Summary: President Xi Jinping, during the 20th Politburo collective study session in April 2025, emphasized leveraging the new national system to promote self-reliance and application-oriented development of AI, guiding it toward beneficial, safe, and equitable growth. The article highlights the upcoming second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, with 2,056 robots from 666 teams competing, as a microcosm of rapid AI progress. It details China's deployment of AI in flood monitoring, healthcare (e.g., in Xinjiang's Shache County improving DR image accuracy), and education, alongside regulatory efforts to ensure safety and fairness. The piece notes China's AI core industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, with over 6,200 firms, placing it in the global first tier. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: President Xi Jinping emphasized China's commitment to broad international cooperation in AI, helping Global South countries build capacity, bridge the digital-intelligence gap, and avoid new historical inequities. He highlighted concrete steps, including launching satellites for Uzbekistan and Indonesia, and promoting China's "Mazu" AI tool as a global public good. Xi reiterated that AI should benefit all humanity, announcing plans to train 5,000 professionals from developing countries and establish international AI cooperation centers with regional blocs. The article cites positive responses from Cambodian PM Hun Manet and UN official Mehdi Snene, praising China's initiatives. It also references Xi's earlier statements from 2018 and 2025, underscoring China's ongoing role in AI governance and cooperation, with no explicit mention of U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Zhu Rongji, a former member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee's Political Bureau and former premier of the State Council, will have his remains cremated in Beijing on August 18. To mourn his passing, flags will be flown at half-mast on that day at key locations including Tiananmen, the Great Hall of the People, the Foreign Ministry, provincial and regional government sites, Hong Kong and Macao SARs, border ports, and Chinese diplomatic missions abroad.
Summary: The article reports on China's agricultural and rural modernization efforts in the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan," citing strong performance indicators such as summer grain output surpassing 300 billion jin and a 5.5% real growth in rural per capita disposable income. It highlights Xi Jinping's directive that agricultural and rural modernization is crucial to the overall Chinese-style modernization, setting the policy tone. The piece details progress in agricultural technology (contribution rate exceeding 64%) and showcases local innovations across Jilin (no-till farming), Hunan (rice breeding), Gansu (apple industry), Fujian-Ningxia collaboration, and Zhejiang (urban-rural integration). It emphasizes consolidating poverty alleviation achievements through development-oriented support and expanding agricultural industries. The overarching goals are to safeguard national food security, boost farmers' incomes, and provide robust support for a successful "15th Five-Year Plan" launch.
Summary: The article reports on Qingyang, Gansu, a revolutionary base area historically reliant on oil, which has leveraged the national "East Data West Computing" project to transform into a digital employment hub. It profiles data annotator Zhao Yanrong and drone pilot Guo Panpan, who now work locally in roles serving autonomous driving and smart city data needs across cities like Beijing and Shenzhen. Qingyang's Human Resources Bureau Deputy Director Zhou Jie stated that 51 digital and low-altitude economy occupations have been listed as urgently needed, with over 16,000 people trained so far. The piece highlights how data annotation and drone operation are creating a new "digital grain" industry on the Loess Plateau, continuing the region's legacy as the "Longdong Granary." No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: China State Railway Group reported that national railway passenger trips reached 2.8 billion in the first seven months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 4.1% and a record high for the period. Foreign passenger trips surged 32.5% to 14.852 million, while cross-border trips on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway and the China-Laos Railway grew by 11.5% and 38.2%, respectively. Daily average passenger train operations increased by 5.2% to 11,462 trains, reflecting expanded capacity. The railway also integrated with tourism, operating 2,159 tourist trains, including 79 customized fan trains for concerts and sports events. The report highlights the sector's role in boosting service consumption and transport efficiency.
Summary: The article reports on China's summer cultural tourism season, highlighting diverse leisure activities such as visiting scenic spots, night markets, and performances. It features a photo of people watching an outdoor movie at a shared green space in the Shijin Irrigation Canal Cultural Park in Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei. The accompanying photo is credited to Liang Zidong via Xinhua News Agency. No official statements or actions are reported, and there is no mention of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The Ministry of Transport reported that in the first half of the year, fixed-asset investment in rural roads nationwide reached 144.3 billion yuan, with 34,000 kilometers of new or upgraded rural roads completed. Maintenance projects covered 65,000 kilometers, while 21,000 kilometers of safety life-protection works were finished (42.2% of the annual target) and 1,574 dangerous bridges were renovated (52.5% of the annual target). These efforts mark steady progress in advancing the "Four Good Rural Roads" initiative. No specific officials or accompanying figures were mentioned, and the article does not address the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The provided text is a table of contents for a publication, outlining two main sections. The first section focuses on a theoretical reading of the first five volumes of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," emphasizing the historic leap toward building a modern socialist country. The second section features a "Studying in China" story, promoting exchange and mutual learning to support China and Africa in jointly advancing toward modernization. No specific officials' statements or actions are reported in this snippet. There is no mention of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Chinese leader Xi Jinping was quoted as emphasizing that original technologies must progress from "0 to 1" through experimental transformation rather than remaining at the paper stage, and then extend the "1" further. The article reports on Shaanxi Province's cultivation of 1,718 technology managers who act as intermediaries between scientific research and market demand, with detailed case studies such as a Northwestern Polytechnical University unmanned crop-protection vehicle project that was commercialized through such professional support. The province has established a comprehensive training system, including China's first technology manager academy at Xi'an Jiaotong University, and is implementing incentive mechanisms like equity-based compensation to encourage deeper engagement. A provincial action plan sets targets of training 5,000 technology managers, selecting 200 outstanding and 60 gold-level managers, and adding 1,000 professional title holders by 2027. Shaanxi is also contributing to national industry standards for technology managers under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Summary: The article discusses how Shaanxi province addresses the challenge of commercializing scientific research by cultivating "technology managers" as intermediaries. These professionals bridge the gap between researchers unfamiliar with markets and businesses lacking technical expertise. Their role extends beyond matchmaking, involving deep participation in project growth—from business plans to industry connections—offering full-lifecycle, partnership-style support. Institutional reforms provide long-term incentives through equity-based compensation, diversified salary structures, and professional career tracks. This makes technology management a viable profession that strengthens China's self-reliance in high-level science and technology.
Summary: The article highlights advances in smart home appliance remote control, driven by IoT and AI technologies, as explained by Midea’s smart home general manager Shang Zhe and other industry experts. It notes that WiFi modules in appliances consume minimal standby power, with remote control enabling energy savings—such as pre-cooling air conditioners reducing cooling energy by 12–18%, according to Haier’s Huang Cheng and testing expert Li Hongwei. The piece traces the evolution from post-2000 broadband-enabled devices to recent generative AI integration, noting that over 50% of AI-enabled home appliances are expected by 2025. New national standards implemented on May 1 establish a five-level intelligence rating system, while companies like Haier, Midea, and Huawei are collaborating on cross-brand interoperability standards. The article does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) jointly released the new international standard "Information Technology – Smart City Data Utilization – Part 1: Framework" (ISO/IEC 25005-1:2026). The standard was led by Chinese experts and developed in collaboration with experts from 11 countries, including South Korea, Canada, and Japan. It establishes a unified framework defining the core characteristics of smart city data utilization across five dimensions: data availability, usefulness, ease of use, responsible use, and empowerment. The standard is hailed as a landmark achievement for China in the field of international smart city standardization, aimed at driving urban digital transformation and reinforcing the foundation of Digital China through data-driven governance. The article does not mention specific officials, accompanying figures, or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: A night market event, the "Dragon Boat Ferry · Rouge Night Market," opened on August 15 in Honglan Street, Lishui District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. The initiative is part of local efforts to stimulate cultural tourism consumption and drive economic activity. The accompanying photograph shows citizens and tourists watching a performance, illustrating the public engagement of this local consumption-boosting measure.
Summary: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) reported that RMB loans increased by 10.38 trillion yuan in the first seven months, with household loans falling by 827.1 billion yuan while corporate loans rose by 11 trillion yuan. Social financing scale expanded by 22.25 trillion yuan, and by end-July, M2 grew 7.7% year-on-year to 355.51 trillion yuan, with social financing stock up 7.4%. Credit structure improved as inclusive small-micro loans and medium/long-term loans to the services sector (excluding property) grew at 9.0% and 9.3%, respectively, outpacing overall loan growth. Lending rates remain at historical lows, with the weighted average rate for new corporate loans slightly below 3.0% and new personal housing loans around 3.1%. Zhaolian chief economist Dong Ximiao commented that the PBOC's moderately loose monetary policy, structural measures, and June framework reforms aim to create a suitable environment for stable growth and financial stability.
Summary: China's central bank and foreign exchange regulator announced on August 14 that a pilot policy for cross-border pooled management of foreign and local currency funds by multinational companies will be extended nationwide, effective September 14. The policy, previously trialed in Beijing and Guangdong (including Shenzhen), lowers entry thresholds and simplifies filing procedures, allowing companies to pool external debt and overseas lending quotas flexibly. A regulator official said the move aims to improve the cross-border investment and financing environment and support firms in expanding international markets. Companies like Beijing Horizon Information Technology reported that the policy cut foreign debt settlement time from 20 days to 1–2 days. The official added that authorities will continue to enhance cross-border financial services for the real economy.
Summary: The article reports data from Nanjing Customs on the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui) for the first seven months of the year, showing a record-high total trade value of 11.41 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.9%, accounting for 37.9% of China's national total. Imports reached 4.18 trillion yuan while exports hit 7.23 trillion yuan. Trade with Belt and Road partner countries surged 21.7% to 5.85 trillion yuan, with notable growth in emerging markets including Latin America (11.7%), Africa (16.9%), and ASEAN (31.1%). Export composition is shifting towards high-tech and green products, with computing hardware like memory components and integrated circuits growing by 128.4% and 96.9% respectively, and new energy vehicle exports up 108.7%. This performance underscores the region's strategic pivot toward emerging markets and advanced manufacturing, reinforcing its role as a key engine of China's foreign trade resilience.
Summary: The article reports on the 40th anniversary of the Shanghai-Hamburg sister city relationship, highlighting cultural exchanges through replica gardens (Hamburg Yu Garden and the Hamburg Garden in Shanghai) and deepening port cooperation, including a joint "green shipping corridor" announced in 2024. Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher called the cities "strong partners," while Hamburg Parliament President Carola Veit expressed commitment to further cooperation in green development and sustainability. Chinese Consul General in Hamburg Lin Dong stated that Beijing highly values friendly cooperation with Hamburg and Germany, expecting the city partnership to inject positive momentum into China-Germany relations amid a volatile international situation. The piece also notes Hamburg's port handled 2.3 million TEUs in China-related container traffic in 2025, up 6.2%, reflecting robust trade ties. The article makes no mention of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Multiple multinational automakers, including GM with SAIC, Honda with GAC, and Volkswagen with SAIC, have signed long-term contract extensions in China, signaling their commitment to the Chinese market. The article argues these extended agreements reflect China's advantages as the world's largest auto market, with its vast scale, innovation ecosystem, and stable business environment. It highlights a shift from technology import to co-development, with Western firms like Ford and Mercedes increasingly relying on Chinese partners for R&D and product decisions. The piece also cites the Wall Street Journal on Western automakers exploring new cooperation models, framing these choices as a rebuttal to U.S.-led "decoupling" narratives. Ultimately, it concludes that long-term engagement benefits both sides and bolsters global industry cooperation.
Summary: The article profiles Penang State Executive Councillor Ooi Han Swee, who discussed the Monument to the Overseas Chinese Mechanics and Victims of the Anti-Japanese War in George Town, Malaysia, which commemorates the 3,000+ Nanyang mechanics who returned to China to aid resistance against Japan. Ooi, who has helped restore the monument and visited a counterpart in Kunming, emphasized the shared wartime history and deep ties between Malaysia and China. He also recalled visiting the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall and expressed hope for stronger museum exchanges between the two countries to foster mutual historical understanding. Ooi recounted his recent travels in China, including visits to Du Fu's thatched cottage and the Dujiangyan irrigation system, praising China's poverty alleviation and ancient engineering wisdom. He stressed that Malaysia's development stems from peace, urging collective protection of hard-won peace on the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trials.
Summary: The article reports on the Kakei Hydropower Station, China's largest contracted dam project in Angola, built by CGGC on the Kwanza River. Once completed, its 2,172 MW capacity will supply over 50% of Angola's electricity needs, addressing chronic power shortages and supporting industrialization. Environmental engineer Hediannis Pereira highlighted the project's benefits for clean energy, water regulation, and emissions reduction, cutting greenhouse gases by 7.2 million tons annually. Construction manager Hu Yuanjun noted the project is on schedule and provides over 6,000 local jobs, with Angolan staff like Horácio Mota rising to technical roles. Mota emphasized the station's strategic importance for national development, including industry, mining, and urban growth.
Summary: The 2026 "Chinese Opera Performance Season" opened at the MuTh Theater in Vienna on August 15, with Xiamen's Jinliansheng Gaojia Opera Troupe performing *Chen San and Wu Niang* to warm applause. Vienna city/state council member Louise Dage-Gregory said at the ceremony that the season builds a cultural bridge between China and Austria/Europe, following last year's success. The event, organized by the Chinese Opera Research Association and the International Cultural Exchange Cooperation Association, will feature Gaojia, Peking, Huangmei, and Hui operas through 2026. No mention was made of U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Nanning is implementing measures such as 240-hour visa-free transit, temporary driving permits, and instant tax refunds to boost inbound tourism, targeting its role as a regional international tourism hub for ASEAN. The city reported a 71.9% year-on-year increase in overnight tourists from ASEAN countries in the first half of the year. Authorities are enhancing cross-border connectivity through improved air, rail, and road corridors, with flights linking to major ASEAN cities. Nanning is also streamlining customs procedures, such as pre-inspection of baggage at Wuxu Airport, and achieving full foreign card payment coverage at key cultural and tourism venues. These coordinated efforts across multiple departments aim to remove logistical bottlenecks and stimulate the inbound travel market.
Summary: The article reports on Nanjing's summer heat-relief measures for sanitation workers, including cooling vests with fans, "cooling buses" and pickup trucks offering drinks and medicine, and 24-hour rest stations. Company officials Zhou Tong and Li Guixiang explained the equipment and logistics, while urban management official Gao Dapeng cited cumulative distribution figures. Institutional safeguards include adjusted work hours, halting outdoor work above 40°C, and monthly heat subsidies of 300 yuan. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article highlights how Chinese cities like Nanjing and Jinan are using tech-enhanced "cooling vests" for outdoor workers amid summer heat, earning public praise. It argues that technological progress should improve working conditions and safeguard labor rights, alongside hardware upgrades and software/mechanism optimization. Examples include food-delivery platforms adjusting algorithms to exclude red-light waiting time from delivery deadlines, which are seen as humane initiatives. The piece concludes that combining technological empowerment with humanistic care fosters worker well-being and social harmony, urging concrete actions to respect laborers.
Summary: The article highlights China's recent implementation of its Ecological Environment Code, marking a milestone in building a beautiful China and advancing rule-of-law governance. It emphasizes President Xi Jinping’s observation of a red pine in Yichun, Heilongjiang, where he reflected on the long timescales of nature, alongside his 2023 visit to Cuiyunlang in Guangyuan, Sichuan, where he urged protection of ancient trees and traditional culture. The piece showcases ecological achievements under Xi’s leadership, including forest growth, the "Millennium Forest" initiative in Xiong’an New Area, and the Yangtze River fishing ban, all framed within a broader philosophy of balancing long-term sustainability with urgent action. No U.S. or U.S.-China relations are discussed.
Summary: The 13th National Acrobatics Exhibition concluded in Nanning on August 15th, co-hosted by China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region government. The event utilized a dual-city format across Nanning and Beihai, presenting 8 acrobatic dramas and 45 acrobatic and magic programs. It showcased the vibrant, innovative state of contemporary Chinese acrobatics, explicitly aligned with the official cultural policy of "upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground." During the exhibition, national experts and participating unit representatives convened in Beihai for symposiums. Their discussions focused on creative innovation, talent pipeline development, industry trends, and performance safety to provide theoretical support for the sector's continuous quality improvement.
Summary: On August 15, Hainan Province held a summer talent recruitment fair in Haikou for 2026, attracting numerous job seekers. The event featured 230 employers offering nearly 5,000 quality positions, aiming to seize the summer talent mobility window and build a precise industry-talent matching platform to support Hainan Free Trade Port construction. The photo shows job seekers communicating with employers. No U.S. or official statements were mentioned.
Summary: The article reports that 11 Beijing municipal parks, including the Temple of Heaven and Beihai, have joined the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated tourism ticket system, bringing the total number of partner scenic spots to over 240. This expansion aims to establish a new pattern of interconnected cultural tourism across the region. The ticket has been upgraded to include diverse consumption scenarios such as cinema, transforming it from a single scenic pass into a multi-scene, composite cultural tourism carrier. Since its launch a year ago, over 180,000 tickets have been sold, with a continuous increase in cardholder travel. The initiative represents a key measure for mutually beneficial cultural and tourism collaboration among the three regions.
Summary: Heavy rain and localized torrential downpours hit parts of Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian on August 16, with more intense rainfall forecast for the next three days across central and southern Gansu, the Sichuan Basin, and other regions. Five rivers in Zhejiang, Anhui, and Yunnan exceeded warning levels, with the largest exceedance reaching 1.50 meters. The Ministry of Water Resources and China Meteorological Administration issued orange flash flood and yellow geological hazard warnings. The ministry held rolling consultations, issued targeted alerts to 10 provinces, and maintained emergency responses for flood defense in several provinces while dispatching six working groups to assist on the ground. Typhoon "Dolphin" caused a levee breach on the Qingliu River in Henan on August 13, which was successfully closed at 23:56 on August 15.
Summary: Xi Jinping was reported to have emphasized at a Politburo collective study session that China must leverage its new national system, uphold self-reliance, and promote the healthy, orderly development of AI toward beneficial, safe, and fair outcomes. The article highlights the second World Humanoid Robot Games opening in Beijing, showcasing AI's integration into physical applications. It details specific deployments, such as an AI flood-monitoring system in Shenzhen and AI-assisted medical imaging in Xinjiang, which improved diagnostic accuracy and patient access. Policy actions include embedding AI governance in the 15th Five-Year Plan and listing comprehensive AI legislation in the State Council's 2026 work plan. The report underscores China's AI industry scale exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan with over 6,200 firms, reaffirming its commitment to safe and equitable technological advancement.
Summary: President Xi Jinping emphasized that AI should be a global public good benefiting all humanity, and that China must help Global South countries build capacity and bridge the digital-intelligence divide to avoid new historical injustices in AI. The article highlights concrete Chinese actions, including launching the "Oriental Eye" hyperspectral dual satellites for Uzbekistan and Indonesia, and promoting the "Mazu" weather AI toolbox. Xi announced China will provide 5,000 AI training slots for developing countries, establish international AI application cooperation centers with regional blocs, and deploy Mazu in 30 countries. International figures such as Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet and UN official Mehdi Snene praised China's initiatives. The piece underscores China's commitment to inclusive, sustainable AI development worldwide, without referencing the United States.
Summary: The article reports on Jiangxi Xinyu's municipal government service center, where "Xiao Gan Shi" (Little Jiangxi Helper) specialists provide remote video assistance to citizens. Specialist Lin Wenjuan guided enterprise agent Liu Jiangyu through a company address change via video call and screen sharing, verifying documents and offering step-by-step support. The platform, launched in 2023, now covers 773 video-guided services with a 663-person team across four administrative levels, handling over 6,600 transactions. The piece highlights how digital tools enable "face-to-face" service without requiring in-person visits, improving convenience for residents. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: On August 16, China successfully launched 24 low-orbit internet satellites using a Long March-12 rocket at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site. The satellites entered their预定 orbit, marking a complete success for the mission. The report did not quote any specific official or mention any accompanying figures. No reference was made to the United States or U.S.-China relations in the article.
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Summary: The article emphasizes the importance of "nail-spirited" persistence and precision in grassroots governance, as advocated by Xi Jinping. It highlights that local officials must align their work with broader national goals, avoid formalism, and focus on key priorities to achieve tangible results. Examples include community elevator negotiations, rural development in Ningde, and long-term projects like the Zunyi canal and Youyu reforestation, illustrating the value of sustained effort. The piece stresses that correct political achievements require building on previous work rather than starting anew, citing Xi's writings on "dripping water wears through stone." It concludes that combining strategic vision, precise targeting, and unwavering commitment enables grassroots officials to make meaningful progress.
Summary: The article highlights the transformation of Tiankai High-Tech Education and Innovation Park in Tianjin, which turned a stalled construction site into a thriving core zone with tax revenue doubling year-on-year to 2.58 billion yuan in the first half of this year. It emphasizes building a full-chain sci-tech innovation ecosystem by breaking down barriers between research and industry, such as linking universities' disciplines with industrial needs and enabling researchers to retain over 75% of transformed achievements' benefits. The park adopts patient, long-term support mechanisms, including "invest-then-stock" funding and tailored financing for teams with mature research, to help firms scale from samples to production. It also accelerates patent authorization from 1–2 years to about two months and offers intellectual property insurance to 50 companies, fostering a symbiotic environment where innovation thrives through mutual reinforcement. The piece argues that such reforms and services are key to developing new quality productive forces, though it does not discuss U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article highlights how China's emerging industries—robotics, AI, and innovative drugs—are gaining global recognition, while traditional sectors like home appliances and furniture maintain steady export growth. It argues that developing new quality productive forces should not neglect traditional industries, citing examples like Shanxi's "hand-tearable steel" and Anta's sports apparel to show how deep specialization can yield competitive advantages. The piece emphasizes integration, where AI and digital technologies upgrade traditional manufacturing, and stresses the importance of building a solid foundation in infrastructure and basic research to sustain long-term industrial competitiveness. Ultimately, it calls for balancing innovation with tradition to enhance China's overall industrial strength.
Summary: The article marks the end of the summer fishing moratorium, framing it as a crucial step for sustainable development and the transition from conservation to harvesting. It reports that ports are bustling as fishermen rush to replenish supplies while maritime authorities conduct escort operations to ensure safe departure. The piece highlights that multiple localities are leveraging the fishing season to launch promotional activities aimed at stimulating consumption and economic vitality across the region. The commentary concludes with a poetic couplet celebrating the collaborative efforts between authorities and the public to support the fishing industry's renewal.
Summary: The article highlights Chongqing's efforts to repurpose idle urban "corner spaces" and under-bridge areas into public amenities such as sports courts, micro parking lots, and pocket parks. It emphasizes scientific planning and cross-department coordination, citing a municipal guideline for developing sports facilities under bridges. The piece stresses that successful transformations require consulting residents and prioritizing public benefit, with examples from districts like Yunyang and Jiulongpo. It concludes that these small-scale improvements enhance urban governance and citizens' well-being, serving as a model for modern mega-city management. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article discusses a current trend in Chinese cultural and artistic production, where creators are shifting focus from Hollywood-style, technology-driven individual hero narratives to grounded stories about ordinary people ("小人物") and their real-life struggles and perseverance. This market shift is attributed to the improved aesthetic appreciation of the public and the rich creative resources provided by China's development practices, which have also fueled cultural confidence. It highlights the rise of "new mass art" (新大众文艺), featuring ordinary creators like "delivery poet" Wang Jibing and intangible cultural heritage inheritors, whose works are gaining popularity overseas. The article concludes that technology, including AI, cannot replicate authentic human emotions, which remain the core inspiration for art, emphasizing that rooting creation in real life is key to lasting cultural impact.
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Summary: China's Ministry of Commerce and other departments issued a policy document proposing 19 measures to promote high-quality development of the household services industry, which employs over 30 million people and has a market scale exceeding 1.3 trillion yuan. Kong Dejun, director of the Department of Trade in Services and Commercial Services, discussed efforts to cultivate brand enterprises, implement standardization, and support innovative service models. Wen Siyao, deputy director of the National Healthcare Security Administration, noted that over 69.82 million flexible workers, including household service personnel, have joined employee medical insurance. Lin Shuli of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security outlined plans to enrich vocational training resources and adopt a project-based training model. The article also details upgrades to the household service credit information platform, which has collected data on over 20,000 companies and 9 million workers, to enhance trust between consumers and service providers.
Summary: The article reports on the booming rambutan industry in Baoting, Hainan, where the fruit was introduced from Malaysia in 1960 and has grown into a pillar local industry with over 50,000 mu planted and annual output exceeding 660 million yuan, accounting for over 90% of national production. Agricultural researchers and university teams are developing new varieties and preservation technologies to extend shelf life, while e-commerce and deep-processing products have raised farmer incomes. The article does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article reports on the development of karst cave tourism in Guangxi, highlighting the region's efforts to transform natural cave resources into cultural tourism projects. It emphasizes a dual approach of strict environmental protection alongside reasonable commercial exploitation. The accompanying photograph shows tourists resting inside a cave in Guilin, illustrating the practical application of this strategy. This reflects a broader local policy trend of leveraging unique geological assets for economic development while managing conservation concerns. The piece does not mention any specific officials or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article reports that Postal Savings Bank of China has improved rural loan efficiency by integrating its systems with guarantee companies, reducing approval time from over ten days to three days through data sharing. It highlights the bank's use of big data and AI to shift from collateral-based to credit-based lending, with tailored products like "农牧贷" in Heilongjiang and "邮棉快贷" in Xinjiang. The bank also supports county economies by mapping industrial clusters and offering differentiated loan policies across four county types. As of early July, agricultural loan balances exceeded 2.6 trillion yuan, with over 1 trillion in inclusive agricultural loans. The piece emphasizes digital inclusive finance as a key driver for rural revitalization and county economic growth.
Summary: The State Administration for Market Regulation reported progress in livelihood metrology for January-July, approving 36 new measurement standards (up 33.3% year-on-year) and 704 national reference materials (up 73.8%). New standards were established in environmental monitoring, healthcare, and safety/trade settlement to improve verification and calibration capabilities. These efforts aim to upgrade the national measurement system and extend precise metrology services to grassroots levels. No specific official was named in the report, and the article does not address the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The provided material consists solely of a graphic credit line ("Graphics by Zhang Danfeng") with no accompanying article text. Consequently, there are no reported statements, official actions, or policy discussions to summarize. No information regarding U.S.-China relations or any other substantive topic is present in the supplied content.
Summary: Chinese media investigated the "AB goods" phenomenon in e-commerce, where consumers receive products of inferior quality compared to those displayed in physical stores or shipped to different regions. Experts cited in the report argue that while product variations across channels are legal, selling substandard goods under the guise of identical quality constitutes misleading or fraudulent behavior. The practice stems from intense price competition, fragmented supply chains, and platforms' reliance on transaction volume over consumer protection. Proposed remedies include stricter platform oversight, mandatory disclosure of product versions, and adjusting algorithm incentives to prioritize quality over low prices.
Summary: Villagers from Shuangze Village, Wulie Town, Dongtai City, Jiangsu Province, have petitioned over illegal residential construction encroaching on the local Tonghai River. The encroachment extends approximately 7 meters into the waterway, violating national river management regulations, creating flood risks, and blocking grain transport vessels, with another similar violation occurring 20 meters to the east. Since 2022, the villagers have repeatedly reported the issue to the Wulie Town government, which acknowledged the matter but has failed to implement any corrective measures. The villagers are appealing to higher-level authorities to supervise and compel a resolution.
Summary: A reader's letter to *People's Daily* prompted an immediate on-site response from local authorities in Luoyang, Henan, regarding the safety hazard of unauthorized electric bicycle charging cables in a residential compound. On the same day, community staff inspected the site, followed by personnel from the district, sub-district, fire department, and local police station who conducted a joint on-site operation. The tangled charging cables were subsequently removed, and new smart charging piles were installed. The compound also marked out fire lanes and plans to expand the parking shed to address long-standing vehicle parking issues. This illustrates a swift, multi-agency grassroots governance response to a reported public concern.
Summary: A reader, Wang Zhen from Dezhou, Shandong, proposes establishing "shared toolboxes" in residential community public spaces or property management offices to address minor household repair needs. The toolboxes would contain items like drills, screwdrivers, wrenches, and pipe wrenches, available for residents to borrow via a sign-in log or QR code scan. Maintenance and replenishment would be handled by property management or building leaders, with tools sourced through property purchases, owners' committee funding, or resident donations. The initiative aims to reduce living costs, activate idle tool resources, and foster a warmer, more mutually supportive community atmosphere.
Summary: The article highlights consumer complaints and safety hazards associated with electric balance scooters in China, including defective batteries, sudden power loss causing injuries, and fire risks from improper charging. It notes that such scooters are legally classified as "gliding tools" and are prohibited from road use, with cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, and Wuhan imposing fines. Yang Xinmiao, deputy director of the Transportation Research Institute at Tsinghua University, advises against using them as commuter vehicles, recommends wearing protective gear, and warns against charging indoors or in stairwells. A new mandatory national safety standard (GB 34668-2024) takes effect on August 1, 2025, replacing the previous voluntary standard. The report does not address U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The People's Daily "Reader Letters" section and People's Daily Online's "Leader Message Board" have jointly launched a call for public submissions on "annoying pop-up ads." They are soliciting problem leads and suggestions from readers regarding this pressing public concern. The initiative provides specific contact channels, including an email address and mobile app platforms. This effort is part of the broader mechanism for collecting feedback on urgent issues affecting citizens. No specific officials or U.S.-China relations were mentioned in the announcement.
Summary: Young officials in Zhengzhou's Erqi District are being sent to community grids for one-year training stints, with over 600 participants since 2024. Bai Xiaocui, a司法局 cadre, and Wang Ying, from the关心下一代工作委员会, described grappling with grassroots issues like waste fees, fire hazards, and parking disputes, learning that硬性 measures fail without群众 perspective. District组织部 officials Xu Kejing and Zheng Yan stated the program aims to temper cadres through frontline challenges, using a "365" work model to match officials' skills with community needs. The officials noted the experience shifts their mindset, prompting them to ask whether policies are feasible and accepted at the grassroots level.
Summary: The article argues that grassroots experience and tackling urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks are essential for cultivating the practical abilities of young cadres, as competence cannot be developed in offices. It criticizes some young cadres for being superficial and avoiding difficulties, emphasizing that they must go where the people need them, handle "hot potatoes," and listen to genuine public feedback. To address these shortcomings, the piece recommends that organizational departments build platforms for growth, provide precise and regular business training, and establish long-term mentoring mechanisms. The training should focus on grassroots governance, mass work, and policy implementation, combining theory with case analysis and experience sharing. No specific officials, accompanying figures, or references to the United States or U.S.-China relations were mentioned in the text.
Summary: A village-based official in Guizhou reported that children in Gaoxing Village were excessively addicted to smartphones due to a lack of playmates and activities. To address this, he organized game guidance teams with village cadres, party members, and返乡 students, and developed a comprehensive children's activity plan featuring traditional games like jump rope and chess. With support from the village committee and town-level关工委, they converted the village activity room and basketball court into child-friendly spaces. As a result, children now spend more time playing together outdoors, and parents report a marked decrease in phone dependency. The author calls on grassroots party organizations to build more activity platforms and mobilize community resources to provide children with alternatives beyond screens.
Summary: The Sichuan Provincial Party Committee's Social Work Department, joined by 13 other departments, issued new measures to strengthen comprehensive oversight of volunteer service organizations. The 25 specific provisions target registration, fees, fiscal and financial practices, and coordinated supervision, aiming to build a multi-dimensional regulatory framework. This responds to recent cases of entities exploiting volunteerism for profit, selling fake service-hour certificates, and impersonating official backgrounds. The rules mandate full-cycle management from registration to exit, with annual joint inspections and credit-based rewards and penalties. No mention was made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Anhui's Huaibei City real estate registration authorities have expanded both online and offline services to meet property document needs for student enrollment. They guide parents to query, download, and print certificates online, while adding mobile service windows and extending service hours for fast processing of enrollment-related transactions. The photo shows staff at the Xiangshan District government service center assisting citizens on August 13.
Summary: The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Market Regulation Bureau announced the establishment of grassroots rule-of-law liaison points in 14 prefecture-level cities to create an integrated legal work platform. These liaison points will collect legislative feedback, guide grassroots law enforcement procedures, supervise enforcement conduct, and provide legal outreach and consultation services. A bureau official stated that the initiative aims to channel grassroots opinions into lawmaking, standardize enforcement, and improve the legal environment for market regulation. No mention was made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The Xiling District disciplinary inspection commission in Yichang, Hubei, has made "comprehensive assistance" reform a supervision priority, targeting inadequate relief for those in need. Officials conducted visits and screenings of over 3,000 recipients, prompting rectification of 13 issues and disciplining 11 people for corruption or misconduct. The commission found that mobile populations faced barriers where "people sought policies," and urged departments to break down policy silos. The district integrated assistance into a broader reform project, establishing a multi-tiered service network to coordinate civil affairs, medical insurance, housing, and education. No mention was made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Jiangxi provincial and Nanchang municipal CPPCC committees intervened after media reports highlighted a blocked blind path in a Nanchang residential area, where a renovation had improperly routed the path through parking spaces. A responsible official from the Nanchang CPPCC attributed the issue to a 2025 construction error, while Li Jiaqing, director of the Qingyunpu District Urban Management Bureau, detailed a 48-hour fix involving physical barriers and parking space reconfiguration. Following the initial resolution, the Nanchang CPPCC launched a citywide special democratic supervision campaign, identifying 2,191 blind path issues and rectifying 1,477 of them. To address the root cause, the Jiangxi Provincial CPPCC pushed for new prohibitive clauses in the provincial draft regulation on accessible environment construction, aiming to provide legal safeguards for blind paths.
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Summary: The article analyzes the formation, content, and practical impact of Chinese-style modernization theory as articulated in Xi Jinping's collected works, emphasizing its role in guiding China's development and its global significance. It highlights key features such as the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the "two-step" strategic plan, and the theory's contribution to human civilization. The piece underscores achievements like poverty alleviation and the creation of a new form of human advancement, while calling for continued reform and opening-up to strengthen the material and institutional foundations of modernization. It also stresses the need for vigilance and struggle to overcome challenges in advancing this path.
Summary: The article argues that building a self-reliant yet open and efficient national innovation system is essential for China's modernization, with science and technology as the leading force. It cites Xi Jinping's call to enhance the overall efficacy of the national innovation system and notes the 15th Five-Year Plan's goal of constructing such a system. Amid geopolitical instability and rising "technology blockades" (implicitly referencing U.S.-led restrictions), the piece stresses that key core technologies cannot be obtained externally and must be developed domestically. It uses the integrated circuit industry—named the top emerging pillar industry in the 2026 Government Work Report—as a case, advocating for a global distributed innovation network anchored by China. The article concludes that China must avoid closed substitution while advancing institutional openness, leveraging its market scale and industrial chains to promote Chinese technology and standards internationally.
Summary: The article, authored by the Party Secretary and Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, outlines the new "Assessment Measures for the Effectiveness of Beautiful China Construction" issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council in April 2026. The measures establish a comprehensive evaluation system for provincial-level Party committees and governments, focusing on responsibility implementation, target completion, and public satisfaction to advance ecological civilization. The authors emphasize that the assessment serves as a key institutional mechanism to enforce ecological accountability, correct misguided development practices, and promote green, low-carbon transitions. The system is designed to integrate with existing environmental protection regulations and cadre evaluation frameworks, with results tied to leadership assessments and financial allocations. The article stresses the importance of rigorous implementation to drive progress toward the Beautiful China goals, though it does not address U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The 2026 National Ecological Day main event was held in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, on August 15, with officials, grassroots ecological guardians, and international representatives discussing green development. A key focus was the upcoming implementation of the PRC Ecological Environment Code, which systematizes ecological civilization achievements since the 18th Party Congress. Various agencies released progress reports, including 58,000 national ecological monitoring stations, achievements in the "Three-North" Shelterbelt project, and the establishment of five national parks. Data showed a 26% reduction in energy intensity while supporting 6.1% annual economic growth, and the resource recycling industry reached 5 trillion yuan. The event concluded with calls for daily ecological action, emphasizing the shift from conservation to sustainable development models.
Summary: A routine patrol in the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve in Bayingolin, Xinjiang, now includes local officials, township cadres, and police officers equipped with high-altitude surveillance platforms, infrared cameras, and drones. These technological tools serve as a "long-range eye" for the patrol team. Over the past four decades since the reserve's establishment, successive generations of guardians have witnessed expanding wetland and grassland areas and steadily rising wildlife populations. The article focuses on the ongoing conservation efforts and technological upgrades, with no mention of U.S. or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Beijing's 2025 water ecological monitoring results, released by the Beijing Water Affairs Bureau, covered 146 water bodies across major rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. The survey found 168 rivers with water flow, an increase of 50 year-on-year, while the proportion of healthy water bodies reached 93.8%, surpassing 90% for the first time. Fish species increased to 78, phytoplankton to 486, and large benthic invertebrates to 387, reflecting steady ecological improvement. The report noted a fundamental shift in river ecosystems from algae-dominated turbid conditions to clear-water states dominated by submerged vegetation, enhancing self-purification and stability. Lake and reservoir ecosystems are now serving as biodiversity hubs while maintaining flood control and water supply functions.
Summary: China’s Ministry of Natural Resources’ South China Sea Bureau released two reports on August 14 detailing the region’s marine ecological monitoring and restoration. The monitoring report found overall stable conditions, with coral cover rising in some areas, and noted a sharp decline in red tide warnings. For the first time, it assessed island reefs across the Xisha, Zhongsha, and Nansha, highlighting recovery in the Xisha but severe degradation at Tiexian Reef and Ren’ai Reef—the latter attributed to illegal Philippine “grounded” vessels discharging pollutants. The restoration report said 66 projects were implemented in 2025 with nearly 5 billion yuan invested, and over 2.66 million hectares of ecological red lines have been designated. No mention was made of the United States or bilateral relations.
Summary: Fujian ended its 3.5-month summer fishing moratorium on August 16, with simultaneous openings in Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Putian, and Pingtan. Prior to opening, the provincial marine and fisheries law enforcement corps deployed five work groups to conduct inspections and safety checks at fishing ports and mooring points, coordinating with local agencies for comprehensive vessel verification and boarding checks. They also launched the "Blue Sword 2026-19" joint maritime law enforcement operation, deploying patrol vessels to key ports and sea areas. The measures aimed to ensure safe departure and maintain stable order at ports and near-shore waters before the fishing season resumed.
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Summary: The article reports on Chinese minors increasingly relying on AI chatbots for emotional companionship, leading to psychological dependence and a disconnect from real-world relationships. Experts like Sun Hongyan from the China Youth Research Center highlight that many students prefer confiding in AI over humans, creating an "emotional cocoon," while noting that existing national guidelines (e.g., the 2025 Guidelines for Generative AI Use in Primary and Secondary Schools) restrict independent use for elementary students but enforcement remains weak. Researchers advocate shifting from a "restrictive" to a "regulatory" protection model, requiring coordinated efforts from government, platforms, schools, and families to cultivate AI literacy rather than banning it. The piece emphasizes that AI cannot replace high-quality parental companionship or real-world feedback necessary for healthy development. The overall goal is to manage AI's role in child development without isolating minors from technology.
Summary: The article compares chatting with AI to "emotional sugar substitute," noting it only alleviates surface-level loneliness without providing genuine human connection. It argues that while AI holds great potential as a driver of technological revolution, its development brings rule conflicts and challenges that must be addressed through regulation and the rule of law to counter the "black box" nature of algorithms. The piece stresses that progress should not be halted by temporary setbacks, and that both society and children engaging with chatbots must learn to coexist with this powerful tool. Looking ahead, it calls for continuing innovation while clarifying industry boundaries and regulatory red lines to ensure technology serves and benefits humanity. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: A father in Yiwu, Zhejiang, took his 14-year-old son on a month-long food delivery experience during the summer heat, after the boy said poor grades meant he could "just deliver food." The experiment did not cure his aversion to study but unexpectedly repaired their relationship, as the son learned empathy and the father reduced nagging in favor of companionship. The article uses this case to debate the value of labor education for youth, noting that it should not be equated with "suffering education" but can include varied activities like community service, vocational experience, and farm work. It argues that effective labor education requires consistent, age-appropriate participation and adult accompaniment rather than mere preaching. The piece concludes that parents should join children in real-life labor settings, blending strictness with encouragement and empathy.
Summary: The Beijing Literature journal announced its 2025 annual outstanding works selection, with 37 works winning across seven categories including novellas, short stories, reportage, prose, poetry, new talent, and reprinted pieces. The selection process, launched in March 2025, considered factors such as dissemination impact, reader feedback, and professional evaluations, with a final review committee of 63 critics, writers, scholars, and editors. The winning works draw from both the journal’s original publications and its monthly fiction digest, reflecting contemporary themes and diverse narratives. The results represent a high standard of Chinese literary creation for 2025. No mention was made of U.S. or bilateral relations.
Summary: An all-AI-generated network film, *Bloody Dachen Island*, has been released on a video platform, depicting the reclamation history of Dachen Island in Taizhou, Zhejiang, with scenes such as island farming and disaster relief recreated via AI. The production, which began in March with a five-person team completing 2,429 shots in 48 days, kept costs under 500,000 yuan, compared to an estimated 30 million yuan for a live-action shoot. Beijing Film Academy professor Liu Debing commented that AI liberates filmmaking from expensive equipment and complex processes, returning focus to creativity, story, and emotion.
Summary: The 54th China Beijing International Gift, Premium and Household Products Exhibition concluded on August 15 at the China International Exhibition Center (Chaoyang Hall). Over 900 exhibitors showcased more than 200,000 creative gift items, covering cultural creative IP, smart digital products, quality home goods, food gift boxes, intangible cultural heritage creations, and city souvenirs. The photo shows staff displaying creative refrigerator magnets at the event.
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Summary: The article text was not included in your message—only the layout designer credit ("版式设计：张芳曼") was provided. Please paste the article content so I can generate the requested summary.
Summary: Chinese flood-season safety experts崔蕾 (Shanxi Disaster Prevention Center) and毛勇 (Shanxi Emergency Management Department) warned that clear local skies do not rule out flood risks from upstream rainfall or reservoir releases, and that high-rise residents face wind and structural hazards. They advised avoiding riverbanks, tunnels, and low-lying areas, and noted that post-rain soil saturation can trigger delayed collapses and landslides. Hunan CDC expert刘子言 stressed that flood-contaminated food, water, and homes pose serious health risks, urging boiled water, cooked food, and thorough cleaning and disinfection. The article also highlighted risks of infectious diseases from vectors and animal carcasses, recommending protective measures and environmental sanitation. No U.S. or U.S.-China relations were discussed.
Summary: China's market regulators reported significant progress in a nationwide campaign against food additive abuse, launched last April by six government agencies. Authorities targeted products like dairy, meat, aquatic goods, oils, beverages, and condiments, focusing on overuse or unauthorized use of preservatives, sweeteners, and colorants. A total of 23,603 cases were handled, involving 43.62 million yuan in涉案金额 and 145 million yuan in fines, with 278 cases referred for criminal prosecution. Going forward, regulators will intensify oversight on items such as milk tea, cooked meats, pastries, noodles, and alcohol, while pushing firms to comply with safety standards and publicizing typical violations.
Summary: The Xinjiang Regional People's Congress published a new urban heating regulation, effective October 1, encouraging cogeneration and network interconnectivity. It mandates that for residential users, indoor temperatures in bedrooms and living rooms must remain at or above 20°C when outdoor conditions meet design standards. Non-residential heating follows national standards or contract terms. Residents can request temperature measurement from heating units, which must respond within 24 hours. No U.S.-related content was mentioned.
Summary: The article highlights Jiangning District’s push for high-quality development, focusing on 6G and AI research at Zijin and Qilin science cities. It emphasizes industrial upgrades, including a leading domestic robotics company and a “1234” industrial cluster strategy. Jiangning is also expanding its airport economy, with 144 aviation-related firms and three C919 first-tier suppliers. Rural-urban integration is promoted through tourism, village coffee shops, and commercial hubs like Baijia Lake. Overall, the district aims to drive growth through innovation, openness, and cultural enrichment.
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Summary: Chinese track and field athletes are intensifying preparations for the upcoming Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, using the 2026 National Athletics Championships in Quzhou as a key tune-up. Emerging talents like 17-year-old sprinter Chen Yujie, who won the women's 100m with an Asian U20 record of 11.08 seconds, are aiming to build on China's top medal haul from the Hangzhou Asian Games. With veterans like Gong Lijiao retired, younger athletes such as shot putter Zhang Linru and javelin thrower Yan Ziyi are stepping up, with Yan setting an Asian record and targeting the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Athletes like hurdler Lin Yuwei and 400m runner Liu Kai acknowledged the need to improve their performances to compete for medals. The team is focused on defending past honors while looking toward future global competitions like the 2027 Beijing World Championships.
Summary: The Chinese swimming team, composed entirely of athletes born after 2000, competed in the 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships held in Irvine, California, USA, from August 12-15, securing 2 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals. Tang Qianting won gold in the women's 50m breaststroke, breaking the meet record in preliminaries, while Yu Yiting claimed gold in the women's 200m individual medley, edging out Canadian world-record holder Summer McIntosh by 0.02 seconds. The team also earned several other medals, including a bronze in the women's 4×100m medley relay. Held in an outdoor venue, the competition served as preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, allowing the swimmers to adapt to similar conditions and gain experience against strong international rivals. The event, revived after eight years, featured top teams from the US, Australia, Canada, and Japan, and was seen as valuable practice ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Summary: Chinese tennis player Zhang Shuai and her Czech partner Katerina Siniakova won the women's doubles title at the WTA 1000 Toronto tournament, defeating Errani/Melichar in straight sets. This marked their third title together and Zhang's fourth doubles trophy of the season, including the Australian Open, as well as her 19th career doubles title. Zhang credited her partner for her support, noting she had fallen just two points short of victory last year. The report does not mention any U.S. or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The article reports that the opening ceremony of the 2026 National Beautiful Countryside Basketball Tournament ("Village BA") Northern Division was held on August 15 in Baoqing County, Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang Province. The event features 16 teams and over 200 players from 10 provinces, with 36 matches scheduled over six days to determine the top five teams advancing to the national finals. The host county organized accompanying activities such as a harvest market, photography exhibitions, and a summer arts festival, while also issuing tourism consumption vouchers. The tournament is guided by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and supported by the General Administration of Sport of China, with co-hosts including the China Farmers' Sports Association and local government bodies.
Summary: Jincheng City in Shanxi Province has opened the playgrounds of 69 primary and secondary schools to the public this summer, using staggered scheduling to meet residents' fitness needs and turning idle campus facilities into free community gyms. Residents like Qin Jing, who lives near Aiwu School, praised the convenience of having standard tracks and equipment close to home, while the Red Cross also used the space for public急救 training. Xinghe School added lighting, drinking stations, and liability insurance, with principal Cheng Jinhui detailing the upgrades. Education bureau researcher Yuan Hongwei emphasized that the initiative is not a simple opening of gates but a standardized governance model with dedicated staffing, funding, and insurance, balancing campus safety with shared sports resources. No mention was made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Changsha, Hunan, is offering free swimming pools and sports training to primary and secondary school students during the summer vacation. The initiative includes free access to 25 swimming venues and free training at 74 facilities covering 13 sports, including ice/snow, ball, and emerging activities. Base director Li Changjiang stated that facilities underwent comprehensive maintenance and strict water quality testing to safeguard the youth. This public welfare program, now in its 18th year, provides daily quotas (e.g., 120 free swim slots) and can be booked through the "My Changsha" app.
Summary: The article reports the opening of the 25th men's basketball league in Shaxi Town, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, a 12-day event featuring 18 village teams divided into two tiers with a promotion-relegation system. It notes the league is a national exemplary case for grassroots sports. Sports official Li Jianhua said teams may now recruit two non-local players from within the city to boost competitiveness. The town previously won national "Village BA" titles in 2023 and 2024, and again won the provincial title on August 9. No U.S. or U.S.-China relations topics are mentioned.
Summary: I don't see the article text in your message—only the instruction and a layout credit ("版式设计：张芳曼"). Please paste the article content, and I'll provide a summary of no more than five sentences, focusing on official statements, accompanying individuals, and any U.S.-China references as requested.
Summary: Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, in her capacity as LDP president, sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine on August 15, the anniversary of Japan's WWII surrender, while Defense Minister Koisumi Shinjiro and other cabinet members visited the shrine. The article reports widespread criticism from Japanese scholars, Korean officials, and Russian experts who condemned these actions as a blatant challenge to postwar international order and a sign of Japan's unrepentant attitude toward its wartime aggression. Takaichi's speech at the national memorial ceremony omitted the traditional phrases of "reflection" and "lessons from history," with commentators noting her new wording "not letting the tragedy of war repeat" subtly shifts blame for the war away from Japan. The piece also highlights concerns over Japan's accelerating re-militarization, including record defense budget requests, plans for new intelligence agencies, and discussions about nuclear weapons that break postwar taboos. Critics warn that Japan's trajectory mirrors its pre-war militarism and will lead to regional isolation and renewed conflict.
Summary: The article reports on the public release of 80-year-old "military postcards" written by Japanese soldiers during WWII, coinciding with the 81st anniversary of Japan's surrender. These censored letters serve as firsthand evidence of war crimes, detailing the Nanjing Massacre and the routine execution of Chinese POWs with chilling indifference. The author argues that the soldiers' casual brutality reflects deep militaristic indoctrination, which remains a persistent threat. The piece draws a direct parallel between this history and contemporary Japanese right-wing efforts to deny atrocities, revise the peace constitution, and expand military power. It concludes that Japan must fully sever ties with militarism and repent to earn regional trust, warning that historical revisionism will face global opposition.
Summary: A Chinese Embassy spokesperson in Tokyo responded to Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae's ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine and visits by some cabinet members and lawmakers. The spokesperson condemned these actions as a severe challenge to the outcomes of WWII and the post-war international order, expressing strong indignation and lodging a solemn representation. The spokesperson characterized Yasukuni as a spiritual tool of Japanese militarism that enshrines Class-A war criminals, placing these acts against historical justice and human conscience. Noting that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the Tokyo Trials, the spokesperson stressed that correctly confronting history is a vital political foundation for Sino-Japanese relations. The spokesperson urged Japan to deeply reflect, break completely with militarism, and stop its dangerous "re-militarization" path.
Summary: A Chinese language and culture experience course was held in Islamabad, Pakistan, themed "Eastern Silk Dialogue," attracting about 50 Chinese and Pakistani participants. The program included six units such as language teaching, calligraphy, festivals, and cuisine, aiming to build a long-term people-to-people exchange platform for youth. It was co-organized by the Pakistan China Cultural Center and Pakistan's Directorate of Archaeology and Museums. At the opening, Pakistani Minister for National Heritage and Culture Aurangzeb said people-to-people ties are a key foundation of the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. He added that future collaboration would deepen in areas including artifact restoration, heritage digitization, and joint World Heritage nominations.
Summary: Indonesian President Prabowo, during a recent inspection of a shrimp farming demonstration zone in Kebumen, Central Java, stated that the country's aquaculture potential is vast and that such demonstration zones will be promoted in more regions. The article highlights Indonesia's strong aquaculture foundation, noting its status as the world's second-largest producer, with a potential farming area of 17.91 million hectares and a projected 2025 aquaculture output of 6.75 million tons. The government is advancing a "blue economy" strategy, prioritizing five key species and modernizing fishing villages, while also transitioning toward tech-driven and green practices. Notably, the piece details deepening China-Indonesia cooperation, where China imported 491,500 tons of Indonesian aquatic products worth $1.04 billion in 2025, alongside joint technical meetings and training programs on sustainable aquaculture. The report underscores this collaboration as a key element of Indonesia's efforts to boost productivity and reduce illegal fishing, as articulated by Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Wahyu Trenggono.
Summary: A Washington Post report relayed by Xinhua indicates that US Gulf allies—specifically Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar—are experiencing rising frustration with Washington. The officials report a consensus of discontent with the Trump administration, with some discussing whether to permit continued US military bases on their soil. The trigger is Trump's repeated threats of large-scale strikes on Iran, followed by rescinding them citing negotiation progress, which has raised doubts about his diplomatic capability to secure a peace deal. A Gulf official stated that regional anger toward the US has reached its highest point since the conflict began, adding, "Trump started this war, and we are paying the price." This highlights a significant deterioration in US-Gulf relations over Iran policy.
Summary: Moroccan security forces intercepted 294 people attempting to illegally cross the border near Spain's Ceuta enclave on the 15th, comprising 248 sub-Saharan Africans and 46 Moroccans. Security operations in the border city of Fnideq involve drones, mobile intervention units, water cannons, and reinforced checkpoints. This follows a late-July border crisis triggered by misinformation that led to roughly 80,000 people attempting to cross, resulting in at least 96 deaths. In response to online posts encouraging another mass crossing on the 15th, Morocco and Spain maintained high alert to prevent a recurrence.
Summary: Chinese Consulate General in Johannesburg held an awards ceremony for a middle school short video contest themed "China-South Africa friendly cooperation is right beside us." First prize winner Itumeleng Mofokeng, a ninth grader from Teto High School in Free State Province, said the competition deepened her understanding of Chinese culture. Consul General Pan Qingjiang stated that the contest reflects young students' enthusiasm for China-Africa and China-South Africa friendship, and pledged continued support for people-to-people and youth exchanges. The event was attended by student representatives from Gauteng and Free State provinces, along with education department and teacher representatives. The article does not mention the United States or U.S.-China relations.
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Summary: The article profiles the Armed Police squadron stationed at the Xiang River in northern Guangxi, a site of the Red Army's costly 1934 breakthrough during the Long March. It highlights a "I Sacrifice for You" storytelling event where Deputy Squadron Leader Luan Haoming emphasized that faith enabled the outnumbered Red Army to escape a desperate encirclement. The piece details how the unit honors local martyr guardians, uses battle sites as teaching grounds, and instills sacrifice through rigorous training and rescue missions. It recounts soldiers overcoming physical setbacks and performing flood and fire rescues, underscoring their commitment to protecting civilians. The narrative concludes that the unit's ethos—forging readiness through daily discipline—represents a living tribute to the martyrs' legacy.
Summary: The article argues that military training must prioritize combat effectiveness over superficial achievements, criticizing commanders who focus on polished displays and paperwork instead of real readiness. It stresses that training should mirror actual battlefield conditions, with every drill and maneuver practiced rigorously to ensure troops can prevail in war. The piece urges military leaders to reject formalism and "visible accomplishments," treating exercises as genuine combat and addressing identified weaknesses. It concludes that true political merit for officers lies solely in strengthening fighting capability, requiring both selfless dedication and concrete responsibility at every level. The author is affiliated with the Academy of Military Science’s Institute of Military Law.
Summary: The article is a first-person account by a First-Class Master Sergeant (一级军士长) in a Network Space Force unit, detailing his 20-year career stationed on the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (4,500 meters). He describes transitioning through four job rotations—from driver to technician—and overcoming harsh conditions to master complex equipment and develop new plateau-adapted individual gear. He was named a "Military Craftsman" in 2021 and established a unit innovation team named after himself in 2023, mentoring younger soldiers like Zhang Jing, who later advanced to senior non-commissioned officer. The narrative emphasizes technological proficiency as combat effectiveness and the importance of passing on expertise to build a stronger team for future battlefields. No mention is made of the United States or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: Liu Shiwei, an oil equipment maintenance technician with a PLA Shenyang joint logistics support unit, quickly diagnosed and repaired a hydraulic system failure on a refueling vehicle during an exercise, using his detailed technical notes to pinpoint a rare valve fault. Over 22 years of service, he has obtained five national patents and completed over 20 technical innovations by diligently studying manuals and recording every problem-solving process. He voluntarily took on the challenge of mastering new equipment like drones and smart patrol robots, developing tailored inspection methods for mountainous depot terrain. Liu has mentored more than 20 technical specialists, insisting they thoroughly understand theory before hands-on work and holding weekly fault-review meetings. He stated that "if you can't keep up with technological progress, you can't defend today's depot; if you can't understand future trends, you can't win tomorrow's war."
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Summary: The Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China took effect on August 15, National Ecology Day. It is China's second law named a "code" after the Civil Code, and the world's first code titled "Ecological Environment Code." The code consolidates over 30 ecological laws, more than 100 administrative regulations, and over 1,000 local regulations, with a dedicated "Ecological Protection" section emphasizing systematic conservation. This legal framework aims to strengthen the rule-of-law foundation for achieving modernization featuring harmony between humanity and nature.
Summary: The article marks the 70th anniversary of China-Africa diplomatic relations and the "China-Africa Year of Humanities Exchange," highlighting youth as bridges for mutual learning. It profiles three African students in China: Sudanese PhD candidate Yan Yaming researching solar water evaporation technology to aid water-scarce regions; Egyptian student Yasser studying centrifugal pump wear mechanisms for deep-sea mining equipment; and Ghanaian medical student Kevin Okafor researching cervical cancer prevention. Each student emphasizes China's advanced technology, supportive academic environments, and people-centered modernization as inspiration for applying their knowledge back to Africa. The piece underscores deepening Sino-African cooperation through education, with students planning to promote new technologies and public health strategies in their home countries.
Summary: An op-ed by the Secretary-General of the China-Africa Association argues that people-to-people exchanges, especially educational cooperation, are the bedrock of China-Africa relations. It notes that China is the second-largest study destination for African students, who increasingly pursue applied fields like engineering and AI, with alumni such as former Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome crediting their time in China. The piece highlights broader cultural and social ties, including the replication of China's "Village Super League" in Africa, the "Happy Spring Festival" events, and Chinese medical and vocational training missions. Marking the first China-Africa People-to-People Exchange Year, the article reports that nearly 500 activities have been held, concluding that these exchanges build mutual trust and drive a shared path to modernization.
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Summary: China's new regulation, effective August 1, requires lenders to clearly disclose all financing costs for personal loans, addressing hidden fees and deceptive practices. The policy aims to boost consumer confidence and spending by enhancing transparency in financial services. Regulators are conducting inspections and organizing financial institutions to update systems and standardize marketing. The article cites a July 30 Politburo meeting calling for coordinated fiscal and monetary policies to stimulate domestic demand. It also notes upcoming rules on online financial product marketing and efforts to combat financial fraud.
Summary: The article reports on China's recent policy push and financial innovations in the elderly care sector, including the rollout of long-term care insurance, expansion of personal pension investment options, and pilot programs for eldercare trusts. It highlights how financial institutions, such as Bank of China and Bank of Communications, are addressing funding challenges for nursing homes, upgrading bank branches with senior-friendly services, and offering tailored financial products for multi-generational families. The piece emphasizes the shift toward "whole-life-cycle planning" in pension finance, combining savings, insurance, and investment solutions to enhance retirement security. No direct references to the United States or U.S.-China relations are included in the article.
Summary: The article examines the historical evolution of factor markets in traditional China, particularly the land market, highlighting its multi-layered property rights and diverse transaction forms such as tenancy, pawning, and conditional sales. These arrangements lowered barriers to land access, supported intensive farming, and contributed to socioeconomic stability by enabling most farmers to operate as an agricultural middle class. The authors argue that such traditions also served as substitutes for financial instruments, enhancing household resilience. They connect this historical legacy to current policy goals, citing the 19th and 20th Party Congress calls to deepen factor market reforms and build a unified national market. The piece concludes that these historical roots offer valuable insights for advancing a high-standard socialist market economy.
