People's Daily - August 23, 2026

Communiqué of the Sixth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China

The Sixth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China was held in Beijing on August 22, 2026. A total of 116 members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection attended the plenary session.

The plenary session was presided over by the Standing Committee of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Li Xi, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, delivered a speech.

The plenary session thoroughly studied and implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, with particular emphasis on Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building (习近平党建思想). The session pointed out that Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building is the Party-building chapter of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, a systematic summary and theoretical distillation of the practical experience of strict Party governance in all respects in the new era. It is 博大精深 (bó dà jīng shēn - "broad, great, refined, and deep," extensive and profound), rich in connotation, deep in thought, and rigorous in system, leading the entire Party to open up a new realm of self-revolution for a century-old major party, and providing fundamental guidance and action guidelines for managing the Party, governing the Party, and strengthening the Party. Discipline inspection and supervision organs are an important force in advancing strict Party governance in all respects; they must profoundly comprehend the decisive significance of the "Two Establishments" (两个确立) and resolutely achieve the "Two Upholds" (两个维护), 矢志不渝 (shǐ zhì bù yú - "swear an oath and never change," to remain unwavering in one's commitment) become firm believers and faithful practitioners of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, firmly take the path of anti-corruption with Chinese characteristics, and promote the high-quality development of discipline inspection and supervision work on the new journey of the new era with higher standards and more concrete measures.

The plenary session summarized the discipline inspection and supervision work of the first half of 2026 and put forward requirements for doing the next stage of work well. The session emphasized that it is necessary to further strengthen ideological guidance, deeply comprehend the truth power and practical might of Xi Jinping's Thought on Party Building, accurately grasp its essential essence and practical requirements, and consciously use it to arm the mind, guide practice, and lead all discipline inspection and supervision work. It is necessary to further strengthen the implementation of work, firmly establish and practice a correct view of political achievements, strengthen political supervision, deepen political inspection tours, strictly enforce discipline for leadership transitions, 坚定不移 (jiān dìng bù yí - "firm and unwavering," resolute and unshakable) rectify work styles, enforce discipline, and combat corruption, continuously deepen the concentrated rectification of unhealthy tendencies and corruption around the masses, and ensure the high-quality completion of the year's tasks. It is necessary to further strengthen systems thinking and bottom-line thinking, grasp the key and important matters, coordinate and advance in an integrated manner, better form work synergy, and resolutely hold the bottom line of security. It is necessary to further strengthen team building, and in accordance with the important requirements of being politically sound, professionally capable, having a good work style, and being clean and honest, continue to carry out the "Year of Standardization, Rule-of-Law-Based Operation, and Regularization of Discipline Inspection and Supervision Work" (纪检监察工作规范化法治化正规化建设年) campaign, forging an iron army of discipline inspection and supervision that is loyal, clean, responsible, and daring and adept at struggle.

In accordance with the provisions of the Party Constitution, the plenary session elected Comrade Zhao Shiyong as Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC Central Committee, and Comrade Zhang Zhong as Member of the Standing Committee and Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC Central Committee.

(Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 22)

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Three generations of masters and apprentices innovate their way to championship

By: 本报记者 汪志球 唐露薇 门杰伟

"Skilled workers are an important foundation underpinning China's manufacturing and China's innovation, and play a significant role in promoting high-quality economic development."
——Xi Jinping

In the arc of light, welding sparks fly; beside the bogie, figures stand silhouetted. Li Wanjun, born in the 1960s, grips the welding torch with the steadiness of a rock; He Yan, born in the 1970s, buries himself in focused work, striving to surpass; Wang Shangang, born in the 1980s, looks toward the future, embracing the intelligent age.

The silver dragon of high-speed rail races across the earth — what makes it so smooth? The answer lies hidden in the bogie deep within the car body. As the core component responsible for load-bearing, guidance, vibration damping, and traction of the entire vehicle, the bogie is the solid support of the high-speed train.

"Old Li and his apprentices are the 'bogie' of China's high-speed rail comeback!" In Changchun, Jilin, at CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CRRC Changchun"), in the welding workshop, when the topic of Li Wanjun and his apprentices comes up, fellow workers all give thumbs up.

Once an ordinary welder, now a "worker academician." Since the establishment of the Li Wanjun Model Worker Innovation Studio, it has trained more than 20,000 welders, tackled over 150 technical problems, holds 62 national patents, and has won more than a hundred championships at welding competitions of various levels.

Growth, talent, success. Following, running alongside, leading. From the green-skinned train to the Hexie (Harmony) to the Fuxing, the life trajectories of three generations of master and apprentice bear witness to the historic leap of China's rail transit equipment.

In the midsummer of 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited CRRC Changchun. "High-speed rail is a shining business card of China's equipment manufacturing, and has become a 'hot commodity' in China's foreign economic and technological cooperation. We must seize the opportunity and build on the momentum." "We must treat the equipment manufacturing industry as an important industry, increase investment and R&D efforts, strive to seize the world's commanding heights and control technological discourse power, and make China a major and strong country in modern equipment manufacturing."

Every word carried immense weight, and Li Wanjun and his apprentices engraved them in their hearts. "It is China's high-speed rail that has made us what we are, giving frontline industrial workers a stage to shine. We will continue to innovate and 'win championships,' living up to this era!"

Advance and Retreat
"When you encounter difficulties, you cannot retreat. The harder the whetstone, the sharper the blade it can hone."

"Use labor to add bricks and tiles to the realization of the Chinese Dream," "Strive to be workers with wisdom, skills, the ability to invent, and the capacity to innovate"... On April 28, 2015, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the conference celebrating "May Day" International Labor Day and commending national model workers and advanced workers was held. Li Wanjun, a 47-year-old welder, read the proposal on behalf of the model workers, and his heartfelt words drew applause.

This was the first time in 36 years that China had commended national model workers and advanced workers at the highest specification. Most unforgettable was General Secretary Xi Jinping personally presenting Li Wanjun with the honorary certificate.

"At that time, I never imagined that within just one year and three months, I would meet the General Secretary four times." On July 17, 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited CRRC Changchun for an inspection. Li Wanjun, as a representative of frontline workers, reported on the progress of the technical breakthroughs to the General Secretary.

