danaher’s Suzhou factory has reached 80%. From core reagent raw materials to precision mechanical processing parts, most can be purchased locally and in the surrounding area.

A few years ago, Danaher planned to build an intelligent super factory and encountered difficulties in industrial automation transformation. After learning of the need, the park proactively played the “matchmaker,” facilitating cooperation between Danaher and its doorstep “partner” — Bosch Suzhou R&D and Manufacturing Center. It only takes a dozen minutes by car for both sides’ technical personnel to sit together to discuss technical details, modify plans, test parameters, etc. Thanks to this, the construction period of Danaher’s super factory was greatly shortened. Such close cooperation has now become the norm in the park. The change in foreign enterprises’ supply chains from “global sourcing” to “local supporting” is a vivid reflection of the park improving the industrial chain in accordance with the times and circumstances. “The park’s industrial ecosystem not only allows enterprises to greatly shorten product R&D cycles and reduce logistics costs, but also enables them to quickly respond to market demands and seize the initiative in global competition,” Wu Jie said.

From “Learning Advanced Experience” to “Outputting Innovation Achievements”

In the shipping area of the Philips Suzhou factory, a brand-new helium-free 1.5T magnetic resonance system is being loaded onto a truck, about to cross the Pacific and be sent to North American customers. Traditional magnetic resonance systems rely on liquid helium to maintain the extremely low-temperature environment of superconducting magnets, which is expensive, in tight supply, and has high maintenance costs and cumbersome operation. Led by the Philips China team and in collaboration with global R&D personnel, they overcame multiple technical difficulties and successfully developed a helium-free 1.5T magnetic resonance system with fully independent intellectual property rights, sparking strong reactions in the global market. “We have multiple R&D centers globally. We chose to develop this new product in China because it has the best innovation ecosystem and the fastest innovation speed,” said Liu Ling (刘令), President of Philips Greater China.

In the park, innovation has never been a “one-man show” by a single enterprise, but a “chorus” of coordinated and linked upstream and downstream industrial chains. According to reports, helium-free technology means a complete reconstruction of the magnet cooling system; almost all core components had to be redesigned, and a massive amount of experimental data required repeated verification. “Most of our core suppliers are distributed within 50 kilometers around the park, making collaborative R&D highly efficient. If a component needs modification, we discuss the plan in the morning, produce drawings in the afternoon, and the sample can be delivered to the factory the next morning.” Liu Ling said, deeply impressed by this. In Suzhou, Philips has successively developed multiple globally star products, achieving “China first, global output.” “In the early days, Chinese employees had to go to overseas factories to learn. Now, more and more globally first-launched new products come from Suzhou, and it has become the norm for foreign engineers to come and ‘learn from experience,’ ” Liu Ling said. Not long ago, Philips Medical Israel branch specially sent a technical team to Suzhou to learn the processes and management experience of the new high-end medical equipment production line.

There are many similar stories of “reverse output.” More and more foreign companies are completing a magnificent transformation here from “rooting in China, serving China” to “based in China, serving the world.” In 1996, L’Oréal’s Shangmei (尚美) factory broke ground in the park, initially with a production model of “French formula, Suzhou filling.” Now, Shangmei factory has become L’Oréal’s largest factory in North Asia. In R&D projects for categories such as hair dye and skincare, the Chinese team has changed from a “participant” to a “leader,” and many innovation achievements are transmitted to Europe, Southeast Asia, North America, etc. Since setting up in the park in 2006, Carl Zeiss Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. has acquired the R&D and manufacturing capabilities for a full range of mass-produced microscopes, with products sold to over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Just one year after the opening of the Carl Zeiss Suzhou R&D and Manufacturing Base, three locally manufactured high-end microscopes achieved their first production off the line and were delivered to customers. “The park’s excellent innovation ecosystem and industrial supporting facilities give us the confidence to transfer core R&D and manufacturing capabilities to China,” said Xie Lei (谢磊), Chief Operating Officer of Carl Zeiss Greater China, indicating that the Chinese team is becoming an important source of global technological innovation for Carl Zeiss.

From “Enterprises Seeking Government” to “Government Revolving Around Enterprises”

By the rippling waters of Dushu Lake, modern science and innovation buildings are scattered in an orderly manner. Suzhou Xingshida Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (苏州兴视达智能科技有限公司), invested and established by the ROPLUS team of the National University of Singapore, is located here. “We were still in Singapore when we got the business license. The whole process was much simpler than we imagined,” said team leader Liu Zhenfa (刘真发). This unique experience stems from the park’s innovative “Su Yitong” (苏易通) cross-border investment service model. According to Li Jiang (李江), Director of the Park’s Administrative Approval Bureau (园区行政审批局), the park extends its government service windows overseas, building a collaborative system of “domestic special window + overseas special window,” integrating innovative measures such as “service forward deployment, overseas assistance handling, and multiple windows integration,” achieving efficient implementation of cross-border investment services. Overseas investors can complete the establishment of a company in China without leaving their country, with processing time compressed from over seven days in the past to same-day completion. This model was successfully implemented in Singapore in August last year and has served 43 cases of overseas shareholders investing in China.

More measures enable foreign enterprises to “develop well.” The approval cycle for entry of high-end R&D prototypes once took as long as half a year, seriously affecting enterprise R&D progress. The park launched the “Yan Yida” (研易达) institutional innovation, compressing the approval cycle for R&D prototypes to within three months through process optimization, parallel approval, and cross-department coordination. Philips’ latest ultrasound equipment went from R&D to market nearly a year faster than before. When enterprises call, the government responds. Over the years, the park has fully leveraged the platform advantages of the China-Singapore cooperation and the China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone Suzhou Area (中国（江苏）自由贸易试验区苏州片区), focusing on the pain points and difficulties of enterprise development, and has accumulated over 240 institutional innovation achievements, covering multiple fields such as R&D customs clearance, bonded maintenance, intellectual property protection, and international commercial arbitration. In 2025, the park officially launched the “Project Butler” (项目管家) system, realizing a transformation in service methods: in the past, it was “enterprises seeking government”; now it is “government revolving around enterprises.”

The Bosch Automotive Components Suzhou Phase V project, with a total investment of USD 1 billion, is a beneficiary of this system. The park assigned a “one-on-one” project butler for the project, providing tracking service throughout. From signing the land transfer contract to obtaining the construction permit, the project took only one working day, and from groundbreaking to completion and production, it took only 500 days, setting a new record for the fastest Bosch global factory construction.

As the largest single investment in China by the Swiss Roche Group, the new project of the Roche Diagnostics Asia-Pacific Reagent and Instrument Production and R&D Base is in full swing; L’Oréal’s first self-built intelligent operation center in the world officially opened; Samsung Electronics made additional investment to expand the semiconductor packaging and testing project... In recent years, the park has seen waves of foreign capital increase, and enterprises have cast votes of trust with “real gold and silver.”

Chen Lei (陈蕾), Deputy Director of the Park’s Office for Learning from Singapore’s Experience (园区借鉴新加坡经验办公室), stated that as a successful model of China-Singapore cooperation, the park has grown from an early “student learning from Singapore’s experience” into a “global partner with two-way empowerment.” The park always takes enterprise needs as the orientation, solves development difficulties through institutional innovation, and empowers enterprise growth with precise services. “We will continue to leverage the combined advantages of functional platforms such as the China-Singapore cooperation, the Free Trade Zone, and the Comprehensive Pilot for Open Innovation, attract global factors through institutional opening-up, accelerate the construction of a world-class high-tech park with open innovation, and continue to explore the path for China’s high-quality development and high-level opening-up,” Chen Lei said.

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Japan's New Defense White Paper: Full of Ambition and Lies (Zhong Sheng)

The new edition of the Defense White Paper (防衛白書) reveals between the lines not the "exclusive defense" (専守防衛) principle that postwar Japan once professed, but an ambition long steeped in the poisonous remnants of militarism.

Recently, the Japan Ministry of Defense released the 2026 edition of the Defense White Paper. As the first Defense White Paper issued after the Takaichi Sanae administration came to power, this 598-page document sets a record for length among all previous editions. However, the increase in length does not originate from reflections on peace; rather, it is a complete rehash of so-called "peripheral security threats," with new independent sections such as "new-style combat methods" and "strengthening the defense production and technology base." What is revealed between the lines of the document is no longer the "exclusive defense" principle that postwar Japan boasted of, but an ambition that has long been steeped in the poisonous remnants of militarism.

Using the hyping of external threats to pave the way for loosening the reins on military expansion is a consistent trick of Japan's security policy adjustments in recent years. The new White Paper absurdly claims that the regional security environment is in the "most severe period since the end of the war," and clamors about a so-called "new era of crisis." Its essence is to mislead public opinion and coerce popular sentiment by creating security anxiety, thereby seeking grandiose excuses for its own military expansion. However, a lie repeated a thousand times still does not become truth. The new White Paper is filled with false narratives; in essence, it is a dangerous social mobilization by Japan's right-wing forces for comprehensive "re-militarization."

In fact, Japan, which ceaselessly exaggerates "threats," is precisely the initiator that pushes up regional security risks. For some time now, the Japanese side has continuously made erroneous remarks concerning the Taiwan issue, frequently manipulated peripheral security topics, accelerated the militarization layout of the southwestern islands under the pretext of "responding to crises," and persistently pushed forward arms expansion and war preparations — it has already become the main source of instability that impacts peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. The new White Paper once again groundlessly smears and blames China, hypes the so-called "China threat," makes irresponsible remarks on China's Taiwan affairs, and crudely interferes in China's internal affairs. China adheres to the path of peaceful development and pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory; the Taiwan issue is purely China's internal affair. How to resolve the Taiwan issue is a matter for the Chinese people themselves, and it brooks no interference from the Japanese side. The Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets have been China's inherent territory since ancient times, and no matter what Japan says or does, it cannot change this fact.

Breaking through the bottom line of "exclusive defense" and pushing for the transformation of the Self-Defense Forces into offensive forces is the most dangerous direction to be wary of in the new White Paper. For the first time, the new White Paper sets up a separate chapter on "new-style combat methods," trumpeting the military applications of unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence, emphasizing sustained combat capability, and openly extending military capacity building to new domains such as space, cyberspace, and the electromagnetic spectrum, plotting to construct a cross-domain integrated combat system. Concepts on paper are becoming reality. From the deployment in March of this year of the Type 25 ground-based anti-ship missile, which has a range of about 1,000 kilometers — far exceeding Japan's territorial scope — to passing a law to reorganize the Air Self-Defense Force into an "Air and Space Self-Defense Force" and incorporating space into the combat domain, to accelerating the equipping of long-range offensive missiles and substantively seeking the capability to attack enemy bases — Japan is step by step dismantling the guardrails of "exclusive defense," pushing the Self-Defense Forces to fully transform from a defensive force into an offensive military force capable of proactive strikes and forward deterrence.

Massively expanding the layout of the defense industry and binding military industrial expansion to economic interests is another trap meticulously woven by the new White Paper. The new White Paper substantially expands the length of the section on "strengthening the defense production and technology base," using rhetoric such as "driving economic growth" and "dual-use military-civilian technology" to package the military industrial complex as a new economic growth point, seeking justification for relaxing arms export controls, expanding transnational joint research and development, and blurring the boundary between military and civilian technologies. In April this year, Japan formally revised the "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment," substantially relaxing restrictions on the export of lethal weapons. From jointly developing a sixth-generation fighter jet to issuing policies that provide huge subsidies to military industrial enterprises, Japan is shifting the military industrial sector from a domestic demand-sustaining model to an outward-expansion model, deeply binding military industrial interests to military expansion, forming a dangerous cycle of mutual reinforcement.

Adhering to the "Peace Constitution" (平和憲法) and following the path of peaceful development were once important foundations for Japan's postwar development and also played a certain positive role in the peace and stability of East Asia. However, Japan's right-wing forces have repeatedly breached the bottom line of the "exclusive defense" principle, continuously hollowed out the essential spirit of the "Peace Constitution," attempted to build up the military and expand armaments, and their pace in seeking the status of a military power has steadily accelerated. The new White Paper is the latest step along this expansionary path, aiming to pave the way for Japan to completely break free from the shackles of the postwar system at multiple levels — including public opinion and perception, combat capability, and industrial support. This move severely impacts the postwar international order, poisons the regional security environment, and continuously drains regional strategic trust. It not only arouses serious concern from neighboring Asian countries and the international community, but also encounters strong opposition from peace-loving forces within Japan. A poll conducted by Japan's Asahi Shimbun shows that over 60% of Japanese people oppose amending Article 9 of the "Peace Constitution." At the time of the release of the new White Paper, a large number of Japanese citizens gathered around the National Diet to protest, directly pointing out that the arms expansion policy merely adds to the burden on people's livelihoods and drags the country into the danger of conflict.

In the historical ledger, there has never been the word "luck." Peaceful development is an irreversible historical trend. Any military expansionist schemes that betray peace commitments and go against the tide of the times are doomed to end in failure. The Japanese side should face history squarely, conform to the trend, strictly abide by the postwar international order, stop all erroneous acts of hyping security threats and engaging in arms expansion and war preparations, and earnestly return to the correct track of peaceful development. Only this is the fundamental way out for Japan to 安身立命 (ān shēn lì mìng - "settle body, establish life," to have a secure place in life).

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"Listening to the Reading Voices of China's Countryside" Photo Exhibition Held in Canada

Our newspaper Ottawa, August 5 (correspondent Zhi Chunli) On August 5 local time, the photo exhibition "Listening to the Reading Voices of Rural China" was held in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. This exhibition is an official event of the 40th World Congress of the International Board on Books for Young People (国际儿童读物联盟, IBBY), co-hosted by the National Press and Publication Administration (国家新闻出版署) and the Chinese Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (国际儿童读物联盟中国分会), undertaken by the Life Tree Cultural Promotion Center (生命树文化促进中心), and supported by the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration (中国外文局), the Publicity Department of the Sichuan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (四川省委宣传部), and others.

The exhibition is meticulously arranged around key content such as "child readers, reading spaces, reading activities, reading promoters," and is divided into six units, comprehensively showcasing the fruitful achievements of rural reading in China through images, videos, publications, and other media.

In the preface section of the exhibition, a micro-documentary on village libraries (农家书屋) filmed by the "Rural Companion Reading Plan" (乡村伴读计划) of the Culture Section of People's Daily (人民日报文化版) attracted visitors to stop and watch. The Feixiang Book House (榧香书舍) located in Jidong Town (稽东镇), Keqiao District (柯桥区), Shaoxing, Zhejiang, under the operation of national rural reading promoter Ying Hualiang (应华亮), has held over 1,000 events cumulatively over the past few years, received more than 20,000 person-times, and recorded over 30,000 book borrowings.

In the "Reading Micro-Wish" (阅读微心愿) unit of the exhibition, nearly a hundred wish cards handwritten by rural children come from the "Light Up Reading Micro-Wish" (点亮阅读微心愿) book drifting activity. Since the project was launched in April 2025, it has fulfilled the reading wishes of over 80,000 rural children in 20 provinces of China.

Guests from multiple countries expressed that through this exhibition, they deeply felt the spiritual world of the Chinese people's love for reading, fully understood China's experience and practices in promoting rural reading, and that the exhibition has built a communication bridge for advancing reading promotion and children's publishing between China and foreign countries.

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Improving Oil Product Quality and Environmental Standards in Kyrgyzstan (China-Kyrgyzstan Joint Media Interview on High-Quality Belt and Road Cooperation)

By: 本报记者 邢 雪 李 强

Recently, the China-Kyrgyzstan media joint interview team on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation visited the Zhongda China Petroleum Company (中大中国石油公司) (hereinafter "Zhongda Petroleum") located in Karabalta city, Chuy Region, Kyrgyzstan, to conduct an on-the-ground investigation of the latest progress in China-Kyrgyzstan energy cooperation.

Silver pipelines crisscross the plant area; the several-dozen-meter-high atmospheric-vacuum distillation tower emits a low rumble; several tank trucks are slowly entering the loading and unloading zone. Journalists from both countries learned in detail about technical equipment and advanced processes such as the catalytic cracking unit and the catalytic gasoline hydrogenation unit.

Zhongda Petroleum was invested in and built by China's Shaanxi Coal and Chemical Industry Group. It is the largest industrial project invested by a Chinese enterprise in Kyrgyzstan. Currently, its refined oil supply accounts for approximately 30% of the Kyrgyzstan market, directly creating over 2,900 local jobs. From January to July this year, Zhongda Petroleum processed 276,300 tons of crude oil and produced 222,600 tons of various oil products. Amid the complex situation of high international oil price fluctuations, the project strives to ensure a sustained and stable supply of products.

"In the past, the overall technical level of Kyrgyzstan's oil refining enterprises was relatively backward, with low product standards and high environmental pollution. Since our company began operations, it has significantly improved the quality of Kyrgyzstan's oil products and raised the environmental standards of production," Nurzat, Deputy Director of the First Production Workshop who has worked here for 11 years, told reporters in fluent Chinese. The company has cultivated a large number of technical personnel like him for Kyrgyzstan, driving the improvement of local energy refining technology.

Currently, the company's quality upgrade project is proceeding with great vigor. Li Hao (李昊), General Manager of Zhongda Petroleum, stated that the company is making every effort to push forward the upgrading and transformation of oil product quality. In the future, the gasoline and diesel products produced will fully meet the Euro V standard. This will not only better satisfy domestic market demand in Kyrgyzstan but will also expand further into Central Asian and even European markets.

Bakyt Chermashev, a reporter from Kyrgyzstan's Kabar National News Agency, shot many videos in the plant area. He said that this joint interview allowed him to go deep into the front line of production and learn that the gasoline, diesel, and other fuel products here not only affect the daily lives of ordinary people but also directly serve agriculture, industry, logistics, and large freight enterprises. "The project significantly increases Kyrgyzstan's fuel supply and reduces dependence on fuel imports. It is of great significance for our energy security and industrial development," Bakyt said.

Layout design: Shen Yiling (沈亦伶)

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Solomon Islands PM reaffirms commitment to One-China principle

Xinhua News Agency, Sydney, August 6 (Reporters Nie Xinyu, Liang Youchang) Honiara report: Solomon Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale on the 5th reiterated that the Solomon Islands government will continue to firmly uphold the One-China principle, and stated that this principle is the foundation of Solomon Islands-China bilateral relations.

According to a statement released by the Office of the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Wale said in a speech to Parliament that day that the relations between Solomon Islands and China are of great significance to national development, and that the Solomon Islands government will continue to strictly abide by the One-China principle.

Wale said that the Solomon Islands government pursues a foreign policy based on policy coherence, mutual respect, and tangible benefits to the Solomon Islands people, and will continue to carry out constructive cooperation with all parties while adhering to established principles.

Wale was elected by the Solomon Islands Parliament as the country's new Prime Minister on May 15 this year and was sworn in on the same day. On September 21, 2019, the two countries formally established diplomatic relations on the basis of the One-China principle.

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Global Youth Leaders for Development "World Tour" Event Arrives in Thailand

Bangkok, August 6 (Reporter Yang Yi (杨一)) — From August 3 to 5, the “World Tour” activity of the Global Youth Leadership Home for Development (全球发展青年领袖之家) organized by the Global Development Promotion Center (全球发展促进中心) of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (国家国际发展合作署) was held in Bangkok, Thailand. On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the proposal of the Global Development Initiative, the activity focused on the Digital South (数字南方) brand of the Global Development Initiative, with the theme “Youth Responsibility in the Digital Age” . Through forms such as seminar dialogues, site visits, and public-interest practices, it gathered youth wisdom to jointly fulfill the action commitment of the digital era.

During the activity, the delegation went to the Thailand Digital Economy Promotion Agency to conduct a seminar on Digital South development plans; visited the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to hold a digital-themed youth roundtable dialogue with youth representatives from various countries; and also visited sites such as Chong Sheng Middle School in Bangkok (曼谷崇圣中学) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Innovation Cooperation Center in Bangkok (中国科学院曼谷创新合作中心).

The Global Youth Leadership Home for Development was jointly supported and launched by the Global Development Promotion Center together with the United Nations system in China and other Chinese and foreign parties. The Digital South projects under it, including the “China Tour” and “World Tour” digital-themed activities of the Global Youth Leadership Home for Development and the implementation of the “Youth Elite Action” (青骄行动) science and technology classrooms, are included in the Outcome List of the Plan for Co-Creating the Future of the Third High-Level Meeting of the Global Shared Development Action Forum.

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China-Brazil Film Festival Awards Ceremony Held in Rio de Janeiro

According to Xinhua News Agency, Rio de Janeiro, August 6 (reporters Lu Junyu (陆君钰) and Zhou Yongshui (周永穗)) — the award ceremony of the fifth China-Brazil Film Festival was held on August 5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with 14 films from both China and Brazil receiving the Blue Parrot Award (蓝鹦鹉奖) presented by the festival organizing committee.

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Improved Response Measures and More Efficient Patrol and Prevention (In-depth Reading: Solidly Advancing All Aspects of Disaster Prevention and Relief)

By: 本报记者 王 洲 姜晓丹 宋豪新

Currently, China is in the critical flood prevention period known as 七下八上 (qī xià bā shàng - "the seventh month downward, the eighth month upward," the period from late July to early August when heavy rainfall is most frequent), and flood control efforts face complex and severe tests. Beijing's Mentougou District uses existing buildings to forge "highland fortresses" for mountain-area flood prevention; Shenzhen's Longgang District in Guangdong builds a coordinated air-ground digital flood control system; Ganzi Prefecture in Sichuan enhances geological disaster prevention and control capacity in mountainous areas through the gully chief system… Facing the flood season examination, many localities base themselves on reality and actively explore, strengthening disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities with innovative thinking.

-- Editor

New Venues

Skillfully Using Existing Buildings to Build Safe Havens

Under the blazing sun, in Dongshan Village, Junzhuang Town, Mentougou District, Beijing, a two-story building built on relatively high terrain in the village stands out conspicuously. Cool breezes pass through the hall, and many villagers sit in the lobby to cool off and rest.

This is the Dongshan Village Party and Mass Service Center. In the first-floor lobby, on two large screens, 50 monitoring cameras keep real-time watch over the village's situation. "There are reading rooms and fitness rooms here. Normally you can read books and relax; when you encounter difficulties, you can also come here to find village cadres to help solve them," said villager Zhang Qiuling (张秋玲).

This is also a "highland fortress" that guards safety in wind and rain. "The 'highland fortress,' also called a safety emergency shelter, is an emergency flood evacuation facility built to enhance disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief capabilities in mountainous areas. It can temporarily house the public and ensure their basic living needs for no more than 24 hours during emergencies," introduced Zhang Xingang (张新钢), Party branch secretary of Dongshan Village. "The 'highland fortress' is located on high ground and is relatively safer when flood conditions come."

During a recent round of heavy rainfall, the Dongshan Village Party branch assessed the situation and transferred several households at higher flood risk to this location. Villager Li Shuqin (李淑琴) recalled that the evacuation was tense but orderly. "The village thought of everything very thoroughly—they prepared food, bottled water, electric kettles, as well as regular medicines, mosquito coils, and so on," Li Shuqin said.

For mountain-area flood prevention, the greatest fears are loss of communication, loss of water, and loss of electricity. These "three cuts" are often the key causes of information delays and casualties among affected populations in mountainous areas. The "highland fortress" has been equipped with emergency devices tailored to address them.

In the first-floor lobby of the Dongshan Village "highland fortress," there is a large-sized two-way radio with its own battery, which can contact Junzhuang Town and the Mentougou District Emergency Management Bureau at any time. Next to it is a landline-style satellite phone, providing a safety net for communication under extreme conditions. Not far outdoors, there are two more "big items"—the bright yellow one is a mobile emergency generator that can start within one minute if the power grid fails, ensuring electricity for the "highland fortress"; the silver "large cabinet" is an emergency water storage tank with a capacity of 3 tons, filled with domestic water.

"Before the flood season arrived, Mentougou District built 140 such 'highland fortresses,' achieving full coverage of mountain-area villages and settlements under key monitoring," introduced Liu Zhenpeng (刘振彭), deputy director of the Mentougou District Emergency Management Bureau. These "highland fortresses" are not newly built structures; instead, they leverage geographical advantages and revitalize existing public building resources such as primary and secondary schools, village committee offices, and community party and mass service centers, carrying out standardized "dual-use for normal and emergency" (平急两用) renovations that serve both everyday convenience for the public and emergency evacuation needs.

This year, Beijing has built more than 1,000 mountain-area flood prevention "highland fortresses" tailored to local conditions, continuously strengthening the "physical embankment" for mountain flood control and the "psychological embankment" that protects the safety of people's lives.

New Technology

Intelligent Monitoring of Hazards, Meeting the Test of Typhoons

Not long ago, as Typhoon Hongxia approached Shenzhen, Guangdong, more than 40 drones ascended one after another over Longgang District, conducting preemptive reconnaissance along rivers, low-lying slopes, and mountain forests. This was a full-area typhoon pre-stage risk survey carried out by the "Long Flying Hand" (龙飞手) drone management service platform of the Longgang District Government Service and Data Management Bureau, making preparations for flood prevention in advance.

As wind force and rainfall continued to climb, all drones automatically returned to their nests. The heavy responsibility of ground-wide monitoring was handed over to the "Long Xiao Er" (龙小二) urban governance intelligent agent, which was also facing its first actual combat with a strong typhoon.

In the command hall, Xi Wei (席炜), a party group member and deputy director of the Longgang District Government Data Bureau, stood before a large screen, monitoring the system's operation. The moment the blue typhoon warning took effect, "Long Xiao Er" automatically switched to the highest flood prevention priority. Tens of thousands of surveillance feeds across the district simultaneously began high-frequency inspections, conducting uninterrupted autonomous scanning of waterlogging-prone points, riverfront areas, and manhole cover zones. "In the past, even a dozen staff members working in shifts could not keep an eye on so many monitoring points. Now, relying on the intelligent agent's autonomous computing, efficiency has markedly improved," Xi Wei said.

As the district activated Level 1 flood control response, the command center urgently demanded nighttime checks of street shops still in operation, urging merchants to close and take shelter. Xi Wei immediately issued a temporary task to "Long Xiao Er": "Retrieve street surveillance footage from the urban area, screen for unclosed stores, and push the points and images simultaneously to the subdistricts." The intelligent agent autonomously retrieved images, rapidly identified them, and within minutes locked onto multiple operating locations. The leads were directly sent to subdistrict work groups, and frontline staff promptly visited to urge people to take shelter. At the same time, "Long Xiao Er" also accurately identified hazards such as fallen trees and road waterlogging, simultaneously aggregated public flood prevention assistance requests, and diverted them to subdistricts for handling with one click.

After the typhoon passed, "Long Flying Hand" immediately carried out post-disaster inspections and pushed high-altitude images and hazard points in real time to the emergency response, transportation, and urban management departments for coordinated rapid handling.

According to introductions, "Long Xiao Er" can autonomously perceive and autonomously execute, integrating multi-source data such as video surveillance, the 12345 public service hotline, and ground intelligent devices, intelligently adjusting the inspection rhythm. Qin Jiangrong (覃江荣), a Level 6 post staff member of the Longgang District Big Data Center, explained that the "Long Flying Hand" platform integrates inspection demands from more than 20 departments. Dozens of automated drone nests equipped with AI (artificial intelligence) recognition algorithms can complete aerial governance tasks such as mountain search and rescue, river channel persuasion, and building violation inspections.

Enabling "Long Xiao Er" and "Long Flying Hand" to achieve fully automatic linkage and coordinated operations is the next key construction direction. Xi Wei stated that building the air-ground coordinated governance system of "Long Xiao Er" and "Long Flying Hand," leveraging intelligent computing power to reduce the pressure on grassroots personnel, can push urban governance from passive emergency response toward advance prediction and full-area intelligent prevention and control.

New Mechanism

Establishing a Gully Chief System to Prevent Geological Disasters

"In the flood season, there is a lot of rain and the terrain of mountain gullies is complex. Only through daily inspections and dynamic checks can the safety bottom line be held," said Li Yongsheng (李永胜), a township-level gully chief of Bajiaolou Township, Yajiang County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan, as he led a team deep into the Mishi Gully area for routine gully inspection under continuous drizzle on slippery roads.

Along the steep gully channel, Li Yongsheng and the point monitoring personnel walked slowly, carefully checking for loosening hazards on mountain slopes, verifying the situation of siltation in the gully, recording changes in river water levels, and inspecting the operational status of warning loudspeakers and monitoring equipment along the line one by one.

Such routine patrols are a microcosm of Sichuan's comprehensive implementation of the gully chief system to enhance geological disaster prevention and control capacity in mountainous areas.

Mountain torrent and debris flow disasters are the top priority for disaster prevention and mitigation in Sichuan's mountainous regions. Ganzi Prefecture is crisscrossed with plateau ravines and has fragile geology. Dense networks of mountain torrent and debris flow gullies are scattered across the area, and most gully basins cross villages, towns, or even county boundaries, making disaster assessment and upstream-downstream coordination quite difficult.

Starting in 2024, based on the existing group measurement and group prevention system for mountain torrent and debris flow gullies, Sichuan launched a pilot gully chief system in high-incidence areas of mountain torrent and debris flow disasters, including Ganzi, Ya'an, Aba, and Liangshan. Taking mountain torrent and debris flow gully basins as independent governance units, Sichuan established a gully chief system for a total of 5,761 mountain torrent and debris flow gullies across 3 prefectures and 1 city, deploying dedicated personnel for management and fully staffing 21,000 gully chiefs and point chiefs, building a full-chain responsibility network covering hazard inspection, early warning transmission, evacuation transfer, and emergency response.

Breaking down regional and departmental barriers, Ganzi Prefecture established a responsibility system of "county-level general gully chief + township-level gully chief + village-level branch gully chief + hazard point point chief," integrating and coordinating monitoring resources from meteorology, water resources, natural resources, emergency management, transportation, and other departments, and absorbing township cadres, village cadres, village-based team members, and public monitoring personnel, ensuring that every gully basin is managed and covered. At the same time, the prefecture established standardized working mechanisms, precisely marking hazard points, evacuation routes, and shelter areas to fill disaster prevention短板.

"In the past, gullies were managed in sections. When danger occurred upstream, there was no time to notify downstream, making the public's evacuation very passive. Now the entire gully is dispatched uniformly, with real-time upstream-downstream linkage, greatly improving the efficiency of danger handling," Li Yongsheng said. Relying on the basin linkage mechanism, the locality strictly implements the response model of "rain upstream, whistle midstream, run downstream," using multiple channels such as satellite phones, emergency loudspeakers, and village-level WeChat groups to achieve rapid sharing and synchronized response of hazard information.

Through routine patrol drills and clear evacuation plans, people along the gullies can quickly move to sheltered safety houses after receiving warnings. "Now when we hear the loudspeaker or the gong, we just follow the team and can evacuate as soon as possible. It gives us much more peace of mind," said a villager along the Mishi Gully.

This issue coordinated by: Han Chunyao (韩春瑶)

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2026 Energy Economy and High-Quality Development Forum on Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Held

Our newspaper, Yulin, Shaanxi, August 6 (Reporters Gu Zhongyang, Zhang Danhua) — The 2026 High-Quality Development Forum on Energy Economy and Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality was held on August 6 in Yulin City, Shaanxi Province. The forum, with the theme "Toward Innovation Toward Greenness Toward the Future," set up a platform for dialogue and exchange, shared experience in green transformation, and further built consensus and gathered strength for accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development and the high-quality development of the energy economy.

Participating guests expressed that promoting the greening and low-carbon transformation of economic and social development is a key link in achieving high-quality development. It is necessary to deeply study, implement, and carry out Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important discourses on carbon peak and carbon neutrality; adhere to the coordinated advancement of carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion, and economic growth; deeply advance the energy revolution; place the promotion of new energy and clean energy development in a more prominent position; and support the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development through the green transformation of energy.

Responsible comrades from relevant departments of the Central Committee and the State Council, local governments, enterprise leaders, and experts and scholars participated in the forum. The forum also released achievements such as the Yulin Energy Revolution Innovation Demonstration Zone Innovation Practice Research Report (2026).

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Red Boat's birthplace, children's hearts grasp original aspiration (On Site · Great Ideological and Political Lessons During Summer Vacation)

By: 本报记者 窦瀚洋

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Effectively reduce burdens and empower grassroots in the ecological environment sector

By: 本报记者 寇江泽

Strictly implementing the six resolute refusals to transfer (六个坚决不调), the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspectorate (中央生态环境保护督察) has reduced the volume of materials requested for review by over 50%; carrying out non-site smart supervision, the number of on-site personnel for air pollution prevention and control supervision and assistance has been cut by nearly 90%; integrating enterprise inspection matters, the number of law enforcement person-trips and enterprise inspections both decreased by about 50% year-on-year. Since the issuance of the Several Provisions on Rectifying Formalism to Reduce Burdens at the Grassroots Level (《整治形式主义为基层减负若干规定》), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (生态环境部) has, in conjunction with carrying out study and education on establishing and practicing a correct view of political performance, continued to deepen and expand the rectification of formalism in the ecological and environmental field, making each burden-reducing measure concrete and detailed, effectively reducing burdens and empowering the grassroots.

Precise policy implementation, establishing a "One Mechanism, Two Lists" (一机制两清单) for rectifying formalism.

The Party Leadership Group of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (生态环境部党组) deeply studies and implements General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions and instructions on resolutely guarding against formalism and bureaucracy and strengthening the Party's work style construction, persists in regarding rectifying formalism to reduce burdens at the grassroots as an important political task, focuses on long-term management and consolidating the foundation, implements mechanism-based and list-based management, establishes a working mechanism for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to advance the implementation of the Central Committee's Eight-Point Regulation spirit and rectify formalism to reduce burdens at the grassroots, researches and formulates a key task list and an audit key points list for the ministry system, clarifies responsibility divisions, refines task measures, and promotes the formation of a work pattern centered on the "One Mechanism, Two Lists" , with all departments and units within the ministry system working together.

Reducing burdens and increasing efficiency, coordinating and standardizing supervision, inspection, and assessment.

The third round of the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspectorate focuses on doing subtraction in form and addition in effectiveness. On-site inspections avoid escorting at every level, implementing "three never accompany" (三个一律不陪): leading comrades at the provincial-ministerial level of the inspected subjects, principal leading comrades of local Party and government, and principal leading comrades of central enterprise headquarters never accompany; greatly reduce the review of transferred materials, implementing "six resolute refusals to transfer" ; the volume of transferred materials in the third round's fourth, fifth, and sixth batches decreased by about 60%, 70%, and 56% compared to the second round; logistics support is streamlined in everything, implementing "four can be simplified then simplify" (四个能简则简) for personnel, housing, vehicles, and meals; the scope of conversations is comprehensively reduced, only holding talks with the principal and deputy responsible leading comrades of the inspected subjects and the principal responsible leading comrades of departments closely related to ecological and environmental protection.

To enhance the quality and efficiency of law enforcement inspections, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment continuously improves the non-site law enforcement system in fields such as air, water, and hazardous waste, actively promoting penetrating and unnoticeable law enforcement. In the first half of 2026, the cumulative number of law enforcement personnel dispatched and enterprises inspected by ecological and environmental law enforcement agencies at all levels nationwide decreased by 50.13% and 47.93% year-on-year respectively, with the total volume of on-site inspections significantly reduced.

In the reform of environmental impact assessment (EIA, 环评), the Ministry of Ecology and Environment promotes the front-loading embedding of ecological and environmental zoning control into the access procedures, reducing from the source the burdens of repetitive policy coordination analysis by EIA agencies and repeated verification and error correction at the grassroots. Localities continue to create digital application scenarios. Zhejiang Province, based on ecological and environmental zoning control, connects application systems of 12 departments and over 3.5 million data items, launching the "Zheli EIA" (浙里环评) scenario, which has cumulatively completed access assessment for over 900,000 projects. Xiamen City, Fujian Province, innovates a "control unit + industry" access model, builds a digital and intelligent control platform, benefiting over 3,000 projects, cumulatively saving enterprises more than 90,000 working days in approval time and over 100 million yuan in demonstration costs.

Taking multiple measures simultaneously, continuously implementing the requirements for reducing burdens at the grassroots.

Implementing a "short, substantive, and new" (短实新) writing style, the word count of planning texts related to Beautiful China (美丽中国) construction for the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五) has been reduced by 50% compared to the 14th Five-Year Plan. The number of special ecological environment plans for the 15th Five-Year Plan has been integrated and reduced from 16 to 11; the annual document issuance indicator has been cut by 10% year-on-year, and meeting funds for the entire system have been cut by 10% based on the previous year's budget.

Focusing on prominent environmental issues around the people, basing practical measures on grassroots realities. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment actively advances the special rectification of water pollution in industrial parks along the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins, uniformly standardizing the requirements for investigation and rectification, cumulatively promoting the resolution of over 4,000 problems such as incomplete sewage pipe networks and abnormal facility operation. Targetedly treating rural black and odorous water bodies, putting an end to one-size-fits-all and excessive engineering-based treatment, cumulatively treating 10,439 water bodies on provincial lists, achieving a treatment rate of 90.9%.

The National Ecological Environment Letters and Visits, Complaints, and Reports Management Platform (全国生态环境信访投诉举报管理平台) coordinates and unifies the entry points for demands across all channels including WeChat, the internet, letters, visits, the Minister's mailbox, etc., reducing from the source the burdens on grassroots of receiving from multiple platforms separately and repeatedly entering data. The platform collects clue data from operational systems such as the Central Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspectorate, agricultural and rural ecological environment supervision, and rectification of illegal solid waste dumping, enabling unified search and retrieval of various problem clues, eliminating the need for grassroots to repeatedly check files and cross-compare across systems.

A relevant responsible official from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment stated that rectifying formalism is a tough battle and a protracted war. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will resolutely shoulder the political responsibility, solidly advance the rectification of formalism problems in the field of ecological and environmental protection, deeply and substantively implement the work of rectifying formalism to reduce burdens at the grassroots, continuously deepen and expand, and achieve tangible results.

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Photo Report

Affected by upstream inflow, the flood peak on the Songhua River is expected to arrive in Tongjiang City, Heilongjiang Province on August 7, and the flood peak on the main stream of the Amur River will arrive on the evening of August 8. To confront the "dual flood peaks," Tongjiang City is fully carrying out hazard inspection, reinforcement of secondary levees, and other work. The photo shows staff performing equipment maintenance at the dock of Tongjiang Longhang Harbor Co., Ltd. on August 5. Photo by Xinhua reporter Zhang Tao.

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Typhoon Dolphin to bring strong winds and rain to East China around the 9th

People's Daily, Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Jiang Xuehong (蒋雪鸿)) — At 17:00 on August 6, the center of this year's 13th typhoon, "White Dolphin" (severe typhoon level), was located over the northwestern Pacific Ocean approximately 1,130 kilometers east of Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, with a maximum wind force of Category 14 near its center. The National Meteorological Center (中央气象台) predicts that "White Dolphin" may make landfall on the coastal areas from Zhejiang to northern Fujian between the afternoon of the 9th and the morning of the 10th (Categories 12–14, typhoon level or severe typhoon level). After landfall, it will continue moving west-northwestward, with its intensity gradually weakening. At 18:00 on August 6, the National Meteorological Center issued a yellow alert for typhoon.

The National Meteorological Center predicts that around the 9th, Typhoon "White Dolphin" will bring strong winds and rain to East China and other areas. Jiangnan, Jianghan, Jianghuai, and Huanghuai will experience heavy to torrential rain in succession, with some areas experiencing extremely heavy rain and localized exceptionally heavy rain. From the 12th to the 14th, under the combined influence of the remnant vortex of the weakened typhoon and cold air, parts of North China, central and eastern Inner Mongolia, and southern Northeast China will also experience heavy to torrential rain, with localized extremely heavy rain.

People's Daily, Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Liu Wenxin (刘温馨)) — On August 6, the Office of the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters (国家防总办公室) and the Ministry of Emergency Management (应急管理部) organized a multi-department joint consultation to assess the development trends of recent heavy rainfall and Typhoon "White Dolphin," and to deploy flood prevention and typhoon defense work in key areas. The National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters activated a Level IV emergency response for flood prevention and typhoon defense for Zhejiang and Fujian, and continued to maintain a Level IV emergency response for flood prevention for Heilongjiang and Shaanxi. The work team of the Office of the National Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters and the Ministry of Emergency Management is in Heilongjiang assisting and guiding flood prevention and rescue operations.

People's Daily, Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Deng Jianyang (邓剑洋)) — The reporter learned from the Ministry of Water Resources (水利部): On the morning of August 6, the Ministry of Water Resources organized a rolling consultation to analyze and assess the nationwide situation of rainfall, water conditions, and flood conditions, and to arrange and deploy key defense work.

Based on the 24-hour rainfall forecast, the Ministry of Water Resources issued a "one-province-one-list" (一省一单) targeted warning to nine provinces, including Jilin, Heilongjiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Shaanxi, and Xinjiang, notifying them of the list of counties (cities, districts) within the heavy rainfall coverage area, the list of reservoirs, and the risk areas and points for mountain torrent disasters, and reminding them to ensure the safe operation of reservoirs and silt dams during the flood season, and to defend against floods in small and medium-sized rivers and mountain torrent disasters.

The Ministry of Water Resources maintained a Level IV emergency response for flood defense for Shaanxi and Heilongjiang; five work teams from the Ministry of Water Resources are on the front lines in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Hainan, and other areas assisting and guiding the defense against heavy rainfall and floods.

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Comrade Shi Baoyuan Passes Away

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 5 — Comrade Shi Baoyuan (石宝源), retired cadre at deputy grand military region level and former deputy commander of the Shenyang Military Region (沈阳军区), died in Beijing on July 25 at the age of 90 after medical treatment proved ineffective for his illness.

Shi Baoyuan was a native of Tong County, Hebei Province (today's Tongzhou District, Beijing). He enlisted in 1954 and joined the Communist Party of China in 1955. During his revolutionary career, he successively served as student, squad leader, deputy platoon leader, staff officer, deputy division chief, regimental commander, division chief of staff, deputy division commander, division commander, and deputy army commander, making contributions to the building of the armed forces in a revolutionary, modernized, and regularized direction.

Shi Baoyuan was a delegate to the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and a deputy to the 8th and 9th National People's Congress. He was awarded the rank of major general in 1988 and promoted to lieutenant general in 1993.

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Xi Jinping Holds Talks with Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif

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"Treat Yourself as One of the Common People" (Commentator's Observation)

By: 常 晋

Grassroots work is complex and multifarious; only by mastering the proper method can one achieve 事半功倍 (shì bàn gōng bèi - "half the effort, double the result"). Recently, Excerpts from Xi Jinping's Discourses on Grassroots Work Methods and Study Reader on Xi Jinping's Important Discourses on Grassroots Work Methods have been published and distributed, pointing the way and providing important guidance for carrying out grassroots work in the new era and on the new journey. From today onward, this column will publish a series of articles to join the broad readership in deeply studying General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important discourses, exploring how to better conduct grassroots work, and contributing wisdom and strength to accomplishing the goals and tasks of the 15th Five-Year Plan.

— Editor

When one serves as an official for the people, one must understand what the people hope for and resolve their difficulties.

When the masses discover that the cadre is also one of "us," then "I am told to do it" will turn into "I want to do it."

Skimming through letters from readers, many grassroots selected graduates shared similar experiences.