Summary: I notice you've provided instructions for summarizing an article, but the article text itself appears to be missing from your message. The only content visible is "版式设计：沈亦伶" (Layout design: Shen Yiling), which appears to be a credit line rather than the article content. Could you please share the article text you'd like me to summarize?
Summary: The State Council has issued the 15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization, setting targets for 2030 including over 22 high-value invention patents per 10,000 people and IP-intensive industries contributing 14.6% of GDP. The plan builds on previous five-year cycles, which saw the "14th Five-Year" target of 12 high-value patents per 10,000 people exceeded at 16. It emphasizes shifting from quantity to quality, with new measures for patent evaluation and commercialization in universities and research institutes. The plan is positioned as the second five-year plan supporting the 2021–2035 IP Powerhouse Outline, aiming for decisive progress in building a world-class IP system. No mention of the United States or bilateral relations was found.
Summary: The article reports on China's "Improvement Special Project," a central funding initiative for scientific institutions, which has significantly boosted agricultural research capabilities. It highlights how the funding has filled critical equipment gaps, supported major national priorities like seed breeding and deep-sea aquaculture, and promoted open sharing of research facilities. Specific achievements include breakthroughs in rubber tree breeding, hybrid rice technology, and the establishment of China's first deep-sea closed test platform. The piece also notes challenges ahead, including the need for more systematic funding, equipment upgrades, and sustainable maintenance budgets.
Summary: A welder from Liaohe Oilfield Construction Company describes how traditional horizontal welding techniques fail on mountain pipelines, causing molten metal to flow downward and create defects. After analyzing field data, his team developed a weld gun angle adjustment device that retrofits onto existing welding carts without major modifications. The device reduces weld defects, improves pass rates, shortens construction time, and lowers costs across various terrains and pipe sizes. The author emphasizes that craftsmanship means innovating on the frontline to solve systemic problems.
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Summary: The article reflects on the relationship between humans and wild grass, based on the author's observations in a mountain area. It describes how grass prevents soil erosion, as seen when a row of apple trees was buried after a rainstorm, while those near grassy slopes survived. The author explores the ecological roles of various grass species, their adaptability, and their importance to the environment, including soil stabilization and supporting insect life. The piece also contrasts two pear orchards, one destroyed by herbicide and disease, the other thriving due to the presence of grass, leading villagers to acknowledge that "no grass won't do" and "thanks to the grass." The essay ultimately advocates for a humble, empathetic view of grass as vital, sentient beings deserving of respect.
Summary: The article likens deep reading to the merging of streams into a great river, emphasizing the cumulative expansion of knowledge across genres and traditions. Using nature writing as an example, it urges readers to explore both American classics like Thoreau's *Walden* and Chinese philosophical roots in Zhuangzi and Mencius. Such cross-disciplinary reading dissolves academic boundaries, fostering creative intellectual growth and a reorganized worldview. The author stresses that sustained curiosity and a thirst for wisdom serve as the driving "water-level difference" propelling this lifelong pursuit. The piece does not discuss U.S.-China relations or specific officials.
Summary: The article describes a visit to a watermelon field in the Yellow River floodplain near Wuzhi County, Henan, where farmers harvest melons before the rainy season. It details the labor-intensive cultivation process, from soil preparation and hand-pollination to careful handling of young fruit. The author recalls her grandmother's harrowing experience of floods in the past, contrasting it with the river's current stability after management efforts. The piece also portrays the farmers' subsequent street sales, including their friendly service to customers. It concludes with the cycle of planting late corn after the melon harvest, emphasizing the river's enduring vitality.
Summary: The provided text is a museum catalog entry identifying an oil painting titled "Cabin by the Lake" by the artist Su Tianci, which is part of the collection at the National Art Museum of China.
Summary: The article describes a visit to the Panzhihua Cycad National Nature Reserve in the dry-hot valley of the Jinsha River, where 389,200 wild cycads grow. A guide named Xiao Zeng leads visitors through the reserve, first showing an ecological restoration area that was once a limestone quarry, explaining how the mine was closed to protect the cycads. He points out a yellowing cycad attacked by butterfly larvae and explains how squirrels disperse cycad seeds. Near a 2,000-year-old female cycad he calls "the Princess," he picks up a seed, but notes that most seeds fail to germinate due to harsh conditions. The article highlights Xiao Zeng's deep familiarity with the plants and his role as a bridge between ancient flora and modern visitors.
Summary: The provided text is a poem in Chinese, not a political article. It expresses a child's gratitude and love for their mother, describing the mother's roles as wife, daughter-in-law, and mother, and recalling the speaker's birth 39 years ago. The poem emphasizes the mother's kindness, warmth, and enduring love, which the speaker vows to repay with daily joy and devotion. No officials, political statements, or U.S.-China relations are mentioned.
Summary: The article is a nostalgic account of stone drying racks (石晒架) in the author's ancestral village, Longchi, nestled in a mountainous region. These racks, built from interlocking stones without mortar, were integral to village life for centuries, used for drying crops, socializing, and even as a temporary stage for operas. The author recalls childhood duties of turning grain and the communal gatherings around the racks. The piece emphasizes the ingenuity and cultural significance of these structures, which are now preserved despite modern housing changes. No mention is made of officials or U.S.-China relations.
Summary: The provided text is not an article but a submission notice from the People's Daily "大地" (Dadi) section, inviting original reader submissions to the email address dadi@peopledaily.cn. It specifies that submissions must be original, first-published works and must not be sent to multiple outlets simultaneously. No political analysis, official statements, or U.S.-China relations are discussed in this text.
By: 本报记者 喻思南 李君强
"Faced with the new situation of the rapid evolution of a new generation of artificial intelligence technology, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of the new nationwide system for mobilizing resources, adhere to self-reliance and self-strengthening, highlight the application orientation, and promote the healthy and orderly development of China's artificial intelligence in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction."
——Emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the 20th group study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee in April 2025
On August 22, the Second World Humanoid Robot Games will open in Beijing. A total of 666 teams and 2,055 robots from 16 countries will compete on the same stage, with the number of participating robots quadrupling compared with the first edition. Humanoid robots integrate the perception, cognition, and decision-making capabilities of artificial intelligence and are an important carrier for AI to enter the physical world. A sports event has become a vivid microcosm of the accelerated iteration of artificial intelligence technology.
The wave of artificial intelligence is surging in. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "Promote global artificial intelligence to develop in a direction that is good and virtuous and benefits humanity" and "Faced with the new situation of the rapid evolution of a new generation of artificial intelligence technology, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of the new nationwide system for mobilizing resources, adhere to self-reliance and self-strengthening, highlight the application orientation, and promote the healthy and orderly development of China's artificial intelligence in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction."
"Beneficial, safe, and fair" — these words give deep substance to the distinctive foundation of China's artificial intelligence developing in an upward and virtuous direction.
Deep empowerment: the "beneficial" potential of artificial intelligence continues to be released.
On the flood prevention front line, a "digital duty officer" has arrived.
On June 18, after receiving a red rainstorm warning, "Long Xiaoxiao," the urban governance intelligent agent of Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, activated its flood season mode, automatically monitoring all risk points across the district, including water accumulation points, rainwater well covers, and key river channels. From the issuance of the warning to its lifting, "Long Xiaoxiao" remained online throughout, on autonomous duty, intelligently analyzing 243,000 surveillance images and issuing more than 1,500 warnings.
Driven by rich applications, China is carrying out in depth the "AI+" action, with artificial intelligence empowering a thousand industries and a hundred trades.
From intelligently regulating traffic signals to helping historical buildings "treat diseases before they arise," from assessing trends in water ecology changes to accurately analyzing and predicting underground coal seam distributions... the value of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly prominent, and innovative vitality is bursting forth at an accelerated pace.
Drawing boundaries: the "safety" bottom line of artificial intelligence is becoming ever more solid.
Artificial intelligence brings unprecedented development opportunities, but also unprecedented risks and challenges. General Secretary Xi Jinping has shown far-sighted consideration: "It is necessary to grasp the development trends and laws of artificial intelligence, step up the formulation and improvement of relevant laws and regulations, policies and systems, application norms, and ethical standards, and build a system for technological monitoring, risk early warning, and emergency response, to ensure that artificial intelligence is safe, reliable, and controllable."
Regulations have been issued to clarify the information service norms for algorithm recommendation service providers and strengthen algorithm governance; digital identifiers are being affixed to AI-generated synthetic content to cultivate a digital trust ecosystem... "Ensuring that artificial intelligence is safe, reliable, and controllable" — one response measure after another is being improved and deepened in practice, "ensuring that this thousand-li horse of artificial intelligence both runs fast and runs steadily."
"Strengthening the construction of data infrastructure system rules and artificial intelligence governance" has been written into the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and "improving artificial intelligence governance and accelerating the comprehensive legislation for the healthy development of artificial intelligence" has been included in the State Council's 2026 legislative work plan, with efforts focused on building a harmonious ecosystem of human-machine symbiosis.
Inclusive sharing: the "fairness" concept of artificial intelligence is becoming more distinct.
How can the dividends of technology benefit more people?
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "It is necessary to strengthen the integration of artificial intelligence with safeguarding and improving people's livelihoods, proceed from the need to safeguard and improve people's livelihoods and create a better life for the people, promote the deep application of artificial intelligence in people's daily work, study, and life, and create smarter working methods and lifestyles."
In Shache County, Kashgar, Xinjiang, medical resources are unevenly distributed. The village farthest from the county hospital requires a four-hour drive to reach it for treatment, so the masses mostly seek medical care at township health centers. Due to a lack of professional imaging technicians and other reasons, the pass rate of DR (digital radiography) images taken at township health centers was only about 50 percent.
Since 2020, thanks to relevant policy support and assistance, Shache County has carried out in-depth cooperation with United Imaging Group and put advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence to use. Today, the pass rate of DR images taken at township health centers has risen to over 90 percent. Imaging is now "done in one step," effectively improving the medical experience of the masses.
Education departments are promoting smart classrooms, pushing high-quality urban courses in real time to rural schools; engineers are developing intelligent assistive terminals that allow visually impaired people to perceive the world with their ears... As technology is continuously imbued with warmth, more and more of the masses are enjoying the fruits of artificial intelligence development.
Scientific concepts guide action. In 2025, the core industry scale of China's artificial intelligence exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan, with more than 6,200 enterprises, and the comprehensive strength of the industry firmly ranks in the world's first tier.
In the intelligent era, advancing in the direction of "beneficial, safe, and fair," we anchor our goals and walk with firm steps.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 刘玲玲
"We must carry out extensive international cooperation, help Global South countries strengthen capacity-building, bridge the digital-intelligence divide, promote sustainable development, and avoid creating new historical injustices in the field of artificial intelligence."
——In July 2026, emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance
On August 5, the "Oriental Eye Hyperspectral AI Dual Satellites" were successfully launched, and will provide satellite remote sensing services to Uzbekistan and Indonesia, helping to safeguard agricultural production. Not long ago, the "Mazu" Fengyun Satellite AI Toolbox was unveiled, and "Mazu," now applied in multiple countries, is becoming a high-quality international public good serving Global South countries. This is an example of China's practical actions to help bridge the digital-intelligence divide and promote the inclusive and universal development of artificial intelligence.
When General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the 2025 World Intelligence Industry Expo, he pointed out: "Artificial intelligence should be an international public good that benefits all of humanity. China is willing to carry out extensive international cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence with countries around the world, strengthen alignment and coordination in development strategies, governance rules, and technical standards, promote the healthy and vigorous development of the intelligent industry, and let the fruits of intelligence better benefit the people of all countries."
With the common well-being of all humanity in mind, General Secretary Xi Jinping advocates making artificial intelligence an important driving force for promoting shared prosperity and safeguarding common security, leading China to continuously contribute to the inclusive and universal development of artificial intelligence.
Looking back to 2018, the first World Artificial Intelligence Conference was held in Shanghai. General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a letter of congratulations, pointing out that "China is willing to work with all countries in the field of artificial intelligence to jointly promote development, jointly safeguard security, and jointly share achievements."
Pointing out the direction forward, emphasizing "keeping the well-being of all humanity in mind, and promoting the healthy and orderly development of artificial intelligence in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction"; clarifying that "we must carry out extensive international cooperation, help Global South countries strengthen capacity-building, bridge the digital-intelligence divide, promote sustainable development, and avoid creating new historical injustices in the field of artificial intelligence"... General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important statements have contributed Chinese wisdom to the joint building of a global AI governance system.
Commitments are voiced, and implementation leaves its mark. In 2023, China took the lead in releasing the Global AI Governance Initiative; in 2025, it proposed the "AI+" international cooperation initiative, continuously providing Chinese solutions to the world. Not long ago, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization was established in Shanghai — a major move by China to respond to the calls of the Global South and unite the international community in actively promoting AI development and governance.
Looking across the globe: in Brazil, Chinese AI technology helps local power grids operate efficiently; in Malaysia, small-model algorithms are "revitalizing" rubber production lines, promoting the intelligent transformation of traditional manufacturing... Chinese AI technology is being applied in diverse scenarios, sharing the infinite possibilities of the intelligent era with the world.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Not long ago, the supercomputing center project for Tunisia's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, aided by China, was delivered and put into use, helping the country's digital transformation. It was evaluated by the Tunisian side as "an investment in Tunisia's national future."
From building the China-ASEAN AI Innovation Cooperation Center, to jointly formulating and implementing the "China-Africa Digital Innovation Partnership Plan" with African countries, to carrying out international exchange and training on a regular basis... Through practical cooperation, China is helping developing countries make up for their shortcomings in technology, talent, and governance.
Persisting over the long term, steady and far-reaching. China promoted the adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution on strengthening international cooperation in AI capacity-building, and proposed and implemented the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All. Under the framework of the Global Development Initiative, China launched the "Digital South" brand, helping the Global South share the development opportunities of the digital era.
To further support global AI development and advance global AI capacity-building, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly announced: "In the next five years, China will provide 5,000 AI-themed training and study places for developing countries; build international AI application cooperation centers with ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the BRICS countries; and promote the implementation and application of the 'Mazu' intelligent meteorological early-warning solution in 30 countries." China continues to honor its commitment to "let the fruits of intelligence better benefit the people of all countries" with a more open attitude, more practical actions, and a more long-term vision.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said that the constructive initiatives proposed by China are of great benefit to developing countries and Global South countries. Mehdi Snene, Program Director of the United Nations Office of Digital and Emerging Technologies, said that China's practical measures will help raise the level of understanding of AI development and governance in various countries, and will also significantly enhance the AI research and development capabilities of Global South countries.
Walking forward hand in hand, talent, knowledge, and technology flow efficiently, and the fruits of cooperation are inclusive and practical. China will uphold the principles of people-centeredness and the pursuit of goodness and upward progress, promote the inclusive and universal development of global AI, and let artificial intelligence promote shared prosperity and benefit all of humanity.
Return to TopXinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 16 — The remains of Comrade Zhu Rongji, an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China, a loyal communist fighter who has long stood the test, an outstanding proletarian revolutionary and statesman, a distinguished leader of the Party and the state, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the 14th and 15th Central Committees of the Communist Party of China, and former Premier of the State Council, will be cremated in Beijing on the 18th.
To mourn Comrade Zhu Rongji, on the 18th, flags will be flown at half-mast at Tian'anmen, Xinhua Gate, the Great Hall of the People, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital; at the seats of Party committees and governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government; in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region; at all border ports; at seaports and airports open to foreign countries; and at Chinese embassies and consulates abroad.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 邓剑洋
In the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan," the fields of hope unfold a picture of bountiful harvest. Summer grain output exceeded 300 billion jin for the first time. Autumn grain production is advancing in succession, and crops currently in the fields are generally growing normally, with the vast land nurturing a new season of harvest.
In August, in the corn fields of Baishan Township (白山乡), Lishu County (梨树县), Jilin Province, crop protection drones sprayed fine and dense pesticide mist. At the edge of the field, Zhou Kaihao (周楷皓), a post-2000s young person who returned to his hometown, was skillfully operating the equipment. "This year I planted 1,050 mu of corn, all using the farming model centered on 'straw returning to the field and no-till sowing.' I estimate the yield per mu can increase by about 10%."
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The modernization of agriculture and rural areas concerns the overall situation and quality of Chinese-style modernization." The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline proposes accelerating the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.
Thoroughly implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments, all regions and departments adhere to giving priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas, solidly and forcefully advancing the various tasks of comprehensive rural revitalization, and accelerating the building of an agricultural powerhouse. In the first half of the year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in China increased by 5.5% in real terms year-on-year, and the added value of the primary industry increased by 3.7% year-on-year, with a good momentum of development in the agricultural and rural economy.
Coordinating "stability" and "progress," the construction of an agricultural powerhouse advances with firm steps.
At the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center of the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (湖南省农科院), breeding innovation and tackling key problems are being accelerated. "We have successfully bred new high-quality rice varieties including the salt-alkali tolerant variety 'Jingliangyou 3261,' the mid-season rice 'Shuangliangyou' series, and the late rice 'Jiuliangyou' series. In 2025, we will cumulatively demonstrate and promote new rice varieties on more than 20 million mu nationwide, with seed industry innovation strongly supporting food security," said Yu Yinghong (余应弘), president of the Hunan Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
Combine harvesters rush across regions for harvesting, high-performance seeders gallop across the fields... This year's "three summers" (三夏, i.e., summer harvest, summer planting, and summer field management), empowered by technology, the quality and efficiency of agricultural production continue to improve.
Currently, China's agricultural science and technology progress contribution rate exceeds 64%, and the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvesting reaches 76.7%. Solidly advancing projects such as high-standard farmland construction and facility agriculture renewal, the scale of agricultural investment is steadily expanding, and the "three rural" (三农, i.e., agriculture, rural areas, and farmers) foundation is more stable.
Small farmers are "linked" into large industries. Currently, there are more than 1.1 million operating entities providing socialized services, serving nearly 93 million small farmers. More and more small farmers are using advanced and suitable varieties, technologies, and equipment, and agricultural production efficiency is continuously improving.
Based on "special characteristics" and "quality," broaden channels for increasing farmers' income and prosperity.
Fruit trees stand tall and connected, apples hang heavy on branches. At the Huaniu apple base in Nanshan, Huaniu Town (花牛镇), Maiji District (麦积区), Tianshui City, Gansu Province, Wu Zhengquan (武正全), chairman of the Xinmin Apple Planting Professional Cooperative, moved among the fruit trees, carefully checking the growth of the apples.
"These are the wealth-generating fruits for everyone. This year there has been plenty of rain, and the apples are growing well. When we harvest in early September, I hope we can sell them at a good price and make the villagers' lives even better," Wu Zhengquan said.
As of now, the Huaniu apple planting area in Maiji District is 414,000 mu, with an annual output value of 3 billion yuan. The apple industry directly drives more than 60,000 farmers to increase their income.
Strengthening leading enterprises, supplementing the industrial chain, invigorating business formats, and building brands—rural industries are improving quality and efficiency. Since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (农业农村部) has supported the construction of 40 new advantageous characteristic industry clusters, 50 modern agricultural industrial parks, and 200 agricultural industry strong towns, creating platforms and carriers for modern agricultural development and industrial highlands.
This year is the first year of normalized assistance, and development-oriented assistance is the top priority. Fujian helps Ningxia cultivate and strengthen a number of advantageous characteristic industries such as Yanchi tan sheep and Ningxia wolfberry. Ningxia's green electricity is continuously sent to Fujian, and the Fujian-Ningxia cooperation continues to upgrade. The total output value of China's assistance-led industries has exceeded 2 trillion yuan, and nearly three-quarters of the population lifted out of poverty have established benefit linkage mechanisms with new-type agricultural business entities. Rural industrial revitalization advances 蹄疾步稳 (tí jí bù wěn - "hooves fast, steps steady," advancing rapidly yet steadily).
Linking "cities" and "townships," create quality living spaces in rural areas.
In Shufeng Village (墅丰村), Shimen Town, Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, convenience facilities such as elderly canteens, unmanned supermarkets, and unmanned express delivery stations are all available. "The facilities available in the city are also available in our village. Life now is full of flavor," said Dou Guoyong (窦国勇), secretary of the Shufeng Village Party branch and director of the village committee.
Addressing shortcomings and strengthening strengths, Tongxiang City deepens urban-rural integrated development, uniformly incorporating all areas into the overall urban-rural spatial planning, advancing urban and rural infrastructure construction in an integrated manner, and striving to achieve complementary urban-rural functions and two-way integration.
Looking at the whole country, the face of rural areas is being renewed. In rural areas of central and western China, pilot work on "express delivery entering villages" with postal service as the bottom-line guarantee is being carried out. Rural road networks are becoming denser, and rural water supply engineering systems are continuously improving... A new picture of beautiful rural modern civilized life is slowly unfolding.
Classified, orderly, and area-based advancement—comprehensive rural revitalization has surging momentum. This year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs approved the creation of 83 national rural revitalization demonstration counties, guiding demonstration counties to explore ways and methods to take the lead in basically realizing agricultural and rural modernization according to local conditions. Coordinating different regions, reasonably determining phased key tasks and advancement timing, and accelerating the transition from "one village beautiful" to "one area prosperous."
Keeping in mind General Secretary Xi Jinping's earnest instructions and anchoring on agricultural and rural modernization, agricultural and rural departments will solidly do the work of "three rural," resolutely guard the bottom line of national food security, continue to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, 千方百计 (qiān fāng bǎi jì - "a thousand methods, a hundred schemes," by every possible means) promote stable income increases for farmers, promote comprehensive rural revitalization and the construction of an agricultural powerhouse to make new progress, and provide strong support for achieving a good start to the "15th Five-Year Plan" and high-quality economic and social development.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 曾亦辰
Start of Autumn has arrived, and the crops on the loess plateau of eastern Gansu are gradually filling out. Beyond the fields, another kind of "grain" is also being produced at an accelerated pace.
At the Huan County Digital Employment Base in Qingyang City, Gansu Province, data annotator Zhao Yanrong scrolls the mouse wheel and drags the cursor, pulling out a cubic frame on a three-dimensional point cloud image. The image annotation she performs is converted into coordinate data transmitted to a server.
"In the past, our parents' generation grew grain on the yellow earth; now we 'feed' data to machines and have become people who process 'digital grain,'" Zhao Yanrong said of her work.
Qingyang is located on the Loess Plateau, is known as the "granary of eastern Gansu," and is an important part of the old revolutionary base area of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia. For a long time, it relied on the petroleum industry, with a single-industry structure and a shortage of jobs, which affected the vitality of the local economy.
The turning point came from the "East Data, West Computing" project. With a national computing hub node landing in Qingyang, how could computing power be converted into employment?
Proactively attracting data annotation enterprises, accelerating the cultivation of local teams... Facing the massive volume of data awaiting processing generated by autonomous driving, smart city, and other fields in the eastern region, Qingyang has upgraded from pure computing power output to high-end services integrating data and computing, turning the data flow into a local "reservoir" of employment at people's doorsteps.
Zhao Yanrong is one of the beneficiaries. Previously, she had been working away from home and found it difficult to take care of her family. By chance, she learned of the recruitment information at the digital employment base through the Qingyang Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security, and signed up with the attitude of giving it a try.
In the training class, she learned for the first time what an autonomous driving perception system is and how data annotation helps cars "see" complex road conditions clearly.
"When I was a child, I helped the adults measure corn plant spacing at the edge of the fields, and what mattered was precision; now the hoe has been replaced by the mouse, but the pursuit of excellence must not change." Zhao Yanrong feels a strong sense of achievement in her new job. The data she annotates is serving various scenarios in more than a dozen cities, including Beijing and Shenzhen.
Where does the data come from? One important source is the sky — collected and generated by drones.
At the Qingyang Drone Operator Training Base, trainee Guo Panpan stares at the remote control screen, making fine adjustments with her fingertips as a quadcopter flies straight up into the sky. On the screen is the loess plateau crisscrossed with ravines. "One hill looks across at another — they seem close but take a long time to reach. Now, a single drone can take in everything at a glance."
Guo Panpan was once a sailor, working at sea for eight years. Now she has returned to her hometown and transitioned to working as a drone pilot. "There's a new job right at my doorstep, and the pay is pretty good too."
"Based on the labor needs of the digital industry, we have included 51 occupations, including data annotator and drone operator, in the catalog of urgently needed and scarce occupations. As of now, we have carried out subsidized training in the digital economy and low-altitude economy for more than 16,000 person-times," said Zhou Jie, deputy director of the Qingyang Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security. "During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will continue to cultivate mid-to-high-end technical positions such as computing power operations and maintenance and cloud-network architecture, so that more young people can gain employment opportunities."
An employment chain covering data collection, annotation, and application is growing on the loess plateau of Qingyang. In the digital age, the "granary of eastern Gansu" is writing a new story.
Return to TopReport from our newspaper, Beijing, August 16 (Reporter Li Xinping): The reporter learned from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.: In the first seven months of this year, the national railway sent 2.8 billion passengers nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%, once again setting a new record high for the same period in history. It sent 14.852 million foreign passengers, a year-on-year increase of 32.5%; the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway sent 20.049 million cross-border passengers, and the China-Laos Railway sent 214,000 cross-border passengers, with year-on-year increases of 11.5% and 38.2% respectively.
The supply of passenger transport capacity increased effectively. In the first seven months, the national railway arranged an average of 11,462 passenger trains per day nationwide, an increase of 571 trains year-on-year, a growth of 5.2%.
Railway-tourism integrated development achieved remarkable results. In the first seven months, the national railway cumulatively operated 2,159 tourism trains nationwide, including 1,184 special tourism trains and 975 dedicated tourism routes; it customized and operated 79 "concert fan special trains" and "sports fan special trains," promoting the expansion of capacity and improvement of quality in service consumption.
Return to TopSummer is the peak season for cultural tourism, as people take part in a variety of cultural activities — visiting scenic areas, strolling through night markets, and enjoying performances. The photo shows people watching an open-air movie on the shared green space of the Shijin Irrigation Canal Cultural Park (石津灌渠文化公园) in Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province.
Photo by Liang Zidong (梁子栋) (Xinhua)
Beijing, August 16 (Our Dispatch) (Reporter Han Xin) — The reporter learned from the Ministry of Transport: In the first half of this year, fixed-asset investment in rural highways nationwide reached 144.3 billion yuan, with 34,000 kilometers of rural highways newly built or upgraded, pushing the high-quality development of the "Four-Good Rural Highways" (四好农村路) to take a new solid step forward.
In the first half of the year, the total mileage of rural highway maintenance projects implemented nationwide reached 65,000 kilometers; 21,000 kilometers of rural highway safety and life protection projects were completed, fulfilling 42.2 percent of the annual target task; and 1,574 dangerous bridges on rural highways were renovated, fulfilling 52.5 percent of the annual target task.
Return to TopTheory · Reading Through Volumes 1–5 of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China
Leading the Historic Leap in Comprehensively Building a Modern Socialist Country
Page 9
"Study in China" Stories
Exchange and Mutual Learning, Helping China and Africa Join Hands in Marching Toward Modernization
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By: 本报记者 贾丰丰
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "Original technologies must go from '0' to '1,' achieving transformation through experiments, rather than remaining at the paper stage. In the future, we must also stretch and advance the '1.'"
Shaanxi cultivates technology managers who understand technology, excel at coordination, and are well-versed in the market; Hunan builds shared platforms to reduce the cost of pilot-scale testing for enterprises; Zhejiang organizes service specialists to support intellectual property protection; Jiangsu focuses on industrial needs to ensure scientific and technological achievements are well-transformed and well-utilized... In recent years, localities across the country have gathered talent, built platforms, and established mechanisms to promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, helping to develop new quality productive forces. Starting today, this section launches the series report "New Economic Directions · From '0' to '1,' Stretching the '1' Long," showcasing vivid practices from various regions in promoting the landing of achievements and solving transformation difficulties.
— Editor
At dawn, in the kiwifruit industrial park in Meixian County, Baoji, Shaanxi, an unmanned crop-protection vehicle shuttled beneath the dense vine trellises, spraying pesticides. "The intelligent perception system mounted on the vehicle can collect crop growth and soil data in real time." Tian Zhen checked the equipment's operating status while exchanging usage feedback with farmers and operators.
In Shaanxi, there are 1,718 technology managers like Tian Zhen. They "play matchmaker" for scientific and technological achievements, serve as "stewards" for professors starting businesses, and "profile" enterprise needs, embedding themselves deeply into the achievement transformation chain and building bridges between the supply of science and technology and market demand.
Full-Chain Deep Empowerment
Opening Up the "Last Mile" of Achievement Transformation
"The research team at Northwestern Polytechnical University has a solid technological foundation in intelligent perception and unmanned driving. The problem is how to turn the algorithms in the laboratory into equipment that farmers are willing to use and can afford." Yang Shu, general manager of Shaanxi Weibo Lingdong Technology Co., Ltd., crouched at the edge of the field, adjusting the chassis of the newly upgraded crop-protection vehicle while recalling the setbacks at the start of the venture to reporters.
In 2022, the unmanned crop-protection vehicle project at Northwestern Polytechnical University was launched. The research team excelled at R&D but was not good at product development: they did not understand company registration procedures, could not write business plans, and had no idea how to connect with investors or open up the upstream and downstream industrial chain.
The turning point came after technology managers stepped in. They not only helped the company sort out patent technologies, formulate commercialization paths, establish the operational structure, and connect with local governments and leading agricultural enterprises, but also assisted in negotiating financing, familiarizing themselves with various policies, and opening up the "last mile" of achievement transformation.
"They exchanged their services for 5% of our company's equity, covering operations, legal affairs, policy, and financing consulting." Yang Shu said that technology managers are "partners" deeply involved in the growth of the enterprise.
Taking the field research in Meixian County as an example, in order to understand the real needs of farmers, the technology manager team spent several consecutive weeks in the fields and at agricultural supply stores, repeatedly consulting with government authorities and local agricultural enterprises. "One day, we chatted with the technology managers in Meixian County until 2 a.m., and finally decided not to sell products directly, but to cooperate with agricultural supply stores—the stores would provide personnel, who after training would become operators of the unmanned crop-protection vehicles, while also renting out the vehicles, so farmers would not have to spend money to buy the vehicles or bother learning to operate them." Yang Shu said.
Today, Weibo Lingdong has more than 15 unmanned crop-protection vehicles in cumulative use, achieving unmanned spraying, unmanned mowing, and other functions, while also iterating and upgrading functions such as unmanned fertilization. "This equipment can adapt to multiple types of farmland operation scenarios and is conducive to solving problems such as low efficiency and imprecise operations in traditional agricultural crop protection." Yang Shu said, "Without the technology manager team, our R&D results might still be stuck in the laboratory."
Systematic Cultivation and Tackling
Building a Composite Talent Team
From university laboratories to the front line of industry, from cutting-edge scientific research achievements to marketable products, there is often an invisible "gap" in between.
In recent years, Shaanxi has anchored on the pain points and difficulties of scientific and technological achievement transformation, using the "Shaanxi Province Technology Manager Team Building Action Plan (2025–2027)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan") as the overall lever to build a professional, vocational, and standardized technology manager team, constructing a full-chain development system of "cultivation—utilization—evaluation—service."
"If we want the good technologies of universities to more smoothly leave the laboratory and take root in the fields, we must translate the language of technology into the language of the market, helping all parties turn research blueprints into tangible products." Tian Zhen said.
How can a composite talent team that understands technology, the market, law, and finance be cultivated?
In January 2025, the nation's first Technology Manager Academy was established at Xi'an Jiaotong University. The academy promotes joint teaching by technology mentors, investment mentors, and industry mentors, allowing trainees to gain hands-on experience in real projects. The diversified cultivation system of "short-term intensive training + medium- and long-term advanced training + degree education" has driven a group of technology managers who understand technology, excel at coordination, and are well-versed in the market to work across the land of the Three Qin [Shaanxi], transforming from "fighting on paper" to "drilling on the training ground."
Multi-Dimensional Incentives and Safeguards
Encouraging Practitioners to "Let Go and Act Boldly"
Ability alone is not enough; there must also be prospects, rewards, and a sense of honor. In addition to comprehensive capacity building, solving the long-term incentive problem for the career development of technology managers is also an important part.
Liu Xiaoyan, head of the technology manager work at the Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Resources Coordination Center, introduced that the key is to guide technology managers to deeply participate in the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, follow the entire cycle of technology-based enterprises from incubation to growth, and solve the incentive problem by exploring models such as "services converted into equity investment" and "direct cash equity investment."
Shaanxi is promoting a diversified compensation mechanism of "basic salary + transformation rewards + equity appreciation," sorting out 55 typical cases of technology managers (teams) holding equity, and transformation projects facilitated by technology managers will receive special government support. "In the past, technology managers would often 'make an introduction and take a commission,' and whether the project could proceed smoothly afterward had little to do with them. Now they hold equity and share the same boat with the entrepreneurs." Liu Xiaoyan told reporters. In May this year, Xi'an's first technology manager firm was established, signing an agreement to operate the Carbon New Protein Pilot-Scale Testing Base, initiating a pioneering practice of systematically exploring a long-term equity incentive mechanism for technology managers, attracting multiple technology managers to join.
The "Plan" clearly states: by 2027, cultivate 5,000 technology managers with strong professional competence, practical ability, and innovative spirit; select and recognize no fewer than 200 outstanding technology managers and no fewer than 60 gold-medal technology managers; and add 1,000 professionals with professional titles in technology transfer and transformation. At present, Shaanxi has cumulatively trained more than 3,000 technology managers, incubating a number of achievement transformation entrepreneurship projects like Weibo Lingdong. In 2025, the province selected 13 gold-medal technology managers and 27 outstanding technology managers, and the goals are being realized at an accelerated pace.
At the same time, multiple units within Shaanxi Province have jointly undertaken the task of building the technology manager standard system for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, promoting Shaanxi's practical experience to be elevated into a national industry standard.
More innovation is still taking place. "Only with increasingly complete incentive policies and safeguards can practitioners truly let go and make a big push." Liu Xiaoyan said, "This is a very attractive new industry."
By: 何 彪
The difficulty in commercializing scientific and technological achievements lies in being "touched by neither end" — researchers are unfamiliar with the market, and business entities do not understand technology. Shaanxi has broken new ground with a team of technology managers, smoothing the innovation chain by cultivating "intermediaries."
The value of technology managers goes beyond matchmaking. They participate deeply in project growth, from writing business plans to connecting with industrial resources, from on-site research to all-night consultations, truly turning "helping out" into "partnering up," so that the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements is no longer a "one-off deal" but rather full-lifecycle companion-style service.
More importantly, at the institutional level, the career development path for technology managers has been cleared: from "services converted into equity investment" and "direct capital contribution for equity" to solve the long-term incentive problem, to a diversified compensation mechanism of "base salary + transformation rewards + equity appreciation," and then to selecting outstanding talent and adding new professional title qualifications, clarifying the direction of growth... Technology managers have become a career with promising prospects, and also a practical undertaking that better serves high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 韩 鑫
Leaving home in the morning and forgetting to turn off the lights — one tap on the phone is all it takes to cut the power; remotely controlling the robot vacuum from afar keeps the home floor clean and tidy; turning on the air conditioner on the way home from work means cool comfort the moment you step through the door... From pressing a remote control at close range to tapping a phone screen from a distance, the way we interact with home appliances is changing.
"Remote control of home appliances is made possible by multiple technological innovations." Shang Zhe (尚喆), general manager of Midea's Whole-Home Intelligence division, explained that when a phone sends a command, the networking module installed in the appliance "picks up the task," the cloud-based Internet of Things platform takes the lead in identifying the account, locating the device, and issuing the instruction, the main control board receives the command and directs the appliance to work, and then the device's operating status is transmitted back to the phone via the network system.
Appliances connected to the network and standing by at all times — do they consume much electricity?
Li Hongwei (李红伟), chief engineer of the China Household Electric Appliance Research Institute (中国家用电器检测所), said that in actual testing of 12 mainstream 1.5-horsepower inverter air conditioners, the average standby power consumption of the WiFi module was only 0.47 watts. Based on medium-intensity daily use, the average additional daily electricity consumption is 0.012 kilowatt-hours, equivalent to an annual increase of about 4.4 kilowatt-hours; at 0.6 yuan per kilowatt-hour, that amounts to less than 3 yuan in extra electricity costs per year.
"When consumers actually use these products, they will find that remote control can make home appliances more energy-efficient." Huang Cheng (黄橙), director of scenario planning at Haier Smart Home's Advanced R&D Platform, said that on the one hand, it reduces the waste of appliances running idle because they were forgotten to be turned off; on the other hand, for a major electricity consumer like the air conditioner, pre-cooling in advance is more energy-efficient than blasting it on full power upon arriving home. If consumers remotely turn on the air conditioner half an hour before getting home, allowing it to cool down steadily at a lower power level, single-use cooling energy consumption can be reduced by 12%–18%.
"Home appliance intelligence — remote control is a key link, embodying the long-term efforts of technical and market personnel." Li Hongwei reviewed the relevant technological evolution —
After 2000, with the spread of broadband networks and WiFi, the first batch of consumer-grade smart appliances such as air conditioners and televisions appeared; after 2014, through multiple communication protocols including Bluetooth, devices could achieve coordination through smart home platforms; in recent years, the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence has driven home appliances into a new stage of proactive intelligence.
The market response is even more direct. Data show that during this year's "618" shopping festival, JD.com's transaction volume for new smart home appliance products grew significantly, with AI washing machine transaction volume increasing by more than 1.6 times and AI-connected refrigerator transaction volume increasing by 1.2 times. In 2025, the penetration rate of AI home appliances exceeded 50%.
"In the past, salespeople would tout phone remote control support as a major selling point; now this function is standard, and consumers are beginning to demand that home appliances understand them better." Shang Zhe gave an example: when you say "I'm almost home" on the way back, the system will automatically adjust the indoor temperature, fresh air, and hot water.
"Without requiring consumers to issue more commands, home appliances will strive to 'understand' daily life." Huang Cheng said that the AI system developed by the company enables home appliances to "see, hear, perceive, and think." A washing machine equipped with the relevant system can proactively identify fabric type and color, automatically match the washing program, and issue color-bleeding alerts.
At the industry level, on May 1, two new national standards — "Intelligent technical requirements and evaluation for smart household appliances" and "Application scenarios for smart household appliances" — were officially implemented, establishing a five-level intelligent rating evaluation system from the two dimensions of intelligent capability and scenario effectiveness, setting a benchmark for consumer purchasing and for enterprise R&D and production.
"Some consumers have raised the point that for appliances of different brands, they need to keep multiple remote controls at home and install multiple applications on their phones." Huang Cheng said that with the introduction and implementation of relevant national standards, cross-brand interoperability of home appliances is expected to improve. Companies such as Haier, Midea, and Huawei have already released standards jointly with the Global Smart IoT Alliance (全球智慧物联网联盟) to promote interconnection and intercommunication among smart home appliances.
More purchasing options, simpler terminal configuration, and a more interconnected home will provide consumers with a more convenient, comfortable, and personalized smart home experience.
Return to TopThis newspaper, Beijing, August 16 (Reporter Lin Lili (林丽鹂)) The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) recently jointly released the international standard "Information Technology — Smart City Data Utilization — Part 1: Framework" (ISO/IEC 25005—1:2026). This international standard was led by Chinese experts as project leaders and jointly formulated with experts from 11 countries including South Korea, Canada, and Japan. It is another landmark achievement by China in the field of international standardization for smart cities, providing a top-level framework for building global consensus on smart city data utilization.
This international standard constructs, for the first time, a unified framework for smart city data utilization, systematically defining the core characteristics and connotations of smart city data utilization from five major aspects: data availability, data usefulness, data ease of use, data good use, and data empowerment.
Smart city data utilization is a key factor of production driving cities from "experience-based management" toward "data governance." By leveraging the stacking and multiplying effects of data elements, it can powerfully drive the modernization of urban governance systems and governance capacity, providing an engine for advancing the comprehensive digital transformation of cities and consolidating the foundation for building Digital China.
On August 15, the "Dragon Boat Crossing · Rouge Night Market" (龙舟渡·胭脂夜集) opened on Honglan Street (洪蓝街道), Lishui District, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, stimulating the vitality of cultural-tourism consumption. The photo shows citizens and tourists watching a performance.
Photo by Zhu Hongsheng (朱红生) (Image China)
BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) — (Reporter Wu Qiuyu) The latest data released by the People's Bank of China show that in the first seven months of this year, China's RMB loans increased by 10.38 trillion yuan. Among them, household loans decreased by 827.1 billion yuan, and loans to enterprises (public institutions) increased by 11 trillion yuan. According to preliminary statistics, the cumulative increase in aggregate social financing in the first seven months was 22.25 trillion yuan, of which RMB loans extended to the real economy increased by 10.17 trillion yuan. At the end of July, China's broad money (M2) balance stood at 355.51 trillion yuan, up 7.7 percent year on year; the outstanding stock of aggregate social financing was 463.27 trillion yuan, up 7.4 percent year on year, matching the expected targets for economic growth and the overall price level.
While loan scale maintained reasonable growth, the credit structure continued to improve. At the end of July, the balance of inclusive small and micro loans in China stood at 38.19 trillion yuan, up 9.0 percent year on year; the balance of medium- and long-term loans to the services sector, excluding the real estate industry, was 61.94 trillion yuan, up 9.3 percent year on year. The growth rates of the above loans were all higher than the growth rate of total loans over the same period.
In addition, loan interest rates remained at historically low levels. In July, the weighted average interest rate on newly issued corporate loans was slightly below 3.0 percent, about 0.2 percentage points lower than the same period last year; the weighted average interest rate on newly issued personal housing loans was approximately 3.1 percent, basically unchanged from the same period last year.
On the deposit side, in the first seven months, China's RMB deposits increased by 17.79 trillion yuan, of which household deposits increased by 6.95 trillion yuan, deposits of non-financial enterprises increased by 1.57 trillion yuan, fiscal deposits increased by 1.95 trillion yuan, and deposits of non-banking financial institutions increased by 5.76 trillion yuan. At the end of July, China's balance of deposits in both local and foreign currencies stood at 354.49 trillion yuan, up 8.1 percent year on year, and the balance of RMB deposits was 346.47 trillion yuan, up 8.1 percent year on year.
Dong Ximiao, chief economist of Merchants Union Consumer Finance, said that since the beginning of this year, the People's Bank of China has continued to implement a moderately loose monetary policy. At the beginning of the year, it introduced a series of structural monetary policy measures, and in June announced several important measures to reform and improve the monetary policy framework, continuously creating an appropriate monetary and financial environment for steady economic growth, high-quality development, and the stable operation of financial markets.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 葛孟超
The People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (国家外汇管理局) issued on August 14 the Notice on Matters Concerning the Centralized Operation of Cross-border Domestic and Foreign Currency Funds for Multinational Companies, formally expanding to the whole country the pilot policy for centralized operation of cross-border domestic and foreign currency funds for multinational companies previously carried out in Beijing and Guangdong (including Shenzhen). The notice takes effect from September 14.
To facilitate multinational company groups in utilizing domestic and overseas markets and resources, the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange successively issued policies related to RMB and foreign exchange cross-border fund pool businesses in 2015 and 2019 respectively. To better support enterprises in using the fund pool policies and to address the problem of multiple existing fund pool versions, in recent years the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange have actively explored plans to merge the fund pool policies, launching two pilot policies: the integrated domestic and foreign currency fund pool for multinational companies (跨国公司本外币一体化资金池) and the centralized operation of cross-border domestic and foreign currency funds for multinational companies (跨国公司本外币跨境资金集中运营).
Among them, the integrated domestic and foreign currency fund pool business for multinational companies mainly serves large multinational companies, characterized by relatively high thresholds, high cross-border fund transfer quotas, and high convenience. The policy was expanded nationwide in December 2025.
The centralized operation of cross-border domestic and foreign currency funds for multinational companies mainly serves general multinational companies, characterized by relatively low thresholds and simplified filing procedures. As of the end of June this year, more than 260 multinational companies had participated in the pilot, benefiting more than 5,500 domestic and overseas member enterprises.
A relevant department head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange introduced that the policy for centralized operation of cross-border domestic and foreign currency funds for multinational companies promoted nationwide this time has the following characteristics:
First, lowering entry thresholds and expanding policy coverage. Meeting either the threshold for the foreign exchange fund pool or the RMB fund pool suffices. If the host enterprise is a multinational company registered within a pilot free trade zone, the threshold is further lowered to half of the prescribed standard.
Second, simplifying business handling procedures. A unified business window accepts filing applications, and the authority for handling filings is delegated to the branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange at the location of the host enterprise, compressing the approval chain. Changes to member enterprises that do not involve adjustments to external debt or overseas lending quotas can be handled directly by partner banks, reducing the cost of enterprise legwork and significantly improving business handling efficiency.
Third, facilitating multinational companies in pooling and allocating cross-border domestic and foreign currency funds. Multinational companies can respectively borrow external debt within 3.5 times and conduct overseas lending within 0.6 times of the accrued owner's equity in the fund pool. At the same time, the external debt and overseas lending quotas of member enterprises are centralized, allowing multinational companies to independently determine the pooling ratio, achieving coordinated allocation at the group level and flexible use at the member enterprise level.
Multiple enterprises have reported that after participating in the centralized operation of cross-border domestic and foreign currency funds for multinational companies in the early stage, the group's idle funds at home and abroad can be centrally pooled and flexibly adjusted, and the overall convenience of cross-border fund management has significantly improved.
Beijing Horizon Information Technology Co., Ltd. (北京地平线信息技术有限公司) is a national high-tech enterprise and a leading enterprise in intelligent driving technology. In August 2023, after the enterprise formally implemented the centralized operation business of cross-border domestic and foreign currency funds for multinational companies, it established a new model of intensive external debt management, centrally handling the external debt business of its domestic member enterprises. The original model of separate filing and step-by-step settlement by each subsidiary was optimized into one-time centralized filing, and relying on the partner bank's system, real-time fund transfer and online review could be completed. The time for external debt funds to land was compressed from the original 20 working days to 1 to 2 working days, greatly improving the efficiency of cross-border fund entry and use.
The relevant department head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange stated that the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange will continue to optimize the cross-border investment and financing business environment, assist various business entities in steadily expanding international markets and optimizing global industrial chain layouts, and safeguard the sustained and stable development of the real economy with high-quality cross-border financial services.
Return to TopOur newspaper, Beijing, August 16 (Reporter Ouyang Jie) — The reporter learned from Nanjing Customs: In the first seven months of this year, the foreign trade import and export value of the four provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Delta reached 11.41 trillion yuan, a record high for the same period in history, a year-on-year increase of 18.9%, accounting for 37.9% of the nation's total import and export value. Among this, imports were 4.18 trillion yuan, and exports were 7.23 trillion yuan.
Continued expansion into emerging markets. In the first seven months of this year, the four provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Delta recorded imports and exports of 5.85 trillion yuan with countries jointly building the "Belt and Road," a year-on-year increase of 21.7%, accounting for 38.1% of the nation's total imports and exports with countries jointly building the "Belt and Road." Imports and exports with emerging markets such as Latin America, Africa, and ASEAN increased by 11.7%, 16.9%, and 31.1% year-on-year, respectively.
Export products moving toward innovation and green development. In the first seven months of this year, the four provinces and municipalities in the Yangtze River Delta exported computing hardware products such as computer storage components and integrated circuits, with year-on-year increases of 128.4% and 96.9%, respectively; exports of new energy vehicles increased by 108.7% year-on-year.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 刘 赫
Shanghai, China’s largest economic center, where the Huangpu River surges onward and flows through the Yangtze into the East China Sea; Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, where the Elbe runs through the city and leads to the North Sea. Though ten thousand miles apart, the two cities share a similar character: born of water, thriving on their ports, and reaching the world through openness. Forty years ago, Shanghai and Hamburg officially became sister cities, opening a chapter of exemplary Sino-German subnational cooperation.
A garden as the medium, deepening mutual cultural understanding
The Nine-Bend Bridge, the Mid-Lake Pavilion, the moon gate… In the heart of Hamburg stands an elegant classical Chinese garden. Stepping inside, one might momentarily feel as though walking into a corner of Shanghai’s old city quarters.
This garden, called “Hamburg Yu Garden” by locals, is a cultural cooperation project and an important symbol of the two cities’ sister-city relationship. In 2008, Hamburg Yu Garden, modeled on Shanghai’s Yu Garden and replicated at a 0.8:1 scale, was completed and opened to the public.
“The greatest significance of Hamburg Yu Garden is that it brings city-to-city exchange into the everyday lives of ordinary people,” Johann Stos, operations manager of Hamburg Yu Garden, told reporters. On the Nine-Bend Bridge, visitors enjoy the scenery; at the Mid-Lake Pavilion, they savor tea. Hamburg residents experience here the Chinese understanding of the relationship between life, aesthetics, and nature. “It has become a window for them to get to know Shanghai and approach Chinese culture.”
Bringing such a garden to Germany required great care from both teams. According to Andreas Schubert, the German designer of Hamburg Yu Garden and a renowned German architect, the two teams engaged in repeated consultation and communication over issues of structure, materials, and climate adaptation. To better suit the local environment and German building standards, the garden’s internal structure underwent extensive redesign.
If Hamburg Yu Garden is a gift from Shanghai to Hamburg, then the “Hamburg Garden,” unveiled in Shanghai this spring, is Hamburg’s gift to mark the 40th anniversary of the sister-city relationship.
During the 2026 Shanghai International Flower Festival, the Hamburg Garden, blending German garden characteristics with Hamburg’s urban cultural elements, made its debut. Two waterways converge within the garden, symbolizing respectively the Elbe and the Huangpu River; mountain rhododendrons bloom brightly and vividly by the water’s edge. “We hope Shanghai residents can find joy in the Hamburg Garden, and we hope this small garden can make a modest contribution to bringing Shanghai and Hamburg closer,” said Lars Anke, chief representative of the Hamburg Liaison Office in Shanghai. “Both cities are open, highly international, and full of vitality — that is precisely why this partnership has developed so actively and diversely.”
Carola Veit, president of the Hamburg Parliament, said the Hamburg Garden is a vivid portrayal of the enduring friendship between Hamburg and Shanghai over the past 40 years. In the future, she said, continued efforts will be made to promote more exchanges and cooperation between the two cities in areas such as green construction and sustainable development.
Two-way engagement, expanding practical cooperation across fields
At the Port of Hamburg, the sound of ship horns carries long across the water. Along the docks, large vessels berth one after another. In the distance, dedicated rail lines extend into the port area, where neatly stacked containers await shipment to destinations across Europe. The Port of Hamburg is Germany’s largest port and an important European shipping hub, known as “Germany’s gateway to the world.”
A container ship has just completed loading and unloading operations. Mechanical and electrical products, chemicals, and daily consumer goods from China’s Yangtze River Delta will be shipped from here to European markets; on the return voyage, German machinery and automotive parts will be loaded. This two-way flow has become the norm between the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Shanghai.
The sister-city relationship between Hamburg and Shanghai naturally carries the DNA of “ports.” The Port of Shanghai is an important gateway for China’s opening up. In 2025, the Port of Shanghai’s container throughput exceeded 55.06 million TEUs, ranking first in the world for the 16th consecutive year. The Port of Hamburg has long remained among Europe’s top three ports, with China maintaining its position as its largest trading partner for many years. According to data from the Hamburg Port Marketing Association, in 2025 the Port of Hamburg’s container throughput with China grew by 6.2 percent, reaching 2.3 million TEUs.
The ports give concrete form to the two cities’ economic and trade ties — as steadily operating shipping routes and freight trains reaching into the hinterland. In 2004, the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Shanghai officially established a sister-port relationship. Since then, cooperation has expanded from route connectivity and cargo flows to smart ports, green shipping, and multimodal transport. In 2024, the two ports jointly announced the construction of the “Shanghai Port–Hamburg Port Green Shipping Corridor,” deepening cooperation on shore power usage, green fuels, and low-carbon port operations.
Recently, Shanghai International Port Group, together with COSCO Shipping Europe, held a global logistics service promotion event in Hamburg, where representatives from Europe’s port, shipping, and logistics sectors discussed the practical significance of deepening cooperation between the two ports from multiple perspectives. Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, said that the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Shanghai are both key nodes in the global shipping network, and that stable, efficient port collaboration helps strengthen the resilience of east-west shipping routes. Ahmed Bashir, president of Maersk’s Europe Operations Center, said that future competition in shipping lies not only in the efficiency of individual ports but also in end-to-end supply chain capabilities. “The linkage between the Port of Hamburg and the Port of Shanghai helps improve the overall efficiency of Eurasian logistics, providing not only a channel for cargo flows but also a connection point between the two cities’ spirit of openness, sense of cooperation, and orientation toward the future.”
People-to-people bonds, jointly writing a new chapter of sister-city relations
Recently, if you walk the streets of Hamburg, you might encounter a special surprise: a plane tree leaf inscribed with bilingual Chinese and German text.
This is a project jointly initiated by the Hamburg Confucius Institute and German scholar Peter Müller to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Hamburg and Shanghai. Müller explained that the project team selected 153 leaves from ancient German plane trees and made them into specimens, which were then inscribed by professional calligraphy teachers — the leaf veins clearly visible, the brushstrokes flowing smoothly. These leaves have moved beyond traditional indoor exhibitions into open urban spaces, scattered across Hamburg’s museums, office buildings, metro stations, and city parks. “The process of citizens encountering, picking up, reading, and treasuring these leaves is also an immersive public art interaction. Through such innovation and experimentation, we hope to bring the 40-year bond between Hamburg and Shanghai into more concrete, more everyday urban life,” Müller said.
Müller has a “family album” connected to Shanghai. In the black-and-white images, the Bund’s buildings stand along the river, boats ply the Huangpu, and the old city streets bustle with activity. The 112 old photographs were taken in Shanghai by his grandfather in the 1930s. Nearly a century later, Müller has reorganized his family’s photographic archive and, in cooperation with Fudan University, completed the photography exhibition project “Shanghai: The 1930s and Today — A Photographic Dialogue Across Time and Space,” presenting these old photographs alongside contemporary images of the same locations. “These photographs are not just family memories; they are also a key to understanding Shanghai,” Müller said. “As one of the world’s most important international metropolises, Shanghai is open, diverse, and full of vitality — it has left a very deep impression on me.”
Images convey emotion; cultural lineage connects hearts. In recent years, people-to-people and cultural exchanges between Hamburg and Shanghai have continued to expand. The Hamburg Confucius Institute has continuously offered Chinese language courses, cultural lectures, folk custom experiences, and twin-city themed activities, enabling Germans to better understand China. The Shanghai Conservatory of Music, together with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, has held joint concerts and other cultural exchange activities in Germany.
Klaus von Dohnanyi, 89 years old, is a former mayor of Hamburg. In those years, he signed the cooperation agreement establishing the sister-city relationship between Hamburg and Shanghai on behalf of the German side. In an interview, he told reporters that he hopes the two cities will continue to maintain openness, trust, and cooperation, and continue the story of the two cities through richer cultural exchanges, closer industrial cooperation, and deeper people-to-people friendship.
Peter Tschentscher, the current mayor of Hamburg, considers Hamburg and Shanghai to be “strong partners.” “Over the past 40 years, cooperation between Shanghai and Hamburg across various fields has continued to deepen and achieved fruitful results, making them a model of Sino-German subnational cooperation,” said Lin Dong, Chinese consul general in Hamburg. “The current international situation is marked by turbulence and change. China attaches great importance to developing friendly cooperation with Hamburg and Germany, and we look forward to the friendship between the two cities continuing to inject positive momentum into the Sino-German partnership.”
(Our newspaper, Hamburg, Germany)
Return to TopMultinational automakers choosing to take root in China through "long-term agreements" is essentially a choice of broader market space, a more vibrant innovation ecosystem, and a more certain development future.
Recently, several multinational automakers have finalized long-term contract renewals with their Chinese partners: General Motors of the United States and SAIC Group announced an extension of their joint venture cooperation by 20 years to 2047; previously, Honda of Japan and GAC Group, as well as Volkswagen of Germany and SAIC Group, had also signed joint venture renewal agreements. The successive renewal of "long-term agreements" by Chinese and foreign automakers conveys a clear consensus among multinational automakers to deepen their presence in the Chinese market, and further confirms a clear trend: Sino-foreign automotive cooperation is bidding farewell to traditional pathways and entering a brand-new stage of co-creation, co-research, and capability co-building.
The fact that multinational automakers have, without prior consultation, chosen to lock in their cooperation in China through "long-term agreements" stems from a rational judgment of the long-term value of the Chinese market. China is the world's largest automobile market, with annual passenger vehicle sales stably remaining above 20 million units, and the deep-seated potential of the super-large-scale market continues to be released. A complete industrial support system, a vibrant technological innovation ecosystem, and abundant application scenarios for implementation together constitute the comprehensive advantages of the Chinese market that are difficult to replicate elsewhere. At the same time, China is steadily advancing institutional opening-up and continuously optimizing the business environment, providing stable and predictable institutional safeguards for various business entities to develop in China. In the view of many multinational automaker executives, China is both a demand market of vast scale and an important platform for enhancing product and technological competitiveness. As the German automotive economist Dudenhöffer put it, exiting the Chinese market would mean not only losing the world's largest single market, but also severing ties with the world's most cutting-edge industrial ecosystem.
The deepening of Sino-foreign cooperation is even more clearly reflected in the profound evolution of the internal logic of cooperation. From the initial stage decades ago centered on technology introduction, to the current era in which multinational giants are laying out co-creation, co-research, and capability co-building in China, China is transforming from a former technology importer into a global R&D hub for multinational automakers. Over a period of time, the global automotive industry has accelerated its transformation toward electrification and intelligence, the pace of transformation and upgrading of China's automotive industry has quickened, and the competitive landscape of the market has undergone profound changes, driving the accelerated adjustment and upgrading of Sino-foreign cooperation models toward deeper levels and higher standards. The Wall Street Journal of the United States has observed that more and more Western automakers are beginning to proactively explore new ways of cooperating with Chinese partners. Ford Motor of the United States and Geely Automobile have reached an agreement to establish a joint venture in Spain, creating new energy vehicle products for the European market through capacity sharing; Mercedes-Benz of Germany is implementing "China-exclusive solutions," with multiple models equipped with voice assistants independently developed by Chinese teams; more and more multinational automakers are handing over product definition authority, technical route decision-making power, and even development leadership for some global models to Chinese teams... The connotation of China's opportunities is constantly being enriched, driving an overall upgrading of Sino-foreign automotive cooperation models.
The choice of the market is the most persuasive. In recent years, unilateralism and protectionism have surged as adverse currents, and rhetoric about "decoupling and severing supply chains" and "industrial relocation" has surfaced from time to time. The choices of multinational automakers are precisely a powerful response to these adverse currents. The automotive industry is one of the most globalized industries; a single automobile involves more than ten thousand components, and the deep coordination and interlocking of the upstream and downstream of the industrial and supply chains are objective laws formed over decades of industry development. Forcibly pushing for the fragmentation of industrial chains will only drive up industry production costs, delay the pace of technological iteration, and ultimately harm the interests of all market participants. Facts have proven time and again that open cooperation and mutual benefit and win-win outcomes have always been the right path that conforms to the general trend.