On April 26, 2016, at the symposium of intellectuals, model workers, and youth representatives, "the General Secretary said, 'Some model worker representatives we have already met twice — we are old friends.' My heart immediately felt warm..."

On July 1, 2016, at the conference celebrating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Li Wanjun, as an outstanding Communist Party member nationwide, once again listened to the General Secretary's important speech on site.

"To be an industrial worker in the new era, I am immensely proud!" Li Wanjun said.

Having a promising future (yǒu chūxi) had once been Li Wanjun's self-expectation. In 1987, 19-year-old Li Wanjun graduated from a vocational high school and walked into the water tank section of the Changchun Railway Vehicle Plant. The work before him had nothing to do with "a promising future."

He hugged the round water tanks to weld them, oil mixed with dust, dust wrapped in oil. The welding torch flame reached 2,300 degrees Celsius, and in summer the heat made it hard to breathe. He crawled and scrambled in the water tank area, and in winter a layer of ice would form on his body. Fellow workers joked bitterly, "From afar you look like a refugee, up close like a beggar, but look carefully — you're from the water tank section!"

Of the 28 people who entered the factory with him, 25 left within less than a year. Li Wanjun begged his family, wanting to change to a "better job" too. He waited and waited, until a letter from home arrived.

His father, Li Shizhong, had been named a model worker at the factory for seven consecutive years. A man of few words in daily life, he used letter paper to talk heart-to-heart with his son who worked at the same factory, starting with the history of the Changchun Railway Vehicle Plant.

As one of the 156 key projects of New China during the First Five-Year Plan period, the Changchun Railway Vehicle Plant was founded in 1954. "In 1958, when I was 15, I came to Changchun Railway Vehicles. I walked 30 li round trip every day, did all kinds of work, building the factory while producing vehicles. The conditions were so hard, but didn't I persevere?"

"If it's work, someone has to do it. If everyone retreats when facing difficulties and no one shoulders the burden, where would today's Changchun Railway Vehicles be?"

"Son, no matter what you do, as long as you do it well, you can still have a promising future..."

Two thin pages of paper — they were a father's admonition to his son, and also the hope of the first generation of industrial workers in New China for the younger generation.

Putting away his grievances, suppressing his restlessness, he sank his mind into the welding sparks before him. During lunch breaks, Li Wanjun would squat in a corner of the workshop practicing his skills, while his father silently picked up scrap materials and polished iron plates for him.

As seasons passed, a piece of iron billet had its rough edges ground away, forging its sharpness. In the summer of 1992, during the afternoon break, Li Wanjun, as usual, lay on the workshop floor practicing "overhead welding." An old man strolled over and stared at the sweat-soaked Li Wanjun for a long while: "Young man, everyone else is cooling off and playing cards. Why do you keep working nonstop?"

"Skills competition — I'm going to win the championship!" Li Wanjun didn't even turn his head.

He only learned later that the old man was Men Guangda, then Party branch secretary of the sub-factory. At every meeting, big or small, Men Guangda would say, "To advance industrial modernization, frontline workers are treasures. Our Changchun Railway Vehicles needs more Li Wanjuns!"

With "a promising future" closely tied to the industry and the enterprise, Li Wanjun's drive grew stronger. He arrived early and left late at work; at home, he practiced horse stance and held a calligraphy brush to improve his physical stability...

In 1997, at the factory-level and Changchun municipal vocational skills competitions, Li Wanjun successively won the "Welding Champion" title. Looking at the big red flower on his son's chest, the old father nodded repeatedly. The wavering of a decade earlier had become a laughing matter —

"When you encounter difficulties, you cannot retreat. The harder the whetstone, the sharper the blade it can hone."

Skill and Spirit
"Having caught up with the high-speed rail era, we must use our strength to win honor for Chinese workers."

Treat work as a job, and you will calculate and quibble. Treat work as a career, and you will only be obsessed. Li Wanjun devoted all his mind to honing his craft.

He sought "extra tutoring" from experienced master workers in the factory. He would carry a piece of material on his back, ask someone to "make a sample," then happily carry it back to his workstation to study it carefully. Hearing that another factory had a "master," he would pedal his bicycle for an hour under the scorching sun to seek instruction.

Some didn't understand: "For working on old green-skinned trains, why do you need such high-level skills?" Some mocked him: "A professional award-winner, aren't you just after a good reputation!" Li Wanjun remained single-minded and continued being his "technology fanatic."

How obsessed was he? After consulting an old master in the workshop about welding details, he turned around and spotted a weldment under the desk: "This work isn't bad — who welded it? I need to find him and take him as my teacher." The master couldn't help laughing: "This is your own welding!" It turned out to be the weldment from when Li Wanjun had obtained his international welder qualification certificate years ago. After the exam, he had thrown it into the scrap bin. The master had quietly picked it up and kept it as a teaching material.

Passion is the best teacher. Over time, with all eighteen martial arts at his command, many of his virtuoso skills left people marveling — from 20 meters away, molten iron would flow into the weld seam. By sound alone, Li Wanjun could judge the current strength, voltage level, weld width, and welding quality.

With a heart full of passion, he charged toward more "championships." In 2005, when the central enterprise employee skills competition was held, Li Wanjun was selected to compete. A month before the finals, an accident struck. During one operation, his left eye was accidentally burned by high-temperature welding slag, and during recovery he could only wear an eye patch.

People around him urged him to wait for another opportunity. But Li Wanjun had a sudden whimsical thought: "If I can weld well with just one eye, won't I be even better with two eyes in the future?" "One-eyed" Li Wanjun stayed "welding" at his workstation.

First place! Among competitors sent by more than 160 central enterprises, Li Wanjun won the welding crown. Everyone was thoroughly convinced. "If Master Li can't do a job, the design has to be changed!"

Turning his gaze to the wider world, the man everyone called a "technical master" harbored a pent-up determination. The high-speed rail era arrived with a roar. The Changchun Railway Vehicle Plant grew into CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd., and in 2006, the trial production task for the Hexie (Harmony) EMU was assigned to CRRC Changchun.

Modern equipment manufacturing is a great weapon of the nation. High-speed rail EMUs had long been the "private preserve" of foreign enterprises. Take this case: foreign companies blockaded core processes, providing only drawings without teaching hands-on operation, while the cost of external procurement was exorbitant, bringing production to a standstill.