When first arriving in the village, they went to the villagers' homes every day, held regular meetings to explain policies, but everyone simply did not cooperate; some even walked off on their own mid-meeting. After consulting the old Party branch secretary, their thinking finally turned around. "Wearing little white shoes while standing in the crop fields, afraid of getting your shoes dirty," "reciting materials in full formal language, delaying people's work"...

What happened later? They changed into yellow rubber boots, learned to speak the local dialect; when they saw someone's family celebrating a happy event, they rolled up their sleeves and squatted down to help pick vegetables; when they heard that a household that had shaken off poverty wanted to raise chickens, they delivered the subsidy policy to their doorstep.

Gradually, they changed from being called "college students" or "officials" by the villagers to being called "that girl" or "our village kid." Their work went more and more smoothly; whenever something came up and they called for help, everyone was willing to lend a hand.

The trick to it, in fact, is just three words: one of their own.

The view on political achievement embodies the view on the masses. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, "Communist Party cadres must insist on being 'officials of the common people,' and regard themselves as common people as well." This is epistemology, and it is also methodology. Grassroots work has a thousand threads and a million ends; in the final analysis, it is work done with people. If you can earn the trust and obedience of the masses, then everything goes smoothly; if the masses do not trust you, then nothing can advance. Put yourself in their shoes: who would be willing to follow a "passerby" to charge ahead and work hard? Only by entering physically and also entering with your heart, truly regarding yourself as a member of the masses and treating the masses' affairs as your own, can you be accepted and trusted.

When one serves as an official for the people, one must understand what the people hope for and resolve their difficulties. What counts as understanding? It is not just chatting and visiting; it is a process of sharing hardships and blending together as flesh and blood. Wang Boxiang (王伯祥), the "People's Secretary" of Shouguang (寿光) in Shandong, back then launched the "Great Northern Shouguang Development" to solve the saline-alkali problem. He moved his bedding to the construction site, lived in shacks with the villagers, and ate cold steamed buns. When a leading cadre came to investigate and asked a mud-caked "laborer," "Is Secretary Boxiang here?" the "laborer" answered, "I am he." Wrapped in mud, yet fully revealing a sincere, true character. That leading cadre sighed: "If a county has such a secretary, what is there that cannot be accomplished?"

When the masses discover that the cadre is also one of "us," then "I am told to do it" will turn into "I want to do it." During the revolutionary era, Red Army commanders did not say "Charge for me," but rather, leading by example, they exhorted the fighters, "Charge with me." That one-character difference unleashed a combat effectiveness that scorned death. This principle must still be kept in mind today. Only when cadres share hardship and live alongside the people can they better work together with them, rallying the mighty force for undertaking undertakings and starting businesses. Led by Wang Boxiang, nearly 200,000 villagers, carrying tools, surged in from every township and fought together, turning 1.2 million mu of saline-alkali land into a "cornucopia." If on ordinary days one appears heart-to-heart with the people, but when encountering difficulties takes a detour, how can one be considered a member of the masses, and how can one truly gain support? Only by burrowing into difficulties and putting oneself in others' shoes can one exchange heart for heart.

By integrating one's own individual drop of water into the vast ocean of the people, one can better draw wisdom. From living and working together with peasants before the age of 16, "knowing what the people worry about and what they hope for," to traveling through all 14 contiguous destitute areas, "going directly to poor households to see true poverty and help true poverty, and directly listening to the opinions and suggestions of cadres and the masses in poor areas"... Comrade Xi Jinping, during his work at the village, county, municipal, provincial, and central levels, has always sat on the same bench as the masses, listened to their voices, asked the people for advice, and turned the people's aspirations for a better life into reality one by one.

"Standing on the earth, immersed among the people," one will feel very grounded and full of strength, and can thus precisely diagnose the people's urgent concerns, worries, and expectations and find the "golden key" to solving problems. As Jiao Yulu (焦裕禄) said, when you feel at a loss in your work, go to the masses and ask them, and you will have a way.

Regard yourself as a common person, but do not only regard yourself as a common person. We are Party members, we are cadres, we are public servants of the people. We must therefore put public interests before private ones, be selfless for the public, 敢打硬仗、善打胜仗 (gǎn dǎ yìng zhàng, shàn dǎ shèng zhàng - "dare to fight hard battles, be good at winning battles"). In recent times, during extreme weather disasters, grassroots Party members and cadres have moved people with their presence. They went against the flow in the face of danger, issued timely warnings, notified each household, and preemptively evacuated many people. "Being recognizable in ordinary times, stepping forward at critical moments, and risking their lives in times of crisis" — this is "the proper image" of a Communist.

Liao Junbo (廖俊波), a nationally outstanding county Party secretary, once had a conversation with his daughter.

"Daddy, are you the biggest person in Nakou Town?"

"No, Daddy is the smallest person in the whole town, because Daddy serves the people of the whole town."

Only by being willing to be the "smallest person" can one achieve the "greatest undertaking."

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How Will the Ban on Fuel Vehicle Sales Be Implemented in Hainan? (Connecting Commentators)

Dialog participants:
Zhou Shanshan (周珊珊), commentator of this newspaper
Li Meng (李萌), commentator of Hainan Daily (海南日报)

Zhou Shanshan: The first province in the country to decide to ban the sale of fuel vehicles — why is it Hainan? The policy's gradual promotion and not adopting a "one-size-fits-all" approach — what sense of proportion does this reflect?

Li Meng: As early as 2018, central documents clearly proposed gradually banning the sale of fuel vehicles on Hainan Island; one year later, the province-wide ban by 2030 was written into provincial planning. The recently released "Fifteenth Five-Year Plan" for Hainan National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone (Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Building a Beautiful Hainan) proposes smoothly advancing the 2030 ban on fuel vehicle sales. From policy gestation to smooth advancement, this "slow effort" contains the strategic resolve of 谋定后动 (móu dìng hòu dòng - "plan before acting," to deliberate and then act decisively) and 蹄疾步稳 (tí jí bù wěn - "swift hooves, steady steps," to move quickly yet steadily). This is an active pursuit of change based on the positioning and endowments of the free trade port, and also a pioneering exploration serving the national "dual carbon" (双碳) work overall situation.

Establishing the province on ecology is a conscious responsibility, low-carbon transformation is an inevitable requirement for high-quality development; the island-type geography and year-round warm climate are suitable for the promotion and use of new energy vehicles; the industrial foundation is solid — the province's new energy vehicle ownership exceeds 500,000 units, accounting for over 23% of total vehicles, with penetration and popularization rates steadily among the highest in the country — the transformation has a solid market foundation.

Anchoring the 2030 ban target unwaveringly, adhering to the bottom line of ecological priority, yet proceeding step by step and clarifying three major boundaries: First, a ban on sales does not equal a ban on driving — it only controls new fuel vehicle sales, while existing fuel vehicles can be driven normally; second, the ban does not adopt a "one-size-fits-all" approach — it does not restrict the normal circulation and trading of second-hand fuel vehicles on the island; third, the transformation does not rush for success — from setting a timeline to the formal ban, an ultra-long buffer period is reserved. This maintains strategic resolve while insisting on tactical flexibility — it shows determination, and even more, wisdom.

Zhou Shanshan: Green transformation also "adds points" to people's livelihoods. For the ban on fuel vehicle sales to be steadily implemented, it is necessary to first eliminate the public's charging anxiety and usage concerns, and effectively safeguard people's livelihood and well-being.

Li Meng: The lower usage cost and smoother driving experience of new energy vehicles give the people a tangible sense of gain. Burning one less liter of fuel, saving one more kilowatt-hour of electricity — in exchange for fresher air and a quieter city — Hainan calculates the "account of immediate benefits" and the "account for future generations" clearly.

In Hainan, charging becomes more convenient. As of the end of June this year, the proportion of new energy installed capacity in Hainan exceeded 50%, with a profound transformation of the energy structure. From a 25-minute charging circle in the main urban areas of Haikou and Sanya, to an intercity 100-kilometer fast-charging radiation circle within the province, and then to 100% coverage of charging piles at highway service areas and all townships... from "being able to charge" to "charging well," Hainan uses meticulous supporting guarantees to make green travel change from "optional" to "preferred," allowing the masses to truly share the dividends of ecological transformation.

Zhou Shanshan: The ban on fuel vehicle sales is just "one move" (一子落) in Hainan's green transformation, while low-carbon development across the entire region is the "whole board come alive" (满盘活) for the high-quality development of the free trade port. Looking at the entire island, what is the overall blueprint for low-carbon island construction, and how to create a new benchmark for zero carbon in China?

Li Meng: Hainan's low-carbon island construction has a "roadmap": achieve a carbon peak province-wide before 2030, fully build a low-carbon island before 2045, and achieve carbon neutrality province-wide before 2060; also has a "construction schedule," setting around the targets to establish six major systems: industrial carbon reduction, urban and rural carbon reduction, transportation decarbonization, ecological carbon sequestration, smart carbon management, and long-term carbon governance.

Relying on the construction of the National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone (国家生态文明试验区), Hainan has produced a number of national benchmark low-carbon achievements. Boao Dongyu Island has built China's first zero-carbon demonstration zone and was selected as a national typical case of urban renewal. Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park has completed the registration and certification of natural resource rights, achieving a two-way empowerment of ecological protection and cultural tourism value addition. Haikou High-tech Zone was selected as a national-level zero-carbon industrial park, cultivating 22 national-level and provincial-level green factories, creating a model for green industrial transformation.

To create a new zero-carbon benchmark, the core is to promote a systematic reshaping of the development model. Use pilot breakthroughs to drive province-wide upgrades, transform the "bonsai" of single-point demonstrations into a "landscape" of province-wide popularization, and exert efforts in institutional innovation, ecological protection, industrial upgrading, smart governance, etc. Only by adhering to a systematic approach can we promote systemic change and achieve overall results.

Zhou Shanshan: What replicable and scalable experiences can Hainan's pioneering green transformation provide for the country's green development?

Li Meng: From the provincial "multiple plans integration" (多规合一) reform to delimiting the provincial ecological protection redline (生态保护红线), from the national park system reform pilot to clarifying the timeline for banning fuel vehicle sales... the background color of ecological civilization must be painted by resolute reform; the quality of green development must be polished by institutional innovation.

To be at the forefront has never relied on waiting, relying on, or demanding [from others], but on daring and doing. In direction, maintain resolve — always treat ecological civilization construction as a "matter of national significance" (国之大者), and unwaveringly adhere to the long-term direction of green transformation; in reform, put institutions first — use systematic institutional innovation to empower green governance, ensuring the transformation is normalized and long-term; in governance, systematic overall planning — abandon fragmented thinking to achieve comprehensive governance of all factors, all aspects, and all chains; in advancement, proceed step by step — grasp the rhythm of green transformation that "cannot wait but also cannot be rushed" (等不得也急不得), so that the market has expectations, society can adapt, and development is sustainable.

Zhou Shanshan: Advancing Chinese-style modernization, green development is a compulsory question. Solve problems with institutional innovation, stabilize the overall situation with systematic thinking — the green background of high-quality development will surely become more distinct. This is not only a profound transformation of the development model, but also an iterative upgrade of the form of civilization — what we leave to future generations is not only lucid waters and lush mountains (绿水青山), but also a future of sustainable development.

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Think More, Step Forward (Micro Perspective)

By: 戴林峰

A single food delivery order: consumers want convenience and speed, property management emphasizes safety, delivery riders seek speed — how to solve this “equation”?
In some business districts and residential communities in Shanghai, a “relay delivery” model is being explored to break the deadlock. Dedicated pickup staff are added in shopping malls and neighborhoods; riders drop off and leave immediately at transfer points, effectively resolving issues such as hard-to-enter gates, hard-to-park vehicles, hard-to-find buildings, and hard-to-climb stairs. The plan sounds fine, but the process of implementation has not been smooth sailing.

For example, urban public space is already scarce, especially in some older neighborhoods and bustling commercial streets; setting aside spots for food delivery means squeezing out other functional spaces. Centralized storage of deliveries saves trouble, but problems such as hygiene risks and order maintenance also emerge… Shopping malls have concerns, residents have worries, property management finds it troublesome — the new “equation” is still hard to solve.

Facts have proven that a “good idea” alone is not enough; the key is to achieve operability, effectiveness, and the ability to provide a safety net through high-level management and services. The more complex the problem, the more it requires pooling collective wisdom and gathering joint strength to resolve.

For instance, the Second Building Party Committee (淮海中路第二楼宇党委) on Huaihai Middle Road in Shanghai conducted intensive visits, took the lead in convening discussions among riders, merchants, consumers, property management, and others, sorted out the concerns of all parties one by one, and solved them item by item — order volume and satisfaction both rose. In the Huaguoyuan Community (花果园社区) of Guiyang, Guizhou, based on the objective realities of dense buildings and complex terrain, the area was scientifically divided into zones, and community residents were hired to complete the precise “last 100 meters” of delivery — both riders and residents benefited. Good methods are no longer 一厢情愿 (yī xiāng qíng yuàn - “one-sided willingness,” wishful thinking), but under good grassroots governance they have found the greatest common divisor and achieved the optimal solution.

General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: “Our social groups are becoming more refined and differentiated. For the delivery couriers, ride-hailing drivers, e-commerce practitioners, and others that have emerged in recent years, management and services must keep pace and fill this gap.” How to “fill the gap”? Clearly, we cannot wait for problems to come knocking, only act when difficulties arise, or rely on different groups to “digest” things on their own. Instead, we must provide high-quality management and services through good grassroots governance. Management is not one-sided restraint, but a balance between “letting go with vitality” and “managing well”; services are not passive responses, but the building of consensus amid diverse demands.

Transform “passive response” into “active foresight” — it is advisable to think more for the masses. The grassroots level is the “last kilometer” for policy implementation and also the “first kilometer” for sensing the warmth and coldness of public sentiment. Beijing’s Fengtai (丰台) district has dispatched “governance secretaries” (治理书记) to communities, pushing community governance from “receive complaints and handle immediately” (接诉即办) toward “handle before complaints arise” (未诉先办), grasping and handling problems early and at a small scale. If one is merely accustomed to problem-driven action and only deals with issues after the masses report them, the pace will often be half a beat slow, and the optimal time window for solving difficult problems can easily be missed. Only by bringing work to the side of the masses and making the grassroots “nerve endings” the “outposts” of governance can we achieve 事半功倍 (shì bàn gōng bèi - “half the work, double the result,” to achieve more with less effort).

Transform “people look for policies” into “policies look for people” — it is advisable to take a step forward through innovation. From a grassroots cadre in Beijing’s Miyun (密云) district using 10 billion text tokens (词元) to hand-code a flood control mini-program, to Shenzhen, Guangdong, setting up 207,000 “tidal parking spaces” (潮汐车位) to alleviate the “parking difficulty” — “micro-innovations” activate governance efficiency. As society develops, new situations and new problems emerge one after another; established work approaches and methods inevitably encounter bottlenecks. Getting one work model to function does not mean other problems can all be 迎刃而解 (yíng rèn ér jiě - “meets the blade and splits apart,” to solve easily). Grassroots work has no standard answer; resolving the people’s urgent, difficult, worrying, and longing matters (急难愁盼) is the unremitting direction of effort. Say less about reasons why something cannot be done, think more about ways it can be done; continuously optimize and constantly innovate — only then can policies exert actual effectiveness in solving problems and 日臻完善 (rì zhēn wánshàn - “daily reaching perfection,” gradually improving).

Serving the people is 常做常新 (cháng zuò cháng xīn - “always doing, always new,” to constantly do and constantly renew); innovating in approach is important, but winning hearts is even more so. If management and services think more and take a step forward, grassroots governance can rise another level, and the convenience of daily life can increase a little more.

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Photo Report

Emergency drills are an important means to test and improve emergency response capabilities. Currently, it is the critical flood-prevention period of "the lower reaches of the seventh month and the upper reaches of the eighth month" (the height of the flood season). In many places, practical drills are being conducted for scenarios such as mountain torrent warning issuance, river channel danger disposal, dam reinforcement and emergency rescue, mass transfer and resettlement, and search and rescue of trapped persons. Emergency rescue plans are being refined, and work on disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief during the flood season is continuously advanced, building a "safety dike" for flood prevention.

This is exactly:

The flood order is like a mountain, the trumpet sounds;
Practical drills forge strong skills.
Always prepared, never slack against risks,
Safeguarding thousands of homes in peace.

Liao Yuanwen

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Let Students "Dare to Ask, Know How to Ask, and Keep Asking" (Across the Board)

By: 张学炬

According to reports, the High School Affiliated to South China Normal University (华南师范大学附属中学) has set aside the last 10 minutes of some classes for students to freely ask questions. This small classroom change stems from the school's exploration of how to cultivate students' critical thinking abilities.

Leaving time for students to "ask" in the classroom in fact only provides the possibility of asking questions. As for whether students possess the courage to "dare to ask," the method to "know how to ask," and the perseverance to "persist in questioning," systematic teaching reform is needed to support this; otherwise, these precious 10 minutes are likely to become a silent blank space.

"Dare to ask" is the origin of students' active thinking and proactive learning. Inside and outside the classroom, many phenomena and details can trigger students' curiosity and generate doubts; the key is to encourage students to voice them. Schools should optimize the evaluation system and guide teachers to listen patiently and respond positively as much as possible. For students who have the courage to break the silence first, teachers should promptly give affirmation and praise, so as to further enhance their courage and also create a demonstration effect.

"Know how to ask" is a sign that students' thinking is maturing. "学贵有疑 (xué guì yǒu yí - "learning values doubt," meaning that questioning is essential to learning)" — innovation often begins with "valuable persistent questioning." The key to asking is not in "quantity" but in "quality"; not in "bustle" but in "depth." How to guide students to "know how to ask"? Teachers might carefully create problem situations, lay out a ladder of thinking that gradually deepens, and turn asking questions into a learning method.

"Persist in questioning" is a manifestation of learning continuously deepening. Schools should provide space and build platforms, encourage teachers to accompany students in digging deeper and exploring continuously, cultivate the perseverance of 打破砂锅问到底 (dǎ pò shā guō wèn dào dǐ - "break the casserole pot and ask to the bottom," to insist on getting to the root of the matter), foster patience for long-term persistence and solid research, and avoid 浅尝辄止 (qiǎn cháng zhé zhǐ - "taste lightly then stop," to dabble and not pursue deeply).

In the era of artificial intelligence, the ability to ask questions becomes increasingly precious. The curiosity and critical thinking unique to humans cannot be replaced by machines. Enhancing students' ability to "dare to ask, know how to ask, and persist in questioning" is not only a reform of teaching methods but also an educational enlightenment oriented toward the future. This requires teachers to transform from "preachers of knowledge" to "accompanying runners of thinking," and moreover requires the whole society to evaluate education with a longer-term perspective.

(Excerpted from China Education Daily (中国教育报), originally titled "What Is the Value of '10-Minute Classroom Questioning'?")

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Catch Up with the Light, Cast the Light

By: 张超凡

Not long ago, I stood on the stage of the Touching China 2025 Annual Figure Awards Ceremony (感动中国2025年度人物颁奖盛典), and more than thirty years of life experiences flashed back through my mind. Born without a left forearm, I was once deeply self-conscious; now, I openly hold flowers in a golden bionic hand, no longer hiding or avoiding.

Why impose limitations on oneself because of a disability? “Even if the wings are broken, the heart must still fly.” With encouragement from my family, I began practicing speed skating at age seven. In the fifth grade of elementary school, in order to perform better at the Jilin Province Speed Skating Competition, I made a wish to my grandmother to have a “left hand.” At that time, movable prosthetic limbs could only be purchased from abroad, often costing hundreds of thousands of yuan — more than our entire family’s income combined. My grandmother stayed up all night using an old sewing machine to make a “cotton glove,” and tied it onto the joint of my left arm with thread. So I “sneaked” into the regular group, won the championship, and understood for the first time: if there is light in the heart, one can shine just as brightly.

Chasing light — why not also cast light for others? When I was a volunteer teacher in college, I taught children to draw, and they handed me steamed buns and pancakes. The hope leaping in their clear eyes struck me. I realized that I had the ability to extend a hand and help others pursue their dreams. Later, I gave up the opportunity for postgraduate exemption, returned to Changchun to start a business, and began with a small academy, establishing the ChaoFan Public Welfare Dream Classroom (超凡公益梦想课堂) to provide free classes for children with family difficulties or physical disabilities. Over more than a decade, hundreds of children have picked up paintbrushes, and over a hundred disabled individuals have found stable employment. Courageously chasing light, and more willing to radiate light — is that not also a form of self-transcendence?

Yet I have always harbored a longing for “two hands.” A video sketched out the picture in my mind: a disabled person playing the piano with a smart bionic hand, the notes leaping with the movements of the fingers. I clearly realized that technology could already tangibly improve our lives, so I began to pursue this ray of light.

No pursuit comes without crossing obstacles. In 2022, with the help of a domestic technology company, I began trying to fit a smart bionic hand, but because my congenital residual limb was too short, at first not even effective signals could be captured. The engineers were stumped, but none of us gave up. If I could succeed, I could refract the light of technology to tens of millions of people with limb disabilities. I began learning to use “two hands,” repeatedly training in gripping and spreading, starting with tearing open packaging bags and holding a water cup. The research staff kept debugging the equipment to make the bionic hand serve me better. Technology’s guardianship of people, the transformation of creativity into products — this is also society’s embrace of special groups. On my 30th birthday, for the first time I steadily held a birthday cake with both hands. Gazing at the candlelight, tears in my eyes — at that moment, “technology brightens life” became tangible.

Holding onto the torch, I must accelerate my run and bring it to more places. My team and I quickly launched the “Forearm Deficiency Public Welfare Project” (前臂缺失公益项目) and the “Small Planet Spreading Wings Plan” (小星球展翼计划), traveling across half of China to deliver smart bionic hands and bionic legs to disabled adolescents one by one, letting them embrace technology. The little girl Tongtong (潼潼), who lost the function of her right hand due to a rare disease, practiced with me using a bionic hand to grasp apples — dropping again and again, starting over again and again. Later, she could use the bionic hand to fly a kite; the kite flew higher and higher, and she also broke free from constraints and ran with the wind. I understood even more deeply the relationship between technology and people: with life as the setting and well-being as the goal, the story of technology and humanity will have broader space and a deeper direction.

It is fortunate to be born in this era. In the past, I moved forward relying on my tenacity and my family’s companionship. Now, benefiting from technology for good, more people who have suffered setbacks have regained the right to embrace happiness and to chase light and dreams. Therefore, I believe all the more that in this land, everyone can be lifted up; even if fate is flawed, life can still shine brightly.

(The author is a Touching China 2025 Annual Figure; this article was compiled from an interview by our reporter Men Jiewei (门杰伟).)

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Li Haoran, Peng Fei, He Juan

Email for this section: rmrbpl@peopledaily.cn (Please indicate the column name when submitting contributions)

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Loyalty to the Party Leads to a Bright Path

By: 中央统战部

This year, August 7 marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Chen Shutong (陈叔通). Mr. Chen Shutong was a renowned democratic revolutionary fighter, a loyal patriot, a pioneer in revitalizing China's cultural and educational undertakings, one of the state leaders of New China, a founder and outstanding leader of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (中华全国工商业联合会), and an intimate friend who shared the same boat through wind and rain (风雨同舟, fēng yǔ tóng zhōu - "wind and rain, same boat," to share hardships together), shared honor and disgrace (荣辱与共, róng rǔ yǔ gòng - "honor and disgrace together," to share both honor and disgrace), treated each other with all sincerity (肝胆相照, gān dǎn xiāng zhào - "liver and gallbladder shine upon each other," to treat each other with absolute sincerity), and cooperated for a long time with the Communist Party of China. He was infinitely loyal to the country and the people, full of confidence in socialism and communism, and made outstanding contributions to the strength of the country, the rejuvenation of the nation, and the happiness of the people.

One, anchor the original aspiration of patriotism, seek the path to save the nation, emerge from the mud unstained

In 1876, Mr. Chen Shutong (name Jingdi, styled Shutong) was born in a scholarly family in Renhe County (仁和县), Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and from childhood was steeped in the fertile soil of traditional culture. During those dark years when the late Qing government was decadent and declining, foreign powers encircled and invaded, and the national crisis was unprecedentedly grave, the young Chen Shutong gradually germinated progressive thoughts of saving the nation from subjugation and ensuring its survival, and of reforming and seeking strength. In 1898, the Wuxu Reform Movement broke out. Mr. Chen Shutong actively participated in it, supporting the reform proposals put forward by Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and others, eagerly hoping to save the nation from peril through political reform. In 1903, he passed the highest imperial examination and was awarded the title of compiler of the Hanlin Academy, but he did not indulge in fame and fortune. The following year, he resolutely traveled east to Japan to study, deeply investigating the modernization process after the Meiji Restoration, his thinking increasingly maturing, his patriotic sentiment growing firmer.

In 1906, Mr. Chen Shutong completed his studies and returned to the country. After the Qing government announced the "preparation for constitutional government," he was elected a member of the Advisory Council (资政院), actively promoting constitutional monarchy, striving to save the situation through institutional reform. At the same time, he was concerned about his hometown, returning to Hangzhou to found a girls' school, advocating women's liberation and equality between men and women, breaking the feudal ethical code's bondage on women; he compiled works such as General Theory of Law (法学通论) and founded the Vernacular Newspaper (白话报), using easy-to-understand language to propagate social reform, democratic thought, and patriotic ideals, awakening the people's national consciousness and feelings of family and country. In addition, he participated in founding the Shanghai Hezhong Library (合众图书馆), contributing to the development of modern cultural and educational undertakings. In 1910, Mr. Chen Shutong secretly joined the Restoration Society (光复会), actively contacting revolutionary patriots, participating in anti-Qing revolutionary activities, completely turning from a reformist to a revolutionary, firmly throwing himself into the great cause of overthrowing the feudal monarchy and establishing a democratic republic.

After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, Mr. Chen Shutong, by virtue of his profound learning and reputation and his outstanding patriotic contributions, was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the first parliament of the Republic of China, and successively served as Secretary-General of the Zhejiang Military Government, Secretary of the Presidential Palace, Secretary-General of the State Council, and also concurrently as manager of the Beijing Daily (北京日报) office. He actively engaged in the construction of the democratic republic, hoping that the newborn republic could achieve national independence, national prosperity, and the happiness of the people.

After Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the Xinhai Revolution, China fell into the dark period of warlord warfare, division, and fragmentation. Witnessing the democratic republic turning into a bubble, Chen Shutong was deeply grieved and indignant, and resolutely drew a clear line with the reactionary forces. He categorically refused and sternly denounced Yuan Shikai's attempts to win him over with high office and generous emoluments, clearly stating that he would never collude with restorationist forces, still less aid the evil-doer and betray the nation. In 1915, he accepted an invitation to leave Beijing for the south, entered the Commercial Press (商务印书馆) to work, and at the same time established an anti-Yuan liaison point in Shanghai, secretly uniting with such figures as Liang Qichao and Cai E, becoming a core backbone of the anti-Yuan national protection struggle, rendering meritorious service for the victory of the National Protection Movement. Mr. Chen Shutong also began a new phase of his life in Shanghai of "saving the nation through industry" and "saving the nation through culture." During his tenure as a director of the Commercial Press, with his extraordinary managerial ability and far-sighted insight, he propelled the Commercial Press out of difficulties and toward vigorous development.

From a scholarly youth to a reform-minded patriot, from a returned overseas student to a revolutionary pioneer, the young Mr. Chen Shutong, with the status of a Hanlin academician, broke through worldly prejudices, and with the heart of a pure-hearted son, shouldered the responsibility of saving the nation. In the tide of the old democratic revolution, he anchored his original aspiration of patriotism and tempered his unyielding moral integrity, laying a solid ideological foundation and spiritual base for his lifelong pursuit of progress and dedication to serving the country.

Two, recognize that only the Communist Party can save China, firmly listen to the Party's words and follow the Party

In 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded – this world-shaking major event tore through the deep darkness of the old era. This beam of newborn revolutionary light brought new hope for national rejuvenation to the Chinese people who were painstakingly searching for a way to save the country, and showed a bright path to save the nation and the people and revitalize China to patriotic democrats like Chen Shutong who were groping forward in the dark. After the outbreak of the all-out War of Resistance in 1937, Mr. Chen Shutong actively contacted patriotic figures from all walks of life in Shanghai, organized anti-Japanese fundraising and supported soldiers at the front, propagated anti-Japanese and national salvation ideas, and inspired the people's fighting will. In 1941, the situation in Shanghai grew increasingly perilous. Mr. Chen Shutong, upholding the integrity of 宁为玉碎，不为瓦全 (níng wéi yù suì, bù wéi wǎ quán - "rather be a broken piece of jade than a whole tile," to prefer death with honor over life with dishonor), categorically refused to take up a puppet post. He often discussed the way to save the country with friends, and gradually established contact with figures from the Communist Party of China. During the all-out War of Resistance, although he was in the occupied areas, he always upheld the great righteousness of the nation, secretly supported the underground anti-Japanese work, protected progressive people and patriotic youth, transmitted progressive forces, and used his actions to interpret the patriotic responsibility that "every individual is responsible for the rise or fall of the country" (天下兴亡、匹夫有责, tiān xià xīng wáng, pǐ fū yǒu zé - "the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of every individual," to regard national affairs as one's own duty).

After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, Mr. Chen Shutong was filled with joy, but he also concluded that the Kuomintang's "Party nature had changed and become corrupt and decadent," and that it had "persisted in its evil ways without repentance" (怙恶勿悛, hù è wù quān - "rely on evil and not repent," to persist in evil without repentance) to the point of being beyond cure. He resolutely refused to take up any official post in the Kuomintang government. After the full-scale outbreak of the civil war, Mr. Chen Shutong responded to the call of the Communist Party of China, and with great enthusiasm threw himself into the ranks of opposing the civil war and dictatorship and striving for democracy. Someone asked him, at such an advanced age, who gave you such courage and strength? He answered categorically: "The Communist Party of China!" In May 1947, the movement against hunger, against civil war, and against persecution broke out in Shanghai. Mr. Chen Shutong actively voiced support, took the lead in drafting a protest letter, and jointly with ten elders from the economic and cultural circles, including Zhang Yuanji and Tang Weizhi, signed a petition to rescue arrested students. The "Ten Elders' Petition" created a sensation and became a widely praised story. In July 1948, faced with the so-called "Thousand-Person Open Telegram" launched by the Kuomintang, Mr. Chen Shutong categorically refused to sign, saying: "This is a revolution, and I hope for a thorough revolution... We must cooperate with the Friendly Side." The "Friendly Side" to which Chen Shutong referred was the Communist Party of China. He participated in organizing the Shanghai Federation of People's Organizations from All Walks of Life and engaged in anti-Chiang Kai-shek democratic activities.

In April 1948, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "May Day Slogan" (五一口号). All democratic parties and patriotic democrats issued declarations and statements endorsing the "May Day Slogan" and responded in succession. Mr. Chen Shutong also actively responded, and under the careful arrangements of the underground Party organization, secretly left Shanghai, traveled via Hong Kong, and arrived safely in Beijing in March 1949, where he was warmly welcomed and cordially received by Comrade Mao Zedong, Comrade Zhou Enlai, and other leaders of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Comrade Mao Zedong warmly praised Mr. Chen Shutong, saying that it was truly commendable that in the old society he could emerge from the mud without being stained. Regarding the venue for convening the new Political Consultative Conference (新政协), some suggested Shijiazhuang, which had been liberated earlier. Comrades Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai consulted Chen Shutong's opinion, and he suggested: "Shijiazhuang is regional; it would be better to convene in Beijing."

On June 15, 1949, the first plenary session of the Preparatory Committee of the new Political Consultative Conference opened in the Qinzheng Hall of Zhongnanhai. Mr. Chen Shutong was elected vice-chairman of the Preparatory Committee. He delivered a speech with "great honor and great joy," expressing high respect to the Communist Party of China, Comrade Mao Zedong, and the People's Liberation Army. He called on all democratic parties to sincerely accept the leadership of the Communist Party of China, to strengthen and consolidate the people's democratic united front, and called on the industrial and commercial circles of the whole country to "give full play to patriotic creativity and spirit of sacrifice" and to intensify efforts to develop production and restore the national economy, thereby expressing support for the new Political Consultative Conference.

In September 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was solemnly held in Beijing. Mr. Chen Shutong, as a representative of the industrial and commercial circles and a member of the presidium, attended the conference, and was elected Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a Member of the Central People's Government. As a non-Party democratic personage, he formally engaged in the cause of building New China. During the conference, together with all other members, he deliberated on the grand plan of founding the nation, and discussed major matters such as the name of the country, the national flag, the national anthem, the national emblem, and the capital of New China.

From resisting Japan and saving the nation to democratic struggle, from responding to the "May Day Slogan" to rushing to the liberated areas, from preparing for the new Political Consultative Conference to welcoming New China, during the period of the new democratic revolution, Mr. Chen Shutong, with his firm political stance, keen historical insight, and sincere patriotic sentiment, resolutely chose to follow the Communist Party of China, shared the same heart and the same direction with the Communist Party of China, and rendered indelible meritorious service for the establishment of New China, becoming the most intimate and most reliable close friend of the Communist Party of China.

Three, uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China, throw himself into the socialist revolution and construction at an advanced age of over seventy

On October 1, 1949, the founding ceremony was held on Tiananmen Square. Mr. Chen Shutong, then 73 years old with a flowing white beard, stood beside Comrade Mao Zedong as a Member of the Central People's Government, witnessing the historic moment of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In 1951, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided to establish the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce on the basis of local federations of industry and commerce. Comrade Zhou Enlai, on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, nominated Mr. Chen Shutong to serve as the chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. Chen Shutong wholeheartedly approved of the establishment of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and devoted himself fully to the preparatory work. In June 1952, the preparatory representative conference of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce was held in Beijing. In October 1953, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce was formally established. Mr. Chen Shutong was elected chairman at the first, second, and third member representative congresses. In his work in the Federation of Industry and Commerce, he firmly relied on the leadership of the Communist Party, united progressive people in the industrial and commercial circles, and promoted the gradual transition of the country's private industry and commerce to the socialist path; he devoted all his efforts to integrating the requirements of the Party and the government with the wishes of the industrial and commercial circles, making outstanding contributions on some major issues, which won praise from leading comrades of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and respect from comrades in the industrial and commercial circles.

In 1953, China began the socialist transformation of capitalist industry and commerce. On the eve of the second session of the first executive committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce in October 1955, Comrade Mao Zedong encouraged everyone to clearly recognize the trend of social development, take the initiative to grasp their own destiny, stand on the socialist side, and consciously and gradually transition to the new system. Mr. Chen Shutong conveyed this at the first opportunity, pointing out: "The future of the country is our own future." After the meeting, a wave of accepting transformation surged in the industrial and commercial circles. During the socialist transformation, Chen Shutong exerted his utmost care, actively propagating and explaining the Party's policies to people in the industrial and commercial circles. He was most concerned about three issues: whether the assessment and verification of assets could be fair and reasonable, whether personnel arrangements were appropriate, and how public and private sides could cooperate well. He deeply understood that only by addressing these issues could the initiative of the industrial and commercial circles be truly unleashed, and their knowledge and technology be contributed to serve New China. When Mr. Chen Shutong called on industrialists and businessmen to make contributions to socialist construction, he said: "The production technology and useful management knowledge we possess are needed for China's socialist construction. Therefore, the state and the people value us and regard us as a national asset." They must "contribute them without reservation to repay the state and the people's encouragement and expectations." By the end of 1956, 99% of private industrial enterprises and 82.2% of private commercial enterprises had been brought into the orbit of public-private joint operation or cooperative commerce, and Chen Shutong's contribution was indelible.

During the three years of economic difficulty, some people in the industrial and commercial circles experienced ideological fluctuations and lost confidence. Mr. Chen Shutong personally wrote a couplet: "Keep in mind the six hundred million people with one heart; see clearly the nine fingers with both eyes." He encouraged everyone to take the overall situation into consideration when encountering difficulties, to proceed from the overall interests of the people; to both recognize difficulties and see achievements, and not to lose confidence due to temporary difficulties. This couplet quickly spread and became a true portrayal of how he always kept the country and the people in his heart.

Mr. Chen Shutong always sincerely supported the leadership of the Communist Party of China, and once wrote the verse "Sincerely rely on the Party, the path will not be lost." Recalling his process of exploration, he said: "In the past, I only had a vague longing for China's brightness. After many conversations with leading Party comrades, I suddenly saw the light. I realized that my struggles over the past decades belonged to old democracy, and old democracy could not succeed in China. Only under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, through new democracy, and from new democracy to socialism, can the Chinese people stand up, China become independent and prosperous, and the Chinese people no longer be bullied and trampled by imperialism."

On February 17, 1966, Mr. Chen Shutong passed away in Beijing. On the 19th, people from all walks of life in the capital held a public memorial ceremony at Zhongshan Hall (中山堂) in Zhongshan Park, with Comrade Zhou Enlai presiding and Comrades Deng Xiaoping and Peng Zhen assisting. Mr. Chen Shutong interpreted with his lifelong struggle the sentiment of "keeping in mind the six hundred million people with one heart," having the people in his heart and the country in his breast, always sharing the same boat through wind and rain with the Party, and making outstanding contributions to the socialist cause worthy of the times.

Four, treat each other with all sincerity, share honor and disgrace, his lofty character and spiritual style are forever worthy of our respect and learning

As time passes, his character endures. From reform-seeking in the late Qing, safeguarding democracy in the early Republic, preserving integrity and resisting Japan during the War of Resistance, to supporting the Communist Party and making progress during the War of Liberation, and participating in politics for the people after the founding of New China, Mr. Chen Shutong always maintained the heart of a pure-hearted son, upholding integrity in darkness and bravely shouldering his mission in brightness. His lofty character and spiritual style are forever worthy of our respect and learning.

In commemorating Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn from his character as a close friend and outspoken friend who listens to the Party's words and follows the Party. At the time of national crisis, faced with the starkly different positions of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party on saving the country, Mr. Chen Shutong deeply recognized that only the Communist Party of China was the hope of the nation. During the War of Liberation, he placed all his hopes for saving China on the people's forces led by the Communist Party of China, using his whole life to practice the promise of sharing the same boat through wind and rain with the Party. Mr. Chen Shutong was not only a close friend of the Communist Party of China, but also an outspoken friend who spoke frankly without reservation. He always believed that the Communist Party of China serves the people; as long as one acts in the interests of the people, there is nothing that cannot be said to the Party. This conviction made him always open-hearted and outspoken, sincerely supporting the Party's line, principles, and policies, never concealing his views or avoiding problems. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "Popular support is the greatest politics; consensus is the driving force for progress." In learning from Mr. Chen Shutong, we should inherit this character of being frank with the Party and responsible to the people, always adhere to the correct political direction, always stand firmly on the side of the people, and offer true words and good strategies for the country's development.

In commemorating Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn from his feelings of family and country in worrying about the country and the people and acting for the country and the people. Mr. Chen Shutong lived in an old China where the country was in turmoil. Faced with a chaotic era of internal and external troubles, he was not attached to the fame of a Hanlin scholar, but went abroad to study in search of the truth of saving the country. After returning, he founded schools, newspapers, and wrote books, determinedly seeking the path to a strong country. After 1927, Mr. Chen Shutong long served as a director of Zhejiang Industrial Bank (浙江兴业银行) and concurrently as manager of the general manager's office, adhering to the concept of "saving the nation through industry" and supporting the development of national industry and commerce. During the War of Resistance, he devoted all his strength to the cause of national salvation, using his actions to interpret the unyielding character of a patriot. Faced with the Kuomintang's launching of civil war and trampling on democracy, he initiated the "Ten Elders' Petition," unremittingly struggling to rescue progressive students and strive for peace and democracy. When the Communist Party of China issued the "May Day Slogan," he resolutely broke through numerous obstacles, traveled to the liberated areas, and threw himself into the great cause of building New China. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "Patriotism is the core of our national spirit, the spiritual bond that unites the Chinese people and the Chinese nation with one heart and one mind and self-renewal." In learning from Mr. Chen Shutong, we should cultivate deep feelings of family and country that "every individual is responsible for the rise or fall of the country," always place the future of the country and the destiny of the nation at the highest position in our hearts, and carry forward the pure-hearted heart of loving the country and serving the people.

In commemorating Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn from his spirit of practical action in uniting and cooperating, and in pioneering and advancing. After the victory of the War of Resistance, Mr. Chen Shutong, at an advanced age of over seventy, resolutely threw himself into the torrent of opposing civil war and striving for peace, opposing dictatorship and striving for democracy, rushing to the forefront of the patriotic democratic movement, and broadly gathering consensus from all walks of life. After the founding of New China, he based himself on the overall situation, took the initiative to act, always upholding the concept of uniting all sides and serving the overall situation, actively safeguarding the rights and interests of the industrial and commercial circles, closely uniting the vast number of people in the industrial and commercial circles around the Party and the people, and joining hands to contribute to the socialist construction of New China. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "Unity is a powerful force to overcome all difficulties, an important guarantee for rallying people's hearts and achieving great undertakings." In learning from Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn his spirit of bearing the overall situation in mind and uniting and cooperating, his style of seeking truth and being pragmatic and daring to pioneer, actively gather the forces of all sides, converge the synergy of development, and continuously create a new situation in work on the new journey of the new era.

In commemorating Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn from his noble quality of pursuing truth and constantly making progress. Mr. Chen Shutong pursued truth throughout his life and was courageous in self-renovation. Even at an advanced age, he still earnestly studied theory and learned policies, never putting down his books, studying tirelessly. He carefully studied Party documents; too old to take notes, he relied on "thinking, listening, and asking" to grasp the spirit. He encouraged himself with Comrade Zhou Enlai's words: "Live to be old, learn to be old, transform to be old." He frankly stated that he had experienced different historical periods, had once advocated constitutional monarchy and the establishment of a bourgeois democratic republic, and even had remnants of feudal superstition, deeply understanding that only by continuous learning and transformation could he keep pace with the new era and new society. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "Being good at learning means being good at making progress." In learning from Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn his persistence in pursuing truth, his courage for self-renovation, and his open-mindedness, always maintain a modest and studious attitude, make progress through learning, grow through practice, constantly calibrate the direction of our thinking, enhance our ability to perform duties, and keep pace with the times with an enterprising spirit that never stops.

In commemorating Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn from his upright spirit of upholding integrity and clearly distinguishing love from hate. Mr. Chen Shutong used the verse "No obstacle, the fragrance still exists; sharing the cold, the dream begins to be clear" to express his aspirations throughout his life, interpreting patriotic and people-loving integrity and righteous responsibility with his unbending pride. Faced with Yuan Shikai's high salary offers and the Kuomintang authorities' temptations of high office and generous emoluments, he was never moved, categorically refusing to collude with them; faced with the intimidation and bribery of the Japanese puppet forces, he confronted them with cold disdain, standing firm as a mountain, always maintaining the noble and unyielding character of the plum blossom, guarding his national stance. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "To be a person, one must have integrity and character. Whether integrity or character, patriotism comes first." In learning from Mr. Chen Shutong, we should learn his character of adhering to the original aspiration, being neither humble nor pushy, his quality of clearly distinguishing love from hate and being upright and impartial, standing clear-cut on major issues of principle, daring to struggle against unhealthy trends and evil influences, and upholding our political stance and practicing the original aspiration of patriotism with a body of upright spirit.