Multinational automakers choosing to take root in China through "long-term agreements" is essentially a choice of broader market space, a more vibrant innovation ecosystem, and a more certain development future. If the Chinese and foreign automotive industries uphold the original aspiration of cooperation, learn from each other, and advance hand in hand, they will not only create greater development value for both sides, but will also inject stable momentum into the transformation of the global automotive industry and set a model of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation for international industrial cooperation under the new circumstances.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 白元琪
At a street-corner green space in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, the solemn Memorial to the Overseas Chinese Mechanics Who Died in the War of Resistance and Their Fallen Compatriots in Penang stands quietly. The monument is not tall, yet it carries a weighty historical memory. Its inscription, carved in four languages — Chinese, English, Malay, and Japanese — tells of the heroic deeds of the Nanyang overseas Chinese mechanics who supported the Chinese people's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.
"Beside this monument rest the ashes of some of the Nanyang overseas Chinese mechanics and their fallen compatriots. They gave up their families and careers, and gave their lives in defense of justice," said Ooi Han Wee (黄汉伟), a Penang state executive councillor, in an interview with our reporter. He noted that in the Xishan Forest Park in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, there stands a companion monument to the Nanyang overseas Chinese mechanics who fought in the War of Resistance, and that he had made a special trip to pay his respects there several years ago. "This fully reflects the profound friendship between Malaysia and China, who fought side by side in the War of Resistance back then."
In 1939, under the tight blockade of the Japanese military, China's supply transport lines were severely disrupted. Patriotic overseas Chinese leader Tan Kah Kee called on young overseas Chinese in Nanyang to support the War of Resistance, and more than 3,000 mechanics answered the call and returned to China to join the fight. Amid a hail of bullets, they transported military supplies, rushed to repair transport vehicles, and supported the construction of the Burma Road. Ooi Han Wee met one of these mechanics who had taken part in the War of Resistance several years ago. "Most of them have now passed away, but the spirit of the Nanyang overseas Chinese mechanics continues to be passed down. Every year, community groups and schools visit the monument to honor the martyrs."
The Memorial to the Overseas Chinese Mechanics Who Died in the War of Resistance and Their Fallen Compatriots in Penang was originally funded and built by local Chinese community organizations, completed in 1951, and was later taken over by the primary school across the street — Chung Hwa Confucian Primary School. "When I was in primary school, I often passed by this monument. At the time, I did not quite understand the story behind it. It was only as I grew older that I gradually came to understand the profound historical significance it carries." Years later, Ooi Han Wee became the state assemblyman for the local constituency and has repeatedly pushed for the restoration of the monument, adding relief sculptures and a truck statue to recreate the scene of the young mechanics aiding China.
Ooi Han Wee once studied at Chung Ling High School in Penang, and the memorial to the fallen teachers and students in front of the school auditorium also left a deep impression on him. Ooi Han Wee said that after the Japanese military occupied British Malaya, some teachers and students of the school rose up against the Japanese occupation's oppressive rule, and ultimately 46 students and 8 teachers tragically lost their lives after suffering atrocities at the hands of the Japanese military. The monument was built to commemorate them. "It is not only a painful testimony in the history of Penang's intellectual community and Chinese-language education, but also an important 'site of memory' for the Nanyang overseas Chinese in resisting Japanese fascism and supporting the War of Resistance of their ancestral homeland."
Ooi Han Wee has visited the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. "The air-raid-shelter-style exhibition design, along with the air-raid sirens and images in the memorial hall, made me feel as if I had been transported back to the real historical scene. I hope that in the future, Malaysia and China can strengthen exchanges and cooperation between museums to enhance mutual understanding of each other's histories," Ooi Han Wee said.
In recent years, Ooi Han Wee has visited China multiple times, traveling to Shanghai, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and other places. He shared his experience of a recent trip to Sichuan, including visits to Du Fu Thatched Cottage and the Dujiangyan irrigation system. "I particularly love Du Fu's poem 'My Thatched Cottage Is Wrecked by the Autumn Wind.' The sentiment of 'sheltering all the world's poor scholars so they may rejoice' reminds me of China's achievements in poverty alleviation. And Dujiangyan showcases the wisdom of the Chinese nation in water management from more than 2,000 years ago — it is truly awe-inspiring."
"The development achievements Malaysia enjoys today are the dividends of peace. Without peace, a country cannot achieve prosperity," Ooi Han Wee said. He noted that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, and these historical memorial sites remind people of the need to jointly safeguard the hard-won peace.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 黄培昭
Driving about four hours east from Angola's capital Luanda, one arrives at the middle reaches of the Kwanza River in Dondo, Cuanza Norte Province. Amid the river valley, machinery roars, construction vehicles shuttle back and forth, and a concrete dam on the river channel has already taken initial shape — this is the construction site of the Caculo Cabaça hydropower station, undertaken by China Energy Engineering Group Gezhouba Group.
The Caculo Cabaça hydropower station is located at the third stage of the eight-stage development of the middle reaches of the Kwanza River, Angola's "mother river," with a total installed capacity of 2,172 megawatts. The project adopts a roller-compacted concrete gravity dam, with a maximum dam height of 116 meters, a dam axis length of 533 meters, a designed total RCC volume exceeding 1.58 million cubic meters, and a total reservoir storage capacity of 436 million cubic meters. It is currently the largest hydropower station undertaken by a Chinese enterprise in Angola. Upon completion, the project will achieve an average annual power generation of 8,566 gigawatt-hours, capable of meeting more than 50 percent of Angola's national electricity demand, becoming one of the core pillars of the country's power system.
For a long time, electricity shortages have severely constrained Angola's industrialization process and economic and social development. Especially during the dry season and peak electricity consumption periods, the problem of unstable power supply has been relatively prominent. After the Caculo Cabaça hydropower station is completed, it will significantly enhance power supply capacity, while also possessing comprehensive functions such as peak shaving and flood control, providing more reliable support for the national power grid.
Environmental engineer Hediannis Pereira told reporters that after the hydropower station is completed, it will not only provide clean energy but also improve local water resource utilization conditions. "Once the reservoir area is formed, water resources can be better regulated, which is helpful for both agriculture and residential water use."
Pereira believes that the significance of the Caculo Cabaça hydropower station is reflected not only in its power generation capacity, but also in its promotion of sustainable development. "Reducing emissions and conserving resources — these are all long-term benefits." Data show that after the project is put into operation, it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 7.2 million tons annually and reduce consumption of non-renewable energy such as petroleum and coal by approximately 2.733 million tons. This is of great significance for Angola, whose energy structure remains dominated by fossil fuels.
Hu Yuanjun, head of the project's construction department, introduced that the project construction is currently advancing in an orderly manner according to plan. The main dam structure continues to rise, and electromechanical equipment installation is also proceeding simultaneously. During the peak construction period, the project directly provides more than 6,000 local employment positions.
At the construction site, it can be seen that many local employees have gradually come to assume important job responsibilities. Horácio Mota returned to his country a few years ago after studying overseas and entered the project, and has now grown into a technical backbone of the project department. "This project is not just a construction project, but also key infrastructure for national development," Mota said. "Without stable electricity, many industries would find it difficult to develop. This power station can cover more than half of the country's electricity demand in the future, which is very important for industry, mining, and urban development."
Return to TopAccording to Xinhua News Agency, Vienna, August 16 (Reporter Meng Fanyu) — The 2026 "Chinese Opera Performance Season" and Chinese Opera International Exhibition opened on the evening of the 15th at the Muth Theater in Vienna, the capital of Austria. The Xiamen Jinliansheng Gaojia Opera Troupe brought the season's opening performance — the Gaojia opera Chen San and Wu Niang: The Litchi Mirror Fate — which drew warm applause from the audience.
At the opening ceremony, Vienna City/State Parliament member Louise Dager-Gregory stated that this performance season has built a cultural bridge between China and Austria and Europe. Last year's performance season achieved great success, and this year it will continue to bring wonderful performances to audiences.
As a representative of traditional opera from southern Fujian, Gaojia opera has a history of more than 300 years and was included in the first batch of the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2006.
This performance season is co-hosted by the Chinese Opera Research Association (中国歌剧研究会) and the (Europe) International Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Association (国际文化交流合作协会), and will successively bring performances of Gaojia opera, Peking opera, Huangmei opera, Hui opera, and other theatrical forms to audiences in 2026.
Return to TopPeople's Daily Nanning, August 16 (Reporter Pang Geping) — With the 240-hour visa-free transit, temporary motor vehicle driving permit applications, and "buy now, refund now" departure tax refunds... since the beginning of this year, Nanning City in Guangxi has anchored itself to the positioning of a regional international tourism hub city facing ASEAN, with multiple departments coordinating to clear "bottlenecks" in facilitation, and the vitality of the inbound tourism market continues to be released. In the first half of this year, Nanning received overnight inbound tourists from ASEAN countries, a year-on-year increase of 71.9%.
In recent years, Nanning has continuously smoothed cross-border passage channels, with the three-dimensional cross-border corridor system coordinating aviation, rail, and highway increasingly improved, continuously enhancing its function as a national tourism hub city. At present, Nanning Airport has opened routes to ASEAN destinations including Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bandar Seri Begawan, Vientiane, Jakarta, Hanoi, Yangon, Manila, Haiphong, and Ho Chi Minh City, with the radiating function of the route network facing ASEAN continuously enhanced.
Nanning actively optimizes the facilitation service environment for inbound tourism, implementing measures such as advance baggage screening at the Nanning Wuxu Airport (吴圩机场) port, making passenger clearance more efficient and smooth. At the same time, it continuously raises the level of foreign-related payment facilitation, with full coverage of foreign card acceptance achieved at key cultural and tourism venues throughout the city.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 姚雪青
Strengthen employment services and protection of workers' rights and interests.
——Excerpted from the "15th Five-Year Plan" Outline
In the morning, the temperature in Nanjing, Jiangsu, was rising steadily. On Jiming Temple Road in Xuanwu District, sanitation worker Zhu Wenxian, dressed in a bright yellow vest with a small fan spinning on each side of his waist, was working on the road.
"Both my back and neck can catch the breeze," Zhu Wenxian said. With this vest, he no longer sweats as profusely and can work more calmly.
Zhu Wenxian's employer, Nanjing Xuanwu Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd., is a district-owned enterprise under the urban management system. In June this year, the company discovered this "cooling vest" online and immediately purchased 20 units for trial use by sanitation workers. Because the feedback was positive, they subsequently purchased another 180 units, completing distribution before the hottest period of summer began, with one vest per person.
In appearance, the "cooling vest" is similar in style to an ordinary sanitation vest, with safety reflective strips. The two small fans at the waist are made of plastic and are relatively lightweight. They are powered by a power bank in the pocket, and a full charge can sustain three to four hours of continuous operation. Zhou Tong, executive deputy general manager of Nanjing Xuanwu Environmental Engineering Co., Ltd., introduced that each vest costs 190 yuan, slightly more expensive than an ordinary sanitation vest, and the purchase cost is borne by the company.
"The fans and power banks are easy to detach and are maintained by the company on a daily basis. Workers can wash the vests themselves," Zhou Tong added. "In Nanjing, distributing 'cooling vests' is only one measure; there are also supporting initiatives such as optimizing shift scheduling, building rest stations, and supplying materials."
During the summer, the 140 Ankang rest stations (安康驿站) in Nanjing's sanitation system are open around the clock, and nearly 500 "love service points" (爱心驿点) are distributed across shopping malls, banks, gas stations, and other venues.
Beside the comprehensive law enforcement post at Fenghuangtai Square in the Jiangbei New Area, a "love freezer" (爱心冰柜) sits under a shaded awning by the roadside. Around noon, sanitation workers, food delivery riders, and others arrive to take out cold water to drink. Zhao Jing, deputy director of the Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement and Work Safety Supervision and Management Office of Jiangpu Subdistrict in the Jiangbei New Area, introduced that there are three "love freezers" in Jiangpu Subdistrict, set up by government departments, with caring enterprises and citizens participating in supplying goods.
In the Jiangbei New Area, when the temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius, a "cooling bus" (清凉大巴) also goes into operation. The bus, with its air conditioning running, carries drinking water, mung bean soup, watermelon, heatstroke prevention medicine, and other supplies, shuttling between various sanitation work sites. Li Guixiang, team leader of the Jiangpu South Section Project Department of Nanjing Pucheng Environmental Sanitation Management Co., Ltd., introduced that starting in mid-July, the company launched the "cooling bus" as a mobile version of the rest station, addressing the needs of sanitation workers for nearby rest and timely hydration.
"The arrival time of the bus is announced to the team leaders in advance. Along the way, the driver also invites sanitation workers to board," Li Guixiang said. Employees have reported that taking a short break and replenishing supplies on the bus is very effective for maintaining their work condition.
Wei Lili, a union staff member at Pucheng Environmental Sanitation, introduced that accompanying the "cooling bus" is also a fleet of "cooling pickup trucks" (清凉皮卡). They carry heatstroke prevention medicine and supplies, shuttling regularly through streets and alleys to provide replenishment for sanitation workers.
Institutional safeguards are advancing in tandem. In July this year, the Nanjing urban management system issued a notice on doing a good job of heatstroke prevention and cooling for frontline sanitation workers during the high-temperature season, scientifically adjusting work periods, explicitly stipulating that outdoor open-air operations shall cease when the daily maximum temperature reaches 40 degrees Celsius, and that high-temperature allowances shall be paid at the standard of 300 yuan per person per month.
Gao Dapeng, deputy director of the Sanitation Division of the Nanjing Urban Management Bureau, introduced that as of now this year, the city's urban management and sanitation system has dispatched "cooling pickup trucks (buses)" a total of 261 vehicle-trips, distributed 905 "cooling vests," more than 20,000 heatstroke prevention medicine packages, and more than 100,000 servings of heat-relief food and beverages.
(Our reporter Bai Guangdi participated in the reporting)
Return to TopBy: 张雪妍
Facing extreme heat, outdoor workers no longer have to simply "tough it out." This summer, in Nanjing, Jiangsu, and Jinan, Shandong, among other places, sanitation workers have been equipped with "cooling vests" with built-in fans. The wearing experience has been quite good, winning praise from netizens.
Labor can be more composed. Rapidly developing technology, while increasing production efficiency, should also improve working conditions and help safeguard workers' rights and interests. In addition to making efforts on the hardware front, efforts must also be made to optimize software and mechanisms. At present, some food-delivery platforms have adjusted their algorithms so that the time delivery riders spend waiting at red lights is not counted toward the delivery time. Such humane measures are a beneficial exploration.
To pay tribute to workers, one must translate it into action. When technological empowerment and humanistic care complement each other, and when we are committed to continuously enhancing well-being so that every worker is treated with kindness and respect, our society can become more harmonious and splendid.
Return to TopBy: 沈磨元
On August 15 this year, the Ecological Environment Code officially came into effect. The construction of a Beautiful China and the construction of a rule-of-law China have welcomed another milestone moment.
On the path of advancing Chinese-style modernization, there is both the composure of "taking solid steps forward one at a time" and the urgency of "time waits for no one! history waits for no one!" The construction of ecological civilization provides a unique lens for understanding the Chinese Communists' view of time.
A Korean pine, engraved with time, recording its rings.
"This is what a sense of time feels like!" Deep in the forest farm of the Lesser Khingan Mountains, General Secretary Xi Jinping gazed up for a long while at a towering Korean pine and sighed with such emotion.
From a seedling to the thickness of a bowl's mouth takes fifty to sixty years; to the span of two people embracing takes over a hundred years. This also means that once a Korean pine is damaged, its restoration must be measured in centuries.
Since the complete cessation of commercial logging of natural forests, Yichun, Heilongjiang, has issued Korean pine protection regulations, innovatively promoted the "forest chief system," built a "Korean pine adoption" platform, and consolidated the protective barrier for Korean pine ecology; from "logging for timber" to "protecting greenery to generate gold," it has achieved a transformation toward a modern ecological industrial system.
Time is silent, yet it bears witness to change. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's forest area and growing stock have continued to achieve "dual growth," while desertified and sandified land areas have continued to achieve "dual reduction." China is the country with the largest and fastest increase in greening globally, and blue skies, green earth, and clear waters have become the norm.
Meritorious in the present, beneficial for a thousand generations. In the construction of ecological civilization, there is a vigilant and resolute commitment to "sustainable development."
A beautiful forest, a millennium-scale undertaking, begins with an extraordinary stroke.
Planting greenery first, building the city second—this is the new concept of Xiong'an New Area's construction. On November 13, 2017, the first tree of the "Millennium Forest" took root.
"Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets. Xiong'an New Area relies precisely on such an ecological environment to embody its value and increase its appeal." From the flourishing branches and leaves of the landscape forest, to the re-radiance of Baiyangdian, the pearl of North China, to the fact that high-star green buildings account for 100% of newly constructed buildings, Xiong'an has painted a new picture of blue and green interweaving, water and city merging, city amid forest, and people amid scenery.
Development changes with each passing day; time flies ever forward. The ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River has restored "clear water and green banks, fish gliding in the shallows"; joint efforts to protect the Yangtze rather than overdevelop it safeguard "a river of clear water flowing eastward"; consuming about one-third of the nation's energy and carbon emissions while contributing nearly half of its GDP, the Yangtze River Economic Belt's innovation momentum is flourishing. Adhering to ecological priority and green development reflects the dialectics of "fast and slow" and "the present and the long term."
Maintaining both strategic resolve and historical patience, while also forging ahead with the vigor of seizing every moment, the construction of ecological civilization makes "harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature" more concrete and part of everyday life.
A stretch of ancient cypresses, protected through generations of succession, carrying forward the cultural lineage.
In July 2023, when inspecting Cuiyunlang in Jiange County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We must protect ancient and famous trees well, and pass on China's excellent traditional culture well."
Cuiyunlang was not planted in a single day; it relies on the power of time. Over thousands of years, from the prohibition decree of "officials and commoners alike forbidden from felling," to the system of "handing over trees upon handing over office," to today's "officials' departure handover," "forest chief system," and "tree chief system"... generation after generation plants, protects at all times, and everyone protects—the verdant greenery grows ever denser.
"One tree, one file" listing for protection, "one tree, one person" for daily patrol, "one tree, one policy" for scientific rescue—every ancient tree has a dedicated protection team and a specialized protection plan... Thanks to institutional innovation and technological empowerment, the protection and management of ancient cypresses in the new era is more precise and more efficient, and a culture of everyone loving ancient cypresses and everyone protecting ancient cypresses has become widespread.
Inheriting the ecological ethics of following the great way of nature and the unity of heaven and humanity, cultivating an ecological culture that keeps pace with the times and carries the spirit of the era, thousands of years of civilizational inheritance are fused into the intrinsic genes of ecological civilization construction, transformed into the conscious thought and action of hundreds of millions of people.
"Our understanding of time is measured in hundreds and thousands of years." What the construction of ecological civilization illuminates is precisely a nation's past, present, and future.
"Standing at the source of creating the future," every step forward in the march is creating new history. Advancing along the path of Chinese-style modernization, we will welcome many more such moments—moments that endow time with meaning, with value, with weight.
Nanning, August 16 (Reporters Pang Geping, Zhu Jiaqi) On the evening of August 15, the 13th National Acrobatics Exhibition, hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the People's Government of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and organized by the Department of Art of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, among others, closed in Nanning. This edition of the exhibition adopted a dual-city linkage model between Nanning and Beihai. Acrobatic artists from across the country presented 8 outstanding acrobatic productions and 45 acrobatic and magic programs, comprehensively showcasing the vigorous and dynamic state of Chinese acrobatic art in recent years, which upholds fundamental principles and breaks new ground (守正创新 - shǒu zhèng chuàng xīn - "uphold the correct principles and innovate," to maintain tradition while pursuing innovation).
During the 13th National Acrobatics Exhibition, authoritative experts in the national acrobatics field and representatives of participating troupes gathered in Beihai for seminars and exchanges. The experts in attendance focused their discussions on key topics including innovative creation of acrobatic works, cultivation of talent echelons, industry development trends, and performance safety, providing theoretical support for the continuous quality improvement, upgrading, and sustained innovation of the national acrobatic art.
Return to TopOn August 15, Hainan Province's 2026 summer talent recruitment fair was held in Haikou, attracting many job seekers to apply.
This recruitment fair attracted 230 employers to exhibit on-site, offering nearly 5,000 quality positions, aiming to seize the summer talent mobility window period, build a precise platform for industry-talent matching, and support the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port.
The photo shows job seekers communicating with employers.
Photo by Zhang Mao (Image China)
Beijing, August 16 (Reporter Shi Fang) — The reporter learned from the Beijing Municipal Parks Management Center (北京市公园管理中心) that recently, as 11 Beijing municipal parks including the Temple of Heaven and Beihai were officially incorporated into the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei scenic area joint ticket cooperation system, the total number of scenic areas in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei joint ticket cooperation system has exceeded 240, building a new pattern of cultural tourism travel that links the entire Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
In terms of service upgrades and rights and benefits for the people, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei scenic area joint ticket has continued to iterate and optimize, adding diversified consumption scenarios such as movie viewing, achieving a transformation from a single scenic area pass to a multi-scenario, composite cultural tourism consumption carrier.
Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei are geographically connected, culturally linked, and complementary in resources. Coordinated cultural tourism development is an important measure for mutual benefit, win-win outcomes, and benefiting people's livelihoods across the three regions. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei scenic area joint ticket has opened a brand-new cultural tourism consumption model of "one ticket to tour three places." Since its launch one year ago, cumulative sales of the joint ticket have exceeded 180,000 tickets, and the number of cardholders traveling continues to grow.
Return to TopMeteorological monitoring shows that during the daytime on August 16, parts of Sichuan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, and other areas experienced heavy rain or rainstorms, with localized torrential rain. The Central Meteorological Observatory forecasts strong rainfall in Sichuan, Yunnan, Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and other areas. Over the next three days, parts of central and southern Gansu, the Sichuan Basin, central and southern Shaanxi, as well as eastern Zhejiang, eastern and southern Fujian, Guangdong, central and western Guangxi, Hainan Island, and Yunnan will see moderate to heavy rain, with localized rainstorms or torrential rain; central and southern North China, eastern Inner Mongolia, the Northeast, and the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will see frequent showers or thundershowers, with localized heavy to torrential rain. The above areas will experience severe convective weather such as thunderstorms and gales in localized areas.
Five rivers in Zhejiang, Anhui, and Yunnan experienced floods exceeding warning levels. From 8:00 on the 15th to 8:00 on the 16th, affected by rainfall, five rivers including the Xiaonan Stream (小楠溪), a tributary of the Oujiang River in Zhejiang; the Huangze River (黄泽江), a tributary of the Cao'e River; the Chi River (池河), a tributary of the Huai River in Anhui; and the Simao River (思茅河) and Laoyangqing (老杨箐), tributaries of the Lancang River in Yunnan, experienced floods exceeding warning levels, with the maximum exceedance reaching 1.50 meters.
At 18:00 on the 16th, the Ministry of Water Resources (水利部) and the China Meteorological Administration (中国气象局) jointly issued an orange mountain torrent disaster meteorological warning; the Ministry of Natural Resources (自然资源部) and the China Meteorological Administration jointly issued a yellow geological disaster meteorological risk warning. On the 16th, the Ministry of Water Resources organized rolling consultations to analyze and assess the national rainfall, water, and flood situation, and arranged and deployed key defense work. Based on the 24-hour rainfall forecast, the Ministry of Water Resources issued "one province, one notice" (一省一单) targeted warnings to 10 provinces including Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Zhejiang, Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai. The Ministry of Water Resources maintained a Level III emergency response for flood defense for Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and a Level IV emergency response for flood defense for Heilongjiang, Shanghai, Anhui, and Henan. Six working groups of the Ministry of Water Resources are on the front lines in Zhejiang, Henan, Heilongjiang, and other areas assisting and guiding rainstorm and flood defense work.
Affected by continuous heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Dolphin (白海豚) and its remnant cloud system, on the 13th, a breach danger occurred on the right embankment of the Qingyi River (清潩河), a tributary of the Ying River, at Cangtou Village (仓头村), Yanling County (鄢陵县), Xuchang City. After emergency rescue and disposal, the breach was closed at 23:56 on the 15th.
(Combined reporting by our reporters Jiang Xuehong (蒋雪鸿), Deng Jianyang (邓剑洋), and Fang Min (方敏))
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 喻思南 李君强
"Facing the new situation of the rapid evolution of a new generation of artificial intelligence technology, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of the new nationwide system for mobilizing resources, adhere to self-reliance and self-strengthening, highlight the application orientation, and promote the healthy and orderly development of China's artificial intelligence in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction."
——In April 2025, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized this during the 20th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee
On August 22, the Second World Humanoid Robot Games will open in Beijing. A total of 666 teams and 2,055 robots from 16 countries will compete on the same stage, with the number of participating robots quadrupling compared with the first edition. Humanoid robots integrate the perception, cognition, and decision-making capabilities of artificial intelligence and are an important carrier for AI to enter the physical world. A single sporting event has become a vivid microcosm of the accelerated iteration of artificial intelligence technology.
The wave of artificial intelligence is surging in. General Secretary Xi Jinping has profoundly pointed out: "Promote global artificial intelligence to develop in a direction that is upward and good, and benefits humanity" and "Facing the new situation of the rapid evolution of a new generation of artificial intelligence technology, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of the new nationwide system for mobilizing resources, adhere to self-reliance and self-strengthening, highlight the application orientation, and promote the healthy and orderly development of China's artificial intelligence in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction."
"Beneficial, safe, and fair" — these words lay a solid foundation for the upward and good development of China's artificial intelligence.
Deep empowerment: the "beneficial" potential of artificial intelligence continues to be released.
On the flood prevention front line, a "digital duty officer" has arrived.
On June 18, after receiving a red rainstorm warning, "Long Xiaoxiao," the urban governance intelligent agent of Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, activated its flood season mode and automatically monitored all risk points across the district, including water accumulation points, rainwater well covers, and key river channels. From the issuance of the warning to its lifting, "Long Xiaoxiao" remained online throughout, performing autonomous duty, intelligently analyzing 243,000 surveillance images, and issuing more than 1,500 warnings.
Driven by rich application scenarios, China has carried out in-depth "AI+" actions, with artificial intelligence empowering a thousand industries and ten thousand sectors.
From intelligently regulating traffic signals to helping historical buildings "treat diseases before they occur," from assessing trends in water ecology changes to accurately analyzing and predicting underground coal seam distributions... the value of artificial intelligence is increasingly evident, and innovative vitality is accelerating.
Drawing boundaries: the "safety" bottom line of artificial intelligence is becoming ever more solid.
Artificial intelligence brings unprecedented development opportunities, but also unprecedented risks and challenges. General Secretary Xi Jinping has shown far-sighted consideration: "It is necessary to grasp the development trends and laws of artificial intelligence, step up the formulation and improvement of relevant laws and regulations, policies and systems, application norms, and ethical standards, and build a system for technological monitoring, risk early warning, and emergency response to ensure that artificial intelligence is safe, reliable, and controllable."
Promulgating regulations to clarify the information service norms of algorithm recommendation service providers and strengthen algorithm governance; affixing digital identifiers to AI-generated synthetic content to cultivate a digital trust ecosystem... "Ensuring that artificial intelligence is safe, reliable, and controllable" — one response measure after another is being improved and deepened in practice, "ensuring that this thousand-li horse of artificial intelligence both runs fast and runs steadily."
"Strengthening the construction of data infrastructure rules and artificial intelligence governance" has been written into the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan, and "improving artificial intelligence governance and accelerating the comprehensive legislation for the healthy development of artificial intelligence" has been included in the State Council's 2026 Legislative Work Plan, with efforts focused on building a harmonious ecosystem of human-machine symbiosis.
Inclusive sharing: the concept of "fairness" in artificial intelligence is becoming more distinct.
How can the dividends of technology benefit more people?
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "It is necessary to strengthen the integration of artificial intelligence with ensuring and improving people's livelihoods, proceed from the need to ensure and improve people's livelihoods and create a better life for the people, promote the deep application of artificial intelligence in people's daily work, study, and life, and create more intelligent working methods and lifestyles."
In Shache County, Kashgar, Xinjiang, medical resources are unevenly distributed. The village farthest from the county hospital requires a four-hour drive to reach it, so residents mostly seek treatment at township health centers. Due to a lack of professional imaging technicians and other reasons, the pass rate of DR (digital X-ray imaging) films taken at township health centers was only about 50 percent.
Since 2020, thanks to relevant policy support and assistance, Shache County has carried out in-depth cooperation with United Imaging Group and adopted advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence. Today, the pass rate of DR films taken at township health centers has risen to over 90 percent. Imaging is now "done in one step," effectively improving the medical experience for residents.
Education departments are promoting smart classrooms, pushing high-quality urban courses to rural schools in real time; engineers are developing intelligent assistive terminals that allow visually impaired people to perceive the world through their ears... By continuously giving technology warmth, more and more people are enjoying the fruits of artificial intelligence development.
Scientific concepts guide action. In 2025, the core industry scale of China's artificial intelligence exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan, with more than 6,200 enterprises, and the comprehensive strength of the industry firmly ranks in the world's first tier.
In the intelligent era, moving forward in the direction of "beneficial, safe, and fair," we anchor our goals and advance with solid steps.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 刘玲玲
"We must carry out extensive international cooperation, help Global South countries strengthen capacity-building, bridge the digital-intelligence divide, promote sustainable development, and avoid creating new historical injustices in the field of artificial intelligence."
——In July 2026, emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the opening ceremony of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance
On August 5, the "Oriental Eye Hyperspectral AI Twin Satellites" were successfully launched, and will provide satellite remote sensing services to Uzbekistan and Indonesia, helping to safeguard agricultural production. Not long ago, the "Mazu" Fengyun Satellite AI Toolbox was unveiled, and the "Mazu," now applied in multiple countries, is becoming a high-quality international public good serving Global South countries. This is an example of China's practical actions to help bridge the digital-intelligence divide and promote the inclusive and universal development of artificial intelligence.
In his congratulatory letter to the 2025 World Intelligence Industry Expo, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Artificial intelligence should be an international public good that benefits all of humanity. China is willing to carry out extensive international cooperation in artificial intelligence with countries around the world, strengthen alignment and coordination in development strategies, governance rules, and technical standards, promote the sound and vigorous development of the intelligent industry, and let the fruits of intelligence better benefit the people of all countries."
With the common well-being of all humanity in mind, General Secretary Xi Jinping advocates making artificial intelligence an important driving force for promoting common prosperity and safeguarding common security, leading China to continuously contribute to the inclusive and universal development of artificial intelligence.
Looking back to 2018, the first World Artificial Intelligence Conference was held in Shanghai. General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter, pointing out that "China is willing to work with all countries in the field of artificial intelligence to jointly promote development, jointly safeguard security, and jointly share achievements."
Pointing out the direction forward, he emphasized "keeping the well-being of all humanity in mind, and promoting the healthy and orderly development of artificial intelligence in a beneficial, safe, and fair direction"; he made clear the need to "carry out extensive international cooperation, help Global South countries strengthen capacity-building, bridge the digital-intelligence divide, promote sustainable development, and avoid creating new historical injustices in the field of artificial intelligence"... General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important statements have contributed Chinese wisdom to the joint building of a global AI governance system.
Promises are voiced; implementation leaves its mark. In 2023, China took the lead in releasing the Global AI Governance Initiative; in 2025, it proposed the "AI+" international cooperation initiative, continuously providing Chinese solutions to the world. Not long ago, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization was established in Shanghai, a major move by China to respond to the calls of the Global South, unite the international community, and actively promote AI development and governance.
Looking across the globe. In Brazil, Chinese AI technology is helping local power grids operate efficiently; in Malaysia, small-model algorithms are "renewing" rubber production lines, promoting the intelligent transformation of traditional manufacturing... Chinese AI technology is being applied in diverse scenarios, sharing the infinite possibilities of the intelligent era with the world.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Not long ago, the supercomputing center project for Tunisia's Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, aided by China, was delivered and put into use, helping the country's digital transformation, and was evaluated by the Tunisian side as "an investment in Tunisia's national future."
From building the China-ASEAN AI Innovation Cooperation Center, to jointly formulating and implementing the "China-Africa Digital Innovation Partnership Plan" with African countries, to carrying out international exchange and training on a regular basis... Through practical cooperation, China is helping developing countries address shortcomings in technology, talent, and governance.
Perseverance brings results; steady progress ensures long-term success. China promoted the adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution on strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity-building, and proposed and implemented the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All. Under the framework of the Global Development Initiative, China launched the "Digital South" brand, helping the Global South share in the development opportunities of the digital era.
To further support global AI development and advance global AI capacity-building, General Secretary Xi Jinping solemnly announced: "In the next five years, China will provide 5,000 training places on AI topics for developing countries; build international AI application cooperation centers with ASEAN, the Arab League, the African Union, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the BRICS countries; and promote the application of the 'Mazu' intelligent meteorological early-warning solution in 30 countries." China continues, with a more open attitude, more practical actions, and a more long-term vision, to fulfill its commitment to "letting the fruits of intelligence better benefit the people of all countries."
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said that the constructive initiatives proposed by China are of great benefit to developing countries and Global South countries. Mehdi Snene, Program Management Officer of the United Nations Office of Information and Communications Technology, Digital and Emerging Technologies, said that China's practical measures will help raise countries' awareness of AI development and governance, and will also significantly enhance the AI research and development capabilities of Global South countries.
Walking hand in hand, talent, knowledge, and technology flow efficiently, and the fruits of cooperation are inclusive and practical. China will uphold the principles of people-centeredness and pursuing good and upstanding development, promote the inclusive and universal development of global AI, and let artificial intelligence promote common prosperity and benefit all of humanity.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 杨颜菲
In Xinyu, Jiangxi, the service hall of the Municipal Government Service Center was 人来人往 (rén lái rén wǎng - "people come, people go," bustling with activity). To the right of the entrance, the "Xiao Ganshi" (小赣事) assistance-and-agency-handling zone had a conspicuous sign, and several specialists in red vests stood at their workstations, with citizens frequently approaching to consult them.
A video connection request popped up on the computer of specialist Lin Wenjuan (林文娟). She clicked open the dialog box and started a video call, and enterprise agent Liu Jiangyu (刘江玉) appeared on the screen.
"Hello, how can I help you?" Lin Wenjuan said with a smile.
"I want to change my company's address. Could you help me check the materials?" Liu Jiangyu held up several documents, and Lin Wenjuan carefully examined them page by page through the screen: real estate ownership certificate, house lease contract...
"The materials are fine. You can go ahead and submit the change application directly," Lin Wenjuan replied.
"I'm worried I might fill in the forms wrong and have to go through all that trouble again," Liu Jiangyu said, troubled.
"Then I'll help you operate remotely." Using the "screen sharing" function, Lin Wenjuan saw the page of the "Jiangxi Province Enterprise Registration Network Service Platform" (江西省企业登记网络服务平台) on Liu Jiangyu's computer and guided her step by step through the form.
When they reached the litigation document service address contact person field, Liu Jiangyu was confused: "Should I fill in my name here, or the name of the enterprise's legal representative?" Lin Wenjuan asked Zhang Wanjun (张婉君), a staff member at the comprehensive approval window, to assist in guidance, and they determined the answer.
In the end, Liu Jiangyu successfully completed the application and let out a long breath: "Previously, when I registered the company, I also completed it through the 'Xiao Ganshi' platform. This time, when handling the company address change, I was still a bit unsure, so I came to ask for help through video again."
Lin Wenjuan explained that paper materials involve details such as certificates, seals, and forms, and the specialists can see them directly and accurately through video, thus better guiding citizens in handling their business. The "Xiao Ganshi" assistance-and-agency-handling platform launched by the Xinyu Municipal Government Service Center in 2023 integrates functions such as information transmission and remote assistance, allowing citizens to enjoy the convenient experience of "handling in person, asking in real time, and zero running around."
Currently, the Xinyu "Xiao Ganshi" platform has launched 773 video-guided service items, built a four-level (city, county, township, village) professional team of 663 "Xiao Ganshi" assistance-and-agency-handling specialists, and has cumulatively handled over 6,600 various business matters for citizens, building on the cloud a convenience bridge that connects face to face and heart to heart with the people.
Return to TopWenchang, August 16 (Our Newspaper) — (Reporter Dong Zeyang) At 12:10 on the 16th, China used the Long March 12 carrier rocket at the Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site to successfully launch the 24th group of low-orbit satellite internet satellites into space. The satellites smoothly entered their predetermined orbits, and the launch mission achieved complete success.
Return to TopBy: 孟繁哲
When the end is nowhere in sight, every hammer blow is all the more in need of conviction to hold it up. Not weighing immediate gains and losses, being willing to be content with incremental progress bit by bit — this tenacity is precisely the invaluable quality indispensable to grassroots work and entrepreneurship.
During an interview at the grassroots level, a community cadre spoke of the matter of installing elevators. Residents who objected to blocked light, those who feared noise, those worried that construction would affect the safety of their homes — residents' opinions were not unified, and the project was shelved for a time. She visited the households that opposed it most fiercely, asking about their concerns, doing persuasion work, resolving doubts, and revising the plan, until finally the elevator was successfully installed. She said that handling affairs for the people cannot be done by force; "you have to put the effort into the key points, striking each hammer blow with precision."
When it comes to grasping implementation, General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed "carrying forward the spirit of driving in nails." Grassroots work is a tangled web of a thousand threads; driving in a nail well tests one's skill at wielding the hammer.
Only with a grand design in mind and the whole picture in view can one find the right point of impact and strike precisely on target.
A village holding the red line for arable land is helping to keep the rice bowl of more than 1.4 billion people firmly in hand; a community doing waste sorting meticulously and substantively is adding bricks and tiles to a Beautiful China; a subdistrict serving sci-tech innovation enterprises well is nurturing soil and storing roots for new quality productive forces... Grassroots matters may seem trivial, but they are in fact connected to the overall situation. Being good at viewing things from the larger perspective allows one to seize the anchor point.
The principle is not hard to understand, but putting it into practice is not easy. Either objectively conditions are lacking — one task piles onto another, people urge people on, and one is exhausted by coping, so one's field of vision gradually narrows to only the tasks at hand; or subjectively there is slackness — one regards the grassroots as the "nerve endings" and thinks major policies are none of one's business. Hitting here with a hammer and there with a stick, appearing bustling and busy, in the end often not a single nail is driven firmly.
On the organizational side, improve the environment, rectify formalism, and let Party members and cadres "travel light"; Party members and cadres must also be diligent in study and self-comparison, comprehend the spirit of the Central Committee fully, deeply, and accurately — only then can they make scientific decisions, govern correctly, and do good work and achieve success.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed, "We must strengthen precision thinking and adhere to 'reaching the vast and great while exhausting the subtle and minute.'" Having seen clearly where to strike, one must also weigh how to strike. Precise policy implementation, targeted force application, focusing on the principal contradiction when bringing down the hammer — only then does a single blow have penetrating power.
In Ningde, Fujian, in order to change the backward appearance of Xia Dang Township, where "everything was lacking," Comrade Xi Jinping made the decision to first solve the three major problems of the road connecting to the township, water and electricity, and office premises. Good steel is used on the blade; handle one matter and accomplish one matter, and Xia Dang Township stepped out of its predicament step by step. Concentrating resources on the most critical point is how a nail is driven firmly.
For old residential community renovation, a "menu-style" plan is implemented — whatever the masses are most anxious about is reformed first; for rural living environment improvement, some villages focus on treating sewage, others first tackle toilet renovation, without resorting to a "one-size-fits-all" approach; for comprehensive rural revitalization, some develop specialty planting, others focus on rural tourism, adapting to local conditions and each displaying its own strengths... Applying force evenly often means grasping nothing; finding the "ox nose" and applying force precisely is how one achieves twice the result with half the effort.
For Party members and cadres, scientific decision-making and precise policy implementation are, behind it all, a question of trade-offs. Everything seems important, every matter is urged on by someone; daring to make judgments and putting the most urgent matter at the front tests not only one's discernment but even more one's sense of responsibility.
A single accurate hammer blow is only the beginning. Grasping without firmness is the same as not grasping at all; grasping without substance is the same as grasping in vain. Striking blow after blow in succession, landing every blow on solid ground — this kind of long-termism is the most valuable.
In Youyu, Shanxi, more than 70 years ago the yellow sand filled the sky; cadres took the lead and the masses followed, planting trees generation after generation, and the barren land was turned into an oasis beyond the Great Wall. In Zunyi, Guizhou, the old village party secretary Huang Dafa made the vow "if the water does not get through, I will pave the way with my life," leading the villagers to chisel a canal along the cliff face, spending 36 years cutting out a "canal of life."
Forging a new path in desperate circumstances — taking the first step is hard, and continuing to move forward is even harder. When the end is nowhere in sight, every hammer blow is all the more in need of conviction to hold it up. Not weighing immediate gains and losses, being willing to be content with incremental progress bit by bit — this tenacity is precisely the invaluable quality indispensable to grassroots work and entrepreneurship. Grasp implementation on one matter at a time, pursue results year after year, "until the nail is driven solid and firm" — only then can small victories accumulate into great ones.
Continuing to strike does not mean striking recklessly or chaotically. Pursuing "vanity projects" that disregard reality, or "turning everything over from the bottom" with each change of leadership — this appears to be striking, but in fact it is pulling out the nails the predecessor drove in and starting over. "Success need not be mine; success must include my part" — carrying on a good blueprint generation after generation is the inevitable requirement of establishing and practicing a correct view of political achievements.
Comrade Xi Jinping wrote in "The Revelation of Dripping Water Wearing Through Stone" that what we need is the spirit of practical work that advances step by step, and we do not need the speculative mentality of a new official who only lights three fires upon taking office, hoping for success by luck. With the overall situation in mind, accuracy in hand, and steadfastness in the heart, one who masters the skill of "driving in nails" will find the vast world of the grassroots a place of great promise.
Return to TopBy: 武卫政
Walking along University Road in Nankai District, Tianjin, beside the Jin River, the first thing to catch the eye is the eight tall buildings surrounding the plaza, their red-and-blue signage especially eye-catching.
More than three years ago, this was a stretch of abandoned unfinished buildings idled by a broken capital chain. Today it has become the core area of the Tiankai Higher Education Science and Technology Innovation Park (天开高教科创园, hereinafter "Tiankai Park"), contributing 2.58 billion yuan in tax revenue in the first half of this year, doubling from the same period last year.
The land is still the same land — how did it change so dramatically? Build a full-chain science and technology innovation ecosystem, pushing scientific and technological innovation from "seeds breaking through soil" to "becoming trees and forming forests."
Break the "wall mindset," let scientific research grow on the industrial chain. Nankai University and Tianjin University, through the "discipline + industry" mechanism, precisely connect with the park's needs, helping enterprises obtain the country's first medical device registration certificate for brain-computer intelligent artificial neural information systems, and some enterprises have completed pilot-scale transformation in the park. Exploring the transformation of job-related scientific and technological achievements, policies have been introduced such as no less than 75% of income going to individuals and horizontal surplus funds being usable as investment, untying the "ropes" that bind researchers; 7 Haihe Laboratories (海河实验室) and 30 national key laboratories, through the "school-enterprise handshake" (校企握手) channel, have opened more than 4,200 large scientific research instruments for shared use by park enterprises.
Innovation is not a solo dance on an island, but a resonance within an ecosystem. Break the mold of "internal circulation," let the seeds of innovation extend their roots outward through barriers, absorb ample nourishment from industrial needs, and only then can they take root and sprout in a broader world.
Overcome the quick-win mentality, cultivate patient companionship. Tiankai Park embeds "running alongside" into its working mechanism, building a full-cycle service system covering project screening, progress tracking, and enterprise operations; facing the industrialization gap of "leading technical indicators but unstable mass production," Hesheng Biology (合生生物) obtained 3 million yuan in special funding through the "invest first, convert to equity later" (先投后股) model, thereby steadily running through the entire process from samples to scaled production; a research team from Tianjin University, carrying seven years of accumulated research, settled in the park, and the park brought in professional service institutions to conduct concept validation and tailor financing plans for it, ultimately building a production line with an annual output of 30,000 tons of food-grade nanocellulose.
The transformation of scientific and technological achievements has its objective laws. In developing new quality productive forces (新质生产力), the greatest fear is the "big commotion" style of chasing trends and the "short, flat, fast" style of demanding returns. Nurturing seedlings without forcing them to ripen is the true meaning of incubation; only by tolerating ten years of silence can one welcome 一鸣惊人 (yī míng jīng rén - "one cry startles people," to achieve a stunning success at the first attempt).
Go beyond physical accumulation, cultivate an ecosystem of mutual achievement. The value of a resource aggregation zone lies not in "how many institutions there are," but in "what collisions these institutions can produce." The green channel for rapid patent pre-examination shortens the authorization time from one to two years to about two months, and one technology company obtained invention authorization in just 34 days. On a track where every second counts, this wins researchers a precious window for transformation. The park has launched products such as "all-risk laboratory insurance" and "insurance for losses from failed implementation of patented scientific and technological achievements," and has signed more than 80 intellectual property insurance policies for 50 park enterprises. This weaves a fault-tolerant protective net for innovation activities, giving researchers greater confidence to dare to be first in the world.
The more one pursues high-quality development, the more one must cultivate a vibrant, tropical-rainforest-like innovation ecosystem that allows "chemical reactions" among elements. Build a first-class park, strive for first-class progress, achieve "ecological niche" complementarity and symbiosis, and only then can the seeds of innovation receive rich nourishment.
From original achievements in the laboratory to finalized samples on the pilot line, from the landing and transformation of individual technologies to the birth of full-chain innovation industry clusters, every leap in scientific and technological innovation cannot be separated from the courage to break down barriers, the wisdom to cultivate "full-chain companionship," and the foresight to nurture a symbiotic ecosystem. Use reform to clear the blockages and sticking points constraining the development of new quality productive forces, use services to stitch together the fault lines between technology and industry, let the seeds of innovation gather momentum and grow upward in symbiotic fertile soil, and we will surely nurture the vigorous vitality of high-quality development.
(The author is a reporter from this newspaper's Tianjin branch.)
Return to TopBy: 许 菲
DeepSeek's open-source large model has risen to the top of the global rankings for large-model token usage; robots developed by Chinese enterprises traverse high-risk areas of Swiss nuclear power plants, replacing humans in routine inspection work; the innovative drug fruquintinib from Shanghai has been included in globally authoritative treatment guidelines... At present, emerging industries represented by robotics, artificial intelligence, and innovative drugs are winning recognition in overseas markets with solid technical strength, becoming new calling cards of Chinese industry.
At the same time, traditional industries such as clothing, home appliances, and furniture are equally confident. In the first half of this year, home appliance exports exceeded 360 billion yuan, and furniture exports have seen positive growth for five consecutive months... New calling cards and old nameplates complement each other, and the story of Chinese industry continues to be written.
"Developing new quality productive forces does not mean ignoring or abandoning traditional industries." How to achieve "welcoming the new without tiring of the old," allowing emerging industries and traditional industries to each find their proper place and reinforce one another, tests development wisdom and bears on the overall strategic picture.
Amplify advantages, climbing higher through deep cultivation.
After 711 experiments and overcoming more than 450 technical challenges, Shanxi Taigang identified, from among more than 40,000 combinations of roller arrangements, the method capable of rolling "hand-tearable steel." Today, "hand-tearable steel" products are widely used in fields such as photovoltaic modules and display screens.
From weightlifting shoes with "ton-class" load-bearing capacity to short-track speed skating suits with 360-degree full-body cut resistance... Anta Group has been deeply engaged in sports footwear and apparel for more than 30 years, and its brand influence continues to expand.
Those who cultivate deeply can open up new horizons from the smallest margins. Refine products to the utmost, master technology thoroughly, and mature fields can likewise produce new champions.
China possesses the world's most complete system of industrial categories. The scale advantages and systemic advantages accumulated through long-term industrial development are difficult for latecomers to replicate. Weifang in Shandong deepens its engagement in power equipment, Quanzhou in Fujian strengthens its textile, footwear, and apparel sectors, Foshan in Guangdong burnishes its home appliance brand... By building on local endowments to lengthen their strong points, industries with deep accumulated foundations contain even greater potential. By adapting measures to local conditions and tailoring policies to specific industries, traditional industries will continuously radiate new vitality.
Adapt to prevailing trends, reshaping through integration.
In Shaoxing, Zhejiang, printing and dyeing workshops have been connected to AI (artificial intelligence) large models; in Fuling, Chongqing, digital technology helps nearly 20,000 vegetable farmers "grow vegetables in the palm of their hands"; at the Yulong Copper Mine in Tibet, driverless mining trucks load and unload ore at an altitude of 5,000 meters... New technologies cannot land without the rich application scenarios of traditional industries, and the renewal of traditional industries equally calls for empowerment by new technologies. The two are moving toward each other, reshaping the face of Chinese manufacturing.
General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized "promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of industries." Cultivating smart factories at successive levels, with new installations of industrial robots accounting for more than half of the global total, and integrating clean production, energy conservation, and consumption reduction throughout the entire production process... In practice, the pain points of the industrial front line set the direction for scientific and technological innovation, and technological breakthroughs in turn open new space for industrial development. Going forward, by pooling strength and pursuing integrated innovation, the overall efficacy of the industrial system will continue to leap upward.
Build momentum, reaching far through accumulation.
Industrial upgrading is a long-distance race. Without the effort of "accumulating every half step," it is difficult to achieve the leap of "reaching a thousand li." China's new energy vehicle production and sales have ranked first globally for many consecutive years, underpinned by a complete supply chain covering power batteries, motors, and electronic controls. What supports the massive computing power behind the rapid rise of China's AI large-model capabilities is the moderately forward-deployed ultra-high-voltage power grid and clean energy system. A complete industrial chain, solid foundational research, and abundant infrastructure form the common foundation for both old and new industries.
Basic components, key materials, and fundamental processes — the work of tackling them must not slacken for a single day; computing power, data, energy, and other new types of infrastructure — their deployment must not be delayed by a single step. The more invisible "painstaking effort" invested today, the more visible competitiveness there will be tomorrow. Maintaining historical patience, thickening the foundation, and building ample momentum are the keys to seizing strategic initiative amid global industrial transformation.
Amplify advantages to consolidate the foundation, adapt to prevailing trends to break new ground, build momentum to reach far. By identifying the right position and grasping the right rhythm in the dialectic between old and new, the competitiveness of Chinese industry will surely continue to climb to new heights.
The summer fishing moratorium is of great significance for sustainable development. As the fishing season opens, the fishery shifts from the "conservation period" to the "fishing period," and the docks are bustling: fishermen are racing against time to replenish supplies, and maritime authorities are carrying out escort operations for the opening of the fishing season. Taking the opening of the fishing season as an opportunity, many localities have launched a series of activities to stimulate consumption vitality across the entire region.
This is precisely:
A thousand sails stir at the harbor port,
Vitality gathers at the waterfront.
All parties join hands together,
To jointly support new prospects for fishing.
Xu Zhiwen (徐之文)
Return to TopBy: 臧 博
During the summer vacation, enthusiasm for tourism in Chongqing ran high. Many visitors strolled through the mountain city and checked in at scenic spots, using their cameras to capture the small parks along the river, the concerts under the bridges, the courts or night markets at street corners. Idle micro-spaces and "corner plots" have become highlights of the city; the "embroidery skill" exercised within these small patches has also made the mountain city's landscape more tangible and its everyday street life more moving.
An "8D" metropolis, the city is embedded between mountains and waters — this is Chongqing's urban form. Its special topography and landforms have created a unique mountain-city landscape, but have also brought with them a large number of idle spaces. Today, scattered across the central urban area are tens of millions of square meters of "corner plots," under-bridge spaces, and other resources. Leaving them "idle" without use is a waste and a pity; put "corner" spaces to good use, and turn "idle" into treasure.
Turning "idle" into treasure requires scientific coordination. Though all are idle, different plots have their own characteristics, and different "corners" have their own ways of being transformed. Take "awakening" idle under-bridge spaces as an example: Chongqing's approach is to organically integrate the efficient use of idle urban spaces with the nationwide fitness campaign. Multiple departments have joined forces to compile and issue the Guidelines for Planning and Building Sports Facilities in Under-Bridge Spaces in Chongqing's Central Urban Area (桥·渝动空间——重庆市中心城区桥下空间体育设施规划建设指引), rationally utilizing the abundant under-bridge space resources of the central urban area to create sports grounds at the doorsteps of residents. Badminton courts, basketball courts, table tennis tables... one sports venue after another, right under the bridges, right at hand.
Serving both urban governance and tangible benefits for the people is a common feature of many localities' efforts to renovate "corner" resources. For example, "ten minutes of driving, half an hour of looking for a parking spot" was once a real pain point for many drivers. To address this, Chongqing has not only incorporated the construction of micro parking lots into the scope of the city's key livelihood projects, but also encouraged all districts and counties to make good use of "corner plots" and idle spaces according to local conditions. At the Xiangguosi Wharf on Beibin Road in Liangjiang New Area, behind the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Jiulongpo District, and near many rail transit stations, micro parking lots can be seen. The ever-denser network of micro parking lots has solved the big problem of parking for residents and has also given the previously idle "corner plots" new functions and new roles.
Though "corners" are small, they are also an organic part of the city. Used well, they can showcase the city's charm and benefit residents' lives; used poorly, they may backfire. Therefore, whether it is renovating slopes, cliffs, and embankments or awakening under-bridge spaces, whether it is building "pocket parks" or night markets, the development of "corners" must answer one question well: how can it better benefit the people? From Yunyang County turning "corner plots" into "happiness gardens" for the masses and letting the people "place orders" for the renovation of idle plots, to Jiulongpo District transforming "scrap material" that had been fenced off under bridges for years into a national fitness park benefiting hundreds of thousands of residents, to Yuzhong District "inserting greenery wherever there is a gap" to create "pocket parks" — every one of these transformations of "corners" has been the result of asking the people about their needs and asking the people about results. Turning "idle" into treasure: the effect must be judged by the masses; the results of "corner" renewal must be reflected in the smiling faces of residents.
Though "corners" are small, they connect to major livelihood concerns; though the spaces are tiny, they reflect a great sense of commitment. We believe that more stories of turning "idle" into treasure will surely make the city's everyday vitality stronger and its sense of happiness greater, and make the small "corners" a "golden business card" of modern governance in a megacity.
(Excerpted and adapted from Chongqing Daily, original title: "Use 'Corners' Well, Turn 'Idle' into Treasure")
Return to TopBy: 谷一盈
During the 2026 summer film season, Eight Immortals! and Kung Fu Women's Football saw rising popularity, while The Annual Meeting Can't Stop! 2 sparked discussion. These works cover vastly different subject matter, yet share a common trait: they turn their lens on the joys and sorrows, the ups and downs, and the persistent dedication of ordinary people. The creators avoid vague, empty storytelling, basing themselves in real life to depict the varied fates of everyday figures. This down-to-earth mode of expression has won audience approval.
Once upon a time, Hollywood-style individual hero narratives—heavy on flashy special effects and superpowers—were highly sought after in the market. Today, digital technology and AI tools are constantly iterating, and technical means grow ever more powerful, but what truly strikes a chord in people's hearts is always the fundamental color of human nature. Contemporary audiences are increasingly drawn to secular stories close to their own lives and flesh-and-blood civilian heroes. In Ne Zha: The Devil Child Comes to the Sea, Ne Zha is not omnipotent, nor is his personality flawless, but his vivid, three-dimensional characterization has won the favor of countless viewers. Clearly, taking root in real life and evoking widespread emotional resonance has already become the key to a literary or artistic work being both critically acclaimed and commercially successful.
The shift in market trends stems from the improvement of the public's appreciation ability and the change in the perspective from which the younger generation observes the times. More fundamentally, China's rapidly evolving development practices provide fertile soil and abundant creative resources for literary and artistic works. Minning Town relies on the great practice of poverty alleviation to restore the struggles and transformations on the rural land; The Leading Role relies on the inheritance and changes of the opera industry to record the era's tableau of cultural workers taking root in their profession and staying true to their original aspirations; Like a Flowing River closely follows the wave of reform and opening up, chronicling the growth trajectory of ordinary people keeping pace with the times and chasing their dreams. The stage of the era is vast and boundless, the pulse of life is ceaseless, and only by bending down to get close to reality, extracting material and refining stories from the烟火 (yān huǒ - "smoke and fire," the hustle and bustle of everyday life) of the human world, can creators polish high-quality literary and artistic works that carry warmth, possess strength, and withstand the test of time.
Ordinary people have not only become the protagonists of literary and artistic narratives, but also the protagonists of literary and artistic creation, bearing witness to the vigorous growth of cultural confidence. The new mass literature and art that has risen in recent years is a highly representative phenomenon. "Courier poet" Wang Jibing observes the human world and contemplates life during his busy delivery trips, writing moving poems and winning the Lu Xun Literature Prize. Numerous intangible cultural heritage inheritors and folk artists pick up their phones to create, showcasing their craftsmanship and the myriad aspects of everyday life. These literary and artistic works originating from ordinary people and from the soil not only captivate domestic audiences and readers, but also win over large numbers of fans on overseas platforms, revealing the charm of Chinese culture abroad and letting the world see a real and lovely China. When the joys and sorrows of ordinary people are written down in words and depicted through light and shadow, Chinese stories possess the power to move the world; cultural confidence takes root here, and cultural influence quietly sets sail overseas.
Someone asked artificial intelligence: Will you replace my creative work? The answer: No, because I cannot experience the authentic feelings of the sweet and sour, bitter and spicy in your daily life. Technology can polish images and build scenes, but it cannot replicate human emotion—and the source of creative inspiration lies precisely here. By creating literary and artistic works on the soil of the motherland, and using the faint light of ordinary people to illuminate the mountains and rivers of the era, literature and art can display their most profound and most moving power.
(The author is a teacher in the Literature Department of the Beijing Film Academy and a film and television screenwriter)
Return to TopThis section's email: rmrbpl@peopledaily.cn
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By: 本报记者 王 珂
The domestic services industry is an important livelihood sector, playing a significant role in improving people's livelihoods, stabilizing and expanding employment, promoting integrated urban-rural development, and driving consumption expansion. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce, together with multiple departments, issued the "Several Policy Measures on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Domestic Services Industry," putting forward 19 specific measures across 5 aspects including increasing support for domestic service enterprises. What concrete actions are being taken to increase the supply of quality domestic services? How can the role of the domestic services credit information platform be better leveraged? Our reporter conducted in-depth interviews.
——Editor
How to resolve "small, scattered, and chaotic"
Cultivate brand enterprises and promote standardization
"Finding a nanny is difficult, and finding a good nanny is even more difficult" was once a real concern for many families. With the improvement of residents' living standards and changes in population structure, consumer demand for domestic services is shifting from "whether it exists" to "whether it is good," with a clear trend toward personalization, quality, and diversification.