"Key core technologies — only self-development is reliable." Company leaders came to Li Wanjun. The burden placed on his shoulders was to break through a "bottleneck" problem — the circumferential welding of the bogie.

To make the circumferential weld stronger, he welded layer upon layer and even polished it shiny with an angle grinder. Unexpectedly, the foreign expert who came for inspection frowned. Too many joints, weld toes too high... with all kinds of nitpicking, Li Wanjun's fighting spirit ignited: "What foreigners can do, Chinese welders can do better!"

For over a month, he immersed himself in the workshop, circling around the workpiece day and night. In the end, he completed the welding in 7 steps in one continuous breath. The weld seam? Smooth and rounded, with joints almost invisible to the naked eye.

"Perfect!" The foreign expert was first incredulous, then nodded repeatedly. The "Seven-Step Circumferential Welding Method" raised the weld qualification rate from 68% to 99.5%, creating China's first independent welding standard for high-speed rail.

Foreign companies extended high-salary invitations, but Li Wanjun was unmoved. He could not forget that in 1967, the Changchun Railway Vehicle Plant developed New China's first subway train, and then for nearly 30 years, received no more subway train orders. The enterprise established an underground railway electric vehicle research institute, where generations quietly persevered, accumulating strength.

One person, even if made entirely of iron, can make how many nails? Only by being a screw can one, together with thousands upon thousands of fellow workers, support the "Made in China" of the high-speed rail era.

That pent-up determination in his heart became a flame: to represent Chinese workers and win championships on the world track! In 2007, the Hexie entered mass production, urgently needing large numbers of certified welders. "The company originally planned to hire foreign experts for training, but it would take too long and cost too much — production couldn't wait." Shao Xiaoming, chairman of the CRRC Changchun trade union, remembered it well.

Li Wanjun volunteered and became the "chief instructor" of the school-enterprise joint training program. He searched all the major bookstores in Changchun but found no suitable textbook. Relying on his own efforts — welding torch angles, rod manipulation methods... decades of experience were transformed into practical, usable operations, and he personally guided the trainees, hand in hand.

One flame scattered into a sky full of stars. In 3 years, nearly 400 welders "graduated," all obtaining international welding qualifications half a year ahead of schedule, and went to various EMU production lines, supporting the foundation of China's high-speed rail large-scale production.

In 2010, the "Li Wanjun Chief Operator Workstation" was established, and later was rated as a "National-Level Skills Master Studio" and "Model Worker Innovation Studio." Walking into this welding talent incubator, generation after generation of young people remembered one sentence:

"Having caught up with the high-speed rail era, we must use our strength to win honor for Chinese workers!"

Master and Apprentice
"Only when more young people commit to serving the country through skills can we overtake on the curve."

On April 28, 2025, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, another national conference commending model workers and advanced workers was grandly held. Ten years ago, standing on the stage was Master Li Wanjun. This time, receiving the commendation was apprentice He Yan.

"Master is the benchmark in my heart!" In 1998, when 19-year-old He Yan first entered the factory, he heard about a "welding champion" named Li Wanjun. A competition brought the two together.

In 2010, He Yan was preparing for the Jilin Province vocational skills competition. The old masters in his team often gathered around, watching and offering pointers. A circular weld seam stumped everyone. Someone suggested: "Go find Li Wanjun!" He Yan tentatively knocked on the door. Without a word, Li Wanjun headed straight for the workshop.

Halfway through welding the circle, He Yan suddenly saw the light — the problem lay in the parameters and posture. "Let me do the remaining half circle!" In the final competition, he took second place in the province. Team union chairman Zhao Guijun made the connection, and He Yan formally asked to become Li Wanjun's apprentice.

The reply was equally straightforward: "Only when more young people commit to serving the country through skills can we overtake on the curve."

He Yan discovered that what his master talked about most was not welding technique, but dedication and devotion. Knowing why you set out makes your steps firmer. In 2013, He Yan and two junior fellow apprentices swept the top three places in the Changchun welder competition. In 2015, He Yan won the championship in the Jilin Province vocational skills competition.

New era, new opportunities, new creations. After the studio was established, Li Wanjun once worried: in the past, as a "martial champion," he only focused on craftsmanship; now he also had to be a "scholarly champion" — applying for patents and writing papers. He Yan became a good helper. One loved to ponder, the other had rich experience — they were both master and friend, learning from each other.

Bulk welding wire was prone to scattering and tangling during transport and operation, adding to losses. Could it be improved? He Yan racked his brains, then excitedly reported — using the wheel axle structure of the welding torch to achieve re-winding and reuse of the welding wire. "Clever idea, but it won't work well," Li Wanjun hit the nail on the head: welding wire loss was reduced, but production efficiency also dropped.

Innovation must be pragmatic and truth-seeking. They consulted process experts, refined the theoretical support, and a complete, stable optimization system gradually took shape.

In 2018, the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology held the first China Innovation Method Competition, and the master-apprentice pair signed up. On the day of the defense, He Yan was the main presenter, with Li Wanjun assisting. This team — the only one composed entirely of frontline workers — won the national first prize. "We workers can be 'scholarly champions' too!"

Innovation is the primary driving force; talent is the primary resource. "Skilled workers are an important foundation supporting China's manufacturing and China's innovation, and play a significant role in promoting high-quality economic development," "We must improve the systems for training, using, evaluating, and incentivizing skilled personnel," "Accelerate the cultivation of large numbers of high-quality workers and technical and skilled personnel."

To deepen the building of the industrial workforce in the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping personally planned, personally deployed, and personally promoted it.

Twice going abroad — He Yan remembers it vividly. The first time was in 2006, when he was sent to Italy as an apprentice to learn advanced manufacturing processes. The foreign side only allowed observation, not hands-on operation. The young He Yan was full of pent-up frustration. In 2019, He Yan went abroad as a technical expert to provide on-site guidance for CRRC Changchun's Melbourne, Australia metro project. Chinese solutions and Chinese technology drew sincere admiration from the foreign staff.

"'Made in China' has become a golden signboard for 'going global,' so the status of us industrial workers naturally rises with the tide," He Yan remarked with emotion.