Mr. Chen Shutong's life was one of being of one heart with the Party and treating each other with all sincerity, one of unswerving dedication, patriotism and service to the people, one of keeping abreast of the times and pursuing progress. We should inherit and carry forward Mr. Chen Shutong's lofty spiritual style, unite more closely around the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, adhere to the original aspiration and mission, firm up political conviction, follow the Party forward with a sincere heart, and shoulder responsibilities with feelings of family and country. The vast number of private enterprises and private entrepreneurs must bear in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest entrustment to "cherish the ambition to serve the country, focus on development, operate lawfully and well, and let those who get rich first promote common prosperity," gather the strength of striving together, join hands to draw the blueprint for development, and continuously write a new chapter in the modernization of Chinese-style socialism!

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"I Want to Bring Warmth to More People" (Heartwarming Story)

By: 本报记者 白光迪

In summer, the rain comes suddenly, and the water on the street corner quickly overflows the curb. Li Dongnian (李东念) parked his car to the side, rolled up his trouser legs, and waded into the water. He bent down and scooped out the fallen leaves piled at the mouth of the manhole, handful by handful. A few minutes later, the water slowly receded. Such small deeds he had done many times — not because someone assigned them, but because he felt someone ought to do them.

In these years in Jiangsu Xuzhou, what Li Dongnian mostly did were such inconspicuous "small deeds." When it was hot, he would send a few cases of water to outdoor workers; at holidays, he would bring some food to sanitation workers; when the community needed a wall decorated, he brought his paintbrush; during winter and summer breaks, when some children had no one to look after them, he cleared out his classroom and took the children drawing, writing, and doing handicrafts. These matters, in his own words, he always dismissed 轻描淡写 (qīng miáo dàn xiě - "light sketch, pale writing," to mention casually or play down), but many such "by-the-way" actions, pieced together, gradually became his daily routine of persisting in doing good deeds over the years.

The year Li Dongnian started middle school, his father was in a traffic accident while on a business trip, and was rescued late at night by a passing couple. His father was hospitalized for nearly a year. During that period, his mother stayed at the hospital, while he was home alone, living on handouts from the neighbors. "At that time, I ate meals from a hundred households." Li Dongnian recalls. Later, his mother often said to him: "In the future, when you meet someone who needs help, if you have the ability, give them a hand."

When he was young, he was admitted to a police academy. The year he graduated, because of health reasons, he was unable to become a police officer as he had hoped. "This was a huge blow to me." Li Dongnian did not wait any longer; he found a job in sales in Nanjing. One time, on his way to work, he took the bus. There was a sentence pasted inside the carriage — "No matter how small the strength, it is still a kind of support." He looked at it for a long time, lost in thought.

Later, he came to Xuzhou, settled down, and opened a small calligraphy and painting training class. As life gradually stabilized, the thought "I want to do something to help others" sprouted once again. In Xuzhou, he got to know a public-interest team and began doing small charitable deeds: giving water to delivery riders and sanitation workers, going to help when the community needed it, and whenever he saw someone in difficulty, doing what he could to give a hand.

When talking about the things he had done over the years, he often had to pause and think for a moment. In his view, every one of them was an utterly ordinary thing, but in others' hearts, these small deeds were remembered one by one.

One summer, he went with volunteers to visit a pair of brothers. Both children were around ten years old; their parents were gone, and 相依为命 (xiāng yī wéi mìng - "rely on each other for life," to depend on each other for survival). Before setting out, Li Dongnian heard that the brothers' greatest wish was to own a bicycle of their own. Li Dongnian immediately went and bought one and brought it along. When they arrived, Li Dongnian watched the two children happily trying to ride it back and forth in the yard, and he felt very happy too: "Sometimes, what they lack is not things, but a bit of care."

Compared to these, Li Dongnian cares more about doing things that are more lasting.

During winter and summer breaks, his training class would always have a group of children whose parents had no time to look after them. As long as they were willing to come, he took them in, free of charge, teaching them to write, draw, and taking them to do handicrafts. Each session had two or three dozen children.

In order to run the care class, Li Dongnian coordinated with the community while also contacting nearby training institutions, and the training content expanded to include dance, Go, fine arts, and so on.

Li Dongnian and his wife originally ran a calligraphy and painting training class, but over the years he has persisted in offering free care and teaching during winter and summer breaks. "The community usually helps us a lot; as much as we can give back, we give back," Li Dongnian said. In the classroom, children gathered around to cut a cake; some ran over holding up their finished paintings to show him; some children who didn't talk much at first gradually warmed up, and when class was over they didn't want to leave. Such scenes repeated themselves again and again. He saw it and felt warmth in his heart.

Doing good deeds is not always understood. Once, he prepared some care items for sanitation workers, but was complained at over the distribution; another time, he had done a good deed but still got blamed. Even so, he did not stop.

Over the years, what he did more of were still those inconspicuous "small deeds." Clearing clogged drains, delivering water, teaching children, visiting the elderly… not one of them 惊天动地 (jīng tiān dòng dì - "shock heaven, move earth," earth-shattering), yet they all landed bit by bit in ordinary life. Some say he is doing good deeds, but he prefers to say, "If I come across it, I help."

In the city where Li Dongnian lives, the objects of his watchful care have never been just one: the elderly who need a hand when they fall, children left unattended during holidays, delivery riders and sanitation workers rushing about under the scorching sun, and those strangers he meets by chance who need a hand… These people are not all the same, yet they are all, in Li Dongnian's eyes, "people who need a helping hand."

No matter how small the strength, it is still support. Speaking of the future, Li Dongnian says he wants to pass on this love. "I am willing to bring warmth to more people."

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Photo Report

The Party committee of Shanghu Community (上湖社区), Jiangdong Street (江东街道), Huashan District (花山区), Ma'anshan City (马鞍山市), Anhui Province carried out a free clinic event. Medical volunteers provided residents with blood pressure and blood sugar measurement, chronic disease consultation, traditional Chinese medicine health guidance, rehabilitation science popularization, and other medical services. The image shows volunteers providing free clinic to residents.

Photo by Hu Zhihui (胡智慧) (People's Visual)

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Implement Disability Prevention Actions to Jointly Build and Share a Healthy China

This newspaper, Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Yi Shuran (易舒冉)) — A reporter learned from the China Disabled Persons' Federation (中国残联): August 25, 2026, is the 10th Disability Prevention Day (残疾预防日). Recently, the China Disabled Persons' Federation and 14 other departments jointly issued the "Notice on Organizing the 10th Disability Prevention Day Publicity and Education Activities," clarifying the theme of this publicity and education activity as "Implement the Disability Prevention Action, Jointly Build and Share a Healthy China (实施残疾预防行动，共建共享健康中国)," requiring all localities to effectively organize and deploy the Disability Prevention Day publicity and education activities and continuously enhance the disability prevention awareness of the whole society.

The notice requires all localities to focus on major disability-causing factors such as genetics and development, disease, and injury, and to give priority to promoting core knowledge and practical skills for disability prevention, including premarital and pre-pregnancy health care and early pregnancy care services, newborn and child disease screening and early intervention, chronic disease and mental illness prevention and treatment, work safety and traffic safety, and rehabilitation; and to actively summarize and promote grassroots experiences and practices in disability prevention, creating a favorable social atmosphere for the smooth implementation of the national disability prevention action plan during the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

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Zhang Yanchun, Liu Juanxi, Wang Bo

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Three Scenarios Show New Changes in Shanghai Inbound Tourism (Big Data Observation · China Service)

By: 本报记者 吴 焰 季觉苏

Walking along both banks of the Huangpu River, the fervor of inbound tourism hits one's face.

Listen—at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport arrival hall, the sound of suitcase wheels accompanies languages from various countries, rising and falling; at the Shanghai Metro Renmin Square Station, foreign tourists experience entering the station via mobile payment, with the sounds of mobile phone notifications and exclamations intertwining; in the Yuyuan Bazaar, the sound of foreign bank cards being swiped is constant.

In the first half of this year, Shanghai received 5.3149 million inbound tourist trips, a year-on-year increase of 27.82%; among them, inbound overnight tourists accounted for 5.0215 million trips, a year-on-year increase of 31.19%. Even more noteworthy is the consumption situation: in the first half of the year, the number of UnionPay transactions by foreign nationals in Shanghai increased by 98.6%, and the transaction amount increased by 72.0%.

High numbers of visitors, longer stays, and vigorous consumption. For many foreign tourists visiting China for the first time, Shanghai—with its perfected services, convenient facilities, high visibility, and smooth transportation—is like an easy-to-上手 (shàng shǒu - "get a handle on," easy to master) "novice village" for inbound tourism. Where are they leaving their time, and where are they spending their money? Reporters visited various locations in Shanghai to explore new trends in inbound tourism consumption.

A soft tape measure calculates new scenarios for customized consumption

At the Shanghai South Bund Light Textile and Fabric Market, Russian tourists Mikhail and his wife held a preferred suit style, comparing it repeatedly, before finally coming to a stop in front of the Alan Bespoke Tailor Shop.

The shop owner, Jiang Ming, has been making handmade suits for over 30 years. She picked up a soft tape measure, measuring shoulder width, chest circumference, and sleeve length, while confirming the fabric, pattern, and details one by one with the customers. "The customers' requirements are very high, and we also want to ensure every detail is in place," Jiang Ming said.

Ten days later, the suit was completed. Mikhail put it on, raised his hands and turned around before the mirror, revealing a satisfied smile, and added another set on the spot: "After I return to my country, I will also introduce my friends to come!"

Zhang Shengxiang, General Manager of the Shanghai South Bund Light Textile and Fabric Market Operation Management Co., Ltd., introduced that currently, the proportion of foreign customers in the market remains stable at 50% to 60%, and in some bespoke suit and qipao shops, the proportion of consumption by foreign customers exceeds 70%.

In March this year, Shanghai released the "Overall Plan for Launching Shanghai Customized Brands to Promote Consumption Quality and Expansion," proposing to use two to three years to launch the "Shanghai Customized" IP, create a group of customized experience clusters, form a group of customized benchmark brands, cultivate a high-level team of artisans, and continuously improve the contribution of foreign consumption and urban soft power.

As passenger flows pour in, the consumption lists of foreign tourists are also becoming increasingly rich.

Opening the international travel review website TripAdvisor, on the list of Shanghai's popular landmarks, following well-known attractions such as the Bund, Yuyuan Garden, and Xintiandi, is actually the Shanghai International Glasses City. Tong Qingying, manager of the Ziye Eyewear Store located at the entrance of the first floor of the Glasses City, introduced that high myopia, complex astigmatism, and progressive multifocal lenses can all be customized here; in the past, it took two or three days to collect glasses, but now it can be done in one or two hours. Not long ago, a foreign family of six bought more than 20 pairs of glasses. "They undergo an eye exam in the morning, can wear them by noon, and can continue exploring Shanghai in the afternoon," Tong Qingying said. Currently, foreign customers in the store account for 60%, and more and more are making repeat purchases online after returning to their home countries.

In the Yuyuan Bazaar, the "ding-dang" sound of gold smithing rings out, as a tourist from Ethiopia walks through the area holding a sample pattern. In order to customize a pair of gold rings for his soon-to-be-married younger brother, he visited more than 20 shops and has just made a decision. "The variety of shops is rich, and there are many styles, which is 眼花缭乱 (yǎn huā liáo luàn - "eyes dazzled by flowers and confusion," to be dazzled or overwhelmed) "making one's eyes spin." This tourist said that when customizing gold jewelry here, from selecting a style and modifying a pattern to processing, simple styles can be delivered in as little as three days.

With exquisite craftsmanship, good service, and stable quality, more and more foreign tourists are including Shanghai's customized market in their itineraries. During this year's summer season, Shanghai launched the "Shanghai Summer" International Consumption Season for global tourists, and points such as clothing, jewelry, and eye examinations/eyewear were drawn into the English version of the "Shanghai Customized" consumption map. Foreign tourists can check shop, navigation, and service information simply by opening their mobile phones. By entering the "Hu Xiaoyou" mini-program, information regarding eating, accommodation, transportation, tourism, shopping, and entertainment throughout the city can also be queried in multiple languages.

A bicycle rides into the depths of urban life

Sunlight filters through the shade of plane trees. At the entrance of the Shanghai Garden Hotel, inbound tourism planner Liu Lichao assists a family of five from the Netherlands in adjusting their bicycles. With the ring of a bicycle bell, the group rides through the plane tree streets and turns into a Shikumen lane. In Fuxing Park, people are dancing and exercising, and foreign tourists stop to follow along with the movements; in old alleys, looking at the laundry poles extending from balconies, they chat about the marketplace culture of old Shanghai.

Liu Lichao, who previously worked in the financial industry, initially only led tour groups on weekends; after inbound tourism heated up, he transitioned to being a full-time tourism planner. "Riding through streets and alleys, stopping and going. This relaxed and natural way of traveling allows for more time to communicate, and the understanding of culture also deepens gradually along the way," Liu Lichao said.

The way foreign tourists view Shanghai is changing. More and more people are shifting from looking up at the skyline to walking close to the streets and rivers, deeply experiencing urban life.

Not long ago, a European and American tour group came to Caoyang New Village in Putuo District to experience "being a Shanghainese for a day." In the village history museum, old photographs and vintage objects tell the story of the changes over 70 years of New China's first workers' village; in the Caoyang Community Cultural Activity Center, a community "old mothers" choir sang Shanghai-dialect tunes, and foreign tourists hummed along; some foreign tourists also experienced lacquer fan making and Tai Chi. The safety, convenience, and "warmth of life" brought by Shanghai's community governance left a deep impression on them and has become a calling card for inbound tourism.

Itineraries are also extending into the depths of the city. After seeing the central urban area, many foreign tourists will set aside another day to visit Zhujiajiao Ancient Town to see another way of life.

"Zhujiajiao sits against the backdrop of Great Shanghai and preserves a relatively complete Jiangnan culture and 烟火气 (yān huǒ qì - "smoke and fire air," the lively atmosphere of daily life/street life)," said Shen Yiwen, General Manager of Shanghai Zhujiajiao Cultural Development Co., Ltd. In the ancient town, scenic areas, streets, and communities intertwine; sculling boats carry tourists through river ports, and the lives of local people unfold slowly before their eyes. In the first half of this year, Zhujiajiao Ancient Town cumulatively received 4.1608 million tourist trips, of which inbound tourists accounted for 1.245 million trips, a year-on-year increase of 25.43%.

Zhang Yi, a guide from Shanghai Yongjie International Travel Service, introduced that as the summer season began, small foreign family groups have increased significantly, and routes have been adjusted according to interests. "They like cycling along the Suzhou Creek and browsing vegetable markets," Zhang Yi said. Beyond the street life, modern technology has also become content that foreign tourists scramble to experience: "More and more foreign tourists sit in autonomous driving taxis and even experience drone food delivery."

In the first half of this year, foreign nationals holding passports who used Shanghai's intra-city transportation reached 1.285 million trips, a year-on-year increase of 31.8%, with monthly growth rates from January to June all exceeding 24%. More and more foreign tourists are taking the metro and riding bicycles, going deep into streets and alleys to feel the life of the citizens.

A ticket stub strings together the city's entire consumption chain

With the sound of a whistle, the cruise ship "Dream" slowly berths at Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, with nearly 1,300 passengers dragging suitcases down the gangway; shortly after, the cruise ship "Ocean Spectrum" also enters the port basin. In the arrival hall, queues form at foreign currency exchange and SIM card processing windows, and tour buses start up one after another outside the doors; ship after ship of foreign tourists quickly merges into the prosperous metropolis.

Georgia, from the United States, entered Shanghai along this same route. She followed an English-speaking guide into Zhang Yuan to see the Shikumen, and selected Qing Tuan and egg rolls in a supermarket, impatiently unwrapping and tasting them as soon as she stepped out. At the end of the two-day itinerary, Georgia was not yet satisfied: "Two days is simply not enough; next time I must come to stay for several more days!"

The connection between cruise tourism and inbound tourism is becoming increasingly tight; even more foreign tourists are choosing to arrive in Shanghai by plane first, stay for a few nights, and then board a ship from Wusongkou, combining the sea voyage with accommodation, dining, shopping, and urban sightseeing.

In the first half of this year, Shanghai Port received 126 cruise ship calls, with 744,000 inbound and outbound cruise passengers. Among them, foreign passengers entering via cruise ships exceeded 51,000 trips, a year-on-year increase of 37.8%, with travelers using various visa-free policies accounting for 81.2%.

In March this year, the F1 Chinese Grand Prix attracted over 230,000 spectators, with overseas spectators accounting for approximately 16%; on the day of the race, the number of foreign nationals entering through Shanghai ports exceeded 27,000.

As the racing cars dash across the finish line, the ticket stubs are still "speeding" through the city. Tourists use their ticket stubs to board Bund cruises, and discounts at dining venues, shopping malls, and hotels along the way are subsequently rolled out, with nearly 500 merchants joining the linkage. One foreign tourist exclaimed: "I didn't expect a racing ticket to allow me to enjoy so many urban benefits."

Inside the China Art Museum, a national treasure art exhibition related to the Marquis of Haihun tombs is underway. Foreign tourists put on artificial intelligence glasses, and as the lens scans the exhibits, English commentary immediately sounds, telling the stories behind the cultural relics.

Walking out of the exhibition hall, the ticket stub in hand still has a use. Over a hundred merchants in business districts such as Qiandun Taikoo Li and Expo Paradise have launched exclusive discounts, and riverside hotels and themed cruises have also been integrated into this. After viewing the exhibition, going to a business district to eat and shop, staying in a riverside hotel, and boarding a ship at night to see the lights of the Huangpu River... a single ticket stub strings together the city's entire consumption chain, extending a single instance of novelty into a full day of consumption experience, providing even richer choices for foreign tourists.

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精彩赛事带火小山村（大国小村）

By: 本报记者 赵景锋

At 2 p.m., inside the National Northern Football Training Base (国家北方足球训练基地) in Halaqin Village (哈拉沁村), Daqingshan Street (大青山街道), Xincheng District (新城区), Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, the place was 人声鼎沸 (rén shēng dǐng fèi - “the sound of people is boiling,” bustling with noise).

Shots, goals, the final whistle, 4:2! On this field, events such as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Football Super League and the China Youth Football League took turns taking the stage. One exciting match after another caused this small mountain village to attract the attention of more and more “sports fans.”

A dozen years ago, no one imagined that this village could have any connection with sports.

Inside the exhibition hall of the Halaqin Village Party and Mass Service Center, old photos one after another recorded the village’s past appearance — the village was once crowded with more than 40 putty powder factories, gravel plants, and mixing stations. At the foot of the mountain, sand mining pits exposed gray-yellow sand and soil; whenever the wind blew, dust hit one in the face.

In 2012, Hohhot fully launched the Daqingshan Front Slope Ecological Protection Comprehensive Management Project (大青山前坡生态保护综合治理工程), shutting down 292 polluting enterprises. The construction team, following the sand mining pits, graded slopes, retained water, and planted trees; the village’s human settlement environment gradually improved.

With the environment improved, the villagers had new demands. “During the slack farming season we want to do activities but have no venue; if only there were a place to do square dancing.” “After school the children want to play basketball; can we build a basketball court?”

In 2019, after the village two committees collected villagers’ demands through the “courtyard bench discussion meeting” (庭院板凳议事会), they discovered that everyone generally hoped to have leisure and sports venues. The idle open space on the west side of the village committee was transformed into a multi-functional sports ground, and was equipped with various kinds of fitness equipment. Cement was laid, white lines were painted, basketball hoops were erected, and a basketball court was also built. Every evening, villagers gathered at the sports ground; all kinds of sports activities were very exciting.

“Why don’t we also hold a competition?” On the basketball court, the ideas of several villagers 不谋而合 (bù móu ér hé - “agree without prior consultation,” coincidentally coincide). They formulated rules, organized team formation; five teams, sixty people, and Halaqin Village’s first “village BA” (村BA) kicked off. The basketball court became the liveliest place in the entire village; neighboring villagers also joined in one after another, and thus Halaqin Village became a famous “sports village” near and far. Nowadays, over 400 villagers in Halaqin Village regularly participate in basketball, and more than 150 events have been held cumulatively.

With more interactions, neighborly relations also became more harmonious. “At the beginning we never expected that sports competitions could cause the village to undergo such big changes,” said Yang Yi (杨毅), Party branch secretary of Halaqin Village.

The continuously improving ecological environment and the increasingly rich sports atmosphere created conditions for the village to introduce large-scale sports facilities. In 2023, the National Northern Football Training Base located in Halaqin Village officially opened. The base’s commissioning provided employment positions for villagers. In addition, riding on the flow of events, many villagers renovated their own houses and opened homestays and agritainment establishments. Whenever there is a major competition, Halaqin Village ushers in a peak of visitor traffic, and many homestays are in high demand — a single room hard to find.

Centering on sports, the village continuously enriches the visitor experience. Yang Yi introduced that Halaqin Village has planned a 189-mu site, introduced relevant enterprises, and plans to create a sports and leisure park integrating tennis, badminton, swimming, cross-country, and others. This May, the newly created kart track in the park was put into operation, attracting numerous visitors.

In the village, a camping base covering about 12 mu lies quietly amidst the lush green. Tents are arranged in a scattered pattern, children run and play. The camp was transformed from an idle lime plant, operated by a team of returning college students. It has now become a popular choice for visitors’ leisure and entertainment, and has also driven the employment of local villagers. “Coming to work at the camp, it’s close to home, and my income has doubled,” said villager Liu Yu’e (刘玉娥).

Empowered by sports events and related leisure industries, the once-small mountain village has 焕然一新 (huàn rán yī xīn - “take on an entirely new look,” take on a completely new appearance), building an all-weather consumption chain of “watch matches in the morning, play in the afternoon, camp at night.” According to statistics, Halaqin Village’s cultural tourism projects receive an average of over 500,000 visitors annually, and in the past five years the number of people returning to their hometowns to start businesses has grown by an average of 15% per year.

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Stitch by stitch, embroidering a picture of dreams (On the Road to Dreams)

By: 本报记者 罗艾桦 姜晓丹

Entering the Wang Xinyuan (王新元) Guangzhou Embroidery Art Museum in Liwan District (荔湾区), Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, a series of exquisite embroidery works on the walls catch the eye. Wang Xinyuan is a municipal-level representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage Guangxiu (广绣 - "Guangzhou embroidery"), and for many years he has been quietly working on the path of passing down the Guangxiu culture.

"This piece was created over more than a year; rendering the texture and ornamentation of bronze vessels requires excellent skill and patience," Wang Xinyuan said as he introduced an embroidery piece themed on bronze vessels. The silk threads on the work are light and lustrous. "Guangxiu is not just embroidery; it is a kind of cultural heritage."

Wang Xinyuan's journey into embroidery began in childhood. Around 1990, Wang Xinyuan learned tailoring and sewing from his family. His maternal cousin was his first embroidery teacher. Seeing his cousin embroider lifelike animals, Wang Xinyuan was deeply attracted, and from then on developed a strong interest in embroidery and began to practice his skills hard.

By chance, Wang Xinyuan saw works by the renowned Yue embroidery artist Wu Yuzhen (吴玉珍) at the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall (陈家祠) in Guangzhou. Landscapes, portraits, and embroidery pieces on different themes left him greatly shocked. After that, he studied Guangxiu techniques under Wu Yuzhen and her husband.

At first, Wang Xinyuan worked part-time while learning embroidery. As his skills improved, he devoted himself fully to embroidery study and creation. Through day-after-day practice, Wang Xinyuan's embroidery skills steadily advanced, and he gradually began to explore more distinctive artistic expressions.

In 2006, he was deeply moved after seeing numerous bronze vessel artifacts at the Henan Museum. Returning to Guangzhou, he began to focus on studying bronze vessels and created his first Guangxiu work featuring a bronze vessel. "The ornamentation of bronze vessels gave me great inspiration; I hope to express that historical weight through embroidery," Wang Xinyuan said.

In addition to creating embroidery pieces on cultural relics and zodiac themes, Wang Xinyuan has also attempted cross-disciplinary integration of Guangxiu with technology, gaming, automobiles, and cultural creative products. Together with his team, he developed a series of jewelry, desk lamps, sachets, and silk scarves featuring Guangxiu artistic elements, allowing Guangxiu art to adorn people's daily lives. Last year, he also broke through the limitations of traditional flat embroidery and innovatively created new-style Guangxiu installation artworks on a metal carrier. These works appeared at art exhibitions in multiple places at home and abroad, bringing new-style Guangxiu onto the international stage.

In recent years, Wang Xinyuan has worked from the aspects of teacher training, compiling textbooks, and building exchange platforms to promote the dissemination of Guangxiu techniques in schools. He often takes intangible cultural heritage into schools, telling children about the past and present of Guangxiu, allowing them to appreciate the exquisite works up close and feel the charm of intangible cultural heritage.

"The children's enthusiasm moves me," Wang Xinyuan said. "I hope through these activities to cultivate a next generation that loves Guangxiu."

To promote Guangxiu techniques, Wang Xinyuan also founded a Guangxiu skills training school. There is a special student at the school — Pan Yanfei (潘燕飞). She is a disabled athlete. Previously, due to physical reasons, she could no longer pursue a sports career, and her life fell into difficulty. After learning about her situation, Wang Xinyuan decided to help her find a new direction in life by studying Guangxiu.

Under Wang Xinyuan's guidance, Pan Yanfei devoted herself entirely to learning Guangxiu. After a period of effort, Pan Yanfei's work won an award at the 14th Guangzhou Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition for the Disabled, which gave her great encouragement and strengthened her determination and confidence in studying Guangxiu.

"Studying Guangxiu has helped many disabled people regain hope in life." Wang Xinyuan plans to set up a special class in the Guangxiu skills training school, promoting the inheritance of Guangxiu while helping more disabled people.

"I hope to let more people know about and love Guangxiu, so that this art form can shine with new brilliance in the new era," Wang Xinyuan said.

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Photo Report

On August 6, villagers were picking Cuiguan pears in the ecological pear orchard of Tudianzi Village (土店子村), Xinling Town (信陵镇), Badong County (巴东县), Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (恩施土家族苗族自治州), Hubei Province. The local area, building on its mountain ecological resources, promotes the deep integration of agricultural planting, pastoral sightseeing, and rural leisure, and develops cultural-tourism formats such as picking experiences and garden sightseeing to boost industrial revitalization. Photo by Jiao Guobin (焦国斌), People's Visual (人民视觉).

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Guangxi Water Transport River-Sea Integrated Dispatching Platform Begins Trial Operation

Our newspaper Nanning, August 6 (Reporters Pang Geping (庞革平) and Zhu Jiaqi (祝佳祺)) The reporter learned from the Department of Transport of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区交通运输厅): The Guangxi Water Transport River-Sea Integrated Dispatching Platform (广西水运江河海一体化调度平台) officially went online for trial operation on the 6th. The platform's commissioning marks that Guangxi's water transport digital transformation has achieved significant phased results, laying a solid digital foundation for the full navigation of the Pinglu Canal (平陆运河) and the quality improvement and efficiency enhancement of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor (西部陆海新通道).

Guangxi is located at a key node of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. Previously, the original Xijiang River shipping trunk line locks (西江航运干线船闸), the locks along the Pinglu Canal, and the Beibu Gulf Port (北部湾港) implemented separate independent dispatching by zone. Cross-departmental data was fragmented, the connection between locks and ports was not smooth, and the coordination of river-sea intermodal transport was insufficient, restricting water transport cost reduction and efficiency improvement. The Guangxi Water Transport River-Sea Integrated Dispatching Platform takes building a new pattern of water transport development featuring “one chessboard, one network, one map, one integration” (一盘棋、一张网、一张图、一体化) as its construction goal, realizing five unified management functions: platform portal, operation monitoring, dispatching command, intelligent control, and information service. The platform can integrate river and sea data with one click, achieving deep cross-departmental and cross-regional data sharing, achieving “let data run more errands, let boat people run fewer errands”; one declaration achieves full-line passage. By building a unified portal, boat people only need to “declare once”, and the system can generate a unified plan; one-line intelligent dispatching replaces manual operation. Relying on algorithms such as automatic scheduling, dispatching plans are automatically compiled and released on a rolling basis; integrated linkage assists the construction of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. Through efficient linkage dispatching of “ships, locks, and ports” across rivers and seas, it effectively improves water transport navigation efficiency and service levels, fully releasing the comprehensive effectiveness of the New Western Land-Sea Corridor. According to reports, the platform will be put into use in phases. After the pilot matures, it will be gradually promoted to the locks of the Xijiang River basin, the locks along the Pinglu Canal, and the Beibu Gulf Port.

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Get moving, live a more exciting life

August 8 this year marks China's 18th National Fitness Day. Looking across the country, from cities to villages, the concept of national fitness is taking deeper root; the figures moving everywhere are becoming a touching scene.

National fitness is an important cornerstone for accelerating the construction of a sports powerhouse. Recently, the State Council issued the "National Fitness Plan (2026–2030)," drawing a clear blueprint for development over the next five years: fully utilize urban "golden corners and silver edges" to build more "small but beautiful" national fitness venues and facilities close to the people; carry out a rich variety of mass competition events; apply artificial intelligence to empower national fitness development; implement the student physical fitness strengthening plan, extensively carry out campus sports activities and competitions; expand the supply of sports-medicine integration services characterized by exercise intervention and exercise rehabilitation...

From planning blueprint to implementation practice, when fitness converges into streets and alleys and blends into the hustle and bustle of daily life, national fitness will also continuously add luster to a better life.

(Our reporter Ji Fang (季芳))

Jiangxi Taihe County Dongmen Village: Abandoned Fish Pond Transformed into Sports Park

Our reporter Zhou Huan (周欢)

In the evening, at the Tankou Pocket Sports Park in Dongmen Village, Chengjiang Town, Ji'an City, Jiangxi Province, a basketball game is in full swing. Next to it, on the five-a-side football field, players pass and run, attack and defend in orderly fashion; on the badminton court, rackets rise and fall, shuttlecocks fly; at the ping-pong tables, crisp sounds of strikes come one after another...

It is hard to imagine that this popular sports venue was once an abandoned fish pond. "Back then it was overgrown with weeds and swarming with mosquitoes; we all walked around it!" said villager Zeng Xianping (曾宪平), wiping off sweat.

The transformation began in early 2025. Jiangxi Province proposed to fully utilize "golden corners and silver edges" to build a batch of pocket sports parks, striving to construct a "15-minute fitness circle" and make up for the shortcomings in urban and rural fitness.

Last March, construction of the Tankou Pocket Sports Park started. Eight months later, the fish pond that everyone had avoided was transformed into a sports space covering 8.56 mu (about 0.57 hectares), with sports facilities occupying 4,700 square meters.

Now, every morning and evening, the sports park is full of vitality. "With the sports venue, villagers who used to stay at home at night have come out — the elderly take walks, children play, young people play ball — full of energy!" said Gu Wenbin (古文彬), Party branch secretary of Dongmen Village.

Villager Gan Hongyan (甘红燕) hardly ever participated in sports before. After the sports park was built, she was drawn by the lively atmosphere, first following along with square dancing and then starting to play badminton. "I've kept it up for nearly a year, and I clearly feel my body has gotten better, and neighborly relations are more harmonious too."

The "small but beautiful" pocket sports parks have woven a dense network for sports and fitness. In 2025, 40 pocket sports park projects in Jiangxi were completed, adding 110,000 square meters of sports venue area, directly benefiting about 1.09 million nearby residents. This year, 41 pocket sports parks are under construction in Jiangxi.

Liaoning Jinzhou Heishan County: A Township Super League Ignites a City

Our reporter Liu Hongchao (刘洪超)

At the final match of the third Liaoning Province Jinzhou City Heishan County Township Football Super League (hereinafter referred to as "Heishan 'Township Super League'"), the Heishan County Sports Ground was bustling. Intense attacks and defenses on the field, roaring crowds in the stands. In the end, the Jiangtun Town football team won the overall championship, bringing a grand close to this football feast that lasted 49 days and covered all townships and streets in the county.

This league is the first grassroots football league in Liaoning Province to achieve full coverage of townships and streets at the county level. The event brought together 22 township representative teams, with over 500 local adult athletes and more than 100 young players participating. No outside players were brought in throughout the process; all players on the field were local residents. Li Pengyuan (李鹏远), a player from Jiangtun Town, is the head of a local grain and oil enterprise. "Taking care of farm work during the day and fighting side by side with teammates at night — Heishan 'Township Super League' has built an exclusive platform for us."

During this edition of the Heishan "Township Super League," not only were the matches exciting, but each township team also put on displays: the farm machinery operators from Wuliangdian Town turned their teamwork in the fields into coordination on the pitch; miners from Badaohao Town took off their work clothes and stepped onto the field, showcasing the spirit of working people. Such a football tournament brings grassroots people together.

"Adult matches are scheduled for weekend evenings. The floodlit courts are open for free. Two groups are set up simultaneously: an adult 11-a-side group and a youth 8-a-side group. We invited teachers and students from Shenyang Sport University to form the referee team, with national-level referees leading the officiating," introduced Zhang Daxin (张达欣), director of the Heishan County Culture, Tourism, Radio, and Television Bureau. Around the competition ground, a special market was set up, and a "Watch Heishan Super League · Tour Heishan" preferential policy was simultaneously launched: audience members with match vouchers could visit wetlands, mining towns, and picking gardens at half price.

From township football events to local culture displays, the enthusiasm of the masses inside and outside the field, along with industrial vitality, injects sustained momentum into county and rural development.

Fujian Xiamen: Sports Bank Adds Motivation to Fitness

Our reporter Shi Yu (施钰)

Recently, Zhang Jing (张婧), who lives in Siming District, Xiamen City, Fujian Province, went with a friend to a pickleball court near her home to swing their rackets and compete. After exercising, Zhang Jing opened the "Lu Sports" (鹭运动) platform on her phone and said, "After this game, my account points will be over 500."

In January this year, Fujian Province's first comprehensive digital sports service platform, "Lu Sports," was launched in Xiamen. The platform innovatively adopts a "Sports Bank" mechanism, using a points incentive model to guide citizens toward regular fitness and to promote sports consumption and industrial development.

How to earn points? Booking a sports venue gives 10 points; every 10,000 steps counts as 10 points... "I've already used my sports points to exchange for movie tickets, a hat, and a water bottle. Recently I've even been considering using points to enter a lottery for a wakeboarding experience voucher," said Zhang Jing. The points from each workout are deposited into the "Sports Bank," and when enough accumulate, they can be exchanged for practical rewards.

Zhao Shuo (赵硕), project director of "Lu Sports" and general manager of Guoao Tianzhi (Xiamen) Cultural and Sports Technology Co., Ltd. (国奥天智（厦门）文体科技有限公司), introduced that the platform adopts a "digitization of exercise behavior + consumption rights incentive" model, turning citizens' physical activity into a "health asset" that can be accumulated and redeemed. As of now, the platform has accumulated over 10 million points redeemed, nearly 8,000 gifts exchanged, and more than 100 partner merchants. "Whether you want to book a sports venue, a training course, or a sports event, you can do it all on the platform — very convenient," said Zhang Jing.

The launch of the "Lu Sports" platform stems from Xiamen's long-term digital and intelligent exploration in the field of public sports services. In 2019, Xiamen launched the "Xiamen i Fitness" national fitness smart sports platform, which has now integrated over 6,000 public sports venue resources, including 188 school venues, 54 smart gyms, and 803 nearby sports fields.

A relevant official from the Xiamen Municipal Sports Bureau stated that they will continue to be guided by the needs of the masses, innovatively create digital and intelligent service scenarios, and build a higher-level public service system for national fitness.

Zhejiang Huzhou Nanxun District: Integration of Sports and Education Helps Students Grow

Our reporter Dou Hanyang (窦瀚洋)

"Eyes straight ahead, arms in the right position, lower body stable!" It is the summer break, and in the training room of Lianshi Primary School in Nanxun District, Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, more than 20 children are sweating profusely, every move vigorous and powerful.

Coach Lei Zhongxiao (雷仲孝) introduced that Lianshi Boat Boxing (练市船拳) is a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage. Because it is a boxing technique performed on a boat, it is called "boat boxing." Now it has entered the campus and become a special physical education course.

As early as 2008, Lianshi Primary School compiled special teaching materials, retaining the traditional characteristics of boat boxing while appropriately adapting and innovating the routines. Today, the school arranges one physical education class each week specifically to teach boat boxing. For students who are interested or have talent, the school has also established a boat boxing club, giving them extra practice during holidays.

Not only boat boxing — to better promote the integration of sports and education, the school established a "Sports Department" to specifically oversee sports work, assigned dedicated personnel to monitor students' health conditions, and coordinated with the Academic Affairs Office to arrange physical education courses. At the same time, it actively contacts social welfare organizations and has formed 14 sports clubs including table tennis, tennis, cheerleading, and lacrosse. "The number of on-campus events has increased from the original 30-plus to over 300, with a 100% student participation rate," said Xu Hui (徐辉), Party general branch secretary of Lianshi Primary School.

During the interview, Xu Hui emotionally shared an unforgettable experience: last year, a graduate came back to visit teachers, and before leaving asked specifically, "Principal, can I go see the basketball court? That's where I fell in love with basketball."

Looking across Nanxun, the area has established a normalized sports competition system that vertically links on-campus competitions, inter-school leagues, and regional selection competitions, creating a favorable atmosphere of "sports every day, matches every week, events every month."

Hainan Baoting County Shenyu Island: Health Industry Grows in the Rainforest

Our reporter Cao Wenxuan (曹文轩)

Morning paddleboarding, afternoon stream hiking in the rainforest, evening hot springs... Shanghai tourist Li Yun (李韵) began a healing day on Shenyu Island in Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County, Hainan Province. "I've been working at a desk for a long time and always felt very tired. Coming here, I feel completely relaxed."

"Baoting is located in the tropical rainforest area of Hainan, with a forest coverage rate stable above 77%. Based on excellent air quality and unique hot spring resources, Baoting is promoting the deep integration of sports and health preservation, developing a distinctive health industry," said Lü Yan (吕妍), deputy county head of Baoting.

Recently, the Sanya Economic Circle Tropical Rainforest Challenge Race started in Baoting, with over a thousand competitors running through mountain forest trails. "This race route connects rainforest mountain areas, hot spring hotels, Southern Medicine experience points, etc., hoping participants will gain multiple experiences through competing," introduced a relevant official from the race organizing committee.

"Our whole family are sports enthusiasts. We are not competing for the sake of competition, but to get close to nature and relax in participation," said contestant Wang Jianglin (王江林) from Guangdong. What impressed him most on this trip was the Li medicine body conditioning on Shenyu Island.

Xi Zhengheng (习正恒), a relevant person in charge of Shenyu Island, introduced that in June last year, the Li and Miao intangible cultural heritage traditional Chinese medicine project of Baoting County Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital landed on Shenyu Island. Li medicine vine moxibustion, among other things, was included in sports rehabilitation plans, complementing the Shenyu Island Rehabilitation Base of the Hainan Province Lingfeng Neuromedical Center (海南省凌锋神经医学中心神玉岛康复基地) to provide health-prescription regimens for visitors.

In 2025, Baoting County received nearly 4 million tourists, an increase of about 8.1% over the previous year. "Now more and more tourists come to Baoting, sweating in the rainforest. We use sports to attract visitors and health preservation to retain them, striving to transform ecological advantages into development advantages and strengthen the health industry," said Lü Yan.

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本版责编：史哲 高佶 曹继炜

Issue coordination: Luo Yan, Gong Yuhua
Layout design: Cai Huawei, Wang Zheping

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The Formation, Development, and Global Significance of the Concept of Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind

By: 习近平外交思想研究中心

Volumes I through V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China (《习近平谈治国理政》) were published sequentially from 2014 to 2025 and are authoritative works that systematically reflect Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Volumes I and II of Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Diplomacy (《习近平外交文选》) were published in June of this year. Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy is the diplomacy component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. Volumes I through V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China and Volumes I and II of Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Diplomacy provide theoretical inspiration and practical paradigms for the international community to enhance its understanding of and identification with China's path, China's governance, and China's rationale.

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is the consistent and overarching theme of the diplomacy chapters running through Volumes I through V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China and Volumes I and II of Selected Works of Xi Jinping on Diplomacy. By setting up dedicated sections, these works vividly record the formation process of the scientific system for building a community with a shared future for mankind, comprehensively present the practical development of this concept from vision to reality, from bilateral to multilateral, and from regional to global, fully demonstrate General Secretary Xi Jinping's exceptional political wisdom and strong sense of mission and responsibility as a Marxist statesman, thinker, and strategist, and distinctly reflect the influence, vitality, and appeal of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind that transcends national and civilizational boundaries. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind has become a shining banner guiding the trend of the times and is exerting a positive and far-reaching impact on the course of world development.

Comprehensively understanding the historical process of the formation and development of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind

Building a community with a shared future for mankind is a major original idea put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping, a core concept of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, and China's answer to the epochal question of "what kind of world to build and how to build it." Since the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind was proposed, theoretical innovation and practical creation have been continuously advanced, and it has increasingly become an international public good of significant symbolic value.

From a theoretical dimension, the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind has gradually developed from a conceptual proposition into a scientific system, pointing the direction for human development. Facing the unprecedented changes of a magnitude not seen in a century, General Secretary Xi Jinping, with an eye to the common interests of the Chinese people and the people of the world, has foresightedly put forward the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and continuously deepened the discourse on this major proposition. From the "opening chapter and posing the question" at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2013, to the "erecting pillars and setting up beams" at the General Debate of the 70th Session of the UN General Assembly in 2015, putting forward the "five-sphere integrated plan" overall framework, and then to the "taking the pulse and prescribing the remedy" at the United Nations Office at Geneva in 2017, proposing the overarching goal of "five worlds," the scientific connotation of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind has been increasingly enriched and expanded. From the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs (中央外事工作会议) held in June 2018, which clearly identified it as one of the ten main aspects of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy, to the Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs held in December 2023, which further clarified the "four beams and eight pillars" (四梁八柱) of the scientific system for building a community with a shared future for mankind, the concept and vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind have become clearer, more tangible, more scientifically complete, demonstrating the distinctive quality of Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy in advancing with the times and upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground. This has formed the top-level design of China's foreign policy strategy in the new era, pointing the correct path for a world at a historical turning point.

From a practical dimension, the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind has gradually transformed from a beautiful vision into rich practice, demonstrating its powerful truth. Volume III of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China points out: "Building a community with a shared future for mankind requires the broad participation of people from all countries. We should pool the consensus of people of different nationalities, beliefs, cultures, and regions, and jointly accomplish the great cause of building a community with a shared future for mankind." Under General Secretary Xi Jinping's personal planning and personal promotion, the practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind has achieved all-round, pioneering, and fruitful results, driving positive and profound changes in the face of today's world. At the bilateral level, the building of a community with a shared future has started from neighboring countries and gradually expanded globally. China has issued action plans, joint statements, or reached important consensus with dozens of countries, including Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Vietnam, Cuba, South Africa, Serbia, Brazil, and Mozambique, on building bilateral communities with a shared future. Among these, full coverage of both bilateral and multilateral communities with a shared future has been achieved in the Indochina Peninsula and Central Asia. At the regional level, building a community with a shared future for the neighborhood, for Asia, and for the Asia-Pacific has achieved positive results. Regional communities with a shared future have been built with developing country clusters such as Central Asia, ASEAN, Africa, Arab states, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Pacific Island countries. A more closely-knit Shanghai Cooperation Organization community with a shared future has been jointly built, injecting strong momentum into regional cooperation. At the global level, building a community with a shared future in cyberspace, a community of shared security for nuclear safety, a community of common health for mankind, a community of life for man and nature, and a maritime community with a shared future, among others, are continuously advancing. The Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative have taken root and borne fruit, bringing enormous dividends of prosperity and stability to the world, creating tangible benefits for people's livelihoods, and demonstrating practical power that guides the era.