In recent years, China's domestic services industry has developed rapidly, with more than 30 million domestic service workers and an industry scale exceeding 1.3 trillion yuan. Compared with the robust market demand, the problem of insufficient supply of quality services remains prominent, and "pain points" such as opaque pricing and difficulty in verifying personnel credentials still exist, becoming "stumbling blocks" on the road to high-quality industry development.
On one side is upgrading demand; on the other is the supply shortfall. How to break through?
In response to new trends, policies have launched a "combined punch." Kong Dejun, Director of the Department of Trade in Services and Commercial Services of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced that in terms of increasing policy support, domestic service enterprises will be supported in innovating service models, exploring smart scenarios, and expanding home-based elderly care and childcare services, cultivating a number of leading domestic service brand enterprises.
Targeting the "pain point" of opaque pricing, the "Several Policy Measures on Promoting High-Quality Development of the Domestic Services Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Several Policy Measures") proposes strengthening price supervision, requiring domestic service enterprises that implement tiered management of domestic service personnel and differentiate prices accordingly to establish reasonable tier standards based on key information such as practitioners' years of experience, work history, skill certification, and user evaluations, and to clearly price them for consumers.
For a long time, the domestic services industry has been "small, scattered, and chaotic," not only failing to meet consumers' daily needs but also unable to provide long-term, stable training of service personnel skills, service process control, and after-sales guarantees.
Earlier this year, the "Work Plan on Accelerating the Cultivation of New Growth Points in Service Consumption" issued by the General Office of the State Council clearly proposed promoting the transformation of intermediary-type domestic service enterprises to employee-based systems and cultivating a number of leading enterprises in the domestic services industry. At present, many domestic service enterprises are already exploring ways to establish themselves through professionalism, set rules through standards, and improve efficiency through digitalization, continuously expanding development space.
Standardization is a key support for industrial upgrading. Kong Dejun said that in recent years, the Ministry of Commerce, together with relevant departments, has incorporated home cleaning, childcare, elderly care, institutional grading evaluation, domestic service training, and domestic service informatization into the scope of key standard formulation and revision, formulating a total of 7 national standards and 17 industry standards in the domestic services field. Since 2021, 39 enterprises have been supported in participating in national standardization pilot projects in the domestic services field, gradually forming a comprehensive, multi-level, and multi-dimensional standard system.
Next, the Ministry of Commerce will work with relevant departments to guide the formulation of standards for home-based elderly care, organization and storage, and digitalization of domestic service enterprises, better leveraging the foundational and leading role of standardization in improving quality and expanding capacity of domestic services, and accelerating the high-quality development of the domestic services industry.
How can practitioners have prospects and dignity
Improve social security and enrich the supply of training resources
The domestic services industry is connected on one side to livelihood expectations and on the other to employment needs. At present, the market scale of China's domestic services industry has entered the trillion-yuan level, absorbing a large amount of labor employment. However, problems such as weak professional identity, insufficient social security, and limited channels for skill improvement constrain the stable growth of the practitioner workforce. The "Several Policy Measures" focuses on pain points and holds up a "protection umbrella" for practitioners.
Targeting the problems of high rates of flexible employment and relatively low insurance participation rates among domestic service personnel, the "Several Policy Measures" proposes improving the social security system for flexible employment personnel and increasing the insurance participation rate of flexibly employed domestic service personnel. It guides domestic service platform enterprises to support flexibly employed domestic service personnel in participating in employee-based pension insurance and medical insurance through methods such as "individual voluntariness + platform subsidies."
Wen Siyao, Deputy Director of the Department of Medical Services Management of the National Healthcare Security Administration, said that in 2025, the number of flexibly employed and other personnel, including domestic service personnel, participating in employee-based medical insurance reached 69.82 million, an increase of more than 20 million compared with the early period of the "14th Five-Year Plan." To encourage flexibly employed personnel and those in new forms of employment to participate in basic medical insurance, the National Healthcare Security Administration is planning to launch special actions, solidly advancing the work of expanding and improving the quality of medical insurance participation, and enhancing the sense of medical insurance gain for relevant service personnel.
Vocational skills are the foundation of domestic service personnel. Regarding strengthening vocational skills training, Kong Dejun stated that the supply of vocational skills training resources will be enriched, cooperation between schools and enterprises in building industry-education integration communities and vocational colleges in building industry-education integration training bases will be supported, and talent cultivation models will be innovated; the vocational skills evaluation system will be improved, national vocational standards related to domestic services will be updated in a timely manner, and the methods for vocational skill level certification will be optimized.
Lin Shuli, Deputy Director and First-Level Inspector of the Department of Migrant Workers of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, stated that the supply of vocational skills training resources will be enriched; the survey of workers' willingness to participate in employment training will be further strengthened; and the "job demand + skills training + skills evaluation + employment services" four-in-one project-based training model will be comprehensively promoted to improve the quality and effectiveness of vocational skills training.
The new profession of long-term care practitioner is growing rapidly. Wen Siyao said that the National Healthcare Security Administration is actively working with relevant departments to build the new profession of long-term care practitioner closely linked with long-term care insurance, promoting the establishment of a professional service team. As of the end of June this year, the number of certified long-term care practitioners nationwide has exceeded 50,000, and various localities are actively exploring ways such as establishing differentiated payment mechanisms for long-term care insurance linked to vocational skill levels to encourage more practitioners to improve their skills, so that quality service talent can be attracted, retained, and well utilized.
How to enhance mutual trust between service providers and consumers
Continuously optimize and upgrade the domestic services credit platform
Information asymmetry is a long-standing pain point in the domestic services market. Consumers cannot understand the true background of service personnel, and service quality is difficult to trace — these problems all constrain the healthy development of the industry. As key infrastructure for promoting worry-free consumption of domestic services, the domestic services credit information platform is being continuously optimized and upgraded, building a "bridge of trust" between consumers and service providers.
Kong Dejun said that in recent years, the Ministry of Commerce has continuously optimized and improved the credit system for the domestic services industry, establishing "one database (information database), two terminals (domestic service worker terminal and consumer terminal), and one network (data network)," realizing functions such as registration, information sharing, data inquiry, and online training. As of now, the platform has collected credit information on more than 20,000 enterprises and over 9 million domestic service workers.
On this basis, platform construction is making continuous efforts in 3 directions——
"Unobtrusive" process. Organize domestic service enterprises to systematically sort out pain points and difficulties in the inquiry process, embed the registration and use process of domestic service personnel into the business management processes of domestic service enterprises, realizing the integration of "consumers placing orders, domestic service enterprises dispatching orders, service workers accepting orders and simultaneously authorizing inquiries, and directly pushing inquiry results to consumers," minimizing duplicate reporting and application by domestic service enterprises and domestic service workers to the greatest extent possible.
"Value-added" information. Improve the inter-departmental information sharing mechanism, establish and improve the domestic services credit information platform system with the Domestic Services Credit Check as the "mother platform," construct an architecture model of "Domestic Services Credit Check + departmental authoritative data + local government affairs information + enterprise application evaluation," and integrate objective credit information from government departments with subjective evaluation information from business operators in accordance with laws and regulations, providing effective decision-making references for consumers placing orders.
"Inclusive" services. For domestic service enterprises with relatively large transaction volumes, proactively connect and coordinate data interface solutions one-on-one. For small and medium-sized domestic service enterprises, actively promote third-party platforms to establish standardized interface solutions and support small and medium-sized domestic service enterprises in joining the platform. Give full play to the role of women's federations and other mass organizations, publicize the "Domestic Services Credit Check" APP and mini-program, and guide women engaged in domestic services to register and use the domestic services credit information platform.
Domestic services are a sunrise industry and also a project of love. As various policies and measures take effect, the domestic services industry will develop better in the direction of standardization, professionalization, and industrialization, providing higher-quality and more reassuring life services for thousands of households, and creating more decent employment and income-increasing opportunities for the broad workforce, truly doing this mutually beneficial livelihood work well.
(Zhao Yuqi participated in the reporting and writing)
By: 本报记者 孙海天
Currently, the rambutan orchards beneath Qixian Ridge (七仙岭) in Baoting Li and Miao Autonomous County (保亭黎族苗族自治县), Hainan Province, have entered the peak harvest season. Egg-sized fruits hang in clusters, weighing down the branches; soft spines densely cover the red shells as they peek out from among the deep green leaves. Just as dawn breaks, fruit farmers move through the trees, deftly cutting whole bunches of fruit, loading them into baskets, weighing them, and loading them onto cold-chain trucks for shipment to various destinations that very day.
Since its introduction in 1960, this "imported fruit" has taken root in the mountain basin for 66 years. The rambutan planting area across Baoting County exceeds 50,000 mu, with annual output value surpassing 660 million yuan, driving income growth for more than 6,600 farming households. It has become the nation's largest rambutan production area with the most complete industrial chain, accounting for over 90 percent of national output.
An "imported" seed grows into a pillar industry
Rambutan and lychee both belong to the Sapindaceae family, with similar fruit shapes; rambutan is also known as "hairy lychee." In 1960, the Baoting Tropical Crops Research Institute (保亭热带作物研究所) of the Hainan Agricultural Reclamation System (海南农垦系统) introduced a batch of rambutan seedlings from Malaysia. In 1966, the seedlings flowered and bore fruit — the introduction was successful.
Rambutan thrives in high temperatures and humidity, and fears wind and cold. Baoting is situated at approximately 18 degrees north latitude, surrounded by mountains, with a long summer and no winter, and abundant rainfall. In China, the areas where rambutan can flower and bear fruit normally are concentrated south of Wuzhi Mountain in Hainan Province; for large-scale cultivation, essentially only Baoting is suitable.
The fruits introduced in the early years were small, sour and astringent, with thin flesh; by 1995, only about 400 mu of scientific research trial fields remained in the county. In 1997, Baoting adjusted its agricultural structure, listing this tropical fruit as a pillar industry, and large-scale cultivation has since expanded.
In May 2022, the provincial-level rambutan germplasm resource nursery was established; the 44.4-mu garden preserves 440 plants of germplasm resources with different traits — fruit shapes round and flat, skins water-red and vivid yellow. Several mother trees planted more than 60 years ago remain vigorous to this day — thick, straight, and three to four stories tall.
Evaluating germplasm requires not only measuring objective data but also assessing taste and flavor. "Eating rambutan every day, eventually my mouth couldn't taste anything anymore," said Cui Zhifu (崔志富), a researcher at the Hainan Academy of Agricultural Reclamation Sciences (海南省农垦科学院). From this resource nursery have successively emerged more than ten promotable varieties including the "Baoyan" series. Researchers are continuing to breed in the direction of seedlessness, storage and transport tolerance, and disease resistance.
Science and Technology Backyard (科技小院) stationed on site; technological improvement and upgrading
Rambutan is delicate; two days at room temperature after harvest, the soft spines on the shell begin to turn black, and the sales radius was once unable to extend beyond Hainan Island.
In November 2023, the Hainan Baoting Rambutan Science and Technology Backyard was established; Zhang Weimin (张伟敏), a professor at the College of Food Science and Engineering of Hainan University, led a group of doctoral and master's students into townships and villages. A total of 436 faculty and students have successively served at the Baoting station, carrying out systematic research on variety improvement, green cultivation, and fresh-keeping processing.
At the 150-mu demonstration base of Shengli Team, Nanmao Community (南茂社区), Jiamao Town (加茂镇), the team developed "light-simplified tree shape" pruning and scientific flower- and fruit-thinning techniques; ventilation and light penetration in the trees improved, and the rate of marketable fruit rose markedly. Old trees were grafted with quality scions through crown replacement, and low-yield orchards regained vitality. "After grafting, the yield doubled and the quality improved too," said fruit farmer Lu Wenke (卢文科).
Among the fruit trees, white trapping bottles hang at staggered intervals. The sex pheromones released from the bottles precisely trap male oriental fruit flies. "We use attractants, yellow sticky boards, and entomopathogenic fungi to build an ecological prevention and control system centered on biological control," said Wen Jian (温健), a teacher at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Forestry of Hainan University, who has been working in Baoting's fields on pest control experiments since 2022; field control efficiency has reached 78 percent.
In April this year, the rambutan flowering and young-fruit period encountered sustained high temperatures; the county meteorological bureau, the Science and Technology Backyard, and the county agricultural service center jointly issued prevention and control measures. "After taking timely measures, the fruit-setting rate was secured; this year's overall rambutan output will certainly surpass last year's," said Xie Junhai (谢军海), an agronomist at the county agricultural service center.
The most critical breakthrough is in fresh-keeping. The team uses slightly acidic electrolyzed water to inhibit peel browning, then uses melatonin to delay fruit senescence, extending rambutan's room-temperature shelf life from 3 days to more than 5 days.
Selling by grade, selling through processing — the chain grows ever longer
Growing well is not enough; it must also sell well. "When I first came back, Baoting rambutan was three or four yuan per jin; as soon as large volumes hit the market, it would pile up unsold," recalled Song Haiman (宋海漫), president of the Baoting E-commerce Association (保亭电子商务协会). In 2014, Song Haiman, a graduate of China Agricultural University, returned to her hometown to start a business, putting rambutan on e-commerce shelves. With standardized fruit selection and branded packaging, rambutan quickly opened up sales channels online; the county's annual e-commerce shipment volume exceeds 1.2 million parcels.
After short videos rose to prominence, some livestream hosts broadcast every day from rambutan's market debut to the end of the harvest season. The purchase price rose from 4 to 6 yuan per jin to an average of 10 yuan; Huang Chaohua (黄朝花), a fruit farmer in Shirang Village (石让村), Xinzheng Town (新政镇), said that this year's purchase price for good-quality fruit has reached 12 yuan per jin.
Grading and classifying lets good fruit fetch good prices. The Science and Technology Backyard produced a grading plan: premium fruit weighing over 60 grams per fruit goes to the high-end market; commodity fruit of 45 to 60 grams goes to daily retail; anything smaller goes to the processing workshop.
One fruit has made a city famous. After the Shanhai Expressway opened to traffic, the drive from Baoting to Sanya takes only half an hour; the rambutan harvest season has been held for several consecutive sessions, bringing tourists into the orchards. "Last year, the county received nearly 4 million tourist visits," said Zeng Yongli (曾永丽), deputy general manager of Hainan Baofa Holdings Group (海南保发控股集团).
"Technological research results cannot be locked away in papers; they must go to market," said Zhang Weimin. Seeds are used to extract starch and oils, peels to extract anthocyanins for skincare products, and flesh to make fruit wine, yogurt, and canned goods; the team has launched more than ten deep-processing products, driving an increase of about 30 percent in industrial added value.
"In the future, I hope to build a full-chain technological system from germplasm resources to intensive processing, so that this 'ruby' shines ever brighter in Baoting," said Zhang Weimin.
Return to TopRecently, tourists rested inside a karst cave in Guilin City, Guangxi. Many localities in Guangxi are fully tapping into the potential of caves, carrying out reasonable development while doing solid protection work, transforming mountain and wilderness resources into cultural tourism projects.
Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Ailin (张爱林)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 韩 鑫
“A 200,000 yuan loan, credited in 3 days!”
It is the height of the summer grain purchase season. Ma Shenghe, a grain storage and purchasing household in Jianglou Town, Dong'e County, Shandong, looked at the credit notification and breathed a sigh of relief. In the past, when applying for a loan, the application materials had to be reviewed by both the bank and the guarantee company, and it took more than ten days to complete the process; now that the information is connected, it takes only 3 days from application to disbursement. “Not a single grain of wheat spoiled — it all went into the warehouse!” Ma Shenghe said.
The upgrade in Ma Shenghe's loan experience benefited from the system-to-system connection between the Shandong Branch of Postal Savings Bank of China and Shandong Agricultural Development Credit Guarantee Co., Ltd. — when the bank enters information, the guarantee company receives it simultaneously; when the guarantee company completes its review, the bank knows immediately. By turning “manual legwork” into “data running,” the originally cumbersome loan process has been compressed to within 3 working days, and the financing turnaround cycle has been shortened by more than 70 percent.
For a long time, rural finance has faced pain points such as information asymmetry, a lack of collateral, and high operational costs. In recent years, Postal Savings Bank of China has built a solid “digital-intelligent” technology foundation, introduced big data, artificial intelligence, and other new technologies into the entire process of agriculture-related finance, used digital-intelligent technology to analyze customer profiles, constructed proprietary risk prediction models, and proactively extended credit to whitelisted customers with automatic system approval, achieving the transformation from “only those with collateral can borrow” to “those with good credit can borrow.”
In Heilongjiang, Postal Savings Bank of China launched the “Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Loan,” integrating information on land rights confirmation, contracted management, and production subsidies to create precise profiles of growers; in Xinjiang, the bank launched the “Postal Cotton Express Loan,” connecting to national cotton trading market data, with on-the-spot acceptance and on-the-spot credit extension, serving more than 5,600 cotton farmers cumulatively; in Shaanxi, the Ankang Langao sub-branch innovatively launched the “Selenium-rich Konjac Loan,” connecting to the konjac industry chain market whitelist data, promoting the implementation of the “farmers + cooperatives + enterprises” model. As of early July this year, various types of loans totaling more than 56 million yuan have been disbursed cumulatively, with an average per-household income increase of nearly 8,000 yuan.
Industrial revitalization is the top priority of comprehensive rural revitalization. From passive “blood transfusion” to active “blood production,” in recent years, Postal Savings Bank of China has taken “serving strong counties and prosperous towns” as its starting point, precisely identifying 110 key counties with stable industrial development and strong financial demand, concentrating resources to build a “vanguard formation,” and committing to upgrading counties from “base areas” to “growth poles.”
In Fujian, facing industrial clusters worth hundreds of billions of yuan in shoe materials, textiles, and other sectors, the Jinjiang City sub-branch drew up an “industrial finance map,” proactively connecting with industrial demand, promoting the implementation of the “Fu·Shang” industry loan (Jinjiang shoe materials) featured product, and embedding a combined package of “credit + settlement + wealth management” into the entire process of enterprise procurement, production, and sales, supporting the development of local characteristic industries.
In Jiangsu, the Dongtai sub-branch formulated a precise development strategy of “one bank, one policy.” For example, the Shiyan outlet within its jurisdiction focuses on the stainless steel and grain broker industries, the Anfeng outlet deepens its work in sheep farming and transportation logistics, and the Fuan outlet focuses on chicken farming and agricultural by-products — truly achieving “one town, one industry, one product.”
“By dividing the county economy into four categories — agriculture-led, industry-intensive, major key-project-driven, and park-driven — and matching them with differentiated loan policies, providing precise services of ‘one chain, one policy’ and ‘one cluster, one policy,’ we have effectively boosted the rapid development of county characteristic industries,” said a relevant person in charge of Postal Savings Bank of China.
Data show that as of the end of June this year, the balance of agriculture-related loans at Postal Savings Bank of China exceeded 2.6 trillion yuan, inclusive agriculture-related loans exceeded 1 trillion yuan, and the combined balance of various loans in 160 national key assistance counties for rural revitalization exceeded 80 billion yuan. In the next step, Postal Savings Bank of China will continue to leverage the power of digital inclusive finance, allowing the living water of finance to continuously nourish the fields, and become a key fulcrum for activating the vitality of the county economy.
Report from our newspaper, Beijing, August 16 (Reporter Lin Lili (林丽鹂)) — Livelihood metrology is a key line of defense for safeguarding fair market transactions and protecting consumers' legitimate rights and interests. From January to July this year, the State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局) newly approved the establishment of 36 measurement standards, an increase of 33.3% compared with the same period last year; newly approved the establishment of 704 national reference materials, an increase of 73.8% compared with the same period last year.
Opening up the "quantity value transmission channel" and upgrading the measurement standards system at all levels. In the environmental monitoring field, 16 measurement standards and 6 social public measurement standards were newly established, improving verification capabilities for waste gas, water quality, and dust monitoring equipment; in the medical and health field, 10 measurement standards and 6 social public measurement standards were newly established, filling the calibration shortcomings of equipment such as immunity, nucleic acid, and ventilator equipment; in the safety protection and trade settlement fields, 10 measurement standards and 9 social public measurement standards were newly established, optimizing and improving the metrology system in livelihood fields, letting precise metrology services sink down to the grassroots and cover the front line.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 赵 兵 鲜 敢
Recently, the issue of "AB goods" (AB货) in e-commerce has sparked heated discussion. Some readers and netizens have reported that products sold on e-commerce platforms labeled as the same model as those in physical stores turn out to be quite different upon receipt; there are also merchants who "serve different dishes to different people" — for the same product, the same price, and the same link, they send high-quality goods to first-tier cities and downgraded goods to county towns and rural areas... Does the phenomenon of "AB goods" — same model but different quality — exist across online and offline channels and different regions? A reporter conducted an investigation and interviews.
Same model, different quality online and offline; different products for different shipping addresses, leaving consumers feeling deceived
The development of e-commerce platforms has brought great convenience to consumer shopping. Compared with physical stores, online shopping prices are more favorable, giving consumers real benefits. Some consumers who are 精打细算 (jīng dǎ xì suàn - "careful calculation," meticulous budgeting) choose to select goods in offline stores and then purchase the same model online. However, are online and offline truly the "same model"?
Netizen Ms. Li once tried on a pair of branded shoes in a physical store and found them comfortable and of good quality. Later, she saw the same style at a lower price on the brand's official store on a platform and placed an order online. Unexpectedly, upon receiving the goods, she found that compared with the shoes she had tried on in the physical store, the received shoes were somewhat grayish in color and not as soft to the touch.
Ms. Li felt she had encountered "AB goods." What caused her psychological gap was not just the difference in the shoes themselves, but also the collapse of her trust in the "brand's official store." "Generally, when consumers see the same brand, the same style, and purchase from the brand's official store, they naturally assume it should be the same thing," Ms. Li said. In her view, products can differ due to channels, prices, and batches, but if the online and offline versions are indeed different, that should be clearly indicated in advance, allowing consumers to decide whether to purchase.
Mr. Wang from Chaoyang District, Beijing, had a similar experience. "I went to a physical store to buy a famous-brand lamp. I opened the online shopping platform on the spot to compare the model number, style, and price, and found that the model number was the same, but the price difference was huge — the online one was much cheaper," Mr. Wang said. "The physical store owner told me that the same model number actually has two versions, one for online and one for offline, and pointed out the subtle differences. Only then did I learn that this was deliberately designed by the manufacturer."
Multiple interviewees mentioned that for consumers, differences in online and offline prices, production batches, or even product versions are not entirely unacceptable. What truly affects the consumption experience is that the page information appears clear before ordering, but only upon receipt do consumers discover key differences that were not clearly indicated, creating a sense of "being deceived."
Some consumers also suspect that ordering the same product from different regions or shipping addresses may correspond to different sources of supply or different batches. A netizen reported that they separately ordered the same model of cutting board from the same store on a platform at different times. The first time, the shipping address was a provincial capital city, and the received product matched the description; the second time, the shipping address was changed to a county town, and upon receipt, both the material and the handle differed from the previous one, leading to suspicion of an "AB goods" problem.
Zhizhi, a consumer from Shandong, purchased two hair clips from an online store, using a provincial capital address and a township hometown address respectively, ordering the same product from the same link. She found that the hair clip received at her hometown was noticeably smaller than the one received at the provincial capital. The online store's customer service argued that it was "a different batch." After a complaint, the platform said it would urge the merchant to make corrections.
Is it legal and compliant for merchants to sell "AB goods"?
Su Haopeng (苏号朋), professor at the Law School of the University of International Business and Economics and director of the Consumer Protection Law Research Center, believes that differences in the same brand's products online and offline do not in themselves necessarily constitute a legal problem. Brands launching differentiated products such as "e-commerce exclusive models" and "offline exclusive models" based on channel strategy, cost structure, marketing positioning, and other factors is a market operation behavior.
"What truly constitutes a problem is when merchants exploit information asymmetry to mislead consumers into a mistaken perception of product quality," Su Haopeng said. The key to distinguishing normal differences from misleading behavior lies in whether the merchant's information disclosure is truthful, comprehensive, and accurate. If the product's appearance and code are exactly the same as those in physical stores but the quality is significantly different, or if the merchant displays high-quality samples under the same link and price but actually ships lower-quality goods, using expressions such as "same model" or "same as store model" to obscure differences, this is suspected of misleading or even consumer fraud.
In reality, some merchants explain online-offline differences with reasons such as "different batches," "different supply chains," or "promotional models." Su Haopeng believes that batch differences themselves may be a normal phenomenon, but if such differences result in substantive differences in materials, performance, configuration, and other aspects of the product, and may affect consumers' purchasing decisions, merchants still have the obligation to proactively and clearly explain them so that consumers are informed.
A commercial relationship of oversupply, along with the industry's long-term low-price competition, has led some online stores to adopt "AB goods"
"Do merchants actually produce 'AB goods'?" "Selling at the same price, why would merchants design 'AB goods'?" Many consumers are puzzled.
"This situation does exist." Chen Yu (陈瑜), who has been engaged in clothing e-commerce in Guangdong and Zhejiang for 10 years, did not mince words. "Some stores do have sources of goods from different batches and different quality grades." But she denied distinguishing "AB goods" by region. "It's not just in remote areas — ordering from big cities can also result in receiving 'B goods.'" In Chen Yu's view, this phenomenon is a survival state formed by merchants under the industry's long-term low-price competition.
"In the past, the problem was not being able to find goods; now there are too many goods," Chen Yu said. Many factories have ample production capacity, and homogenization is severe — one style of clothing may be produced by dozens or even hundreds of factories simultaneously, creating enormous inventory pressure. "Many merchants are not thinking about how much money to make, but how to sell the goods." Against this backdrop, some merchants have begun to simultaneously operate sources of goods at different price points and quality levels to meet different market demands.
On the one hand, in reality, many stores' supply chains are unstable, with sources coming from different factories and different batches, making quality differences inevitable. On the other hand, policies such as seven-day no-reason returns force merchants to think about how to reduce consumer return rates.
Zhang Lei (张磊), an e-commerce practitioner in Nanjing's clothing industry, calculated the accounts for a reporter: for a women's garment priced at 100 yuan, the cost of goods typically accounts for 30% to 40%; platform commissions and technical service fees account for 5% to 10%; promotional advertising may account for 15% to 25%; warehousing, express delivery, packaging, and logistics costs from returns and exchanges account for 10% to 20%; in addition, there are labor, after-sales, and inventory loss costs. "Profit is sometimes only a few percentage points. Especially with the high return rate in clothing, if one item is returned, not only does that order make no money, but you may also lose money on round-trip shipping," Zhang Lei said.
Profit margins are being continuously squeezed, and this pressure directly transmits to the supply chain and quality control. Some merchants, in order to lower procurement costs, no longer bind themselves to a single factory long-term, but instead solicit quotes from multiple factories simultaneously, taking goods from whichever is cheapest; even with the same factory, different batches may use different fabrics, auxiliary materials, and processing techniques.
Zhang Lei said: "On the detail page, it looks like the same garment, but behind it there may be three or four factories and multiple production batches. Some merchants are not even able to inspect each item. If the previous batch was good quality, but the next batch changed the fabric or skipped a process step, what consumers receive will be different."
Industry insiders said that "same model, different quality" caused by fragmented supply chains and unstable batches differs in nature from merchants deliberately sending different quality goods based on address, price, or promotional intensity, but both objectively expose the weakness of quality control in e-commerce supply chains. "Cost pressure cannot be a reason for 以次充好 (yǐ cì chōng hǎo - "passing off inferior as superior," substituting shoddy goods for quality ones) or 货不对板 (huò bù duì bǎn - "goods not matching the sample board," delivering goods that do not match what was shown)."
Of course, some enterprises that sell the same model with different quality online and offline have already formed a relatively mature "AB goods" production, shipping, and marketing chain. Su Haopeng said that taking clothing as an example, on the production end, factories maintain at least two production lines: Line A uses good materials and good workmanship, with products for display or for shipping to big cities; Line B uses leftover materials and omits process steps, with products exclusively for lower-tier markets or promotional orders. On the shipping end, merchants distinguish "AB goods" shipping by looking at addresses, accounts, or coupons, as well as through drop-shipping models. On the marketing end, merchants' livestream rooms and detail pages display finely made "sample garments," i.e., "A goods," to attract consumers to place orders, and even use AI-generated model images, making what consumers "see" not necessarily the truth.
Hu Xiaowu (胡小武), associate professor at the School of Social Sciences, Nanjing University, believes that from a deeper perspective, the "AB goods" problem is a structural phenomenon formed by the combined effects of the platform economy, supply-demand imbalance, and consumer psychology. The "low price, high quality" consumption expectation that consumers have long formed objectively pushes merchants to continuously adjust toward lower costs. In this context, a large number of homogenized products flood the market, and some merchants, in order to compete for limited demand, have to weigh quality against cost, pushing the industry into a state of intense involution.
It is recommended that e-commerce platforms strengthen supervision, establish a reasonable price comparison mechanism, and jointly create an honest business environment
How should the "AB goods" chaos be addressed? Industry insiders and interviewed experts say that all parties need to coordinate to form an effective closed loop from rules to regulation.
Experts say that e-commerce platforms' revenue is highly dependent on user traffic, transaction volume, and commission deductions. Therefore, in the view of some platforms, supporting merchants in expanding transaction volume is more important than protecting consumer rights. And some merchants, even when complained about, can evade sustained accountability through refunds, compensation, delisting products, or changing stores, or evade governance by splitting links or changing main images. Thus, multiple factors — platforms not punishing severely, high consumer rights-protection costs, and difficulty in administrative enforcement evidence collection — combine, ultimately making the benefits of selling "AB goods" far greater than the risks for some merchants.
How should this problem be solved? Deng Shiming (邓世名), professor at the School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, believes that the definitional standard for "AB goods" should be clarified, distinguishing quality downgrades from normal batch differences, to provide sufficient and reasonable basis for law enforcement. Platforms could establish more effective spot-check mechanisms, conducting blind spot-checks on shipping quality of popular products. "For merchants suspected of selling 'AB goods,' platforms should, depending on the severity of the circumstances, take measures such as deducting points and reducing rankings, restricting new product listings, freezing deposits, raising deposit ratios, closing stores, and restricting associated account operations," Deng Shiming said.
Su Haopeng believes that if merchants ship different products online and offline, they should prominently mark version, batch, and configuration differences on the product page, and prohibit vague "same model" publicity; unify product code management and clearly inform consumers about channel-exclusive models; strengthen quality control to ensure that promotional descriptions match the actual products. Improve the mandatory information disclosure template, possibly by adding a "physical store comparison" prompt column, strengthening review of labels such as "same model" and "official genuine product," requiring merchants to upload test reports or batch descriptions, and downgrading or removing stores that repeatedly engage in vague publicity.
Regarding the price involution problem reported by industry insiders, Hu Xiaowu believes that "when an industry falls into intense involution, business ethics originally built on quality are easily eroded by the market logic of 'low price first.' Over time, not only will consumer rights be harmed, but it may also form a vicious cycle of bad money driving out good money, weakening the industry's capacity for innovation and brand upgrading."
Hu Xiaowu said that the platform economy needs to re-establish a balance among price, quality, and credit. He recommends that e-commerce platforms change the traffic allocation mechanism that "elevates low prices above all," strengthen regulation of tools such as "automatic price matching" and "whole-network price comparison," and incorporate product quality, complaint rates, return rates, after-sales dispute rates, spot-check results, and merchant credit records into the algorithmic evaluation system. "Let quality return to value itself, let integrity become the foundation of market competition again, and only then can the industry move from 'competing on price' to 'competing on quality,' forming a healthier development ecology," Hu Xiaowu said.
In addition, experts remind that consumers should also pay attention to retaining relevant evidence for rights protection when purchasing goods. For example, when experiencing products offline, proactively verify the product code and model number and keep photos of the actual items; before purchasing online, require customer service to clearly respond to differences in materials, place of origin, batches, etc., and take screenshots; after receiving goods, record an unboxing video, and if the actual item does not match the retained information, promptly compare and provide evidence, and claim returns, exchanges, or compensation in accordance with the law.
"The threshold for consumer rights protection should also be further lowered, improving mechanisms for advance compensation, rapid refunds, reasonable allocation of burden of proof, collective complaints, and cross-regional rights-protection coordination, with special attention to the problems of weak rights-protection awareness and high rights-protection costs among consumers in remote areas," Deng Shiming said.
(This newspaper's reporters Bai Guangdi, Shang Rongzheng, Wu Jun; Wang Menghe participated in the reporting and writing.)
Return to TopWe are villagers of Shuangze Village, Wulie Town, Dongtai City, Jiangsu Province. In 2019, on the bank of the Tonghai River that flows through our village, a villager illegally built a residence, with the courtyard extending about 7 meters toward the center of the river. Privately occupying the river channel to build a house violates the River Management Regulations of the People's Republic of China and also leaves hidden dangers for flood discharge during the flood season. Moreover, this river has always been a passage for villagers to transport grain and other goods; now that the river channel has narrowed, even slightly larger boats cannot pass through. This is not an isolated case — 20 meters east of that house, there are also houses encroaching on the river channel. Since 2022, we have reported such problems through multiple channels, and every time the matter was referred to the Wulie Town government. The town government said it would verify and handle the matter, but to this day nothing has been done. We hope that the relevant departments will pay attention to this and supervise its resolution.
Villagers of Shuangze Village, Wulie Town, Dongtai City
On August 3, the People's Daily "Readers' Letters" section published the author's letter "Flying Wire Charging Poses Major Safety Hazards," reflecting the problem of residents privately stringing flying wires to charge vehicles in the Xiyuan Huating residential community (西苑华庭小区) in Jianxi District (涧西区), Luoyang City, Henan Province. That same morning, community workers came to the residential community, carefully inspected the situation of privately strung flying wire charging, and stated that they would rectify the community's flying wire charging problem while installing charging piles. Subsequently, staff from Jianxi District, the subdistrict, as well as the fire department and the police station also came to the community to work on-site. Now, the crisscrossing charging flying wires have been completely cleaned up (see photo), and multiple new smart charging piles have been installed in the community. The community has also carried out line-marking management for the fire access routes in the courtyard. Relevant personnel introduced that the parking sheds will be expanded in the future, and the problem of electric vehicles and motorcycles being parked in disorder that has plagued the community for many years is also expected to be resolved.
Mr. Liu, Luoyang City, Henan Province
Return to TopSmall matters of patching and mending are encountered by nearly every household — hammering a nail into the wall, tightening up a leaking faucet, reinforcing loose furniture screws, pumping up a bicycle that has gone flat. For these little jobs, buying an impact drill, pipe wrench, or air pump specifically is neither cost-effective nor space-saving; and finding a repair technician to come to the door often costs tens to hundreds of yuan in service fees, frequently more expensive than the item to be repaired.
It is suggested that "shared toolboxes" be set up in the public spaces of residential buildings or in the property management duty room, equipped with impact drills, screwdriver sets, wrenches, pipe wrenches, air pumps, voltage testers, insulating tape, and commonly used small hardware accessories. When residents need them, they can sign in the registration book or scan a QR code with their mobile phone to borrow, and return them promptly after use, facilitating circulation among neighbors. The toolbox is maintained on a daily basis by the property management or the building leader, who regularly checks the condition of the tools and replenishes consumable accessories in a timely manner. The sources of the tools can be resolved through property procurement, purchase by the owners' committee, or donations from property owners.
This approach can both lower the cost of living and activate idle tool resources, enhance the atmosphere of mutual assistance among neighbors, and make community life more convenient and warmer.
Dezhou City, Shandong Province Wang Zhen (王振)
Return to TopBy: 向子丰 曾海萌
Electric self-balancing scooters are fast and compact, and for some time now, as a stylish and cool short-distance commuting tool, they have been favored by young consumers. However, this "internet-famous toy" has developed a number of problems: riders falling and injuring themselves on electric balance scooters, people being tripped by electric balance scooters, electric balance scooter charging triggering fires... On social media platforms, one can see no shortage of complaints about electric balance scooters.
Among these complaints, product quality issues are the most concentrated. A consumer in Rizhao, Shandong, told a reporter that the electric balance scooter he bought last year could not be charged after being left for half a month. After spending money to upgrade and replace the battery, the same problem occurred again. When he contacted the merchant, the merchant refused to resolve it, and only after he reported the situation through the People's Daily Online "Leadership Message Board" did the merchant agree to replace it with a new one.
A reporter's search of platforms such as Black Cat Complaint found that complaints about electric balance scooters are concentrated on issues such as tire leaks, mainboard damage, and battery failure. One consumer's electric balance scooter developed problems three months after purchase, and the merchant refused to acknowledge mainboard damage; another consumer said the battery failed after fewer than 10 uses.
A consumer in Shenyang, Liaoning, once purchased an electric balance scooter of a certain brand. Three months later, while riding, the vehicle suddenly lost power, and the enormous inertia threw him off, causing abrasions across multiple parts of his body; the next day his eyes were so swollen he could not open them. However, the manufacturer denied that the product had quality problems and refused compensation. Yet the inspection report the manufacturer itself provided clearly stated "poor battery function," while the manufacturer insisted "no fault found in testing." Only after local market regulatory authorities intervened did the manufacturer change its story to "power loss caused by sudden acceleration," but maintained that "the product itself is not abnormal," agreeing only to coordinate a return, and refusing the consumer's claim for 1,500 yuan in medical expenses and other compensation.
Electric balance scooters travel at high speed and have long braking distances. Apart from serving as a commuting tool, they carry certain safety risks, and improper charging and parking likewise harbor hidden safety hazards.
A consumer in Jinnan District, Tianjin, told a reporter that her neighbor's electric balance scooter had been left in the hallway for a long time. She successively approached the property management company, the neighborhood committee, and the fire department, and the answers she received were that it was not within their jurisdiction. The property management company and the neighborhood committee said they had no enforcement authority and could only advise against it; the fire department said electric balance scooters were not within its scope of management. "But there is a battery inside the electric balance scooter," she said. "If the battery is substandard, it can easily cause a fire."
Such concerns are not groundless. In recent years, fire departments in Chengdu, Sichuan, and Hangzhou, Zhejiang, among other places, have issued notices about electric balance scooters spontaneously combusting or improper charging of electric balance scooters triggering fires. Many readers and netizens believe that the idea that electric bicycles cannot be brought upstairs to charge has taken deep root in people's minds, but electric balance scooters are often overlooked. In fact, both are equipped with lithium battery products and should carry an equivalent level of risk.
Beyond parking and charging, taking electric balance scooters onto roads is also a red line often ignored. In fact, electric balance scooters — including unicycle self-balancing vehicles and two-wheel balance scooters — are neither motor vehicles nor non-motor vehicles; they are merely a kind of "gliding tool" and, by law, may not be ridden on roads. However, a reporter noted that many users ride them onto main roads and sidewalks as daily commuting tools. In the elevators of some shopping malls and office buildings, one can also frequently see delivery riders bringing electric balance scooters directly into the elevator car.
In terms of sales volume, electric balance scooters are a "niche" product, and their management is becoming increasingly strict and standardized. The national standard GB 34668—2024, Safety Technical Specification for Electric Self-Balancing Scooters, officially took effect on August 1, 2025, replacing the previous recommended standard and carrying mandatory force. At the same time, many localities have specified penalty standards: in Beijing, riding an electric balance scooter illegally on roads will result in a warning or a fine of 20 yuan or more and 50 yuan or less; in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and Wuhan, Hubei, a fine of 50 yuan may be imposed and the vehicle impounded.
"Some electric balance scooters can reach speeds of 20 kilometers per hour. They travel fast, have long braking distances, and lack stability, making them prone to loss of control on complex road conditions. Therefore, never use them as a commuting tool on roads, and it is also not recommended that minors ride them," said Yang Xinmiao (杨新苗), deputy director of the Institute of Transportation at Tsinghua University. He suggested that when riding, one must wear helmets, knee pads, elbow pads, and other protective gear, and use them only in enclosed, safe non-public roads, such as inside residential compounds or in parks.
Previously, the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a notice advising consumers to purchase electric balance scooters through formal channels, to pay attention to information such as the manufacturer's name and address and the instruction manual, and to obtain an invoice. Consumers should try to choose products manufactured recently and check whether the exterior and control components are functioning properly.
Yang Xinmiao suggested that when charging an electric balance scooter, one should use the original charger, keep it away from flammable materials, avoid overcharging, and strictly prohibit charging indoors or in public areas such as stairwells. He also stated that under the ongoing trend toward lighter weight, more new modes of transportation may emerge in the future; for example, electric-assist bicycles that meet national safety standards have already been standardized, and consumers will have more lightweight travel options.
Return to TopThe "Reader Letters" section of People's Daily and the "Leadership Message Board" of People's Daily Online are jointly conducting a solicitation of issues of urgent concern to the public, and welcome readers to provide leads and suggestions on the topic of "annoying 'pop-up' advertisements."
Email: rmrbdzlx@126.com
Mobile: "Exposure Platform" in the People's Daily client
"Leadership Message Board" client of People's Daily Online
By: 本报记者 赵帅杰
“Hello, everyone! My name is Bai Xiaocui. I previously handled community correction work. For the coming year, I will be in Grid No. 1 of our community. If anything comes up, you can find me at any time.” At the start of autumn, at a residents' deliberative council meeting of Xianghe Community on Daxue Road Subdistrict, Erqi District, Zhengzhou, Henan, Bai Xiaocui, an official seconded from the Erqi District Bureau of Justice, got straight to the point.
Since 2024, Erqi District has each year received young cadres under age 35 from municipal direct organs and selected young cadres from district direct organs to serve one-year training stints in community grids. To date, the cumulative total has exceeded 600 person-times. As part of this year's new batch of seconded cadres, Bai Xiaocui has come to Xianghe Community to take up her post.
Xianghe Community, first built in 2003, is a typical community clustered with old residential compounds. More than 80 percent of its buildings and courtyards have no property management. There are many elderly residents and high population turnover. At the deliberative council meeting, resident representatives raised a string of real-world difficulties: strong resistance to collecting garbage disposal fees, safety hazards from clutter piled in stairwells, and slow progress on sewer pipeline renovation because street-facing merchants refuse to cooperate... These pain points in people's livelihoods are both the direction for governance and the expectations of the masses.
"I had thought someone might consult me on legal questions — that's my proper line of work," Bai Xiaocui said. In the past, because of her work, Bai Xiaocui had often gone to communities, but mostly through the liaison of judicial specialists, and her work content was relatively narrow. At her first deliberative council meeting, the real-world problems that came at her from all sides, exceeding her "expectations," made her break out in a nervous sweat.
Fortunately, community cadres came to her rescue: If residents' willingness to pay is low, is there room to improve transparency in how funds are used? From now on, post public notices in every building and courtyard each time. Elderly people collect discarded cardboard boxes out of a habit of thrift and frugality — this cannot be banned outright; ask grid workers to remind them more often and try to clear things out daily. For pipeline renovation construction, merchants' concern that business will suffer is understandable — the community can step in to coordinate with landlords and seek partial rent reductions...
Item by item, point by point, the measures were practical, feasible, and down to earth. Bai Xiaocui listened attentively and took careful notes. "In the government office, I did more reporting upward and less engaging downward. Although I've now learned to start closing the gap between cadres and the masses by chatting about everyday life and asking about their well-being, being familiar with the masses is not the same as being able to solve problems, and doing practical things is not the same as giving money or goods. There's still plenty to learn!" Bai Xiaocui remarked with feeling.
"Quite a few young cadres have gone from the family door to the school gate and then to the government office door, lacking experience in mass work," said Xu Kejing, a member of the Organization Department Committee of the Erqi District Party Committee. The institutional arrangement of sending young cadres down to community grids for training is precisely to let them take a few "hot potatoes" in hand at the front line, be "ants on a hot pan" a few times, and temper their basic skills in serving the masses and serving efficient grassroots governance.
Centering on "why go to the grid, what to do in the grid, and how to do it in the grid," Erqi District has implemented a "365" work model: improving three mechanisms — tackling assigned issues, learning and competing to surpass, and assessment and evaluation; clarifying six responsibilities — information collector, policy publicist, platform promoter, conflict mediator, convenience service provider, and grassroots researcher; and carrying out five types of activities — residents' joint deliberation, joint study of mass difficulties, and others — striving to make young cadres sink deep and work solidly.
"Randomly parked electric bicycles really need to be managed! Not only do people park illegally, they also ride against traffic. And some people, to save trouble, crowd together to charge their bikes on the first basement level." At the monthly residents' deliberative council meeting of Yaju Community on Songshan Road Subdistrict, community cadres, Party members, resident representatives, property managers, and law enforcement officers sat around one table discussing a plan to rectify illegal electric bicycle parking. Wang Ying, a seconded official from the Zhengzhou Municipal Committee for the Care of the Next Generation, sat in as an attendee.
Unlike Xianghe Community with its many old buildings and compounds, Yaju Community consists mostly of high-rise buildings with elevators — two residential compounds with 17 buildings in total and a permanent population of nearly 12,000. "Governance requires not only visible work like parking space planning and line marking guidance, but more importantly raising everyone's ideological awareness." Resident representatives each voiced their views: some suggested using the community's electronic screens to loop promotional videos and expose those who park randomly; others proposed increasing the supply of above-ground parking spaces.
Wang Ying listened, thought, and took notes as she went. Just as everyone was discussing heatedly, Li Zhiguo, a police officer from Songshan Road Police Station, ran into the meeting hall dripping with sweat. "Sorry I'm late! I just finished checking fire hazards on the floors and got held up." He brought a new governance idea: for the three-level underground parking garage, implement tiered charging discounts — the lower the floor, the lower the unit price for charging — using tangible benefits to guide residents to voluntarily drive their vehicles into the underground garage to park.
"That's a good idea!" In the meeting hall, everyone voiced unanimous approval. Wang Ying hurriedly jotted down her new takeaways in her notebook: "Grassroots governance cannot stand on the opposite side of residents; head-on confrontation cannot solve problems." "Put yourself in others' shoes more; only by starting from the interests of the masses can you reduce resistance." "The deliberative council — the meeting is merely the outward form; pooling wisdom to deliberate good countermeasures is the real purpose."
In less than two months of working in the community, Wang Ying's notebook is already nearly half full. What's written in it includes both the demands of the masses she learned through door-to-door visits, and meeting records, pending matters, work reflections, as well as methods she has learned for getting closer to community residents: for elderly people, you have to listen patiently to what they say; for dissatisfied residents, calm their emotions first and then discuss matters; when publicizing policy, don't read from documents mechanically — use the everyday affairs of people around them to explain things plainly...
Around the discussion topic, Wang Ying added two suggestions: first, form a "Five Elders" service team, leveraging retired veteran comrades' advantage of knowing the people and the area well and enjoying high prestige — while taking their daily strolls, they can also offer guidance against uncivilized parking; second, carry out a "small hands pulling big hands" campaign, mobilizing children to urge their parents to park electric bicycles in an orderly manner.
Regarding Wang Ying's transformation, Guo Wenya, the community Party branch secretary, has seen it all with her own eyes. "When she first arrived, she was a real 'social phobic' — shy and reserved, not even daring to greet people when she saw them. After one door-to-door visit after another and one trivial matter after another to temper her, her progress has been very obvious." Guo Wenya said that seconded cadres training in the community are not fighting alone — not only do they receive subdistrict training and community mentoring, they can also bring quality resources from their original work units into the community to fill gaps in grassroots work. What we need to do is integrate these resources and turn them into concrete measures that serve the masses.
Bai Xiaocui had a similar feeling: "I handle community correction work at the Bureau of Justice, which is more about post-hoc handling. After being seconded down to the community, I can rely on the convenience of the grid's 'last kilometer' to discover and resolve some budding and tendency-type problems early, get a clear picture of these situations, and prepare for future work."
"A knife is sharpened on a stone; a person is tempered through work. The process of being seconded down for training helps young cadres truly plant their roots at the front line of connecting with and serving the masses," said Zheng Yan, deputy head of the Organization Department of the Erqi District Party Committee. In the future, the district will explore and promote a model of "communities place orders, organizations accept orders, and precise dispatch is made" — precisely matching posts according to cadres' professional strengths and personality traits, achieving a two-way matching of "the grassroots has needs, and cadres have strengths."
"Sitting in an office, it's very hard to get a true picture of the grassroots situation, to understand what the masses are thinking and hoping for, and even harder to see where policy implementation gets stuck." During interviews, many young cadres said that immersive secondment training has given them authentic grassroots experience. After returning to their own posts, when they plan work or participate in formulating policy, they may instinctively ask one more question: Can this be implemented at the grassroots? Will the masses accept it? Will it add burden? This shift in thinking will benefit them over the long term.
Return to TopBy: 赵晓曦
The grassroots frontline is a classroom for the growth of young cadres, and urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks are the whetstone for honing their abilities. A cadre's practical competence and sense of responsibility are never conjured out of thin air in offices or among documents, but are forged through one real matter after another, one difficult task after another.
Some young cadres have shortcomings such as staying on the surface and shrinking from difficulties — unwilling to immerse themselves in grassroots work and afraid to confront problems directly. What is to be done?
A knife is sharpened on a stone, and a person is tempered through work. Wherever the needs of the masses are, there cadres must go. Young cadres should persist in shifting the focus of their work downward, hone their basic skills amid urgent, difficult, dangerous, and heavy tasks, take up more "hot potatoes," chew on more hard bones, and listen to more of the masses' heartfelt words — only then can they more clearly understand what responsibility means and what their perseverance is for, and better cultivate the sentiment of doing practical things for the masses and the self-driven motivation for undertaking work and creating results.
Only with a precise grasp of policy, an accurate diagnosis of problems, and an in-depth understanding of the grassroots can young cadres possess the confidence to not avoid difficulties and to step forward and shoulder responsibility. Organization departments should be adept at building growth platforms for young cadres, regularly and precisely providing them with professional training, skillfully linking theoretical knowledge, case analysis, and experience exchange, focusing on key content such as grassroots governance, mass work, and policy implementation, teaching according to needs, and establishing a long-term, normalized mechanism of passing on experience, providing guidance, and leading by example, to help young cadres increase their competence and grow their abilities.
Return to TopBy: 解雪松
Planning activities, maintaining order, participating in interactions, filling the companionship gap, and letting children bid farewell to solitary pastimes
In the activity room, children pick their favorite books and sit together, roaming the sea of books; beside the chess table, children sit facing each other in pairs, sometimes 意气风发 (yì qì fēng fā - "spirit and vigor surging forth," high-spirited and vigorous), sometimes with brows tightly knitted, deeply engaged in the game; outside the activity room, jumping rubber bands, playing basketball, playing games... Such scenes are vastly different from a year ago.
Last July, I came to Gaoxing Village (高兴村), Dashan Township (大山镇), Panzhou City (盘州市), Liupanshui, Guizhou, to work in the village. As I walked through villages and lanes and visited households, I discovered a phenomenon: children increasingly don't know how to "play" anymore. "They just touch their phones in the house all day and don't like going out." "Which family's child isn't like this? They're all obsessed with their phones!"...
Gaoxing Village is a village that has shaken off poverty, mainly engaged in traditional planting and animal husbandry. Most of the labor force works outside, and there are relatively many left-behind children. I asked quite a few children: some said there was nothing fun in the village, and playing games was more interesting; some said when they went to find friends to play, everyone was playing on their phones; others said they didn't know what to play, so they could only play on their phones.
I couldn't let phones become the children's only "playmate." I made up my mind: gather them together and have a good "play" session. My idea received support from the village two committees (村两委). We convened village two committee cadres, party members, and returning college students, mobilized them to become game guides, jointly plan activities, maintain order, participate in interactions, fill the companionship gap, and let children bid farewell to solitary pastimes.
Having solved the problem of "no one to lead play," we also had to consider "what to play." I took the lead in formulating a complete children's activity plan including activity design, related equipment, budget, and more. This plan included many traditional games such as rubber band jumping, sandbag throwing, and chess. The equipment is simple, the fun is sufficient, and cooperation is emphasized. It requires no high investment, yet can pass on folk memory, and can also guide children to independently design games based on simple props. This plan received support and guidance from the Dashan Township Care for the Next Generation Working Committee (关工委). The village also secured funds to renovate the village committee activity room and the village basketball court into children's activity spaces.
Now, after finishing their homework, children call their friends to play chess and ball together, and the phenomenon of being addicted to phones has noticeably improved. Later, when I visited households, the villagers were all very satisfied. Children need more guidance and companionship, and this requires families and society to exert force in the same direction. Grassroots party organizations should make caring for children an important part of serving the masses, fully activate resources such as party-mass service centers (党群服务中心) and rural bookstores (农家书屋), coordinate forces such as party member volunteers and returning youth, build children's activity platforms 因地制宜 (yīn dì zhì yí - "according to local conditions," adapt measures to local conditions), and create more connections beyond screens for children.
(The author is a cadre at the Guiyang Environmental Monitoring Center of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guizhou Province (贵州省生态环境厅贵阳环境监测中心) and assistant to the Party branch secretary of Gaoxing Village, Panzhou City; compiled by our reporter Su Bin)
Column submission email: rmrbzzb@peopledaily.cn
Return to TopChengdu, August 16 (Reporter Li Kaixuan): The Social Work Department of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, together with 13 departments, issued the Several Measures on Strengthening Comprehensive Supervision of Volunteer Service Organizations Across the Province (Trial), proposing 25 specific measures around key links such as registration management, fee-charging practices, fiscal, tax and financial matters, and coordinated supervision, with the aim of building a full-chain, multi-dimensional, three-dimensional comprehensive supervision system.
In recent years, certain organizations and individuals have, under the guise of volunteer service, diverted traffic for profit, sold false certificates of volunteer service hours, and falsely claimed official backgrounds to mislead the public. These measures regulate registration review, supervisory responsibility, reporting of major matters, and exit mechanisms; they clarify that registration management authorities shall, in accordance with the principle of focusing on the main business, strengthen the review of names and the approval of business scopes, that business supervisory units shall bear supervisory responsibilities, and that a full-cycle closed-loop management from registration to exit shall be implemented.
The social work department will also take the lead in establishing a joint conference system and, in accordance with the "double random, one open" (双随机、一公开) requirements, conduct joint law enforcement inspections every year; public security and market regulation departments shall, in accordance with the law, crack down on illegal and criminal acts and commercial violations committed in the name of volunteer service; relevant departments shall promptly issue early warnings on and verify organizations that frequently change their names or whose sources of funds are unclear, incorporate credit information into the social credit system, and provide incentives for trustworthiness and punishments for untrustworthiness.
Return to TopTo meet the needs of primary and secondary school students handling real estate registration procedures for enrollment, the real estate registration management department of Huaibei City, Anhui Province, has expanded online and offline service channels, guided parents to inquire, download, and print certificates online, added mobile windows as a "green channel," reasonably extended service hours, and rapidly processed business related to new student enrollment registration. The photo shows staff at the Xiangshan District Government Service Center of Huaibei City handling related business for the public on August 13.
Photo by Li Xin (Image China)
Nanning, August 16 (Reporter Pang Geping) — In order to build an integrated rule-of-law work platform linking the upper and lower levels, the Market Regulation Bureau of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区市场监管局) has issued a notice to establish grassroots rule-of-law contact points for market regulation in 14 district-level cities, promoting the sinking of legislation, law enforcement, supervision, and legal publicity forces to the front line.
The grassroots rule-of-law contact points for market regulation undertake four functions: collecting opinions and suggestions from grassroots regulatory personnel, business operators, and the public on market regulation legislation, and feeding back problems in the implementation of systems; assisting higher-level departments in guiding grassroots units to improve law enforcement procedures, standardize discretionary power, and resolve difficult issues in law enforcement; conducting routine supervision over grassroots law enforcement conduct, promptly correcting and reporting up non-standard law enforcement practices; and carrying out legal publicity among business operators and the public, providing legal consultation services.
A relevant official of the Market Regulation Bureau of the autonomous region stated that Guangxi will take the grassroots rule-of-law contact points as a starting point, use the contact points to smooth the channels for grassroots public opinion feedback, and make market regulation legislation more closely aligned with reality and more operable; strengthen guidance and supervision over grassroots law enforcement, unify law enforcement standards, and standardize law enforcement conduct; and promote the extension of legal publicity and legal services to the front line, creating a sound rule-of-law environment for market regulation.
Return to TopWuhan, August 16 (Our Reporter Tian Doudou (田豆豆)) — To further weave a tighter safety net for people's livelihoods, the Xiling District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision (西陵区纪委监委) of Yichang City, Hubei Province, has made the "comprehensive assistance" reform pilot a key focus of oversight and carried out a special rectification of inadequate assistance to people in difficulty. As of now, the district commission has organized visits and door-to-door screening of more than 3,000 assistance recipients, pushed departments to rectify 13 problems, investigated and dealt with 17 cases of corruption and work-style problems, and imposed Party discipline and government affairs sanctions on 11 people.
Previously, during a special supervision and research survey on the implementation of assistance policies for people in difficulty, the Xiling District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision found that, with frequent population mobility, comprehensive assistance for urban and rural extremely poor families, families on the margins of subsistence allowances, and families impoverished by illness still has the pain point of "people seeking policies" (人找政策). The district commission issued work reminders to relevant functional departments, urging them to break down policy barriers and ensure that all who should be covered are covered (应保尽保). Xiling District has also incorporated difficult-assistance work into the "improving quality and efficiency of comprehensive assistance" project (综合救助提质增效工程) and listed it as a major government reform matter. By establishing 1 district-level "assistance alliance" (助联体), 4 area guidance centers, 10 street comprehensive assistance stations, and multiple service points for basic livelihood security of people in difficulty, it has strengthened policy coordination and resource integration among multiple departments including the Disabled Persons' Federation and the civil affairs, medical insurance, housing and urban-rural development, and education departments, and promoted one-time application, one-network processing (一网通办), and one-chain handling (一链处置) for assistance matters.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 周 欢
At the entrance of Qingyun Mingzhu residential community (青云明珠小区) in Qingyunpu District (青云谱区), Nanchang, Jiangxi, a blind sidewalk several dozen meters long extends straight along the pedestrian walkway, with clear and continuous guidance strips. Sixteen heavy stone bollards are neatly arranged, separating the blind sidewalk from 11 parking spaces beside it by about half a meter. Mr. Wu, a visually impaired person living nearby, stepped onto the blind sidewalk with his white cane. The cane tapped the ground, and the guidance strips gave clear tactile feedback, making him feel secure.
More than two months ago, walking this section was like "running a gauntlet" for Mr. Wu — the blind sidewalk happened to pass through the middle of public parking spaces, and when vehicles were parked, their bodies covered the blind sidewalk completely. "If I go around, on one side there are trees and steps, and going down the steps is the main road; walking to the other side means going around most of the vehicle body — unsafe and inconvenient," Mr. Wu said.
On June 12, this problem was exposed by local media, drawing the attention of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC (江西省政协). The Provincial CPPCC proposed resolving the problem through consultative supervision. Immediately afterward, the Social and Legal Affairs Committee of the Provincial CPPCC, together with the Nanchang Municipal Committee of the CPPCC (南昌市政协), went directly to the site for on-site inspection and consultation to resolve the problem.
"After this road section was completed in 2011, it had been in normal use. But during the sidewalk upgrade process in 2025, the construction unit re-laid the blind sidewalk without conducting on-site research in light of the existing parking space layout, and directly laid the blind sidewalk into the middle of the parking spaces," said the relevant person in charge of the Nanchang Municipal CPPCC.