"Workers can also be rated as professors and earn annual salaries!" The master also had good news. Jilin took the lead nationally in launching cross-series professional title evaluation reform. In 2017, Li Wanjun obtained his senior professor qualification certificate, becoming the province's first frontline technical worker to receive a senior professional title.

The CRRC Group added further incentives, increasing the evaluation and selection levels by 7 tiers, so technical workers could also earn annual salaries. As a CRRC chief skills expert, Li Wanjun joked, "My annual income is nearly 500,000 yuan."

"We must make respect for talent a system and a habit." Liu Changqing, Party secretary and chairman of CRRC Changchun, cited a set of figures: the enterprise has more than 11,000 technical workers, with highly skilled personnel accounting for nearly 70%, and its rail vehicles are exported to 26 countries and regions, with cumulative contracts exceeding US$14 billion.

Labor is glorious, skills are precious, and creation is great. The torch is passed from generation to generation, and the "golden business card" of China's manufacturing shines ever brighter.

Preservation and Transformation
"The original aspiration cannot change. To win the future, we must also seek innovation and transformation."

In 1987, when Li Wanjun stepped into the welding workshop, Wang Shangang was still a "little kid." In 2005, when Wang Shangang joined CRRC Changchun after being discharged from the military, Li Wanjun had already won the national welding championship.

Spanning nearly 20 years, perseverance and conviction have been passed down in an unbroken line. Among the comrades who were discharged from the military with him, Wang Shangang's post was the hardest. But this post-80s generation member had his own understanding: "Enduring hardship is passing time in suffering; embracing hardship is actively tempering oneself to grow ability."

While others took their lunch breaks, he ran from team to team, watching how the old masters manipulated the welding torch and adjusted parameters. Li Wanjun was about to hold a skills training class. Wang Shangang had missed the registration due to a business trip, and upon returning to the factory, he went straight to the Model Worker Innovation Studio: "Can I sit in and listen?"

"If you want to learn, come ahead — but the intensity is considerable." Li Wanjun gave fair warning. "I'm not afraid of hardship! Effort builds strength." Of the more than 20 people in the training class, in the end Wang Shangang and 3 others were selected as core members of the studio.

"When training apprentices, the first thing is this spirit and drive," Li Wanjun said.

As the times advance, one must both work hard with head down and dare to explore and try. The model worker spirit, the spirit of labor, and the spirit of craftsmanship are carried forward through inheritance.

In 2013, the China Standard EMU development project was officially launched — this was the future Fuxing. Fully independent Chinese standards, Chinese design, and Chinese creation meant completely breaking free from dependence on foreign technology — from process design to frontline welding, everything was overturned and started from scratch.

The top priority was the welding of the bogie torsion bar seat. Higher speeds, higher standards — the weld seams had to pass ultrasonic testing 100%. The slightest flaw, the tiniest bubble, was a hidden danger. Facing a world-class problem never before solved, Li Wanjun took the lead, with He Yan and Wang Shangang following closely, in trial production and tackling.

The first batch of trial weldments all had internal defects. The confident master and apprentices were dumbfounded.

"Strive to achieve major breakthroughs in advantageous fields, common technologies, and key technologies, and promote the transformation of Made in China to Created in China, Chinese speed to Chinese quality, and Chinese products to Chinese brands." In May 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. and put forward the strategic plan of the "Three Transformations."

The three masters and apprentices were greatly inspired — they had to bite down on this "hard bone"! Flat welding, vertical welding, downhill welding — through repeated assaults, they explored the "one torch, three welds" method, completely eliminating hidden dangers, and all trial products met standards.

"One torch, three welds" welded out a new world standard, clearing the obstacles for Fuxing mass production. On June 25, 2017, the China Standard EMU with completely independent intellectual property rights and reaching advanced world levels was officially named "Fuxing," marking the historic leap of China's high-speed rail from catching up to leading.

To lead on the international stage, one must be even more self-reliant and self-strengthening. In June 2018, at the "Jia Ke Cup" international welding competition, known as the "World Cup of Welding," Wang Shangang won the championship. Four years earlier, at his first participation, he had been too fixated on rankings, lost his mental balance, and the result was unsatisfactory. On the way back to the accommodation, Wang Shangang called Li Wanjun with red eyes.

"Think about why we compete?" The master's single sentence made him see the light. Now, when training young competitors, Wang Shangang always brings up this "defeat at Maicheng." "Personal rankings are not the goal. What matters is surpassing oneself and truly serving the country through skills."

"Only when your thinking makes the turn does your technique pass the test," Li Wanjun summarized.

Take production philosophy: as China's high-speed rail has broken into new territory, its goals and paths must also continuously upgrade. In the past, the pursuit was "sturdy and durable"; later, it became "precision and standards"; now, it is "high-end, green, and intelligent." Upholding integrity and innovating — there is no end to it.

He Yan has also taken on apprentices. In 2021, He Yan's post-90s apprentice Ding Jian won the championship in the Changchun municipal workers' vocational skills competition. For the trial production of the CR450 EMU, a key project of the "14th Five-Year Plan," He Yan led the team in a breakthrough — transforming manual welding operations into "digital recipes."

And Wang Shangang? This spring, he stepped into a new post operating welding robotic arms, learning from Xie Yuanli, another chief skills expert and programming master at CRRC Changchun.

Why start over? "The original aspiration cannot change. To win the future, we must also seek innovation and transformation." Wang Shangang explained in detail: in the development and production of the China Standard EMU, the welding automation rate had already reached 60%, and for the CR450 EMU, the automation rate has exceeded 90%. "Intelligence is the trend, and excellent craftsmanship is the cornerstone. The times call for composite craftsmen who possess both manual virtuosity and programming ability."

Seventy-four years ago, the first domestically produced steam locomotive was born, lagging behind the West by a hundred years. Nineteen years ago, the Hexie EMU came online, 43 years behind the world. Nine years ago, the Fuxing high-speed rail debuted, and China's railway technology and equipment began to lead the world.

"This path was not easy at all!" Regarding his apprentice's choice, Li Wanjun gave full support: "Catching up depends on innovation; to continue leading, we must continue innovating."