From an influence dimension, the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind has gradually expanded from a Chinese initiative into an international consensus, taking deeper root in people's hearts. In recent years, the evolution of the international situation has repeatedly shown that the interlinked and interdependent destiny of all countries is the greatest reality of today's world, and that standing in solidarity through thick and thin and pursuing win-win cooperation is the only way to meet challenges. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind conforms to the historical trend of "working together for the planet" (同球共济), has generated positive and enthusiastic responses worldwide, and has gained broad recognition from a growing number of countries and peoples. This concept has received support from over 100 countries and international organizations, with nearly 80% of international public opinion identifying with it. It has been written into resolutions of the UN General Assembly for nine consecutive years, and its core essence has been incorporated into the United Nations' Pact for the Future. More and more countries and peoples recognize that this concept serves the common interests of all humanity, reflects the aspirations of people around the world for peace, justice, and progress, and embodies the greatest common denominator for people of all countries to jointly build a better world. UN Secretary-General António Guterres commented: "China has become an important pillar of multilateralism, and our purpose in practicing multilateralism is to build a community with a shared future for mankind."

Deeply understanding the global significance of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is the culmination of theoretical and practical innovations in major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. It conforms to the universal aspirations of people of all countries, points the way for the progress of human civilization, and powerfully propels the world toward the bright prospect of peace, security, prosperity, and progress.

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind adheres to the "two combines" (两个结合 - integrating the basic tenets of Marxism with China's specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture), opening up a new realm in the sinicization and modernization of Marxism. Marxism is our powerful ideological weapon for understanding and transforming the world. The process of continuously enriching and perfecting the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is also a process of adhering to the "two combines" and continuously advancing the sinicization and modernization of Marxism, permeated with the ever-evolving truth of Marxist international relations theory. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is the concrete application of the dialectical thinking of universal connection in the field of social history. It reveals the objective reality and developmental laws of the interdependence of countries and the close interconnection of human destiny, enriches and develops Marxist international relations theory with a series of original major ideological viewpoints, endows Marxist theory of world history and the concept of community with new contemporary connotations, and achieves a historic leap in the sinicization and modernization of Marxism in the realm of diplomacy. Fine traditional Chinese culture is the cultural root of the Chinese nation. The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind integrates the essence of Marxist theory with the cream of fine traditional Chinese culture, drawing on the ideas, humanistic spirit, and moral norms contained in fine traditional Chinese culture, providing epoch-spanning civilizational inspiration for solving the difficult problems facing contemporary humanity.

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind points the direction for the development of human society and marks a new height in the history of human thought. From the perspective of the history of human social development, mankind has come a long way from primitive society through the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, and the information revolution. But no matter how productive forces have developed and progressed, one most fundamental reality remains unchanged: Earth is the only home for human survival. In today's world of deepening economic globalization, the global nature of human interaction is deeper than ever before, and the interconnections and interdependence among countries are closer than ever before. Volume I of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China profoundly states: "In this world, the degree of mutual connection and interdependence among countries is unprecedentedly deep. Mankind lives in the same global village, in the same time and space where history and reality meet, and increasingly becomes a community with a shared future in which each has a stake in the other." The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is based on the objective reality of intertwined and interdependent destinies of countries, looks to the general trend of world multipolarity and economic globalization, transcends the binary opposition between cosmopolitanism and nationalism, breaks the presupposition of "West versus non-West," and provides the world with a new way of thinking. It represents a deep reflection on the laws of human development and a profound concern for the future and destiny of mankind. It points the correct path for humanity to break out of the historical cycle of war and peace, prosperity and recession, order and chaos. It provides a brand-new ideological solution and civilizational choice for a turbulent and changing world, achieves a historic leap in the human cognitive system and value system, and will surely have a far-reaching impact on the evolution of human civilization and the course of world history.

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is grounded in the laws of evolution of international relations, shaping a new paradigm for interactions between states. In the historical process of modern human social development, how to handle relations between states, jointly maintain world peace and tranquility, and promote the development and progress of all humanity has always been a major proposition that countries have tirelessly explored. Traditional Western international relations theories tend to view the world from the perspectives of strength and geopolitics. Volume II of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China emphasizes: "The future and destiny of the world must be jointly grasped by all countries. All countries in the world are equal. The big should not bully the small, the strong should not oppress the weak, and the rich should not exploit the poor." Building a community with a shared future for mankind takes promoting the building of a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation as its basic support, emphasizing that all countries, regardless of size, strength, or wealth, are equal members of the international community, sharing interests, rights, and responsibilities in international affairs, and should join hands to meet challenges and achieve common prosperity. It takes practicing the common values of all humanity as a universal guide, promotes the harmonious coexistence and mutual achievement of different civilizations, abandons the "clash of civilizations" theory, the "superiority of certain races" theory, and the "a strong country is bound to seek hegemony" theory, transcends the "small circle" rules of group politics, the logic of power supremacy, and the "universal values" defined by a few Western countries. It achieves the sublation and transcendence of traditional international relations theories, shapes a new paradigm for interactions between states, sets a new model of equality and coexistence, and realizes a new sublimation in understanding the laws governing the development of international relations.

The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind conforms to the trend of the times, painting a new picture of a bright future for humanity. How to inject more stability and positive energy into a world fraught with changes and turbulence and promote the cause of human peace and development is a major issue facing the international community. Volume IV of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China points out: "The problems in the world are complex and intertwined. The way out is to uphold and practice multilateralism and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind." The concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind conforms to the trend of the times of peace, development, cooperation, and win-win. It cares for the future of humanity and the well-being of the people. It advocates replacing conflict and confrontation with peaceful development, replacing absolute security with common security, replacing zero-sum game with mutual benefit and win-win, replacing civilizational clash with exchange and mutual learning, and caring for the Earth's home with green development. It aims to build a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, clean and beautiful, anchoring clearer goals and painting a clearer picture for the future, drawing a blueprint for human society to stand together in solidarity, achieve harmony and great unity, and pursue sustainable development. The "five worlds" are the overarching goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind, an extension of the "five-sphere integrated plan" for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics at the international level, and a vivid manifestation of empowering global governance with China's governance.

Firmly advancing the direction of building a community with a shared future for mankind

Building a community with a shared future for mankind is both a beautiful vision and a historical process. It can only be realized through the relay efforts of generation after generation. Through in-depth study of Volumes I through V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, we must continuously enhance our historical initiative and practical consciousness in promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and open up a bright future of common development, lasting peace and security, and sustained prosperity for human society.

Advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China points out: "China is willing to work with all countries in the world to carry forward the common values of all humanity of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom, pool the consensus of people of different nationalities, beliefs, cultures, and regions, advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, and build the Earth we all live on into a big family of peace, harmony, and harmony." "Equal and orderly" answers the question of where world multipolarity is headed; "universally beneficial and inclusive" corrects various deviations that have emerged in the process of economic globalization. These two major propositions are China's solutions to a series of major problems and challenges facing today's world. Advocating an equal and orderly multipolar world means adhering to equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules. Every country's voice should be heard, and every country can find its place and play its role in the multipolar structure. Advocating a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization means conforming to the universal demands of all countries, especially developing countries, addressing the development imbalances between and within countries caused by the global allocation of resources, supporting each country in taking a development path that suits its own national conditions, and promoting the continued growth momentum and vitality of the global economy.

Implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative. These four major global initiatives respond to the common concerns of the international community from the four dimensions of development, security, civilization, and governance, provide a systematic response to the multiple crises facing the world amid major transformations unseen in a century, serve as an important foundation for building a community with a shared future for mankind, and are important public goods China has contributed to the world. Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China points out: "With the support of various countries, the Global Development Initiative has been gaining momentum, and cooperation projects in various fields are thriving." "China is willing to work with all parties to put the Global Security Initiative into practice, adhere to dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance, and win-win over zero-sum, and jointly build a security community." "We welcome all parties to work together to implement the Global Civilization Initiative, promote inclusiveness and coexistence among different civilizations, and foster mutual understanding and affinity among people of all countries." The Global Development Initiative focuses on international development cooperation and helps drive the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Global Security Initiative focuses on resolving international disputes through dialogue and consultation, providing new ideas for international security cooperation. The Global Civilization Initiative aims to promote exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, clarifying a practical path for building a diverse and inclusive civilizational ecology. The Global Governance Initiative anchors the principles, methods, and paths for reforming the global governance system and institutional mechanisms, injecting strong momentum into building a more just and equitable global governance system. The international community should further consolidate consensus, pool joint efforts, and promote the implementation and realization of the four major global initiatives, injecting lasting impetus into the cause of world peace and development.

Create a new situation in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. High-quality Belt and Road cooperation is an important practical platform for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Volumes I through V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China comprehensively present the process of Belt and Road cooperation over the past decade or more, from laying foundations and erecting pillars to taking root and achieving sustained development. Belt and Road cooperation has become the largest and most widely covered international cooperation platform. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out: "We should persist in carrying out the blueprint to the end, working on it year after year, bravely overcoming various risks and challenges, unswervingly advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and making greater contributions to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind." Guided by the eight major steps for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and taking connectivity as the main line, we should coordinate and deepen the "hard connectivity" of infrastructure, the "soft connectivity" of rules and standards, and the "heart-to-heart connectivity" with the people of partner countries, and strive to build a path of peace, a path of prosperity, a path of openness, a path of green development, a path of innovation, and a path of civilization.

Join hands to advance modernization and achieve common prosperity. Realizing modernization is a common undertaking of mankind, a common goal pursued by people of all countries, and an inalienable right of all countries in the world. China always takes the building of a community with a shared future for mankind as a guide, makes it one of the essential requirements of Chinese-style modernization, and joins hands with countries around the world to march toward modernization. Volume V of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China points out: "We will always closely link our own destiny with that of the people of all countries, strive to provide new opportunities for world development with new achievements in Chinese-style modernization, provide new impetus for humanity's exploration of modernization paths, and make new contributions to the theoretical and practical innovation of human society's modernization." Jointly pursuing the "six modernizations" with Africa, building the "five cooperation patterns" with Arab states, advancing the "five major projects" for building a China-LAC community with a shared future, etc., show that China always integrates its own development with world development, integrates the interests of the Chinese people with the interests of the people of the world, and works with all countries to jointly promote a world modernization characterized by peaceful development, mutually beneficial cooperation, and common prosperity.

Riding the great trend of history, we advance along the righteous path far into the future. On the new journey of the new era, we will be more closely united around the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, unswervingly hold high the shining banner of building a community with a shared future for mankind, join hands with all parties, follow the great path of the world together, and push the wheel of history toward a bright future.

(Written by: Wu Xiaodan (吴晓丹) and Zhang Weipeng (张伟鹏))

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The Distinction Between "Lifting" and "Concealing" Reflects the Substance of Political Achievement Views (Ideological Perspectives)

By: 孙琳琼

Comrade Xi Jinping, in his Zhi Jiang Xin Yu (之江新语), profoundly pointed out: “Every leading cadre must ‘carry’ the official’s hat (乌纱帽) to work for the people, and not ‘cover’ the official’s hat to be an ‘official’ for himself.” “Carrying” and “covering,” a single character difference, reflects the fundamental divergence in the view on political performance. In reality, a small number of Party members and cadres regard “avoiding affairs” as a talisman for “preserving one’s office”; when encountering matters, they go around them, when facing conflicts, they push them away, when confronted with responsibilities, they dodge them, preferring not to do anything as long as they keep their position. At root, this is a deviation in the view on political performance. At present, the once-in-a-century transformation of the world is accelerating, and the tasks of domestic reform, development, and stability are arduous and heavy; it is especially necessary for Party members and cadres to eradicate the selfish thoughts and distracting ideas of “preserving one’s office and avoiding affairs,” and to make a clear and resolute choice between “carrying” and “covering.”

The essence of “preserving one’s office and avoiding affairs” is the mindset of “covering” making mischief. Those who “cover” calculate everything for themselves, regard official position as heavy and responsibility as light; when encountering concrete problems concerning the interests of the people, their first thought is not the warmth and cold of the masses, but to do everything possible to emphasize objective reasons, shirk responsibility, and protect themselves. On the surface, this kind of mindset is nonfeasance or slow governance; at a deeper level, it is selfish thoughts and distracting ideas obscuring the true character of a public servant: “avoiding affairs” is taken as a shield for avoiding responsibility — what is avoided is not trouble but the heavy responsibility on one’s shoulders; “preserving one’s office” is taken as the ultimate goal — what is preserved is not the interests of the Party and the people but one’s own official position.

In contrast, those who “carry” put the cause of the Party and the people first, regarding the “official’s hat” as the heavy trust bestowed by the Party and the people. From Xu Limin (徐利民), a Role Model of the Times (时代楷模) who rooted himself in grassroots work for more than 30 years, dedicating his life to fulfilling the oath of loyalty to the Party; to Mijigedorji (米吉格道尔吉), a National Outstanding Party Worker (全国优秀党务工作者) who has rooted himself on the Hulunbuir Grassland for more than twenty years, leading Manglai Gacha (芒来嘎查) to transform from an “empty-shell village” (空壳村) into a National Rural Governance Demonstration Village (全国乡村治理示范村); to Dong Yijun (董亦军), a Role Model of the Times who, in 36 years of police service, always fought on the front line of maintaining stability and serving the masses — none of them are not examples of carrying the “official’s hat” to work for the people. For them, the “official’s hat” has never been an “ornament” for sitting comfortably in the halls of power, but a “letter of responsibility” ready to charge at any time; wherever there is urgency, difficulty, danger, or hardship, there is the figure of stepping forward; wherever the people have expectations, there is the responsibility to act upon hearing the order.

The clear difference between “carrying” and “covering,” in the final analysis, is the division between public spirit and private interest. The “official’s hat” is not a personal seat, but a responsibility conferred by the people. Facing conflicts of interest, Party members and cadres who “carry” the official’s hat dare to sacrifice the small self for the greater self; Party members and cadres who “cover” the official’s hat calculate everything for themselves everywhere. Marxism holds that state power inherently belongs to the people; power is public, not private. Once power is turned into a personal possession, “preserving one’s office and avoiding affairs” becomes inevitable. To eradicate the selfish thoughts and distracting ideas of “preserving one’s office and avoiding affairs,” one must constantly calibrate the view on political performance in the depths of one's thinking, repeatedly asking: Whom is power given by? For whom is work done? Only by truly recognizing that power is entrusted by the people and power is used for the people can one internalize “carrying the official’s hat to work for the people” into conscious action and externalize it into tangible results and effectiveness. Eradicating the selfish thoughts and distracting ideas of “preserving one’s office and avoiding affairs” depends on Party members’ and cadres’ own cultivation of Party spirit, but even more so on the rigid constraints of institutional mechanisms. Let those who carry the official’s hat to work be valued, and let those who cover the official’s hat to coast along have no market, forming a clear orientation of “the able are promoted, the mediocre are demoted, the inferior are eliminated” (能者上、庸者下、劣者汰). Only in this way can those who “preserve their office and avoid affairs” have no place to hide.

“Carrying” and “covering,” a single character difference, but the difference is 天壤之别 (tiān rǎng zhī bié - “as different as heaven and earth,” a world of difference). “Carrying” is a feeling for the people, concerned with the well-being of all living beings; “covering” is a bureaucratic style that turns its back on the people’s hearts. At the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五), promoting industrial transformation and upgrading, advancing high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, and enhancing the coordination and balance of urban-rural and regional development — these “hard bones” are precisely the key to testing whether Party members and cadres “carry” or “cover.” Every Party member and cadre should take “carrying” as an honor and “covering” as a warning, focus their minds on solving development problems, concentrate their energy on solving the people’s urgent, difficult, troubled, and expectant issues (急难愁盼), and produce solid results that stand the test.

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Expanding and Improving Elderly Care Services with Greater Efficiency and Effectiveness (Targeted Measures)

By: 张许颖 李 月

In February 2026, during an inspection in Beijing, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Party committees and governments at all levels must coordinate various resources to promote the expansion, quality improvement, and sustainable development of elderly care services.” The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五) proposes: “Coordinate planning of the layout of elderly care service facilities, optimize the supply of basic elderly care services, and promote the expansion, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement of elderly care services.” Promoting the expansion, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement of elderly care services is a systematic governance plan proposed based on China’s national condition of population aging, and it is an action guide for actively responding to population aging and promoting the reform and development of elderly care services during the 15th Five-Year Plan period. Currently, problems such as insufficient elderly care service facilities, shortage of professional personnel, and mismatch between supply and demand still exist. We must start from meeting the elderly care service needs of the elderly, take “expansion” as the foundation, “quality improvement” as the main line, and “efficiency enhancement” as the goal, and accelerate the improvement of an elderly care service system suitable for China’s national conditions.

“Expansion” must focus on improving the service network, expanding service content, and cultivating diverse entities. First, expansion of the service network. Accelerate the construction of a three-level elderly care service network at the county, township, and village levels, fill the shortcomings of elderly care service facilities in old residential communities and rural areas, promote home-based aging-friendly renovations, leverage the roles of home-based, community-based, and institutional elderly care, and open up the “last kilometer” of elderly care services. Implement the rehabilitation nursing expansion and improvement project, empower the reform and development of secondary and primary hospitals, and increase the supply of health resources for elderly rehabilitation nursing. Second, expansion of service content. Based on the multi-level and diverse needs of the elderly population, on the basis of continuously improving life care services, it is necessary to both improve the service supply for the elderly to learn, enjoy, and contribute (老有所学、老有所乐、老有所为), releasing the social vitality of the elderly group, and improve the interconnected services of medical care, rehabilitation, elderly care, and nursing, actively expand the supply of professional care services such as rehabilitation nursing, psychological intervention, and hospice care (安宁疗护), and enrich service formats such as day care, short-term foster care, and home-based health care. Third, expansion of service entities. Fully leverage the government’s role in overall coordination and basic guarantee, fully leverage the market’s role in resource allocation, encourage social forces to participate, and solve the problems of single service entities and insufficient capacity. For example, in recent years, some localities have revitalized idle rural school buildings and village collective buildings to build village-level elderly care service stations, increasing the coverage of village-level elderly care services.

“Quality improvement” must focus on enhancing professional service quality, building a strong professional talent team, and strengthening professional service supervision. To enhance professional service quality, it is necessary to build a hierarchical and classified professional service system covering the entire population, adapting to the differentiated needs of elderly people in different states. Standardize the standards and norms for meal assistance, bath assistance, medical assistance, cleaning assistance, mobility assistance, emergency assistance, and daily companionship, and improve the level of service refinement and specialization. Promote the integration of medical care and elderly care, strengthen integrated care, develop long-term care and care services for elderly people with cognitive impairment, and improve the professional service capacity for chronic disease management, disabled and demented elderly groups, and hospice care. Building a strong professional talent team can start from three aspects: first, vigorously develop geriatric medicine, strengthen the construction of general practitioners, practicing physicians, and nurse teams, and cultivate professional medical and nursing talents for elderly care; second, implement the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Vocational Skill Level Certification Work for Elderly Care Service Skilled Personnel” (关于加快推进养老服务技能人才职业技能等级认定工作的实施意见), and cultivate a large number of skilled personnel; third, implement the “Interim Provisions on the Occupational Qualification System for Elderly Care Service Professionals” (养老服务师职业资格制度暂行规定), strengthen the construction of professional technical personnel in elderly care services, open up career advancement channels, and improve the professional social recognition of elderly care service practitioners. For example, in recent years, some localities have explored pilot programs for publicly funded training of elderly care service skilled personnel, actively building collaborative education involving “government, schools, industry, and enterprises” (政、校、行、企), achieving precise matching of supply and demand for elderly care service talents. Strengthen professional service supervision, strengthen the construction of elderly care service quality standards and evaluation systems, and improve the supervision and safety responsibility systems for institutional, community, and home-based elderly care services. At the same time, actively promote the application of artificial intelligence, embodied humanoid robots, and brain-computer interface technologies, and enhance the digital and intelligent level of elderly care services and supervision in the era of human-machine symbiosis.

“Efficiency enhancement” must focus on achieving optimal allocation, efficient utilization, and quality improvement of elderly care service resources. The implementation and effectiveness of “expansion” and “quality improvement” must be supported by efficient optimal allocation of resources. To promote efficiency enhancement in resource allocation, it is necessary to coordinate and integrate various resources such as medical and elderly care institutions, idle public facilities, and social capital, avoid idle facilities and waste of service resources, promote the sharing and interconnection of elderly care service resources across urban and rural areas, communities, and institutions, and achieve efficiency in allocation. To promote efficiency enhancement in supply-demand matching, it is necessary to strengthen monitoring, forecasting, and early warning of the elderly population, accurately assess the age structure, health status, and core service needs of the elderly in the region, and provide refined elderly care services according to needs. To promote efficiency enhancement in service models, it is necessary to promote professional, branded, and chain operations of elderly care service institutions, and innovate the linkage of various types of elderly care services. For example, in recent years, many localities have explored the “multi-bed linkage” (多床联动) model, achieving successive linkage between medical beds, home beds, rehabilitation beds, hospice beds, etc., and institutional elderly care beds and home-based elderly care beds, thereby achieving quality improvement and efficiency enhancement of the entire chain of elderly care services including hospitalization during treatment, nursing during rehabilitation, life care during stable periods, and hospice care, and stabilizing the life, consumption, and elderly care expectations of the elderly.

(The authors are respectively a researcher at the Key Laboratory of Population Big Data Decision Support, China Population and Development Research Center (中国人口与发展研究中心人口大数据决策支持重点实验室), and a special researcher at the Beijing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center (北京市习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心).)

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Taking the lead does not mean taking full responsibility (New observations on cadre work styles: Reducing burdens and empowering grassroots)

By: 本报记者 江 萌

We are on a peer level with other units, but as the lead department, we often encounter situations where we cannot pull (牵不动) in our work. A certain location in Qinghai’s market supervision administration, which is responsible for leading the local work of “double random, one open” (双随机、一公开) to regulate administrative inspections involving enterprises, had this department head frankly admit: “If communication is not smooth, or if we encounter situations where other departments are slow to advance or lack authority, the work cannot be pushed forward, and in the end only we can be the ones to take the bottom line.”

In cross-department collaborative governance, this phenomenon of “cannot pull” is not uncommon: the lead department lacks dispatch authority and effective assessment tools; “to coordinate, to seek cooperation, all depends on ‘showing face’,” and the responsibility ultimately falls entirely on the lead department’s single shoulder.

How can the lead department be made able to pull, able to coordinate, and able to implement? Golmud City (格尔木市), Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, taking optimizing the business environment as a breakthrough, has explored a set of combination punches of assigning responsibility beforehand, supervising progress during the process, and empowering through assessment (事先定责、事中督进、考核赋能), providing a useful reference for solving the problem of the lead department “having responsibility but no authority.”

Assigning responsibility beforehand — the lead department does not idle

To prevent the lead department from idling and the ambiguity of power and responsibility, the key is to clarify responsibility beforehand and to assign tasks well.

Opening the “Golmud City Action Plan for Continuously Optimizing the Business Environment and Promoting High-Quality Development,” 76 specific tasks are listed, each clearly marked with “responsible unit” and “cooperating unit.” “As the lead department for optimizing the business environment work, when drafting the plan we broke down tasks item by item and determined responsibility attribution according to the main responsibilities and functional lists of each department, so the responsibility boundaries are clear and distinct,” introduced Li Shiyuan (李诗缘), section chief of the Fixed Asset Investment Section of the Golmud Municipal Development and Reform Commission (格尔木市发展改革委固定资产投资科).

The reporter noted that this plan was issued in the name of the Municipal Government Office after being reviewed and passed at the Golmud Municipal Government Executive Meeting. “The Development and Reform Commission and each unit are on a peer level. If the document were issued in the name of the Development and Reform Commission, the effect might not be ideal,” Li Shiyuan frankly stated.

The Golmud City Market Supervision Administration (格尔木市市场监督管理局) is one of the cooperating departments for optimizing the business environment work. “In the work of optimizing the business environment, registering business entities and cooperating in carrying out the rectification and removal of market access barriers are already our functions. The tasks the Development and Reform Commission asks us to cooperate on are all within our scope of duties, so cooperating feels natural,” said Wang Shixun (汪世勋), section chief of the Credit Supervision Section of the Golmud City Market Supervision Administration.

The effectiveness of assigning responsibility beforehand is also reflected in enterprises’ perceptions. When Qinghai Hongxin Mining Co., Ltd. (青海鸿鑫矿业有限公司) was advancing the second-phase expansion and renovation project of a lead-zinc mine in the Niukutou mining area of Golmud, it raised the need to build a concrete mixing station. “We submitted our request to the Economic and Information Commission, and the next day they convened the relevant functional departments for a coordination meeting. Environmental protection, housing and construction, land and resources, and other departments conducted on-site assessments and on-site task assignments,” said He Jing (和静), deputy general manager of the company. “Now the mixing station is already under construction, and the equipment has been installed.”

Supervising progress during the process — the workflow is visible

In May of this year, a scheduling meeting was held in the conference room of the Golmud Municipal Development and Reform Commission concerning the external power supply supporting project for the electrification of the Golmud–Lhasa section of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway (Golmud segment). The meeting’s theme was clear — to unblock construction bottlenecks and ensure the project advances in an orderly manner. At the meeting, responsible persons from the electric power, energy, water resources, and other relevant departments were all present. The Municipal Development and Reform Commission, as the lead department, went through the bottlenecks in the project’s advancement one by one; those that could be decided on the spot were decided on the spot, and those requiring further coordination had responsible persons and deadlines assigned on the spot.

In the past, many heads of lead departments reported: after responsibilities were assigned and tasks were distributed, the lead department neither knew what progress the cooperating departments had made nor whether they had encountered difficulties, nor could it manage them. The result of “inability to coordinate” was that projects hung in the air and progress dragged on. “We must empower coordination through institutions,” Li Shiyuan said. The plan clearly established an accountability mechanism, adopting measures such as interviews, circulars of criticism, and other actions against departments with problems such as untimely replies, buck-passing, and careless responses and feedback, depending on the severity of the situation.

In August 2025, Golmud City issued an interim measure for the whole-process management of government-invested projects. “Golmud requires that all projects within its scope must be connected to the online approval and supervision platform for investment projects, comprehensively shortening approval timelines and comprehensively unifying handling and collection. Approval timelines are strictly limited; once a deadline is exceeded, the platform automatically sends early-warning text messages to the main leaders in charge at the provincial, prefectural, and municipal levels,” Li Shiyuan introduced. Under institutional constraints, the problem of delays has been effectively resolved, and approval efficiency has greatly improved. A certain enterprise head said: “Previously, an application might be stuck in some department, and you wouldn’t know if nothing happened for one or two months. Now the system shows everything at a glance — which stage it is at, how many days are needed — we have a clear picture.”

In July of this year, the Golmud Municipal Development and Reform Commission, together with the human resources and social security departments and others, held another promotion meeting, focusing on specific links such as salary payment and labor management. From sorting out construction bottlenecks in May to focusing on salaries and employment in July, the scheduling and advancement were interlinked, pushing problems step by step toward resolution.

The lead department can coordinate effectively, the cooperating departments can keep up, and supervising progress during the process makes enterprises expend less effort and also reduces wasted work for the lead department.

Empowering through assessment — reducing coordination burdens

Multiple assessments and layer upon layer of additional requirements severely squeeze cadres’ energy. A lead department must not only coordinate and advance specific work but also deal with inspections and assessments from various higher-level lines, and additionally draw personnel to participate in the assessment of the lead department’s own items, with its energy severely dispersed. In response, Golmud does subtraction with one hand and addition with the other, using assessment reform to increase the coordinating strength for lead departments.

Doing subtraction is manifested in integrating multiple assessments into a yearly comprehensive assessment (年度总考). “We integrated the assessment items scattered across various functional departments into a ‘yearly comprehensive assessment,’ reducing assessment frequency by 75%. It is strictly forbidden to covertly increase assessment tasks. We have cleaned up grass-roots responsibility statements and letters of commitment, and eliminated ‘material-based performance’,” introduced Xing Zhanyang (星占阳), deputy director of the Organization Department of the Golmud Municipal Party Committee. On the one hand, the number of assessments that lead departments must deal with has decreased; on the other hand, the frequency of drawing personnel from lead departments to join assessment groups has also greatly dropped. “Our lead department already has many items to coordinate, and if we then have to second a large number of people to assess other departments, staffing will be even tighter. After various assessments were incorporated into the ‘yearly comprehensive assessment,’ the pressure was greatly reduced,” Li Shiyuan said.

Doing addition is manifested in giving the lead department the scoring power for routine assessments. Under the framework of the “yearly comprehensive assessment,” Golmud incorporates key work involving multi-department coordination into the routine assessment system, where the lead department quantitatively scores the cooperating departments’ degree of collaboration, task completion, and other aspects. Xing Zhanyang explained: “After the lead department scores, it directly feeds back to the Assessment Office, no longer passing through the assessed unit, avoiding the interference of personal relationship factors.” Granting scoring power gives the lead department a baton and puts a golden headband on the cooperating departments.

However, during the interview, some grass-roots cadres also expressed deeper concerns: some lead departments struggle with coordination and need supporting resources such as personnel, finances, and materials; some cooperating departments have policies that conflict with each other, requiring coordination at a higher level; some peer-level departments need more trust and tacit understanding for collaboration.

Solving these problems is not a one-day effort. The construction of a system with equal powers and responsibilities, the improvement of mechanisms for inter-department coordination, and the continuous optimization of the assessment system all need to be deepened in reform. As one grass-roots cadre put it: “For the lead department to truly be able to pull, it must be given both responsibility and authority; it must both press on the shoulders and lighten the burden. Only then will those who bear responsibility have the confidence, and those who work hard have the drive.”

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Let "Taking the Lead" Become a Lever for Forming Work Synergy (Editor's Note)

By: 迟嘉瑞

The word “taking the lead” (牵头) has almost become a synonym for “taking the blame” among some grassroots cadres, reflecting a “pain point” in cross-departmental collaboration: the leading unit’s authority and responsibility are mismatched — if the work goes well, it is a collective achievement, but if it hits a snag, the unit alone must bear the pressure. There is no subordinate relationship between units at the same level; “if one manages too much, one fears overstepping; if one manages too little, one fears falling short,” causing some leading work to become a mere formality.

The prerequisite for taking the lead well is scientific decision-making and division of labor. If one hastily takes the lead under conditions of unclear authority and responsibility, mismatched expertise, and insufficient personnel, it is bound to be a tall order. Only by setting the basic direction, drawing clear boundaries of authority and responsibility, and refining the work plan can the leading unit “pull things along,” and coordination then have a basis to follow.

Taking the lead also tests the orientation of performance evaluation and the cadres’ sense of the big picture. If doing well and doing poorly are treated the same, collaboration tends to spin its wheels; therefore, the assessment 指挥棒 (zhǐ huī bàng — “command baton,” performance-evaluation steering mechanism) must be used effectively. At the same time, all participating cadres should establish and practice a correct view of achievement, proactively break out of the narrow mindset of 一亩三分地 (yī mǔ sān fēn dì — “one mu, three fen of land,” parochial self-interest), and actively assume responsibility, only then can “taking the lead” become a lever for forming a concerted work effort.

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Does selling shoddy goods or refusing to ship in livestream commerce constitute fraud? (News Perspective)

By: 本报记者 赵帅杰

“Family members, look quickly! Clear texture, good seed and sufficient water, starting at six figures in the boutique, fan price in the livestream room, miss today and there will never be the same item again…” On online platforms, such “natural jadeite” livestream sales are common. Not long ago, the political and legal organs of Longting District (龙亭区), Kaifeng City, Henan Province handled a case of selling counterfeit goods via online livestream.

Between July and August 2024, Zhang Moumou (张某某), in collusion with Zheng Moumou (郑某某), used others’ information to illegally register a full set of business qualifications such as business licenses and enterprise WeChat accounts, creating a persona of a legitimate带货 (goods-promotion) influencer. Through a short-video platform livestream room, they sold low-grade jade bracelets that had undergone artificial treatments such as bleaching, filling, and dyeing, passing them off as pure natural jadeite bracelets. During the transactions, for some consumers who had already paid, they blocked and deleted contact information, refused to deliver the goods, and illegally appropriated the corresponding money. At the request of the public security organs, the Longting District People’s Procuratorate (龙亭区人民检察院) intervened in advance to fully ascertain the criminal facts of Zhang Moumou and others.

“This case contains two independent yet interwoven criminal acts,” said Zhao Yunyun (赵云云), head of the First Procuratorial Department of the Longting District People’s Procuratorate. “First, selling counterfeit and substandard goods — passing off treated jade as pure natural jadeite for sale. Its essence is commodity quality fraud, disrupting the order of the market economy and infringing on consumers’ right to fair trade, which meets the constitutive elements of the crime of selling counterfeit and substandard products. Second, refusing to deliver goods for some transactions — after receiving payment without any intention to perform, blocking buyers and refusing to deliver. Its purpose has transformed into illegally appropriating others’ property. This act alone constitutes the crime of fraud. The act of selling counterfeit and substandard products by ‘passing off inferior goods as quality goods’ and the act of fraud by ‘illegal appropriation’ are fundamentally different in subjective intent, behavioral pattern, and the legal interests infringed.”

After trial, the court ascertained that the total sales amount involved in the case by Zhang and Zheng was 167,180 yuan, of which the amount for which payment was received but goods were not delivered was 12,997 yuan, and Zhang Moumou’s personal illegal gains were 22,000 yuan. The presiding judge pointed out that for the part where payment was received but goods were not delivered, the subjective intent was to illegally appropriate, and objectively, acts of fabricating facts and concealing the truth were carried out. According to Article 266 of the Criminal Law, this constitutes the crime of fraud. For the part where fakes were passed off as genuine, inferior goods as quality goods, and counterfeit jadeite was sold and actually delivered, the act violated Article 140 of the Criminal Law and constitutes the crime of selling counterfeit and substandard products. Ultimately, Zhang Moumou was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of one year and six months and fined 40,000 yuan; Zheng Moumou was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of one year and six months and fined 50,000 yuan.

The Longting District People’s Procuratorate reminds consumers that when purchasing valuable ornaments such as jade, jewelry, and precious metals in livestream rooms, they should not easily trust the anchors’ verbal guarantees of authenticity or bargain-hunting rhetoric, should not impulsively make large transfers or place orders, and should stay away from niche livestream rooms that have no physical stores and no authoritative appraisal certificates. Second, after receiving valuable jade and jewelry, consumers must immediately go to an offline formal and authoritative jade appraisal institution to verify authenticity, and retain all evidence for rights protection, including livestream replays, chat records, and payment vouchers. In addition, if encountering consumer fraud in livestream sales, merchants blocking and going missing, or receiving payment but refusing to deliver goods, consumers should immediately call the police, and at the same time retain clues to consult and seek help from market supervision departments and procuratorial organs, exercising rights legally and rationally.

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Paving a Stable Employment Path for Veterans

By: 本报记者 田先进

At 7:50 AM, in the paint shop of Phase IV of the Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. industrial park, retired soldier Ye Haoran (叶浩然) was arranging the pre-shift meeting, going over safety regulations and robot operation points one by one. Dressed in work clothes and speaking clearly and concisely, Ye Haoran makes it hard to imagine that just one year ago he was still a light machine gunner who had just taken off his uniform and knew very little about smart manufacturing.

"I used to worry that once I was discharged I would be unemployed. I never expected that the government, schools, and enterprises would jointly build a platform, allowing even those with zero foundation to learn hard-core technology and get jobs in major factories," Ye Haoran said. In Anhui, a "government-school-enterprise" collaborative education model, structured around government leadership, school provision, and enterprise participation, has taken root (落地生根, luò dì shēng gēn - "to take root and grow," become firmly established), paving a "fast track" for transitioning from the military training ground to the main battlefield of industry.

Of the 56 retired soldiers who participated in the training at the same time as Ye Haoran, most were very unfamiliar with related fields such as new energy vehicles and industrial robots when they first entered the Wuhu Ruitu Robot Vocational Training School (芜湖瑞图机器人职业培训学校). The school worked with Chery engineers to tailor-make a curriculum, with practical class hours accounting for over 60%, truly moving the classroom to training workshops and production lines. After passing the graduation assessment, Ye Haoran and the others directly signed labor contracts with Chery Automobile.

The training-providing institutions establish a dynamic management and control system for the entire process of "teaching, training, and assessment," implement tiered teaching, and graduating trainees receive a certificate jointly recognized by both the institution and the enterprise, which significantly broadens their promotion prospects after employment.

During the training period, enterprises deeply participate in teaching and practical training, dispatch front-line senior technical personnel to teach in the classroom and provide on-site guidance, and fully open their own production workshops as off-campus training bases. After employment, they implement a master-apprentice pairing mentorship system, fully leverage the rigorous and self-disciplined traits of retired soldiers, and prioritize the promotion of key personnel. In just four months, Ye Haoran moved into a team management position, receiving a monthly post allowance of 600 yuan, with a stable monthly salary of around 8,000 yuan.

As of now, Anhui has run a total of 61 demonstration training sessions, with 29 training institutions coordinating with 131 enterprises in the new energy and smart manufacturing fields, helping more than 900 retired soldiers achieve stable employment through free training.

(Mei Liangfang (梅良仿) contributed to the writing.)

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Gathering Innovative Talents to Energize Development

By: 本报记者 潘少军

From Changchun, Jilin to Wuxi, Jiangsu, a distance of more than 1,800 kilometers did not block the convergence of innovation resources toward the industrial front line. Relying on the mechanism of university-local coordination and talent service, the Changguang Spatiotemporal High-Performance Optical Chip Project (长光时空高性能光芯片项目) led by Academician Wang Lijun (王立军) of the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院长春光机所) landed in Luoshe Town (洛社镇), Huishan District (惠山区), Wuxi City, promoting the faster realization of domestic substitution for related chip technologies.

In recent years, Luoshe Town has promoted the deep integration of the industrial chain, innovation chain, and talent chain, using talent agglomeration to drive industrial upgrading and using industrial development to promote talent growth. To attract more high-tech talents to settle, the town innovatively explored the “talent + project + industry” linkage model, improved incentive measures such as “salary subsidy + project dividend + achievement transformation reward,” continuously deepened coordination among universities, local governments, and enterprises, promoted in-depth cooperation between research institutes, universities, and enterprises, and accelerated the layout of innovation projects around emerging and future industries such as new energy vehicles, robotics, photovoltaic energy storage, and satellite manufacturing. As of now, the town has focused on introducing and supporting three projects led by academicians; in 2025, the entire town successfully had ten projects selected for the National Major Talent Engineering Project (国家级重大人才工程项目). In order to attract, retain, and develop talents well, Luoshe Town continuously optimized and upgraded the “Xizhi Talent” Support Plan (羲之人才扶持计划) and built over 700 sets of high-quality talent apartments. It advanced the upgrade of smart government services, using digital means to improve the efficiency of talent policy processing, enterprise services, and talent supply-demand matching.

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Photo Report

On August 6, in Xin'an Town (新安镇), Deqing County (德清县), Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province, an emergency first-aid special training was conducted, covering first-aid knowledge such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency bandaging, to help grassroots cadres master first-aid common sense and improve their ability to handle emergencies. The photo shows a first-aid instructor explaining bandage wrapping methods to the trainees. Photo by Zhao Ning (赵宁) (Image China).

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Guangxi innovates mechanisms to facilitate smooth market exit for bankrupt enterprises

Nanning, August 6 (our reporter Pang Geping (庞革平)). The reporter learned from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Market Supervision and Administration Bureau (广西壮族自治区市场监督管理局) that Guangxi, through its "Four Ones" (四个一) full-chain solution, has helped 1,078 bankrupt enterprises exit the market smoothly, solving the problems of "running to multiple departments" and "low efficiency" in bankruptcy cases.

In recent years, focusing on pain points in enterprise bankruptcy deregistration such as "difficult coordination, lack of funds, blocked information, and low efficiency," the regional bureau innovatively launched the "Four Ones" full-chain solution — "one set of linkage mechanisms, one pool of backstop funds, one file-inquiry system, and one 'one thing' package (一件事套餐)" — established a government-court linkage mechanism (府院联动机制) for the reorganization and disposal of bankrupt enterprises, jointly issued supporting policies with the courts, clarified the division of responsibilities in such segments as deregistration of bankrupt enterprises, asset disposal, and credit repair, and formed a working pattern of "court-led, department-coordinated, market-operated."

To address the problem of cases stagnating because bankrupt enterprises have "no assets to liquidate" (无产可破), Guangxi established a bankruptcy funding mechanism and promoted all cities in the region to set up special funds for bankruptcy cases totaling 5.571 million yuan. The special funds are mainly used to pay necessary expenses in bankruptcy cases, such as administrator remuneration, announcement fees, and audit fees, providing funding guarantees for cases with "no assets to liquidate." Since the beginning of this year, Guangxi has used the special funds to help quickly clear more than 30 bankruptcy cases, effectively revitalizing idle assets.

Relying on the Guangxi integrated digital government services platform (广西数字政务一体化平台), the region launched the "one thing" package for verification of enterprise bankruptcy information. Bankruptcy administrators need only submit one application to simultaneously obtain verification results on enterprise registration, tax clearance, and social insurance arrears, with processing time compressed from the original 35 working days to 5 working days. Since the package was launched, Guangxi has provided services to more than 500 bankrupt enterprises.

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Guardians of the Night for Public Safety

By: 本报记者 王 者

Just after 7 PM, the streets of Qingdao’s Laixi City (莱西市) became lively, with the night market and pedestrian street thronged with people. Inside the reception and dispatch hall of the Qingdao Road Police Station (青岛路派出所) of the Laixi City Public Security Bureau, police officers Liu Zhongyi (刘忠义) and Zhang Hao (张浩) were organizing their equipment; they were about to face the busiest moment of their day.

At that moment, an alert came in: a dispute had broken out inside a furniture store in the jurisdiction. After putting on their gear, the reporter followed the officers onto the patrol vehicle.

Five minutes later, they arrived at the scene. A young man and an elderly man were seen red-faced and flushed with anger (面红耳赤, miàn hóng ěr chì - “face red, ears crimson,” flushed with anger), had argued and come to blows; the elderly man was slumped on the ground, while the young man still refused to let up (不依不饶, bù yī bù ráo - “not comply, not forgive,” relentlessly pressing). “Everyone, don’t get worked up. Whatever it is, talk it over slowly; throwing fists won’t solve anything.” After learning that the two were relatives, the two officers moved them with emotion and enlightened them with reason (动之以情、晓之以理, dòng zhī yǐ qíng, xiǎo zhī yǐ lǐ - “move with emotion, inform with reason,” to persuade with emotion and reason). After more than ten minutes of mediation, seeing that the two sides still showed no sign of reconciliation, Zhang Hao decided to take them back to the station for handling.

“This kind of alert takes up the lion’s share.” On the return trip, Liu Zhongyi told the reporter that most of the police station’s alerts are about domestic trivia (家长里短, jiā cháng lǐ duǎn - “family long, lane short,” domestic trivia). “This kind of alert is the most typical — not big, not small, but if not handled well, it can escalate.”

Just after arriving at the station and handing over to colleagues, a new alert came in: an employee of a mobile phone store reported that an elderly man with a leg injury had gotten lost and was squatting at the store’s entrance.