After clarifying the 来龙去脉 (lái lóng qù mài - "the dragon's coming and going," the full story or ins and outs), the Nanchang Municipal CPPCC immediately urged the local government to implement rectification, with district-level party committee leaders taking the lead in formulating and implementing relevant measures. "Physical hard isolation facilities were added to prevent vehicles from crossing the line and encroaching on the blind sidewalk. At the same time, parking spaces were re-marked, parking orientation was adjusted, spaces that truly had no room for rectification and still occupied the blind sidewalk were reduced or canceled, and damaged blind sidewalk tiles were repaired," introduced Li Jiaqing (李加庆), director of the Qingyunpu District Urban Management and Comprehensive Law Enforcement Bureau (青云谱区城市管理和综合执法局). Forty-eight hours later, the problem was resolved.
Rectification of one location is not the end of governance. Taking this as an entry point, the Nanchang Municipal CPPCC carried out special democratic supervision work on blind sidewalk occupation problems throughout the city.
The two-level CPPCC organizations of Nanchang city and its counties (districts) organized cadres from organs and relevant departments to conduct dragnet-style inspections of key areas including urban main and secondary roads, back streets and alleys, residential communities, farmers' markets, and public parking lots, comprehensively ascertaining problems such as blind sidewalks being occupied, damaged, missing, and improperly installed. The citywide inspection cumulatively identified 2,191 blind sidewalk-related problems, including occupation by non-motorized vehicles, encroachment by parking berths, squeezing by municipal facilities, and missing or damaged blind sidewalks.
In farmers' markets and other densely populated areas, staff were arranged for fixed-point duty patrols to promptly clear non-motorized vehicles parked on the sidewalk; damaged and incomplete blind sidewalks in old residential areas were all incorporated into community grid-based daily inspections, relying on the digital city management platform to receive problem leads online and repair them at the first opportunity after discovery; multiple small parking lots that were illegally designated and continuously encroached on blind sidewalks were banned in accordance with relevant regulations... The problem situations varied, and various localities in Nanchang handled them flexibly according to road location, pedestrian flow, and other conditions. As of now, 1,477 problems have completed rectification, and the remaining 714 have been recorded in a dynamic management ledger.
Only by improving institutions can the root cause be addressed. The Jiangxi Provincial CPPCC reviewed the urban planning shortcomings exposed by this governance effort and promoted the addition of five new categories of barrier-free prohibited behavior clauses to the Jiangxi Province Barrier-Free Environment Construction Regulations (Draft) (江西省无障碍环境建设条例（草案）), using the power of the rule of law to set rigid constraints for blind sidewalk protection.
Return to TopBy: 殷 鹏 步 超 陈炳旭 郑延冰
At the conference celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Today, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation is unstoppable, displaying unprecedented bright prospects."
Looking back from a critical juncture in history, one can better discern the orientation of the times and perceive the inevitability of development. In today's world, if any political party, any country, or any nation is entitled to confidence, then the Communist Party of China, the People's Republic of China, and the Chinese nation have the most reason to be confident. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the Chinese nation has achieved a great leap from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong. A major Eastern country is striding forward toward a great modern socialist country with a confident, self-reliant, and self-strengthening posture. What theories and practices are embodied in this? What revelations and inspirations are inscribed within it? A thorough reading of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Volumes I through V, makes it clearly evident that the theory of Chinese modernization provides scientific guidance for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country and brings profound inspiration to the progress of human civilization.
The theory of Chinese modernization has taken shape and developed in keeping with the trend of the times
Achieving modernization is a universal pursuit of countries around the world. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward a series of original new concepts, new ideas, and new strategies regarding what kind of great modern socialist country to build and how to build it, and has summarized and elaborated the theory of Chinese modernization. The formation and development of this major theory runs through Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Volumes I through V, and is fully reflected in such chapters and special topics as "Study, Publicize, and Implement the Guiding Principles of the 18th CPC National Congress with a Focus on Upholding and Developing Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" in Volume I, "Have a Profound Understanding of the Situation in the Final Stage of Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects" in Volume II, "Gain a Full Understanding of the New Requirements of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era" in Volume III, "Building a Moderately Prosperous Society in All Respects and Embarking on a New Journey to Build a Modern Socialist Country in All Respects" in Volume IV, and "Advancing the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation on All Fronts through Chinese Modernization" in Volume V.
It reveals the essential consistency between upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and creating a new path of Chinese modernization. At the beginning of the new era, while the cause of the Party and the state achieved major accomplishments, it also faced profound changes in the world situation, the national situation, and the Party's circumstances. "Study, Publicize, and Implement the Guiding Principles of the 18th CPC National Congress with a Focus on Upholding and Developing Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" in Volume I clearly stated: "To build a moderately prosperous society in all respects, accelerate socialist modernization, and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, we must always hold high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and unswervingly uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics." Centering on continuing to write the great chapter of socialism with Chinese characteristics, General Secretary Xi Jinping made a scientific and complete strategic plan for the development of the cause of the Party and the state in the new era. When visiting the exhibition "The Road to Rejuvenation," he put forward the "Chinese Dream," clarifying the goal of advancing modernization in the new era. When presiding over the first group study session of the 18th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, he required following the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan" to "promote coordination among all aspects of modernization." In 2014, during an inspection tour in Jiangsu, he proposed advancing the "Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy" to "push reform and opening up and socialist modernization to a new level," revealing the strategic choice for advancing modernization under the new conditions. At the 19th CPC National Congress, he made strategic arrangements for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, he profoundly explained that China's modernization has many important characteristics. At the conference celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, he pointed out: "We uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics and promote coordinated development of material, political, cultural-social, and ecological civilization, creating a new path of Chinese modernization and a new form of human civilization." These important statements clarify the essential consistency between upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics and creating a new path of Chinese modernization, and reveal the important significance of Chinese modernization for creating a new form of human civilization.
It summarizes and elaborates the theory of Chinese modernization. After building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and realizing the First Centenary Goal, our Party has united and led the people in embarking on a new journey to comprehensively build a modern socialist country. Faced with a situation where strategic opportunities and risks and challenges coexist and uncertain and unpredictable factors increase, how can we further pool our strength and wisdom? "It is precisely through Chinese modernization." "Study, Study, and Implement the Guiding Principles of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee" in Volume V provides a profound answer. "Advancing the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation on All Fronts through Chinese Modernization" in Volume V points out that "summarizing and elaborating the theory of Chinese modernization is a major theoretical innovation of the 20th CPC National Congress," clearly marking the important position of the 20th CPC National Congress in the formation and development of the theory of Chinese modernization. At the 20th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping further elaborated the "two-step" strategic arrangement for comprehensively building a great modern socialist country, and clarified the Chinese characteristics, essential requirements, and major principles of Chinese modernization. When presiding over the first group study session of the 20th CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, he put forward the category of "the theoretical system of Chinese modernization." At the opening of the following year's study seminar for newly elected members and alternate members of the Central Committee and leading cadres at the provincial and ministerial level on studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress, he comprehensively expounded and systematically discussed the theory of Chinese modernization. Since then, he has repeatedly put forward important requirements for advancing and expanding Chinese modernization at important meetings and on important occasions. These important statements are major achievements in continuously deepening the understanding of the laws of Chinese modernization, systematically constructing the theory of Chinese modernization, and making Chinese modernization clearer, more scientific, and more tangible and feasible.
It extends the value and significance of the theory of Chinese modernization to the world level. "To understand China, the key is to understand Chinese modernization." After the 2023 "two sessions," "Chinese modernization" became a high-frequency term in General Secretary Xi Jinping's "diplomatic moments," as centrally reflected in the special topic "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Achieve Common Prosperity" in Volume V. For example, at the CPC in Dialogue with World Political Parties High-Level Meeting, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly answered a series of questions on modernization, pointing out that "Chinese modernization, as a new form of human civilization, will learn from and complement other civilizations and greatly enrich the garden of world civilizations." At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, he made clear that "achieving modernization is an inalienable right of all countries in the world" and proposed "deepening China-Africa cooperation and leading the modernization of the Global South." These important statements clarify that Chinese modernization is not a modernization that benefits only itself. They vividly demonstrate that the theory of Chinese modernization is open, developing, and advancing with the times, and they also connect and integrate the Chinese characteristics of Chinese modernization with its world significance, extending the value and significance of the theory of Chinese modernization to the world level.
The theory of Chinese modernization has rich connotations and distinctive features
The theory of Chinese modernization is an important component of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. It profoundly answers major theoretical and practical questions such as "what Chinese modernization is," "what it does," and "how to do it," and has rich connotations and distinctive features.
It clarifies that "Chinese modernization is socialist modernization led by the Communist Party of China," profoundly answering the question of the fundamental attribute of Chinese modernization. In today's world, no more than 30 countries and regions have achieved modernization, with a population of no more than 1 billion. How has our country, with a population of over 1.4 billion and once impoverished and weak, been able to successfully blaze a path of Chinese modernization? "Advancing the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation on All Fronts through Chinese Modernization" in Volume V points out: "The nature, purpose, original aspiration, and mission of the Party, its beliefs and convictions, and its policies and propositions determine that Chinese modernization is socialist modernization." Our Party possesses excellent qualities incomparable to other political parties and political forces; this is the key code to why our Party can do it. The Party's leadership directly bears on the fundamental direction, future and destiny, and ultimate success or failure of Chinese modernization; it determines the fundamental nature of Chinese modernization, ensures that Chinese modernization stays anchored to its goals and advances steadily, stimulates the powerful driving force for building Chinese modernization, and pools the mighty strength for building Chinese modernization. This is both a profound summary of the Party's practical experience in leading China's modernization and a profound grasp of the laws of governance by a communist party, determining that Chinese modernization is the unity of conformity with laws and conformity with purposes.
It clarifies "the Chinese characteristics, essential requirements, and major principles of Chinese modernization," profoundly answering the question of the highest-level top-level design for advancing Chinese modernization. "There is neither a single modernization model that is set in stone, nor a modernization standard that applies to all." This important statement in "Unswervingly Advancing Chinese Modernization" in Volume IV reveals that "for a country to achieve modernization, it must not only follow the general laws of modernization, but also conform to its own national conditions and have its own characteristics." Chinese modernization is the modernization of a huge population, the modernization of common prosperity for all, the modernization of material and cultural-ethical advancement in tandem, the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature, and the modernization of peaceful development. These five aspects of Chinese characteristics profoundly reveal the scientific connotation of Chinese modernization. The essential requirements of Chinese modernization are: upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China, upholding socialism with Chinese characteristics, achieving high-quality development, developing whole-process people's democracy, enriching the people's spiritual world, achieving common prosperity for all, promoting harmony between humanity and nature, building a community with a shared future for mankind, and creating a new form of human civilization. These nine essential requirements and the Chinese characteristics are interconnected and mutually reinforcing, highlighting the comprehensiveness, systematicness, and coordination of Chinese modernization. To advance Chinese modernization, we must uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership, uphold the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, uphold the people-centered development philosophy, uphold deepening reform and opening up, and uphold the spirit of struggle. This is a further scientific answer to how to build a great modern socialist country. The Chinese characteristics, essential requirements, and major principles each have their own focus while supporting one another, full of the theoretical bearing of confidence, self-reliance, and self-strengthening.
It clarifies that "Chinese modernization has goals, plans, and strategies," profoundly answering the question of strategic planning for advancing Chinese modernization. Chinese modernization is a historical process of step-by-step progression and continuous development and progress. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Chinese modernization has goals, plans, and strategies, and it will surely be realized." Chinese modernization is grounded in reality, using five-year plans to refine the "two-step" strategic arrangement: from 2020 to 2035, through the efforts of three five-year periods—the 14th, 15th, and 16th Five-Year Plans—to basically realize socialist modernization; from 2035 to the middle of this century, using another three five-year planning periods, to build our country into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful. Looking at the overall situation, the "Five-Sphere Integrated Plan" is committed to raising the level of construction of the five civilizations, unifying them under the grand goal of building our country into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful; the "Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy" conforms to the actual needs of our country's development, responds to the ardent expectations of the people, and promotes the resolution of the prominent contradictions and problems we face. It has both strategic goals and strategic measures, and is an orderly unfolding of an overall strategic deployment. The two promote each other, coordinate and interact, and together constitute the scientific layout of the development strategy of Chinese modernization.
It clarifies that building Chinese modernization "requires overall consideration, systematic planning, and holistic advancement," profoundly answering the question of methodology for advancing Chinese modernization. As the most grand and unique practical innovation in human history, how can Chinese modernization break through waves and ride the wind? "It requires overall consideration, systematic planning, and holistic advancement." This important statement in "Advancing the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation on All Fronts through Chinese Modernization" in Volume V provides the "bridge and boat" for "crossing the river" in advancing Chinese modernization. At present, our country's development environment is undergoing profound and complex changes, and the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development remains prominent. We must adhere to a systems approach so that work in all areas of socialist modernization coordinates and complements each other. On this basis, we must make overall considerations and adopt dialectical measures, correctly handling a series of major relationships such as top-level design and practical exploration, strategy and tactics, upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground, efficiency and fairness, vitality and order, and self-reliance and opening up to the outside world, advancing holistically while highlighting key points, and seeking practical results through systematic integration. Adhering to a systems approach and adhering to adapting measures to local conditions complement each other. To implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee effectively, we must consciously integrate into the overall national development situation, formulate practical measures, and grasp the strategic initiative of socialist modernization by adapting to local conditions, responding to trends, and following the momentum.
It clarifies that Chinese modernization "benefits both the Chinese people and promotes common development of the world," profoundly answering the question of Chinese modernization's contribution to the world. "Joining Hands on the Path of Modernization" in Volume V points out: "We will strive to use the new achievements of Chinese modernization to provide new opportunities for world development, new assistance for humanity's exploration of modernization paths, and new contributions to the theoretical and practical innovation of human society's modernization." Chinese modernization embodies the advanced nature of scientific socialism, draws on and absorbs all outstanding achievements of human civilization, represents the development direction of human civilization's progress, solves many problems in the development of human society, and presents a new picture different from the Western modernization model, providing choices for developing countries to independently explore modernization paths. At the same time, Chinese modernization holds high the banner of peace, development, cooperation, and mutual benefit, joins hands with the world in continuously advancing toward building a community with a shared future for mankind, and jointly creates a better future.
On the whole, the theory of Chinese modernization is a major theoretical innovation of our Party. It covers important dimensions such as historical roots, essential requirements, strategic themes, major principles, overall goals, strategic deployments, value positions, distinctive features, global vision, and methods of thinking. It embodies our Party's deepening and elevation of the understanding of the laws of modernization. It is an organic unity of originality, subjectivity, and systematicity. It has made major enrichment and development to the world's modernization theory and has made original contributions to promoting the progress of human civilization.
The theory of Chinese modernization has powerful practical force
Since the beginning of the new era, under the scientific guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and the theory of Chinese modernization, we have advanced a series of transformative practices, achieved a series of breakthrough progress, and obtained a series of landmark achievements. The cause of the Party and the state has achieved historic accomplishments and undergone historic changes, fully demonstrating the practical force of the theory of Chinese modernization.
We have built a moderately prosperous society in all respects and realized the First Centenary Goal. "Speech at a Ceremony Marking the Centenary of the Communist Party of China" in Volume IV points out: "We have realized the First Centenary Goal and built a moderately prosperous society in all respects on the land of China." Since the 18th CPC National Congress, we have made poverty alleviation the bottom-line task and a landmark indicator for building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and organized and implemented a battle against poverty that is unprecedented in scale, intensity, and the number of people benefited in human history. After eight years of continuous struggle, we achieved a complete victory, lifting nearly 100 million impoverished people out of poverty and achieving the poverty reduction goal of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ten years ahead of schedule. Since then, our Party has established a five-year transition period for consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively linking them with rural revitalization, and has successfully completed the goals and tasks, firmly holding the bottom line of preventing large-scale relapse into poverty. More than 1.4 billion people and 56 ethnic groups jointly enjoy a happy and well-off life. A crucial step has been taken toward the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and hundreds of millions of people have stronger motivation to advance, more vigorous spirit of struggle, and firmer conviction of victory.
The "five civilizations" shine together, creating a new form of human civilization. "Joining Hands for Common Development" in Volume I points out: "Comprehensively advance economic, political, cultural, social, and ecological civilization construction, and promote coordination among all aspects and links of modernization." In the economic field, since the beginning of the new era, our country's economic aggregate has broken through a 10-trillion-yuan threshold every one to two years, maintained a contribution rate of around 30 percent to world economic growth, entered the ranks of innovative countries, and is in the world's first tier in artificial intelligence development. In the political field, whole-process people's democracy has developed in depth, and the people's position as masters of the country has been more effectively implemented in national political life and social life. In the cultural field, socialist culture is flourishing, core socialist values have taken deep root in the hearts of the people, and the subjectivity of Chinese culture has been fully consolidated and demonstrated. In the social field, the world's largest education system, social security system, and medical and health system have been established, and the people's lives have been improved in all respects. In the field of ecological civilization, energy consumption per unit of GDP continued to decline during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and a beautiful picture of ecological civilization is unfolding. Chinese modernization presents a development trend of economic progress, political clarity, cultural prosperity, social justice, and a sound ecological environment, creating a new form of human civilization full of vitality.
The Party has become stronger and more resilient through revolutionary tempering, and has always remained the strong leading core of Chinese modernization. "The New Journey Is an Expedition Full of Glory and Dreams" in Volume V points out: "After a century of braving wind and rain and being tempered into steel, especially the revolutionary tempering of the past decade in the new era, the Communist Party of China has become stronger, more resilient, and more full of vitality." Upholding and improving the Party's leadership is the foundation and lifeline of the Party and the country, and the interest and happiness of people of all ethnic groups. We implement Xi Jinping's thought on Party building, take upholding and strengthening the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee as the highest principle, take being loyal to the Party in protecting it and fully committed to strengthening the Party as the fundamental mission, and take solving the unique problems of a large party and improving the Party's self-governance system in all respects as major tasks, and deeply advance the great new project of Party building in the new era. In this process, the Party's ability to set the direction, plan the overall situation, formulate policies, and promote reform has been continuously enhanced, and the Party's leadership system that exercises overall leadership and coordinates all parties has become more complete. The Party has become stronger and more resilient through revolutionary tempering, winning the historical initiative to ensure that the Party never changes its nature, color, or character, and winning the historical initiative for the Party to unite and lead the entire people in striving together for the cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.
We have pooled a strong joint force for promoting global development and made contributions to solving major human problems. "Increase Historical Confidence, Strengthen Unity, and Enhance the Spirit of Struggle" in Volume IV points out: "Our Party is committed to seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, and is committed to seeking progress for humanity and great harmony for the world." Chinese modernization adheres to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind and promoting the building of a world of lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness and inclusiveness, cleanliness and beauty. We regard high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as vivid practice in promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, having signed cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations, and built an important practical platform with broad participation from all parties and a commitment to common development. We regard the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative, and the Global Governance Initiative as important pillars for promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, having built a systematic and complete action framework, and put forward a systematic proposal for jointly building a fair and equitable global artificial intelligence governance system, responding in an all-round way to the common challenges facing humanity.
Guided by the theory of Chinese modernization, comprehensively advancing the cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation
"By the middle of this century, we will comprehensively build a great modern socialist country and realize the Second Centenary Goal. Time waits for no one! History waits for no one!" At the conference celebrating the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping issued a great call to the entire Party to strive to create new historical splendor. Through a comprehensive study of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, Volumes I through V, we have come to appreciate more deeply the systematic completeness and scientific truth of the theory of Chinese modernization. We must deeply understand the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments," enhance the "Four Consciousnesses," strengthen the "Four Confidences," and achieve the "Two Upholds," understand more deeply the scientific connotation and practical requirements of the theory of Chinese modernization, and comprehensively advance the cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese modernization.
We must uphold and strengthen the Party's overall leadership and ensure that Chinese modernization always advances in the correct direction. Upholding the Party's leadership is the essential requirement and fundamental guarantee of Chinese modernization, and it is the biggest, most critical, and most core issue in the process of advancing and expanding Chinese modernization. On the new journey, we must fully implement the Party's basic theory, basic line, and basic strategy, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, uphold and apply the standpoints, viewpoints, and methods embedded within it, and closely combine it with coordinating the great struggle, the great project, the great cause, and the great dream, achieving the integration of learning, thinking, and application and the unity of knowledge, belief, and action. We must uphold the Party's overall leadership unwaveringly, resolutely safeguard the Party's core and the authority of the Party Central Committee, continuously enhance the Party's political leadership, thought-leading ability, mass-organizing ability, and social appeal, implement the Party's leadership in all fields, aspects, and links of the cause of the Party and the state, promote the entire Party to always maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in ideology, politics, and action, and promote Chinese modernization to advance steadily and far along the correct direction.
We must firmly grasp the distinctive features and make the path of Chinese modernization broader and broader. The Chinese characteristics of Chinese modernization clarify the direction that our country's modernization must adhere to, must be reflected in our country's guidelines and policies, strategies and tactics, policy measures, and work deployments, and must be closely combined with the implementation of the outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan. On the new journey, we must unswervingly follow the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, strengthen the "Four Confidences," carry forward the cause and forge ahead into the future, uphold fundamental principles and break new ground. The people are the most solid foundation and the most profound source of strength for advancing Chinese modernization. We must both extensively pool the wisdom and strength of the people through whole-process people's democracy, fully mobilize the people's enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity, and take benefiting the people as the fundamental value orientation, uphold and improve people's livelihood through development, and solidly promote common prosperity for all. At the same time, we must promote the common values of all humanity, promote the building of a new type of international relations, and make the path of Chinese modernization broader and broader in jointly creating a better future.
We must promote high-quality development and continuously consolidate the material and technological foundation of Chinese modernization. High-quality development is the primary task of comprehensively building a modern socialist country. At present, we are in a critical period of consolidating the foundation and making all-out efforts to basically realize socialist modernization, and it is even more necessary to build a more solid material and technological foundation for Chinese modernization through high-quality development. On the new journey, we must fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new development philosophy, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, build a modern industrial system, develop new quality productive forces in accordance with local conditions, and accelerate the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development. We must strengthen original innovation and tackle key core technologies, promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, advance education, science and technology, and talent development as an integrated whole, deepen the construction of Digital China, and achieve substantive and breakthrough progress in promoting scientific and technological innovation, accelerating the cultivation of new drivers, and promoting economic structural optimization and upgrading.
We must further deepen reform and opening up in an all-round way, providing powerful driving force and institutional guarantees for Chinese modernization. Chinese modernization has been continuously advanced through reform and opening up, and will surely open up broad prospects in reform and opening up. On the new journey, we must consciously place reform in a more prominent position, resolutely remove various institutional and mechanistic obstacles, and use the "system of China" to guarantee the "governance of China." We must closely focus on the theme of advancing Chinese modernization, anchor the overall goal of continuing to improve and develop the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, better leverage the leading role of economic system reform, and build institutions and mechanisms that support comprehensive innovation. At the same time, we must coordinate the advancement of strategic tasks such as improving the institutional system of whole-process people's democracy, improving the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics, deepening the reform of cultural systems and mechanisms, improving the institutional system for safeguarding and improving people's livelihood, deepening the reform of the ecological civilization system, advancing the modernization of the national security system and capacity, and continuously deepening the reform of national defense and the armed forces, continuously opening up new prospects for Chinese modernization.
We must adhere to bottom-line thinking and open up new prospects for our cause through tenacious struggle. Advancing Chinese modernization is by no means something that can be achieved easily or with beating drums and gongs; it will inevitably face numerous obstacles and various challenges. We must adhere to bottom-line thinking and dare to struggle and be good at struggle. Since the beginning of the new era, it is precisely because we do not believe in evil, are not afraid of ghosts, and do not fear pressure, and advance despite difficulties and rise to challenges, that we have been able to fight epidemics, combat floods, resolve crises, and respond to changing situations. On the new journey, we must both respond to external suppression and containment and solve the deep-seated contradictions and problems in our country's economic and social development. We must fully understand the long-term, complex, and arduous nature of the great struggle, always maintain strategic sobriety, strategic confidence, and strategic initiative, strengthen our sense of urgency, adhere to bottom-line thinking, carry forward the spirit of struggle, enhance our ability to struggle, and open up new prospects for our cause through tenacious struggle.
Return to TopBy: 张 思 金星晔
To advance Chinese-style modernization, science and technology must take the lead, and scientific and technological innovation is the only path. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Enhance the overall effectiveness of the national innovation system." The "15th Five-Year Plan" outline proposes: "Build a self-sufficient and complete, open and efficient national innovation system." To accelerate the building of a strong science and technology nation and the construction of a modern industrial system, we must deeply grasp the rich connotation of building a self-sufficient and complete, open and efficient national innovation system, strengthen systematic key problem tackling capabilities, and win competitive advantages.
In recent years, the speed of technological progress has been unprecedented, and the depth of innovation interconnection has been unprecedented. Against this backdrop, to solve the common problems of human development, humanity needs international cooperation and open sharing more than ever before; strengthening innovation cooperation and jointly tackling key problems is increasingly becoming the mainstream and necessity of innovation. At the same time, it should be noted that the current geopolitical situation is turbulent, and various forms of "building walls and setting up barriers" and "technological blockades" are intensifying. From the perspective of coordinating development and security, key core technologies cannot be obtained by asking, buying, or begging. Only by mastering key core technologies in our own hands can we fundamentally safeguard national economic security, national defense security, and other security. The more strategic and foundational an industry or technology is, the less we can build industrial security and technological security on external systems; instead, we should better safeguard national development and security interests by building a self-sufficient and complete, open and efficient national innovation system.
Self-sufficiency and completeness, and openness and efficiency, are 相辅相成 (xiāng fǔ xiāng chéng - "mutually support and mutually complete," to complement each other) and dialectically unified. Self-sufficiency and completeness provide important support and security guarantees for openness and efficiency, ensuring that resources are allocated, rules are set, and risks are managed with ourselves as the main actor; openness and efficiency are the inherent requirements for promoting high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening and advancing the self-sufficiency and completeness of the innovation system. Only with the organic unity of the two can China take the initiative in global scientific and technological competition and industrial transformation and lay a solid foundation for comprehensively building a modern socialist country. In this sense, building a self-sufficient and complete, open and efficient national innovation system should promote open collaboration around China's technological system, industrial system, and market advantages, build a globally distributed innovation ecosystem with China as an important organizer, and enhance the ability to organize the science and technology ecosystem in global scientific and technological cooperation.
For example, the integrated circuit industry is the core of the information technology industry and is a strategic, foundational, and pioneering industry that supports economic and social development and safeguards national security. In the 2026 Government Work Report, the integrated circuit industry was explicitly listed as the first among the emerging pillar industries to be developed. Promoting the development of the integrated circuit industry cannot be separated from building a self-sufficient and complete, open and efficient national innovation system. Specifically, self-sufficiency and completeness mainly solve the problem of whether key core technologies are in our own hands; links such as electronic design automation, core processes, key equipment, and basic software that determine the foundation and technological direction of the integrated circuit industry must be continuously tackled and firmly mastered. Openness and efficiency mainly solve the problem of how to transform China's advantages into global competitiveness; in links such as general materials, process collaboration, and testing and certification in the integrated circuit industry, different countries and regions can be attracted to participate in cooperation around China's technological architecture and industrial needs, forming a global innovation network with multi-node support, multi-market feedback, and multi-rule interfaces. Whether self-sufficiency and completeness and openness and efficiency can effectively coordinate and operate smoothly depends critically on technical translation, cooperation embedding, and institutional connectivity. Technical translation breaks down complex systems into combinable, iterable modules, enabling more entities to carry out collaborative optimization under unified standards, but collaboration must be built on the basis of an independent technology chain, forming our own technological frame of reference; on this basis, a high degree of industrial consensus should be formed, cross-licensing of intellectual property should be promoted, and the flow of scientific research talent and long-term scientific research cooperation should be facilitated; through cooperation embedding, trust accumulation and shock resistance in all links of the innovation network should be enhanced; at the same time, the cost of cross-border collaboration should be reduced through high-standard rules and a fair competition environment, stabilizing market expectations.
During the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, while adhering to the coordination of development and security, accelerating high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening and leading the development of new quality productive forces, we must neither move toward closed substitution nor remain at the level of general openness; instead, we must build a self-sufficient and complete, open and efficient national innovation system, supported by industrial autonomy and controllability and the ability to lead the global innovation ecosystem. First, guided by national strategic scientific and technological forces, chain-leading enterprises (链主企业), and major application scenarios, accelerate the connection of key chains such as design and manufacturing, promote chain strengthening, chain supplementation, and chain extension (强链补链延链) by category, and cultivate a number of globally competitive leading enterprises and common technology platforms. Second, steadily expand institutional opening-up, and build predictable, verifiable, and replicable institutional interfaces in areas such as standard setting, intellectual property protection, and data compliance. Third, leverage the advantages of the super-large market and the complete industrial system, use scenarios such as new energy vehicles and smart terminals to drive the iteration of chips and basic software and hardware, and promote Chinese technology, Chinese standards, and Chinese solutions to larger markets in the mutual reinforcement of the domestic and international dual circulation.
(Author affiliations: School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院大学); School of Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics (中央财经大学))
Return to TopBy: 孙金龙 黄润秋
Establishing a scientific and reasonable assessment and evaluation system is an important means of comprehensively advancing the construction of a Beautiful China. In April 2026, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the Measures for Assessing the Effectiveness of Beautiful China Construction (hereinafter referred to as the Assessment Measures), making systematic arrangements for assessing the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction, and providing strong impetus and institutional guarantees for comprehensively advancing Beautiful China construction on the new journey of the new era and accelerating the modernization of harmony between humanity and nature.
Fully understanding the significance of the issuance of the Assessment Measures
Since 2020, the Central Leading Group for Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection has taken the lead in conducting assessments of the effectiveness of the battle against pollution for seven consecutive years, effectively consolidating the dual responsibility of the Party and government and the dual responsibility of one post with dual duties for ecological and environmental protection. In December 2023, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Opinions on Comprehensively Advancing the Construction of a Beautiful China, requiring the formulation of measures for assessing the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction and the timely transition from assessing the effectiveness of the battle against pollution to assessing the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction. Formulating and issuing the Assessment Measures and conducting high-quality assessments of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction are of great significance for ensuring the timely realization of the goals of Beautiful China construction and for consolidating the ecological foundation for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
The formulation and issuance of the Assessment Measures is a concrete manifestation of deeply practicing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization. Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization is the concentrated embodiment of the practical and theoretical innovations of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core in governing the country, as applied to the field of ecological civilization construction, and is the fundamental guideline and action guide for ecological civilization construction in the new era. The Assessment Measures adhere to carrying Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization through from beginning to end, and are a major institutional innovation achievement of our Party in leading and advancing ecological civilization construction. They are conducive to further strengthening the Party's overall leadership over ecological civilization construction, consolidating and tightening the political responsibility of provincial-level Party committees and governments for Beautiful China construction, and promoting all localities to enhance their political consciousness, ideological consciousness, and action consciousness in studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization.
The formulation and issuance of the Assessment Measures is an important guarantee for promoting the establishment and practice of a correct view of political achievements. The assessment of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction emphasizes rewarding the excellent and punishing the inferior, and supervising rectification, guiding provincial-level Party committees and governments to firmly establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, adhere to a people-centered development philosophy, and consciously achieve the goals of building the Party for the public, benefiting the people, making scientific decisions, and grasping firmly and doing solidly. The Assessment Measures adhere to ecological priority and green development, resolutely correcting practices in some localities of exchanging temporary local economic growth at the expense of the ecological environment, and carrying out ecological restoration and pollution control that violate the laws of nature. This is conducive to promoting all localities to consciously confine economic activities and human behavior within the limits that resources and the environment can bear, and to promoting the effective improvement of economic quality and reasonable growth of quantity in the process of green and low-carbon transformation.
The formulation and issuance of the Assessment Measures is an inherent requirement for building a Beautiful China featuring harmony between humanity and nature. Comprehensively advancing Beautiful China construction involves a broader range of fields and scopes, touches on deeper levels of contradictions and problems, and requires giving full play to the role of assessment as a "weather vane" and "baton" to further consolidate consensus and form synergy. The Assessment Measures takes promoting green and low-carbon development and achieving comprehensive improvement and fundamental turnaround of ecological environment quality as its starting point and ultimate goal. It will effectively urge provincial-level Party committees and governments to coordinate high-quality development and high-level protection, deeply fight the battles to defend the blue sky, clear water, and clean soil, strengthen the governance of solid waste and emerging pollutants, strive to enhance the diversity, stability, and sustainability of ecosystems, firmly guard the bottom line of ecological environment security, and accelerate the building of a Beautiful China with green mountains always present, clear waters ever flowing, and air ever fresh.
The formulation and issuance of the Assessment Measures is a key measure for improving the ecological environment governance system. The Assessment Measures is the first time that comprehensive regulation of the assessment of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction has been carried out in the form of an intra-Party regulation, further improving the assessment and evaluation system for ecological civilization construction, and is an important institutional arrangement for comprehensively advancing Beautiful China construction. The Assessment Measures fully connects with intra-Party regulations such as the Regulations on Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection Work and the Provisions on the Responsibility System for Ecological and Environmental Protection of Local Party and Government Leading Cadres (Trial), as well as national laws such as the Ecological Environment Code, promoting the formation of an institutional chain that is comprehensive in coverage, consistent in authority and responsibility, clear in rewards and punishments, and interlocking in links, and continuously improving and perfecting the modern environmental governance system.
Accurately grasping the main content of the Assessment Measures
The Assessment Measures fully implements the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Party and the plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, earnestly implements the deployments of the Fourth Plenary Session, deeply implements Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, highlights political nature, bases itself on the overall situation, grasps practicality, and emphasizes coordination. It continues the effective working mechanisms of the assessment of the effectiveness of the battle against pollution, and makes comprehensive provisions on the overall requirements, organization and implementation, main content, and application of results of the assessment of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction.
Clarifying the overall requirements for assessment work. The Assessment Measures stipulates that assessment work adheres to emphasizing actual performance and encouraging responsibility, promoting the establishment and practice of a correct view of political achievements, and improving the execution of the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments on ecological civilization construction; adheres to goal orientation and problem orientation, targeting prominent ecological environment problems that the people strongly reflect upon, continuously and deeply fighting the battle against pollution, setting key and leading assessment indicators around the goals and tasks of Beautiful China construction, and grasping firmly at key areas and key links; adheres to compliance with regulations and laws and public recognition, strictly following the requirements of relevant intra-Party regulations, the Ecological Environment Code, and other laws, standardizing assessment methods and procedures, achieving precision, science, objectivity, and fairness, paying attention to reducing the burden on grassroots units, and giving full play to the role of social supervision; adheres to combining assessment with application and promoting work through assessment, strengthening the application of assessment results, promoting the improvement of ecological environment quality and the implementation of related work through assessment, and consolidating the responsibility for ecological environmental protection.
Scientifically and reasonably setting assessment content. The Assessment Measures adheres to taking the implementation of Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and directives as the primary political task, and clarifies that assessments of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction of the Party committees and governments of all provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government) shall be conducted, mainly including five aspects of assessment content: the implementation of responsibilities, the completion of annual main goals, the completion of annual key tasks, the performance of fund use, and the degree of public satisfaction, with corresponding assessment indicators set concisely and precisely. The Assessment Measures highlights the requirements of a correct view of political achievements, focuses on assessing objective indicators closely related to people's feelings such as the improvement of ecological environment quality, takes the people's sense of gain as an important yardstick for measuring the quality of Beautiful China construction, and guides all localities to produce political achievements for the people and through solid work.
Strict and efficient organization and implementation. The Assessment Measures stipulates that under the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, assessment work is organized by the Central Leading Group for Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection, with the Office of the Central Leading Group for Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection and the Organization Department of the Central Committee jointly carrying it out together with relevant departments, which ensures the authority of assessment work. The Assessment Measures carries the Party Central Committee's requirements for streamlining and optimizing grassroots assessment through from beginning to end, conducting assessment according to the four steps of self-evaluation and summary, verification and certification, comprehensive evaluation, and result feedback, with a concise and efficient process; it proposes that "for statistical monitoring data and public evaluation feelings and other data mastered by relevant departments, self-evaluation may not be conducted," effectively reducing the burden on grassroots units.
Strengthening the application of assessment results. The Assessment Measures clarifies that after assessment results are reviewed and approved by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, they shall be notified to all provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government) in the name of the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council; assessment results shall serve as an important reference for the comprehensive assessment and evaluation, rewards and punishments, and appointment and removal of the leading groups and relevant leading cadres of the Party committees and governments of provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government), and as a reference basis for the allocation of financial funds related to ecological and environmental protection. The Assessment Measures puts forward requirements for the rectification of problems found in assessment. Where the assessment result is "unqualified," rectification measures shall be promptly proposed and rectification completed within the prescribed period; where rectification is not completed within the prescribed period, depending on the circumstances, the Organization Department of the Central Committee shall, together with the Office of the Central Leading Group for Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection, conduct a talk with the principal responsible persons of the Party committee and government of the province (autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government); where responsibility needs to be pursued, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Commission of Supervision and the Organization Department of the Central Committee shall pursue responsibility in accordance with regulations, rules, and laws.
Earnestly grasping and implementing the Assessment Measures
The vitality of institutions lies in their implementation. The Assessment Measures is the basic guideline for conducting assessments of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction. We must earnestly study and understand it, resolutely implement all institutional provisions, and promote new major progress in Beautiful China construction.
Raising political standing. We must deeply comprehend the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments," enhance the "Four Consciousnesses," strengthen the "Four Confidences," and achieve the "Two Upholds," and with a high sense of political responsibility and mission, earnestly grasp, implement, and refine all work related to the assessment of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction. We must always keep in mind the "great affairs of the state," maintain strategic resolve in strengthening ecological civilization construction, continuously deepen the battle against pollution and the optimization of ecosystems, enhance the momentum of green development, consolidate the ecological security barrier, and promote the implementation and landing of the Party Central Committee's decisions and deployments on Beautiful China construction.
Strengthening organizational leadership. Adhere to carrying Party leadership through all processes and all aspects of the assessment of the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction. Under the lead organization of the Central Leading Group for Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspection, strengthen coordination and cooperation among departments, and promptly report important situations to the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Accelerate the research and formulation of detailed rules for scoring assessment indicators, improve the differentiated assessment and evaluation system according to the functional positioning of regional main functional zones, and enhance the precision and penetrating power of assessment. All provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government) shall, according to the requirements of the Assessment Measures, and in accordance with the assessment plans approved and filed by their regions, assess the effectiveness of Beautiful China construction of the Party committees and governments at the next level in light of actual conditions.
Strengthening safeguard measures. Strengthen the publicity and interpretation of the Assessment Measures, and adopt various forms to do a good job in training and guidance. Strictly enforce assessment work discipline and work style, resolutely eliminate formalism and bureaucratism, effectively reduce the burden on grassroots units, and consciously accept social supervision. Continuously improve the assessment working mechanism, ensure that the assessment process is strict and standardized, and that assessment results are objective and fair, standing up to the test of history, the people, and practice. Pay attention to excavating typical experiences and practices in assessment, strengthen summarization, refinement, publicity, and promotion, and create a good atmosphere in which the whole society jointly cares about, jointly supports, and jointly participates in the construction of a Beautiful China.
(The authors are respectively the Party Secretary of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.)
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 吴 勇 李祉瑶
The fourth National Ecology Day falls on August 15 this year. On that day, the 2026 National Ecology Day main venue event was held in Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia. Representatives from various regions and departments, grassroots ecological guardians, and representatives of international organizations gathered in Hulunbuir to discuss green development and jointly deliberate on the building of an ecological civilization.
"Effective from August 15, 2026." In the policy interpretation segment, the implementation of the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国生态环境法典) became the focus of attention at the venue. According to the on-site presentation, the Code systematically integrates the theoretical, institutional, and practical achievements of ecological civilization development since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, organically unifying people-centeredness, systematicity, standardization, and openness and inclusiveness. It is a Code with Chinese characteristics, reflecting the features of the times, expressing the will of the people, and being systematic, standardized, and coordinated.
At the event site, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released typical cases of procuratorial public interest litigation serving the construction of a Beautiful China; the Ministry of Natural Resources released the results of green mine construction; the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (生态环境部) introduced the progress of building the national ecological environment monitoring network; the Ministry of Water Resources showcased the achievements of the green and low-carbon transformation of the water sector; and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration released the results of the "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program and national park development. One institutional innovation after another, one set of construction achievements after another, outline the clear trajectory of China's ecological civilization development deepening from key-point remediation to systematic governance, and from experience-based exploration to institutional development.
At present, China has deployed 58,000 national controlled ecological environment monitoring stations of various types, and has basically completed a national monitoring network with comprehensive coverage, complete elements, and rational layout. In the "Three-North" Shelterbelt Program battle, 544 key projects have been implemented, and the forest and grassland coverage rate in the program area has further increased. The first batch of five national parks has been officially established, and the populations of species such as the Amur tiger and Amur leopard have grown steadily.
Green transformation requires not only protecting the ecology but also reshaping the development model. Data released at the venue show that China's energy intensity has cumulatively decreased by more than 26 percent, supporting an average annual economic growth of 6.1 percent with an average annual energy consumption growth of 3.4 percent. One "decrease" and one "increase" reflect the accelerated transformation of the development model. The scale of China's resource recycling industry has reached 5 trillion yuan, maintaining an average annual growth rate of around 10 percent. For new types of solid waste such as waste power batteries, decommissioned wind power equipment, and scrapped photovoltaic modules, a whole-chain management system covering production, use, recycling, and disposal will be accelerated. Promoting the recycling and reuse of solid waste from the "new three items" is both an ecological issue and a development opportunity.
Twenty industry associations, including the China Association of Circular Economy and the China Energy Conservation Association, jointly issued an initiative to accelerate the green and low-carbon transformation of development models, guide enterprises to improve green management systems, promote advanced energy-saving technologies, and foster green production and lifestyle patterns.
Hulunbuir issued an initiative to the whole society: unswervingly practice the concept that "green waters and green mountains are gold and silver mountains," unswervingly accelerate comprehensive green transformation, unswervingly advance the battle against pollution, unswervingly build ecologically livable urban and rural areas, and unswervingly advocate green lifestyles. The five "unswervingly" commitments are both a solemn pledge and a call to action.
In the roundtable discussion segment, grassroots representatives from villages, forest farms, and plateaus sat together and told their stories. In the Greater Khingan Range forest area of Inner Mongolia, after the complete cessation of commercial logging of natural forests, forestry workers transitioned from loggers to forest guardians. "In the past, what we held in our hands was a chainsaw; now we carry patrol and monitoring equipment," said Cao Degui (曹德贵), a ranger at the Hezhong Operation and Management and Protection Center of Chao'er Forestry Company under Inner Mongolia Forest Industry Group. Their identities changed, and so did their sources of income. Relying on under-forest resources, the locality has developed industries such as wood ear mushrooms, bracken ferns, and cold-water fish farming.
Jiangxi has continued to improve the mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products; Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu is advancing the greening of industry and the clean energy transition; Beijing is exploring the "exchange and compensation" mechanism between Gross Ecosystem Product accounting and ecosystem regulation service value (GEP-R) and GDP; Ordos in Inner Mongolia is building zero-carbon industrial parks and exploring the coordinated development of "wind, solar, hydrogen, storage, and vehicles."
With different natural endowments and different stages of development, the explorations of various localities all point to the same goal: supporting high-quality development with high-level protection, and continuously transforming ecological advantages into development advantages.
As the roundtable agenda progressed, the discussion topics shifted from grassroots stories and regional practices to "sharing China's solutions with the world."
Near the end, a remark by the moderator was unforgettable: "Let every day be Ecology Day." The building of an ecological civilization is not confined to a single observance. It lies in the day-after-day patrols of forest rangers, in the shovel-by-shovel perseverance of desertification fighters, in the energy-saving renovation of enterprise production lines, and in each person's daily choices of saving a drop of water, using one fewer plastic bag, and properly sorting their waste.
From the perseverance of one person to the relay of a group, from the transformation of one village to the action of a nation, and then to jointly addressing global ecological and environmental challenges, patches of green are converging and spreading out as an ever more distinct and substantial background color of Chinese modernization.
By: 新华社记者 胡虎虎摄影报道
At the Start of Autumn, a team composed of staff of the Altun Mountain National Nature Reserve Administration (阿尔金山国家级自然保护区管理局) in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, township cadres, and police officers from the local police station set out on routine patrol. Today, high-altitude surveillance gimbal cameras, infrared cameras, and professional drones have become the "new members" of this team, as if equipping patrol officers with a technological "clairvoyant eye." Through the passage of seasons (寒来暑往 (hán lái shǔ wǎng - "cold comes, heat goes," as time passes year after year), since the Altun Mountain Reserve was established over 40 years ago, generation after generation of conservation officers have passed the baton and pressed forward, witnessing the wetland and grassland areas here expand year by year and wildlife populations climb steadily.
Return to TopOur newspaper, Beijing, August 16 (Reporter Pan Junqiang) — The reporter learned from the Beijing Municipal Water Affairs Bureau (北京市水务局): the 2025 Beijing water ecology monitoring results were recently released, covering 146 water bodies, with the monitoring scope covering the city's major rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. The monitoring results show that the city has 168 rivers with water, an increase of 50 year-on-year; the length of flowing rivers is 3,511.62 kilometers, an increase of 601.44 kilometers year-on-year. There are 137 water bodies at the healthy level, accounting for 93.8%; for the first time, the proportion of healthy water bodies has exceeded 90%, and the city's water ecological health status has been steadily improving.
In the 2025 Beijing water ecology monitoring survey, 78 species of fish were collected, an increase of 4 species year-on-year, namely the spotted flower loach, the Linghe small gudgeon, the Jinan bitterling, and the Qingxu small gudgeon; 486 species of phytoplankton, an increase of 27 species year-on-year; 387 species of large benthic macroinvertebrates, an increase of 149 species year-on-year. The city's cumulative total of large aquatic plants is 120 species, an increase of 27 species year-on-year, with widely distributed species including reeds, cattails, hornwort, hydrilla, curly-leaf pondweed, and water milfoil, among others.
After many years of systematic protection and restoration, the structure and function of Beijing's water ecosystems have undergone a fundamental transformation. The river ecosystem has achieved a key transition from an "algae-type turbid water state with phytoplankton as the dominant component" to a "grass-type clear water state with submerged vegetation as the dominant component," and the water bodies' self-purification capacity, water quality stability, and ecological service functions have been significantly enhanced. On the basis of maintaining core functions such as flood regulation and storage and water resource supply, the lake and reservoir ecosystems have gradually become regional biodiversity enrichment zones, nurturing abundant aquatic biological resources and forming a composite ecosystem with stable structure and complete functions.
Return to TopBeijing, August 16 (Reporter Liu Shiyao (刘诗瑶)) — On August 14, the reporter learned from the Ministry of Natural Resources that the South China Sea Bureau of the Ministry of Natural Resources (自然资源部南海局) officially released the 2025 South China Sea Region Marine Ecological Early Warning Monitoring Bulletin (《2025年南海区海洋生态预警监测公报》) (hereinafter referred to as the "Early Warning Monitoring Bulletin") and the 2025 South China Sea Region Marine Ecological Protection and Restoration Bulletin (《2025年南海区海洋生态保护修复公报》) (hereinafter referred to as the "Protection and Restoration Bulletin").
The Early Warning Monitoring Bulletin shows that in 2025, the marine ecological status of the South China Sea region was generally stable. The water environment and biodiversity of nearshore sea areas were both within the range of normal annual fluctuations, remaining generally stable overall. Mangrove and seagrass bed ecosystems were in excellent overall condition, with mangrove coverage above 75%, stable vegetation communities, and high levels of biodiversity. Coral reef and coastal salt marsh ecosystems were predominantly in moderate condition, with live coral coverage increasing in all monitored areas. Estuary and bay ecosystems were basically stable, and the ecological status of the Xisha, Zhongsha, and Nansha islands and reefs was generally excellent. At the same time, marine ecological risk monitoring and early warning achieved notable results, with 18 red tide warnings issued throughout the year, covering a cumulative area of approximately 366.5 square kilometers, a significant decrease compared with the average of the past five years; two localized biological outbreak events in nearshore sea areas were detected and handled, without causing significant economic losses.
The Early Warning Monitoring Bulletin for the first time provided an overall assessment of the ecological status of the Xisha, Zhongsha, and Nansha islands and reefs, focusing on presenting the true ecological picture of nine of these islands and reefs, providing a foundational basis for strengthening classified protection and management of islands and reefs.
Among them, the Xisha islands and reefs showed a good recovery trend. The four atolls of North Reef (北礁), Yongle Atoll (永乐环礁), Yuzhuo Reef (玉琢礁), and Langhua Reef (浪花礁) in Xisha were in excellent overall ecological condition. Affected by the large-scale coral bleaching in 2020 and the crown-of-thorns starfish outbreak since 2018, live coral coverage was generally low, but hard coral recruitment was high, indicating a good recovery trend.
Huangyan Island (黄岩岛) is a rare "biological gene bank" in the central South China Sea. It has a rich variety of reef-building stony corals, with 135 species in total. Seagrass beds are distributed contiguously within the lagoon, covering an area of approximately 1.85 square kilometers with a coverage rate of 19.2%. The live coral coverage in the protected area reached 38.8%. Rare species gather here, with national first- and second-class protected wild animals such as green sea turtles, hawksbill turtles, giant clams, and triton shells found.
The ecological status of the Nansha islands and reefs showed obvious differentiation, with overall good condition, but individual islands and reefs experiencing severe ecosystem damage and degradation. Xianbin Reef (仙宾礁) and Niue Reef (牛轭礁) were in excellent ecological condition, with live coral coverage rates of 24.7% and 37.7% respectively. Tiexian Reef (铁线礁) and Ren'ai Reef (仁爱礁) experienced severe ecosystem degradation. The former, affected by crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, tropical cyclones, and foreign human activities, particularly the continuous construction by the Philippines on Zhongye Island (中业岛), saw its live coral coverage area decline by nearly 70% compared with 2016. The latter, due to long-term sewage discharge from illegally "grounded" foreign warships, accumulation of waste, and entanglement of fishing nets, saw a significant decline in live coral coverage, with both coral growth and recovery inhibited.
The Protection and Restoration Bulletin shows that in 2025, natural resources (marine) and forestry authorities at all levels in the South China Sea region strictly safeguarded the marine ecological security boundary, strengthened the construction of institutional support systems, enhanced the protection of rare and endangered marine species and innovation in protection and restoration technologies, continued to implement ecological protection and restoration projects, and comprehensively advanced marine ecological protection and restoration work. A total of 66 marine ecological restoration engineering projects were implemented, with total investment of nearly 5 billion yuan. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, a cumulative total of 262 marine ecological protection and restoration projects were implemented, with total investment exceeding 21.3 billion yuan. As of the end of 2025, the South China Sea region had designated a total marine ecological protection red line area of approximately 2.66 million hectares and a marine nature reserve area of approximately 7 million hectares.
Return to TopFuzhou, August 16 (Reporter Fu Wen) — At noon on the 16th, Fujian concluded its three-and-a-half-month summer fishing moratorium period, with Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Putian, Pingtan and other localities simultaneously opening the fishing season.
Before the fishing season opened, the Fujian Provincial Marine and Fisheries Law Enforcement Corps (福建省海洋与渔业执法总队) formed five working groups dispatched to key coastal areas, going deep into fishing ports, docks, and concentrated vessel anchorage points to conduct open inspections and covert visits, random spot checks, and onboard inspections, along with enforcement checks and assistance guidance, coordinating with local enforcement agencies to carry out thorough "bottom-up" vessel verification and boarding safety inspections, urging the implementation of pre-voyage safety self-inspections and the clearing of hidden dangers to zero, ensuring safe departure to sea. At sea, the Fujian Marine "Blue Sword 2026-19 (201st)" (蓝剑2026—19) operation and the third joint maritime enforcement action of the summer fishing moratorium were simultaneously launched, with enforcement vessels across the province dispatched and deployed to guard key fishing ports and sea areas along the coast, ensuring stable order at ports and in offshore waters before the fishing season opened.
Return to TopBy: 《中国经济周刊》记者 孙 冰
Headline Highlights
During the summer vacation, many children craving companionship are trying chatting with AI on their phones. The rapid development of AI has brought diverse possibilities for the growth of minors; however, over-reliance on AI companionship has also exposed no small number of problems.
How should we define the safety boundary of AI companionship? While technology races ahead, supporting services must also keep pace. Social education, industry norms, and family guidance are all indispensable, jointly safeguarding growth and making AI a good teacher and helpful friend on the path of youth learning.
"Why can't you chat with me like AI (artificial intelligence)?" Only when hearing this "comparison" from his 10-year-old son Hehe did Hehe's father realize that the child had already been chatting with AI for a long time.
Hehe's experience is not an isolated case. Not long ago, a 15-year-old girl received psychological treatment at Beijing Anding Hospital due to emotional problems. When communicating with the doctor, she repeatedly mentioned a "friend who is crucial to me." Only after repeated questioning did the doctor learn that this "friend" was actually AI. Xu Gaoyang (徐高阳), a psychotherapist at Beijing Anding Hospital, told reporters that in recent years, among adolescents visiting the hospital, the number of children who over-rely on AI chatting has increased noticeably.
Today, AI has gradually entered the lives of minors, playing roles such as teacher and companion. When AI becomes children's "chatting buddy," how should we guide them? Reporters conducted research and interviews.
"When encountering worries, they choose to confide in AI rather than people around them"
AI emotional companionship is showing a trend of popularization and younger age
Sun Hongyan (孙宏艳), a researcher at the China Youth Research Center, has studied youth topics for more than 20 years. Last year, she and her team conducted a survey on primary and secondary school students' use of generative AI, covering 8,563 students in 7 provinces (municipalities).
Survey data show that the overall AI usage rate among primary and secondary school students is 61.7%, of which the usage rate among primary school students is 60.0%, exceeding the 56.1% of junior high school students. In terms of usage direction, 71.0% of students chose "using AI to assist with homework," and 35.2% chose "chatting with AI or sharing innermost feelings."
"Some of the survey results were as expected, and some were beyond expectations." Sun Hongyan told reporters that what was expected was that AI has indeed penetrated the student population very quickly, and whether in cities or rural areas, its popularity is already very high; what was beyond expectations was that AI emotional companionship is showing a trend of popularization and younger age, with 46.4% of primary and secondary school students who use AI "choosing to confide in AI rather than people around them when encountering worries," and 21.5% of children even choosing "only wanting to chat with AI, not wanting to chat with real people."
Sun Hongyan provided a set of data worth pondering: when asked "did you communicate with your child today," 80 percent of parents answered "yes," but only 20 percent of children gave an affirmative answer.
Hehe's father later reflected: what parents consider "communication" is more about asking about grades and performance, with far too little listening and emotional concern for their children.
In contrast, AI is like a friend who is always available — when you open it in the middle of the night unable to sleep, it is there; when you say a jumble of incoherent things, it can sort out the thread; when you repeat the same thing over and over, it still listens attentively... "AI's instant response, unconditional tolerance, and compliance can easily cause minors to develop cognitive and psychological dependence. We must be vigilant about AI creating an 'emotional cocoon chamber' for minors," Sun Hongyan said.
In fact, there is an essential difference between adults and minors in using AI. Adults are more mature in mind and can clearly distinguish during use: AI is a tool, not a real person. But minors, especially younger children, may treat AI as a real and trustworthy friend, unable to distinguish between the virtual and the real.
"Chatting with AI can, to a certain extent, alleviate minors' anxiety, but it does not truly solve problems." Qin Ling (秦岭), director of the Research Office of Shanghai No. 3 Girls' Middle School, told reporters.
Qin Ling once accompanied public welfare projects to visit more than 20 rural teaching sites across multiple provinces, conducting field research on the application effects of AI companion devices among left-behind children. A person in charge of a teaching site in Qinghai once asked Qin Ling: can AI be guided not to only say pleasant things?
AI's powerful empathy can give children a sense of security from being understood, but it cannot provide the real and objective evaluations necessary for growth. "From a psychological perspective, the journey from immaturity to maturity requires forming self-identity based on the attitudes of people around you, just like 'looking in a mirror.' Looking in a 'real mirror' is very important for the growth of minors; otherwise, they will be unable to face the difficulties, problems, and setbacks of the real world," Sun Hongyan said.
"AI can give suggestions, but it cannot bear responsibility"
AI cannot replace parents' high-quality companionship
Data from the China Internet Network Information Center show that as of December 2025, China's generative AI user base reached 602 million people, of which users aged 19 and below accounted for the highest proportion, at 26.4%.
"In our survey, we found that 67.9% of families have not established rules for AI use. This means that in terms of AI usage, quite a few parents are absent in management and guidance," Sun Hongyan said.
Reporters also found during interviews that many parents do not know that the state has already issued relevant regulations to regulate primary and secondary school students' use of generative AI, especially restricting younger students' independent use. For example, the Guidelines for the Use of Generative AI by Primary and Secondary School Students (2025 Edition) requires that during the primary school stage, students are prohibited from independently using open-ended content generation functions.
During the 2025 summer vacation, the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences conducted a large-scale questionnaire survey and interviews covering 31 provinces, involving more than 320,000 primary and secondary school students, more than 280,000 parents, and more than 50,000 teachers. The survey found that 99.7% of primary and secondary school students in China's central and western regions have been exposed to AI, and 85.6% of students have used AI to complete homework. Yet only 13.8% of teachers and 17.8% of parents believe that students generally use AI. This shows that a large number of students are in a state of unsupervised and unguided AI use.
Based on this, Sun Hongyan put forward three recommendations: first, parents should improve their own awareness, distinguish between AI's learning tool function and emotional companionship function, and adopt different guidance approaches; second, parents should discuss with their children together and jointly establish rules for AI use; third, parents should provide children with high-quality companionship, which is also the fundamental solution — AI can provide assistance, but it cannot replace the role of parents.
"AI can give suggestions, but it cannot bear responsibility." Qin Ling said, "Parents need to guide children to first find a real, trustworthy person when encountering problems."
In addition, many children turn off the minor mode of AI software during use. Xuanxuan, a middle school student in Beijing, told reporters: "After turning on minor mode, I can't do anything except ask homework questions. AI always says, 'Sorry, I cannot answer your question.'"
"Many large model manufacturers set up minor modes, but such settings should not simply be a 'subtraction'; they should also provide rich and age-appropriate content. From algorithmic logic to the corpus, adjustments are needed," said Chu Zhaohui (储朝晖), a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Educational Sciences.
"Minors are in the process of forming their values and worldview. How AI should communicate with them is a question that platform enterprises providing large model services must take seriously." Huang Tiejun (黄铁军), a professor at Peking University and chairman of the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, believes that against the backdrop of increasingly common AI emotional companionship services, enterprises should shoulder the social responsibility of technology for good, and policies should also provide guidance.