On July 8, the National Science and Technology Award Conference, the conference of academicians of the two academies, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology were held. Li Wanjun and his apprentices watched the news — General Secretary Xi Jinping's words spoke directly to their hearts:

"Promote the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation. This is the key to leading the development of new quality productive forces through high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening."

With thought leading the way, the era legend belonging to "Made in China" continues with even more splendor.

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Accelerate the development of a modern industrial system

By: 本报记者 李君强

The modern industrial system is the material and technological foundation of a modernized country, and it is also the foundation of China's economy in weathering storms and winning the future.

In the first seven months of this year, the added value of industries above designated size nationwide increased by 5.3% year-on-year. According to preliminary calculations by the National Bureau of Statistics, in the first seven months, new growth drivers contributed 50.9% to the growth of industries above designated size.

On July 30, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The meeting emphasized: "Accelerate the construction of a modern industrial system, strengthen long-term and stable support for basic research, deeply implement the 'AI+' action, develop new forms of the intelligent economy, and improve the artificial intelligence governance system. Actively promote breakthroughs in frontier technologies and the development of future industries, focus on building new pillar industries, and continue to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries."

The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan deploys 109 major projects. Action plans such as "AI + manufacturing" and the construction of high-quality datasets for industries have been issued one after another, and the trend of industries moving toward the new and the excellent has become more distinct.

Lu Liping (陆利平), professor at the School of Finance of Renmin University of China, said that accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system is not only a pragmatic measure to stabilize the economy in the short term, but also a fundamental strategy to consolidate the foundation of Chinese-style modernization in the long term. It bears on the smooth completion of the year's goals and tasks, and bears on the quality of the opening of the "15th Five-Year Plan."

Advancing with the "new" — new technologies are leaving the laboratory, new products are accelerating mass production, and traditional factories are constantly being revitalized. Accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system is playing an increasingly prominent role in stabilizing growth, adjusting the structure, and promoting transformation, continuously converting the momentum of innovation into increments of development.

Plant the roots of innovation deeper

If metal catalysts are split to the limit, making every atom an independent "active site," what would happen?

Nearly 20 years ago, Zhang Tao (张涛), a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院大连化学物理研究所), led his team to tackle a topic that few had ventured into at the time. In 2009, the team produced the world's first practical supported single-atom catalyst; in 2011, it was the first in the world to propose the concept of "single-atom catalysis."

Today, this research field has attracted thousands of research teams from more than 100 countries, and related achievements have been industrially applied in pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, vinyl chloride production and other fields, winning the first prize of the 2025 National Natural Science Award. "Basic research is the original driving force of scientific and technological development. Only with 'from 0 to 1' can we further promote 'from 1 to 10' and 'from 10 to 100,'" Zhang Tao said.

Basic research may seem far from the production line, but it can determine the future shape of industries. It often takes a long time for a research project to go from the initial scientific idea to the formation of a new research paradigm, and then to open up space for industrial application.

In 2025, China's basic research funding reached 277.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%, and for the first time exceeded 7% of total national R&D expenditure. The continuous increase in investment reflects the strategic determination to cultivate new growth drivers for the long term.

The four characters "long-term stability" emphasized at the July 30 meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee speak both to the intensity of support and to the laws of innovation.

"Basic research has a long cycle, great difficulty, and high uncertainty. It is necessary to provide long-term and stable fiscal and policy support and form more stable research expectations," Lu Liping said. It is necessary to continuously improve the classified evaluation and long-term funding mechanisms, and open up the innovation chain from basic research to applied technology and then to industrial transformation.

Strengthen the strategic, forward-looking, and systematic layout of basic research, and strive to produce more major original achievements. The Ministry of Science and Technology (科技部) is working to improve the incentive mechanism for basic research, establish a mutual promotion mechanism between basic research and achievement transformation, and fully release the vitality of innovation.

Scientific and technological innovation has its own timetable. It requires both 只争朝夕 (zhǐ zhēng zhāo xī - "only contend for the morning and evening," to seize every moment) and 久久为功 (jiǔ jiǔ wéi gōng - "long persistence achieves success," to persist over a long period). Only by planting the roots of innovation deeper can industrial upgrading have an inexhaustible source of living water.

Expand new industrial space for the intelligent economy

At Shandong Haihua Group (山东海化集团), a salt chemical intelligent control large model is learning to "watch equipment, understand processes, and inspect for hidden dangers."

In the past, chemical equipment inspection relied mainly on manual experience. Now, three intelligent agents — process optimization, equipment maintenance, and intelligent inspection — can analyze equipment operating status in real time and detect anomalies in advance. After application, the accuracy of key equipment fault identification exceeds 95%, inspection efficiency has increased by 50%, and the completion rate of risk analysis and hidden danger investigation has increased by 20%.

Artificial intelligence technology is accelerating its iteration. It is not only becoming a new increment of industrial development itself, but also empowering thousands of industries, expanding new industrial space for the intelligent economy. According to estimates by some institutions, in 2025 China's artificial intelligence core industry scale will exceed 1.2 trillion yuan, forming a complete industrial system covering the foundational base, model frameworks, and industry applications. Wang Weiming (王卫明), chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部), said that in the first half of this year, the application penetration rate of artificial intelligence technology in manufacturing enterprises above designated size exceeded 30%, and the cumulative global downloads of open-source artificial intelligence large models exceeded 10 billion times.

Seize the historical opportunity and make the "AI+" action continue to deepen and be implemented. Eight departments issued the "Implementation Opinions on the 'AI + Manufacturing' Special Action," proposing to launch 1,000 high-level industrial intelligent agents, build 100 high-quality datasets in the industrial field, and promote 500 typical application scenarios by 2027. From the perspective of policy deployment, the foothold of artificial intelligence development has become clearer — not only to make models stronger, but also to promote technology into real scenarios.

Moving from "AI+" toward the intelligent economy means that artificial intelligence is not only embedded in existing production processes, but will also give rise to new products and new business forms such as intelligent terminals and industrial intelligent agents.

"In the era of the intelligent economy, computing power and data will become new factors of production. Enterprises must also reorganize data, processes, and personnel, so that artificial intelligence is deeply integrated into every link, thereby truly realizing human-machine collaboration," said Peng Zhen (彭震), chairman of Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd. (浪潮电子信息产业股份有限公司).