The police car quickly turned around. Upon arrival, Zhang Hao first treated the elderly man’s wound. After learning that the elderly man was a migrant worker, Liu Zhongyi helped him contact his co‑workers and drove him back to his lodging. Facing the elderly man’s repeated thanks, Liu Zhongyi just waved his hand and urged: “You’re alone away from home; be sure to take care of yourself, and contact us anytime if something comes up.”

The Qingdao Road Police Station is located in the city center, with a jurisdictional population of over 90,000, heavy pedestrian traffic, and complex public‑order elements. During the night shift, handling forty or fifty alerts is the norm, and the station’s single‑day high for alerts handled has even exceeded 130.

Phones lost, reviewing surveillance cameras; convenience‑store employees arguing with customers; residents complaining about noise pollution… From going on duty at 7 PM until half past midnight, Zhang Hao and Liu Zhongyi worked nonstop (马不停蹄, mǎ bù tíng tí - “horse never stops its hoof,” nonstop), handling more than 20 alerts in total.

After 1 AM, taking advantage of a relative lull in alerts, the two returned to the station to mediate a post‑drinking dispute. “A lot of the time, we’re either handling an alert or on our way to the scene,” Liu Zhongyi admitted. Staying up late is the norm, and mealtimes are even more unpredictable — often they wolf down a few mouthfuls during a lull, and sometimes even as they pick up their bowls, an alert arrives and they have to put them down.

“This year, the station built a police service reception hall (警务会客厅). The hall integrates eight functions, including conflict mediation, security‑awareness publicity, and rule‑of‑law education, pooling resources from all sides to coordinate and handle disputes and conflicts.” Zhang Hao excitedly told the reporter about the station’s new changes. Community police officers, auxiliary police, grid workers (网格员), and mass prevention and mass governance forces (群防群治力量) meet every week in the reception hall, exchanging information and checking for hidden dangers. Through this joint‑action mechanism, they have already collected more than 220 pieces of intelligence of various types, resolved over 30 neighborhood and economic disputes, and rectified more than 60 safety hazards.

At 1:47 AM, as soon as the mediation agreement for the post‑drinking dispute was signed, a new alert came in. Zhang Hao and Liu Zhongyi drove the patrol vehicle back into the night…

By now, the city’s lights were gradually going out, and the district that had bustled all day was slowly sinking into slumber, but the Qingdao Road Police Station remained brightly lit (灯火通明, dēng huǒ tōng míng - “lamps and torches brightly lit,” brightly lit). Here, time is not measured by the clock but calibrated by alerts.

From January to June this year, criminal alerts in the Qingdao Road Police Station’s jurisdiction fell 15.2% year‑on‑year, the case‑clearance rate rose 21.3%, and the public’s sense of safety and satisfaction exceeded 99%. “Being able to turn in such a report card — no matter how hard or tiring, it’s worth it,” Liu Zhongyi said.

(Our reporter Zhu Xiaoxi (朱笑熺) contributed to the reporting and writing.)

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Su Xianlong, Xu Leipeng, Li Peiyang

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Chinese Brand Cars Continue to Win Fans in South Africa (International Perspective)

By: 本报记者 邹 松

Data on production and sales for June 2026 recently released by the South African Automotive Business Council (南非汽车商业委员会) show that new car sales in that month reached 54,482 units, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%, achieving the best performance for the same period since 2007. Currently, the South African automobile market is accelerating its transformation towards electrification and low-carbon development. Driven by policy incentives and the reshaping of global supply chains, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in the local market is steadily increasing.

In this process, Chinese-brand automobiles, leveraging intelligence and electrification, continue to expand the market through cost-effective products and localized services, not only bringing more choices for local consumers but also injecting new momentum into the transformation of South Africa's automobile industry. An increasing number of Chinese automakers choose to build production bases in South Africa, promoting the expansion and extension of the local automobile industry chain.

Product adaptation meets diverse needs

Market reputation continues to improve

In recent years, the South African automobile market has maintained a growth momentum. Data released by the South African Automotive Business Council at the beginning of the year show that in 2025, the country sold a total of 596,800 automobiles, a year-on-year increase of 15.7%. Among them, passenger cars and light commercial vehicles increased by 20.1% and 5.6% year-on-year respectively.

Along with the overall expansion of the market, the market share of Chinese-brand automobiles has risen rapidly. As of the end of 2025, there were 16 active Chinese automobile brands in the South African market, accounting for one-third of all brands on sale, covering more than 40 passenger car models. In 2025, user searches for Chinese-brand models in South Africa increased by 48% year-on-year, inquiries rose by 74%, and full-year sales increased by 49% year-on-year, with the growth rate significantly higher than the market average.

Behind the impressive growth rate is the precise grasp of South African consumer demand and continuous product iteration by Chinese automakers. In October 2025, BYD launched the "Dolphin Surf Edition" in South Africa at a starting price of 340,000 rand (1 rand is approximately 0.41 yuan), becoming the first Chinese-brand pure electric model to penetrate the mid-end price range. Chery's Jetour brand launched two compact SUVs, the T1 and T2, which, with strong off-road performance and flexible space layout, have won the favor of many young South African families. In user ratings on South Africa's largest automobile review website, "Car Magazine" (汽车杂志), the Haval H6 was rated as the model with "the richest configuration and highest cost-effectiveness in its class."

A survey by the South African Automotive Business Council shows that the user recommendation rate for Chinese-brand automobiles jumped from 32% in 2022 to 62% in 2025. Cape Town car owner Shane, who runs an automobile rescue company, has a high level of recognition for Chinese-brand automobiles: "I test-drove a Chinese-brand hybrid pickup truck. The large-screen interaction, intelligent human-machine system, and other features enrich the user experience, and it has undergone rigorous testing in many places, so durability is guaranteed."

From the perspective of export structure, Chinese-brand automobile exports to South Africa have shifted from mainly economical fuel vehicles in the early stage to a diversified layout encompassing SUVs, pickup trucks, and new energy vehicles. This structural optimization both matches the South African market's consumer preference for models with large space and high safety and conforms to the policy orientation of the local automobile industry's green transformation, laying a solid foundation for sustained sales growth. Kritan Bahana, editor-in-chief of South Africa's Diplomacy magazine (《外交》杂志), believes that Chinese automobiles not only bring more choices for local consumers but also drive a structural change in the entire South African automobile market, promoting an upgrade of the industry from "price competition" to "value competition."

Smart features are made accessible

Charging network continues to improve

"With the money to buy a compact fuel car, you can enjoy a new experience of smart cockpit and electric drive." This is the assessment of many South African consumers toward Chinese-brand automobiles. Leveraging advantages in intelligence and electrification, Chinese automakers bring to the South African market products that combine cost-effectiveness with technological advancement.

In response to South Africa's market environment and usage scenarios, Chinese automakers have carried out deep localized adaptation. The Chery Jaecoo J7 plug-in hybrid version is equipped with an intelligent four-wheel drive system and voice control function, supporting voice commands in both English and Zulu, addressing the pain point of usage in South Africa's multilingual environment. After its launch, it quickly became a popular choice in the mid-to-high-end SUV market. The BYD ATTO 3 is equipped with a blade battery and has an optimized thermal management system for South Africa's climatic conditions, maintaining stable range even in high temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius. Great Wall Motor's ORA Good Cat, with its retro exterior design paired with an intelligent assisted driving system, has won the affection of young consumers...

Johannesburg car owner Pieter van der Merwe shared his user experience: "The Chinese-brand electric vehicle I purchased can remotely control the air conditioner and charging through a mobile phone app. In the past, this was a feature only found in luxury cars, but its price is very affordable." In the view of South African auto industry analyst Marcus Mbeki, making intelligent features standard rather than premium options is a prominent advantage of Chinese automakers, allowing South African consumers to enjoy globally leading automotive technology at a more affordable price.

In addition to the products themselves, Chinese automakers have also introduced flexible charging solutions and upgraded service guarantee systems in response to the current inadequacy of local charging infrastructure. In November 2025, BYD announced an investment of several billion rand to triple its dealer network in South Africa and plans to build 300 public electric vehicle charging stations, including technologically leading 1-megawatt superchargers. Great Wall Motor is cooperating with supermarkets and hotels to deploy public charging facilities, gradually improving the charging network. As of the end of 2025, Chinese automakers had established more than 200 after-sales service outlets in South Africa, with an average of one service station every 180 kilometers, and several companies have introduced a complete vehicle warranty policy of up to 7 years or 150,000 kilometers. The "product + service" model has further solidified the competitiveness of Chinese-brand automobiles in the South African market. Local car owner Mary Vivier said, "The after-sales service for Chinese-brand automobiles is very comprehensive. Parts are easy to find, and repairs are very convenient, eliminating car owners' worries. This is an important reason why we choose Chinese-brand automobiles."

Full-chain layout takes root locally

Empowering industrial transformation and upgrading

According to the South African Automotive Industry Masterplan 2035, South Africa has set development targets of an annual automobile production of 1.4 million units and a localization rate increased to 60% by 2035. The South African government announced that, starting from March 2026, enterprises investing in the production of electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles in South Africa will enjoy a 150% pre-tax deduction on investment, while 1 billion rand in special funds will be allocated to support local electric vehicle and battery production projects. South African Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau stated that for every 5% increase in the localization rate of the automobile industry, 30 billion rand in supporting procurement demand will be released.

In response to South Africa's industrial development policies, Chinese automakers are shifting from single product exports to a full industrial chain layout and actively advancing localization strategies. At the end of March 2026, Chery officially confirmed it will invest in building a factory in South Africa, with the first automobile production line planned to begin production by mid-2027. According to the plan, Chery will focus on local manufacturing, local procurement, local employment, and local service, building a complete industrial chain covering R&D, vehicle manufacturing, parts and components, logistics and warehousing, after-sales service, and talent training. "This investment reflects the confidence of Chinese automakers in the South African market. Transitioning from an importer to a manufacturer will deepen our roots in South Africa and better serve South Africa and the broader African market," said Zhang Shengshan (张升山), Vice President of Chery Automobile and Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery International.

The localization layout of Chinese automakers has also driven the settlement of upstream and downstream supporting industries in South Africa. Yanfeng Plastic Omnium Automotive Exterior Systems Co., Ltd. (延锋彼欧汽车外饰系统有限公司) established its first overseas factory in 2024 in the Rosslyn (罗斯林) area of South Africa, covering an area of 50,000 square meters, providing bumpers, sill assemblies, spoiler assemblies, and other parts and supporting services for local automakers. Currently, the factory's total production volume reaches 400,000 units, effectively contributing to the extension of South Africa's automobile industry chain and the improvement of supporting capabilities.

From technology to services, from core industries to upstream and downstream industries, Chinese automakers are helping to reshape South Africa's automobile development landscape. Mikel Mabasa, chairperson of the South African Automotive Business Council, stated that the entry of Chinese automakers brings transformation opportunities and impetus to South Africa's automobile industry, pushing the industry toward a more dynamic and sustainable direction. Parks Tau said South Africa welcomes Chinese enterprises to increase investment and looks forward to South Africa-China cooperation in aiding South Africa's industrialization process.

(People's Daily, Johannesburg, August 6)

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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's Remarks on the 81st Anniversary of the Hiroshima Atomic Bombing

Beijing, August 6 (People's Daily) — When answering a question on the 81st anniversary of the Hiroshima atomic bombing on the 6th, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that the disasters and tragedies caused by nuclear weapons must not be repeated; the specific background in which the atomic bombing occurred should all the more be reflected upon and remembered; and the lessons of Japanese militarism's aggression and expansion must 警钟长鸣 (jǐng zhōng cháng míng - "the alarm bell rings long," sound a constant warning).

A journalist asked: On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan, accelerating the end of World War II. Today, 81 years later, Japanese right-wing forces are 蠢蠢欲动 (chǔn chǔn yù dòng - "wriggling, eager to move," ready to stir up trouble), plotting to restore militarism; Japan's ruling authorities are expanding their military and preparing for war, attempting to revise the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" (无核三原则), seeking "nuclear sharing" with the United States and even independent possession of nuclear weapons — all of which is 背道而驰 (bèi dào ér chí - "run in the opposite direction," directly contrary) to the long-cherished desire of the Japanese people, who have suffered the calamity of the atomic bombing, to pursue peace. What comment does the Chinese side have on this?

Lin Jian pointed out that for a long time, Japanese right-wing forces have falsified historical facts, politically exploited the "atomic bombing victim" identity label to win international sympathy, deliberately downplayed the fact that Japan's aggression against neighboring countries caused tens of millions of casualties, and vainly attempted to absolve themselves of the guilt of aggression.

"What is even more ironic is that Japan's ruling authorities have recently attempted to build up the military and expand arms, sought to have the United States strengthen its nuclear protection of Japan, plotted to breach the 'Three Non-Nuclear Principles,' and senior officials at the Prime Minister's official residence have even clamored for independent possession of nuclear weapons, making no secret of their 'remilitarization' ambition. Such two-faced conduct is a provocation to peace-loving people throughout the world and a desecration of historical justice," Lin Jian said.

Lin Jian said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials. The trial of history has not yet ended. The Japanese side should stand in awe of history, face up to the concerns of the international community, earnestly fulfill its obligations under international law regarding the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, and not again take its place in the dock of history.

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Japan local assemblies adopting 'Three Non-Nuclear Principles' opinions reach record high

According to Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, August 5 (Reporters Liang Chen and Chen Ze'an) — According to Japan's Tokyo Shimbun reported on the 5th, since the Sanae Takaichi government was formed last October, at least 128 local assemblies in 36 prefectures across Japan have submitted opinions to the National Diet demanding that the government adhere to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles (无核三原则). This figure sets a new record for the highest number of opinions received by the Diet demanding adherence to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles since it began accepting local assembly opinions in July 2000.

The report said the Takaichi government plans to revise the three security documents (安保三文件) by the end of this year, and whether the Three Non-Nuclear Principles will be adjusted has also drawn attention. The Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly, Hiroshima Prefectural Assembly, and Hiroshima City Assembly have previously each passed by unanimous vote opinions demanding that the government adhere to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. Assemblies in Hakodate City, Hokkaido, and Shin-Hidaka Town (新日高町) have also proposed codifying them into law.

The report also said that as the only country in the world to have suffered atomic bombings, Japanese society has long regarded the Three Non-Nuclear Principles as an important symbol of the peace ideal. Mitsuru Nishida, a professor at Nagasaki University, stated that compared with previous governments, the Takaichi government's attitude toward adhering to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles is insufficiently clear.

According to previous disclosures by Japanese media, the Takaichi government is attempting to revise the "not bringing in nuclear weapons" principle among the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. This trend has sparked strong concern across various sectors of Japanese society.

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Takaichi Sanae Vague on Three Non-Nuclear Principles Stance

Xinhua News Agency, Hiroshima, Japan, August 6 (Reporters Chen Ze'an (陈泽安) and Hu Xiaoge (胡晓雷)) — The 81st anniversary ceremony of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima was held on August 6 at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attended the ceremony, and her remarks regarding the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" were vague and did not clearly state that Japan would continue to uphold the principle.

Japan's Mainichi Shimbun reported that although Takaichi mentioned in her address that "Japan now adheres to the 'Three Non-Nuclear Principles,'" her wording differed slightly from that of previous Japanese prime ministers, and she did not explicitly state that Japan would continue to uphold the principle. The report quoted a source close to Takaichi as saying that if the Japanese government considers revising the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles," then until the formal revision is made, the government's position will be to "maintain the status quo," implying that Takaichi's wording, which merely described the current state, was intentional.

Kyodo News also reported, citing Junya Ogawa, representative of the opposition "Centrist Reform Union" (中道改革联合), that although Takaichi mentioned the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles," it was merely a description of the current state of affairs, lacking the resolve to continue adhering to the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" in the future. Yuichiro Tamaki, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said that Takaichi was merely restating the government's long-standing policy.

At a press conference after the ceremony, Takaichi refused to take a clear position on whether the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" would be upheld when revising the "Three Security Documents." She stated that the documents are still under revision and that it is too early to comment on the final content.

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Extreme heat scorches South Korea

Recently, extreme high-temperature weather has persisted in South Korea. In Yangsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, the maximum temperature on August 2 reached 42.5 degrees Celsius, breaking the previous temperature peak since South Korea began keeping observation records. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated on the 6th that as of the 5th, the country had reported a cumulative total of 2,665 cases of heatstroke, including 23 deaths. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung recently said that the current situation should be regarded as a "national disaster situation."

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"Luban Workshop Mobile Classroom" Inauguration Ceremony Held in Beijing

Beijing, August 6 (Reporter Chu Jun (褚君)) — The “Luban Workshop Mobile Classroom” (鲁班工坊流动课堂), initiated by the People’s Daily Overseas Network (人民日报海外网), held its unveiling ceremony in Beijing on the 6th. Guests in attendance included Aziza Gleta, deputy chief of mission of the Embassy of Ethiopia in China; Chen Shanyi (陈善意), minister-counselor of the Embassy of Thailand in China; Ma Bo (马波), deputy Party secretary and president of the Tianjin Haihe Media Center (天津海河传媒中心); and Lü Jingquan (吕景泉), principal founder of the Luban Workshop brand, director of the Luban Workshop Construction Expert Committee of the Ministry of Education (教育部鲁班工坊建设专家委员会), and professor at Tianjin University of Technology and Education (天津职业技术师范大学).

In her address, Aziza Gleta said that education and human-resource development have always been an important pillar of Ethiopia-China cooperation, and that the Luban Workshop can be regarded as a model of cooperation between the two countries, providing local trainees with the skills training needed to engage in modern industries, enhancing the competitiveness of Ethiopian youth in seeking employment, and having positive significance for Ethiopia’s economic development. The relevant cooperation initiatives fully demonstrate the facilitating role of the Ethiopia-China partnership in empowering youth, sharing opportunities, and realizing inclusive and sustainable development.

Lü Jingquan reviewed the course of the Luban Workshop’s creation and development over the past 10 years. He said that the Luban spirit lies not only in mastering a craft, but even more in daring to innovate and being adept at practice when facing difficult problems. The Luban Workshop teaches people to fish — 授人以渔 (shòu rén yǐ yú - “impart to people the art of fishing,” to teach people skills rather than giving them handouts) — and passes professional skills and the spirit of innovation on to more people.

This event was hosted by the People’s Daily Overseas Network. At the venue, a “Luban Classmates Gathering” (鲁班同学汇) event was also held under the theme of “Chinese Wisdom, Shared by the World” (中国智慧 世界共享), and distinctive interactive experience programs such as traditional Chinese medicine and intelligent technology were set up. In the future, the “Luban Workshop Mobile Classroom” will enter various venues, turning professional knowledge into scenes of skill demonstration and training that are “visible, understandable, and experienceable.”

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Morocco's manufacturing sector accelerates transformation

By: 本报记者 沈小晓

The Foreign Exchange Administration of Morocco recently released foreign trade data for the first half of 2026, showing that the country’s automotive industry export value reached 93.65 billion Moroccan dirhams (1 yuan renminbi is approximately 1.38 Moroccan dirhams), a year-on-year increase of 17.4%, continuing to hold the position of the largest export industry. This impressive export performance is the latest epitome of the accelerated transformation and upgrading of Morocco’s manufacturing industry. Currently, leveraging its geographical advantage adjacent to Europe and sustained policy investment, the country is building itself into an important manufacturing and assembly center radiating to both the European and African markets.

The African Development Bank’s “2025 African Industrialization Index” released in May this year shows that Morocco has topped the African Industrialization Index for the first time, ending South Africa’s consecutive years of leading position since 2010. The report’s analysis points out that Morocco’s breakthrough is attributable to “sustained industrial upgrading, diversified export layout, and strong industrial policy support,” with the two high-end manufacturing sectors of automotive and aerospace being the main growth drivers.

Since the 1990s, Morocco has successively launched a series of special plans to promote manufacturing development, such as the “Emerging Industries Plan” and the “Industrial Acceleration Plan,” pushing the economic center of gravity from traditional agriculture and low-end processing toward high-value-added manufacturing. By broadening corporate financing channels, strengthening vocational skills training, and upgrading industrial park infrastructure, it has continuously enhanced industrial competitiveness. In November 2025, the country formally launched the “Made in Morocco” national strategy, focusing on raising the quality standards and brand value of local products, with the first batch of nearly 80 enterprises having obtained this certification. The government has also simultaneously signed multiple industrial development framework agreements to promote the localization extension of the industrial chain and supply chain of key industries.

The automotive industry is an important lever for Morocco’s manufacturing transformation. With the steady expansion of complete vehicle production capacity and the continuous improvement of the tier-one supplier system, as of the end of 2025, the localization rate of Morocco’s automotive industry had reached 69%, annual complete vehicle production capacity surpassed 1 million units, and it plans to increase this to 2 million units by 2030. The industrial form is accelerating its upgrade from a single “assembly platform” to a full-chain large-scale manufacturing and export base.

The aerospace industry is another important growth pole for Morocco’s manufacturing upgrade. In the first half of 2026, the country’s aerospace industry export value reached 17.3 billion Moroccan dirhams, a year-on-year increase of 19.3%. Export products have expanded from early-stage wiring harness processing to multiple fields such as airframe structural parts, engine components, and aviation maintenance services, with continuously rising industrial added value. Global aerospace enterprises such as Safran and Boeing continue to increase their layout in Morocco: Safran has started construction of an integrated aerospace engine base, and Boeing is deepening local manufacturing and technology transfer. Industry insiders say that, relying on stable industrial investment, a localization rate of 42%, and continuously improving technological capabilities, Morocco is consolidating its position as Africa’s leading aerospace manufacturing base and advancing toward becoming an important node in the global supply chain.

In recent years, the potential for manufacturing cooperation between China and Morocco has been continuously released. Statistical data show that in 2025, bilateral trade between China and Morocco reached 10.96 billion US dollars. China has become Morocco’s third-largest global trading partner and its largest trading partner in Asia. The intended investment amount of Chinese enterprises in Morocco has exceeded 10 billion US dollars. In the Tangier Tech City, about 10 Chinese-invested enterprises have settled in, with business covering core component fields such as braking systems, battery materials, and automotive electronics. Among them, the first electric vehicle battery super factory in the country, invested and built by Chinese battery manufacturer Gotion High-Tech (国轩高科), is progressing smoothly, with the first phase of 20 GWh capacity expected to officially start production in the third quarter of 2026, which will strongly promote Morocco’s transformation from a resource-exporting country to a new energy battery manufacturing base.

Zidane, the Minister Delegate in charge of investment affairs of the Ministry of Investment, Convergence and Public Policy Evaluation of Morocco, stated that China is an important economic cooperation partner and one of the main sources of foreign investment for Morocco, “welcoming more Chinese enterprises to expand their investment in Morocco, especially by laying out high-value-added industrial projects, to help Morocco deeply integrate into regional and global value chains.”

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China and Argentina Central Banks Renew Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 6 (Xinhua) -- (Reporters Ren Jun (任军), Wu Yu (吴雨)) A reporter learned from the People's Bank of China on August 6: Recently, the People's Bank of China and the Central Bank of Argentina renewed the bilateral local currency swap agreement, with a swap size of 130 billion yuan / 28 trillion Argentine pesos, a validity period of five years, and it can be extended by mutual agreement.

The People's Bank of China stated that the renewal of the China-Argentina bilateral local currency swap agreement will help further deepen financial cooperation between the two countries, promote bilateral economic and trade exchanges, and maintain financial market stability.

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Editor: Yue Linwei, Liu Gang, Wei He

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New Form, Fully Unfolded: Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra | Fold8 Galaxy AI

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"How to Promote the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Achievements with 'Equity Investment After Grant'"

By: 本报记者 李 蕊 白光迪 王崟欣

Prologue

The technology roadmap is not yet mature, market demand is not sufficiently clear, yet the demand for funding is high—this is the difficulty that many science and innovation projects face as they move toward industrialization. At this stage, better leveraging the role of fiscal funds to remedy market failures is of great significance for promoting more original technologies to cross the chasm of bridging the transformation of achievements.

“Build diversified application scenarios and high-level industrial clusters; comprehensively employ fiscal, monetary, science and technology, and industrial policies to promote the application, promotion, and iterative upgrading of self-developed technology products.” In July of this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the National Science and Technology Award Conference, the Conference of Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Eleventh National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology: “It is necessary to construct a science and technology finance system that is compatible with scientific and technological innovation, promote the healthy and stable development of the venture capital market, smooth the channels for enterprise investment and financing, and guide financial capital to invest early, invest small, invest long-term, and invest in hard technology.”

In 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology proposed “supporting the transformation of scientific and technological achievements (科技成果转化) through a ‘grant first, equity later’ (先投后股) approach,” and pilot exploration began in multiple localities.

“Grant first, equity later” is referred to differently in various places; some call it “appropriation converted to investment” (拨改投), “appropriation-investment combination” (拨投结合), or “grant first, equity later” (先拨后股), but the connotation is similar: fiscal funds are first invested in the form of science and technology project grants, and when the project results enter market-based financing, they are converted into corresponding equity according to the agreement and managed or exited through market-oriented methods.

How does “grant first, equity later” adapt to the high-risk, long-cycle characteristics of science and innovation projects? How does it promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements? Our reporters visited Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, and other locations.

Origin

Remedying market failures, transforming the support method of fiscal funds

Raising his arm, a humanoid robot steadily grasped a water cup. This seemingly simple action requires the robot’s joints to complete calculation, control, and feedback in a very short time. “This is inseparable from our core product—the high-precision motion control system. It acts like the ‘neural center,’ determining whether the equipment can move flexibly and stably to complete actions,” said Yin Wutao (尹武涛), founder of Nantong Isa Technology Co., Ltd. in Jiangsu.

When the company was first established in 2024, Yin Wutao hit many barriers in raising funds. “Investment institutions care most about how big the market is and when mass production will begin, and they use these to judge whether the company can succeed.” This is also the common predicament faced by a large number of start-up science and technology enterprises: the technology roadmap has been verified, the market prospects seem good, but before truly generating scale revenue, there is full of uncertainty.

“Going from the ‘bookshelf’ to the ‘store shelf’ often encounters three hurdles,” explained Pei Yawen (裴亚文), Deputy Director of the Resource Allocation and Management Division of the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology (山东省科技厅). The first hurdle is the technology itself: many scientific and technological achievements have novel technology roadmaps and possess innovative value, but they have not yet completed pilot-scale maturation, process iteration, and stability verification, so landing is uncertain. The second hurdle is the rate of return: R&D requires continuous investment, but there is no revenue in the early stage, and the project return cycle is generally 3 to 5 years or even longer. The third hurdle is the risk structure: early-stage projects face multiple risks such as technology failure, process optimization, market validation, and policy adaptation, with a relatively high failure rate.

“Social capital tends to invest in projects with mature models, stable cash flow, and sufficient market validation,” introduced Liu Qing (刘庆), Director of the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center (长三角国家技术创新中心). This creates a structural contradiction: mature enterprises are not short of financing channels, but start-up science and technology enterprises that need capital for incubation find it very difficult to get money.

When the market fails, can the government step in?

“In the past, fiscal support for scientific and technological innovation mainly took the form of non-repayable grants and pre-project subsidies, which had shortcomings,” said Pei Yawen. Traditional subsidies are mostly distributed in a universal manner, like “sprinkling pepper powder,” and are insufficient for major hard technology projects that require concentrated efforts; they emphasize disbursement but neglect follow-up, making it difficult to match the long-cycle characteristics of science and innovation projects—a sum is allocated when the project is initiated, support ends after final acceptance, and little attention is paid to whether the enterprise can continue to grow later.

The experience of Gao Xinjiang (高新江), founder of Shandong Maihe Additive Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (山东脉和增材制造有限公司), is a case in point. In 2021, he came to Jinan, Shandong to start a business with 3D-printed orthopedic material technology, and a shortage of funds troubled him.

“In 2022, the company’s revenue was meager. Because I was rated as a municipal-level innovation and entrepreneurship talent in Jinan, the city gave me 1 million yuan in financial support. But fiscal funds are limited by the scope of use, disbursement deadlines, and other restrictions, making it difficult to invest continuously,” recalled Gao Xinjiang. However, the enterprise’s R&D efforts could not stop; it had to maintain a high proportion of R&D expenditure while also bearing rent, personnel, and other costs. “During that period, funds were tight.”

More importantly, the traditional grant model did not design a mechanism for fund exit and recycling. Some enterprises developed well later, but the fiscal funds invested earlier could not be recovered and reinvested. “The water in the ‘pool’ only flows out, never in, so the ‘seedlings’ of science and innovation that can be watered are ultimately limited,” said Pei Yawen.

In October 2023, the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Shandong Provincial Department of Finance (山东省财政厅) issued the Shandong Provincial Reform Work Plan for Provincial-Level Fiscal Science and Technology Equity Investment Projects, which explicitly proposed the “grant first, equity later” model.

“This model allows fiscal funds to move from ‘one-time expenditure’ to ‘sustainable investment,’ achieving circular empowerment and no longer spending one less amount with each expenditure,” Pei Yawen introduced. In 2024, after multiple rounds of review, Maihe Additive Manufacturing was selected for the “grant first, equity later” support list, and 5 million yuan in fiscal funds soon arrived. The company used this to complete key technology upgrades, and its revenue in 2025 exceeded 20 million yuan.

The same problem-solving approach has also taken root and blossomed in many places. The Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (江苏省产业技术研究院), established in December 2013, began exploring the “appropriation-investment combination” model as early as 2017. With the help of the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute, Nantong Isa Technology Co., Ltd. obtained a batch of support funds through the “appropriation-investment combination” model, overcoming key technologies such as high-precision motion control optimization for robot joints, and signed sales contracts worth over 5 million yuan less than a year after its establishment.

“For a start-up enterprise, the most precious thing is not just a short-term revolving fund, but someone willing to accompany us in growth when everything has not yet been proven,” said a grateful Yin Wutao.

Operation

“Wide entry, strict review” to select good seedlings, precise “drip irrigation” to help growth

“You are short of funds, why not try ‘appropriation converted to investment’?”

A conversation with a staff member of the Management Committee of Lingang New Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (中国（上海）自由贸易试验区临港新片区管委会) suddenly enlightened Li Weimin (李卫民). At the end of 2024, he founded Qicaiwei (Shanghai) Electronic Materials Co., Ltd., specializing in the R&D of photoresist resin materials—the “blood” of chip manufacturing—but a shortage of funds became a hurdle. After learning about the “appropriation converted to investment” information, he submitted an application, and the company immediately entered the project review channel.

“Unlike the traditional pre-subsidy grant method, ‘appropriation converted to investment’ does not emphasize ‘what do you have now’ but cares about ‘what you might grow into in the future,’” explained Wang Fengzhuang (王凤壮), a staff member of the High-Tech Industry and Science and Technology Innovation Division of the Lingang New Area Management Committee. “Appropriation converted to investment” has no rigid requirements on enterprise operating profit or whether it can co-finance, but pays more attention to whether the technology roadmap is original, whether the team’s execution capability is strong, and whether the track has development space.

Lowering the threshold does not mean relaxing the standards. Because indicators such as revenue and co-financing have been removed, it instead places higher demands on the review: through “wide entry, strict review” (宽进严审), select truly strong seedlings with technical strength and growth potential.

In December 2025, the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology and the Shandong Provincial Department of Finance issued the Shandong Provincial Detailed Implementation Rules for Provincial-Level “Grant First, Equity Later” Science and Technology Project Management, classifying the “grant first, equity later” support targets into four categories: enterprises that jointly transform achievements with universities and research institutes; science and technology talents who start businesses with their own achievements; those who have passed concept verification and demonstration; and those in the intermediate stage from laboratory to production line that need maturation and pilot-scale testing. The thresholds are also clearly set: the enterprise must have been established for no more than 5 years, net assets not less than 2 million yuan, and revenue for the previous year not exceeding 20 million yuan.

“‘No more than 5 years’ is a relatively reasonable observation period; it can screen out projects that truly have potential and only need the ‘final push.’ If a project has not emerged after more than 5 years, in most cases, either the technology roadmap has problems or the industrialization capability is insufficient, and it also does not meet the ‘invest early’ positioning,” explained Pei Yawen. A large number of scientific and technological achievement transformation enterprises enter the critical period of industrialization precisely 3 to 5 years after establishment, when they most need financial support.

The Shandong Provincial Detailed Implementation Rules for Provincial-Level “Grant First, Equity Later” Science and Technology Project Management further relax conditions, allowing scientific research teams that have patent achievements but have not yet registered a company to apply for “grant first, equity later” fiscal support, but they must register and establish an enterprise in Shandong within the time limit agreed in the agreement, which will serve as the invested entity.

How to ensure the professionalism of the review? Shandong has established a three-party division of labor system of “science and technology authorities + investment management institution + third-party experts”: the Provincial Department of Science and Technology and municipal science and technology bureaus are responsible for preliminary review and gatekeeping; the investment management institution, Shandong Financial Investment Group Co., Ltd. (山东省财金投资集团有限公司), is responsible for on-site investigation and value assessment; the expert review group is composed of randomly selected external experts from four categories: technology, industry, finance, and financial affairs, who score anonymously.

In 2024, it was the fourth year since Maihe Additive Manufacturing was established, and also a critical stage for the product to move from the laboratory to the production line. The enterprise applied for “grant first, equity later” fiscal support, underwent layer-by-layer screening, and entered the expert review stage. In the defense room, the experts’ questions went straight to the point: “Compared with traditional plaster, is the healing effect supported by evidence-based medicine?” “How many clinical control data have you accumulated so far?” … After one defense, Gao Xinjiang was so nervous that his palms were sweating, but it was precisely the experts’ questions about clinical data that gave him a wake-up call. After the defense, the company quickly initiated a special project in collaboration with the orthopedics team of Shandong Provincial Hospital (山东省立医院), laying the foundation for subsequent product market entry.

Pei Yawen introduced that experts score projects from multiple dimensions—looking at technology advancement: whether it is an original breakthrough, how high the technical barriers are, and whether the technology is mature; looking at market prospects: including downstream application scenarios, industry capacity, cooperative intention orders, and a three-year revenue projection; looking at the R&D team: whether the technical leader is full-time and on-site, their resume, whether there are any breach of trust acts or intellectual property disputes; looking at industrialization potential: covering pilot-scale plans, production start-up cycles, and compatibility with the local industrial chain.

There are also priorities in industry sectors. “‘Grant first, equity later’ is positioned to invest early, invest small, invest long-term, and invest in hard technology, focusing on tracks of new quality productive forces (新质生产力) such as high-end equipment, new-generation information technology, and artificial intelligence, as well as sub-sectors such as new materials, new displays, and green environmental protection,” said Pei Yawen.

Once the project is selected, how are the funds disbursed to the enterprise?

In Shandong, before the fiscal funds are converted into equity, they are managed by the science and technology department, and the funds are disbursed in one lump sum to the enterprise account; after equity conversion, they are managed by the investment management institution. “Professionals do professional jobs. The science and technology department is responsible for policy formulation, project review, and industrial gatekeeping, but shareholding, post-investment management, and risk control are our specialties,” said Zhao Jia (赵佳), Director of the Fiscal Equity Division of Shandong Financial Capital Management Co., Ltd. (山东省财金资本管理有限公司).

Unlike Shandong’s one-time disbursement, Shanghai releases fiscal funds in batches according to the enterprise’s R&D progress, and at the same time provides an equal amount of unsecured credit line that the enterprise can draw and repay at any time, flexibly responding to cash flow fluctuations in the start-up phase.

With the support of the “appropriation converted to investment” model, Qicaiwei received 5 million yuan in fiscal support and 5 million yuan in bank credit. “The government actively supported us at our most difficult juncture, helping the company stabilize its R&D rhythm and inspiring us to keep breaking through and innovating,” said Li Weimin.

Cycle

Timely equity conversion and exit, allowing fiscal funds to continuously release nurturing momentum

With the arrival of 5 million yuan in fiscal funds, a heavy burden was lifted from Gao Xinjiang’s heart. He did not expect that good news was still to come. “In the past, social capital lacked enthusiasm. Now, the ‘entry’ of fiscal funds brings confidence, and several fund companies have already come forward to discuss cooperation.”

“Fiscal support is just the starting point,” said Pei Yawen. One of the purposes of the policy is to use limited fiscal funds to leverage more social resources, forming a development path of “fiscal guarantees the bottom line, market takes over, and enterprise grows.”

As the enterprise grows, the fiscal funds will at the agreed node shift from “subsidy” to “equity.” When to convert? How to convert?

According to the Shandong Provincial Detailed Implementation Rules for Provincial-Level “Grant First, Equity Later” Science and Technology Project Management, Shandong sets three trigger lines for equity conversion. Any one of them can start the equity conversion procedure: the enterprise obtains market-based equity financing with an amount not less than 3 million yuan; cumulative operating revenue during the support period exceeds 50 million yuan; the project passes acceptance and the enterprise voluntarily applies for equity conversion. “Equity conversion does not set a specific time point but is determined according to the pace of the enterprise’s growth,” said Zhao Jia.

In Lingang New Area, after the enterprise completes its first round of market-based financing or acquisition, fiscal funds are simultaneously converted into equity at the market valuation. Why wait until social capital enters before converting equity?

“Start-up enterprises have no fair public pricing. If the equity is forcibly converted at a very low price, it is unfair to the founding team,” explained Wang Fengzhuang. “When social capital comes in, the valuation has a market reference, and converting equity at that time is more equitable.”

Now, Maihe Additive Manufacturing’s Series A round of financing is about to land, and revenue has doubled for three consecutive years, only one step away from fiscal fund equity conversion. The stock will be diluted, but Gao Xinjiang’s reaction is very calm. “The equity conversion ratio is completely acceptable, and being able to convert equity is also a proof of the enterprise’s growth.”

“According to policy, we hold at most 25% of the shares and do not become the largest shareholder,” introduced Zhao Jia. After equity conversion, an external director will be appointed, who only has the right to know, judge, and vote on major matters of the company, and does not work on site or receive salary. “’Hold shares but not control, help but not cause trouble’ (持股不控股，帮忙不添乱) is our principle. For the founding team, once the decision-making power over operations falls out of their hands, the motivation for innovation may be compromised.”

After the enterprise enters the right track, how do fiscal funds exit in an orderly manner?

In 2022, the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center came into contact with the team of Wu Qing (吴青), who had advanced mass spectrometry technology. After multiple rounds of negotiations, the team settled in Suzhou Industrial Park and established Suzhou Yuezhi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. As an important co-building unit of the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center, the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute used the “appropriation-investment combination” model to provide Yuezhi Biotechnology with 8.05 million yuan in R&D fund support. Subsequently, the enterprise’s R&D technology successfully achieved industrialization. In September 2024, a leading medical device enterprise initiated an acquisition of Yuezhi Biotechnology. In December 2025, the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute listed for transfer its nearly 7.5% equity stake on the Jiangsu Property Rights Exchange.

Acquisition exit is not the only path. In practice across various localities, exit methods are flexible and diverse.

In Shandong, if the enterprise successfully goes public, the shares formed by fiscal funds are reduced and exited on the secondary market; if the enterprise is targeted by a leading industry chain company and merged or integrated, the shares are transferred accordingly; if the enterprise still needs time to grow and is neither listed nor acquired, the founding team can be negotiated to repurchase the shares according to the agreement, with the repurchase interest rate close to the bank loan benchmark rate.

In Lingang New Area, the exit method is mainly through agreed transfer at “principal plus benchmark return,” without chasing the enterprise’s excess growth dividends, yielding the value appreciation space to the founding team and subsequent social capital that follows the investment.

“After exit, the funds flow back into the science and innovation support pool and continue to be invested in new start-up projects,” said Liu Qing. In each cycle, limited fiscal funds continuously release the long-term value of nurturing innovation.

As of now, the Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center has supported the implementation of over 200 “appropriation-investment combination” projects, with an average support amount of about 25 million yuan per project, attracting a cumulative total of over 2.5 billion yuan in social capital investment; 40 projects have achieved phased R&D goals, of which 33 have completed equity conversion.

However, scientific and technological innovation inevitably involves failure. “Since 2024, most ‘grant first, equity later’ projects have progressed smoothly, but a few have not met expectations,” analyzed Zhao Jia. Some teams treat “grant first, equity later” as a one-time non-repayable subsidy, not realizing that it is an “investment agreement” with long-term responsibilities, and their mindset has not turned around; some teams have a resistant attitude toward long-term equity binding, slowing down the pace of project advancement.

When an enterprise’s development falls short of expectations, should fiscal funds be recovered? Shandong leaves room for error tolerance: if the enterprise indeed spent the money on R&D, even if the technology roadmap fails, the market has not opened, and the expected targets have not been met, returning the remaining funds is sufficient; funds used in compliance are allowed to fail. However, if the enterprise misappropriates funds, engages in fraud, or the project has not substantially commenced within six months of disbursement, all fiscal funds will be recovered.

“’Grant first, equity later’ targets precisely high-risk, long-cycle projects. It is unrealistic not to allow for errors,” admitted Pei Yawen. “We do not only look at the profit and loss of a single project, but pay more attention to the effectiveness of the entire project portfolio. Among a batch of projects, even if one or two fail to meet expectations, as long as the overall capital return and reinvestment are achieved, this model is sustainable.”

In the view of Zhu Enyuan (祝恩元), Deputy Director of the Shandong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, “From ‘once given and done’ to ‘circular empowerment,’ ‘grant first, equity later’ both supports the achievement transformation of start-up science and technology enterprises and allows fiscal funds to continuously release efficiency and nurture an innovation ecosystem in circulation.”

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From 'One-Time Support' to 'Relay-Style Empowerment' (Reflections)

By: 白光迪

Even a good scientific and technological achievement, even if the technology has been validated, still cannot avoid a key issue when it comes to moving onto the production line: without orders, who is willing to invest the first amount of money to help transform the achievement?

Social capital favors mature projects and certain returns, while traditional fiscal appropriations are difficult to match the long-cycle characteristics of science and innovation projects and cannot fully cover stages such as pilot-scale testing and market expansion. What the "invest-first, shares-later" (先投后股) model fills is precisely this gap: fiscal funds support the project in the early stage in the form of a scientific and technological achievement transformation project, and when the project's achievements enter market-based financing, they are converted into investment rights such as equity at market prices, managed or withdrawn in a market-based manner, helping the scientific and technological achievement take the first step toward industrialization.

"Invest-first, shares-later" must establish an investment mindset, focusing on project growth and investment returns. But it must also be recognized that these funds bear the mission of supporting original technologies and nurturing emerging industries, and cannot only pursue short-term returns. The economic account must be calculated, but the innovation account and the industrial account must be calculated even more; it cannot be required that every project succeed. As long as the review is standardized, the funds are indeed used for research and development, and the team has fulfilled its responsibilities, even if the technical route does not work out, room for tolerance of errors should be given. At the same time, tolerance of errors does not mean indulgence of errors; it is necessary to strictly distinguish between failure in technical exploration and situations such as misappropriation of funds, falsification, and dereliction of duty.

Innovation requires patience, but funds cannot be invested indefinitely. Whether the exit mechanism for fiscal funds is smooth determines whether this model can go far. Withdrawing funds at the right time is not reducing support, but starting a relay. The Yangtze River Delta National Technology Innovation Center (长三角国家技术创新中心) supported Suzhou Yuezhi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (苏州越质生物技术有限公司). After the latter successfully completed technology incubation and obtained a strategic merger and acquisition by an industry leader, it listed and transferred the equity it held, forming a closed loop of early government support, social capital taking over, exit of early-stage funds, and enabling more projects.

Through "invest-first, shares-later," fiscal funds move from "one-time support" to "relay-style empowerment," which will help more scientific and technological achievements move from the laboratory to the production line, from samples to commodities.