"The goal of protection is not to keep children away from AI"
From restriction to regulation, living healthily with AI
Multiple experts interviewed by reporters stated that we cannot strip AI from the world of minors — it is neither necessary nor possible. This means that we need "multi-stakeholder co-governance" from different dimensions such as policy supply, social governance, industry self-discipline, and school and family education.
"Overall, there is a need to transition from a 'restrictive' to a 'regulatory' protection model." Liu Xiaochun (刘晓春), director of the Center for Internet Law Research at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the focus of the "regulatory" protection model is to rely on AI's information processing capabilities to break through information dilemmas and achieve a balance between risk control and development promotion.
"The value of AI to minors should not be underestimated. It can compensate for educational resource gaps, provide emotional support, and expand digital capabilities. The goal of protection is not to keep children away from AI, but to cultivate their ability to harness AI and maintain independent thinking in an era of human-machine coexistence. This requires the government, platforms, schools, and families to each perform their own duties and work in synergy to create a new ecosystem for minor protection suited to the AI era," Liu Xiaochun said.
Sun Hongyan believes that in terms of policy guidance, from the Guide to General AI Education in Primary and Secondary Schools (2025 Edition) issued by the Ministry of Education, to the Interim Measures for the Administration of Anthropomorphic AI Interactive Services jointly issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China and four other departments, our policy supply has been relatively timely, but there are still some shortcomings in policy implementation and enforcement that need to be addressed.
In terms of industry self-discipline, the responsibility of platform enterprises is crucial. "Currently, there are not many AI products that have developed truly effective minor modes, and this is only the passing line. There is still a need for continuous improvement in functional design, content provision, privacy protection, value guidance, and other aspects to serve minor users well," Sun Hongyan said.
In terms of school education, the main responsibility of schools is to carry out AI literacy education — not only teaching students how to use AI, but also teaching them to recognize risks and boundaries.
In terms of family education, the family is the first line of defense in protecting children, and parents should grow together with their children, giving them more companionship and support.
"AI is not an uncontrollable flood or beast; the key is that we must take it seriously and take action. In fact, from television to the internet, every time a new medium emerged, we worried about its impact on children. But through continuously strengthening social education, industry norms, and family guidance, we ultimately found ways to live healthily with each of them," Sun Hongyan said.
(All minor interviewees in this article are pseudonyms; Lu Zhiyu (鲁芷瑜) participated in the writing.)
Return to TopBy: 亦 青
Some people draw an analogy: chatting with AI is like an "emotional sugar substitute" — it can ease surface-level loneliness, yet it cannot provide real, warm human connection.
Embrace AI, but do not stop at the chat box. As an important driving force of the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, AI has enormous potential and a promising future. In the process of technological iteration, it is inevitable that some rule conflicts and challenges will arise; however, development will not halt, and refusing to eat for fear of choking is likewise inadvisable. Resolving the "black box" nature of algorithms through the certainty and controllability of regulation and the rule of law is the key to responding to the "double-edged sword" nature of technology.
Living in "AI's steam engine moment," we, like the children before the chat box, all need to seriously consider how to better coexist with this powerful tool created by human beings. Looking to the future, we must both continue as always to pursue the "vast sea of stars" of scientific and technological innovation, and persist in exploring ways to clarify industry bottom lines and delineate regulatory red lines, so that technology serves the people and benefits the people.
Return to TopBy: 曹怡晴
Recently, in Yiwu, Zhejiang, a video of a father taking his son to experience food delivery during the hottest days of summer went viral. The 14-year-old child said that if he did not study well, "at worst I can go deliver food." The father did not argue, but instead took the child into the ranks of food delivery riders, and set a rule — giving 100 yuan as starting capital, with the father riding a motorcycle carrying the passenger, while accepting orders, planning the route, and managing expenses were all independently handled by the child.
Can delivering food cure aversion to studying? How effective was the "treatment"? Nearly a month of experience did not produce the reversal of "after eating hardship, one falls in love with reading," but it unexpectedly repaired the parent-child relationship — the son no longer resisted his father, but learned to care about him and understand that life is not easy; the father also changed, with "less nagging, more companionship."
Running stairs to deliver food, carrying bricks at construction sites, experiencing farming "facing the loess with back to the sky"... In recent years, labor education tailored for teenagers has taken diverse forms, tormenting their minds and fatiguing their bones, cultivating the confidence to solve problems in adversity. However, the controversy that follows is also considerable. Some praise it, saying "a hundred lectures are not as good as doing it once yourself," allowing teenagers to truly experience the roughness of life; others question whether it is safe and compliant for minors to engage in high-intensity labor? Does "if you do not study, you have to eat hardship" also, to some extent, hurt the dignity of labor?
Behind these phenomena and voices points to a topic — today, what kind of labor education do we need? Labor education is not entirely equivalent to "hardship education." Community service, career experience, rural labor, field classrooms... all kinds of labor are paths; it is not about how "bitter" it is, but whether it can let teenagers sow the seeds of advocating labor through hands-on practice, and cultivate an unremitting spirit of struggle through tempering their will.
Make labor a habit, not just a temporary task. Work according to the 24 solar terms, learn cooking from the cafeteria chef, learn skills from representative inheritors of intangible cultural heritage... In addition to systematic cultural knowledge learning, primary and secondary schools and universities systematically organize students to participate in daily labor, productive labor, and service-oriented labor; some universities also integrate labor education with talent cultivation and employment entrepreneurship. In the daily life of one vegetable and one meal, in the drops of sweat of one plowing and one weeding, teenagers can more deeply appreciate the value of labor, enhance their sense of responsibility, and layer by layer consolidate the foundation of growth.
Labor education also needs companionship, and cannot remain at empty preaching. The father's immersive labor education could move the child and netizens; the key lies in his role as a "companion," fighting side by side with the child. In the days of rushing to deliver food together, the father recognized the child's ability to withstand pressure, and also realized the shortcoming of lack of companionship and communication in the family.
"Not knowing the hardship of farming, one becomes idle and indulgent." Labor education is an important lesson in the growth of teenagers; age-appropriateness and moderation are important prerequisites. During the summer vacation, parents might as well enter the classroom of life and the scene of labor together with their children, incorporate more encouragement and empathy into strict requirements, stimulate internal drive through guardianship and companionship, and let labor education that is both interesting and meaningful achieve tangible results.
Return to TopBeijing, August 16 (Reporter Chen Yuanyuan) The results of the 2025 Annual Excellent Works Selection of Beijing Literature, supervised by the Beijing Municipal Federation of Literary and Art Circles (北京市文联) and hosted by the Beijing Literary Periodicals Center (北京文学期刊中心), were recently announced. This selection established seven major categories—novella, short story, reportage literature, prose, poetry, new writer new works, and reprinted works—with a total of 37 works receiving awards.
In recent years, while continuing to successively publish new works by established writers, Beijing Literature has vigorously supported young creators and has gained considerable attention in the domestic literary field. This year's selection was launched in March 2025. The candidate works were produced through collective screening by the editorial department, comprehensively referencing factors such as the works' reprint and dissemination effects, reader reputation, and professional evaluations within the industry. Sixty-three critics, writers, scholars, and editors jointly formed the final review committee and completed the evaluation. The award-winning works bring together the original and reprinted achievements of Beijing Literature (Wonderful Reading) and Beijing Literature · Novella Monthly for 2025. Rooted in the times and close to life, they display the vibrant creative style of contemporary literature through rich subject matter and diverse narratives, representing a relatively high standard of Chinese contemporary literary creation in 2025.
Return to TopThis newspaper, Hangzhou, August 16 (Reporter Gu Chun) — Recently, the fully AI (artificial intelligence)-produced online feature film Hot-Blooded Dachen Island went live on a video platform. Hot-Blooded Dachen Island takes as its theme the reclamation history of Dachen Island in Taizhou, Zhejiang, focusing on the story of young people's struggle in reclaiming wasteland. With the aid of AI technology, it restores and generates scenes of island reclamation, disaster relief and emergency rescue, and fishery development, using the language of light and shadow to recreate the historical transformations of Dachen Island.
It is understood that the screenwriter of Hot-Blooded Dachen Island had previously considered live-action filming, with a budget of at least 30 million yuan. The intervention of AI technology has made low-cost, high-efficiency film production possible. Production of the finished film began in March this year; five core crew members took 48 days to complete delivery of the entire film. The full film contains 2,429 shots, with production costs controlled within 500,000 yuan. Liu Debin, professor at the Beijing Film Academy, said that the application of AI technology has freed film and television creation from being constrained by expensive equipment and complex processes, returning it to creativity, story, and emotion themselves.
Return to TopOn August 15, the 54th China·Beijing International Gift, Premium and Household Products Exhibition concluded at the China International Exhibition Center (Chaoyang Hall). More than 200,000 creative gift items brought by over 900 exhibitors were showcased together, covering cultural and creative IP, smart digital products, quality home furnishings, food gift boxes, intangible cultural heritage creative products, and city souvenirs. The photo shows staff displaying creative refrigerator magnets at the exhibition.
Photo by Chen Xiaogen (Image China)
Our country is still in the main flood season, and flood-season safety must not be overlooked. Is it safe if there is no rainfall locally? Are there no dangers for those living in high-rise buildings? Does the end of rain mean the danger is also over? Can food that has been soaked by floodwater be eaten? How should accumulated water be properly handled? … Let us look together at the flood-season safety tips given by experts.
— Editor
During heavy rain, watch for 4 risk points
By our reporters Liu Xinyan and Ma Ruishan
Cui Lei, senior engineer at the Shanxi Provincial Disaster Prevention, Mitigation and Relief Center, and Mao Yong, director of the Flood Control and Drought Relief Division of the Shanxi Provincial Department of Emergency Management, remind the public to be aware of these safety misconceptions during the flood season.
No local rainfall does not mean safety
"Many people think that on a sunny day there is no safety hazard, but this is actually a misconception," Cui Lei said. According to the Ministry of Water Resources' Emergency Response Work Procedures for Water and Drought Disaster Prevention and the science popularization standards for river basin flood prevention, floods have the characteristics of basin-wide convergence, cross-regional transmission, and delayed arrival. Fine weather in a local area does not mean there is no heavy rainfall upstream or that reservoirs are not carrying out flood-release scheduling operations. When heavy rain falls in upstream mountainous areas and reservoirs open their sluice gates to release floodwater according to scheduling, the resulting flood peak flows downstream along the river channel. River beaches, riverside footpaths, roads along the river, and low-lying valley zones can suddenly rise with water in a short time. If one happens to be fishing, walking, or parking by the river, one can be trapped by floodwater even on a sunny day.
Cui Lei reminded the public not to look only at the local weather forecast, but also to pay attention to upstream heavy rain warnings, small and medium river flood warnings, and reservoir flood-release notices. During the flood season, avoid going to river channels, river beaches, flood-release channels, and similar areas. Once you see the river water turning muddy, the water level rising rapidly, or hear a rumbling sound of water coming from afar, immediately move to high ground perpendicular to the river channel on both banks.
Living in a high-rise does not mean there is no risk
Affected by the narrow-tube effect (venturi effect), wind speed increases between two high-rise buildings, which can easily create safety hazards. For example, exterior wall insulation layers, external air-conditioning unit brackets, and other attached exterior facade facilities can easily fall off; roofs can easily accumulate water beyond their load capacity, causing building leakage and backflow of low-level sewage pipes; strong wind pressure creates a pressure difference between indoors and outdoors, which can easily damage floor-to-ceiling windows and bay windows, causing personal injury and property loss.
"Residents living in high-rise buildings may feel that waterlogging cannot reach the upper floors, and that heavy rain and strong winds have nothing to do with them. In reality, the higher the floor, the stronger the wind, and there are many hidden dangers," Mao Yong reminded. During strong wind and heavy rain weather, high-rise residents should move flower pots, clothes-drying racks, tables and chairs from balconies indoors, check whether outdoor air-conditioning unit brackets are rusted or loose, cooperate with property management to clear rooftop drainage pipes, and not stay close to windows for long periods during thunderstorm and strong wind conditions. If encountering a typhoon or sustained strong gusts, be sure to close and lock doors and windows tightly, and do not leave windows open with gaps, to prevent wind from pouring in and damaging windows or causing rainwater backflow.
Accumulated water that looks shallow does not mean it is actually shallow
Cui Lei stated that underpass tunnels and sunken road sections below elevated roads are natural water-collection points where all rainwater converges to low-lying areas. The water surface may look like only a thin layer, but beneath the water there may be road pits, missing manhole covers, and drainage well openings with strong suction. If the accumulated water rises quickly, once a vehicle drives in and stalls, the doors will soon be held shut by water pressure.
When driving and encountering accumulated water in tunnels or under bridges, if the water depth exceeds half the tire height, turn around and take a detour directly — do not force your way through. If a fuel vehicle stalls after water ingress, do not restart the engine a second time to avoid serious engine damage; abandon the vehicle as soon as possible and evacuate to high ground on both sides. If a new-energy vehicle wades through water and stalls, do not attempt to start the vehicle; be alert to the risk of battery short-circuit and electric leakage, evacuate the vehicle as soon as possible, and stay away from the flooded area. If doors cannot be pushed open due to water pressure, use a safety hammer to break the window and escape.
Pedestrians should not rashly wade through water on rainy days and should stay away from vortex zones in accumulated water. Do not remain for long periods under overpasses, river-crossing bridges, or culvert bridges. "Prolonged soaking of road surfaces by heavy rain may lead to multiple dangers. Rainwater seeping beneath the roadbed can wash out the soil layer. The asphalt surface may look intact, but it can collapse when a vehicle presses down on it. Rainwater forms a water film on the road surface, greatly reducing tire grip, and braking distance becomes much longer than usual. Polished floor tiles at crosswalks and bus stops become especially slippery when wet, making falls very easy. Accumulated water can also cover damaged manhole covers and fallen power lines, creating risks of falling into wells and electric shock," Cui Lei said.
The end of rain does not mean the danger is over
"The period after rainfall ends is when collapses, landslides, and toppling incidents are most frequent. Rainwater softens tree root systems, wall foundations, billboard bases, and mountain slope soil, reducing their stability. Tree falls, wall collapses, and small landslides often occur one to two days later. The sewage and silt brought by flood overflow can also breed bacteria and cause infectious diseases," Mao Yong explained.
Mao Yong reminded the public that within three days after rain, do not approach old walls, large trees, roadside billboards, or steep slopes in front of or behind houses. Do not immediately return to houses built against cut slopes or to dangerous buildings. Flood-soaked household appliances and tap water pipes must be inspected, repaired, and disinfected before use. Promptly clear accumulated water and silt in front of and behind houses, and carry out disinfection work. Continue to pay attention to geological disaster warnings, adhere to the entire process of pre-rain inspection, during-rain patrol, and post-rain verification, and do not relax prevention efforts.
After a flood, pay attention to 3 key points
By our reporter Yang Xun
Liu Ziyan, deputy director of the Monitoring and Response Institute of the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, reminded the public that after a flood disaster occurs, the environmental sanitation conditions in the disaster area are severely damaged, the scope of pathogenic microorganism contamination expands, and the risk of transmission of intestinal infectious diseases and natural focal diseases rises. One must remember to "drink boiled water, eat cooked food, wash hands frequently, keep the environment clean, and prevent the four pests," and pay close attention to one's own health condition. If fever, diarrhea, vomiting, skin rash, or red and swollen eyes occur, seek medical attention at a medical institution immediately.
Pay attention to food safety
Liu Ziyan reminded the public that floods may damage water source intake points, submerge wells, and destroy water supply facilities and water transmission systems. Large amounts of sediment and trees washed into the water by floods increase water turbidity and deteriorate its sensory properties. Floodwater scouring the ground surface and toilets can wash human and animal feces, garbage, sewage, and animal carcasses into the water, causing pathogens such as E. coli and norovirus to contaminate water sources. After a flood, do not directly drink raw water, tap water, well water, river water, or accumulated water; do not drink water of unknown origin or contaminated water; and do not use water of unknown origin or contaminated water to rinse the mouth or wash vegetables. Choose qualified barreled water, bottled water, or boiled water. Containers for holding water such as vats, buckets, and basins should be rinsed with clean water. If a household's large open well has been soaked by floodwater, first remove the silt, rinse the well walls and bottom with clean water, and then completely remove the sewage. After the well naturally seeps water back to its normal level, under the guidance of professionals, use bleaching powder or other chlorine-containing disinfectants for super-chlorination disinfection, and only after cleaning again can it be put into use. Consciously protect drinking water sources and the surrounding environment, and dispose of household garbage, domestic sewage, and feces at designated locations.
Floods may cause poultry and livestock to drown, and meat, eggs, rice, and flour stored at home may also be soaked by floodwater. Liu Ziyan reminded the public not to eat any food that has been soaked by floodwater. After a refrigerator has been flooded, all food inside it must also be thrown away. Packaged food and beverages should also not be consumed. Even if bagged snacks, beverages, canned goods, and bottled water look intact on the outside, floodwater may have seeped in through tiny gaps. Washing, wiping, or boiling cannot guarantee safety. Do not take the risk of eating them because you "can't bear to waste them." Floodwater contains large amounts of sediment, impurities, and pathogenic microorganisms, which can easily contaminate food.
Pay attention to house cleaning
Ensuring environmental sanitation is also an important part of post-disaster epidemic prevention. Liu Ziyan explained that after a flood disaster, when returning home, one should first remove silt, then disinfect, and then move back in. First, promptly drain accumulated water from indoors, courtyards, and basements in an orderly manner. Depending on the extent of the damage, electric drainage pumps or manual simple drainage tools can be used. Before cleaning the house, indoor items should be sorted. Generally, items made of materials that do not easily absorb water, such as metal, glass, and hard plastic, can be kept after cleaning and drying. Items with strong water absorption such as carpets are very difficult to clean and dry after a flood and may be considered for disposal.
Remove silt, deliver garbage, debris, animal carcasses, and waste to designated collection points, and rinse walls, floors, and furniture with clean water. After silt removal is completed, use chlorine-containing disinfectants to disinfect floors, walls, furniture, and so on, then ventilate and dry to prevent continuous mold growth. Mold can be identified by observing whether walls and ceilings have changed color and by smelling whether there is a persistent musty odor. Mold may cause damage to the respiratory tract and skin and mucous membranes, such as allergic rhinitis, chronic respiratory discomfort, lung infections, dermatitis, and conjunctivitis. How to remove mold? On flat hard walls, a scraper can be used to scrape it off and then clean with soapy water. For rough surfaces such as concrete, a stiff brush can be used. If the mold growth area is large, professional assistance may be sought. When handling mold, wear gloves, masks, and protective goggles, and maintain ventilation.
Beware of infectious disease risks
After a flood, various vector organisms breed in large numbers, and opportunities for human contact with disease vectors such as mosquitoes, flies, and rats increase, raising the risk of infectious disease transmission. Liu Ziyan suggested installing mosquito-proof and fly-proof facilities such as screen doors, screen windows, and mosquito nets in residences, using mosquito coils and fly swatters to kill mosquitoes and flies, and using rat traps, glue boards, and poison baits to kill rats. When engaging in outdoor activities in the evening and early morning, try to wear long-sleeved clothing and long pants to reduce mosquito bites. When there are many mosquitoes and insects during outdoor activities, repellent can be applied to exposed skin.
Carry out environmental management and breeding-site cleanup. Remove garbage on a daily basis, eliminate sanitation dead corners, and clear all types of accumulated water, especially pot and container water in front of and behind houses and in courtyards.
When rats die from floods or migrate, ectoparasites on their bodies may detach or escape. When carrying out rat control, insecticides should be sprayed at resettlement sites for residents to eliminate free fleas and other parasites that have left rat bodies, ensuring that both rats and insects are eliminated together. When disease vectors such as mosquitoes, flies, and rats increase abnormally, local government departments should be reported to in a timely manner. Animal carcasses should be buried deeply, and the soil layer should be compacted.
People's Daily, Beijing, August 16 (Reporter Lin Lili (林丽鹂)) — The reporter learned from the State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局): Since April of last year, when the Food Safety Office of the State Council and five other departments jointly deployed the comprehensive governance of the problem of food additive abuse, market regulation departments in various localities have focused on key food categories and key production and processing links, rectified illegal acts of food additive abuse, and the comprehensive governance work has achieved notable results.
Market regulation departments in various localities have taken dairy products, meat products, aquatic products, starch and starch products, edible vegetable oil, beverages, and compound seasonings as the focus, concentrated on the prominent problems of food additives being used beyond the scope and beyond the limit during food production and catering processing, intensified supervisory sampling inspection efforts, and strictly investigated and punished prominent illegal acts such as the abuse of preservatives, sweeteners, and colorants. Across the country, a total of 23,603 cases of food additive use beyond the scope and beyond the limit were investigated and handled, with a total amount involved of 43.62 million yuan, and fines and confiscations amounting to 145 million yuan, of which 278 cases were transferred to public security organs for criminal liability in accordance with the law.
In the next step, market regulation departments will, in light of the prominent problems discovered during regulation, continue to intensify supervision and law enforcement efforts, focus on key product categories such as milk tea, cooked meat products, pastries, flour-based foods, and alcoholic beverages to deepen comprehensive governance, continue to promote enterprises to implement their primary responsibility for food safety, standardize the use of food additives, investigate and handle key cases in accordance with the law, and expose typical cases, so as to ensure that comprehensive governance achieves practical results.
Return to TopUrumqi, August 16 (Reporter Shang Rongzheng) — Recently, the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region published the Regulations of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on Urban Heating Supply. The regulations take effect on October 1.
The regulations propose encouraging the development of combined heat and power generation, supporting the research, development, and promotion of new heating technologies, new processes, new materials, and new equipment, and advancing the interconnection and intercommunication of pipe networks in centralized heating areas. The regulations specify that, under conditions such as the outdoor temperature being no lower than the local heating system's minimum design temperature, heating supply units shall supply heat in accordance with the contract, ensuring that the heating temperature in the bedrooms and living rooms (halls) of residential heat users is no lower than 20 degrees Celsius throughout the day, and that the temperature in other areas complies with national design specifications. The heating temperature for non-residential heat users shall follow national standards or contractual agreements.
The regulations require that if a residential heat user believes the indoor temperature does not meet the standard, they may submit a temperature testing request to the heating supply unit. The heating supply unit shall conduct the temperature measurement within 24 hours after the heat user makes the request.
Return to TopThe high-quality development tide surges in Jiangning District, Nanjing: Purple Mountain Laboratory (紫金山实验室) is making all-out efforts to tackle 6G technology, the "Nanjing Token Collection Store" in Qilin Science and Technology City (麒麟科技城) has begun operations, Estun robot production lines are busy at work, Tangshan and Niushou Mountain are lush with greenery, and beautiful villages are thronged with 游人如织 (yóu rén rú zhī - "visitors like weaving," crowds of visitors)…
As the administrative district with the largest area and largest population in Nanjing, Jiangning is actively seizing development opportunities including "airports, fund blocks, computing clusters, AI+, hub+, service+," innovating and working hard to take the lead, striving to run at "accelerated speed" on the track of high-quality development.
Striving for the "new," "6G+AI" activates new quality productive forces
Entering Purple Mountain Science and Technology City (紫金山科技城), cutting-edge achievements such as 6G terahertz communication and endogenous secure networks are going global from here; looking eastward, Qilin Science and Technology City is accelerating its rise, with a number of national-level platforms in artificial intelligence, computing power and other fields being established one after another. Two science and technology cities — one building the "network," one forging "intelligence" — with 6G and AI working in concert, jointly constructing the "strongest brain" of original innovation and the "hardcore foundation" of industrial science and technology innovation.
Based on the comparative advantages of a solid industrial foundation and abundant innovation resources, Jiangning takes the connecting line between Purple Mountain Science and Technology City and Qilin Science and Technology City as its main axis, relies on the "investment empowerment zone" of the Purple Mountain International Science and Technology Innovation Fund Block, and makes every effort to build the main carrying area of the "Purple Mountain Innovation Belt." Fully leveraging the role of 24 universities in the district and 11 national key laboratories, it opens up the "industry-university-research-application" transformation chain. Jiangning has cultivated a total of 154 national-level specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative "Little Giant" enterprises, 18 single-champion enterprises, and 52 listed companies, all ranking among the forefront of the province. The "key variables" of innovation are accelerating their transformation into the "maximum increment" of high-quality development.
Climbing toward the "high," telling the "Jiangning story" of industrial transformation
In the Estun robot intelligent manufacturing factory, robots producing robots has become a reality. Estun has maintained the number one shipment volume among domestic industrial robot brands for 8 consecutive years, becoming the first "A+H" listed company in the domestic industrial robot field. Driven by leading enterprises, Jiangning has formed a complete robot industry chain from core components to complete machine system integration.
Jiangning, which "understands electricity," understands the "future" even better. Currently, Jiangning is making every effort to build the "1234 leading industry cluster" (1234主导产业集群) and polish the hardcore name card of the Yangtze River Delta manufacturing highland: one 500-billion-yuan industry in smart grids, two 400-billion-yuan industries in software and artificial intelligence and high-end intelligent equipment, three 200-billion-yuan industries in new energy vehicles, new-generation information technology, and new energy conservation and environmental protection, and four 100-billion-yuan industries in biomedicine, future networks, aerospace, and frontier new materials.
Relying on historical and cultural relics such as the "Hushu Culture" (湖熟文化) dating back 3,000 to 4,000 years and the Nanjing Homo erectus fossils dating back 500,000 years, Jiangning continuously expands cultural tourism consumption scenarios. In She Village (佘村), which has a history of more than 600 years, 32 village coffee shops have quietly gathered, and more and more citizens and tourists are walking into the countryside to relax their bodies and minds. New consumption scenarios such as Tangshan Hot Spring Tourism Resort, Niushou Mountain Cultural Tourism Zone, and Baijia Lake Commercial Cluster are blossoming in multiple locations, allowing culture to empower the economy and poetry to merge into industry.
From intelligent manufacturing factories to the fragrant "village coffee" in ancient villages, Jiangning, with the posture of climbing high through science and innovation and empowering through culture, continuously optimizes the business environment, promotes industrial transformation, and allows hardcore manufacturing and poetic dwelling to coexist and merge on this land.
Setting sail toward the "far," the airport economy gathers momentum for takeoff
On July 19, the Nanjing Airport Industry Development Conference was held in Jiangning, with the "one core, one corridor, five zones" (一核、一廊、五片) spatial structure presented in full. As the location of Nanjing Lukou International Airport, Jiangning continues to deeply cultivate R&D origins and high-end manufacturing, cultivating tracks such as aviation manufacturing, intelligent equipment, and biomedicine. In the aviation and low-altitude industry field alone, 144 related enterprises have gathered, and 3 enterprises have been selected as first-tier suppliers for the C919 large aircraft.
Currently, Jiangning is continuously expanding its window of opening to the world, vigorously developing key industries such as aviation manufacturing and aviation services, cultivating open business formats such as cross-border e-commerce and the Silk Road air commerce, and building an airport economic growth pole; improving the regional coordinated development mechanism of the three southern districts of Nanjing, focusing on the "industry common denominator" of high-end intelligent equipment, new energy intelligent connected vehicles, and aerospace economy, jointly cultivating "mass entrepreneurship and innovation" talents, gathering innovation platforms, matching supply and demand scenarios, and cultivating high-quality enterprises, to build a trillion-yuan intelligent manufacturing industry community.
Deepening toward "integration," urban and rural integration 交相辉映 (jiāo xiāng huī yìng - "shining upon each other," complementing each other)
As a representative of Nanjing's emerging business districts, the Baijia Lake Commercial Cluster will usher in a qualitative leap this year. After the completion of the Jingfeng Center Phase II project, together with Jingfeng Phase I, Jiangning Golden Eagle, and 21st Century Sun City, it will form a commercial cluster with a total scale exceeding 1.5 million square meters, promoting the business district's upgrade from a "regional center" to a "city-level landmark," with the modern urban core "Jiangning Bay" appearing vividly before one's eyes.
The vision of urban and rural areas "each showing its own beauty, and beauty shared together" (各美其美、美美与共) is becoming a reality. With Tangtong Road and Suhua Road as the connecting main lines, Jiangning links 25 provincial-level characteristic pastoral areas and 41 provincial-level livable, workable, and beautiful villages by "connecting points, linking lines, and forming areas," constructing a beautiful "pearl chain." Young entrepreneurs have come to the villages, becoming village managers, establishing village OPCs (one-person companies), and becoming village operation officers, planting dreams on the ridges of the fields.
With an appointment in "Ning," Jiangning's deep integration of industry, city, and people continuously promotes the upgrading of urban capacity. In the future, Jiangning will ignite the development engine with innovation, connect global resources with openness, infuse the city's temperament with culture, and paint a picture of common prosperity with integration, striving to write a new chapter of Chinese-style modernization in Jiangning practice.
Data source: Publicity Department of the CPC Jiangning District Committee, Nanjing
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 刘硕阳 陶相安
Opening Remarks
On September 19, the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games will open. The Asian Games are not only the highest stage for sports competition in Asia, but also a key arena for the new generation of Chinese sports talent to test the results of their training and accumulate experience in major competitions. Starting today, this page launches the "Toward the Asian Games" column, going deep into the front lines of the national teams in various events to showcase the striving stories of Chinese athletes as they sprint toward the Asian Games.
From August 12 to 16, the 2026 National Athletics Championships were held at the Quzhou Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang. For the national team athletes who will compete in the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games next month, this competition was an important opportunity to test the results of their training camps and adjust their physical and mental condition.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago, Chinese track and field athletes topped the medal table in athletics with outstanding performances. As they once again step onto the Asian Games stage, their goal is not merely to defend past honors.
Using Competition to Drive Training, Adjusting Competitive Form
In the women's 100m final held on the evening of August 13, 17-year-old rising star Chen Yujie won the championship with a time of 11.08 seconds, also breaking her own Asian U20 record in the event. Although she achieved a new personal best, she was not entirely satisfied with her performance. "There were some parts of the process I didn't execute well today, and my start wasn't as smooth as in the semifinals," Chen Yujie said in her post-race review.
In recent years, a group of Chinese athletes represented by Chen Yujie have become increasingly competitive on the track and have continued to grow. Since the start of this season, Yan Ziyi, Niu Chun'ge, and Zhang Jiale have broken the Asian records in women's javelin, women's pole vault, and women's hammer throw respectively, while national records in men's pole vault, men's shot put, men's marathon, and other events have also been repeatedly refreshed. With about one month remaining until the opening of the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games, Chinese track and field athletes are racing against the clock, striving to show their best form at the Asian Games.
"We have been actively preparing for competition, overcoming various difficulties, and pushing our form to the maximum." As the defending champion of the women's 100m hurdles from the Hangzhou Asian Games, Lin Yuwei has been training with a foreign coach since the start of this season, making breakthroughs in technique and physical fitness. In particular, during high-pull training, she surpassed her personal best from six years ago. "What I need to do is better integrate my physical fitness with my event-specific abilities and further improve my speed. At this Asian Games, I will still go all out for the gold medal," Lin Yuwei said.
In the men's 400m final held on the evening of August 15, 20-year-old Liu Kai won the championship with a time of 45.67 seconds. Although he set a new season best, as the national record holder, he dares not relax in the slightest. "Many Asian athletes are at the level of 45 seconds flat. My current result is not enough to stand on the Asian Games podium," Liu Kai said. "I will adjust my training for the final sprint toward the Asian Games based on my performance in this competition."
Emerging Talent, Outstanding Performances from Newcomers
When asked about the biggest characteristic of this relay team, 20-year-old He Jinxian blurted out: "Youth!"
In early August, the Beijing sun was scorching. On the outdoor track at the General Administration of Sport training bureau, after a morning of training, the sweat-soaked sprinters remained full of fighting spirit. "Our team is very young. Being young means we have a lot of room to try things," He Jinxian said. At the World Relays held in Gaborone, Botswana in May this year, He Jinxian and his teammates ran 37.85 seconds in the men's 4×100m relay, just a step away from the national record of 37.79 seconds, and also earned a spot at next year's World Championships.
At the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Chinese track and field team achieved a bumper harvest of 19 gold, 11 silver, and 9 bronze medals, a total of 39 medals. But as the Paris Olympics came to an end, veterans such as Gong Lijiao, Yang Jiayu, and Wang Jianan gradually left the arena. At this Asian Games, many athletes on the Chinese track and field team will step onto the Asian Games stage for the first time. The team's past glory inevitably brings them pressure. While taking over the baton from their predecessors, they are also striving to "fly" toward a sky of their own.
"'The pillar' has retired, and the rest of us have to step up." Women's shot putter Zhang Linru has already represented the Chinese team at two World Championships, but with Olympic champion Gong Lijiao previously leading the charge, the 26-year-old Zhang Linru always felt she was still a "young team member." After Gong Lijiao retired following the National Games last year, Zhang Linru and Song Jiayuan became the new leaders of the domestic women's shot put team. In the women's shot put final on the evening of August 14, Zhang Linru won the championship with a throw of 19.63 meters, significantly improving her personal best and continuously enhancing her ability and courage to step forward. "After 'Big Sister' (Gong Lijiao) retired, we haven't yet been able to approach her level," Zhang Linru said. "But pressure creates motivation. We must strive to measure up to her."
On the Chinese track and field team's roster for this Asian Games, there are many athletes born after 2005, and most of them will be competing in the Asian Games for the first time. "Being able to compete in the Asian Games at the age of 17, I think I'm really awesome," Chen Yujie said. "My advantage is that 初生牛犊不怕虎 (chū shēng niú dú bú pà hǔ - "a newborn calf does not fear the tiger," the fearless spirit of youth). I want to give my all on the Asian Games track and win glory for my country."
Looking to the Long Term, Heading to a Broader Stage
On the evening of August 15, after winning the women's discus title at this National Championships, Feng Bin, the 2022 Oregon World Championships gold medalist, will head to Brussels, Belgium in early September to compete in the Wanda Diamond League Final. "The overall world level of women's discus is on the rise, but I haven't fallen behind the top tier. I have confidence in myself," Feng Bin said.
While fully preparing for the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games, Chinese track and field athletes are also keeping their sights set on the distance — the 2027 Beijing World Athletics Championships and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. "At the Asian Games, I need to strive to break my personal best on the basis of competing for first place, but my greater expectation is still at the Los Angeles Olympics," Yan Ziyi said.
Although she is only 18 years old, Yan Ziyi has performed brilliantly this season. At the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen in May, she threw 71.74 meters in the women's javelin — the second-best result in world history — breaking the Asian record and the world U20 record. She then went on to win three consecutive Diamond League meetings. Competing alongside the world's top athletes has benefited her greatly. "This will be the most unforgettable season of my career, because I have truly grown up," Yan Ziyi said. "I will continue to work hard and let the whole world see the strength of Chinese women's javelin."
After winning the National Championships title, Chen Yujie has now "collected" championship titles from all of China's top domestic competitions, including the National Games, the National Championships, and the National Grand Prix. But in her view, Chinese track and field athletes need to bravely push their limits on the Asian and world stages. Niu Chun'ge, who broke the Asian record in women's pole vault this year, also said that winning in Asia is not enough — she still needs to work hard to close the gap with the world's top level. Hurdler Wu Yanni said that her goal of reaching the top eight at the Olympics has not yet been achieved, and that when you have a dream, you have to chase it. He Jinxian, meanwhile, looks forward to standing on the podium at a major world competition together with his teammates...
As the training session was drawing to a close, a torrential rain suddenly poured down. The young men of the men's 400m event charged into the rain to complete their final set of repetitions. With expectations, with motivation, and with hard work, the future of Chinese track and field is full of hope.
(Liang Yifan contributed to this report)
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78.64 Meters! Zhang Jiale Breaks Asian Record in Women's Hammer Throw
Quzhou, Zhejiang, August 16 (Reporter Liu Shuoyang) — On the evening of August 16, the 2026 National Athletics Championships came to a close at the Quzhou Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang. In the women's hammer throw final held that evening, 19-year-old Zhang Jiale won the championship with a throw of 78.64 meters, also breaking the Asian record of 78.22 meters that teammate Zhao Jie had set just this April — an eye-catching performance.
In this competition, Zhang Jiale showed excellent form on her first throw, taking the lead with 77.40 meters. On her fourth throw, Zhang Jiale unleashed a throw of 78.64 meters, raising the Asian record by another 42 centimeters, and secured the championship with that result. Paris Olympics bronze medalist Zhao Jie took second place with 77.20 meters.
Born in October 2006, Zhang Jiale won the 2024 Lima World U20 Championships and earned a bronze medal at the 2025 Tokyo World Athletics Championships. At the upcoming Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games, Zhang Jiale and Zhao Jie will represent the Chinese track and field team in the women's hammer throw event.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 孙龙飞
On August 15 local time, the four-day 2026 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships concluded in Irvine, California, United States. The Chinese swimming team sent a 12-member squad composed entirely of post-2000s athletes, ultimately securing 2 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals, with multiple results setting new championship records and personal bests.
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a high-level intercontinental event in the world swimming arena. This edition marked the resumption of the competition after an eight-year hiatus. Traditional swimming powerhouses such as the United States, Australia, and Canada competed, and Japan also sent its main lineup from this year's Asian Games. The event served as a valuable training opportunity to test oneself against strong opponents ahead of the Aichi–Nagoya Asian Games.
The competition was fiercely contested. In the women's 50m breaststroke, Tang Qianting claimed the title with a time of 29.67 seconds, helping China secure gold in this event for the first time since 1997. Notably, Tang Qianting had already set a new championship record in the preliminaries with 29.59 seconds, demonstrating excellent form.
In the women's 200m individual medley final, Yu Yiting swam 2:07.45, defeating the world record holder in the event, Canada's star Summer McIntosh, by a margin of 0.02 seconds to take gold and set a new championship record. "The purpose of participating this time was to test the results of my training," Yu Yiting said. She executed her technical and tactical plan well in the final, seizing the initiative in the butterfly leg, staying with her opponent in the backstroke leg, extending her lead in the breaststroke leg, and sprinting at full speed in the final freestyle leg to secure the victory.
Yu Yiting admitted that although she had set a new personal best in the 400m medley earlier, her results in the 100m backstroke and 100m butterfly had consistently fallen short of expectations, and she had fallen into self-doubt at one point. Having to "endure" until the final day for her main event, the 200m medley, she could only do her best to adjust her mental and physical state, ultimately fighting hard to claim a precious gold medal. "This result is a pleasant surprise!" Facing the upcoming Asian Games, Tang Qianting felt much more assured. "I will have more confidence, and I also have a full set of contingency plans for the competition."
In addition to the two gold medals, the Chinese team also earned medals in several individual and relay events. Tang Qianting took silver in the women's 100m breaststroke, Zhang Zhanshuo secured silver in the men's 400m freestyle and bronze in the men's 200m freestyle, and Peng Xuwei won bronze in the women's 200m backstroke. The Chinese team of Wan Letian, Tang Qianting, Yu Yiting, and Cheng Yujie claimed bronze in the women's 4×100m medley relay with a time of 3:56.33.
The competition was held in an outdoor venue, with a competitive environment similar to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. By participating this time, the Chinese team could adapt to the Olympic atmosphere in advance, benchmark against world-class opponents, and accumulate competition experience. In an outdoor pool, lighting, temperature, and wind direction all have a significant impact on competitors. Especially for backstroke swimmers, whose line of sight faces the sky during races, changes in the environment greatly test their adaptability. "Competing outdoors is a novel experience. After returning, I need to summarize carefully and identify and address the gaps," Peng Xuwei said.
Return to TopBeijing, August 16 (Reporter Li Shuo) — On the 14th Beijing time, in the women's doubles final of the WTA 1000 Toronto stop, Chinese player Zhang Shuai, partnering Czech player Siniakova, defeated Errani/Melichar 6:3, 6:4 to claim the title. This is the second time the pair have lifted the trophy together this year following the Adelaide stop, and the third title they have won as a partnership. Zhang Shuai has now collected four tour doubles titles this year including the Australian Open, and this is the nineteenth doubles title of her career.
In this tournament, the Zhang Shuai pair played with excellent默契, ultimately winning the title without dropping a set. "We played very well, showed a very high level, and were also very stable." Zhang Shuai sincerely thanked Siniakova after the match: "My partner helped me a lot. Last year I was just two points away from winning the title. Thank you for helping me win this beautiful trophy this year."
Return to TopPeople's Daily, Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang, August 16 (Reporters Tao Xiang'an (陶相安), Guo Xiaolong (郭晓龙)) On the 15th, the northern region event of the 2026 National Beautiful and Harmonious Village (和美乡村) Basketball Tournament ("Village BA") (村BA) opened in Jianshe Village (建设村), Baoqing Town (宝清镇), Baoqing County (宝清县), Shuangyashan City, Heilongjiang Province. Sixteen representative teams and more than 200 players from 10 provinces including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Shandong, and Xinjiang gathered on the black soil, jointly attending a basketball gala belonging to farmer friends.
The tournament lasts 6 days, with a total of 6 rounds and 36 games. On August 20, the top five teams of the northern region will be decided, and together with the top five teams of the central region and southern region and the representative team of the host location of the national finals, they will jointly advance to the national finals. The central region, southern region, and national finals will be held from September to October respectively in Xingwen County (兴文县), Yibin City, Sichuan Province; Shanglin County (上林县), Nanning City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region; and Xianfeng County (咸丰县), Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei Province.
The national "Village BA" adheres to farmers as the main body and villages as the main venue. During the tournament period, Baoqing County has launched activities including the "Black Soil Premium Products" (黑土优品) Harvest Market, the Heilongjiang Beautiful and Harmonious Village Construction Photography Exhibition, the Summer Cultural Arts Festival, and "Exploring Village Scenery: Touring Baoqing with the Village BA," and has distributed cultural tourism consumption vouchers, using the tournament platform to activate new momentum for cultural tourism.
The tournament is guided by the Department of Rural Social Undertakings Promotion of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (农业农村部农村社会事业促进司), supported by the Mass Sports Department of the General Administration of Sport (国家体育总局群众体育司), co-hosted by the China Farmers' Sports Association (中国农民体育协会), the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (黑龙江省农业农村厅), the Heilongjiang Provincial Sports Bureau (黑龙江省体育局), and the Shuangyashan Municipal People's Government (双鸭山市人民政府), undertaken by the Baoqing County People's Government (宝清县人民政府), with technical support provided by the Chinese Basketball Association (中国篮球协会).
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 郑洋洋 本报通讯员 裴囡囡
In the evening, the playground of Aiwu School in Jincheng City, Shanxi Province gradually fills with people. More and more young people come to run and exercise, residents stroll and relax, and students play ball in groups. The school playground, which used to sit idle every summer vacation, has been transformed into a "free gym" for citizens.
In June this year, Jincheng City issued the Jincheng City Regulations on Fitness Facilities for All (晋城市全民健身场地设施条例), which explicitly proposes "promoting the opening of school sports facilities." This summer vacation, 69 primary and secondary school playgrounds in Jincheng have opened in an orderly manner, adopting a staggered sharing model to meet residents' nearby fitness needs, allowing quality sports resources to step out of the school walls and serve people's livelihoods.
Entering Aiwu School, a dedicated citizen exercise passage leads directly to the playground, nine metal guardrails separate the teaching area from the sports area, and four high-mast lights illuminate the venue brightly.
"In the past, I had to make a special trip to sports venues to exercise, which was time-consuming and laborious. Now there is a standard playground right at my doorstep, with all kinds of fitness facilities available — convenient and comfortable," said Qin Jing (秦晶), a resident of Xiushuiyuan Community next to Aiwu School, who brings her daughter to run on the playground every day.
Opening school playgrounds not only effectively solves the public's problem of "fitness being far away and venues being scarce," but also builds a new platform for public welfare science popularization. Recently, after completing a running activity at Aiwu School, the Jincheng Red Cross Public Welfare Running Group (晋城市红十字公益跑团) held an on-site "first aid mini-class," teaching citizens practical skills such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation and trauma first aid. Many citizens said they gained a great deal.
Xinghe School, just across the street, has put meticulous effort into details. The school has renovated sports facilities such as basketball hoops, football goals, and parallel and horizontal bars. Cheng Jinhui (程晋慧), principal of Xinghe School, introduced that the school has installed two 25-meter-high court lights, added supporting facilities such as a clothing hanging area and a convenient drinking water area, and purchased public liability insurance for the campus sports venues open to the public, making citizens' fitness more convenient and more secure.
"The opening of campus playgrounds to the public is by no means simply opening the door to welcome guests, but a pragmatic measure of meticulous urban governance and benefiting people's livelihoods," said Yuan Hongwei (原红卫), second-level researcher of the Jincheng Municipal Education Bureau. He explained that the local government has implemented triple guarantees of dedicated personnel on duty, special funding, and liability insurance, equipped all five categories of infrastructure including dedicated passages, nighttime lighting, physical isolation, fitness equipment, and convenience facilities, resolutely refusing to simply "open and forget," and instead summarizing and forming a replicable, promotable standardized work paradigm to solve the balance problem between campus safety management and the sharing of national fitness resources.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 杨 迅
Blue waves ripple, and childlike joy fills the air. Inside the constant-temperature swimming pool at the Youth Drowning Prevention Safety Education Base in Wangcheng District, Changsha City, Hunan Province, children are practicing breathing and stroke techniques under the guidance of professional coaches.
During this summer vacation, as one of the swimming venues in Changsha City open free of charge to primary and secondary school students, the base offers 120 free swimming slots every day, staffed by 8 lifeguards, 4 safety officers, and 11 swimming coaches working in rotating shifts, serving more than 2,000 student visits in total.
"Before launching the free swimming service this year, we conducted a comprehensive inspection of the pool equipment and strictly tested the water quality to safeguard young people's safe swimming," said Li Changjiang (李畅江), head of the base.
Not only are swimming venues opened free of charge, but Changsha has also introduced a rich array of free sports training programs for primary and secondary school students during the summer. Over the 40 days from July 13 to August 21, 25 swimming venues in Changsha City are open free of charge to primary and secondary school students, and 74 venues are offering free sports training to primary and secondary school students, covering 13 sports in total, including 2 ice and snow sports — skiing and ice skating — 6 ball sports — football, basketball, table tennis, badminton, tennis, and volleyball or balloon volleyball — and 5 emerging sports — fencing, sports dance, rock climbing, fancy rope skipping, and roller skating. Each sport offers 6 sessions, each session lasting 5 days, with more than 2 hours of training per day.
At the Kangyuan Sports Center in Tianxin District, Changsha City, table tennis training for primary and secondary school students has been running for many years. Jiang Jin (蒋进), head of the Changsha Qingmang Youth Sports Club (长沙市青芒青少年体育俱乐部) and secretary-general of the Changsha Table Tennis Association (长沙市乒乓球协会), said that the center offers 20 slots for summer table tennis training for primary and secondary school students, and usually, once registration opens, the slots are snapped up quickly. During training, students are divided into 2–3 groups based on their skill level, with professional coaches providing targeted guidance.
Huang Qin'ya (黄沁雅), a fifth-grade student at Qingyuan Youyi Primary School in Tianxin District, Changsha City, is attending the training for the second time. She said, "I quite like small-ball sports. They can exercise the body, strengthen skills, and are also good for protecting eyesight."
It is reported that Changsha has been running the free summer opening of swimming venues and free sports training programs for primary and secondary school students for 18 years. Students or parents who wish to participate only need to click "Sports Venue Reservation" on the homepage of the "My Changsha" (我的长沙) app and select a nearby swimming venue or training facility according to their personal needs to make a reservation or register.
Return to TopBeijing, August 16 (Reporter Kong Qingyuan) — The 25th Shaxi Town Men's Basketball League, Division A and Division B, of Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, 2026, recently commenced. As one of the first batch of national mass "three major ball" quality event cases, this competition is deeply beloved by the masses. This year's league lasts 12 days, with 18 village (community) representative teams competing in two divisions, A and B, continuing the promotion and relegation mechanism. Li Jianhua, sports specialist of the Shaxi Town Education and Sports Affairs Center, introduced that this year each team is permitted to bring in two "foreign players" from outside the town but within the city, further enhancing the spectacle and competitive level of the games. Shaxi Town has a strong basketball atmosphere, having won the national "Village BA" (村BA) championship in 2023 and 2024, and on August 9 of this year once again won the Guangdong Province "Village BA" championship.
Return to TopAugust 15 is the anniversary of Japan's defeat and surrender in World War II. On that day, Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, in her capacity as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, offered "tamagushiryō" (ritual fees) to Yasukuni Shrine, which enshrines Class-A war criminals of World War II, while Japan's Defense Minister and several other politicians visited Yasukuni Shrine to pay homage. In recent times, Japan's ruling authorities have continuously escalated defense expansion, and a series of dangerous moves seriously challenge the fruits of victory in World War II and the postwar international order, drawing strong criticism and high vigilance from discerning figures within Japan and neighboring countries.
"Such vile acts are a blatant trampling and contempt for international fairness and justice"
On August 15 and 16, four members of the Takaichi Sanae cabinet, including Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro, and multiple senior LDP figures visited Yasukuni Shrine to pay homage. Takaichi Sanae herself, in addition to offering ritual fees, also performed a distant bow in the direction of Yasukuni Shrine from afar, substituting for an in-person visit.
Kobayashi Yōkichi, vice chairman and secretary general of the Japan Association of Comrades of the Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army, told this newspaper's reporter that Yasukuni Shrine is the spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism, and that the multiple Class-A war criminals it enshrines were the chief culprits who launched wars of aggression. In essence, Yasukuni Shrine is a "shrine of war criminals." Today, the voice of official reflection in Japan is increasingly fading, while the trend of "worshipping ghosts" grows ever more intense.
Kōketsu Atsushi, professor emeritus of Yamaguchi University, stated that Japanese right-wing politicians' visits to Yasukuni Shrine stem entirely from political self-interest calculations, reflecting a mistaken understanding of the history of wars of aggression. He warned that such acts will encourage militarist ideology, intensify confrontation between Japan and other countries, and completely disregard the lives, property, and security of the people.
Japan's Asahi Shimbun published an editorial on the 16th stating that Yasukuni Shrine was once the core facility of State Shinto, has always been deeply bound to militarism, and served as a tool to mobilize the people to join wars of aggression. In recent years, incidents have occurred one after another, including collective visits to Yasukuni Shrine by Self-Defense Forces personnel including senior members, and a former admiral of the Maritime Self-Defense Force becoming head of Yasukuni Shrine, continuously raising doubts from outside about whether the Self-Defense Forces have been completely "severed" from the old prewar Imperial Japanese Army. The homage visits by Koizumi Shinjiro and others may shake the constitutional order and cause the peaceful values accumulated by postwar Japanese politics to regress.
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a commentary stating that the South Korean government deeply regrets the Japanese political figures' "act of forgetting history and going against the tide of the times," and strongly urges Japanese leaders to face history squarely and demonstrate humble reflection and sincere remorse toward history through concrete actions. South Korea's ruling party, the Democratic Party of Korea, issued a written statement saying that the Takaichi cabinet's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, colluding with the ruling party in denying war crimes and the history of defeat, constitute "provocation against the tide of the times" and "extremely irresponsible behavior."
"A country that cannot face its past cannot win the trust of the international community." Woo Su-geun, director of the East Asia Institute of Korea and president of the Korea-China Global Association, told this newspaper's reporter that the visits to Yasukuni Shrine by Japan's Defense Minister and senior figures of the ruling LDP show that serious problems still exist in Japanese political circles' historical understanding of past wars of aggression. What is even more regrettable and worrying is that such behavior may instill a distorted historical understanding in Japan's young people, ultimately leading Japan into isolation in Asia. The Japanese government and political circles should break free from the regressive historical understanding that glorifies wars of aggression.
Sergei Sanakoev, director of the Russian Center for Asia-Pacific Region Studies, told this newspaper's reporter that Japanese political figures offering ritual fees to or visiting Yasukuni Shrine is a public promotion of erroneous views of World War II history and a deliberate distortion of historical truth, fully demonstrating that Japan's ruling authorities have no repentance or reflection regarding their history of aggression and war crimes, and completely ignore the indelible enormous pain that Japanese militarism brought to regional countries. "Such vile acts are a blatant trampling and contempt for international fairness and justice, and should be strongly condemned by all peace-loving countries and discerning people worldwide."
Singaporean historian Lim Siew Bin stated that Takaichi Sanae's offering of "tamagushiryō" and distant bow to Yasukuni Shrine, in the eyes of the people of victimized Asian countries, not only amounts to summoning the spirit of the history of aggression, but also reopens the historical wound of Japanese aggressors forcing Southeast Asian people to bow from afar toward Tokyo during World War II.
"Continuously creating divisions among Asian countries, bringing negative effects to regional cooperation"
On August 15, Takaichi Sanae attended Japan's "National Memorial Ceremony for the War Dead" and delivered an address. This was her first attendance at the event since becoming prime minister. She omitted the expressions "reflection" and "bearing in mind historical lessons" that multiple previous prime ministers had long used, and also played word games in an attempt to blur war responsibility. Her erroneous conduct openly deviates from Japan's postwar peace commitments.
Shiratori Hiroshi, chairman of the Japanese Association of Political and Legal Studies and professor at Hosei University, told this newspaper's reporter that in her address, Takaichi neither expressed reflection toward other countries nor demonstrated a firm determination to safeguard peace in the future.
Kobayashi Yōkichi stated that Takaichi Sanae did not mention "reflection" or the "vow not to wage war" in her address. Her entire speech was a carefully choreographed political performance concealing precise political calculations. The address attempted to evade the guilt of aggression and whitewash the history of war. This not only causes the younger generation of Japanese to know only the suffering of victims but not the evil of perpetrators, but also "lays the groundwork of public opinion for Japan's right wing to revise the constitution, expand the military, and break through the postwar system."
Lim Siew Bin stated, "Japanese political figures continue to send negative signals on the anniversary of defeat and surrender, continuously creating divisions among Asian countries, bringing negative effects to regional cooperation."
Russia's Vzglyad newspaper noted in its report that before becoming Japan's prime minister, Takaichi Sanae had already called Japan's war of aggression a "war of self-preservation and self-defense," claiming that the crimes of Japanese militarism had been "exaggerated." RIA Novosti reported on the 15th that in the address delivered by Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on August 15, there was "no expression of remorse for the war Japan waged."
Li Renliang, associate professor at the National Institute of Development Administration of Thailand, stated that in her address, Takaichi Sanae used various rhetoric to downplay Japan's history of aggression and downplay the profound disasters that the war of aggression brought to the countries of the region. No excuse can conceal the true intentions of Japanese politicians. Japan should seriously reflect on its history of aggression, thoroughly abandon militarism, and win the trust of countries around the world through concrete actions.
In her address that day, Takaichi Sanae also changed the expression consistently used by successive Japanese prime ministers, "never repeat the tragedy of war," to "not let the tragedy of war be repeated." The Tokyo Shimbun commented that the address used the new wording "not let the tragedy of war be repeated." It can also be interpreted as implying that the war was caused by the responsibility of other countries. The Asahi Shimbun commented that grammatically, although only a causative auxiliary particle was added, it conceals a shift in historical expression.
Nakakita Koji, professor at Chuo University, stated that Takaichi Sanae's change in wording inevitably conveys the implication that World War II was not "a war of aggression in which Japan actively initiated the calamity of war," but rather a "war of self-defense in which Japan was compelled to participate." Nakakita Koji believes that the wording "not let the tragedy of war be repeated" may also carry the connotation of "suppressing other countries," and "this could very likely become a signal for Japan to actively expand its defense capabilities."
"Japan is sliding toward a path of unlimited military expansion, with not the slightest effort visible to seek regional stability through multilateral frameworks"
In recent times, the "remilitarization" moves of the Takaichi Sanae government have continuously pressed the accelerator. According to reports, the defense budget request for fiscal year 2027 that Japan's Ministry of Defense is about to submit totals approximately 8.9 trillion yen (1 yuan renminbi is equivalent to approximately 23.63 yen), setting another record high. The Japanese government has also placed the establishment of a foreign intelligence agency and the enactment of an anti-espionage law within its policy vision, released a new edition of the Defense White Paper loudly exaggerating that the "security environment is becoming increasingly severe," and sought to develop "new operational methods." Some core cabinet members have even publicly claimed that discussions on nuclear weapons and nuclear submarines "should not be excluded."
Ogawa Toshiyasu, a director of the Japan "Inherit and Develop the Murayama Statement" Association, told this newspaper's reporter that the Takaichi Sanae government is pursuing a path of military buildup and arms expansion, continuously strengthening military deployments in the southwestern islands, and promoting the restoration of prewar titles for Self-Defense Forces ranks — these practices have aroused strong concern from outside.
Haba Kumiko, professor emeritus of Aoyama Gakuin University, warned that the Takaichi Sanae government is accelerating the breaking of Japan's long-standing postwar "nuclear taboo," attempting to open space for allowing nuclear weapons to enter Japan.
"We must never allow Japan to slide into such a state; this is absolutely impermissible." Yamazoe Hiroshi, policy chief of the Japanese Communist Party and member of the House of Councillors, stated that the Japanese government is attempting to transform Japan into a "country that can wage war."
"Japan is sliding toward a path of unlimited military expansion, with not the slightest effort visible to seek regional stability through multilateral frameworks." Japan's Kyodo News commented that Japan's current trajectory is completely at odds with the "responsible Japanese diplomacy that creates peace and prosperity" that Takaichi Sanae advocates — facing historical facts squarely, promoting genuine reconciliation with neighboring countries, and jointly building Asia's future.
Sanakoev stated that at present, Japan's dangerous trend of reviving militarism is becoming increasingly aggressive, gradually breaking through the constraints of the postwar peace constitution, recklessly advancing "remilitarization," and continuously intensifying regional tensions. This is highly similar to the way Japanese militarism vigorously prepared for war and moved toward aggression and expansion back then, arousing high vigilance and widespread concern from the international community. Japan's ruling authorities' obsession with the mistaken path of "remilitarization" will inevitably bring endless calamity to the world once again, and will also push Japan itself toward the abyss of destruction.
(Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Moscow, Bangkok, August 16 — reporters Yue Linwei, Li Chen, Liu Wenzhang, Mang Jiuchen, Wang Siyuan, Xiao Xinxin, Yang Yi)
Return to TopBy: 刘文璋
On August 15 this year, the 81st anniversary of Japan's announcement of unconditional surrender, a batch of "military mail" from the Japanese invaders in China, buried in dust for more than 80 years, has returned to public view. These wartime letters from the Chinese battlefield, strictly censored by the Japanese military and sent back to Japan, are not only confessions written by the aggressors themselves, but also living specimens of the infiltration and domestication of militarist ideology. The cold-bloodedness and arrogance between the lines clearly show: the specter of militarism has never truly departed, and the warning of history remains deafening and eye-opening.
The so-called "military mail" was not ordinary private correspondence. All letters sent to the Japanese homeland had to pass strict military censorship, and any content that did not conform to the war narrative or was unfavorable to ideological control would be removed. The words that could be successfully sent out were, in essence, the "standard expressions" officially recognized and tacitly permitted for dissemination by the Japanese authorities at the time.
Li Suzhen, a Chinese scholar residing in Japan, and her team spent nearly 30 years rescuing these historical materials from Japanese civil society. These first-hand records of the war process cover multiple dimensions including battlefield conditions, soldiers' mentality, and operational deployments, forming a complete chain of evidence with official archives. Their evidentiary force cannot be dissolved by any post-war whitewashing or sophistry.