Let new seedlings grow into pillars, let old trees sprout new branches

In Shaoxing, Zhejiang, the 8-inch silicon carbide chip production line built by SiEn Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (芯联集成电路制造股份有限公司) has achieved batch production. Compared with the 6-inch production line, larger wafers can be cut into more chips, helping to reduce the cost of large-scale production. At present, the company's silicon carbide power devices have been installed in more than 1 million vehicles, and products have entered markets such as new energy vehicles, data centers, and embodied intelligence.

The growth of one enterprise is behind the coordinated efforts of an entire industrial chain.

Li Gang (李钢), member of the Party Leadership Group and deputy director of the Science and Technology Bureau of Yuecheng District, Shaoxing (绍兴市越城区), introduced that the local area has built a large-scale scientific research instrument sharing platform, supported enterprises in undertaking key research and development projects such as vehicle-grade power semiconductors, and helped enterprises connect with universities and research institutes. A series of measures have enabled the integrated circuit industry to grow and strengthen.

In 2025, the output value related to the six key emerging pillar industries that China is focusing on building will approach 6 trillion yuan, and is expected to reach more than 10 trillion yuan by 2030. According to forecasts, in 2026 China's future industry output value will reach 15.5 trillion yuan, with surging momentum from new quality productive forces.

Industrial development must not only explore new directions, but also tap increments from the existing foundation. In 2025, the China International Fair for Trade in Services was "permanently settled" in Shougang Park (首钢园) in the form of "one fair, one venue," and the century-old steel plant transformed and was reborn with renewed vitality; Dayang Group, founded in 1979, completed the transformation and upgrading of multiple intelligent factories and built 40 fully intelligent production lines... Using artificial intelligence to optimize production processes, using green technology to reduce energy consumption, using equipment renewal to improve quality — the conversion of old and new growth drivers is accelerating.

Developing new quality productive forces is an inevitable requirement for building a modern industrial system. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the key to building a modern industrial system lies in forming a pattern in which traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "each benefits and shines more brightly together," complementing each other).

To enable new quality productive forces to empower the modern industrial system, efforts must be made according to the growth laws of different industries. Future industries focus on laying foundations, building platforms, and cultivating ecosystems; emerging industries focus on improving technological maturity and industrial supporting capacity; traditional industries must seize the opportunities of digitalization and green transformation to open up new market space. Lu Liping believes that it is necessary to form a complete system of "future industries leading, emerging industries supporting, and traditional industries underpinning," using new quality productive forces to connect the three, forming an industrial development pattern in which frontier research, industrial transformation, and large-scale application are interconnected.

In the opening year, we must not only see how the blueprint is drawn, but also whether the first step is taken solidly.

With long-term and stable support for basic research, with artificial intelligence creating value in more real scenarios, and with future industries, emerging industries, and traditional industries 各展所长 (gè zhǎn suǒ cháng - "each displays what they are good at," each showing their own strengths) and empowering each other, the modern industrial system will continue to accumulate new momentum and shape new advantages, and the foundation for China's economy to develop toward the new, the excellent, and the good will be even more solid.

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One Out, One In: High-Level Opening-Up Takes Root (Deepening the Strategy for Upgrading Pilot Free Trade Zones)

By: 本报记者 王 洲

What opening-up momentum can 119.68 square kilometers gather?

The China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone is the capital's "experimental field" for expanding high-level opening-up. Since its establishment, more than 80 institutional innovation achievements have spread from here to the whole country.

Opening-up vitality surges ceaselessly in the integration of "going out" and "bringing in."

Data outbound transfer is a "rigid demand" for many foreign-funded enterprises.

Babycare Co., Ltd. (葆婴有限公司) is a foreign enterprise mainly engaged in health foods. "Product consumption data from the Chinese market is crucial for headquarters' product development. We also need to rely on this data to provide personalized services to customers," Zhao Haiqing (赵海青), vice president of legal affairs of the company, frankly stated. In the early stage, due to unfamiliarity with regulations and procedures, the enterprise faced heavy compliance pressure and high investment costs.

Use policy innovation to unblock pain points. Beijing issued the first scenario-based, field-level negative list for data outbound transfer in the pilot free trade zone, and this year expanded its scope of application to the entire city; established the Beijing Cross-Border Data Service Center to provide "one-on-one" services for enterprises' data outbound transfer needs.

"Compared with other market-based institutions, the service center's fees are reduced by more than 90%, making data outbound transfer more convenient and more reassuring," Zhao Haiqing said.

For enterprises going global, exchange rate risks are expected to be reduced.

"Through services such as forward and optional foreign exchange settlement and sale, swaps, and options, enterprise costs and revenues can be locked in advance, with customized exchange rate hedging products to reduce potential risks from exchange rate fluctuations," said Liu Yun (刘云), member of the Party Committee of the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone Sub-branch of Agricultural Bank of China Co., Ltd. "As a specialized banking institution for the free trade zone, we rely on policies to pursue innovation and inject financial living water into enterprises within the pilot free trade zone."

Carrying out a pilot for one-time registration of external debt, optimizing procedures for overseas individuals working in China to purchase foreign exchange with salaries, upgrading the high-level opening-up pilot for cross-border trade... The Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone relies on institutional innovation to enhance the level of facilitation for cross-border investment and financing.

Making "going out" smooth also opens the way for "bringing in."

"Thanks to you all!" Hearing the gratitude of the sick child's parents, Hu Xiaoxia (胡晓霞), general manager of the External Affairs Department of Keyuan Xinhai (Beijing) Medical Supplies Trading Co., Ltd. (科园信海（北京）医疗用品贸易有限公司), was deeply moved.

The sick child suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare disease, and urgently needed a specific drug, but the drug had not been introduced into China. The hospital where the child was located submitted an application to the National Medical Products Administration (国家药品监督管理局) and was approved for temporary import for urgent clinical need. In the end, the drug was purchased overseas, stocked, and delivered by Keyuan Trading Company.

"The construction of the rare disease drug guarantee pilot zone (罕见病药品保障先行区) in Beijing Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone (北京天竺综合保税区) has played an important role in the temporary import of rare disease drugs," Hu Xiaoxia said.