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Editor: Yang Yan, Sun Zhen, Dai Linfeng, Liu Yurui

Layout design: Shen Yiling (沈亦伶)

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Pomegranate seeds embrace, singing "Good Flower Red"

By: 本报记者 马跃峰 程 焕

8月的贵州黔南州，丰收的气息悄然酝酿。70年前，同样的时节，这片古老土地，迎来新的希望。
In August, in Qiannan Prefecture (黔南州), Guizhou, the atmosphere of harvest is quietly brewing. Seventy years ago, in the same season, this ancient land welcomed new hope.

1956年8月8日，黔南布依族苗族自治州正式成立。
On August 8, 1956, the Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔南布依族苗族自治州) was formally established.

七十载拼搏进取，从落后封闭到通达开放，从绝对贫困到推进乡村全面振兴，黔南州努力谱写民族地区高质量发展和现代化建设新篇章。
Over seven decades of striving and forging ahead, from backwardness and isolation to connectivity and openness, from absolute poverty to advancing comprehensive rural revitalization, Qiannan Prefecture strives to write a new chapter of high-quality development and modernization for ethnic regions.

发挥矿产、生态等比较优势，构建富有特色的现代化产业体系
Leverage comparative advantages in mineral resources, ecology, etc., to build a distinctive modern industrial system

建州之初，黔南州地区生产总值仅1.41亿元，人均地区生产总值只有84元，经济基础十分薄弱。改变落后面貌，必须发挥比较优势，构建富有特色的现代化产业体系，推动产业提质升级。
At the beginning of the prefecture's establishment, Qiannan's gross regional product was only 141 million yuan, and its per capita gross regional product was merely 84 yuan, with a very weak economic foundation. To change the backward state, it was necessary to leverage comparative advantages, build a distinctive modern industrial system, and promote industrial quality improvement and upgrading.

黔南州磷矿资源丰富，如何将资源优势转化为产业优势？“依托磷、不唯磷、超越磷”，当地以循环改造和链式延伸实现传统产业转型升级。
Qiannan Prefecture is rich in phosphate rock resources. How to transform resource advantages into industrial advantages? "Rely on phosphate, but not only phosphate, surpass phosphate" — the locality uses circular transformation and chain extension to achieve the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.

贵州芭田生态工程有限公司位于瓮安经济开发区，这里没有刺鼻气味，不见堆积如山的磷石膏废渣。磷矿石经硝酸法制磷酸装置，98%的磷元素化作磷酸铁锂电池正极材料，就连伴生的副产物，也变成了高端水溶肥。
Guizhou Batian Ecological Engineering Co., Ltd. is located in the Weng'an Economic Development Zone (瓮安经济开发区). Here there is no pungent odor, and no mountains of phosphogypsum waste. Through a nitric acid process phosphoric acid unit, 98% of the phosphorus element in the phosphate rock is converted into lithium iron phosphate battery cathode material; even the associated by-products have become high-end water-soluble fertilizers.

“固废近乎归零，不是简单的产品升级，而是一场产业生态的更新。”公司总经理冷为贵说，以技术创新完善产业生态，企业从传统肥料生产，到磷矿开采、精深加工，打通全产业链。
"Solid waste is nearly zero — it is not a simple product upgrade, but an renewal of the industrial ecology," said Leng Weigui (冷为贵), the company's general manager. By perfecting the industrial ecology through technological innovation, the enterprise has opened up the entire industrial chain, from traditional fertilizer production to phosphate rock mining and deep processing.

如今，黔南州形成“磷矿开采—磷酸—磷酸盐—新能源材料—三废综合利用—生产性服务”的完整链条，每吨磷矿石附加值提高10倍，亿元产值耗磷量下降44.7%。磷系化工与新能源电池材料两大产业，占规上工业总产值一半以上。
Today, Qiannan Prefecture has formed a complete chain of "phosphate rock mining — phosphoric acid — phosphates — new energy materials — comprehensive utilization of three wastes — productive services." The added value per ton of phosphate rock has increased tenfold, and the phosphate consumption per one hundred million yuan of output value has dropped by 44.7%. The two major industries of phosphate-based chemicals and new energy battery materials account for more than half of the total output value of industries above designated size.

发展新质生产力，农业也在转型升级。在都匀市毛尖镇坪阳村的螺蛳壳茶园，智能机器狗昼夜巡护，智能设备辅助判断采摘时机，无人机转运茶青……种了半辈子茶，国家级非遗都匀毛尖茶制作技艺代表性传承人张子全不再只凭经验，“以前只做春茶，现在打造茶叶全产业链，让每一片叶子都能发挥价值。”
Developing new quality productive forces, agriculture is also transforming and upgrading. At the Luosike Tea Garden in Pingyang Village (坪阳村), Maojian Town (毛尖镇), Duyun City (都匀市), intelligent robot dogs patrol day and night, smart devices assist in judging picking timing, and drones transport fresh tea leaves... Having grown tea for half his life, Zhang Ziquan (张子全), a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage Duyun Maojian tea making technique, no longer relies solely on experience. "Before, we only made spring tea; now we build the entire tea industry chain, so that every leaf can realize its value."

告别粗放模式，黔南州立足山地资源禀赋，基本构建起现代山地特色高效农业的生产、经营体系，建成高标准农田293.46万亩，培育农业龙头企业927家，家庭农场突破1.1万家，绿色食品、有机农产品认证数量均排全省前列。
Bidding farewell to the extensive model, Qiannan Prefecture, based on its mountain resource endowments, has basically built a production and management system for modern mountain-specific efficient agriculture, established 2.9346 million mu of high-standard farmland, cultivated 927 leading agricultural enterprises, and seen family farms exceed 11,000. The number of certifications for green food and organic agricultural products ranks among the top in the province.

2025年，全州地区生产总值历史性突破2000亿元，人均地区生产总值57460元。今年上半年，全州地区生产总值达1078.89亿元，同比增长5.7%。全州规模以上工业增加值同比增长19.6％，磷系化工、新能源电池材料两大主导产业产值分别增长30.7%、129.4%。
In 2025, the prefecture's gross regional product historically surpassed 200 billion yuan, with a per capita gross regional product of 57,460 yuan. In the first half of this year, the prefecture's gross regional product reached 107.889 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.7%. The added value of industries above designated size in the prefecture grew by 19.6% year-on-year, and the output value of the two leading industries — phosphate-based chemicals and new energy battery materials — increased by 30.7% and 129.4%, respectively.

加快推进社会治理现代化，提升各族群众获得感、幸福感、安全感
Accelerate the modernization of social governance, enhance the sense of gain, happiness, and security of people of all ethnic groups

党的十八大以来，黔南州举全州之力脱贫攻坚，10个贫困县全部摘帽、836个贫困村全部出列、92.93万建档立卡贫困人口全部脱贫。
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Qiannan Prefecture has mobilized the entire prefecture's efforts to fight against poverty. All 10 poverty-stricken counties have been removed from the list, all 836 poverty-stricken villages have been delisted, and all 929,300 registered impoverished people have been lifted out of poverty.

脱贫不是终点。黔南州加快推进社会治理现代化，持续提升各族群众获得感、幸福感、安全感。
Poverty alleviation is not the end. Qiannan Prefecture accelerates the modernization of social governance, continuously enhancing the sense of gain, happiness, and security of people of all ethnic groups.

惠水县王子塘村的葡萄快熟了。解开枝头上的套袋，露出一串串如玛瑙般的果实，55岁的布依族村民杨家文喜笑颜开。“采摘季一到，城里人就会过来玩。”老杨算账，“这茬葡萄一上市，至少能挣2万元。”
In Wangzitang Village (王子塘村), Huishui County (惠水县), the grapes are almost ripe. Untying the bags on the branches reveals clusters of agate-like fruit. Yang Jiawen (杨家文), a 55-year-old Buyei (布依族) villager, beams with joy. "As soon as the picking season comes, city folks will come to play." Old Yang calculates, "Once this batch of grapes hits the market, I'll earn at least 20,000 yuan."

10年前，王子塘村深陷“邻里纠纷多、治理难题多、发展阻力多”的困境。转变始于党支部：引回大学毕业生、致富带头人，充实村“两委”班子；改造党群服务中心，设置“群众困难我来帮”投递箱和连心热线……
Ten years ago, Wangzitang Village was mired in the plight of "many neighborhood disputes, many governance difficulties, many development obstacles." The transformation began with the Party branch: bringing back college graduates and wealth-leading individuals to strengthen the village's "two committees" (Party branch and villagers' committee); renovating the Party and mass service center, setting up a "Let Me Help with the Masses' Difficulties" drop box and a heart-connecting hotline...

产业兴旺，纠纷少了。“春有樱桃夏有李，秋有葡萄冬有橘”，王子塘村的产业基地四季飘香，各族群众过上安居乐业（ān jū lè yè - "settle down and be content with one's work and life," to live in peace and enjoy one's work）的幸福生活。
With thriving industries, disputes have decreased. "Cherries in spring, plums in summer, grapes in autumn, and tangerines in winter" — the industrial base of Wangzitang Village is fragrant all year round, and people of all ethnic groups live a happy life of 安居乐业 (ān jū lè yè - "settle down and be content with one's work and life," to live in peace and enjoy one's work).

近年来，黔南州着力建强党组织书记、驻村工作队、组团式帮扶“三支队伍”，向1197个村选派驻村干部1.2万余人。全州村干部备案率达100%，储备致富能手1168人、退役军人443人、返乡大学生2373人。
In recent years, Qiannan Prefecture has focused on strengthening the "three teams" of Party organization secretaries, village-resident work teams, and group-type assistance, sending more than 12,000 village-resident cadres to 1,197 villages. The filing rate of village cadres across the prefecture has reached 100%, with a reserve of 1,168 wealth-building experts, 443 military veterans, and 2,373 returning college students.

在长顺县综治中心，“静心调解室”温馨亲切。由退休法官领衔，调解室凭借专业、耐心与热忱，无偿为居民调解矛盾纠纷。从2023年成立至今，成功调解纠纷1200余件，为群众挽回经济损失8700余万元，成为长顺县化解社会矛盾的“金字招牌”。
At the Comprehensive Management Center of Changshun County (长顺县), the "Jingxin Mediation Room" is warm and cordial. Led by a retired judge, the mediation room relies on professionalism, patience, and enthusiasm to mediate conflicts and disputes for residents free of charge. Since its establishment in 2023, it has successfully mediated more than 1,200 disputes, recovering over 87 million yuan in economic losses for the masses, becoming a "golden brand" for resolving social conflicts in Changshun County.

基层安则天下安，治理优则民心稳。黔南州构建四级联动治理网络，12个县（市）综治中心全面达标运行，109个乡镇（街道）综治中心实现实体化、实战化运转，1463个村（社区）调解组织全域覆盖。一系列务实举措，让基层治理更有精度、平安建设更有力度、民生服务更有温度。
When the grassroots are safe, the country is safe; when governance is excellent, the people's hearts are stable. Qiannan Prefecture has built a four-level linked governance network. The comprehensive management centers of 12 counties (cities) are fully up to standard and operational; 109 township (street) comprehensive management centers have achieved substantive, practical operation; 1,463 village (community) mediation organizations have achieved full coverage. A series of pragmatic measures make grassroots governance more precise, peace-building more forceful, and livelihood services more warm.

促进各民族交往交流交融，特色文化多姿多彩
Promote interactions, exchanges, and integration among all ethnic groups; characteristic cultures are colorful and diverse

在黔南州2.62万平方公里土地上，生活着汉族、布依族、苗族、水族等数十个民族，民族文化多姿多彩。
On the 26,200 square kilometers of Qiannan Prefecture, dozens of ethnic groups including Han, Buyei (布依族), Miao (苗族), Shui (水族), and others live, with colorful and diverse ethnic cultures.

黔南州通过搭建交往交流平台、保护传承非遗，让各族群众在文化共鸣中增进情感，在深度交融中凝聚共识。
Qiannan Prefecture, by building platforms for interaction and exchange and protecting and inheriting intangible cultural heritage, enables people of all ethnic groups to enhance their emotions through cultural resonance and to build consensus through deep integration.

夜幕降临，罗甸县斛兴街道学府社区的休闲广场上热闹起来，人们唱布依族山歌、跳苗族舞蹈。自2017年以来，社区共安置8151名易地扶贫搬迁群众。汉族、布依族、苗族等多民族聚居，日渐融合。
As night falls, the leisure square of Xuefu Community (学府社区), Huxing Subdistrict (斛兴街道), Luodian County (罗甸县), becomes lively. People sing Buyei mountain songs and dance Miao dances. Since 2017, the community has resettled 8,151 people from poverty alleviation relocation. Han, Buyei, Miao, and other ethnic groups live together, increasingly integrating.

社区门口的非遗刺绣工坊里，数十名绣娘赶制订单。带有苗绣、布依扎染等元素的文创产品，源源不断发往景区门店和线上平台。“每天在家门口一起上班，做手工活，相处融洽。”搬迁群众陈腊妹说。
In the intangible cultural heritage embroidery workshop at the community entrance, dozens of embroiderers rush to complete orders. Cultural and creative products featuring Miao embroidery, Buyei tie-dye, and other elements are continuously sent to scenic area stores and online platforms. "Every day we work together at our doorstep, doing handicrafts, and we get along well," said Chen Lamei (陈腊妹), a relocated resident.

促进各民族交往交流交融，黔南州将民族工作延伸到易地扶贫搬迁社区。24.73万名群众走出深山，搬至113个城镇安置区，在生活、习俗、文化等方面与社区快速融合。
To promote interactions, exchanges, and integration among all ethnic groups, Qiannan Prefecture extends ethnic work to poverty alleviation relocation communities. A total of 247,300 people have moved out of deep mountains to 113 urban resettlement areas, rapidly integrating with the communities in terms of living, customs, culture, etc.

龙里县洗马镇平坡村，一个偏远的苗族村寨。村民擅画农民画、爱唱山歌。人们将传统山歌与现代说唱结合，围绕村里的新生活、新发展、新变化，自编自导自唱。视频走红网络，播放量超千万。“家乡丰富多彩的民族文化，就是我们的底气。”游客、研学团队来了，农民画、蜡染订单源源不断，说唱团队成员张莉倍感自豪。
Pingpo Village (平坡村), Xima Town (洗马镇), Longli County (龙里县), is a remote Miao village. Villagers are skilled in painting farmer paintings and love singing mountain songs. People combine traditional mountain songs with modern rap, writing, directing, and singing about the new life, new development, and new changes in the village. The videos have gone viral online, with viewership exceeding ten million. "The colorful ethnic culture of our hometown is our confidence," said Zhang Li (张莉), a member of the rap team, as tourists and research groups come, and orders for farmer paintings and batik flow in continuously, filling her with pride.

立足民族文化资源，黔南州按照以点串线、以线连片、以片带面的思路，建成铸牢中华民族共同体意识教育实践基地157个，打造民族特色村寨精品旅游线路12条。
Based on ethnic cultural resources, Qiannan Prefecture follows the approach of "linking points into lines, connecting lines into areas, using areas to drive the whole" (以点串线、以线连片、以片带面), building 157 education and practice bases for forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, and creating 12 high-quality tourism routes for villages with ethnic characteristics.

黔南州委书记洪湖鹏表示，当前，全州各族群众像“石榴籽”一样团结在一起，大抓产业、主攻工业，实施“双招双引”、项目投资、产业质效、深化改革、民生事业、安全稳定六大提升行动，走好民族地区高质量发展之路，铸牢中华民族共同体意识。
Hong Hupeng (洪湖鹏), Secretary of the Qiannan Prefecture Party Committee, stated that currently, people of all ethnic groups in the prefecture are united like "pomegranate seeds" (石榴籽). They vigorously promote industries, focus on industry, implement the six major improvement actions of "dual recruitment and dual attraction" (双招双引), project investment, industrial quality and efficiency, deepening reform, livelihood undertakings, and security and stability, walk the path of high-quality development in ethnic regions, and forge a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.

“好花红哎，好花红哎，好花生在刺梨蓬哎；好花生在刺梨树嘛，哪朵向阳哪朵红哎……”当地布依族民歌《好花红》，在黔南山水间久久回荡，催人奋进。
"Good flower red, good flower red, the good flower grows on the roxburgh rose bush; the good flower grows on the roxburgh rose tree, whichever flower faces the sun is red..." The local Buyei folk song "Good Flower Red" (好花红) echoes for a long time among the mountains and waters of Qiannan, inspiring people to forge ahead.

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Let industrial value-added benefits better reach the people.

By: 本报记者 黄 娴 苏 滨

Resource endowments differ, and industrial bases vary. In an autonomous prefecture of ethnic minorities, how can it proceed from its own actual conditions to promote the integrated development of invigorating industries, strengthening counties, and enriching the people?

In the Qiannan Buyi and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (黔南布依族苗族自治州) of Guizhou Province, a new picture of high-quality development of the county economy is becoming increasingly clear: Fuquan City (福泉市) and Weng'an County (瓮安县) deeply cultivate phosphorus-based chemicals and new energy materials, building a phosphorus chemical industry cluster; Duyun City (都匀市) and Longli County (龙里县) strengthen the planting and processing of the thorn pear (cili), focusing on building specialty industry counties; Libo County (荔波县) and Sandu Shui Autonomous County (三都水族自治县) integrate tourism resources, striving to cultivate a new cultural tourism name card...

"In developing the county economy, wanting to grasp everything makes it difficult to excel at anything." Long Qiang (龙强), Governor of Qiannan Prefecture, stated that in accordance with the principle of 'favor agriculture where appropriate, favor industry where appropriate, favor tourism where appropriate,' the prefecture's 12 counties (cities) are categorized and clearly focus on building strong industrial counties, strong agricultural counties, famous tourism counties, and specialty industry counties, accelerating the formation of a situation of distinctive and differentiated development.

Based on industrial foundations, division of labor and collaboration, and differentiated development.

"In previous years, many counties only chased hot industries. If you planted tea, I would also plant tea; if you did cultural tourism, I would also do cultural tourism. This led to large inputs and low outputs." Mo Bozhong (莫伯忠), Deputy Director of the Qiannan Prefecture Development and Reform Commission (黔南州发展和改革委员会), believes that developing the county economy should not involve rushing in en masse or homogeneous competition, but rather should be based on actual conditions and adapt to local circumstances (因地制宜, yīn dì zhì yí - "adapt measures to local conditions").

Inside the production workshop of Guizhou Chuanheng Chemical Co., Ltd. (贵州川恒化工股份有限公司), located in the Qiannan High-tech Industrial Development Zone (黔南高新技术产业开发区), there is a fully closed-loop circular chain: wet-process phosphoric acid reacts stably in sealed tanks, requiring no manual intervention throughout the process; waste heat is recovered and used for heating in other processes; solid waste phosphogypsum is transported through sealed pipes to a modification workshop, where it is processed into backfill cementitious materials.

"Fuquan is rich in phosphate rock resources. By building, extending, and supplementing the chain, we eat the resource dry and squeeze it clean, maximizing value and achieving green development." Li Bin (李斌), Manager of the Company's Administrative Department, said that in 2025 the company's output value will be 8.5 billion yuan. "The company is advancing a mine-chemical integration project to achieve deep processing of phosphorus and fluorine resources."

Relying on its mineral resource advantages, Fuquan City is accelerating the cultivation of a "phosphorus chemical + metal smelting + new materials industry" cluster. In 2025, the city's total industrial output value above designated size was 56.8 billion yuan, and the added value of industries above designated size increased by 19.4% year-on-year. It is expected to exceed 70 billion yuan this year.

In February 2024, the Qiannan Prefecture Implementation Plan for Promoting High-Quality Development of the County Economy (《黔南州推动县域经济高质量发展实施方案》) was issued. Based on each county's resource endowment, locational conditions, and industrial foundation, leading industries were clarified to push county development from each fighting on its own to coordinated progress.

Improve the industrial ecosystem and enhance market competitiveness.

In Guizhou, with its "80% mountains, 10% water, and 10% farmland," industrial development once encountered the predicament that "even if the wine is good, it is still feared that the alley is deep" (a saying meaning good products are hard to sell if they are not well known). Qiannan Prefecture continuously improves the industrial ecosystem to enhance the market competitiveness of leading industries.

The thorn pear (cili), which once covered the mountains and was sour and astringent to eat, has now achieved a stunning transformation in Longli County. "Longli County's artificial cultivation of thorn pear can be traced back to the 1990s. In the past, fresh fruit was sold by the ton, and market acceptance was relatively low." Wei Mingyan (魏明艳), Deputy Director of Longli County Forestry Bureau, said that to adapt to market demand, it is necessary to find ways to extend the industrial chain and increase added value, while also developing multiple products. "Now it's sold by the bottle, not only has it become a bestseller, but its price has also risen."

Ten years ago, Guizhou Hengliyuan Natural Biological Technology Co., Ltd. (贵州恒力源天然生物科技有限公司) settled in Longli County, engaging in thorn pear planting, deep processing, product research and development, and sales. It has 14 automated thorn pear deep processing production lines, with an annual output value exceeding 100 million yuan.

"We developed a membrane concentration extraction process, which has faster concentration speed and lower energy consumption." Fei Jianjun (费建军), the company's Chief Engineer, said that Hengliyuan cooperates with surrounding planting bases on the one hand, and joins hands with peers on the other, digesting an average of 5,000 tons of fresh thorn pear fruit per year, producing over 20 types of products, with its brand reputation growing louder.

Supplying shortcomings, strengthening weak points, and optimizing services, Qiannan Prefecture improves industrial supporting facilities, infrastructure, and public services, promoting characteristic products to emerge from the deep mountains. On the logistics front, 13 county-level cold chain warehousing centers have been built, with logistics costs dropping 32% compared to three years ago. On the brand front, a full industrial chain system has been constructed, from standardized production to "two products and one standard" certification (两品一标 certification of pollution-free agricultural products, green food, organic agricultural products, and geographical indications of agricultural products), from quality traceability to deep processing. On the talent front, a county industrial talent pool has been established, cumulatively sending over 20,000 various types of talents.

Extend the industrial chain to promote income increases and prosperity for the masses.

In recent years, Guizhou's "Village Horse" (村马) horse racing invitational has combined with traditional customs and modern art, helping the local agricultural, cultural, and tourism industries accelerate. In a horse farm in Zhonghe Town, Sandu County, more than a dozen racehorses are chewing fodder. Rider Shi Shaozhang (石绍张) is tending to them nearby. "Since the 'Village Horse' became popular, by raising horses, racing horses, and selling horses, I net over 100,000 yuan a year."

"After watching the horse races, tourists come to the shop to check in and pick cultural and creative products." As a representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage of the Shui ethnic group's horsetail embroidery (水族马尾绣), Wei Taohua (韦桃花) founded a company in the county town, with an annual output value exceeding 3.8 million yuan, cumulatively driving tens of thousands of women to find employment and start businesses close to home.

"'Village Horse' spans multiple fields. Upstream is horse breeding, implementing a model of 'policy subsidies + cooperative joint breeding + large households driving'; midstream is event operations, opening up channels for village collectives to participate in supporting services, for local people to find nearby work, and for local riders to compete on the same stage to increase income; downstream is cultural tourism consumption, innovating income-increasing chains for viewing, consumption, and experience." Yang Kai (杨凯), County Mayor of Sandu, stated that relying on financial and resource support from the Agricultural Bank of China Guizhou Branch (农行贵州省分行) and others, efforts are made to jointly retain the value-added income of 'Village Horse' at the rural level in multiple layers, effectively driving over 30,000 people to increase their incomes stably.

Qiannan Prefecture also relies on characteristic industries such as tea, livestock and poultry, vegetables and fruits, striving to achieve simultaneous resonance between industrial development and income growth for the masses.

Changshun County (长顺县) promotes Guangdong-Guizhou collaboration (粤黔协作), introduces leading enterprises, promotes the cooperation model of company + cooperative + farmer, with unified supply of seedlings, unified feed, unified technology, and unified recycling. Farmers bear no risk and worry about no sales; Duyun City focuses on Maojian tea, exploring the co-building of standardized tea gardens by leading enterprises and cooperatives. Enterprises are responsible for technology and market, while farmers invest with their tea gardens, receiving income from fresh tea leaves, share dividends, and labor income...

"County economy is connected to cities on one side and rural areas on the other. The value-added income from industries must be retained more in the countryside to benefit the masses." Wang Yue (王玥), Deputy Director of the Qiannan Prefecture Agriculture and Rural Bureau (黔南州农业农村局), said.

Based on the mountainous reality and making full use of special characteristics, the counties (cities) of Qiannan Prefecture each leverage their strengths and fully release new vitality in the county economy.

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Strong safeguards, warm livelihoods

By: 本报记者 苏 滨

On December 2 last year, for Qu Zhengben (瞿正本), a villager of Xiaopu Village (小普村), Yunwu Town (云雾镇), Guiding County (贵定县), Qiannan Prefecture (黔南州), Guizhou Province, it was an unforgettable day. On that day, the hemodialysis room of the Yunwu Town Central Health Center (云雾镇中心卫生院) began operation.
“Dialyzing in the morning, I can go home for a hot lunch—that was absolutely impossible before.” At 8 a.m., Qu Zhengben rode his electric bicycle and arrived at the town central health center in 20 minutes. Disinfection, puncture, blood drawing, connection to the machine—seeing the nurse’s skilled movements and the steady jumping of the numbers on the instrument, he gradually relaxed.
Qu Zhengben suffers from kidney disease and needs regular dialysis three times a week, four hours each session, which cannot be interrupted. Limited by township medical conditions, he used to get up at 5:30 a.m., travel in the dark by bus to the county hospital for dialysis, and could only return home after 2 p.m. Each trip was exhausting and left his whole body tired.
Frequent trips to and from the county seat or even the provincial capital consumed a great deal of energy and money, imposing a heavy burden on many patients. However, township health centers were limited by their grade qualifications, staffing, facilities, and equipment, making it difficult to provide hemodialysis services.
“Focus on the urgent difficulties and anxious expectations of the masses, exert precise efforts, and let more development achievements truly benefit the people.” Zhang Yunhe (张运河), deputy director of the Qiannan Prefecture Health Bureau (黔南州卫生健康局), stated that the whole prefecture included the construction of township hemodialysis rooms in key livelihood projects, quickly formed a special work team, surveyed rural kidney disease patients, and conducted scientific assessment by integrating factors such as population base, geographic location, and service coverage, determining seven townships including Yunwu Town as the first batch of construction pilot sites.
From site selection and layout, construction and building, to equipment debugging, acceptance and evaluation, the Qiannan Prefecture People’s Hospital (黔南州人民医院) directly sent expert teams to participate in the whole process of the hemodialysis room construction, and carried out blood purification training for grassroots medical staff. Now, the Yunwu Town Central Health Center is equipped with 10 hemodialysis machines, can serve 40 hemodialysis patients per day, and has served over 2,400 patient visits in total.
“Dialyzing at our doorstep shortens the distance of travel and brings closer the distance of people’s hearts.” Qu Zhengben said.
Safeguards have strength, people’s livelihood has warmth. From concentrating efforts to provide quality education, to exerting efforts in multiple directions to stabilize employment, and then to using every possible means to secure the bottom line of people’s livelihood, Qiannan Prefecture has continuously increased investment in people’s livelihood, making the masses’ employment more stable, income higher, and safeguards more solid.
“Seek truth from facts, act within our capabilities, accurately identify the pain points and difficulties that the masses generally care about, mobilize resources from all sides, concentrate efforts to implement policies, accelerate the filling of shortcomings in basic public services in rural areas, so that livelihood safeguards are more powerful and the masses feel warmer.” Zu Ziyin (祖自银), vice governor of Qiannan Prefecture, said.

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Mountains nurture clear waters, clear waters nourish the land

By: 本报记者 陈隽逸

In the early morning, the grass and trees along the Sanyuan River (三元河) were covered with dew. River protection worker Tang Shiyi (唐诗益), carrying a garbage bag, walked slowly along the water-friendly path, his eyes sweeping across the river surface and the banks. “Before, the ditch was full of weeds and duckweed floating, the water was so muddy you couldn't see the bottom. Now, the water is so clear you can see the mountain reflected.” She bent down to pick up a plastic bottle and casually stuffed it into the bag. “Now villagers pick up garbage on their own when they see it. The river protection work is much easier than before.”

The Sanyuan River is located in Longli County (龙里县), Qiannan Prefecture (黔南州), Guizhou Province, and flows through Lianhua Village (莲花村), Longshan Township (龙山镇). Yu Shanyun (余善云), secretary of the Lianhua Village Party General Branch and village-level river chief, witnessed the changes of the Sanyuan River. “Before, the Houzigou (猴子沟) section at the village entrance was a rotten river ditch. Every rainy season, the farmland on both sides of the river was often flooded. After treatment, this place has become a good spot for residents to cool off and have fun,” Yu Shanyun said.

After the Sanyuan River was treated, Lianhua Village developed cultural tourism projects. Villagers invested in land around the Sanyuan River as shares, set up a joint management account, and adopted a tiered dividend based on business turnover, ensuring that each mu of land yields no less than 1,000 yuan per year. “By doing planting and breeding, opening agritainment, or running a small shop right at our doorstep, we can earn money,” Yu Shanyun said.

The renewal of the Sanyuan River is a vivid microcosm of Qiannan Prefecture’s 持之以恒 (chí zhī yǐ héng - “persist in it with constancy,” to persevere) protection of water resources. As an important ecological barrier for the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River, Qiannan Prefecture has 496 rivers of various sizes distributed within its territory, and the ecological security of water relates to the sustainable development of the lower reaches. A responsible comrade from the Qiannan Prefecture Water Affairs Bureau introduced that in recent years, the autonomous prefecture has adhered to the overall planning of water environment, water ecology, and water resources; taking the river and lake chief system (河湖长制) as the starting point, innovated the closed-loop management mechanism of river and lake problem “work orders” (派工单); established 2,157 four-level river and lake chiefs to carry out routine river patrols and fulfill their duties, achieving whole-process control of problem discovery, assignment, rectification, and case closure. Currently, the excellent rate of water quality at national control sections of surface water in Qiannan Prefecture and the compliance rate of water quality in centralized drinking water sources with a population of over 1,000 both remain at 100%.

The joint force for water protection comes not only from river and lake chiefs at all levels. In Fengyan Village (丰岩村), Zhuzang Town (珠藏镇), Weng'an County (瓮安县), 63-year-old Lu Xiyong (卢锡永) and his wife Ran Xuying (冉戌英) have patrolled and protected the banks of the Wujiang River for 40 years. “Growing up by the Wujiang River, water is our lifeline,” Lu Xiyong said.

In Qiannan Prefecture, there are more and more folk water protectors. Changshun County (长顺县) incorporated river and lake protection into village rules and regulations, strengthened institutional constraints and villager self-governance, achieving full coverage of river and lake self-governance in 67 villages (residential areas) with rivers or reservoirs within its jurisdiction, thus opening up the “last kilometer” of grassroots river and lake management and protection. Pingtang County (平塘县) hired 125 river protection workers for daily cleaning. Citizen Zhang Youbi (张友碧) often takes her grandson for a walk along the Yushui River (玉水河): “Every day someone patrols and protects it, the water is very clear.”

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Photo Report

Qiannan Prefecture (黔南州) Fuquan City (福泉市) Wengfu Chemical Company (瓮福化工公司).
Photo provided by Guizhou Phosphate Chemical Group (贵州磷化集团).

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Ancient Villages Nestled in Green Mountains, Homestays Draw Visitors

By: 本报记者 陈隽逸

Thin mist drifts over Zenlei Village (怎雷村) in the early morning, as continuous stretches of Shui (水族) wooden stilted houses spread along the mountainside. Zenlei Village, in Sandu Shui Autonomous County (三都水族自治县), Qiannan Prefecture (黔南州), Guizhou Province, is a traditional village where Shui and Miao (苗族) people live together.

In recent years, the village has carried out homestay renovations and terrace landscape restoration, built facilities such as the Museum for the Living Transmission and Protection of Ethnic Culture (民族文化活态传承保护馆), and created a good destination for residing as a tourist.

Every summer, many tourists choose to escape the heat and reside here, experiencing Shui horse-tail embroidery and rice-field farming. Idle old houses become assets that increase income; more than ten villagers who had left returned to their hometown for employment, and the village has formed a linked business format of homestays, farmhouse dining, and intangible cultural heritage experiences.

As Guizhou's "village horse racing" (村马) continues to gain popularity, Zenlei Village receives large numbers of tourists. During this year's "May Day" holiday, the village's first boutique homestay, "Zenlei Station" (怎雷驿站), faced a peak in customer flow as soon as it began trial operation. With air conditioners, water heaters, and kitchen equipment running simultaneously, could the wiring of the old wooden house bear the load?

"Thanks to the electric power supply station masters working in shifts, the homestay was able to operate on schedule," said Yang Shengchao (杨胜超), a staff member of Zenlei Station. Members of the Party member service team (党员服务队) and young volunteers from Dujiang Power Supply Station (都江供电所), Duyun (都匀) Sandu Power Supply Bureau (三都供电局), China Southern Power Grid Guizhou (南方电网贵州), came to the site in advance to inspect hazards and ensure the lights stay on.

In recent years, Qiannan Prefecture has continuously advanced the "electrical renovation" (电改) and "water renovation" (水改) projects for contiguous villages of wooden houses with 50 or more households, improving fire-fighting water supply pipe networks, electrical line renovation, and so on, to equip traditional villages with safety facilities for developing the tourism-residence industry.

In July this year, Qiannan Prefecture integrated its entire cultural and tourism resources, selected 53 characteristic tourism-residence spots, and launched the Qiannan Summer Escape Tourism-Residence Map. Yang Shuo (杨硕), head of the Industry Section of the Qiannan Prefecture Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism (黔南州文化广电和旅游局), introduced that from January to June this year, Qiannan Prefecture received over 48 million tourists, total tourism spending exceeded 48 billion yuan, and overnight tourists increased by over 80% year-on-year.

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本版责编：曹怡晴 陈圆圆 陈世涵

Graphics: Shen Yiling (沈亦伶)

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A Tapestry of Splendor: A Millennium of Mutual Learning (Museum World)

By: 巴音其其格

Under the yellow sands of the Taklamakan Desert in China’s Xinjiang, buried along the ancient Silk Road routes, lie sealed dialogues of civilization spanning millennia. In 1995, from a thousand-year-old tomb at the Niya ruins (尼雅遗址) in Minfeng County (民丰县), Hotan Prefecture (和田地区), a Han-dynasty brocade emerged from the earth. After nearly 2,000 years of wind and sand erosion, the brocade still has clear weave patterns and conspicuous characters. This is the “Five Stars Rise in the East, Benefiting China” brocade arm guard (五星出东方利中国锦护臂, hereafter “Five Stars” brocade arm guard), hailed as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of 20th-century China. With its brilliant colors and exquisite weaving technique, it is a vivid material testimony to the exchanges and mutual integration between the Central Plains and the Western Regions (西域) during the Han dynasty, and even more so a precious epitome of the cultural interchange and blending of civilizations along the ancient Silk Road.

Five Stars Rise in the East: Astronomical Ritual Order and Familial-National Aspirations in the Weave

In 1995, the “Five Stars” brocade arm guard was unearthed at the Niya ruins. Based on items such as bows, arrows, and quivers (ancient containers for storing bows and arrows) found in the same tomb, it is inferred that it was an arm guard used by ancient people when shooting arrows, and that it was woven in the Eastern Han dynasty. After examination, the “Five Stars” brocade arm guard uses a five-layer plain-weave warp-faced brocade, consistent with the characteristic warp-faced pattern display of typical Han-dynasty brocade. The brocade has a warp density of 220 threads per centimeter and a weft density of 48 threads per centimeter; the weave is very thick, with a greater warp thread density.

The “Five Stars” brocade arm guard is rounded rectangular in shape, 18.5 cm long and 12.5 cm wide, with edges bordered in white silk, and each of the two long sides sewn with three white silk ribbons approximately 21 cm long and 1.5 cm wide (three of which are broken). The brocade uses five groups of colored warps — sapphire blue, crimson, grass green, bright yellow, and white — to weave auspicious patterns such as star patterns, cloud patterns, phoenixes, luan birds, qilins, and white tigers, and between the patterns are woven the small seal script (小篆) characters “五星出东方利中国” (Five Stars Rise in the East, Benefiting China). Even more exquisite is that the characters and the patterns of birds, beasts, and clouds are not embroidered or painted, but are likewise woven from silk threads, reflecting the unique ingenuity and superb craftsmanship of Han-dynasty brocade design and production.

“五星出东方利中国” is typical small seal script. “Five Stars” refers to what are today called the five major planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn. “East” is a specific celestial position in ancient Chinese astrology. “China” at that time referred to the Central Plains region in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. This phrase is an auspicious expression in ancient Chinese astrological terminology, meaning that when the celestial phenomenon of the five stars all appearing in the east occurs, it is favorable for military and state affairs. Because the five major planets have different orbital periods around the sun, the probability of observing them gathered together in the sky from Earth is extremely low; thus their positions in the sky were endowed with special astrological significance.

The “Five Stars” brocade arm guard has magnificent patterns and stirring characters; its design and weaving contain profound political and cultural connotations. People at that time regarded the five stars as the essence of the five phases (五行), with clear practical concerns: victory or defeat in war, the security of the throne, good or poor harvests, floods and droughts, and other political, military, and social major events. Both the Records of the Grand Historian: Treatise on the Celestial Offices (史记·天官书) and the Book of Han: Treatise on Astronomy (汉书·天文志) contain divinatory statements that the five stars accumulating in the east are beneficial to China.

During the two Han dynasties, the ideas of “yin-yang and five phases” (阴阳五行) and “heaven-human induction” (天人感应) broadly influenced political operations, social economy, ideology, and other fields, including culture and art. Auspicious prayer phrases, star-cloud patterns, patterns of auspicious birds and beasts, and patterns of ganoderma and other plants were applied as symbolic motifs of sacred omens in the pattern design of the “Five Stars” brocade arm guard. This is precisely the artistic and figurative expression of the concepts of “auspicious response to virtuous transformation” (瑞应德化) and “having the Way” (有道), reflecting the ritual norms of society at that time, displaying ancient China’s pursuit of harmony and unity, and bearing the ancient Chinese people’s prayers for a better life.

The Silk Road Stretches Ten Thousand Li: “Jingjue” (精绝) Witnesses Openness, Inclusiveness, and Mutual Learning Among Civilizations

The “Five Stars” brocade arm guard is the earliest artifact discovered to date in Xinjiang that bears the characters “中国” (China). It not only reveals the glorious historical connotation of the Han dynasty’s governance of the Western Regions, but also crystallizes the splendid achievements of Chinese civilization and its major contributions to human civilization.

Many auspicious-phrase character brocades have been unearthed in the Xinjiang region. In the Han dynasty, character brocades were costly to produce, and their wording was extremely fastidious; brocades bearing auspicious phrases were mostly made by imperial order or given as rewards and gifts. At that time, astrology and the astronomical calendar were exclusively managed by the royal court historians; only the Han dynasty institution responsible for imperial weaving could use astrological terms as auspicious phrases on brocade. Therefore, some experts believe that the “Five Stars” brocade arm guard unearthed at the Niya ruins may have been a gift from the Central Plains dynasty.

The Niya ruins are located in the heart of the Taklamakan Desert, more than 100 kilometers north of Minfeng County. They are the site with the largest number of extant remains, the largest scale, and the best preservation among the city-state ruins there, yielding a large number of precious artifacts such as artworks, textiles, copper coins, lacquerware, glassware, various ornaments, and wooden slips.

As the location of “Jingjue” (精绝), one of the “Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions” (西域三十六国) during the Han and Jin dynasties, the Niya ruins were an important node on the round-trip Silk Road. During the Western Han dynasty, Zhang Qian (张骞) traveled to the Western Regions twice, initiating close ties between the Central Plains dynasty and the Western Regions. The central government of the Western Han established the Protectorate of the Western Regions (西域都护府) to administer the Western Regions, including “Jingjue.”

After Zhang Qian’s pioneering journey to the Western Regions (凿空西域), rare birds, exotic goods, and cultural ideas from the West flowed into the Central Plains one after another. At the same time, Chinese goods represented by silk were continuously transported westward. Along the Silk Road, one can outline the transportation network around the Tarim Basin. The Book of the Later Han: Treatise on the Western Regions (后汉书·西域传) records: “Galloping orders and traveling couriers, never ceasing from month to season; merchant barbarians and peddler guests, daily paying tribute at the frontier passes,” vividly depicting the bustling scene of envoys rushing and trade frequenting the Silk Road relay stations during the Han dynasty.

During the Han and Jin dynasties, the main commodities in China’s foreign trade, as well as gifts presented to foreign monarchs, visiting envoys, and rewards given to leaders of ethnic minorities in the border regions, were primarily silk. Silk fabric is thin and not easily preserved, but because many desert or semi-desert areas in northwest China, Central Asia, and West Asia have dry climates, many silk products have survived more than 2,000 years of wind and sand erosion and are still preserved today, some quite intact. Han-dynasty silk has been discovered from the Loulan ancient city (楼兰古城), the Niya ruins, and the Yingpan cemetery (营盘墓地) in China’s Xinjiang, to Palmyra in Syria, and even at the Kerch site (刻赤遗址) on the Crimean Peninsula in Eastern Europe, fully confirming the widespread dissemination of silk along the Silk Road.

The archaeological discovery and research of the “Five Stars” brocade arm guard powerfully reveal that: historically, the Central Plains dynasties carried out effective political management and administration of the Western Regions; Chinese culture’s influence on the local history and culture of the Western Regions began early, lasted long, was large in scale, wide in scope, and deep in degree, playing an important role in promoting the ancient civilization process of the Western Regions.

The Silk Road was not only a passage for transporting silk to the West, but also a vital thoroughfare for the exchange of diverse goods and civilizations between East and West, with silk being the most important commodity welcomed by various countries. As a fine trade good, it reached Europe and Africa via the Silk Road, not only symbolizing the wisdom and wealth of the Chinese nation, but also witnessing the flourishing economic and cultural development of the regions along the Silk Road.

“Five Stars Rise in the East, Benefiting China” was originally a divinatory phrase; read today, its significance is even more profound. Over the long course of history, Chinese civilization has constantly enriched itself through dialogue with neighboring and distant civilizations. What this piece of brocade bears witness to is precisely such a tradition of openness and inclusiveness. It is not an isolated cultural relic, but an epitome of real exchanges along a section of the Silk Road. Taking it as a mirror, we illuminate history and inspire the future.

(Author’s affiliation: Research Office of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum (新疆维吾尔自治区博物馆研究室))

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Porcelain Rhyme and Cultural Veins Across the Seas (Reading the World)

By: 陈康令

On July 25, "Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Remains" were formally inscribed on the World Heritage List, becoming China's 61st world heritage. In the first year of the Jingde reign of the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 1004), Fuliang County's Changnan Town (浮梁县昌南镇), famous for its porcelain, was renamed "Jingdezhen." From then on, the porcelain industry chain and trade network centered on Jingdezhen connected rivers and reached the sea, and for over a thousand years, it has continuously painted the prosperous picture of "craftsmen come from all directions, and the wares go to all under heaven."