In the 1938 family letter of Fukazawa Kahei, a soldier of the Japanese invading forces in China, he casually mentioned that the people in the occupied areas had lost their homes and been displaced, then immediately shifted tone to express gratitude that "as a Japanese, I am truly fortunate." The profound suffering of another country's people was, in his eyes, merely a footnote to highlight his own nation's "superiority." Even more worthy of vigilance is the fact that such a blood-soaked letter was once brought into elementary school classrooms in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. A family letter sent from Hangzhou during the same period was equally cold and piercing: "Along the way, the defeated country is in ruin, groups of natives killed by stray bullets lie about, and military horses and corpses fill the ground." Throughout, there is not the slightest reverence for life, only the habitual numbness of the perpetrator.
This batch of family letters records in detail the crimes committed by the Japanese military in Nanjing. One letter sent from within Nanjing city was accompanied by a hand-drawn march map, marking in detail the complete route of the Japanese military from landing in Shanghai to capturing Nanjing, with a clear annotation at "Changzhou" stating "to mop up defeated remnants, civilian houses were burned down," further confirming that after Nanjing fell on December 13, 1937, the Japanese military continued to carry out "mopping-up" operations. Logistics soldier Kuwahara Minoru admitted in his family letter that about 200 Chinese prisoners of war were executed every day by the Yangtze River, "binding their hands and throwing them into the river," calling it an "interesting scene." The battlefield notes of military doctor Hayao Tsuneo from the same period form complete mutual corroboration: prisoners were mowed down by machine guns, beheaded, their bodies thrown into the river, and those not yet dead were finished off with gunshots while crying out, "even watching it feels like a game." The more flippant the perpetrators' writing, the heavier the anti-human crimes behind it.
More than 80 years have passed. Letter paper may yellow and fade, but the lingering soul of militarism has never truly exited the stage.
The soldiers who wrote those bloody family letters, brainwashed by the lie of the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere," regarded massacre as glory and aggression as mission. Today's Japanese right wing is still advancing step by step along the same path: systematically denying the historical facts of aggression, beautifying wars of aggression, reshaping social cognition through historical nihilism, and using the pretext of the so-called "deteriorating security environment in the surrounding area" to continuously break through the constraints of the "peace constitution" and accelerate the pace of military expansion and arms buildup. From tampering with historical cognition to breaking through the post-war order, from beautifying the history of aggression to summoning the soul of militarism, the logic runs through from beginning to end, and the ambition and attempt are clear for all to see. This is precisely the fundamental reason why the people of all Asian countries maintain a high degree of vigilance.
History brooks no reversal of verdicts, and justice brooks no desecration. The bloody records in each piece of "military mail" are painful scars carved into the hearts of the Asian people, and are ironclad evidence that cannot be tampered with. For Japan, deeply reflecting on its war crimes and completely severing itself from militarism is the fundamental prerequisite for winning the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community. Any act that attempts to cover up history, obscure guilt, or reverse the verdict on wars of aggression stands on the opposite side of historical justice, will inevitably be resolutely opposed by all peace-loving forces around the world, and will ultimately be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.
Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, August 15 (reporters Liang Chen, Li Ziyue) — The spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Japan, in response to a question on the 15th regarding Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae's offering of ritual fees to Yasukuni Shrine and the visits to Yasukuni Shrine by some cabinet members and members of parliament, stated that Japan's relevant actions seriously challenge the fruits of victory in World War II and the postwar international order. China expresses strong indignation and stern condemnation over this and has lodged solemn representations and a strong protest with the Japanese side.
The spokesperson stated that Yasukuni Shrine is the spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism's war of aggression, enshrining 14 Class-A war criminals who bear direct criminal responsibility for the war of aggression. Japan's relevant actions openly stand on the opposite side of historical justice and human conscience, seriously challenging the fruits of victory in World War II and the postwar international order.
The spokesperson said that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trial. The Tokyo Trial rendered judgments on Class-A war criminals in accordance with the law, defending the fruits of victory of the world anti-fascist war. Correctly facing and deeply reflecting on the history of militarist aggression is an important prerequisite for Japan's return to the international community after the war, and is also an important political foundation for establishing and developing Sino-Japanese relations. China urges Japan to deeply reflect on its historical crimes, earnestly draw lessons from history, abide by its commitment to peaceful development, completely sever itself from militarism through concrete actions, stop the dangerous act of "re-militarization," and not again walk to the defendant's dock of history.
Return to TopIslamabad, August 16 (People's Daily — Zhao Yipu, Hannan Jilani) — Recently, the "Chinese Language and Chinese Culture Experience Course" activity was held in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. With the theme "Eastern Silk Words — Silk Words Connect China and Pakistan, Culture Blooms in Shared Splendor," the activity attracted approximately 50 Chinese and Pakistani participants and guests. The course covered six thematic units including Chinese language instruction, calligraphy experience, traditional festivals, and Chinese cuisine, aiming to build a long-term platform for people-to-people and cultural exchange between Chinese and Pakistani youth. The activity was jointly organized by the Pakistan China Cultural Center and the Archaeology and Museums Bureau of Pakistan's National Heritage and Culture Division.
At the opening ceremony of the activity, Pakistan's Minister of National Heritage and Culture, Aurangzeb, stated that people-to-people and cultural exchanges are an important foundation of the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership. In the future, China and Pakistan will further deepen cooperation in areas such as cultural relic restoration, heritage digitization, and joint application for World Heritage status.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 曹师韵
In the aquaculture demonstration zone of Tegaren Village, Kebumen Regency, Central Java Province, Indonesia, contiguous shrimp ponds are neatly arranged. As the fishing nets slowly tightened, tens of thousands of Pacific white shrimp tumbled and leaped, while fishermen busily sorted and loaded them into baskets. This demonstration zone is an important model project promoted by the Indonesian government to advance aquaculture modernization. Recently, Indonesian President Prabowo, while inspecting the demonstration zone, stated that Indonesia's aquaculture development potential is enormous and that aquaculture demonstration zones will be promoted and built in more regions.
As the world's second-largest aquaculture country, Indonesia possesses superior natural endowments and rich fishery resources, with a solid foundation in the aquaculture industry. Data from Indonesia's Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries shows that the country's potential aquaculture area is approximately 17.91 million hectares, having formed diversified farming models including seaweed cultivation, marine cage culture, freshwater pond farming, and integrated rice-fish farming. According to the ministry's estimates, Indonesia's total seafood production in 2025 was approximately 26.25 million tons, setting a new high in recent years, of which aquaculture production was approximately 6.75 million tons.
As the growth space for marine capture fishing tends toward saturation, aquaculture is becoming an important driving force for Indonesia's fishery growth, playing a prominent role in ensuring food security, expanding employment, and promoting economic growth. The Indonesian government has formulated a fishery governance roadmap under the blue economy framework, listing the development of sustainable marine, freshwater, and brackish water aquaculture as key tasks. Indonesian Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Wahyu Trenggono stated that aquaculture can not only drive the development of upstream and downstream fishery industries, create more employment opportunities and economic benefits, but also help reduce illegal fishing activities.
In recent years, Indonesia has continuously increased investment, focused on expanding farming scale, and enhancing industrial competitiveness. The country has listed shrimp, seaweed, tilapia, crab, and lobster as the five key farming species for development, vigorously promoting regional farming models, building shrimp, seaweed, tilapia, and lobster industrial clusters in multiple locations, and promoting the linked development of the entire chain including seedling breeding, feed supply, farming production, cold-chain logistics, and processing and export.
Indonesia also regards the construction of modern fishing villages as an important lever for expanding farming space. The country is currently upgrading and renovating the first batch of 100 fishing villages. As of the end of 2025, 65 projects have completed 60% to 80% of construction progress, and are expected to be fully completed in 2026; the remaining 35 projects will also be launched successively.
While expanding farming scale, Indonesia is accelerating the transformation of aquaculture toward technology and green development. For example, as the world's largest tropical seaweed producer, Indonesia's seaweed production accounts for approximately 75% of global supply. Relying on this advantage, Indonesia is building an International Tropical Seaweed Research Center in West Nusa Tenggara Province, aiming to improve the competitiveness of the seaweed industry through high-quality seedling research and development, farming technology innovation, and downstream product development. Indonesia is also piloting the promotion of a "one-stop aquaculture" model under the "smart fishing village" framework, integrating seedling breeding, farming production, feed supply, technical training, and science education, and introducing recirculating aquaculture systems to improve resource utilization efficiency. Currently, this model has been piloted at bases such as the West Java Province Fish Breeding Research Center.
In recent years, China-Indonesia cooperation in the aquaculture field has continued to deepen. China is an important export market for Indonesian aquatic products and an important partner in Indonesia's development of the aquaculture industry. According to Indonesian statistics, in 2025, Indonesia exported approximately 491,500 tons of aquatic products to China, with an export value of US$1.04 billion. In February 2025, the first meeting of the China-Indonesia Joint Technical Committee on Fishery Cooperation was held, where both sides exchanged views on aquaculture development and implementation results, and agreed to strengthen cooperation in deep-sea aquaculture, disease prevention and control, seaweed cultivation, and aquaculture digitalization. In November of the same year, China and Indonesia jointly held a marine technology training class, in which Chinese experts provided training to Indonesian trainees on topics such as sustainable aquaculture, providing experience and technical support for Indonesia to improve aquaculture technology levels and promote sustainable fishery development.
(Our newspaper, Jakarta, August 16 dispatch)
Return to Top据新华社华盛顿8月16日电 据美国《华盛顿邮报》15日报道，多名阿拉伯国家和西方国家官员称，美国海湾盟友对美国的沮丧情绪正持续上升。
据知情官员透露，沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋和卡塔尔等多个海湾国家在对特朗普政府的不满上达成共识，部分国家开始讨论是否还有必要继续允许美国在本土部署大型军事设施。近期，美国总统特朗普多次威胁要对伊朗发起新一轮大规模打击，但随后又都以谈判取得进展为由收回这些威胁。这让海湾国家越来越担心，特朗普缺乏与伊朗达成和平协议的外交能力。
报道援引一名海湾国家官员的话称，该地区对美国的愤怒已经达到冲突爆发以来的最高点。他说：“特朗普发动了这场战争，而我们正在为此付出代价。”
Xinhua News Agency, Washington, August 16 (Xinhua) — According to a report by the US newspaper The Washington Post on the 15th, multiple Arab and Western country officials said that the frustration of America's Gulf allies toward the United States is continuously rising.
According to informed officials, several Gulf countries including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar have reached a consensus on their dissatisfaction with the Trump administration, and some countries have begun discussing whether it is still necessary to continue allowing the United States to deploy large-scale military facilities on their territory. In recent days, US President Trump has repeatedly threatened to launch a new round of large-scale strikes against Iran, but has subsequently withdrawn these threats each time, citing progress in negotiations as the reason. This has made Gulf countries increasingly worried that Trump lacks the diplomatic capability to reach a peace agreement with Iran.
The report quoted a Gulf country official as saying that anger toward the United States in the region has reached its highest point since the outbreak of the conflict. He said: "Trump started this war, and we are the ones paying the price for it."
Xinhua News Agency, Rabat (reporter Zhao Yining (赵一宁)) — Moroccan local media reported on the 15th, citing Moroccan security department sources, that as of 14:45 local time, Moroccan security forces had intercepted 294 persons attempting to cross the border illegally in the border area near Ceuta, Spain's North African enclave, of whom 248 were from sub-Saharan African countries and 46 were Moroccans.
According to reports, Moroccan security departments are still conducting operations in the border city of Fnideq (夫尼代格) and along other routes leading to the border, deploying drones for aerial surveillance, dispatching mobile intervention forces and water cannon vehicles, and strengthening security monitoring at checkpoints and along major roads.
At the end of July, a piece of misinformation about Spanish border policy spread on social media, leading approximately 80,000 people to sneak into Ceuta from Morocco by means such as risky swimming crossings, triggering Spain's most severe border migration crisis in recent years, with at least 96 people dying during the crossing attempts.
In view of posts that recently appeared on the internet encouraging people to collectively attempt another illegal crossing on the 15th, Morocco and Spain are on high alert, strictly guarding against a recurrence of the tide of illegal crossings.
Return to TopThis newspaper Johannesburg, August 16 (Reporter Dai Kairan) On the 14th, the Consulate General of China in Johannesburg held the awards ceremony for the "Cultivate Culture, Support Education" middle school student short video competition, attended by dozens of participating student representatives from South Africa's Gauteng and Free State provinces, as well as representatives from the education departments and teachers of the two provinces.
The theme of this year's middle school student short video competition was "China-South Africa Friendly Cooperation Is Right by Your Side." Itumeleng Mofokeng, a ninth-grade student from Teto High School in Free State Province, won first prize. She said that this year was her second year participating in the competition, and that the competition had deepened her understanding of Chinese culture.
Chinese Consul General in Johannesburg Pan Qingjiang said in his remarks that the middle school student short video competition fully reflects the enthusiastic attention and investment of young students in China-Africa and China-South Africa friendship, and that the Consulate General will, as always, actively promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and South Africa and youth friendship.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 李龙伊
In northern Guangxi, the Xiang River marks a solemn coordinate on the Red Army's Long March.
At Daping Ferry Crossing, a "Strong Military Story Session" themed "I Sacrifice for You" (我为你牺牲) is underway. "Knowing it means death, why did they still charge forward?" Luan Haoming (栾浩铭), deputy squadron leader of the Quanzhou Squadron of the Guilin Detachment of the Guangxi Corps of the People's Armed Police, pointed at the river surface, his voice steady.
One sentence pulled the officers and soldiers' thoughts back 92 years. The Central Red Army's officers and men forced their way across the Xiang River here, enemy aircraft roaring overhead, the river water dyed red inch by inch with blood. When the Central Red Army set out, it had more than 86,000 men; after the battle, its numbers were sharply reduced to just over 30,000, yet it carved out a path of survival through an enemy blockade several times its own strength.
"In the absolute dead end, they did not collapse; instead, they twisted themselves into a single rope. This is the power of faith!" Luan Haoming's words plunged the officers and soldiers present into deep thought.
This squadron, stationed at the former site of the Xiang River Campaign, has wartime field telegrams carved in its camp, a sentry passage connected to the red heritage site, and a training ground beside the ruins of the blocking action... The spirit of the heroes is engraved in the hearts of the officers and soldiers. Over the years, the squadron has been rated an advanced unit by its superiors ten times, and 32 of its members have been awarded the Third Class Merit.
That heroic battle flag has been raised in relay by generation after generation of officers and soldiers, fluttering on the banks of the Xiang River.
"Telling of sacrifice where the heroes fell, the officers and soldiers understand sacrifice more deeply"
At the Strong Military Story Session, a special speaker was invited—Jiang Shilin (蒋石林), an 82-year-old guardian of the Red Army graves.
The old man's blue cloth shirt was washed to a faded white. Clutching a stack of yellowed old photographs, his voice trembled slightly: "My grandfather, Jiang Zhongtai (蒋忠太), at the risk of being beheaded, buried the remains of seven Red Army soldiers overnight, and was later arrested. Before he died, the last words he left were: 'Guard the Red Army graves for generations.'"
One promise, several generations of steadfastness. "To this day, we still do not know the names of the seven martyrs..." Jiang Shilin's throat tightened, and the back of his hand trembled as it wiped the corner of his eye. In the gathering of seventy or eighty people below the stage, it was so quiet that only the sound of the river wind stirring the flags could be heard.
"Telling of sacrifice where the heroes fell, the officers and soldiers understand sacrifice more deeply," said Li Bin (李斌), political commissar of the Guilin Detachment of the Guangxi Corps of the People's Armed Police. To carry forward the heroic spirit, the squadron has turned more than 100 battle sites across Quanzhou County into teaching grounds where "historical facts serve as teaching materials and heritage sites serve as classrooms." When new soldiers enter the camp, the first story they hear is the Xiang River Campaign, the first lesson they take is visiting the red heritage sites, and their first outing is retracing the Long March.
In the squadron camp, there is a special "Xiang River Blockade Marching Trail." The defensive layout of Jiaoshanpu and the key crossing points at Jieshou have been faithfully reproduced along the route that the officers and soldiers pass every day. Footsteps overlap footsteps; every morning drill feels like walking through history. "On the battlefield, would you dare to charge like your forebears?" This silent question is engraved in the heart of every officer and soldier.
Sergeant Zhao Xinyang (赵鑫羊) is the unit's "gold-medal docent." When he tells of Chen Shuxiang (陈树湘) cutting open his own intestines to show his resolve, or of Yi Dangping (易荡平) preferring death to surrender, he moves his audience every time. But there was a time when, once he stepped onto the training ground, he became the "tail-ender." When his service period was nearly up, he wanted to stay in the unit, but his physical fitness could not pass the bar no matter what.
Instructor Mo Jiaquan (莫家权) saw through Zhao Xinyang's worries and brought him to the Red Army ferry crossing on the banks of the Xiang River: "You have told the story of the Xiang River Campaign countless times—the forebears would rather sacrifice themselves than give up their positions. If you cannot endure the hardship of training, then telling those stories lacks a certain weight."
Zhao Xinyang fell into deep thought. From that day on, he brought the perseverance he had devoted to studying his docent work onto the training ground. When his 5-kilometer time was poor, he added sandbags and trained harder; when he could not do pull-ups, he hung on the bar in the dark after lights-out.
On the day of the retention assessment, Zhao Xinyang passed all his subjects in a single attempt. After being converted to a non-commissioned officer, he took part in cadre training and achieved all-excellent results in the military fitness assessment. On the phone, Zhao Xinyang said excitedly to Mo Jiaquan: "Instructor, I did it!"
From veteran to recruit, from teaching by words to teaching by example, this squadron has proven over decades a single truth: the inheritance of spirit relies not on preaching, but on generation after generation of officers and soldiers leading by example, holding fast day after day in ordinary posts.
That heroic battle flag and the spirit behind it have, precisely through such relay, been passed down from generation to generation.
"If you fear death, do not be a soldier; if you fear hardship, do not come to the Quanzhou Squadron"
"Yang Xingping, you are hereby issued one Type 03 automatic rifle!"
On the afternoon of July 22, on the squadron parade ground, the new-soldier rifle-issuing ceremony was underway. The officers and soldiers, in full combat gear, stood in neat formation.
Mo Jiaquan placed the steel rifle into the hands of new soldier Yang Xingping (杨兴平): "Once you take this rifle, you are a member of the Quanzhou Squadron. When the Party and the people need you, you must charge to the front and not fear sacrifice—can you do it?"
"I can!" Yang Xingping took the rifle, his answer resounding and clear.
The new soldiers gripped their steel rifles, the veterans raised their iron fists to their brows, and all took a solemn oath before the battle flag.
Fighting spirit is thus welded into the very bones of the soldiers.
On the wall of the squadron's sentry passage are carved the life-and-death telegram of the Xiang River Campaign—"If we are not the victors, then we are the vanquished." Every soldier reads this sentence before going on sentry duty. The revolutionary martyrs' determination to face death head-on moves every officer and soldier.
"If you fear death, do not be a soldier; if you fear hardship, do not come to the Quanzhou Squadron." These words from Li Duoyi (李多益), squad leader of the emergency squad, are the squad's "hard rule" and the code of conduct for every member.
Private Liu Mingsong (刘明松) knows this well.
In 2025, when the corps organized its competition, Liu Mingsong, with his solid fundamentals, became a seeded contestant. But during the preparation period, an old injury flared up during training, and his results fell instead of rising. During those days, his spirits sank; between training sessions he would sit alone in a daze, and the thought of withdrawing began to grow in him.
Li Duoyi saw what was on his mind. He did not lecture him with grand principles, but brought him before the squadron's "Heroes' Ranking Board": "Look at these veterans—which one of them has not hit a rough patch? Honor is not something you wait for; it is something you fight for, cut by cut and shot by shot, by not giving up at the hardest moment."
With guidance from the detachment's medical unit, Li Duoyi helped Liu Mingsong draw up a rehabilitation training plan. Liu Mingsong adjusted his training rhythm scientifically—warming up fully and taking protective measures before training, icing and stepping up recovery afterward, alternating upper-body work with core-strength training so that the injured area never bore excessive load.
On competition day, the starting gun fired. Liu Mingsong stayed close behind the leading pack the whole way. In the final few hundred meters, his strength was nearly spent. He thought of the squadron's honor, of his squad leader's encouragement, clenched his teeth, and quickened his pace. The moment he crossed the finish line, he braced his hands on his knees, gasping for air. In the end, he took third place in the corps' 3,000-meter run.
"Competition is not only a contest of physical fitness; it is a contest of will," Liu Mingsong said. "The peace and tranquility of today were bought with the lives of the martyrs. Only by honing our skills to the highest standard can we be worthy of them."
Skills are not proclaimed—they are ground out day after day by the officers and soldiers.
The squadron conducts full-personnel assessments every week: weapons operation, 5-kilometer armed cross-country, and the 400-meter obstacle course, without exception. In the height of summer in northern Guangxi, with ground temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, the officers and soldiers train on the obstacle field, knees bruised purple, sweat hitting the sand and evaporating in an instant. Zhou Huajian (周华健), squad leader of the Second Squad, said: "Here, everyone gives their all, adding every brick they can to the cause of winning."
This drive has produced outstanding results. In recent years, the squadron has won nine first-place finishes in corps and detachment competitions, and has produced more than twenty "sharpshooters" and "training pacesetters." The red of that battle flag is not only the color of history; it is a red dyed by contemporary officers and soldiers with faith and sweat.
"Every extra shovel of mud I move, the people can return home that much sooner"
In July of this year, flooding struck the squadron's garrison area. During the mud-clearance mission, new soldier Li Xiaokang (李晓康) was struck on the left foot by a toppled refrigerator, and his ankle swelled up like a leavened steamed bun. Gritting his teeth, he propped himself up with his shovel and flung mud out, shovelful after shovelful, refusing under any circumstances to leave the front line.
"Every step hurt, but when I saw the eyes of those people, I told myself that no matter how much it hurt, I had to hold on," Li Xiaokang said later. "Every extra shovel of mud I move, the people can return home that much sooner."
In peacetime, "I sacrifice for you" is often embodied in shovelful after shovelful of mud, in action after action of protecting the people.
This feeling comes from a deep understanding of the martyrs' sacrifice. Veteran Chen Tianci (陈天赐) once served in the honor guard for the 2019 ceremony to inter the remains of Xiang River Campaign martyrs. As the coffins draped in the national flag passed slowly by, his mind flashed with images of countless soldiers fighting desperately in blood—thousands upon thousands of young men just like himself, fighting to the very end of their lives, without even leaving their names, in exchange for the peace and tranquility the people enjoy today.
"In that moment, I truly understood what it means to 'sacrifice for you,'" Chen Tianci said. "The forebears sacrificed for us. When the people are in danger, we will also step forward without hesitation and stand in front of them."
In October 2022, a forest fire broke out suddenly in Wenqiao Township, Quanzhou County. Zhou Jiafeng (周嘉锋), then squadron leader, led his unit in a rapid response. After evacuating the people, the officers and soldiers had already been fighting continuously for a day and two nights—they had not closed their eyes since throwing themselves into the rescue in the early hours, and at midday had only gnawed on a few pieces of dry ration. Mountain ash had blackened the soldiers' faces, and their hands were covered in blood blisters from their tools.
But no one stopped. Zhou Jiafeng led the men in continuing to beat out rekindled flames and dig firebreaks, pressing drinking water and dry rations into the hands of reinforcing brother units. When they withdrew, one soldier fell asleep leaning against a charred tree trunk, still clutching his shovel tightly.
On June 19, 2024, waterlogging struck the garrison area. The street-level water rose sharply, and muddy yellow floodwaters rolled down, carrying broken branches and debris. Lieutenant Nong Wenjian (农文尖) led the search-and-rescue effort and found five people trapped on the second floor of a building—two elderly people, a married couple, and a child. The flood had already risen past the first-floor windowsills, and the security bars were welded shut, making escape through the windows impossible.
"I am a Party member—let me go!" Nong Wenjian tied on a safety rope and leaped into the raging flood. The water instantly rose to his chest, and a floating plank slammed into his shoulder. He fought through the debris, swimming against the current to the building. Once inside, he quickly fitted life jackets onto the elderly people and the child while repeating in a low voice: "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
The water kept rising, but Nong Wenjian's movements remained perfectly steady. In the end, with the pull of his comrades' ropes, all five were safely evacuated. When someone later asked him if he had been afraid, he said: "At that moment, I couldn't think of fear. I only thought that one second faster meant one more measure of safety for those people."
From decades of unwavering sentry duty, to years of duty records with no accidents; from charging against the tide in the face of fire, to building dikes in the surging flood... the officers and soldiers of the squadron practice their original aspiration and mission through faithful guardianship.
There is a local villager who, every year before the New Year, carries homemade glutinous rice cakes to the squadron gate. No matter how they urge him to leave his name, he refuses, saying only: "With you here, the New Year is peaceful."
For whom do the people's soldiers carry their rifles? For whom do they stand guard? Perhaps this is the answer.
Night deepens; the Xiang River flows quietly. At the sentry post, a young soldier stands tall with his rifle, his gaze crossing the river toward the lights of ten thousand homes in the distance. Behind him, in the camp, the battle flag snaps loudly in the night wind.
(Li Huiyun (雷惠云) and Yang Baolü (杨宝律) contributed to the reporting.)
Return to TopBy: 赵泽夏
At dawn, the dense fog had not yet dispersed. On the tactical training ground where a certain Army company was conducting field training, the first subject of the day had already begun. The company commander and political instructor led the entire company of officers and soldiers through tactical maneuvers again and again — crawling, covering, breaching — repeatedly drilling each tactical movement down to the finest detail, sweat soaking through their training uniforms.
This is the most authentic daily reality of training at the grassroots level. In the minds of commanders at every level of the military, the effectiveness of training does not lie in how "polished" the movements look, but in whether every tactical movement remains true to form, whether every formation stays true to its shape, and whether, when actually deployed to the battlefield, they can defeat the enemy and win victory. The military exists to prepare for war, and all work should adhere to the sole fundamental standard of combat effectiveness. For officers and soldiers, strengthening combat effectiveness is the greatest political achievement.
There was a time when some unit commanders directed their focus astray. On the training ground, they were keen on neat and impressive spectacles, pursued results that could "shine" on report forms, and expended time and energy on inspection-preparation plans and achievement ledgers. They valued the "visible achievements" that could easily attract the attention of higher-level leaders, while slighting the "latent achievements" conducive to the steady generation of combat effectiveness. Once utilitarianism and formalism take hold, what is dissolved is real combat capability, and what is shaken is the foundation of war preparedness. Tracing this to its root, it is because these commanders' view of political achievements has gone awry.
For military commanders, where do reliable political achievements come from?
Military training is the military's regular central work, the basic pathway for generating and improving combat effectiveness, and the most direct form of military struggle preparation. The Navy's surface ship units have a tradition: every evening at the engineering and service shift handover, regardless of the ship's status, the officer of the watch must organize a full-process damage control drill. During the drill, every link — firefighting, leak-stopping, emergency repair — must not be reduced to mere formality. Some officers and soldiers may initially fail to understand this, but as they gain deeper knowledge of naval operations, they come to realize that the battlefield has no rehearsal; only by practicing procedures until they are familiar and honing skills until they are strong in peacetime can one remain calm and unhurried in wartime. In the absence of a real combat environment, military training is not only an effective pathway for generating and improving combat effectiveness, but also a reliable method for testing the results of training. Fight in whatever environment war is fought; train in whatever environment the troops will fight. Whatever war requires, that is what must be painstakingly trained.
Only when peacetime training is solid and real can the battlefield be met head-on with toughness. The "chief examiner" that tests the results of training is ultimately the battlefield of blood and fire, the contest of real swords and real spears. This requires commanders at every level to set aside their obsession with "surface achievements" and think more about whether the problems exposed in exercises have been solved, whether the shortcomings revealed in confrontations have been patched. After an exercise, if one follows the "script" through the process and smoothly earns a "full-house ovation," it may look impressive, but on the future battlefield it could lead to a major loss. Only by truly treating the training ground as the battlefield, by carving the yardstick of combat effectiveness into one's heart, and by making every combat post and every piece of equipment a growth point for combat effectiveness, can one hand in an answer sheet of political achievements that withstands examination.
On the great journey of strengthening the military and rejuvenating the armed forces, the two characters "political achievements" must ultimately be grounded in the results of training and war preparedness, and in whether one can fight and whether one can win battles. In training and war preparedness, the broad body of officers and soldiers, especially leading cadres at every level, must possess both the realm and pattern of "achievements need not be mine" and the responsibility and commitment of "achievements must include me." Only by solidly sinking work down to the squad and platoon levels of companies, embedding it into every combat post and position, and integrating it into every training subject, can the foundation of combat effectiveness be laid solid upon solid, giving the Party and the people reassurance.
(Author's affiliation: Academy of Military Sciences, Institute of Military Law and Legal Systems (军事科学院军事法制研究院))
Return to TopBy: 高 祥
By the banks of the Yarlung Zangbo River, fierce winds sweep across the position. The curves on the equipment display rise and fall, forming a "resonance" with the gale.
Here, the altitude reaches 4,500 meters, and the air is thin with oxygen. I know that these "resonances" are the "heartbeat" of the plateau, and even more so the "pulse" of the new-domain battlefield. Every tiny change is worth our full effort to capture.
Twenty years ago, I received my assignment and set foot on the plateau. It was precisely by staying alert to subtle anomalies that I turned danger into safety time and again during plateau marches. As the cyberspace force underwent transformation and development, I experienced four job rotations, shifting from driver to operator, and my post moved from the driver's cabin to in front of the equipment. I kept telling myself: the more complex the situation, the more I must remain calm and sharp.
Facing abstruse theoretical knowledge and specialized terminology, I drew on the tenacity I had developed in plateau marches, filling my notebooks with key points of knowledge, and gradually grew from a "layman" into a first-class technician. I know well that no matter how advanced the equipment, it still needs people to operate it, and no matter how difficult the theory, it can be conquered by people who "grind away" at it. Over time, I came to know every road and every hilltop around our station, simulating over and over in my mind the placement of equipment, the setup procedures, and the performance of its functions, forming a "three-dimensional map" that combined the equipment with the local environment.
It is only when you reach the "battlefield" that you know best what you need. Facing harsh conditions such as low temperatures and low pressure, new equipment often suffers from "acclimatization problems." To break through this bottleneck, I led the comrades in my squad to collect equipment data at various positions during the day, and at night we concentrated on studying the data to find patterns, identify differences, and seek solutions. Over two years, we continuously improved and tested the equipment... and finally refined a new type of individual equipment adapted to the plateau environment.
During one field training exercise, this type of equipment precisely locked onto its target under complex conditions, winning applause from the scene. At that moment I understood: technology is combat power. In harsh battlefield environments, only by honing your technical skills to a high level can you stay one step ahead of the enemy and defeat them with one more move.
In 2021, I was named a "Military Craftsman" of the former Strategic Support Force. But what made me happiest was not the title of "Military Craftsman" itself, but the fact that I had proven through my own actions that non-commissioned officers are an important force in deciding the battles of the future.
One flower alone does not make spring. As the force transformed, batch after batch of highly educated, high-quality new soldiers came up to the plateau. As a veteran, I understand: only by building a strong team can we have greater confidence on the battlefield.
In 2023, the unit established an innovation group named after me. At first, Zhang Jing, a soldier in the group, was anxious because he could not operate the equipment skillfully or stand on his own at his post, so I accompanied him in debugging the equipment and analyzing patterns again and again. I once said to him: "It doesn't matter if you don't understand the principles right away — the plateau will teach you the answers." Today, Zhang Jing has grown into a senior non-commissioned officer, and several technicians have successively emerged from the group. The baton of the snowfield post is being passed on steadily.
The plateau has its "lifeless zones," but a soldier's post never does. After more than 20 years of steadfast service on the plateau, I am willing to stay in this place closest to the sky and farthest from the bustle, listening to the "other heartbeat" of the snow-covered plateau, and being the sharpest "catcher" on the new-domain battlefield.
(The author is a first-class master sergeant of a unit under the cyberspace force; compiled by Ren Tongtong and Lü Jinru)
By: 本报记者 任彤彤
On the exercise ground, the hydraulic system of a refueling vehicle suddenly triggered an alarm. The on-site emergency repair team repeatedly investigated but could not locate the fault point, and the supply line was on the verge of running out of fuel. A fuel support detachment from a depot under the Shenyang Joint Logistics Support Center urgently moved forward.
"Get Squad Leader Liu here!" the commander shouted into the intercom.
Fuel equipment maintenance technician Liu Shiwei arrived at the scene carrying his toolbox. Instead of hastily disassembling the equipment, he first walked a full circle around the vehicle, then crouched down and listened for a few seconds to the abnormal sound of the fuel pump. He opened the notebook he carries with him and quickly flipped to one page, which was densely covered with hydraulic schematic diagrams of the same type of vehicle, with pressure parameters recorded during a repair years ago noted beside them. After comparative analysis and assessment, a few minutes later he pinpointed a valve body that rarely malfunctioned. After quickly replacing the spare part, the refueling vehicle was able to restart.
"He has a thorough grasp of the technology and a steady hand," said Wang Xinfu, who has followed Liu Shiwei for many years as his apprentice.
Twenty-two years ago, Liu Shiwei enlisted in the army. When he first arrived at the depot, he could not even tighten a screw properly. He opened relevant operation manuals and found that the books contained many methods and techniques, and from then on he developed the habit of reading and studying. Over the years, whenever he encountered a problem, he would record his analysis approach and solution, accumulating a thick stack of notebooks. Relying on this drive to dig deep, he has successively obtained 5 national patents and completed more than 20 technological innovations of various sizes.
Speaking of his past achievements, Liu Shiwei said that honor belongs only to yesterday; what truly matters is keeping pace with the iteration of technology. At the beginning of this year, the comprehensive support training assessment added new equipment such as drone inspection and intelligent patrol robots. Faced with these unfamiliar "comrades-in-arms," officers and soldiers could not help but be at a loss as to where to start.
Liu Shiwei volunteered to take on the task of tackling the key problem. He purchased relevant textbooks and, following the books, debugged parameters item by item and analyzed terrain interference. After several months, he not only mastered the entire drone depot-area inspection process, but also, in light of the special terrain of the mountain depot, worked out an inspection method covering route planning, anomaly identification, and emergency response, blazing a new path for improving support capability.
Besides learning himself, what he cares about most is mentoring apprentices. In 2012, when oil depot equipment maintenance worker Gao Yongsheng first started his maintenance work, he was intimidated by the equipment. Liu Shiwei handed him a book of schematic diagrams: "Read it three times first; write down whatever you do not understand and ask me." A week later, Gao Yongsheng came to Liu Shiwei with a notebook full of questions. Liu Shiwei did not give him the answers directly, but instead brought his apprentice to the equipment and had him identify each part one by one against the drawings. "You must read the book thoroughly, but even more, you must step out of it," Liu Shiwei said.
Over the years, Liu Shiwei has trained more than 20 technical backbone personnel. At his request, the bookshelves of the maintenance station must be stocked with three categories of books—basic principles, equipment manuals, and cutting-edge technology. "Every week, without fail, we hold a 'fault review meeting.' No fault analysis may remain superficial; we must find solid theoretical grounds for it." Gao Yongsheng said with deep feeling, "If you have not read the professional books thoroughly, you do not even have the confidence to speak on stage."
Someone asked Liu Shiwei what use it was for a soldier guarding a depot deep in the mountains to study these cutting-edge technologies. He said: "If you cannot keep up with the progress of science and technology, you cannot guard today's depot; if you cannot understand future trends, you cannot win tomorrow's war."
(Wang Xuechao and Jin Jiliang contributed to the writing of this article.)
The Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China took effect on August 15, "National Ecological Day" (全国生态日). This is the second law in our country named with "Code" after the Civil Code, and also the world's first code named "Ecological Environment Code." It systematically integrates more than 30 ecological environment laws, more than 100 administrative regulations, and more than 1,000 local regulations, separately establishes the "Ecological Protection" volume (生态保护编), highlights the concept of systematic protection, and builds a stronger rule-of-law foundation for realizing the modernization of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature.
Return to TopThis year marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries, and is also the "China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges." As China and Africa join hands to advance modernization, there is a need to carry out in-depth people-to-people and cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations. Young people are envoys of dialogue among civilizations and bonds for passing on friendship. Many African youths have come to China to pursue advanced studies, drawing on China's development experience and absorbing advanced technological achievements, thereby promoting China-Africa exchanges and mutual learning and helping both sides move toward modernization together.
Sudanese student Yan Yaming —
"I believe this technology will surely benefit the African people"
By our reporter Tian Doudou
"During my doctoral studies, I participated in the research project 'Water from the Sun — Solar Water Evaporation Materials and Their Applications.' Solar water extraction technology is of great significance to many regions in Sudan that suffer from perennial water shortages. I believe this technology will surely benefit the African people." At the 2026 Outstanding International Graduate Student Symposium of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Yan Yaming, a doctoral student from Sudan in the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, shared his reflections on studying in China.
Yan Yaming is 31 years old this year. He came to the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 2022 to pursue a doctoral degree. When he first arrived, the biggest difficulty he encountered in his studies was keeping up with the fast pace of the research team: "I had never been exposed to the advanced instruments and equipment in the laboratory before. With the patient guidance of my teachers and classmates, I gradually mastered the entire set of operating procedures."
"Yaming arrives earliest and leaves latest every day, working hard to make up for his shortcomings in language and experimental skills," said his senior fellow student Hu Xunliang. "Take the nitrogen adsorption-desorption testing system for porous materials as an example. Four years ago, for Yaming, every step of this operating system — from sample loading and degassing to parameter adjustment — was as difficult as reading a heavenly script. He drew every step of our operations and every button of the instruments in his notebook, afraid of missing any detail, and repeatedly memorized and studied them. Now he can independently complete experiments, and has even 'gnawed through' data analysis and fitting."
In experimental skills, Yan Yaming was a chaser, but in research thinking, he brought much inspiration to the team. Compared with his classmates in the laboratory, he has a better understanding of the feasibility of solar water evaporation technology being implemented in African countries. The research project Yan Yaming participated in, "Water from the Sun — Solar Water Evaporation Materials and Their Applications," aims to develop a new type of photothermal conversion material that can efficiently absorb solar energy and convert it into thermal energy, achieving directional evaporation and collection of water — a green, low-cost technology for obtaining clean water.
Because countries such as Sudan in Africa have strong sunlight and high sediment content in water sources, Yan Yaming suggested strengthening the hydrophilicity of the microporous structure in the framework material to better treat turbid water. This approach was later verified as effective by the project team. He also took into account that economically underdeveloped regions find it difficult to promote large-scale, high-cost water purification technologies, and suggested making water purification equipment more convenient and lower-cost, while promoting cooperation between the team and Sudanese universities to facilitate the local application and promotion of the new technology.
In November 2024, the project "Water from the Sun — Solar Water Evaporation Materials and Their Applications" stood out from more than 300 competing projects and won first prize at the Third China-Africa Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. Yan Yaming's team, with high-efficiency photothermal conversion materials as the core technology, developed a covalent triazine framework material with microporous structure and hydrophilicity that can achieve efficient evaporation without the need for additional water transport channels.
Yan Yaming is well aware that eastern and northern Sudan suffer from severe water shortages. "Our research project, with just a small device, can produce 1.47 kilograms of clean water per square meter per hour — enough for a household's daily use," he said. "For African countries like Sudan, which have strong sunlight but low power grid coverage, this solution that does not rely on electricity and is low-cost is easier to put into use and can better benefit the local people."
"During my four years studying in China, my supervisor cared for me and guided me like family, and my classmates treated me like a relative. I have personally experienced the achievements of Chinese-style modernization and seen how new technological achievements improve people's lives. I have already applied to continue postdoctoral research at Huazhong University of Science and Technology to further enhance my research capabilities. I hope that in the future I can promote our new technology to more African countries, so that research outcomes can better benefit the African people," Yan Yaming said.
Egyptian student Yasser —
"The academic atmosphere here nourishes me"
By our reporter Yao Xueqing
It is already summer vacation, but in the laboratory of the National Research Center of Pumps at Jiangsu University, the research project of Egyptian student Yasser on "Solid-liquid Two-phase Flow and Wear Mechanisms of Centrifugal Pumps" is still ongoing. "We are building a particle erosion wear model and using numerical simulation to understand the mechanisms and patterns of centrifugal pump wear, providing technical support for the development of deep-sea resource extraction equipment," Yasser said.
There is a saying in Egypt: if you want to learn something better, go to China. Yasser's father is an engineer, and she grew up hearing her father talk about China's advanced technology. Studying in China had long been her dream.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree from Alexandria University in Egypt, 24-year-old Yasser was admitted to Jiangsu University's Power Engineering and Engineering Thermophysics program as a master's student, conducting research in centrifugal pump technology and developing high-efficiency, energy-saving pump equipment.
In this field, there are two difficulties to overcome: one is the shutdown problem caused by sand particle wear on centrifugal pumps during high-speed rotation; the other is the degradation of pump performance caused by high-viscosity fluids.
What left a deep impression on Yasser was that during the winter vacation in early 2023, the teachers and students of the research group gave up their time to go home for the Spring Festival, insisting on observing and collecting data during the critical cold window period — the lower the temperature, the higher the fluid viscosity, and the more severe the centrifugal pump performance degradation. In order to find the critical point of sharp performance degradation of centrifugal pumps, during the coldest days of the year, the teachers and students worked continuously for more than half a month: the instruments and equipment were like ice cubes, and their hands froze as they turned valves; in order to measure data, everyone often missed meal times at the school cafeteria. "The experimental equipment here is all very advanced, and much of it was designed and built by the teachers and students themselves. Everyone is fully devoted to research," Yasser said.
After several hundred repeated experiments and data collection sessions, the research group collected the highest viscosity data, providing support for the development of key equipment for heavy oil extraction. This achievement has already been applied in relevant projects of CNOOC, improving the efficiency of crude oil extraction.
Yasser recalls that when she first came to China to study, she was relatively unfamiliar with fluid mechanics and operating software, and relied entirely on her supervisor and classmates for after-class "extra tutoring." When she wrote her first paper, her senior fellow students not only helped revise it but also unreservedly shared their academic experience at group meetings. Currently, Yasser has already published 6 high-level papers as first author in important international journals.
After completing her master's degree, Yasser chose to continue pursuing a doctoral degree at Jiangsu University, with her research direction being centrifugal pump wear mechanisms and prevention. This is a very cutting-edge and application-oriented research field, belonging to the core key technologies of mineral extraction equipment. During her research, she participated multiple times in Jiangsu provincial and national academic conferences, international student showcase activities, and won the grand prize for academic papers at the First Academic Exchange Symposium for International Graduate Students at Jiangsu universities, where she also made the acquaintance of many Chinese peers.
"Participating in these activities, I experienced up close the optimistic, diligent, and dedicated spirit of Chinese researchers, and also experienced China's development in areas such as transportation infrastructure and mobile payment in recent years," Yasser said. During her years studying abroad, she often watched news reports and learned that China has achieved major breakthroughs one after another in fields such as deep-space exploration, life sciences, and advanced materials. "With a research atmosphere supported by the state and a large number of dedicated researchers, it is only natural that China can achieve fruitful results in high-tech fields," she said.
Yasser said that after coming to China, she discovered that Chinese-style modernization is a combination of "fast" and "slow" — high-speed trains run very fast, but in research, people do not hesitate to spend several years "grinding away" at the wear problem of a single pump. She noticed that China's industry-university-research integration is deep, with supervisors often holding meetings with industry representatives to understand industrial needs, and her research topic "grew out of" engineering projects. "I believe China's development is 'standing tall between heaven and earth' — combining cutting-edge research with down-to-earth practice."
In the future, Yasser hopes to stay in China and carry out more industrial transformation of her research topics. "I deeply love China, and the academic atmosphere here nourishes me," Yasser said. Seeing research results applied in practice and producing good outcomes is the moment she is most proud of.
Ghanaian student Kevin Osei —
"I have gained professional knowledge and made sincere friends"
By our reporter Shi Yu
In the height of summer, on the campus of Fujian Medical University, Kevin Osei, a Ghanaian student who has just completed his first year of doctoral studies in obstetrics and gynecology, is at his desk reading literature and revising papers. "In my 10 years of studying in China, I have gained professional knowledge, made sincere friends, and found the direction of my life's development," Kevin said.
Studying medicine was a goal Kevin set in his youth. After Kevin graduated from high school, a friend of his father's from Fujian, learning that Kevin had the aspiration to study medicine, enthusiastically recommended Fujian Medical University.
Through the systematic study of clinical medicine at the undergraduate level, Kevin discovered that compared with clinical work, he preferred scientific research. After completing his undergraduate degree, he decided to continue his studies in China, choosing the specialty of obstetrics and gynecology, focusing on the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.
Persistent infection with high-risk HPV (human papillomavirus) is the main causative factor of cervical cancer, and HPV vaccination is the primary preventive measure for cervical cancer. Kevin explained: "Although cervical cancer can mostly be prevented through screening, vaccination, and other means, in Africa, HPV vaccination coverage remains relatively low."
During his time at the university, Kevin collaborated with Chinese scholars to systematically review and study the current status of HPV vaccination and cervical cancer disease in Africa, and, based on Africa's actual conditions, put forward recommendations such as optimizing vaccine types, improving vaccination plans, expanding screening scope, building grassroots diagnosis and treatment infrastructure, conducting long-term training of medical personnel, and carrying out localized health education. The related research paper was published in March this year.
"I want to use what I have seen and learned in China to help women in Ghana and other African countries live healthier lives." Kevin noted that in the past few years, China has progressively advanced HPV vaccination efforts and extensively carried out public education on cervical cancer prevention, playing a positive role in safeguarding women's health. "Ghana should learn from China's experience — on the one hand, focusing on covering school-age girls and enabling adolescents to get vaccinated through measures such as price subsidies; on the other hand, through extensive public health education, making it convenient for people to fully realize the importance of vaccination."
"China upholds a people-centered development philosophy, and its modernization drive is people-centered." In Kevin's view, the entire Chinese people are united in purpose, continuously advancing Chinese-style modernization and achieving new accomplishments. "Having lived in Fuzhou for many years, I have witnessed with my own eyes the city building a subway system that extends in all directions, people's lives becoming more and more convenient, and the city's tremendous changes are astonishing."
Kevin clearly remembers that in the early days of his master's program, at the regular meetings of his research group, he found it very difficult to understand the exchanges between his supervisor and classmates. "There is a big difference between everyday Chinese and professional academic terminology. Accurately grasping everyone's viewpoints was quite challenging for me." In order to catch up with the team's academic communication pace as quickly as possible, Kevin put great effort into studying Chinese medical terminology. "After group meetings, my classmates patiently answered my questions. Now I can understand more than half of the content."
Speaking of future plans, Kevin's goal is very clear: to deepen his work in obstetrics and gynecology and become a medical researcher. "In the future, I will continue to conduct in-depth research on the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer in Africa, contributing my strength to the global eradication of cervical cancer," he said.
By: 吴传华
People-to-people friendship is an important cornerstone of the development of China-Africa relations, people-to-people and cultural exchanges are the driving source of China-Africa friendship across generations, and educational cooperation is an important component of China-Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
In recent years, China has become the second-largest destination country for African students studying abroad. In terms of major selection, African students increasingly favor emerging applied fields such as engineering technology, information and communications, and artificial intelligence, which align with the needs of Africa's modernization development. They also go into communities, villages, and enterprises to understand the great practice of Chinese-style modernization and to perceive the real life of the Chinese people. Anlan, a student from Côte d'Ivoire who studied at Xiangtan University, said: "During my years in China, I have witnessed China's development in politics, economy, society, culture, science and technology, and all other aspects. When the Changsha-to-Huaihua section of the Shanghai-Kunming Expressway opened, I was fortunate to be invited as one of the first batch of passengers to experience it, and I truly felt what 'China Speed' means!"
Through education for international students, China has cultivated a large number of high-quality professional talents for African countries. After completing their studies and returning to their home countries, these African students are active in government departments, institutions of higher learning, research institutions, various enterprises, and entrepreneurship platforms, applying what they learned in China to their own countries' development and construction. Mulatu Teshome, former President of Ethiopia who studied in China for 12 years, once said: "I received my education in China; China shaped me." African students have broad international perspectives, being familiar with both their own countries' conditions and Africa's development needs while also deeply understanding China's development path. They are envoys for enhancing China-Africa friendship and have played an important role in building a new era all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future.
China-Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges extend far beyond the field of education. The two sides continue to expand exchanges and cooperation in tourism, sports, youth, women, think tanks, and other fields, promoting people-to-people bonds and consolidating the social foundation of the China-Africa friendship cause. Guizhou's "Village Super League," which became a sensation across the internet, not only attracted African diplomats and international students to participate, but was also successfully replicated in South Africa, Benin, and other countries, where "African Village Super Leagues" were launched locally. "Happy Spring Festival" has been present in Africa for nearly two decades and has become a cultural event where Chinese and African people celebrate the festival together. African culture is also increasingly entering China, allowing Chinese people to enjoy authentic African song and dance performances, listen to African musical instrument performances with distinctive local flavor, and appreciate cultural exhibitions such as Zimbabwean stone sculpture and Tanzanian Tingatinga paintings without leaving home. Chinese medical team members assisting Africa protect local people's health with benevolent hearts and healing skills, Luban Workshops in traditional Chinese medicine cultivate local African TCM talent, and China-Africa forums on media, think tanks, youth, and other topics are held on a regular and institutionalized basis — all of these have promoted people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Africa in the new era.
This year marks the first Humanistic Exchange Year in the history of China-Africa relations. As of the first half of the year, nearly 500 events had been successfully held, effectively promoting China-Africa friendly relations and people-to-people bonds. The Second West Africa Forum was successfully held in Senegal, contributing think tank strength to China and Africa jointly advancing modernization; the "African Railway Talent Qinghai-Tibet Trip" uses railways as the medium and talent as the bridge to promote dialogue and cooperation between China and Africa in the field of railway construction; young party leaders from 13 French-speaking African countries visited Shaanxi and witnessed with their own eyes the achievements of Chinese-style modernization... A series of rich and colorful activities reflects the characteristics of "full-field coverage, multi-group participation, and multi-level linkage."
The friendship between nations lies in the affinity between their peoples, and the affinity between peoples lies in the connection of their hearts. Looking to the future, China and Africa will continue to use people-to-people and cultural exchanges to promote China-Africa mutual trust, deepen China-Africa friendship, and support China-Africa modernization, so that the friendship that spans mountains and seas will be passed down from generation to generation, and the two sides will jointly walk the path of modernization featuring equality, mutual learning, cooperation, and win-win outcomes.
(The author is Secretary-General of the China Asia-Africa Society)
Return to TopBy: 屈信明
Recently, many financial consumers have noticed a change in services such as personal consumer loans and installment payments — when applying for a personal loan at a bank branch, the teller proactively presents a disclosure form of financing costs, and the various interest and fees that consumers previously might have had to inquire about item by item are now listed one by one on paper; when choosing installment payment for online consumption, on the order page, interest, installment handling fees, default costs, and the like are all clear at a glance, with the true interest rate plainly shown.
Effective August 1, the "Provisions on the Disclosure of Comprehensive Financing Costs for Personal Loan Business" (hereinafter referred to as the "Provisions"), issued by the National Financial Regulatory Administration and other departments, officially came into force. The Provisions require lenders to present borrowers with a comprehensive financing cost disclosure form, clearly disclosing the interest and fee costs of personal loans. Whether a personal loan is expensive or not is now openly "shown in the light."
Finance is an important bridge and bond connecting supply and demand. Convenient and worry-free consumer credit and other personal loan services can smooth residents' intertemporal income and expenditure and unleash consumption potential in scenarios such as home appliance replacement, cultural tourism travel, and education and training. Relevant industry data show that China's consumer financial services cover hundreds of millions of residents, and credit funds continue to flow to terminal consumption scenarios in the real economy. Clearly, a sound and orderly financial consumption environment plays an important role in enhancing residents' consumption capacity and willingness, unleashing multi-level consumption demand, and better satisfying the people's needs for a better life.
It must also be recognized that in the chain through which financial services drive consumption, consumers' sense of security is a key variable. Market disorders such as false advertising, hidden charges, and predatory lending schemes damage consumer rights and affect consumption willingness. Only by creating a credible, reliable, and predictable financial consumption ecosystem and reducing residents' worries can potential consumption demand be converted into tangible orders. The Provisions directly address long-standing pain points in the personal credit market. In the past, some financial institutions and partner platforms bundled guarantee fees, service fees, and the like, causing consumers to misperceive the true cost of borrowing; there were also cases in the medical aesthetics and home renovation sectors where consumption loans were induced, using information asymmetry to create consumption traps. With the implementation of the Provisions, these deep-seated maladies that may harm consumer rights are expected to be precisely resolved.
Good policies hinge on implementation. To promote the effective implementation of the policy, local regulatory authorities have simultaneously carried out supervision and inspection, organized financial institutions to upgrade business systems, standardized online and offline marketing language, smoothed complaint and rights-protection channels, and carried out financial knowledge popularization in communities and universities. A single disclosure form safeguards the right to know in financial consumption, assists residents in daring to consume and being willing to consume, and also reflects the policy orientation of optimizing the financial consumption environment and stimulating the momentum of domestic demand growth.
The meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on July 30 proposed comprehensively applying and timely adjusting monetary policy tools and optimizing the implementation of fiscal and financial policies coordinated to promote domestic demand. For macro-control effectiveness to be fully unleashed, it is necessary not only to do a good job in top-level design and make good use of the policy toolbox, but also to rely on whole-chain governance to clear transmission bottlenecks. Enhancing the sense of security in financial consumption is an important aspect of ensuring that macro policies are effectively implemented and that the effectiveness of monetary policy is better brought into play. Monetary policy creates a favorable financing environment, and financial regulation builds a solid line of defense for consumer rights; only when the two work in the same direction can financial resources be smoothly channeled to residents' consumption scenarios and policy benefits be truly converted into market advantages for expanding domestic demand.
For consumers, continuously enhancing the sense of security in financial consumption is in itself a pragmatic measure that benefits people's livelihoods and warms people's hearts. Financial products differ from ordinary commodities — they are highly specialized and characterized by prominent information asymmetry. Whether the right to know, the right to fair dealing, and the right to claim compensation can be guaranteed directly concerns the vital interests of thousands of households. From the comprehensive disclosure of loan costs to the efficient resolution of financial disputes, every governance measure lowers the psychological threshold for the public to participate in financial consumption. A sense of security gives rise to a sense of gain, and a sense of gain stimulates new momentum. The consumption momentum generated by confidence and assurance, released steadily and continuously, will inject stronger impetus into expanding domestic demand.
The "Measures for the Administration of Online Marketing of Financial Products," formulated by the People's Bank of China and other departments, will soon be implemented to further rectify the chaos of false advertising of financial products; the insurance industry is implementing claims requirements for the flood season, striving to compensate fully where due and compensate quickly where possible; regulatory authorities are continuously intensifying efforts to crack down on financial fraud such as "credit report repair" and "agency-assisted full policy surrender"... Recently, a series of financial policies benefiting the people have been intensively implemented. A safer and more standardized financial consumption environment will enable financial water to more precisely irrigate the real economy, activate the potential of the consumer market, strengthen development momentum, stimulate social vitality, and promote the economy's sustained development toward the new, the better, and the stronger.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 王 沛 申智林 王崟欣
Since the beginning of this year, multiple policies and product innovations have landed in the field of elderly care finance. The General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Establishment of a Long-Term Care Insurance System," clarifying that by the end of 2028, the long-term care insurance system will achieve basic full coverage nationwide; starting in June, investors can purchase savings treasury bonds (electronic form) in their personal pension accounts, meaning that in addition to deposits, wealth management, insurance, and funds, there is now another long-term stable investment option; in June, the Shanghai Regulatory Bureau of the National Financial Regulatory Administration (国家金融监督管理总局上海监管局), the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, and other departments, four in total, issued the "Notice on Innovatively Carrying Out Elderly Care Service Trust Pilots," launching pilot programs for elderly care service trust innovation...
From financial resources continuously extending toward elderly care infrastructure, convenience services for the people, and family protection, to various types of pension insurance and wealth management products entering ordinary households, at present, multi-tiered elderly care finance is transforming from policy provisions into visible, tangible benefits for people's livelihoods. Recently, reporters visited elderly care centers, age-friendly renovated bank branches, and ordinary families to see how financial "living water" empowers industries, serves the people, and safeguards ten thousand households.
Building elderly care centers —
Making good use of industrial financing "patient money"
"Meals are brought right to us, someone helps us bathe, caregivers often come by to visit, and we've even learned to sing here. What a good life this is!" At the Shandong Health Yishou Guangnian Jining Elderly Care Center (山东健康益寿光年济宁颐养中心) in Jining City, Shandong Province, 83-year-old Wang Xingcui said with a beaming smile while holding onto her wheelchair. She was among the first batch to move in, and the elderly couple has received attentive care, greatly reducing the burden on their children.
In November 2020, the Jining Elderly Care Center officially began operations, opening 292 beds to the public, and has currently admitted more than 230 people.
In Wang Xingcui's room, the bed is a professional nursing bed with professional nursing functions such as mobility, anti-slip, and assisted sitting-up, and handrails have been installed on the bathroom wall. Li Dezhi, president of the Jining Elderly Care Center, said: "Our type of elderly care industry is very difficult to obtain loans through traditional credit models. Equipping these age-friendly products was made possible thanks to Bank of China Shandong Branch's 'unified borrowing and repayment' model for fixed asset loans, which solved our funding problem."
Shandong is a major province with an elderly population. In 2025, the population aged 60 and above exceeded 25 million. Shandong integrated resources to establish the provincial-level first-class Shandong Health Group (山东健康集团) to lead the province's high-quality development of the elderly care industry, with more than 130 medical-rehabilitation-care integrated institutions under it.
Industrial development cannot be separated from financial "living water," but the elderly care industry has long investment cycles and slow returns, and elderly care projects are small and scattered with strong timeliness requirements for fund withdrawal. Traditional credit models often find it difficult to match effectively.
Li Dezhi said that when taking over this nursing home, age-friendly renovation of the premises was needed, with a funding gap of 190,000 yuan. Because the project had not yet begun operations, the company had neither collateral nor income, making it very difficult to apply for traditional working capital loans, and loan terms were generally 1–3 years; if applying for fixed asset loans, the quota was too low.
The difficulty faced by the Jining Elderly Care Center was not an isolated case. To solve this financing pain point, in 2022, Bank of China Shandong Branch innovatively launched the province's first "unified borrowing and repayment" model for fixed asset loans, in which a unified management-type parent company borrows, and loan funds are coordinated for the construction of all elderly care institutions under it, packaging scattered projects for approval and granting overall credit, with a total quota of 130 million yuan.