Why is it important? Rare disease drugs are expensive, and medical institutions follow the principle of "whoever applies, uses"; once drugs pass customs and leave the zone, they cannot be redistributed. If they fail to sell or expire, losses will result.

How to solve it? To address these difficulties, the policy of "bonded stocking, phased exit from the zone" (保税备货、分次出区) 应运而生 (yìng yùn ér shēng - "respond to fortune and arise," to emerge as circumstances require).

"Bonded stocking" means that rare disease drugs approved for temporary import for urgent clinical need "enter the country but not customs clearance," with the drugs stored in the bonded warehouse of Tianzhu Comprehensive Bonded Zone, temporarily not going through customs clearance and tax payment. "Phased exit from the zone" means that only one approval is needed at the drug import stage, after which distribution can be made in batches according to actual clinical needs.

"From 'people waiting for drugs' to 'drugs waiting for people,' the drug supply cycle has been greatly shortened," Hu Xiaoxia said. Since the establishment of the rare disease drug guarantee pilot zone, Beijing has approved the temporary import of 24 specifications of rare disease drugs, benefiting more than 9,600 patient-visits.

Building the country's first data trading platform where "data can be used but not seen, with usage controllable and measurable" (数据可用不可见，用途可控可计量), implementing "Carbon e-Loan" (碳e贷) green credit, launching the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei pilot free trade zone policy sharing list of "innovation in one place, mutual recognition in three places" (一地创新、三地互认)... In the Beijing Pilot Free Trade Zone, policy innovations one after another leap off the page and 落地生根 (luò dì shēng gēn - "fall to the ground and take root," to become firmly established), becoming vivid footnotes to expanding high-level opening-up.

"On the new journey, we will deeply implement the strategy of upgrading the pilot free trade zones, build well the linked development zones of pilot free trade zones, promote high-level opening-up with greater efforts, enhance the capacity of innovation to lead development, and live up to the mission of the 'experimental field,'" said Piao Xuedong (朴学东), director of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau (北京市商务局).

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Border Villages Bloom with Happiness Like Galsang Flowers

By: 本报记者 卞民德 袁 泉 徐驭尧

Returning once again to the hometown where she had lived for decades, 55-year-old Ciren Zhuoga instead felt unaccustomed to it.
Six years ago, her family left the pastoral area of Duina Township, Yadong County, Tibet, at an altitude of over 4,500 meters, and relocated to Pangda Village, a border new village built with aid from Shanghai — at an altitude of over 2,000 meters, set against green mountains and clear waters, a world apart from the pastoral area.
No longer needing to burn yak dung for heating and cooking, the altitude sickness that had plagued her for years gradually improved, and Ciren Zhuoga's smile became more frequent. "Living in a new house, buying a new car — who would have dared to imagine such a life before?"
"Adhere to ensuring and improving people's livelihoods through development, continuously improve production and living conditions in border areas, and accelerate efforts to shore up shortcomings in infrastructure and basic public services." General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions have taken root and borne fruit in Pangda Village.
Within this response is the exploration of developing new industries tailored to local conditions.
Inside the greenhouse, Zhu Jie bent down to check the growth of the vegetables. In the pastoral area, he knew nothing about vegetable cultivation.
After the relocation, the village developed the vegetable industry, and technicians taught him hand by hand how to raise seedlings, apply fertilizer, and prevent and control pests and diseases. Zhu Jie spent all day in the greenhouse, a small notebook tucked in his pocket, "recording gains and doubts at any time." Today, he is the head of Pangda Village's vegetable cooperative, known to the villagers as "Teacher Zhu Jie."
Pangda Village has little available land, limiting industrial development. With the support of the township and county Party committees, governments, and the Shanghai aid-Tibet working group, Pangda Village revitalized idle resources in neighboring townships, built 62 vegetable greenhouses, and developed an "enclave economy." At present, the vegetable cooperative's output is steadily increasing, with more than 20 varieties.
The tourism industry has started to take shape and gain momentum.
At first, due to lack of experience and insufficient confidence, villagers hesitated. Party members and cadres went door to door doing ideological work.
"The homestay business is better than expected." Although there were ups and downs, Ciren Zhuoga persevered. At present, Pangda Village has 1 hotel and 7 homestays in operation, with another 9 homestays undergoing renovation and upgrading.
Suonan Ciren, who has artistic talent, took the lead in establishing a cultural and creative workshop, leading more than 20 villagers in making embroidered goods and painting Pangda Village's landscapes onto stones. "These stones were all picked from the mountain forests, each one unique."
Purchasing tourist buses, developing a reservation mini-program, designing tourist routes... In 2025, Pangda Village received 19,500 tourist visits, achieving tourism revenue of 940,000 yuan. As of the end of July, it has received more than 16,000 tourist visits this year.
Within this response is the vitality of young talent driving rural revitalization.
Raising his phone to record the village's new look and promote his hometown through the internet. After studying for four years in Guangzhou, Guangdong, Danba Shique had grown accustomed to city life and was determined to seek employment in Lhasa. At that time, he always felt that leaving the mountains was the way to make something of oneself.
What he saw on returning to his hometown during the holidays deeply moved Danba Shique. "I suddenly understood that using what I've learned to make my hometown better is also a way to make something of oneself." Upon graduation, he resolutely returned to his hometown to develop.
The rising vitality of Pangda Village also attracts young people from outside the mountains.
Yang Liu, a young man from Shandong, took a bus into the village in the winter of 2023 and was filled with fondness at every sight.
"The thought immediately came to mind — open a hotel." On a tour guide's suggestion, Yang Liu approached the investment promotion department of Yadong County, and the two sides hit it off immediately.
In May last year, the hotel opened its doors to guests. Because there are only 10 rooms, when it is fully booked, Yang Liu refers guests to the village's homestays.
"The time is still short, the reputation hasn't spread yet, and the flow of customers is unstable." However, Yang Liu has patience. "Investment — what you invest in is the future."
Within this response is the responsibility of Party members and cadres taking the lead in solving problems.
After the relocation, the villagers' production and lifestyle changed dramatically, and some problems and contradictions followed.
Pangda Village explored a six-step working method of "investigate, analyze, consult, assess, supervise, and resolve" — first check for hidden dangers, then analyze causes, then consult, assess the severity, determine a handling plan and supervise its implementation, striving to resolve difficulties and disputes from the root.
Jian Zhiwei, a member of the eleventh batch of Shanghai aid-Tibet cadres and Deputy Secretary of the Yadong County Party Committee, introduced that organizational leadership and Party member leadership are used to properly handle the four major tasks of stability, development, ecology, and border consolidation.
Watching the North Star, one does not lose one's way; following the Communist Party, one will find happiness.
Villager Pubu Zhaxi's courtyard is not large, yet it is spotless. Seeing visitors arrive, he greets them warmly. "Before, in the pastoral area, we lived in earthen houses and walked on muddy roads. After moving here, we live in small two-story buildings and walk on asphalt roads. In winter, the house isn't cold either — all thanks to the Party's good policies!"
The young Pangda Village, like the gesang flowers in the deep mountains, is full of vitality under the nourishment of good policies.
"Adding streetlights, building a new cultural square, expanding parking capacity — there is still much follow-up work to do." Shen Min, head of the liaison group of the eleventh batch of Shanghai aid-Tibet cadres and currently Deputy Secretary of the Shigatse Municipal Party Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor, said, "From the ninth batch of aid-Tibet cadres improving infrastructure, to the tenth batch cultivating and strengthening industries, and then to the eleventh batch promoting governance innovation and model innovation, we, together with local Party members and cadres, are making sustained efforts and carrying forward the struggle, contributing to building a prosperous, stable, and strong motherland's border."
In the evening, the sky gradually darkens. On the square in front of the village committee office building, men, women, young, and old of the village dance the Guozhuang dance, and laughter echoes through the mountain valley.