The thousand-year-old kiln fire 生生不息 (shēng shēng bù xī - "birth after birth without ceasing," continuous vitality). One by one, Chinese porcelain pieces followed trade routes and waterways to spread far across the four seas, becoming important carriers of exchange and mutual learning among different civilizations. In the first half of the 9th century AD, an Arab merchant ship unfortunately sank; this ship, today called the "Black Stone," carried more than 67,000 pieces of various Chinese ceramic wares. Some Changsha kiln ceramics bore poems such as "A solitary goose flies far in the southern sky, the cold wind cuts and startles" and other verses, recording a vivid scene of the popularity of Tang poetry and Han rhythms overseas. The 举世闻名 (jǔ shì wén míng - "known throughout the world") blue-and-white porcelain particularly flourished during the Yuan and Ming dynasties, blending classical Chinese patterns, Persian "Soleimani blue" (苏麻离青), and Islamic artistic styles. Blue-and-white porcelain not only became an imperial court ware in the Ming dynasty, but was also a precious gift presented by Zheng He to various rulers and nobles during his seven voyages to the Western Seas. From Southeast Asia to the east coast of Africa, later archaeology has all discovered porcelain left behind from that time. From the 17th to the 18th century, the porcelain trade between China and Europe entered its peak period. The Eastern aesthetic embodied in Chinese porcelain became all the rage in European courts and upper-class society. European princes and nobles greatly loved blue-and-white porcelain, regarding the possession of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain as a symbol of social wealth and family honor.

After the 19th century, European and American collectors' appreciation of Chinese porcelain entered a more complete and rational stage, conducting rigorous appraisals from dimensions such as body quality, glaze texture, coloring techniques, and decorative forms. The History of Chinese Porcelain (see picture, file photo) written by British scholars William Cosmo Monkhouse and Stephen W. Bushell, responded to collectors' needs with in-depth and systematic scholarly inquiry. Using European natural history as its research method and drawing on ancient Chinese texts such as Tao Shuo (陶说) and Fuliang County Gazetteer (浮梁县志), this book 娓娓道来 (wěi wěi dào lái - "to narrate vividly and at length") the characteristics, types, production techniques, decorative marks and inscriptions, and Western collection history of Chinese porcelain across different eras. It is hailed as a representative work of modern Western research on Chinese porcelain culture.

The History of Chinese Porcelain contains much content discussing the vitality and charm of Chinese porcelain culture, demonstrating the research path of Western scholars approaching the Chinese civilization tradition starting from the objects themselves. For example, considering that European and American collectors at the time sought the cross-cultural aesthetic taste presented by artworks and began to study the historical background and cultural connotations behind Chinese porcelain, Monkhouse made detailed introductions to common marks on Chinese porcelain such as reign names, hall names, auspicious words, praise for vessels, images, and craftsmen, as well as mythological figures and animals such as the God of Longevity, the Eight Immortals, dragon, phoenix, qilin, and tortoise. He noted that the Dutch, unfamiliar with the artistic variant of the seal-script character "寿" (longevity), called it the "spider mark." He also cited the Bushell collection of a Qing dynasty Qianlong eight-treasure pattern blue-and-white moon flask, with two differently shaped "寿" characters on the neck and body respectively, and bats symbolizing happiness painted flying in the air on the rim and foot. These "寿" (longevity) and "福" (blessing) graphic marks painted on porcelain reflect the Chinese people's good wishes for life and the future.

The author devoted the most ink to the 琳琅满目 (lín láng mǎn mù - "a dazzling array of beautiful things") painted porcelain. In Monkhouse's view, one of the greatest achievements of the Chinese porcelain industry during the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty was the increasing maturity and richness of the decorative arts. Like many European and American collectors, Monkhouse was deeply impressed by the charm emanating from the 千变万化 (qiān biàn wàn huà - "ever-changing") colors of Chinese porcelain. With delicate brushstrokes, he depicted the 交相辉映 (jiāo xiāng huī yìng - "mutually illuminating") interplay of art and technology, and 热情洋溢 (rè qíng yáng yì - "filled with warmth and enthusiasm") expressed his sincere admiration for painted porcelain to readers: the cobalt blue under the transparent glaze is dazzlingly bright; the ruby-like rich oxblood red and the soft peach red make the copper silicate coloration appear even more magnificent; the delicate enamel painting on the translucent eggshell porcelain body is harmonious and exquisite, marking the peak of Chinese porcelain craftsmanship.

After Monkhouse's death, Bushell helped publish his posthumous work and continued related research, attempting to establish a scientific definition of porcelain from the perspective of materials and processes. In response to the debate in Western academia over the time of porcelain's origin, Bushell extensively cited ancient Chinese documents and explicitly supported the theory of a Han dynasty origin. He believed that "translucency" and "vitreous" should be the typical characteristics distinguishing porcelain from earthenware. This view directly influenced Robert Lockhart Hobson, the second president of the Oriental Ceramic Society of Great Britain. Hobson further argued that porcelain is earthenware to which natural or artificial fluxes have been added, fired at a high temperature of 1350 to 1450 degrees Celsius. The continuous explorations of these British scholars laid an important foundation for the establishment of the modern scientific definition of porcelain.

When discussing modern global ceramic trade, this book emphasized the bridging role played by England. Armorial porcelain was an important category of ancient Chinese export porcelain, named for being custom-fired according to the coats of arms provided by European royal houses, nobility, cities, or corporations. Armorial porcelain first appeared in the mid-Ming dynasty. The earliest existing armorial porcelain is a blue-and-white porcelain pot bearing the coat of arms of King Manuel I of Portugal. Thereafter, European royal houses, nobility, and high society vied to customize this high-quality, exquisite Chinese porcelain. British collectors once referred to Chinese exported armorial porcelain as "Lowestoft porcelain," mainly derived from the role played by Lowestoft, a small seaside town in eastern England, in the porcelain trade. In situations where the 供不应求 (gōng bù yìng qiú - "supply does not meet demand") of armorial porcelain originating from China occurred, some plain white porcelain blanks were shipped from Jingdezhen to Lowestoft, where local craftsmen applied colored painting to them in the style of armorial porcelain, and then sold them to various parts of Europe. Interestingly, the patterns provided by local merchants in turn influenced craftsmen in Guangzhou, China, forming a new situation of mutual borrowing and joint creation between Chinese and Western crafts under the impetus of market demand.

Of course, the European ceramic industry was not content to remain an apprentice. After more than a hundred years of learning from and imitating Chinese porcelain, Meissen in Germany mastered the firing technique for hard-paste porcelain in the early 18th century, and Limoges in France built Europe's largest hard-paste porcelain production base a few decades later. Driven by the wave of the Industrial Revolution, British ceramic factories proficient in mass production 异军突起 (yì jūn tū qǐ - "a different army suddenly emerges," a new force suddenly rises) and 后来居上 (hòu lái jū shàng - "the latecomer surpasses the old-timers"). Stoke, located between Birmingham and Manchester, is hailed as "England's Jingdezhen." The blue willow pattern porcelain produced there originally derived from Chinese blue-and-white patterns, by recombining Chinese imagery such as weeping willows, pagodas, small bridges, and boats, and adding British elements such as apple trees and lovebirds, it became popular in the West for over 200 years. Stoke craftsmen also added animal bone ash to the raw materials, producing 晶莹剔透 (jīng yíng tī tòu - "sparkling and translucent") and hard bone china. Brands such as Wedgwood and Royal Doulton still 享誉世界 (xiǎng yù shì jiè - "enjoys worldwide reputation") to this day.

As an important creation of Chinese civilization, porcelain not only embodies the Eastern wisdom of following nature and adapting materials to craft, but also, in its transmission across mountains and seas, has promoted mutual understanding and mutual reflection between Chinese and foreign objects, techniques, and aesthetics. In 2009, the traditional firing technique of Longquan celadon was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity; the successful inscription of "Jingdezhen Handicraft Porcelain Industry Remains" this time also 填补空白 (tián bǔ kòng bái - "fill a gap") in the world heritage theme of "porcelain." The value of Chinese ceramic culture continues to gain understanding and recognition from the world. After nearly 2,000 years, from museum display cases to ordinary households, from academic research to cultural exchange, Chinese porcelain continues its world journey, opening up new possibilities in encounters with different civilizations.

(The author is an associate researcher at the China Institute, Fudan University.)

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Tranquil Beauty of Sipadan (Overseas Vignette)

By: 吴发奖

Semporna is a small coastal town on the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia, and also the main gateway to Sipadan, a world-class diving destination. Upon first arriving in the Semporna town area, old and cramped houses crowd together, the streets are messy, and the air mixes the smell of the sea with the bustle of daily life. When the ferry cuts through the turquoise waters of the Celebes Sea on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, heading for Sipadan 36 kilometers away, all the clamor is washed away by the vast blue sea, leaving only the ultimate serene beauty between heaven and earth.

Sipadan resembles a "mushroom" growing out of the deep sea — 小巧玲珑 (xiǎo qiǎo líng lóng - "small and delicate," tiny and exquisite), and it takes only half an hour to walk around the island. It is the only island in Malaysia not connected to the continental shelf, formed by the accumulation of coral reefs on top of an extinct submarine volcano. It rises from the seabed 600 meters deep, surrounded by shallow coral reefs.

The shallow reefs are Sipadan's gentle foundation. The crystalline waters have extremely high visibility; sunlight penetrates the waves and weaves a flowing golden net on the seabed. Colorful corals spread out like a continuous garden, varied in form — some stretch out like antlers, others open like mushroom caps. Anemones sway gently with the current, with playful clownfish hiding among their tentacles. More than 400 species of fish dart through the waters — colorful ones, silvery ones, tiny ones — gathering in schools, coming and going in a flash, turning this shallow reef into a flowing, dreamlike tapestry.

The deep sea holds Sipadan's most breathtaking chapter. This is an excellent place to witness the "sea wolf storm" (barracuda tornado). Divers grip reef hooks and secure themselves to the wall. Moments later, thousands of barracuda gather like a pack of wolves, forming a massive vortex of fish — a black storm sweeping through the deep sea, their formation shifting, 气势磅礴 (qì shì páng bó - "momentum vast and mighty," grand and powerful), as if the entire ocean is surging with them. No one can help but hold their breath at this power of nature; the insignificance of humans and the grandeur of life quietly merge in the deep sea.

Leaving the boiling mass of fish, you 不期而遇 (bù qī ér yù - "to meet without expecting," encounter by chance) sea turtles. This is a paradise for sea turtles, where green turtles and hawksbills breed and dwell. It is common to encounter twenty or thirty turtles while diving. They paddle slowly, their thick flippers cutting through the water, their eyes calm. The "sea turtle cave" in the rock walls is a final resting place accumulated by countless turtles over decades or even centuries, silently telling of the ceaselessness of life.

This pristine land is the result of generations of protection. More than a century ago, it was a sanctuary for migratory birds. In 1933, it was designated a bird sanctuary, where sea eagles and kingfishers dwell among the trees, adding a touch of liveliness to the island. In the late 1980s, a documentary by French marine explorer and filmmaker Jacques Cousteau brought Sipadan into international view; the diving wave followed, turning the hidden island into a diving paradise. To protect the ecosystem, Sipadan strictly limits the number of daily visitors. These rigorous protection measures keep this sea area away from the clamor and preserve its original purity.

The world's beautiful scenery often requires crossing mountains and seas to be seen, and Sipadan is no exception. It heals everyone who makes the journey with the stillness of the deep sea, the beauty of life, and the wonder of nature. Sipadan's serene beauty is a tranquility that penetrates to the marrow. It hides in the deep sea far from disturbance, and in the harmonious coexistence of nature and life. This island blessed by time, with its eternal azure, is engraved in the heart of everyone who has ever seen it.

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Into Goethe's Spiritual Homeland (A Traveler's Reflections)

By: 刘 赫

"At noon on August 28, 1749, just as the clock struck twelve, I was born in the city of Frankfurt am Main on the Main River." This is the opening of Goethe's autobiography Poetry and Truth (Dichtung und Wahrheit), bringing the reader into the vast and profound spiritual homeland of the literary giant.

Therefore, when coming to Frankfurt, Germany, a visit to Goethe's birthplace is a must. On Großer Hirschgraben street in the old town, the beige small building stands as quietly as ever. Goethe was born here and spent his childhood and most of his youth here. During World War II, the original building was destroyed in an air raid. After meticulous restoration following the war, the birthplace, along with the adjacent Goethe Museum, reopened to the public.

Stepping into the birthplace, a mere two-hour visit left me with a lasting memory. Walking up the creaking wooden stairs, I reached the second-floor drawing room, the "Red Room" (also called the "Beijing Room"). Goethe's father was passionately fond of the "Chinese style" (Chinoiserie) popular in Europe in the 18th century: on the elegant Chinese-style floral-and-bird wallpaper, peonies, lotuses, cranes, and pavilions and towers were arranged 错落有致 (cuò luò yǒu zhì - "scattered but orderly," well-proportioned and tasteful), with red silk curtains hanging down all around, luxurious and dignified. The room was furnished with lacquered furniture painted in gold and red, and Chinese porcelain such as blue-and-white ware was displayed. On the walls hung batik wall hangings printed with traditional Chinese decorative patterns.

The spiritual underpinnings of a writer are often first shaped by the family and then nurtured by the city. The puppet theater displayed in the birthplace museum was a gift from Goethe's grandmother; it ignited young Goethe's interest in drama. At the same time, Frankfurt's open urban character continuously expanded Goethe's horizons. In 1764, Joseph II was crowned in Frankfurt. During the grand ceremony, the entire city was 张灯结彩 (zhāng dēng jié cǎi - "hang lanterns and drape festoons," decorated with lanterns and colored streamers), with processions and bell sounds interweaving. The solemn and fervent ceremony left a deep impression on the young Goethe, making him feel "the weight of history and the meaning of public life." Nourished jointly by family education and urban culture, Goethe began to systematically engage with languages, drama, painting, and other disciplines, forming a breadth of interest that would last his entire life.

The poet's room is on the fourth floor—not spacious but very bright. Compared to the ornate decoration of the drawing room, the study's furnishings are simple, revealing Goethe's focus on the spiritual world: a walnut desk stands by the window, with light slanting from the tall south-facing window onto the desk surface. I could almost see the writer bent over his desk writing rapidly, the quill pen brushing across the paper with a rustling sound. The Sorrows of Young Werther and the first draft of Faust were both conceived within these plain four walls.

On the wall of the study near the corridor hangs a silhouette of a woman. It is said that this is Charlotte Buff, the real-life prototype for Lotte in The Sorrows of Young Werther. Here, the young Goethe forged his hopeless love for "Lotte," his anger at the mundane world, and his longing for freedom into an epistolary novel. "Whatever makes people happy often becomes the source of their misfortune." Such burning words once shook all of Europe. Goethe once said, "I cannot help but pour burning passion into the works I am about to write." Life experience and creative impulse made him pour out his heart through writing. He shut himself off from visitors and wrote vigorously, finishing the masterpiece in only four weeks, 一气呵成 (yī qì hē chéng - "accomplish in one breath," completing the work without pause).

In the autumn of 1774, The Sorrows of Young Werther was published at the book fair in Leipzig. It was like a boulder thrown into European society, which was then eager for change yet deeply bound by the old order, stirring up layers of waves. Werther's ardent and sincere love, his yearning for freedom, and his pain from being unable to reconcile with reality deeply moved countless young readers. "Werther fever" soon spread across Europe. People vied to imitate Werther's blue tailcoat and yellow breeches, holding the novel and reciting its sentences. From the late 19th to the early 20th century, the work was gradually translated and introduced to East Asia. Werther's persistent pursuit 不谋而合 (bù móu ér hé - "coincide without prior consultation," coincided without prior arrangement) with the mental journey of modern Eastern intellectuals as they re-examined tradition and explored the spiritual world, allowing the work to transcend culture and era, continuously stirring new echoes in the hearts of readers from different countries.

From the study window, the courtyard shows an old linden tree with lush foliage, its remaining greenery swaying, the dense shade spilling all the way to the windowsill. In spring and summer, the sound of water murmurs, and the laughter of visitors fills the courtyard. A chair bathed in warm sunlight, a gust of wind, a few leaves dancing with the fragrance of flowers all around. The scene before me inevitably reminds me of Emil Ludwig's account in his biography Goethe: "Goethe liked to sit by the window, watching people walk about in the garden, children playing various games, and while watching, he would imagine all kinds of stories." Perhaps it was the nourishment of his hometown that turned the writer's emotions into a source of creative inspiration, laying the foundation for those immortal works that later pushed German literature to an unprecedented new height.

On another autumn day in 1775, 26-year-old Goethe, treading on the rustling fallen leaves in the courtyard, set off from his Frankfurt home and journeyed to Weimar, beginning a life in Weimar that would last more than half a century. Ahead lay a long road of exploration and endless creation, but the youthful spirit and the sparks of thought nurtured in his birthplace always accompanied him.

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本版责编：王佳可 庄雪雅 李欣怡

E-mail: rmrbgjfk@peopledaily.cn
Layout design: Cai Huawei

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Moutai: Red Tassel Sorghum from Fertile Soil Yields Rich Aroma — Boosting Comprehensive Rural Revitalization Through the Sorghum Industry

It is August, and the Hongyingzi (红缨子) sorghum covering the entire 漫山遍野 (màn shān biàn yě - “covering mountains and plains,” widespread) in the Chishui River valley is gradually ripening, with a red hue spreading across the hills. Amid the fields, the scene of bountiful harvest slowly unfolds, awaiting the Double Ninth Festival season to open a new brewing cycle.

On August 7, the 2026 China Farmers’ Harvest Festival Gala (中国农民丰收节) Renhuai Special Venue · Bingwu Year Maotai Hongyingzi Sorghum Harvest Season event was held at Longbao Community (隆堡社区), Luban Street (鲁班街道), Renhuai City, Guizhou Province. The event, with the theme “Hongyingzi emerges from fertile soil, abundant harvest brews rich aroma,” revolves around seed source protection, industrial development, cultural heritage, and linking and driving farmers (联农带农) and other content, showcasing Maotai’s vivid practice of using industry to nurture agriculture and using industry to assist comprehensive rural revitalization.

A single sorghum seed connects both brewing quality and the lives of grain farmers. Over the years, Maotai, based on the resource endowments of the production area, has taken the sorghum industry as an important foundation for ensuring product quality, and also as an important link for driving agricultural efficiency, increasing farmers’ income, and assisting rural development. In the Chishui River basin, it has continuously advanced improved seed cultivation, base construction, technical services, contract purchasing, and ecological protection, forming a closer connection between enterprise development and income increase for the people in the production area.

Nurture a good seed, firmly guard the source of quality. Seeds are the “chip” of agriculture. For the traditional brewing industry, a good seed relates both to product quality and to the harvest of grain farmers.

To ensure the seed source safety and quality improvement of Maotai liquor-use sorghum, Maotai began seed research in 1986. After 22 years of systematic breeding, in 2008 it successfully bred a new high-yield, high-quality liquor-use sorghum variety, which passed acceptance and was named “Hongyingzi.” In 2022, Maotai launched the “Seed Plan” (种子计划) to enter the seed industry, continuously carrying out collection of germplasm resources, variety breeding, purification and rejuvenation (提纯复壮), improved seed multiplication, and research on supporting cultivation techniques, constructing a whole-industry-chain quality control system, guaranteeing Maotai liquor quality from the source.

From local variety screening to research platform construction, from laboratory breeding to field trial planting and then to promotion and application, the cultivation and improvement of the Hongyingzi sorghum variety is a process of long-term accumulation and continuous improvement. Maotai has continuously deepened seed industry research, relying on years of accumulated germplasm resource advantages and technical strength, focusing on the two businesses of “seed + planting,” and continuously carrying out sorghum seed multiplication work, with cumulative research funding investment reaching 37.91 million yuan.

In 2025, Maotai released the Hongyingzi “519” seventh-generation sorghum seed. Compared with the Hongyingzi “1019” first-generation sorghum seed and the Hongyingzi “1619” fifth-generation sorghum seed, the Hongyingzi “519” seventh-generation sorghum seed has a greatly shortened growth period, significantly reduced plant height, is shorter and sturdier, more lodging-resistant, more adaptable to mechanized harvesting, and has increased yield per mu and amylopectin content. The release of this new variety is a vivid footnote to Maotai’s effort to make the “seed chip” better and stronger, providing more solid support for Maotai’s high-quality development.

Develop an industry, assist the common people in increasing income. Industrial revitalization is an important foundation for comprehensive rural revitalization. Centering on Hongyingzi sorghum cultivation, Maotai has explored and formed an industrial collaboration model involving multiple parties such as enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers. Through constructing organic sorghum bases, providing production materials and technical guidance, improving agricultural insurance, and carrying out contract purchasing, it helps farmers reduce planting risks and stabilize production expectations.

As of now, Maotai has built 1 million mu of organic sorghum planting bases in five counties (cities, districts) including Renhuai City, Xishui County, and Jinsha County, with a perennial planting area of more than 600,000 mu. In sorghum seeds, organic fertilizer, biological agents, and agricultural policy insurance, it has invested a cumulative total of over 1.8 billion yuan. Through contract farming, it has driven income increase for more than 200,000 local farmers. At the same time, the “Hongyingzi” series varieties have been promoted to 11 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government), with a cumulative promotion area of over 35 million mu, driving more than 8.5 million farmer-visits, helping increase income by over 10 billion yuan, contributing solid strength to comprehensive rural revitalization.

Behind these numbers are changes in the lives of individual families. Some have expanded planting scale and become sorghum cultivation experts; others, by learning agricultural techniques, have grown into “local experts” (土专家) serving their fellow villagers; and some young people, seeing the prospects of industrial development, choose to return to their hometowns for employment and entrepreneurship. The sorghum industry has not only brought income growth but also provided support for retaining talent in rural areas and improving public life.

Between Maotai and grain farmers, a stable trust relationship has also been formed through long-term cooperation. Grain farmers carefully manage and protect crops according to enterprise standards, Maotai stabilizes expectations through technical services and contract purchasing, and both parties jointly safeguard the quality of Hongyingzi sorghum. The craftsmanship in the fields and the craftsmanship in the workshop are thus connected. Grain farmers have hope for income increase, and the brewing quality of Maotai liquor is guaranteed.

Inherit farming culture, jointly build a harmonious and beautiful countryside. Hongyingzi sorghum goes from spring planting to autumn harvest, following the changes of solar terms and crop growth laws; Maotai liquor brewing, from making starter cakes on the Dragon Boat Festival, putting grain into pits on the Double Ninth Festival, to extracting liquor in batches, likewise emphasizes conforming to the seasons. Agricultural production and traditional brewing together embody Maotai’s philosophy of respecting nature, following laws, and cherishing grain.

This year’s Hongyingzi Sorghum Harvest Season event will present the entire process of sorghum from breeding, planting, storage, to brewing through segments such as the granary return ceremony, market exhibition, harvest meal, and harvest gala. The granary return ceremony includes drum music to honor heaven, driving away impurities and welcoming good fortune, washing with Chishui water, triple offerings, reciting odes for granary return, and other content, expressing respect for nature, land, and laborers in a regionally distinctive manner. The static exhibition area will showcase sorghum science and technology, planting bases, growth cycles, stories of grain farmers, Maotai culture, and social responsibility practices. The harvest gala, through farmer commendations, field dialogues, and artistic performances, tells the story of a seed, a piece of land, and a group of laborers growing together.

Currently, Maotai is working with Renhuai City to actively promote the inclusion of the Guizhou Renhuai Sorghum Cultivation System in the eighth batch of China Important Agricultural Cultural Heritage (中国重要农业文化遗产). Using the Hongyingzi Sorghum Harvest Season event as a carrier, Maotai organizes planting traditions, solar term wisdom, local memory, and brewing culture, committed to protecting and inheriting local farming culture, and promoting the transformation of cultural resources into lasting momentum for rural development.

From a single seed to a season of harvest, from a sorghum field to an industrial chain, Hongyingzi sorghum bears witness to the journey of Maotai in driving grain farmers to increase income and become prosperous. Looking to the future, Maotai will continue to do a good job in seed source protection, base construction, technological innovation, and linking and driving farmers, so that the fruits of industrial development benefit more people in the production area, so that Hongyingzi sorghum lights up the path of rural industrial revitalization, and so that the joy of harvest continues to spread along the banks of the Chishui River.

Data source: Guizhou Maotai

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Supporting Farmers Requires More Than Just Lip Service (Rural China Watch)

By: 晓 眷

This summer, thank you to the “top-melon” (顶瓜瓜) you.

This phrase refers to a “heartwarming relay” (暖心接力) during the summer days. Not long ago, due to abnormal weather and concentrated market entry, some watermelon production areas in Henan experienced product overstock and difficulty selling. To help melon farmers sell their melons, multiple enterprises, supermarkets, and tourist spots spontaneously purchased; relevant government departments set up temporary melon-selling points and launched a “watermelon map,” jointly “supporting” (顶) the melons.

守望相助 (shǒu wàng xiāng zhù – “watch and help each other,” mutual assistance in times of need) resolved the 燃眉之急 (rán méi zhī jí – “urgency like eyebrows on fire,” pressing emergency) of the melon farmers, and the simple, warm goodwill conveyed in this is moving.

Agricultural products that have encountered “selling difficulty” are not only watermelons, and watermelons have encountered “selling difficulty” not only this summer. To truly resolve the problem of periodic agricultural product overstock, we must carefully observe exactly which link in the sales chain is “stuck.”

Generally speaking, agricultural product overstock is a problem of supply–demand imbalance—either supply is too high, or the quality of supplied products cannot keep up with demand. Looking at the watermelon industry overall, supply volume is indeed quite large. Data show that our country is now the world’s largest watermelon producer and consumer, with annual output stabilizing at around 60 million tons, roughly 60% of global production. At the same time, supply quality has also improved. Adapting to changes in consumer demand, thanks to innovations in breeding, facility upgrades, and advances in cultivation technology, watermelon—a fruit that was once only a “summer limited” item—can now be listed on the market year-round, and its appearance and taste are mostly 今非昔比 (jīn fēi xī bǐ – “today is not yesterday’s equal,” much better than before).

But it should also be noted that stable year-round supply is not balanced year-round supply; currently, watermelon market entry is still relatively concentrated in summer, and in some production areas the listing period is even shorter. With a short-term increase in supply, the market can easily become “rolled up” (卷); if there are no diversified sales channels, storage facilities, processing chains, and other means to smooth fresh sales volume, it is indeed very easy to see prices fall or even overstock and “difficulty selling.”

Behind the failure of supply and demand to match is still a shortfall in the mode of production organization. Including watermelons, our country’s agricultural production is still dominated by a production-and-management model of individual households; small farmers cannot understand or grasp the overall supply–demand situation of the large market. With no information flow, they can only follow their gut—seeing that last year’s market was good, they plant accordingly this year; seeing that others are making money, they plant accordingly too. In this way, they inevitably fall into the fluctuation of a “big-year, small-year” (大小年) market cycle.

Solving the supply–demand mismatch between small-scale production and the large market is not without precedent. Garlic is also a product that has experienced multiple rounds of price “roller coasters.” In certain main garlic-producing areas, a full set of “combination punches” (组合拳) is gradually improving the local garlic industry ecosystem: building big-data trading platforms, releasing planting-scale monitoring and supply–demand gap forecasts, to ease farmers’ impulse to expand planting at the source; constructing cold-storage facilities and expanding storage capacity to smooth the year-round garlic supply rhythm; promoting electronic warehouse receipt trading, warehouse receipt pledge financing, garlic target-price insurance, etc., relying on combined tools such as insurance and futures to protect the interests of planting farmers, so that even in a high-yield year when capacity is released intensively, price risk is no longer borne by farmers alone.

Therefore, from a long-term perspective, reducing the risk of periodic agricultural product overstock must still rely on joint efforts from multiple ports, including the production end and the market end. On the production end: in terms of varieties, accelerate technological innovation and cultivate more fine varieties that meet market demand and are also suitable for farmers’ actual planting conditions—for example, varieties suitable for field planting, for greenhouse planting, and for intercropping; in terms of planting, raise the level of organization among small farmers through multiple forms, plan scientifically, stagger planting times, and adopt standardized production; in the industrial chain, actively build product brands with recognizability and extend the product chain through diversified processing. On the market end: in circulation, build cold-storage and other storage facilities to regulate supply rhythm and avoid concentrated market entry; in risk sharing, build smart information platforms and apply multiple financial tools… With such comprehensive policy measures, establish long-lasting protection for farmers’ incomes, so that the fruits of harvest are “top-notch” (顶呱呱) and sell well.

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Shaxian's Gold Rush: Developing County Economies According to Local Conditions

By: 本报记者 付 文

When speaking of Shaxian, the first thing that certainly comes to mind is Shaxian snacks.

Starting from "couple shops," the hardworking people of Shaxian have traveled far and wide, leading Shaxian snacks out of the mountains, across the entire country, and toward overseas markets. Today, there are nearly 100,000 Shaxian snack outlets with an annual turnover exceeding 55 billion yuan, driving employment for 300,000 people in the surrounding areas. With stores opened in 81 countries and regions globally, their "circle of friends" at home and abroad is growing larger and larger.

This growth history of this "national snack" is also the development history of Shaxian District, Sanming, Fujian, which, based on its own resource endowments, industrial foundations, and functional positioning, has created characteristic advantageous industrial clusters at the county level in a manner suited to local conditions. In the height of summer, reporters entered Shaxian District to feel the strong pulse of the high-quality development of the county economy.

Extending, supplementing, and strengthening chains to perfect full industrial chain standards

Amidst the forests of the Shaxian Shuinan State-owned Forest Farm's Shuinan Gorge Management Station, Chinese medicinal materials such as Schizostylis coccinea, Milkroot, and mint are growing vigorously. Not far away, Yang Jinde, the person in charge of the Shaxian Jinnan Planting Professional Cooperative, is leading workers through the forest.

At the end of February this year, Yang Jinde signed a cooperative management agreement with the forest farm. The forest farm is responsible for constructing infrastructure and providing standard forest land, while the cooperative invests in Chinese medicinal herb seedlings and is responsible for planting, management, and sales. "We mainly plant Schizostylis coccinea, and 90 mu have already been planted; we have also trial-planted more than 30 types of Chinese medicinal materials, such as perilla and coral grass, which can be used as ingredients for Shaxian snacks," Yang Jinde said.

"Although the growth period takes 2 to 3 years, the roots are shallow and easy to harvest, and the demand is large and the market is stable; currently, each kilogram of dried product can be sold for more than 50 yuan," Yang Jinde introduced. In the future, part of the Schizostylis coccinea will be sold to Shaxian Snack Group Co., Ltd., while the rest will be sold to Chinese medicinal material wholesale markets such as Bozhou in Anhui and Yulin in Guangxi.

In the past, the raw materials and the market for Shaxian snacks were "both external"; today, among more than 240 varieties of snacks, the vast majority of core ingredients come from local Shaxian. In recent years, Shaxian District has continuously promoted the extending, supplementing, and strengthening of the Shaxian snack industry chain, promoting the localization and large-scale planting and processing of ingredient raw materials, and focusing on developing demonstration bases for the planting of snack materials centered on Dendrobium officinale, Polygonatum, and Milkroot.

Inside the Shaxian Nuo Mountain Yam new variety demonstration planting base located in Qiahu Village, Qingzhou Town, Chen Wang, the person in charge of Fujian Liusen Ecological Agriculture Technology Co., Ltd., was discussing planting plans with farmers. "In 2022, we signed a base co-construction cooperation agreement with the Sanming Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Currently, more than 1,000 mu have been planted, with a yield of more than 4,000 jin per mu," Chen Wang said.

The company adopts an order agriculture model, providing seedlings and technical guidance to planters and guaranteeing purchases. Qingzhou Town is also constructing processing plants in the Shaxian Immigration Entrepreneurship Park and has built a Nuo Mountain Yam Experience Center, constructing a development pattern of the integration of the three industries involving production, processing, and experience.

"Currently, we have established approximately 66,500 mu of Shaxian snack ingredient planting and breeding bases," introduced Ye Aqin, a fourth-level staff member of the Shaxian District Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau. Shaxian revolves around fruits and vegetables, poultry and eggs, and pressed duck to create characteristic agricultural product brands; over the past five years, it has cumulatively added seven "Three Products and One Standard" enterprises.

Perfecting the full industrial chain standard system. "As of now, seven provincial local standards have been released, such as the cultivation technical regulations for high-spicy chili peppers and the operation norms for Shaxian snack catering outlets; four municipal local standards, such as the Shaxian mixed noodle making techniques and the Shaxian snack regional brand management rules; as well as 29 group standards, such as steamed dumplings, xiaolongbao, and mixed noodles," introduced Wu Xianghui, a member of the Party Group of the Shaxian District Market Supervision Administration.

Past 10:00 p.m., a Shaxian snack shop located on Jinxue East Road in the urban area was still in business. The sign features a red background with white characters, with the Shaxian snack Pinyin and LOGO on the left; this is the first standard member shop in Shaxian District. "140 grams of mixed noodles, 20 grams of peanut sauce, 10 grams of scallion oil, and 10 grams of mixed noodle soy sauce; we strictly follow standards to make mixed noodles. Currently, there are more than 70 types of meals sold in the shop," said shop manager Yang Yuanyuan.

There are already more than 9,000 such standard outlets. Within the national scope, Shaxian has established 27 catering brand cooperation companies, put multiple operation centers into operation, and piloted the implementation of grid-based services. "Currently, we have urged 26 non-compliant outlets to rectify, carried out four cross-regional rights protection activities, and the brand operation order continues to be standardized," said Su Wei, director of the Shaxian Snack Industry Service Center.

All snack food production enterprises in the entire Shaxian area have established traceability systems, achieving "traceable origins" for raw materials and "traceable paths" for products. At the same time, following the requirement of "one enterprise, one file," supervision archives for snack food production enterprises have been comprehensively established, listing food safety risk lists and daily supervision and inspection item lists, determining the frequency of supervision and inspection according to the enterprise's food safety risk level, and implementing dynamic supervision.

Strengthening scientific and technological innovation to push the industry toward the mid-to-high end

In the molding workshop of Sanming Chunzhiwei Food Technology Co., Ltd., automated equipment is operating at high speeds. "The company is equipped with 13 professional production lines and can large-scale produce various products such as wontons, steamed dumplings, braised foods, and composite seasonings," introduced Zhang Wanqi, vice chairman of the company.

Currently, the company has opened 500 "stalls + stores" in Fujian, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and other places. "To allow customers to eat 'original flavor' Shaxian snacks, these storefronts are all directly operated stores, and all products are produced and distributed from Shaxian," Zhang Wanqi said.

The confidence in direct operation comes from technological research and development. "After more than two years of R&D, we have produced a 2mm thick wonton skin that is durable and does not break, which is very suitable for takeout scenarios," Zhang Wanqi introduced. "We have established R&D centers in multiple locations and adopted an 'independent + joint' R&D method; currently, we have obtained 27 patent technologies."

As night falls, the Zuiyoucai Shaxian Snack Grand Canteen, located on Dongmen Ancient Street in Shaxian District, is crowded with people. This canteen covers an area of more than 800 square meters, and the decoration carefully preserves the original style of the ancient residence: the carvings on the beams are exquisitely beautiful, the bamboo-woven gray walls are full of the traces of time, and several koi fish swim freely in the drainage ditch at one's feet, with details revealing an ancient charm.

"Here, not only can you taste authentic snacks, but you can also personally experience making white rice cakes and using stone mills to grind rice jelly skins; it truly is a trip worth making," said Li Zhigang, a tourist from Shangrao, Jiangxi, with a smile. Shaxian promotes the deep linkage of cultural tourism consumption, creating immersive and experiential food-based cultural tourism blocks. In 2025, Shaxian District achieved 9.686 million domestic tourist trips, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%.

The mechanical equipment manufacturing industry is one of the leading industries of Shaxian District. Currently, Shaxian has more than 100 equipment manufacturing enterprises, among which there are 44 enterprises above designated size, with an output value exceeding 20 billion yuan. Shaxian fully utilizes the empowerment of scientific and technological innovation platforms, using the Haixi (Fujian) Branch of China Mechanical Engineering Co., Ltd. as technical support to provide all-round innovation assistance for enterprises, making every effort to push the industry toward the mid-to-high end.

Walking into the production workshop, one sees bridge cranes and floor vehicles shuttling back and forth, as workers are assembling self-developed ultra-precision grinding machine tools. In March this year, the "Precision Turning Center J51MSY" independently developed by the company was successfully selected as a domestic first (set) major technical equipment due to its excellent technological innovation and industry leadership.

"This equipment can meet the precision machining needs of industries such as aerospace, the automotive industry, and the semiconductor industry, achieving high-precision turning processing," stated Xue Songhai, chairman of the company. As a national-level "Little Giant" enterprise specializing in niche markets, the Haixi Branch has cumulatively undertaken 21 national-level scientific research tasks and obtained 263 authorized patents. At the same time, it serves more than 200 enterprises across Fujian province every year, cumulatively driving tens of billions of yuan in economic output value.

Luo Meihui, a member of the Party Group of the Shaxian District Industry and Information Technology and Science and Technology Bureau, introduced that the entire district has implemented 56 provincial-level key technical transformation projects, the output value of strategic emerging industries accounts for 30% of the industrial output value of enterprises above designated size, and total social R&D investment has increased to 399 million yuan; it has cumulatively cultivated 5 national-level "Little Giant" enterprises specializing in niche markets and 49 national high-tech enterprises.

Cultivating a green background for high-quality development and consolidating the foundation of industrial development

The forest coverage rate of Shaxian District is as high as 79.38%, of which natural forests and ecological forests account for more than half.

In June this year, Po Hou Village in Xiamao Town, Shaxian District, signed a forestry carbon credit purchase agreement with Fujian Xiangfenghua New Energy Materials Co., Ltd. "Our village has nearly 3,000 mu of natural forest and ecological forest; this time we sold 200 tons of carbon credits, and the income will be used in the village's drinking water project," said Li Dehua, the Party branch secretary of Po Hou Village.

Shaxian is one of the birthplaces of China's collective forest rights system reform. In the Gaosha Forest Farm of Shaxian District, a reform named the "Natural Forest and Ecological Forest 'Three Reforms and Three Innovations' Model" is underway.

Zhang Changcai, chief engineer of the Shaxian District Forestry Bureau, told reporters that since 2024, Shaxian District has focused on the problems of forest farmers "not wanting to manage, not knowing how to manage, and having low income" caused by harvesting policy restrictions and lack of management technology in collective natural forests and ecological forests, exploring and implementing the reform of "changing management entities, improving conservation methods, and broadening income paths, and creating mechanisms for ecological compensation supplements, income guarantees, and financing services." By the end of 2025, management rights of 33 villages (farms) have already been transferred, covering an area of 75,400 mu.

After the reform, the Gaosha Forest Farm has transferred management rights for a total of 5,029 mu of natural forest and ecological forest. "During the transferred management period, the forest farm's income can reach more than 9 million yuan. Compared to the 2.35 million yuan in subsidy income for natural forests and ecological forests from higher authorities, the increased income from transferred management reached more than 6.7 million yuan, an increase of nearly 3 times, and benefits have significantly improved," said Zhang Zongyu, manager of the Gaosha Forest Farm.

In Qingzhou Town, a green circular economy industrial park is accelerating its growth. The project has a total investment of 3.2 billion yuan and planned land use of 1,500 mu. Enterprises introduced to the park can all use the pulp, fiber, alkali, and black liquor of the chain leader enterprise, Qingshan Paper Industry Co., Ltd., Fujian Province, as raw materials, significantly saving on raw material purchase and production transportation costs.

Pulping, grinding, mixing, spraying, drying, cutting, packaging... after more than 10 processes, bundles of raw paper come off the line. "The water, steam, pulp, and wood pulp we use for papermaking all come from Qingshan Paper Industry," said Li Zhujin, general manager of Fujian Zhenxin Paper Industry Co., Ltd., which moved into the industrial park in 2022.

"The two enterprises are close in distance, but their main products are different; we cluster together to complement each other and achieve differentiated development, which reduces production steps and saves transportation costs," Li Zhujin introduced. Since starting production in December 2022, the revenue and profit of Zhenxin Paper Industry have been growing steadily every year.

Separated from Zhenxin Paper Industry by only one street, the production workshop of Fujian Sanxian Paper Industry Co., Ltd. is also operating at full capacity. "The compact laminates we produce have high strength, are lightweight, and are also fireproof, waterproof, corrosion-resistant, and antibacterial, and are currently widely applied," said Guan Liuxian, general manager of the company. "Another product, saturated kraft paper, can play a role in heat dissipation and buffering after adding composite materials, and has already been used in circuit board manufacturing, becoming a new growth point for the enterprise."

Shaxian District carries out "one chessboard" planning for enterprises within the park, implements the graded utilization of pulping and papermaking wastewater and the reuse of reclaimed water from sewage treatment plants, and makes full use of the combined heat and power centralized heating energy resources of Qingshan Paper Industry to achieve industrial energy conservation, consumption reduction, and waste recycling. Once the park is fully completed, it is expected to add an annual output value of more than 6 billion yuan and annual tax revenue of more than 400 million yuan.

"We will revolve around three leading industries such as mechanical equipment and Shaxian snacks, as well as two characteristic industries such as emergency equipment and three emerging industries such as biomedicine, to accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system. At the same time, we will continuously strengthen our advantages and supplement our weaknesses, making great efforts to improve the level of industrial clustering and greening, develop new quality productive forces in a manner suited to local conditions, and continuously enhance the momentum of the county economy's development," said the main person in charge of the Shaxian District Committee.

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Intangible cultural heritage comes alive, enriching rural life (Stories from the Countryside)

By: 本报记者 琼达卓嘎

Arriving at Junba Fishing Village (俊巴渔村), Qushui Town (曲水镇), Quxu County (曲水县), Lhasa, Tibet, the joyful sound of drums and singing can be heard from afar. In the village square, a group of men, with colorful yak-skin boat models tied around their waists, turn and step in time with the drumbeats. Leading the dance is Laba Tsering (拉巴次仁), a national-level representative inheritor of intangible cultural heritage. His face flushed, he sings ancient boat songs loudly as he dances. At the intangible cultural heritage creative arts center at the village entrance, village group leader Nyima Tashi (尼玛扎西) and the villagers sit together, discussing reception plans for the peak tourism season.

"The yak-skin boat dance, also called Guoze (廓孜), is our golden招牌. Last year during the Wangguo Festival (望果节) we added three extra performances in one day; this year we need to schedule them more densely," Laba Tsering said, slapping his thigh.

"Just watching isn't enough — we need to let tourists get on the boats and experience it!" Tashi (扎西), the village's top boatman, chimed in. "Sit on one of our yak-skin boats, sway on the river — that's what it really means to have been to Junba." The whole room laughed.

Behind the laughter lies a gorgeous transformation of a fishing village. Junba Fishing Village is a village where generations have lived by fishing, and it is also a traditional village that possesses five intangible cultural heritage items simultaneously. The national-level intangible cultural heritage yak-skin boat dance, the autonomous region-level intangible cultural heritage manual leather craft techniques and Junba fish feast, as well as the county-level intangible cultural heritage leather carving technique and leather kneading technique, together constitute this small village's "cultural foundation."

The yak-skin boat dance, which can be traced back to the mid-17th century, was originally a song-and-dance performance by fishermen celebrating a bountiful harvest and praying for safety, but now it has become a cultural feast for entertaining tourists from all directions.

Tsering (次仁), 67, is a master at making yak-skin boats. Standing on the newly paved asphalt road, he points toward the village entrance and says with emotion: "Now it takes just over ten minutes to get to the county seat from here. In the past, carrying our yak-skin boats and crossing the river took at least two hours, and we had to depend on the weather."