Xue Qian, deputy president of Bank of China Jinan Tianqiao Sub-branch, told reporters that fixed asset loans only require 20% capital, and loans are approved based on individual projects. "At the approval stage, we participate in the preparatory work of each nursing home, from the medical equipment and rehabilitation devices needed to the interior decoration and age-friendly renovation."
In the end, the Jining Elderly Care Center successfully obtained a fixed asset loan with a term of up to 12 years. Li Dezhi said that this model greatly improved the efficiency of approval and fund withdrawal, extended the loan term, and provided long-term support for the construction of elderly care infrastructure.
The Jining Elderly Care Center became profitable within one year of operation and is currently 供不应求 (gōng bù yìng qiú - "supply does not respond to demand," supply falls short of demand). From 2023 to 2025, two or three new floors have been fitted out each year, and this year an Alzheimer's disease special ward will be created.
Now, with financial support, multiple benchmark elderly care projects of Shandong Health Group have been successfully implemented, and service supply capacity has significantly improved. It currently has 7 five-star elderly care institutions, 5 four-star elderly care institutions, and multiple residential health and wellness bases, serving more than 5 million people annually.
Upgrading bank branches —
Deepening the "front line" of age-friendly services
Early in the morning, at the Yuehua self-service bank of Bank of Communications Yueyang Branch in Hunan, more than a dozen elderly people who had finished grocery shopping were already waiting at the branch entrance. They were mostly retired workers from factories within a 3-kilometer radius, coming to withdraw pensions and handle related business.
At 9 o'clock, the rolling shutter door behind the self-service machines rose on time. "Xiao Li, help me print last month's bank statement." "Xiao Li, can you check this month's social security for me?" Seeing Li Sulan, the lobby manager of the Yuehua self-service bank, the elderly people fired off a string of questions as soon as they entered.
"Coming right up!" Having served at the branch for several years, Li Sulan is as familiar with these elderly people as if they were neighbors. While welcoming them into the rest room, pouring water, and settling them in, she took on the tasks and processed them one by one.
"In previous years, after the branch's business was consolidated, this outlet was converted into an unattended self-service bank equipped with two self-service machines," Li Sulan said. But on-site research found that the nearby customers are mainly elderly retirees. The self-service and digital services that young people handle with ease are a "digital divide" they find hard to cross — unable to see clearly, unable to understand, unable to operate. Facing bank self-service machines, elderly people often find themselves 一筹莫展 (yī chóu mò zhǎn - "no plan can be unfolded," at a loss, unable to find a way out).
"Not a single elderly customer will be shut out behind the glass door of bank services." Li Sulan works full-time at this self-service bank providing guidance and serving elderly customers who come to handle business.
Considering the needs of the elderly, in May, Bank of Communications Yueyang Branch further integrated site resources and set aside dedicated space as an exclusive rest room for elderly people. The passageways, seats, and handrails have all undergone age-friendly renovation.
"With someone to guide us, we feel at ease handling business." Seventy-nine-year-old Hu Youguang lives near the self-service outlet and often comes with his old friends to sit in the rest room. Because of familiarity and trust, sometimes elderly people also ask Li Sulan to help with online utility bill payments.
At noon, Luo Yu, a resident of Dongmaoling Community, Yueyanglou District, Yueyang City, hurried into the Dongmaoling Sub-branch of Bank of Communications Yueyang Branch. Having become a flexible-employment worker years ago due to enterprise restructuring, she completed retirement procedures last year.
"Social security, supplementary major medical insurance, and pension coefficients are linked, and they change once every July," Luo Yu said. Because she retired as a flexible-employment worker, she had to go to the government service center herself to check her situation. She had made several appointments with the human resources and social security department, but missed them all due to scheduling conflicts. Only recently did she learn that 22 high-frequency social security services in Yueyang City can be handled at bank counters.
Taking the forms and materials submitted by Luo Yu, Liao Bin, customer service manager of the Dongmaoling Sub-branch, deftly switched to the social security business system and completed checking all the information and clearly explaining it in just 5 minutes.
"Upgrading single financial outlets into comprehensive social security-bank service convenience positions, and making every effort to build a '15-minute social security service circle' covering surrounding communities, the Dongmaoling Sub-branch and others have become among the first batch of 'social security-bank service convenience outlets' officially designated in Yueyang City," said Chen Ying, general manager of the Personal Finance Department of Bank of Communications Yueyang Branch. Services such as insurance registration, benefit qualification certification, social security inquiries, and certificate printing, which previously required visits to the government affairs hall, can now be handled directly at the outlets, truly realizing "nearby handling and one-stop handling" of social security and elderly care services for elderly people.
"We will continuously optimize the social security-bank service model, expand the scope of door-to-door services, enrich elderly care financial products, deepen financial anti-fraud publicity, and continue to cultivate the elderly care finance field, guarding the happy later years of every elderly customer with our hearts," said He Yan, deputy president of Bank of Communications Yueyang Branch.
Serving elderly families —
Supporting the "stable dreams" of ten thousand households' later years
At 10 a.m., at the Zhoujiadu Sub-branch of Bank of China Shanghai Branch, more than 70-year-old Zhou Jianguo had three documents spread out in front of him: one was a three-year fixed deposit that had just matured, one was the "Family Elderly Care Asset Review Report" just printed by his customer manager, and one was a participating insurance policy for his little granddaughter.
In this typical "4-2-1" family (four grandparents, two parents, one child), elderly care is no longer just the business of the elderly, but a common subject for three generations.
Old Zhou's retirement life began with an account that could be "calculated clearly." His and his wife's monthly pensions total 9,000 yuan, plus 3,000 yuan in rent from a small apartment invested in years ago, giving them a fixed monthly income of 12,000 yuan. "It looks like a lot, but if a major illness strikes, will the money be enough?" This is his biggest worry.
On the advice of his customer manager, Zhou Jianguo allocated 60% of his family assets to stable wealth management products.
"For elderly people, safety comes first in financial management," said Xiao Chen, customer manager of the Zhoujiadu Sub-branch. "Zhoujiadu Sub-district is a typically aging sub-district, with people over 60 accounting for more than 60% of the population. For elderly customers among them who have financial management intentions, we mostly recommend products with low risk and stable returns. The main thing is to protect the elderly's money bags."
In Zhou Jianguo's account, 300,000 yuan is held as a three-year large-denomination certificate of deposit. Although the interest rate has declined compared with a few years ago, it has the advantage of stability. The remaining 40% is spread across two products: part is used to purchase elderly care wealth management products with a 5-year term and relatively stable performance, whose underlying assets are mostly treasury bonds, policy financial bonds, and high-grade credit bonds — "low volatility, suitable for people like us who can't withstand ups and downs"; the other part is placed in a money market fund as an emergency reserve — "available for withdrawal at any time, with interest slightly higher than demand deposits."
Ms. Zhou is Old Zhou's only daughter and works as a corporate financial officer. She bought medical insurance for her parents long ago. "A commercial medical insurance policy covers medication and examination costs outside the social insurance scope; I also purchased commercial long-term care insurance for my mother. Her joints are not good, and if she ever needs to hire a caregiver in the future, this money will be a big help," Ms. Zhou said.
Ms. Zhou and her husband have a not-low income, but the pressure is considerable: a monthly mortgage of 8,000 yuan, 30,000 yuan per year in tutoring fees for their daughter who is in middle school, and both sets of parents are getting old.
"I used to think elderly care was a matter for my parents' generation, but now I realize I should be the one planning ahead," Ms. Zhou said. Her elderly care planning began with a personal pension account opened two years ago. "I can deposit up to 12,000 yuan per year, which is deductible from personal income tax. For a salaried family like ours, that saves 1,200 yuan a year."
In addition to the personal pension, Ms. Zhou also arranged a combination of "annuity insurance + critical illness insurance" for herself and her husband: the annuity insurance starts paying out from age 60, with 2,000 yuan per month until age 105; the critical illness insurance has a coverage amount of 500,000 yuan, so in the event of a major illness, they won't have to sell their house or liquidate their wealth management products.
Zhou Jianguo's little granddaughter is the "third generation" of the family. When she was born, Ms. Zhou bought her a participating insurance policy. "A fixed amount is paid each year for a certain number of years. When she enters university, she can receive a portion of the funds each year, and the remaining money can continue to accumulate as her dowry or startup capital."
From Old Zhou and his wife's stable wealth management, to their daughter and son-in-law's personal pension accounts, to the granddaughter's education fund and insurance arrangements, a "safety net" woven from elderly care financial products is quietly propping up this family's "silver-haired confidence."
"In the past, people thought elderly care finance meant buying wealth management products. Now there is greater emphasis on 'whole-life-cycle planning.' At present, our elderly care financial services have formed a one-stop solution covering savings, wealth management, funds, personal pensions, insurance, and family trusts. At the same time, we also provide supporting non-financial value-added services. For example, outlets can provide elderly people with 5G online medical consultations, 'silver-haired photo studio' services, and regularly hold elderly financial education classes to popularize anti-fraud and anti-counterfeit currency knowledge. These activities are all very popular among the elderly," said the person in charge of the Zhoujiadu Sub-branch.
This issue's coordinator: Wang Guan
Return to TopBy: 龙登高 马 帅
Markets have a long history in China, manifesting both as various relations of exchange among people and as a means of allocating and circulating production factors and resources. A factor market is the venue and mechanism through which production factors such as labor, land, capital, technology, and data are exchanged and allocated. The level of development of factor markets is a key yardstick for measuring the degree of marketization of an economy. Traditional China had not only active commodity markets but also factor markets for land, labor, and capital that developed to varying degrees.
Since the Warring States, Qin, and Han periods, the forms of land property rights gradually became clearer, and the forms of land rights transactions grew increasingly diverse. After the Song dynasty, the land factor market matured. Viewed from the level of rights, land property rights can be divided into different levels such as ownership rights, possession rights, and usage rights, and each level could independently enter market transactions. The separation of surface rights and subsoil rights that commonly appeared during the Ming and Qing dynasties is a typical manifestation of this property rights structure. Surface rights gave tenant households a property right that could be independently traded and that landlords could not arbitrarily deprive them of; by acquiring surface rights, farming households obtained land rights, greatly lowering the threshold for entering the land rights market, and the degree of imbalance in land possession was correspondingly alleviated.
Transactions in land usage rights were the most common. Farmers obtained land usage rights through tenancy, established family farms, and land and labor were thereby combined to create wealth. The threshold for farmers to utilize land was lowered, the family farm management model became more widespread, and it was also easier to restore. Whether possessing land ownership rights, possession rights, or usage rights, individual family farms existed extensively. Farmers managed their own farms, tending the fields as delicately as embroidery, sparing no cost, and even when marginal returns diminished, they continued to add labor. Intensive cultivation long remained a prominent feature of traditional Chinese agriculture. The land rights market and intensive cultivation complemented each other, enabling land output to increase continuously, thereby supporting more people on limited land and creating a miracle in the era of a shortage economy.
The multi-level land rights structure of traditional China gave rise to rich and diverse transaction forms such as tenancy, conditional sale, live sale, mortgage, and deposit rent. Land rights transaction forms such as conditional sale and live sale retained the right of first refusal for redemption, buffered the transfer of land ownership, and strengthened the resilience and vitality of independent farming household management. Most farmers made a living through the land rights market and the commodity market, constituting the agricultural middle class that formed the main body of society and sustaining long-term socioeconomic stability.
In an era when financial instruments were relatively scarce, the diverse forms of land rights transactions also served as substitutes for financing instruments, strengthening farming households' ability to resist risk. Farming households obtained loans by pawning land, sustaining family economies and reproduction; capital flowed from all social strata to land, land was allocated through different transaction forms to labor with productive capacity, and various production factors achieved dynamic combinations in the market.
Compared with Western Europe of the same period, the land rights market of traditional China was more prominent, while the labor and capital factor markets each had their own strengths. The labor market of traditional China existed extensively in both urban and rural areas, and employment relations were also relatively common in agriculture, handicrafts, and commerce. The lending market in traditional China had also remained fairly active, and the government's attitude toward lending activities was relatively tolerant, providing a certain institutional space for the circulation of the capital factor.
The development and evolution of China's factor markets have formed a profound historical tradition and cultural genes. At present, the results of China's land transfer and factor marketization are gradually becoming apparent, while in clarifying land property rights, enriching transaction forms, and other aspects, continued exploration and sustained effort are still needed. The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China explicitly stated: "Economic system reform must focus on improving the property rights system and market-based allocation of production factors." The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further emphasized: "Build a unified national market, deepen market-based reforms of production factors, and build a high-standard market system." The profound tradition and historical genes of the millennium-old factor market have enlightening significance and beneficial assistance for accelerating the construction of a high-level socialist market economy system and promoting high-quality development.
(The authors are respectively a professor at the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University and a doctoral student at the School of Social Sciences of Tsinghua University; compiled from an interview by our reporter Qi Zhiming)
Return to TopBy: 谷业凯
“我国每万人口高价值发明专利拥有量大于22件，知识产权（专利）密集型产业增加值占国内生产总值比重达14.6%，知识产权保护社会满意度提升至83.9分……”日前国务院印发的《知识产权保护和运用“十五五”规划》提出，到2030年，我国知识产权综合实力和国际竞争力进一步增强，知识产权强国建设取得决定性进展。
“China’s high-value invention patents owned per 10,000 population exceed 22 pieces, value added of intellectual property (patent)-intensive industries accounts for 14.6% of gross domestic product, and social satisfaction with intellectual property protection has risen to 83.9 points…” The “15th Five-Year Plan for Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization” recently issued by the State Council proposes that by 2030, China’s comprehensive intellectual property strength and international competitiveness will be further enhanced, and decisive progress will be made in building a strong intellectual property country.
这份沉甸甸的五年规划，立足知识产权发展的时代性特征和阶段性要求，部署了“十五五”时期我国知识产权事业发展的重点任务，以及战略性新兴产业知识产权保护、知识产权促进中小企业发展等一批专项工程，涵盖知识产权创造、保护、运用、管理、服务、国际合作全链条，既有对现实需求的回应，更有前瞻布局的谋划。
This weighty five-year plan, grounded in the epochal characteristics and stage requirements of intellectual property development, deploys the key tasks for the development of China’s intellectual property cause during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, as well as a number of special projects such as intellectual property protection for strategic emerging industries and intellectual property promotion of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, covering the entire chain of intellectual property creation, protection, utilization, management, service, and international cooperation, responding to practical needs while also making forward-looking arrangements.
制定和实施知识产权五年规划，是我国知识产权事业跨越式发展、取得历史性成就的重要抓手。2016年12月，国务院印发《“十三五”国家知识产权保护和运用规划》，知识产权规划首次作为国家级重点专项规划印发实施。2021年10月，国务院印发《“十四五”国家知识产权保护和运用规划》，带动知识产权创造量质齐升、保护体系不断完善、转化运用加速推进，知识产权强国建设迈出坚实步伐。
Formulating and implementing intellectual property five-year plans is an important lever for the leapfrog development and historic achievements of China’s intellectual property cause. In December 2016, the State Council issued the “13th Five-Year Plan for National Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization,” marking the first time an intellectual property plan was issued and implemented as a national key special plan. In October 2021, the State Council issued the “14th Five-Year Plan for National Intellectual Property Protection and Utilization,” driving both quantity and quality of intellectual property creation to rise, the protection system to be continuously improved, and transformation and utilization to be accelerated, taking solid steps in building a strong intellectual property country.
比如，在提升知识产权创造质量方面，一个时期以来，我国专利存在“多而不优、大而不强”的问题。“十四五”时期，我国首次将“每万人口高价值发明专利拥有量”作为经济社会发展主要指标，并提出12件的预期目标。到了“十四五”末，我国每万人口高价值发明专利拥有量达到16件，不仅超额完成规划的目标，国内高价值发明专利占有效发明专利的比重更是达到43.1%，较“十三五”末提升2.9个百分点。
For example, in improving the quality of intellectual property creation, for a period of time China’s patents had the problem of being “many but not excellent, large but not strong.” During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China for the first time included “high-value invention patents owned per 10,000 population” as a major indicator of economic and social development, and proposed an expected target of 12 pieces. By the end of the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China’s high-value invention patents owned per 10,000 population reached 16 pieces, not only overfulfilling the plan’s target, but the proportion of domestic high-value invention patents in valid invention patents reached 43.1%, an increase of 2.9 percentage points over the end of the “13th Five-Year Plan” period.
五年规划牵引带动着知识产权工作从追求数量向提高质量转变。近年来，一大批技术含量更高、市场价值更高、权利状态更加稳定的发明专利持续涌现，为人工智能、生物医药等产业打下了坚实的发展基础。值得注意的是，“十五五”时期，这一指标设定为大于22件，较“十四五”末增长高达6件以上，充分体现了我国加快提升创新能力和创新绩效的信心和决心。
The five-year plans have led and driven intellectual property work to shift from pursuing quantity to improving quality. In recent years, a large number of invention patents with higher technological content, higher market value, and more stable rights status have continued to emerge, laying a solid development foundation for industries such as artificial intelligence and biomedicine. It is worth noting that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, this indicator is set at more than 22 pieces, an increase of more than 6 pieces over the end of the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, fully reflecting China’s confidence and determination to accelerate the improvement of innovation capability and innovation performance.
又如，在专利转化运用方面，知识产权领域一度存在“重保护、轻运用”的现象。知识产权“十三五”规划提出过“规模以上制造业每亿元主营业务收入有效发明专利数（件）”等具有针对性的预期指标；知识产权“十四五”规划则提出“引导开展订单式研发和投放式创新”等具体措施，推动企业、高校、科研机构知识产权深度合作；知识产权“十五五”规划将“完善高校、科研机构以产业化前景分析为核心的专利申请前评估制度，加强专利动态盘点和分级管理”写入，这些指标任务和措施，让越来越多的科技成果能够“下书架、上货架”。
Another example: in the transformation and utilization of patents, the intellectual property field once had the phenomenon of “emphasizing protection over utilization.” The intellectual property “13th Five-Year Plan” proposed targeted expected indicators such as “number of valid invention patents per 100 million yuan of main business revenue in manufacturing above designated size (pieces)”; the intellectual property “14th Five-Year Plan” proposed specific measures such as “guiding the development of order-based R&D and placement-based innovation” to promote in-depth intellectual property cooperation among enterprises, universities, and research institutions; the intellectual property “15th Five-Year Plan” writes in “improving the pre-application evaluation system for universities and research institutions centered on industrialization prospect analysis, and strengthening dynamic patent inventory and tiered management.” These indicator tasks and measures enable more and more scientific and technological achievements to “come off the bookshelf and onto the goods shelf.”
五年规划稳定衔接、梯次推进、接续实施，使我国知识产权事业始终在正确轨道上前行，始终保持高质量发展的态势，意义重大、影响深远。“十五五”时期是基本实现社会主义现代化夯实基础、全面发力的关键时期，也是加快建设中国特色、世界水平知识产权强国的关键时期。知识产权“十五五”规划作为支撑《知识产权强国建设纲要（2021—2035年）》实施的第二个五年规划，居于承前启后的重要位置。面向未来，要坚持“一张蓝图绘到底、两张卷子一起答”，使得长期战略定力与落实短期具体规划同步推进、协同落地，确保知识产权强国建设取得决定性进展。
The five-year plans, with stable articulation, echeloned advancement, and continuous implementation, have kept China’s intellectual property cause always on the correct track and always maintaining the momentum of high-quality development, which is of great significance and far-reaching influence. The “15th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical period for consolidating the foundation and launching comprehensive efforts to basically realize socialist modernization, and is also a critical period for accelerating the building of a strong intellectual property country with Chinese characteristics and world-class standards. As the second five-year plan supporting the implementation of the “Outline for Building a Strong Intellectual Property Country (2021–2035),” the intellectual property “15th Five-Year Plan” occupies an important position of 承前启后 (chéng qián qǐ hòu - “inherit the past and open up the future,” to carry forward the legacy and pave the way for the future). Looking ahead, we must adhere to “drawing one blueprint through to the end, answering two exam papers together,” so that long-term strategic determination and the implementation of short-term specific plans advance in tandem and land in coordination, ensuring that decisive progress is made in building a strong intellectual property country.
Return to TopBy: 本报记者 喻思南
Fiscal funding plays a weather-vane role in science and technology investment. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the National Science and Technology Awards Conference, the Academicians' Conference of the two Academies, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, "improve the efficiency and effectiveness of science and technology innovation investment" and "all levels and relevant departments should improve institutional mechanisms and management methods, ensuring that real gold and silver is both invested in place and used well, achieving the unity of increased investment scale and enhanced effectiveness."
How can fiscal investment play its weather-vane role? How can funds be ensured to be used on the "blade edge"? This installment tells of the practices and results of agricultural research institutions under the support of the Central-Level Scientific Institution Research Conditions Improvement Special Project (中央级科学事业单位改善科研条件专项).
— Editor
The contribution rate of agricultural science and technology progress exceeds 64%, the coverage rate of improved crop varieties exceeds 96%, and the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation, harvesting, and processing reaches 76.7%... During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China's agricultural science and technology has advanced significantly, with agricultural science and technology innovation overall entering the world's first tier.
Science and technology innovation cannot be separated from investment support. Among these, the Central-Level Scientific Institution Research Conditions Improvement Special Project (hereinafter referred to as the "Improvement Special Project"), implemented in 2021, has played an important role in advancing the capacity building of agricultural science and technology innovation. How does the Improvement Special Project assist innovation? What experience does it have in improving investment effectiveness? Recently, reporters interviewed the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, and other relevant research institutions.
Filling Urgent Gaps
雪中送炭 (xuě zhōng sòng tàn - "send charcoal in snowy weather," to provide timely help), ensuring researchers can conduct high-level research
How are rubber trees growing? What is their latex production status? Due to a lack of professional equipment, obtaining these data once relied for a long time on manual observation and measurement by the team of Gao Xinsheng, a researcher at the Rubber Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.
"This was not only inefficient and collected small amounts of data, but also had problems such as strong subjectivity and insufficient data continuity." Having engaged in rubber tree genetics and breeding for more than 20 years, Gao Xinsheng is well aware of the shortcomings of this method.
Aiming at the gaps, the Improvement Special Project supported the Rubber Research Institute in building an efficient breeding technology platform. Since then, traits such as rubber tree growth and development, photosynthetic physiology, canopy structure, and stress response have all been equipped with professional monitoring equipment.
"Compared with the past, the time for single-batch phenotype collection and data analysis is now shortened by more than 50%, and rubber tree phenotype identification has shifted from 'looking with eyes, measuring by hand, judging by experience' toward quantification, digitization, and traceability," Gao Xinsheng said.
In addition to the efficient breeding technology platform, relying on support from the Improvement Special Project and others, the Rubber Research Institute has also built research platforms for gene function analysis and germplasm innovation and utilization.
The upgrading of research platforms resonates at the same frequency as technological innovation, yielding abundant results. The eight rubber tree varieties cultivated by Gao Xinsheng's team have successively been selected as leading varieties by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the relevant varieties have been promoted cumulatively across more than 3.5 million mu in national rubber planting areas. The project "Cultivation and Application of Cold-Tolerant, Wind-Resistant, High-Yield Rubber Tree Varieties" led by the team won the second prize of the 2023 National Science and Technology Progress Award.
Thanks to the Improvement Special Project's upgrading of experimental platforms and supporting facilities, the research efficiency and innovation vitality of multiple research teams at the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences have taken on a completely new look (焕然一新 (huàn rán yī xīn - "shining and new," completely transformed)).
At the Institute of Tropical Biotechnology, after being equipped with digital PCR (polymerase chain reaction) systems, bioinformatics systems, laser confocal microscopes, and other instruments, researchers can now achieve full-chain innovation from gene analysis to germplasm creation within the institute.
In May this year, the team of Wang Jungang, an associate researcher at the institute, together with multiple domestic research teams, made a major breakthrough in the genetic analysis of sugarcane genome and high-sugar traits, with the relevant results published as a cover article in Nature. Based on long-term basic research accumulation, multiple new sugarcane varieties cultivated by the team have obtained national new plant variety rights, and excellent varieties have been promoted on a large scale.
Targeting the technical difficulties of banana Fusarium wilt resistance breeding and prevention and control, the team of Wang Wei, a researcher at the Institute of Tropical Biotechnology, took the lead in constructing a "five-in-one" comprehensive prevention and control technology system, creating disease-resistant new germplasm and cultivating high-quality disease-resistant new banana varieties. Among them, the selected "Zhongre No. 1" has been registered and promoted to more than one million plants.
"Previously, some of the institute's research equipment could no longer meet modern research needs. The Improvement Special Project sent charcoal in snowy weather, providing a solid platform guarantee for researchers to conduct high-level research," said Yang Yuanfu, deputy director of the Finance Division (Assets Division) of the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences.
Effectively solving the urgent needs in the construction of science and technology infrastructure is one of the key support priorities of the Improvement Special Project.
"The Improvement Special Project is efficient and highly targeted. Funds can be in place the year after application, with amounts ranging from several hundred thousand to several million yuan arriving quickly to solve the immediate needs of frontline research," said Yu Hui, deputy director of the Development and Construction Bureau of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Agricultural research covers broad geographical areas and wide fields, and this funding approach fits the needs of agricultural research well.
Focusing on Major Tasks
Highlighting priorities, enhancing scientific and technological innovation capacity in key fields
Chinese bowls must hold Chinese grain; the seeds must be firmly grasped in our own hands.
Not long ago, the team of Wang Kejian at the China National Rice Research Institute successfully cultivated "Yixi No. 1," a demonstrative variety of one-line hybrid rice. This leapfrog breakthrough has laid a solid foundation for hybrid rice to achieve "complete self-propagation of seeds."
Looking back on the journey of tackling key problems, the Improvement Special Project's contribution cannot be overlooked (功不可没 (gōng bù kě mò - "merit cannot be erased," contribution cannot be overlooked)).
"Under normal conditions, only one generation of hybrid rice cloned seeds could be obtained per year. With the support of the Improvement Special Project, the team established an accelerated breeding experimental platform in 2022, achieving the acquisition of four generations of hybrid rice cloned seeds per year," introduced Liu Chaolei, an associate researcher at the China National Rice Research Institute and member of Wang Kejian's team. The platform empowerment laid the foundation for the team's subsequent breakthroughs.
Providing modern equipment for a 4,000-square-meter laboratory, building five major technology platforms including germplasm resource mining and functional gene analysis to high standards... With the support of the Improvement Special Project, in recent years, the National Key Laboratory of Vegetable Biological Breeding, built relying on the Institute of Vegetables and Flowers of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and others, has been comprehensively upgraded.
With improved conditions, important achievements have emerged one after another: leading varieties such as "Zhonggan" cabbage and "Zhongnong" cucumber have been cultivated; spinach, carrot, and other self-developed varieties have broken foreign monopolies, pushing the market share of China's domestically produced vegetable germplasm sources above 91%.
"Tilting toward national strategies and major tasks, the support of the Improvement Special Project has effectively enhanced China's scientific and technological innovation capacity in key fields," Yu Hui said.
As nearshore aquaculture space becomes increasingly saturated, how can more seafood be "grown" in the deep and distant seas? In the northern waters of Rongcheng City (荣成市), Shandong Province, a special "offshore factory" — "Yuji No. 1" — is providing the answer.
Why build "Yuji No. 1"? Cui Mingchao, deputy director of the Fishery Machinery and Instrument Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, explained that in building a maritime power, fishery modernization is an important component. "Yuji No. 1" is a "marine laboratory" that can test and verify the complete set of technologies and equipment for deep and distant sea aquaculture in real, complex open-sea environments, providing support for future food acquisition from the ocean.
Serving the major needs of deep and distant sea aquaculture, relying on the Improvement Special Project and self-raised funds, the Fishery Machinery and Instrument Research Institute completed to high standards tasks including the marine experimental platform infrastructure and the configuration of complete sets of research instruments and equipment. In June 2024, "Yuji No. 1" was put into trial operation, becoming the country's first deep and distant sea enclosed comprehensive testing and verification platform.
Relying on "Yuji No. 1," Cui Mingchao's team has not only constructed a complete set of ship-borne tank aquaculture technology systems but also achieved breakthroughs in the domestic development of a batch of core equipment.
The green development of aquaculture cannot be separated from germplasm resources.
In 2021, the National Marine Fishery Biological Germplasm Resources Bank (hereinafter referred to as the "Resources Bank") was inaugurated for trial operation, and in 2023 it passed national acceptance. Relying on the Improvement Special Project, from 2021 to 2025, the Resources Bank purchased a variety of important instruments and equipment, further enhancing the level of equipment for the identification, evaluation, development, and utilization of marine fishery biological germplasm resources. As of June this year, the Resources Bank has collected and preserved 150,800 copies of various germplasm resources and more than 500,000 pieces of information resources.
With the help of research platforms such as the germplasm resources bank, researchers from the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences have taken the lead in cultivating 30 new aquaculture varieties and led the completion of fine genome mapping of marine species such as half-smooth tongue sole, Japanese flounder, and kelp. An international research team led by Chinese scientists has also completed the assembly of the largest marine animal genome reference sequence to date — the Antarctic krill genome.
Strengthening Open Sharing
Activating existing stock, effectively improving the efficiency of research resource allocation
Sharing frontier technologies, explaining operating methods... On July 2, at the electron microscope open day event held at the Central Laboratory of the Institute of Animal Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the "Institute of Animal Sciences"), participants gained a great deal.
Holding the electron microscope open day event is one measure of the open sharing of research instruments at the Institute of Animal Sciences.
"Taking the three major platforms of large instruments and equipment, experimental animal bases, and intelligent computing power as the starting point, we have constructed an open sharing system, ensuring that every instrument, every base, and every unit of computing power 'turns, is used, and is shared,'" said Yang Youyou, head of the Central Laboratory.
How is this achieved? The Institute of Animal Sciences has established a full-chain closed-loop management mechanism from pre-purchase duplicate-check and justification, warehousing review, to in-use performance assessment and evaluation feedback, eliminating duplicate purchases and resource idleness at the source; built a dedicated instrument sharing information system, with all instruments and equipment valued at 500,000 yuan or above placed under intensive management, opening up the online sharing channel; and deployed approximately 20 professional technical support personnel to provide full-process technical guidance for internal and external users.
How is enthusiasm increased? Distinguishing between research posts and experimental technical support posts, the Institute of Animal Sciences incorporates the effectiveness of instrument open sharing into personnel performance assessment, guiding technical personnel to proactively carry out sharing services.
Taking open sharing as an important basis for budget review and arrangement, more and more research instruments supported by the Improvement Special Project have achieved co-construction, sharing, and joint use, improving the efficiency of research resource allocation.
Opening the experimental platform to Ocean University of China, the National University of Defense Technology, and leading aquaculture enterprises, "Yuji No. 1" has cumulatively served 15 research teams, with more than 300 person-times of researchers entering the site to conduct experiments.
"Open sharing has made up for the professional deficiencies of individual teams, improved the research efficiency of the entire industry chain, and achieved win-win outcomes for all parties," Cui Mingchao said.
To further improve the effectiveness of science and technology innovation investment, the interviewed researchers put forward some expectations.
The channel for regular updates should be smoother. "Multiple core large instruments in the laboratory have been used for more than 10 years, relying on repairs for maintenance for a long time, without batch centralized renewal for many years. Hardware performance can no longer keep up with the needs of frontier research such as molecular breeding, omics, and artificial intelligence breeding," said Zhu Li, a researcher at the China National Rice Research Institute and deputy director of the National Key Laboratory of Rice Biological Breeding. Yang Youyou said that she hopes to accelerate the speed of equipment updating and iteration, and promote the improvement of the quality of open sharing of the central laboratory.
Equipment purchase and operation and maintenance should be better coordinated. Research facilities must not only be built well, but also continue to operate well. "Currently, the daily operating expenses of the Resources Bank are mainly basic water and electricity operation and maintenance. In the future, the pressure of rising equipment maintenance and repair expenditures is relatively large. We hope that a mechanism for moderate growth of operation and maintenance funds can be established according to actual research needs," Xu Dong, a researcher at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, told reporters.
Systematic investment needs to be further strengthened. Frontier agricultural research increasingly depends on modern biological breeding technologies. "Technology platforms such as genetic transformation and gene editing, whole-genome selection, and high-throughput phenotype identification support each other and are synergistically coupled; only through synergy can better effectiveness be achieved," Gao Xinsheng believes. Compared with "point-based equipment support," modern research requires "systematic investment" that is more scientific and more effective.
Return to TopBy: 张 亮
The natural gas transmission pipeline stretching a thousand li connects countless households. Safeguarding the safety of these energy arteries is the mission of us electric welders.
For a long time, automated welding of mountain-area pipelines has generally followed the traditional horizontal flat-swing process. This process handles gentle terrain with ease (得心应手 — dé xīn yìng shǒu, "the heart responds to the hand," to handle with ease), but once it encounters steep mountain slopes and angled pipe openings, the difficulty immediately appears: during welding, the molten iron in the weld pool continuously flows downward under gravity, and the weld seam is highly prone to internal defects such as incomplete fusion and slag inclusion.
For a long period, I was stationed at mountain construction sites, following the welding crews through their operations, collecting and organizing construction data item by item. Gradually I came to realize that the endless stream (层出不穷 — céng chū bù qióng, "emerge in layers without end," appearing one after another) of welding defects could not be simply attributed to the welders' skill level; the root cause lay in the traditional welding carriage structure being unable to adapt to complex mountain working conditions — it was a systemic problem caused by the mismatch between the process and on-site conditions.
When defects are detected in a weld seam, the only recourse is repeated grinding and multiple repair welds. High-intensity grinding not only consumes a great deal of the welders' physical strength, but also damages the pipe's base metal, weakening the pipeline's pressure-bearing capacity and planting long-term, irreversible safety hazards in long-distance oil and gas transmission. Rework also extends the construction schedule and raises construction costs. In some key mountain-area projects, welding repair even accounts for over 30 percent of total welding time, directly delaying project progress.
Delving into the crux of the problem: the traditional welding carriage's swing trajectory is single and fixed, unable to synchronously adjust the working angle, height, and lateral distance, and powerless to counteract gravity's interference with the weld pool — this is the core bottleneck trapping mountain-area pipeline welding construction.
Having identified the pain point, we set our approach: adhere to "small incision, low cost, fast implementation, wide applicability," avoid the old path of wholesale replacement and overall equipment overhaul, and rely on minimally invasive modification combined with process optimization to solve the problem.
The team repeatedly tested and refined, ultimately developing a welding torch angle adjustment device. The entire device consists of two sets of rotating-shaft adjustment fittings and a jack screw, and can be directly installed on the existing welding carriage by means of a pin — no modification to the equipment's body structure, wiring, or control program is needed. The modification is convenient, the threshold for promotion is low, and the adjustment precision is reliable. Regardless of pipe diameter or slope steepness, welders can quickly adjust the torch posture to flexibly adapt to all types of inclined weld joints.
After the device took shape, we rushed to various mountain construction scenarios — steep slopes, under-ditch, curved sections — for field testing, continuously optimizing the structure through welding trials, and finally effectively solved the problem of weld pool sagging caused by gravity.
After the device was put into use, the changes were visible to the naked eye: the weld defect rate dropped sharply, the one-time pass rate of weld joints steadily improved, large-scale rework was fundamentally eliminated, and the intrinsic safety of the pipeline was safeguarded at the source; the weld joint construction cycle was shortened, and project progress advanced more smoothly; welders no longer needed to spend long hours grinding and repair-welding, and labor intensity was significantly reduced; consumable losses and labor costs decreased simultaneously, achieving a win-win for quality improvement, efficiency gains, and cost reduction.
This welding torch angle adjustment device has strong versatility. Besides mountain-area thick-wall pipeline welding, it is equally applicable to pipeline tie-in and tunnel welding scenarios, and can match automated welding operations across multiple pipe diameters, steel grades, and welding positions.
Having worked in welding for so many years, I have always felt that true craftsmanship is not about clinging to old skills, but about taking root at the front line, facing problems head-on, and daring to innovate. In the future, I will continue to lead my team members in taking root at construction sites, seeking innovation directions from one production bottleneck after another, using small technical modifications to solve common industry problems, and guarding with all my heart the smooth and safe operation of long-distance transmission pipelines.
(The author is an electric welder at the Technical R&D Center of Liaohe Oilfield Construction Co., Ltd. (辽河油田建设有限公司); compiled by our reporter Liu Hongchao (刘洪超).)
Return to TopBy: 杨俊文
What kind of relationship do we have with grass? Before moving into the mountains, I had never thought about this question, let alone what those frail lives could bring to humanity.
After a torrential rain, I discovered that a row of apple trees in front of the house that had just borne fruit was gone, buried without exception under the collapsed mountain soil. At first glance at this scene, it is not easy to notice any connection with grass; it was only when I saw that on the adjoining earthen ridge, the same kind of fruit trees remained safe and sound that I suddenly understood it was the presence or absence of grass that had produced two opposite outcomes.
The collapsed section was an earthen ridge, its diagonally cut face left bare all along, while the east and west sides of the same ridge were covered in dense wild grass. Although the fruit trees stood at almost equal distances from the ridge's edge, and the soil was no different in quality, the role of the grass ultimately decided the fate of the fruit trees. It was from that day onward that I truly came to discover the power of grass and saw the relationship between grass and soil.
As for humans and wild grass, in my impression, it has always been a unilateral will of anthropocentrism, assuming that wild grass is insignificant and can be arbitrarily trampled, crushed, mowed down, burned, or left to be devoured wantonly by livestock. Though it is said that "Heaven pities the secluded grass," people often do not take kindly to it. Even if one day we discover some meaning in its existence—for instance, seeing those fruit trees that survived intact because of the grass—it may change our understanding of grass, but once we turn around, we may forget it again.
I began to feel guilty toward wild grass. So, when walking into the valley, I paid special attention to wild grass, activated my phone's plant identification function, noted down their names one by one, and examined their appearances one by one. Sometimes when the phone could not identify them clearly, I would forward the photos to experts for advice. In this way, I soon became familiar with them and learned which corners they preferred to grow in. This is a very interesting phenomenon. As fellow "original inhabitants" of the mountains, why do horse-tang grass and foxtail grass mostly grow around the edges of orchards and at field heads? Why does hidden-seed grass not grow where trees are sparse and sunlight shines, but instead willingly dwell behind mountain rocks? Why do reed bentgrass and large silvergrass, which are giants among the mountain's wild grasses, insist on growing beside the short and frail little lovegrass? And why does wild green reed only sway on one hillside, with no trace of it found elsewhere? Why does ula grass, known as one of the "Three Treasures of the Northeast," grow concentrated along both sides of the mountain paths that villagers frequently walk? Why does white-scaled sedge prefer to grow on the hard mountain road, and always be the first to extend its tiny leaves in spring? Why does this place grow this kind of grass, while that place does not? The grass shakes its head in the wind. This may be the eternal secret of the grass world.
There is one fact that goes without saying, and that is the relationship between wild grass and its habitat. Take soil: whether the earth beneath them is barren or fertile, it is their most suitable choice. Take stones: the rocks beside them shield them from mountain winds, or impart the heat they have stored. Take sunlight: no matter how dim the light in the forest, it will still grudgingly shine upon their heads. Take a tree: beneath it there is soft soil, and the dappled shadows of its branches allow them to feel some coolness in the scorching summer. It seems they are a community of wise beings, knowing well how to arrange their own destinies, just as mountain folk know well how to live in mutual dependence with the mountains.
Relying on these observations alone, one cannot yet claim a deep understanding of wild grass, because what is known is only derived from observing appearances, from perceptual assumptions and imagination. Ultimately, it is the intuition of the body that makes me view them this way; even if my gaze no longer wanders, and even if I have already gazed upon them fixedly, that is not born of spiritual understanding. To obtain such understanding, the method requires little argumentation—it is enough to regard them as unceasing living beings. In this way, compassion for grass will arise, and compassion is precisely empathy with grass. Once a person harbors pity in their heart, even the shortest wild grass can stand at equal height with humans, and can emit something like a human whisper or cry.
I have noticed that the wild grass I see this spring is no different from the wild grass I saw last spring. White-scaled sedge is still on the mountain road, its tender green little leaves pressed close to the soil; I know they are telling me: spring has come. When all the grass lifts its chest, I find that each still stands in its original position. Even a kind of grass called "silvergrass," with several long stalks slanting across between the mother-and-son pines, has this year chosen the same angle and length of extension as before. Turning around, the mountain villagers walking toward me are also no different from last year, repeating their stooped, forward-leaning posture. For the first time I discovered that humans and plants share some similarity—or rather, that plants resemble humans.
Let me speak of silvergrass. A friend of mine is a researcher of plants in the Yiwulü Mountains, and she had never before found this plant in the mountains; when she first saw it here, she was astonished. Silvergrass and reed are similar in appearance, but after silvergrass heads out, extremely fine barbs that are hard to see with the naked eye grow along the edges of its spike, while reed has no obvious awns. I asked her: is silvergrass precious? She said: rarity is preciousness. That answer is very philosophical, but it might make other grasses jealous. Of course, such jealousy is unnecessary. Whether wild grasses of the Poaceae or Cyperaceae families, though they cannot produce showy flowers, every kind of grass plays a role in stabilizing soil, retaining moisture, and balancing the ecology; many also have medicinal value, and they are ideal habitats for insects. If contempt for a single blade of grass is indifference to the ecology, that statement may carry a sour flavor; but if one disdains all grass entirely, that is clearly somewhat arrogant and ignorant.
When frost descends, it is late autumn. At such times, I think of the wild grass in the mountains and wish to walk in and observe them once more. That autumn, I suddenly received a call from a friend asking what I was doing in the mountains. I said I was looking at grass in the mountains. My friend did not understand and said: what grass is worth looking at at this time of year! Indeed, most of the grass in late autumn has already withered to yellow, but little does one know that the tall and the small, the ephemeral and the eternal, the fragile and the steadfast—these are all dialectics concerning wild grass. Perhaps it was the blurring of my vision: on my previous visit to the mountains, I had not realized that the white-scaled sedge on the road would put on a stunning performance at this time. In summer, they had clearly been covered by dense plantain, entering a half-asleep, half-awake state. I mistakenly thought they had reached the end of their lives. But once late autumn arrived, they became extraordinarily alert, their leaves even taking on a striking tender green, using the last warmth the autumn sun bestows upon the mountains to gather all their strength to store energy for their revival the following year. This tenacity may well be their vitality.
The performance of wild grass in the vast natural world is often barely visible. Suppose we imagine: if everything they enact for the sake of life—including their bodily forms, their organizational structures, their attributes and characteristics, their capacities and functions—were magnified to a considerable multiple, what would that look like? I think it would surely allow people to see the spirit of grass, and to regard some of their displays as astonishing feats.
Finally, people in the village began to talk about grass. One pear orchard, because herbicide had been sprayed, grew not a single blade of grass, and black spot disease covered the pears with black blotches. Another pear orchard, because wild grass had suppressed the reproduction of fungi, all its pears glowed with a faint yellow luster. After the two villagers made a comparison, one said: "No grass won't do." The other said: "Thank goodness for the grass."
By: 彭 程
A small stream emerges from a spring, gurgling as it flows, and joins with other streams to become a small river. The small river flows onward, receiving more streams along the way, gradually becoming a river of abundant water, and finally merges into the sea — shimmering with light, vast and boundless.
This is a natural phenomenon that everyone understands.
The situation of reading is in fact the same. That kind of reading behavior which can bring immense joy and bountiful harvest also occurs and presents itself in this way. From single to rich, from cramped to vast, from thin to substantial — this process is accompanied by continuous acceptance and expansion, reconstruction and integration.
Take the reading of nature literature as an example. In recent years, under the guidance of the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" (绿水青山就是金山银山), nature literature writing aimed at promoting ecological beauty and the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature has flourished into a grand spectacle (蔚为大观 — wèi wéi dà guān, "luxuriant and grand in appearance," presenting a magnificent sight), producing many excellent works. But a reader with aspirations cannot be satisfied with reading only the works of the present moment; rather, one should bring into one's reading horizon the famous works of this field from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign. For example, American nature literature writing has produced many famous works over several centuries, such as Thoreau's Walden, Leopold's Sand County Almanac, and Carson's Silent Spring. They have played a major role in promoting environmental protection legislation and cultivating public ecological awareness. Reading them helps to grasp the developmental thread and significance of this literary genre along the axis of history.
As reading deepens, one will surely discover that the intellectual resources of nature literature were long ago stored in indigenous traditional wisdom, traceable all the way back to the origins of the thought of the various philosophers. Zhuangzi advocated that "heaven and humans do not overcome each other," emphasizing compliance with natural laws and respect for the value of all things. Confucianism also advocated letting nature rest and recuperate at the proper times. "If axes and hatchets enter the mountains at the proper seasons, timber will be more than can be used" — this sentence from Mencius, "King Hui of Liang, Part I," embodies a simple concept of sustainable development. In the thousands of years since, these ideas have profoundly influenced the field of literature and art. Readers will encounter in a large number of ancient Chinese literary works the authors' deep feeling for nature, such as Tao Yuanming's verses: "Picking chrysanthemums by the eastern fence, / I leisurely gaze at the southern mountains"; "In early summer, grasses and trees grow tall, / Around the house, trees spread their branches in profusion"... These plain yet enduring verses embody the most sincere love of nature.
If these famous works of nature literature are compared to a garden, then the reader is an insatiable visitor. He walks about everywhere, looking this way and that. At some point he will discover that his gaze has swept past the treetops of the literary grove before him and turned toward an adjacent garden, in which are planted other fine bamboos and beautiful trees; in the spiritual botanical taxonomy, they belong to different families and genera such as philosophy, ecology, and environmental ethics. There is no obvious barrier between the two gardens; the trees' branches intermingle with one another, their atmospheres blend, and he is intoxicated. A rich and vast spiritual world far exceeding his expectations quietly unfolds before him.
Such reading is no longer passive reception, but becomes a creative value-adding act. A broad and profound gaze leads him to continually expand his reading territory. He becomes a cross-boundary person; that fence of disciplinary boundaries which once seemed solid and clearly drawn has silently dissolved. The world extends before him, all the way to the horizon, with boundless scenery. Knowledge and wisdom from different eras and regions are fused and penetrated through (融会贯通 — róng huì guàn tōng, "to fuse together and penetrate through," achieving thorough mastery by integrating knowledge), reconstructed according to inner logic, becoming an embryo of a spiritual organism with enormous developmental potential, gradually growing in the reader's soul and reshaping the fine quality of his spiritual life.
In fact, which important thematic field is not like this? About growth, about destiny, about faith... one can follow such a reading path, going from one book to another, mutually cross-referencing and verifying, inspiring and supplementing each other, and the spiritual sky grows ever higher and more vast. It is precisely in this sense that we say reading is like the convergence of streams — from narrow and thin to broad and swift, finally becoming a great river.
When there is a water level difference, or pressure difference, water can flow. What sustains reading is a force originating from the reader's heart. Never satisfied, full of curiosity, utterly devoted to knowledge and wisdom, a strong will to exhaust everything... these are the water level difference in the act of reading. It is an inexhaustible driving force that impels the reader to take delight in it and never tire (乐此不疲 — lè cǐ bù pí, "delight in this and never tire," to enjoy something so much that one never grows weary), moving toward one's own richness and vastness. In order to fully feel the charm of the spirit, let us strive to cultivate this ability.
Return to TopBy: 马万里
When I split open a watermelon, I possess a sweet summer.
At this moment I stand in the watermelon fields of Nangu Village, Wuzhi County, Henan, on the Yellow River floodplain, with the Yellow River Bridge behind me. The ground is covered in watermelons, round and plump, their exteriors emerald green like jade.
A great river flows quietly past the south of the village. Several hundred mu of melon fields stretch in vast green waves, setting a jade-colored border along the Yellow River. Five or six melon farmers are bent over picking melons, while three or four people pass watermelons hand over hand to load them onto a truck. The farmers wear straw hats, towels draped around their necks dripping with sweat, and their slip-on shoes are caked with mud and water. Seeing how hard the farmers work, everyone says we should buy some watermelons. I stand in the sun together with the farmers; sweat runs into my eyes and stings unbearably, and the July wind is scorching hot, blowing against my cheeks until they burn.
The farmers say this crop of melons was planted at the end of April. Before planting, they must first nourish the soil and apply high-quality farmyard manure. Carefully selected seeds must also undergo sterilization treatment before seedlings are raised. After the seedlings are set, they are afraid of cold, so plastic film must be quickly covered over them. Once the watermelon seedlings put out small yellow flowers, artificial pollination is needed — this work usually has to be completed between 5 and 8 in the morning. Pressing two small yellow flowers together is what artificial pollination means.
Finally comes fruit setting. Beneath the flower, a small watermelon first forms, about the size of a thumb, covered in a layer of fine, dense fuzz. This fuzz must not be touched by hand — once touched, the melon stops growing. Then the little melon changes day by day. In the meantime, one must frequently go to the fields to prop up vines, pull weeds, and apply farmyard manure, all while needing the blessing of favorable weather.
Looking at the farmers' wind-wrinkled faces, I think of my grandmother. She grew up by the Yellow River, and the family also had several mu of floodplain land. She planted watermelons and watched over them, watching the green little melons grow bigger day by day and round out — and then the flood season arrived. The Yellow River swelled, and she and her family raced through the night against the rising water to rescue the melons. The danger of being chased by the water, knocked down by it, and having to get back up again — that stayed etched in her memory forever. In those days, when the Yellow River flooded, the floodplain became a vast expanse of water that swallowed up all the crops. Now it is different: after management and control, the Yellow River is calm and peaceful year after year, quietly providing moisture and nourishment to this land...
I am immersed in my memories, and before I know it the truck has been filled with watermelons. They start the engine, saying they are going into town to sell the melons. I know they still face another kind of hardship: watermelons do not like water — the moment they encounter rain, the melons split open, and a whole season of the farmers' hard work is wasted. So they must rush the harvest before the flood season and get the melons to the city market as quickly as possible.
I have seen melon farmers park their trucks on city streets and alleys countless times, and heard their cries: "Yellow River floodplain big watermelons — if they're not sweet, they're free." Passersby who do not know how to pick a melon always like to tap and flick them; the farmers will help them choose, and sometimes cut a small triangular opening so the buyer can taste it. If they encounter an elderly person, they will even carry the melon up to their apartment, without drinking a sip of water, and turn around and leave.
Each of us buys a big burlap sack of watermelons from the field. Outside the car window, the Yellow River is dyed red by the setting sun, displaying a wordless, magnificent beauty. Before long, the melon vines will be pulled up. When that time comes, the Yellow River floodplain will reveal its bronze-colored skin, and without a moment's rest, the farmers will begin sowing late corn. Autumn will bring another great harvest! And the Yellow River flows silently alongside, ceaselessly giving life.
Oil painting Cabin by the Lake (《湖中小屋》), by Su Tianci (苏天赐), in the collection of the National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆).
Return to TopBy: 张 亮
No ancient plant grows quite like the Panzhihua cycad does — 389,200 individuals of a single species, spreading across the Jinsha River's dry-hot valley. Throughout the entire national nature reserve, ridges and peaks stretch on, gullies and ravines crisscross the terrain, and wild cycads scatter across the slopes. The scenery along the paved walkways before us is but a small corner of the vast reserve opened to the public.
At the start of autumn, rain falls in a fine drizzle. Perhaps the raindrops had discouraged many visitors from making the trip to Cycad Mountain; in the science-education area open to the public, only a small group of tourists moved through the green shade of the forest. The moment I heard the docent's voice, I knew it was Xiao Zeng from the Cycad Conservation Center office, and I quickly caught up.
The first time I heard Xiao Zeng give his talk was when I came with several friends to see the long-awaited cycad bloom. To my surprise, Xiao Zeng did not lead us straight to the cycad garden, but first took us to see an ecological restoration belt.
Xiao Zeng explained that the area used to be the mining pit of a limestone quarry. In order to protect the cycads, the mine was shut down entirely and withdrew in an orderly manner. After years of restoration, what we now see is a slope covered in green.
The scar left by the former mine lay right beside us. Over the covered soil, plants slowly awakened, and green returned. The cycad does not grow in isolation on this slope — it is tightly bound together with the winds of the valley, the soil the winds sweep over, every blade of grass and every tree on that soil, and even the birds and beasts.
Many visitors come only in search of cycads, their gaze lingering on the wonder of the iron tree's bloom, but Xiao Zeng always steers people's attention toward this restored land, gently telling the story of the mine.
Understanding the intent behind Xiao Zeng's gesture, I could not help but admire this young man in secret. Walking the mountains year-round, Xiao Zeng knows every plant here. Which cycad's bark was just pecked by a Lady Amherst's pheasant, where new seedlings have broken through the soil, where wind and rain have left their marks on branches and leaves — all of it he knows as clearly as the palm of his hand.
The rain stopped, and we happened to pass a cycad whose leaves had yellowed. Pointing to a violet-blue butterfly fluttering above it, Xiao Zeng said this was the cycad blue butterfly, which lays its eggs on cycad leaves. After the eggs hatch, the young larvae gather in groups to gnaw at the leaves, and in severe cases only the veins and petioles remain. The entanglement between lives has been thus since ancient times.
Before we knew it, we had entered the cycad garden. One cycad's male cone stood tall like a thick ear of corn, radiating a golden glow; the female cone resembled a ball of brownish-yellow fluff, its outer bracts layered like dried lotus petals. When fully mature, the bracts slowly spread open, revealing a handful of orange-red, agate-like seeds. The red-bellied squirrels in the mountains feed on the red outer layer of the cycad seeds and discard the intact seed core, unintentionally completing the dispersal of cycad seeds.
Beside the walkway for visitors stands a cycad that has survived for roughly two thousand years, bearing female cones. Xiao Zeng calls it the "Princess," saying the Princess has produced seeds again this year.
As Xiao Zeng was speaking, he suddenly bent down and picked up from the path a seed shaped like a chestnut, orange-red on the outside: "This is a cycad seed." Someone nearby picked up a dead branch and scraped a small pit in the open ground. Xiao Zeng hesitated for a moment, then still placed the seed inside.
I said with a smile: "In another two or three years, once the cycad has grown into a seedling, we'll come back to see it then."
Xiao Zeng shook his head gently and told me that a single cycad seed, without suitable soil conditions, can hardly germinate. Even if the seedling's trunk takes decades to break through the ground, it still must endure the scorching of the dry season, the trampling of animals, and the gnawing of butterfly larvae before it can sink its roots into the thin soil of the limestone.
Deciphering the life code the cycad has preserved for millennia depends on scientific researchers. And accompanying these ancient plants and telling their stories depends on docents like Xiao Zeng — they are the ferrymen between ancient flora and modern people.
沧海桑田 (cāng hǎi sāng tián - "blue seas turn to mulberry fields," great vicissitudes of the world), the cycad does not age. It still takes root on the steep rocky slopes, greeting the light of dawn and dusk, listening to the long winds of the valley.
Return to TopBy: 嘉阳拉姆
When you encounter the gullies of life
And bend low to draw near the wheat ears
You touch the golden light of the awns
At that time, you are a wife, you are a daughter-in-law
I arrived in your body before the white hair
Flowers bloom between your brows
Morning light falls on your slightly flushed cheeks
Mountain streams echo in your singing
At that time, you will be a mother, you are already a mother
Looking back thirty-nine years ago
When pain and sweat beads came to you
I must have been holding the most beautiful flowers
Carrying the brightest light, walking toward the wooden house
Resolutely following you, calling out "A Niang"
You gave me flower-like clothes, a bell-trimmed hat
You taught me the earth-like compassion and benevolence
And your love is the warmth of my homecoming
I can only be like a stream, clear and cheerful every day
Singing the long, gentle flow of life to you
By: 吴良伦
Stone is the backbone of heaven and earth. My home village of Longchi Village lies folded deep among lofty ridges and towering peaks, where the mountains are vast and stones are many. In the eyes of the villagers, these stones covering the mountains are waste if unused, but treasures if put to use. People dig the high and fill the low to lay foundations and build houses, use stones to pen up pigsties and cattle pens, and use stones to construct drying racks.
According to the family genealogy, amid the strife of the late Yuan dynasty, in order to escape the chaos of war, our ancestors spared no hardship and made the arduous journey from Waxie Dam on the shores of Poyang Lake, settling here for several hundred years. When building houses and forming the village, the ancestors chose to build their homes at the foot of a long ridge called Lanni Geng, all uniformly facing south with their backs to the north, dwelling side by side as neighbors. At the foot of the south-facing wall of each house, stone drying racks were uniformly built. Today, many villagers have moved and built multi-story buildings elsewhere, but several of the stone drying racks still remain and have been protected.
Building the stone drying racks showed considerable ingenuity. They were planned and constructed together with the houses from the very beginning, at a height level with an adult's waist, shaped like the character "几." The left stroke of the "几" is embedded deep into the house foundation, which both reduces the occupation of flat ground and strengthens the solidity of both the house and the drying rack. The entire rack uses not a trace of binding agent; it is built entirely of piled stones, arranged in interlocking sizes, with protruding and recessed stones interlocking and bracing against one another, having stood for several hundred years without leaning or tilting.
At dawn, when the sun rises over the mountains, the villagers take out their drying implements and spread their crops onto the bamboo trays placed atop the stone drying racks. Come autumn, golden rice, crimson sorghum seeds, and corn so yellow it dazzles the eye — the magnificent scene fills one's heart with joy. I remember during summer vacations as a child, I was the family's drying attendant, keeping watch to drive away thieving birds and sparrows, and every so often taking out a long bamboo pole or mulberry-wood carrying pole from the house to turn the grain over for another round of sunning. Father said that if you turn the grain frequently, the rice needs fewer days of sun.
Rice and the like require bamboo drying implements for airing, but pumpkins, long beans, fiddlehead ferns, toon sprouts, chili peppers, and such can be placed directly on the stone drying racks. Stone absorbs heat quickly, so the vegetables dry quickly too; using bamboo trays as a base would be superfluous.
In my memory, the stone drying racks were like a magnet attracting iron. In the early morning and evening hours, the villagers would, without prior arrangement, come holding their rice bowls, sitting or squatting on the racks, chatting about family matters, farm matters, and affairs from beyond the mountains, rambling on about this and that, talking of the south and the north, now and then picking a piece of fermented chili from your bowl, or taking a bite of dried fern shoots from mine...
And more so, during the idle days of the twelfth and first lunar months, the stone drying racks were put to full use, transformed into a temporary stage. Once the rice was stored in the granary, the corn put into the vats, the mung beans and sesame in their respective places, and the construction projects completed, the villagers who had toiled diligently for a whole year could not help but invite a theatrical troupe to perform some opera. This suddenly kept the village's young men busy — entrusted with the task, they went door to door to invite the troupe, carried over the troupe's entire set of costumes and props, laid down door panels spread across the stone drying racks, and the racks became a stage.
Watching plays and listening to tunes enlightens one and conveys knowledge, but the children cared nothing for that. When the village put on grand opera, the most excited were the children, crowding around the prop chest set in a corner of the stage, gleefully stroking here and touching there, imagining themselves in opera costumes, wielding swords and spears, putting on a fine show — now that would be truly satisfying.
From nightfall until the crescent moon slanted westward, the plays ended one by one. The villagers could not believe it was over, humming snatches of the tunes, lingering long and refusing to disperse...
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