The change began in 2003. Tibet vigorously promoted the rural road accessibility project, and the first simple road was built to the village entrance. From then on, Junba Fishing Village was no longer an "isolated island" surrounded by the river. In 2004, the village's craftsmen established a leather goods processing cooperative. Starting in 2006, villagers gradually moved out of earth-and-wood houses. In 2017, infrastructure was comprehensively upgraded. In 2020, Junba Fishing Village was selected as a national key village for rural tourism, and Quxu County completed the cultural tourism integration and rural revitalization plan for Junba Fishing Village.

Once the road was open, they also needed to attract visitors and keep them there. Starting in 2023, with support from the county, a kayak-themed campsite was built on the shores of Baima Lake (白玛拉错). From traditional yak-skin boat experiences to recreational kayak sightseeing, the business formats have gradually enriched. Professional teams have also been brought in to provide guidance, and the village has developed an in-depth tourism route: "watch Guoze, taste the fish feast, make leather goods, ride a yak-skin boat."

At the leather craft workshop, a tourist Ms. Chen, holding a carving knife, carved a lotus flower on the leather surface. She lifted it excitedly: "Carving stroke by stroke is so therapeutic — I want to take it home and hang it in my study."

Since 2024, the cultural tourism integration project has completed nine sub-projects including house renovation and mountain hiking trails, with a total investment of 120 million yuan, aiming to build a national 4A-level tourist attraction. All 71 households in the village have moved into new homes, and the asphalt roads on both sides are lush with greenery. In 2025, Junba Fishing Village received over 50,000 tourist visits, and the per capita annual income reached 32,000 yuan.

Villager Tudeng Qunpei (土登群培) used to earn less than 10,000 yuan a year from fishing. Now he sews leather goods at the intangible cultural heritage workshop, and his wife works as a service attendant at the campsite. Sitting in his newly purchased car, Tudeng Qunpei patted the steering wheel and said with a smile: "Before, I worried that the fish wouldn't sell. Now I worry that there are too many tourists and we can't keep up."

How can a hot season be turned into year-round heat? Junba has its own answer.

On the shore of Baima Lake, traditional yak-skin boats and recreational kayaks 相映成趣 (xiāng yìng chéng qù - "mutually reflect and create interest," complement each other delightfully); the mountain hiking trail extends to the summit, where three observation platforms offer a panoramic view of the magnificent confluence of the Yarlung Tsangpo River and the Lhasa River. At the riverside Linka tent campsite, barbecue, camping, and bonfire parties are 一应俱全 (yī yìng jù quán - "everything is present," all available).

The most sought-after among tourists is the "Intangible Cultural Heritage Junba" whole-fish feast. Head chef Uncle Cidan (次旦) scoops up freshly caught river fish and cooks them using traditional methods; the aroma spreads across the entire courtyard. A tourist from Beijing took a bite, gave a thumbs-up, and said: "This highland river fish — incredible!"

"Camping, kayaking, intangible cultural heritage experiences, whole-fish feast — people come all year round, allowing more villagers to share in the benefits of cultural tourism," said Ciren Lhamo (赐仁拉姆), Director of the Quxu County Culture and Tourism Bureau. It is expected that tourist visits and tourism revenue will reach new heights this year.

At dusk, the river surface glows with golden light, and the drumbeats of the yak-skin boat dance sound again. Tourists and villagers join hands and dance the Guozhuang (锅庄), their laughter carried into the distance by the river breeze...

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Deng Jianyang

Layout design: Zhang Fangman (张芳曼)

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Why Are Chinese New Drugs Being Globally Sought After (Shadowless Lamp)

By: 曾 言

In July of this year, the National Medical Products Administration (国家药监局) approved the global launch of the first selective orexin type 2 receptor agonist for the treatment of type 1 narcolepsy in adolescents aged 16 and above and adults. This drug, with original targets and a novel mechanism for treating rare diseases, was simultaneously submitted for registration in China, the United States, Japan, and the European Union. China completed the review first, achieving a historic breakthrough of "first submission and first approval" globally. In July, Dizal Pharmaceutical (迪哲医药) granted AstraZeneca the exclusive global development and commercialization rights for a self-developed small molecule new drug, with an upfront payment of $600 million, setting a record for upfront payments in out-licensing deals for domestic small molecule new drugs. In May, Hengrui Medicine (恒瑞医药) reached a new drug authorization cooperation agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb, with a guaranteed payment of $950 million... Since the beginning of this year, good news about China's new drugs has been continuous.

The latest data released by the National Medical Products Administration shows that in the first half of this year, China's new drugs completed 81 out-licensing transactions, with a total potential contract value of approximately $110 billion, already exceeding 80% of the total for 2025 and more than twice the total for 2024. This impressive report card indicates that China's new drug out-licensing has accelerated, showing that Chinese new drugs are increasingly recognized by overseas markets.

From a shortage of drugs to generic drugs to R&D innovation, from relying on imports to exporting active pharmaceutical ingredients to being "swept up" by global buyers for new drugs, China's pharmaceutical industry has achieved a remarkable "turnaround." What are the reasons behind this?

Domestic new drugs have achieved simultaneous improvement in both quantity and quality. Looking at quantity: Data from the National Medical Products Administration shows that from 2018 to 2025, the number of approved class 1 new drugs in China increased significantly, with 76 approved in 2025, many times that of 2018. In earlier years, imported drugs "played the leading role" among newly approved drugs in China; in recent years, the proportion of domestic drugs has been rising. Among the new drugs approved in 2025, 65 were domestic new drugs, accounting for over 85%. Even more gratifying is that China's pipeline of new drugs under development accounts for about 30% of the global total, firmly ranking second in the world, making China one of the global R&D hubs for new drugs.

Looking at quality: Among the new drugs approved in 2025, 11 were drugs with new targets and new mechanisms, of which only 4 were independently developed by domestic enterprises. Among the 38 new drugs approved for market in the first half of 2026, 11 had new targets and new mechanisms, all of which were domestic drugs. These new drugs cover therapeutic areas such as tumors, infections, endocrinology, and blood system diseases, with some being first-in-class therapeutic drugs globally. It is evident that domestic new drugs are increasingly focused on treating major diseases and difficult-to-treat conditions, and their value is growing.

Innovative pharmaceutical companies prioritize independent innovation and continuously increase R&D investment. Regarding new drug R&D, there is a saying in the industry of "three 10s": typically, a 1 billion yuan R&D investment, taking 10 years, may only have a 10% success rate. But given the huge number of patients worldwide, if a new drug is successfully developed and marketed with exclusive market status, companies can quickly reap substantial returns. This is also the driving force for pharmaceutical companies to increase R&D investment. Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine is a good example. From a small factory producing gentian violet solution to becoming a leader in China's pharmaceutical industry, Hengrui Medicine has benefited from its unremitting efforts to promote independent innovation. In recent years, the company has continuously increased R&D investment, with R&D spending as a percentage of revenue rising from about 19% in 2015 to nearly 30% in 2025. The sustained high-intensity R&D investment has yielded rich results. Currently, the company has received market approval in China for 25 class 1 new drugs and 5 class 2 new drugs, and has been listed among the top 50 global pharmaceutical companies for many consecutive years.

The deepening reform of the drug review system has provided a favorable environment for new drug development. In August 2015, the State Council issued the "Opinions on Reforming the Review and Approval System for Drugs and Medical Devices." Subsequently, the National Medical Products Administration has continuously promoted the reform of the drug review and approval system, establishing four accelerated channels: breakthrough therapy drugs, conditional approval, priority review and approval, and special approval. For key varieties, it has implemented "early intervention, one enterprise one policy, full-process guidance, and integrated R&D and review," strengthening guidance and support for new drug R&D. For clinically urgently needed drugs and rare disease drugs, priority review and approval is implemented to accelerate new drug market entry while ensuring quality. For example, in the past decade, the review time for clinical trial applications for new drugs has been compressed from 14 months to 30 days, and the average review and approval time for new drug marketing has been significantly shortened.

In the past, when domestic drugs were mentioned, people thought of cheap generics; now, domestic drugs are aiming for the high ground of innovation, with increasing technological content and growing popularity among patients worldwide. In the future, as pharmaceutical companies increase R&D investment and the drug review system reform deepens, China's new drugs will usher in a period of rapid development, contributing greater strength to improving human health and well-being.

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Online Platforms Become First Launch Channels for Multiple New Drugs (Health Focus)

By: 本报记者 孙秀艳

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Avoid phone watches damaging children's eyesight (Famous Doctor's Lecture)

By: 黎晓新

Children's smartwatches have become a "portable device" for many children. In the eyes of many parents, they are much smaller than mobile phones and tablets, children use them for short periods, and the risk of eye injury seems small. But clinically, it has been found that more and more young children are developing problems such as visual fatigue, declining vision, and pseudomyopia, and one of the 罪魁祸首 (zuì kuí huò shǒu - "chief culprit and chief instigator," primary culprit) is precisely the smartwatch.

Smartwatches injure the eyes, first of all, because the viewing distance is too close. The ocular structure of children has not yet fully developed; the period before age 6 is a critical window for the development of the eye's refractive system and the accommodative function of the ciliary muscles. The eyeball has strong plasticity and is also a high-risk period for vision damage. When a child looks at the watch, the screen is often less than 20 cm from the eyes, far below the national eye-protection standard of 40 cm for safe close-range use. Long-term ultra-close viewing keeps the ciliary muscles in a state of continuous high-intensity contraction, unable to relax. Repeated spasms can lead to pseudomyopia, and long-term accumulation can develop into true myopia.

Second, the screen parameters are unfriendly. Children's smartwatches mostly have small high-definition screens with high pixel density and strong light contrast. Moreover, some low-priced watches have problems such as severe flicker, excessive blue light, and uneven brightness. When children concentrate on watching the screen, their blink rate drops sharply from the normal 15–20 times per minute to 5–8 times per minute. Tear fluid evaporates quickly, easily causing dry eyes, irritation, and visual fatigue. Long-term stimulation can damage the photoreceptor cells of the retina and weaken the eye's accommodative ability.

Third, there are no limits on usage scenarios. Mobile phones and tablets are mostly used in fixed settings, and parents can supervise them at any time. But smartwatches are worn all day, and children can use them during breaks, on the way to and from school, and before sleeping. Fragmented, irregular close-range use keeps the eyes from ever resting, continuously consuming the child's precious hyperopia reserve (远视储备). Once a child's hyperopia reserve is exhausted prematurely, myopia will irreversibly develop.

We must also correct several common misconceptions: a small screen does not mean it does not harm the eyes; the key to vision damage is viewing distance, duration, and posture. "Eye-care mode" and "blue-light blocking" are not protective umbrellas either; they can only slightly reduce strong screen light and harmful blue-light stimulation, but cannot offset the vision damage caused by poor eye-use habits. "Playing occasionally for a while" is not completely safe either; young children have weak ocular accommodative ability and extremely low tolerance for eye fatigue. Frequent fragmented use will have a cumulative effect, gradually inducing myopia.

Smartwatches are not unusable; the key lies in reasonable management and standardized use. Infants and toddlers under 3 years old should minimize time spent with electronic products. Children aged 3–6 should not use the watch's entertainment functions unless necessary; they should only use it for emergency calls, with a total daily screen time of no more than 30 minutes and a single session of no more than 10 minutes. School-age children aged 6–12 should keep total daily screen time on the watch within 1 hour, with single sessions no more than 20 minutes, and avoid use during breaks, while walking, or while riding in a vehicle. Adolescents over 12 may be allowed moderate relaxation, but single sessions should still not exceed 30 minutes.

Scientific management by parents is the key to preventing smartwatches from damaging children's vision. When purchasing, parents should not pursue "the more functions, the better." Give priority to basic model watches with moderate screen size, qualified flicker, blue-light compliance, and no excessive game or short-video entertainment functions, allowing the watch to return to its core safety functions of communication and positioning. Skillfully use the watch's parental control system, enabling functions such as usage-time limits, app disabling, night screen lock, and time-period management, automatically restricting children's entertainment use time. At the same time, practice 言传身教 (yán chuán shēn jiào - "teach by words and example," teach by precept and example) — parents should avoid long periods of scrolling on their phones in front of their children, creating a family atmosphere with fewer screens and more outdoor activity. Finally, ensure at least 2 hours of daytime outdoor activity every day; it is recognized in the ophthalmology field that natural outdoor light exposure is the most effective and economical way to prevent children's myopia.

It is recommended to take children for professional vision screening every 3 to 6 months, focusing on monitoring core indicators such as hyperopia reserve, axial length, and ciliary muscle accommodative function. Once abnormal conditions such as declining vision, blurred vision, or frequent eye rubbing are detected, seek medical intervention promptly to prevent pseudomyopia from developing into irreversible true myopia.

(The author is the chief physician of the Ophthalmology Department at Peking University People's Hospital (北京大学人民医院). This report was compiled from an interview by our reporter Lu Fanbing (陆凡冰).)

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Layout Editor: Shen Shaotie

Layout design: Shen Yiling (沈亦伶)

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Shanghai Putuo District advances transformation and upgrading of bulk commodity trade to serve Shanghai's international trade center development

In April 2025, the "Shanghai Bulk Commodity Trade Transformation and Upgrading Three-Year Action Plan (2025–2027)" was released, proposing to "build an international bulk commodity trading center, an international pricing center, a risk management center, and a supply chain hub node." As the core承载区 (bearing area) for Shanghai's nonferrous metal bulk commodity trade, Putuo District, relying on the underlying base of the shipping-trade blockchain network (航贸链), has launched the city's first comprehensive service and management platform for trusted bulk commodity trade. As of the end of July 2026, 199 enterprises in the district had completed platform data authorization and signing, 129 enterprises were included in the membership system of the National Bulk Commodity Warehouse Receipt Registration Center (全仓登), the platform had pushed a total of 1.35 million valid operational business data entries from 99 enterprises to relevant departments, and multiple trading platforms, warehousing firms, and banking financial institutions had completed preliminary preparations for system integration. Putuo District is using digital means to open up the entire chain of trade data, exploring a new path for the high-quality development of the bulk commodity industry.

Industry Foundation Building
Over 30 Years of Accumulation Thickens Bearing Advantages

The landing of the Shanghai Bulk Commodity Trusted Trade Comprehensive Service and Management Platform in Putuo District is not an accidental choice. Putuo District has over 30 years of accumulated experience in the nonferrous metal trade industry, having built the city's only集聚区 (agglomeration area) for production-oriented internet service platforms centered on nonferrous metals. For a long time, Putuo District's total commodity sales have remained stable above 2 trillion yuan, perennially ranking second in the city, with bulk commodity transactions accounting for about 80% and nonferrous metal transactions accounting for 75%. In 2025, the district's sales of commodities above designated size reached 1.73 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%, leading the central urban areas in both total amount and growth rate; among this, bulk trade volume was 1.43 trillion yuan, accounting for one-sixth of the city's total, and nonferrous metal trade volume was 1.37 trillion yuan, accounting for one-third of the city's total, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%.

Behind the massive transaction data lies continuously strengthening industrial agglomeration and industry competitiveness. Putuo District's spot trading of nonferrous metals covers mineral rights and ores as well as all categories of metal varieties, making it an influential domestic and international highland for nonferrous metal spot trading. The Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Exchange Center (上海有色金属交易中心) has remained at the top of the national top 100 commodity trading markets for many consecutive years. Putuo District's bulk commodity industry has a deep foundation, a complete policy support system, and a mature full-chain industrial ecology, providing superior comprehensive bearing conditions.

To address pain points in the bulk industry such as the difficulty of verifying trusted trade and the difficulty of government supervision, Putuo District took the lead in piloting and has launched the Shanghai Bulk Commodity Trusted Trade Comprehensive Service and Management Platform, providing a solution for Putuo District to systematically solve industry pain points.

Platform Empowerment
Four-Layer Architecture Opens Up Full-Chain Trusted Data

The Shanghai Bulk Commodity Trusted Trade Comprehensive Service and Management Platform focuses on the full-chain needs of bulk commodity trade, opens a unified online service entrance through the "One-Stop Online Service Platform" (一网通办), and builds a four-layer service architecture of "basic services + core functions + value-added services + ecological cooperation." The bottom layer centers on the shipping-trade blockchain network, connecting data links from multiple parties including the National Bulk Commodity Warehouse Receipt Registration Center, Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Network (上海有色网), and the Bank of Communications; the middle layer uses the "One-Stop Online Service Platform" as a unified entrance to promote integrated processing of cross-departmental and cross-industry matters; the application layer focuses on key scenarios such as tax invoice额度 (quota allocation).

The platform adheres to an open docking concept and widely accesses trusted data from all links of bulk commodity trade. Data from the National Bulk Commodity Warehouse Receipt Registration Center was among the first to be connected to the platform, and it leads the establishment of the platform's warehousing data access standards. At the same time, the platform actively docks with data from trading platforms such as Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Network and data from banking institutions such as the Bank of Communications, enabling cross-validation of multi-source data. The Shanghai Nonferrous Metals Network Metal Exchange Center, upon authorization from traders, uploads the "three-flow-in-one" data of transactions, payment for goods, and goods delivery to the chain. The platform deeply integrates with the national warehouse receipt system, forming a tripartite collaborative operation model of "national infrastructure support + digital regulatory upgrade + regional industrial hub."

Results as Proof
Reshaping the Trade Ecology through Digitalization

The Shanghai Bulk Commodity Trusted Trade Comprehensive Service and Management Platform directly targets operational and financing bottlenecks for enterprises. In the past, trade enterprises operated with light assets, making it difficult for banks to verify the true trade background. Now, with the support of the platform, warehouse receipts and transaction contracts are all uploaded to the chain for存证 (evidence storage), and the value of enterprise assets is recognized by financial institutions. As a small micro trade enterprise in Putuo District, Shanghai Xinyao Industrial (上海鑫尧实业) obtained warehouse receipt pledge credit lines from multiple financial institutions including the Bank of Communications, Bank of Jiangsu (江苏银行), Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (浦发银行), and China Zheshang Bank (浙商银行), and the processing time for the enterprise's credit line in the tens of millions yuan range was significantly shortened.

From the tax perspective, work is also advancing in parallel to build enterprise credit profiles based on on-chain data and to support tax classification and tiered regulation. The platform promotes multi-party data linkage between the warehousing end and the trading end, spot and futures, and banks and tax authorities, relying on the technical characteristics of blockchain—immutability and full traceability—to achieve the uploading and storage of entire trade process data on the chain.

In the next step, Putuo District will be based on the regional pilot and steadily promote the mature functions of the platform to be rolled out across the city. It will coordinate with trading, warehousing, logistics, tax authorities, and financial institutions to comprehensively identify and tackle data flow bottlenecks one by one, promoting the integration and interoperability of the "four flows" of contracts, goods, invoices, and funds. Simultaneously, it will implement a plan of "drawing industrial chain maps, strengthening training, and pursuing investment attraction," jointly drawing key industrial chain maps with professional institutions, carrying out tiered practical training on the platform, and leveraging digital compliance advantages to attract trade entities and supply chain projects to settle down. It will continuously improve the bulk commodity trade supply chain ecology and contribute Putuo's strength to accelerating Shanghai's construction of an international trade center and enhancing its global resource allocation capacity.

Source: News Office of the People's Government of Putuo District, Shanghai

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Civilization Runs Deep, Spirit Passes Through Generations

The coordination of material civilization and spiritual civilization is an important characteristic of Chinese-style modernization. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has continuously advanced the construction of socialist spiritual civilization, consolidated and strengthened the mainstream values of society, the spiritual outlook of the entire nation has become more vigorous and uplifted, and the people's civilized quality and the level of social civilization have markedly improved.

Recently, a symposium on the publication of the book series Witness Civilization: Oral History of Spiritual Civilization Construction (hereafter referred to as the Oral History), hosted by the Office of the Central Spiritual Civilization Construction Steering Committee (中央精神文明建设办公室), co-organized by People's Publishing House and the Propaganda Department of the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee (Provincial Civilization Office) (黑龙江省委宣传部（省文明办）), was held in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province. Here we excerpt the speeches of representatives at the meeting, focusing on the collation and research of the oral history of spiritual civilization construction, promoting high-quality development of spiritual civilization construction in the new era, so that civilization flows quietly and deeply, and the spirit is passed down from generation to generation.

-- Editor

Li Shifeng (李世峰), Secretary of the Daqing Municipal Party Committee of Heilongjiang Province: Daqing is "a banner on the industrial front" of the Republic, the birthplace of the Daqing Spirit (Iron Man Spirit), and also the first prefecture-level city in the three northeastern provinces to be awarded the National Civilized City. In the past, the older generation of oil workers, under harsh conditions of extreme material scarcity, relying on a tenacious fighting spirit of 战天斗地 (zhàn tiān dòu dì - "fight heaven and earth," to struggle against nature with great determination), at one stroke "threw the cap of 'China being oil-poor' into the Pacific Ocean"; today, the new generation of Daqing people have embarked on a new journey of transformation and revitalization, and even more need the nourishment of spiritual civilization and the support of striving strength. This is the purpose of our work in compiling the oral history of spiritual civilization construction.

The compilation of the Daqing volume of the Oral History adopted methods such as "historical archives + oral interviews + physical evidence," visiting 103 practitioners, participants, and witnesses of Daqing's spiritual civilization construction, meticulously combing through the overall脉络 of Daqing's spiritual civilization construction, and vividly presenting the shaping process of new civilized customs under the tide of reform and opening up and since the new era. Through the research of oral history, it is found that more and more Daqing people, while witnessing the city's transformation, feel a heavy sense of responsibility of the times, continuously writing new chapters of "spirit turning into matter, matter turning into spirit."

Gu Xuebin (辜学斌), member of the Standing Committee of the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee of Sichuan Province and Minister of the Propaganda Department: Civilization has always been the most profound底色 of Chengdu. In the compilation process, we have always focused on continuing the historical context, exploring the core spirit of the city, and drawing the civilizational power for urban construction and development from Chengdu's civilizational genes. Considering that oral history recording is a systematic documentary project reflecting the evolution of urban civilization, we extensively mobilized social participation, widely opened channels to collect fresh materials, and strived to record the historical facts of Chengdu's civilization through joint narration and joint memory. The oral history carries civilizational memory and disseminates the city's spirit; it must be close to life and penetrate people's hearts. During the compilation process, we focused on the guidance of role models to make civilization dissemination more inspiring; focused on the good deeds of ordinary people to make civilization dissemination more approachable; focused on the concerns of the masses to make civilization dissemination more appealing. Using a "small entry point" of people's livelihood to reflect "new progress" in civilization, the achievements of spiritual civilization construction have been concretely transformed into a happy life that the masses can see, touch, and feel.

Jin Yan (金彦), member of the Standing Committee of the Ningbo Municipal Party Committee of Zhejiang Province and Minister of the Propaganda Department: One of the key tasks entrusted to us by the compilation of the Oral History is to summarize and review the vivid practice of the coordinated development strategy of the "two civilizations" at the grassroots level. Ningbo has always treated spiritual civilization construction as a key task for establishing the foundation and casting the soul of urban modernization, working together to write the magnificent chapter of "In Ningbo, see a civilized China."

Ningbo is the second batch of cities to participate in the compilation of the oral history of spiritual civilization construction. We will systematically collate the practices and stories of the integrated planning, integrated deployment, and integrated advancement of the "two civilizations," truthfully reproduce the city's practical explorations, so that spiritual common prosperity can be understood and learned through simple narratives; focus on the practices and achievements of spiritual civilization construction that are for the people, benefit the people, and rely on the people, telling stories of shared benefits for all; focus on various innovative practices, showcasing Ningbo's creativity and distinctiveness in spiritual civilization construction, and promoting mechanism-based, law-based, and innovation-based research on spiritual civilization construction.

Huang Zhijian (黄志坚), former Chairman of China Publishing Group: This set of Oral History combines the academic perspective of contemporary history, the ideological depth of popular theoretical readings, and the vividness of reportage, presenting four characteristics.

First, in terms of conception, the standpoint is very high while the narration is plain. This set of books can not only enrich the details of the macro-narrative of socialist spiritual civilization construction over several decades but also provide a humanistic and warm footnote from practice and the front line for our understanding of Chinese-style modernization and the new form of human civilization. Second, in terms of interviews, the perspective is subtle while combining history and theory. Many narrations contain thoughts and insights, combining narration with commentary; the historical facts are accurate and vivid, the historical commentaries are convincing, and the historical insights provoke thought. Third, in terms of format, the form is scattered while the spirit is concentrated. After reading, one can have a relatively clear understanding of why spiritual civilization construction is done, what has been done, what the results are, and how it has developed. Fourth, in terms of writing style, it is vivid and precise. The series conforms to the expression style of oral history and reads very intimately. Telling these small things around us, these beautiful changes, can make our work known to more people and drive more people to participate.

Li Chunsheng (李春生), Chief Editor of People's Publishing House and President of Xinhua Digest Magazine: Spiritual civilization is the values and behavioral norms that the people use daily without being aware of them, possessing a power that moistens things silently. This characteristic determines that oral history is an important form for recording and inheriting the achievements of spiritual civilization construction. The first batch of the Oral History series consists of 11 volumes, with a total word count of about 3.7 million, individual volumes ranging from 270,000 to 440,000 words, accompanied by more than 1,200 historical documentary pictures, recording the vivid deeds of the spiritual civilization construction process in 11 representative cities of China. Its compilation and publication are conducive to summarizing the achievements and experiences of China's spiritual civilization construction and continuously promoting the spiritual civilization construction to go deeper and more solid.

People's Publishing House attaches great importance to the editing and publication of this series, implementing whole-process quality management, and doing a high-standard job in editing, proofreading, design, and printing. Next, we will continue to do a good job in publicity, promotion, and distribution, letting the series enter the grassroots and approach the masses, allowing readers to feel the power of spiritual civilization from it. At the same time, we will further refine the characteristic cases and typical practices of spiritual civilization construction in various places, promote the compilation and publication of the next batch of series, and give full play to the role of the series in preserving history, educating people, and assisting governance.

Li Fang (李舫), Deputy Editor-in-Chief of People's Daily Overseas Edition: This set of oral history, spanning north and south and covering more than forty years, takes the original voices of participants as the warp and urban civilization practices as the weft, salvaging touching moments scattered in the years, providing a new narrative perspective for sorting out the process of contemporary Chinese spiritual civilization construction, and writing a civilized long scroll with temperature, strength, and weight for us to understand the endless civilizational code of the Chinese nation and to understand the path of casting souls and educating people in the new era.

The series contains a large number of vivid local practices, restores the background of various policy introductions, the exploration process of grassroots practices, and the voices of the masses, and explains the fundamental core of civilization — people are the eternal carriers of civilization's continuation. Countless ordinary and trivial good deeds converge into the spiritual foundation of the city, and people and civilization nourish each other and achieve each other. The series also places the practice of civilization in the new era in the coordinate system of global civilizational development, transforming traditional virtues into modern citizen behavioral norms, advancing urban and rural civilization construction simultaneously, and paying equal attention to economic development and spiritual cultivation. This model of civilizational cultivation, which relies on the people's endogenous goodness consciousness and long-term deep cultivation of local soil, provides a Chinese solution that can serve as a reference for global governance and the sustainable development of human moral civilization.

Zhang Ming (张明), Professor of the School of Marxism at Nanjing University: The value of oral history lies not only in preserving history but also in clarifying principles. Doing a good job in oral history research must never merely stay at recording stories and preserving materials; more importantly, it is to洞察 the deep-seated laws behind practice, to summarize and elevate the specific scattered micro-explorations into general practices that can be replicated and promoted. The key to letting the valuable experience formed by oral history research truly reach the public and serve society is to conform to the general trend of informatization development and do a good job in the big article of digital empowerment and activation. On the one hand, solidly advance the digital construction of oral history; on the other hand, actively promote the results to go out of the study and into society, so that more people, especially the young generation, can perceive the changes of the times and draw spiritual strength from real stories, making oral history an important carrier for educating people with history and cultivating people with culture.

Zhu Qing (朱清), former Deputy Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee and former Director of the Fujian Provincial Civilization Office: Starting from 1978, I successively engaged in full-time work in spiritual civilization construction in the Sanming Municipal Civilization Committee of Fujian, the Fujian Provincial Civilization Office, and the Propaganda Department of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee. Therefore, I had the honor to participate in the oral narration of the Sanming volume of the series. By telling stories such as creating civilized cities, "Satisfaction in Sanming" for serving the people, and regional civilization "six connections and six constructions," I am willing to provide some experience for linking the past and the future of spiritual civilization construction.

I myself also, in tracing the origins, have realized that spiritual civilization construction must adhere to benefiting the people, must turn virtual work into real work, and be concrete and tangible, so as to win the sincere support and broad participation of the masses. Party members and cadres lead by example, integrate with grassroots masses, and rely on a fine Party style to drive the joint construction of civilization; then there will be no worry about failing to accomplish practical and good things that the masses expect and welcome. Spiritual civilization construction is the cause of the masses creating their own better life. Giving full play to the main role and initiative spirit of the masses will yield inexhaustible wisdom and powerful motivation. The Party's heart connects with the people's heart; "people's satisfaction" is the most solid foundation of spiritual civilization construction.

Liu Meiyan (刘美艳), docent of the Yan'an Lu Xun Art and Literature Cultural Center: I am a docent at the Yan'an Lu Xun Art and Literature Cultural Center. Participating in the excavation and collation of this oral history has given me a deeper understanding of the original aspiration of "literature and art for the people." By sorting through the oral historical materials of the older generation of literary and art workers, I have more intuitively felt the fighting spirit of the Lu Xun Art and Literature people of "using the pen as a gun, using art as a banner," and understood the powerful force of revolutionary literature and art in凝聚 spirits and casting souls. This force is precisely the gene that needs to be most activated in promoting spiritual civilization construction today. Every on-site explanation, every external ideological and political lecture, is a subtle cultivation of spiritual civilization. We are using our voices to convey faith, using stories to shape souls, using culture to lead customs, achieving education through explanation and nourishment of the mind through culture. Guarding revolutionary cultural relics and inheriting the red cultural context is to guard the root and soul of spiritual civilization.

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Understanding the "Underlying Logic" of Song Ci Poetry

By: 张诗洋

The ci form takes music as its medium to create compositions. When the sandalwood clappers and red ivory [instruments] of the past dissipated with time, ci gradually moved from the banquet stages of song and dance to the deskside. Researchers’ gazes mostly remain within the text; those who can integrate literary, musical, and operatic studies into one, connecting the stylistic evolution of the three hundred years of the two Song dynasties, are truly rare. Mr. Huang Tianji’s Three Hundred Years of Song Ci: Ci Poets and Their Creative Works (宋词三百年：词人及其词的创作), continuing the stylistic intent of his work Three Hundred Years of Tang Poetry (唐诗三百年), selects thirty representative works from the late Tang to the end of the Song. Using creativity as the key and ci history as the backbone, within the musical texture and the changes of literary mind and world, it opens up ci poetics creation, musical prosody research, and ci historical investigation, displaying the splendor of Song ci.

The changes in the circumstances of ci poets and the corresponding shifts in their styles are originally not fixed. This book discards the binary division of graceful and restrained versus heroic and unrestrained, takes time as the axis, and uses twenty-seven representative ci poets as nodes to connect the three-hundred-year evolution of ci style in the two Song dynasties, closely linking the development of ci with the rise and fall of the Song dynasty and the fate of scholar-officials, presenting a history of literary vein where music moves with the times and ci turns with emotion. This research method of using history to verify poetry and using ci to observe customs allows literary history to flow within specific creations. At the same time, this book strictly adheres to the tradition of 知人论世 (zhī rén lùn shì - “know the person and discuss his times,” to evaluate a person by considering his background and circumstances), connecting literature with personal experience and the general trend of society, striving to avoid empty and shallow arguments divorced from creative context.

The author retrieves the textual characteristic of “unity of music and text,” integrating musical cultivation into ci criticism, deciphering the code of Song ci: understanding the subtlety of each word and sentence, and also distinguishing the charm of each tune and melody. The author uses a symphony as a metaphor for the Southern Song ci world; the multitude of ci poets are just like polyphonic echoes – truly an insightful discussion of ci. Whether it is the “border sounds and joined horns” of Pride of Fishermen, the “chill cicadas’ mournful cry” of Bells in the Rain, or “within the cuckoo’s call” of Treading on Grass, this book’s capture and interpretation of soundscapes and sound-emotions are especially apt. Among them, the appreciation of Li Qingzhao’s Slow Slow Song is a model: the opening fourteen reduplicated characters; earlier people mostly praised their mournful elegance, like pearls falling on a plate. The author further analyzes the ingenious idea – all fourteen characters use tongue and dental sounds; when read continuously, they produce a swallowing and sobbing effect, precisely in harmony with the poet’s grieving and depressed state of mind; the rhythm moves from slow to urgent, in three layers of progression, like a musical piece unfolding, using sound to support emotion, forming a seamless whole. Such an interpretation directly points to the essential nature of ci as “composed through music,” exhaustively revealing the craftsmanship of Song dynasty ci poets in matching characters to music and conveying emotion through sound.

The ability to illuminate the literary mind through musical sensibility stems from the author’s thorough understanding of traditional national musical rhythms and his familiarity with Western classical music theory. On the stage of Sun Yat-sen University’s centennial celebration, the ninety-year-old Teacher Huang gracefully conducted a thousand-person chorus singing the school song. This was not a momentary elegant whim, but a natural expression of his musical cultivation. Teacher Huang is able to deeply understand the underlying logic of ci and music, avoiding the 隔靴搔痒 (gé xuē sāo yǎng - “scratching an itch through a boot,” to fail to get to the point or to address a problem in an ineffective and superficial way) that relies solely on theoretical documents on music, achieving an understanding not only of what is so but also of why it is so.

Also distinctive is that the author, having accumulated seventy years of research on traditional opera, skillfully applies the narrative techniques and aesthetic logic of opera to interpret Song ci. For example, when analyzing the transition between stanzas of a ci, the author borrows the opera concept of “transitional passage”: the pause between the upper and lower stanzas is not a break in meaning, but a necessary interval and blank space. In appreciating Su Shi’s Charm of a Maiden Singer: Remembering the Past at Red Cliff, the author creatively borrows the traditional martial opera stage entry pattern of “guest first, host later” to discern the interplay of the real and the virtual in the composition. Ordinary readers easily mistake Zhou Yu as the protagonist; once illuminated by the logic of the opera stage, the distinction between guest and host becomes clear: the landscape, historical sites, and Zhou Yu are all supporting roles, and it is Su Shi, who appears only at the end of the piece, who is the true protagonist. Such interpretations use opera performance to corroborate the techniques of ci writing, dissolving the obscurity of ci textual research. Because the author is grounded in musical cultivation and opera practice, he is able to observe details penetratingly and possesses his own distinctive style.

Even more rare is that the author has cultivated the creation of poetry and ci for many years, and can appreciate the hardships and joys of ci poets as they set brush to paper. His scholarship does not stop at appreciation; it is more intent on uncovering the way of writing poetry and ci. This book layer by layer deconstructs the mental techniques of brushwork such as the real and the virtual, the bright and the dark, the dynamic and the static, interpreting the path of Song ci from a creative perspective, embodying the scholarly original intention of this poet-type scholar: 古为今用 (gǔ wéi jīn yòng - “use the ancient for the present,” to apply ancient knowledge to contemporary use) and 融会贯通 (róng huì guàn tōng - “merge and penetrate thoroughly,” to achieve mastery through a comprehensive synthesis of knowledge). Its ultimate aim is to guide readers from the steps of appreciation gradually into the profound realm of creation.

Three hundred years of Song ci – the string songs have faded far away, but the words have never dissipated. With this volume in hand, one can both read the essence of poetic creation and savor the joys and sorrows of the scholar-officials of the two Song dynasties, understanding why Song ci has become an immortal movement of chinese civilization

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When Industry Meets Childhood

By: 晨 飒

As a web literature writer specializing in industrial themes, making a cross-field attempt to write the medium-length children’s novel “The Special Mining Truck Adventure” was an extraordinarily meaningful self-challenge. Before I put pen to paper, my ambitions were large: I set myself the goal of telling the story of New China’s industrial development with interest, letting children experience the joy of reading, understand the basic rules of industrial production, and become interested in them.

Only after writing did I find how difficult it was. The writing experience I had accumulated through web fiction lay mainly in the full-length novel field: “The Majesty of Heavy Trucks” and “The Gold Medal Apprentice” are each more than a million characters, and “Riding the Momentum to Leap Forward” is also 700,000 characters; in these, the plot can advance slowly and steadily, but a medium-length novel must focus on events, telling the story clearly within a limited space. Both are about writing about industry, yet the creative thinking behind the two is truly 天差地别 (tiān chā dì bié - "difference between heaven and earth," worlds apart).

What kind of story can both fully reflect industry’s grandeur and expansiveness and be readable and inspiring to children? After repeated thought, I chose the special mining truck as the story’s protagonist. Combining this with the creative inspiration gained from a research visit to Shougang Group (首钢公司), I built for young readers a complete industrial chain: ore that, 远涉重洋 (yuǎn shè chóng yáng - "traveling far and crossing many seas"), arrives at the port and, after several transport runs by special mining trucks and heavy trucks, finally becomes steel—the pillar of the entire industrial system. The meaning hidden behind this is that every piece of ore will become 栋梁之材 (dòng liáng zhī cái - "beam-and-pillar timber," a person able to shoulder great responsibility); may children likewise be so.

After setting the framework, I tried to view industrial development from a child’s perspective and repeatedly cautioned myself: it must not be 平铺直叙 (píng pū zhí xù - "flat narration and straight description," flat and dull) and monotonous, nor may it chase excitement one-sidedly while ignoring real conditions, and even less may its didactic tone be too heavy. After weighing the matter again and again, I decided to find a breakthrough in characterization, focusing on shaping the protagonists Yanyan, Bobo, and Meimei, each with a different life background, distinct personality, and logic of behavior. Yanyan is 古灵精怪 (gǔ líng jīng guài - "ancient spirit, strange sprite," clever and mischievous), has her own little vanity, yet has a strong mind of her own and a sense of responsibility, able to flexibly use what she has learned; Bobo is a “little foodie,” loves fine food and is willing to share it with his little friends; Meimei, though timid, is full of curiosity about the unknown and rich in knowledge. The three meet on a study tour, form the “Velociraptor Action Squad,” visit the steel production base together, and go deep into mining areas, learning about mineral classification, machine structure, mining technology, safety regulations, and smart industrial technology, ultimately gaining both knowledge and growth.

To shape these characters well, I brought my real parenting experience into the work, for I believe that only by loving children, observing children, and understanding children can one write children well and capture the common traits of this generation. So in the novel, Yanyan, Bobo, and Meimei all bear, to some extent, a little of the pampered softness produced by elders’ doting, yet they all possess precious qualities in common: a very strong desire to explore, a readiness to help one another, an open and confident disposition, and an ability to 反躬自省 (fǎn gōng zì xǐng - "turn back and examine oneself," self-reflection). When my son read the first chapter, he immediately said, “Dad, how did you write me into it?” That made me immensely gratified, and I also hope that when parents read alongside their children, they will see their own child’s shadow in every character of the story.

At an event after the novel was released, quite a few young readers kept asking me: what other world-leading achievements does Chinese industry still have? Facing pairs of eager eyes in the audience, I spoke from heavy trucks to new-energy vehicles and high-speed EMU trains, and from Chang’e-6 to advanced fighter jets and wind tunnels. When the talk ended, the children were 意犹未尽 (yì yóu wèi jìn - "the interest was not yet exhausted," still wanting more). At that moment, I was confirmed in the judgment I had made before writing this novel: children of the new era are full of curiosity about the world and deeply interested in China’s industrial development, and it is 正当其时 (zhèng dāng qí shí - "just at the right time," the opportune moment) to use more good stories to present the heavy industry of a great power and inspire confidence in strengthening the country through science and technology.

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Continuing to Track the Truth of Cao Cao's Mausoleum (Preface and Postscript)

By: 唐际根

"Here Lies Cao Cao" is a "long-premeditated" book title.

In 2009, the archaeological team's discovery of Cao Cao's high mausoleum in Anyang, Henan unexpectedly became a social hot spot. Although my research field is the Shang dynasty, due to long-term excavations in Anyang, I was quickly drawn into the debate over the "authenticity of Cao Cao's tomb," 身不由己 (shēn bù yóu jǐ - "body not under one's own control," involuntarily). Based on my understanding of the No. 2 tomb at Xigaoxue (西高穴), I never doubted that it was Cao Cao's mausoleum. In 2010, the Henan Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage (河南省文物局) and the Archaeology Branch of Science Press (科学出版社考古分社) invited me to write a book about Cao Cao's high mausoleum, and the first title that came to mind was "Here Lies Cao Cao."

During the excavation of Cao Cao's high mausoleum, I often entered the tomb chamber, witnessed important stages of the excavation, and observed various significant remains and phenomena inside the tomb. The excavation leader of Cao Cao's high mausoleum, researcher Pan Weibin (潘伟斌) of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (河南省文物考古研究所, now Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology), also invited me many times to the Anfeng Township Nursing Home (安丰乡敬老院) where the specimens were then stored to view the unearthed artifacts. From Cao Cao's skull to the "large halberd often used by King Wu of Wei" and the stone tablet "two jin of Hu powder," I was able to examine them repeatedly.

As a youth, I was obsessed with the Three Kingdoms. I not only read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but even under the urging of my uncle who loved history, I read Records of the Three Kingdoms. After the Lu Qian (鲁潜) epitaph was discovered, I continued reading literature while also paying attention to various Han tomb materials. Thanks to long-term field work experience and my habit of obsessively poring over materials, I actually quickly finished writing a book about Cao Cao's high mausoleum. Somewhat regretfully, this book was ultimately not published under the title "Here Lies Cao Cao," but was replaced with a title very fitting for the authenticity debate of that year: The Truth of Cao Cao's Tomb.

The publication of The Truth of Cao Cao's Tomb helped those who doubted the authenticity of Cao Cao's high mausoleum to resolve their doubts and questions, and also quelled certain social controversies, receiving praise from the industry. In the following more than 10 years, I continued to pay attention to Cao Cao's high mausoleum. On the one hand, I actively participated in academic activities within the field; on the other hand, I took part in social debates related to the authenticity of Cao Cao's high mausoleum. I deeply felt society's sustained enthusiasm for Cao Cao's high mausoleum, but what impressed me most was that with the continuous deepening of academic research, situations that were previously difficult to know in detail gradually became clear. Typical examples are the research on the pictorial stones paving the floor of Cao Cao's high mausoleum and the research on the twelve pottery ding vessels. Of course, the most important achievement was the publication of the archaeological excavation report Cao Cao's High Mausoleum.

Therefore, I considered rewriting a book related to Cao Cao's high mausoleum based on The Truth of Cao Cao's Tomb to keep up with the academic research results. In 2023, the publication of Here Lies Cao Cao coincided with a grand event: after years of preparation, the Cao Cao High Mausoleum Site Museum (曹操高陵遗址博物馆) finally opened to the public, allowing people to visit this place in person and pay homage to this "extraordinary hero of the age." On the occasion of the third anniversary of the museum's opening, Here Lies Cao Cao was revised. This revision mainly incorporates the latest research results on the stone tablets unearthed from Cao Cao's high mausoleum and the mausoleum park, further restoring the scene of Cao Cao's burial, in order to help readers more fully understand Cao Cao as a person and comprehend the overall planning and layout of Cao Cao's high mausoleum.

(The author is a Chair Professor at Southern University of Science and Technology. This article is the afterword of the book Here Lies Cao Cao. This edition has abridgements, and the title was added by the editor.)

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