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Photo Report

During the summer, museums, exhibition halls, and scenic areas across the country are introducing new and innovative cultural and creative products, making efforts to highlight local characteristics and incorporate cultural elements. Many of these products have become widely favored souvenirs, effectively stimulating tourists' enthusiasm for consumption.
The photo shows tourists selecting goods at a cultural and creative products store on Tianmin Street, Simao District, Pu'er City, Yunnan Province.
Photo by Li Huashi (李华时) (Image China)

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Trade-in policy benefits 178 million consumers

Report from our newspaper, Beijing, August 22 (Reporter Wang Guan): The reporter learned from the Ministry of Finance that since the beginning of this year, focusing on continuously tapping the potential of domestic demand, the Ministry of Finance has taken multiple measures to continue supporting and encouraging consumption, allocating 187.5 billion yuan in funds for trade-in of consumer goods, driving sales of related commodities of approximately 1.32 trillion yuan, and benefiting 178 million person-times. It has innovatively launched a package of fiscal-financial coordinated policies to promote domestic demand, providing targeted support for resident consumption and business entities in the consumer industry, exerting force simultaneously from both the supply and demand ends; this policy has already benefited 113 million person-times of residents. Invoice lottery activities were carried out in 50 pilot cities, driving sales of over 370 billion yuan in related fields.

On the investment side, the issuance and use of ultra-long-term special treasury bonds has been accelerated, of which 800 billion yuan of "two-major" (两重) funds have all been allocated, supporting the construction of 1,417 major projects in key areas. The driving role of local government special bonds has been brought into play; as of the end of July, 2.4 trillion yuan of new special bonds for 2026 have been issued nationwide, supporting the construction of more than 18,000 projects, while expanding the pilot scope of "self-review and self-issuance" (自审自发). Four policies including loan interest subsidies for small, medium, and micro enterprises have been launched to stimulate vitality in private investment, benefiting approximately 6.22 million enterprises.

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AI in the Classroom: How to Learn Better (Decoding the 15th Five-Year Special Plan)

By: 本报记者 吴 月

In primary and secondary schools, students study school-based artificial intelligence curricula; in universities, they take public foundational courses in artificial intelligence... Today, artificial intelligence-related courses have entered the schedules of many students.

The "15th Five-Year Plan for Education Development" proposes to "advance artificial intelligence education across all educational stages, enhance students' artificial intelligence literacy, and strengthen their ability to pose questions and solve problems."

For artificial intelligence education at each educational stage, what should be studied, how should it be taught, and how can it be taught well? Reporters conducted interviews.

What to study at each educational stage

Multiple regions launch relevant documents, clarifying credit hour requirements

In April, the Ministry of Education and four other departments issued the "Action Plan for 'Artificial Intelligence + Education'" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), making requirements for promoting the cultivation of artificial intelligence talent and the enhancement of literacy. A relevant responsible official from the Department of Science, Technology and Information Technology of the Ministry of Education stated that it is necessary to adhere to categorized measures and layered advancement, defining specific goals and tasks for each educational stage.

In the basic education stage, the popularization of artificial intelligence education oriented toward primary and secondary school students must be accelerated.

"I want to build a school on the clouds, with rainbow slides, where every classroom is different..." In a classroom at the Foreign Language Primary School of the Shenzhen University Affiliated Education Group, a student was describing their vision of a future school, and an agent instantly drew a vivid picture. Here, students can attend at least one artificial intelligence class per month.

Currently, many places have issued local curriculum outlines, teaching guidance outlines, and other documents to clarify credit hour requirements. For example, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Education requires all primary and secondary schools in the city to carry out artificial intelligence general education, with no fewer than 8 credit hours per academic year; courses can be set up independently or integrated with courses such as information technology, science, comprehensive practical activities, and labor. The Shandong Provincial Department of Education stipulates that artificial intelligence-related courses be offered during the compulsory education stage, with no fewer than 6 credit hours per academic year for grades 1 to 2, and no fewer than 8 credit hours per academic year for grades 3 to 9; high schools shall offer the selective compulsory course "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence." In the next step, the Ministry of Education will promote the comprehensive inclusion of artificial intelligence education into local curriculum systems.

In the higher education stage, artificial intelligence should be promoted to become a public foundational course in universities, allowing all students to master artificial intelligence knowledge. Wu Fei, Dean of the Undergraduate School of Zhejiang University, introduced that the university has already offered layered artificial intelligence foundational general courses: "When teaching, in addition to introducing basic artificial intelligence knowledge, teachers also teach in combination with disciplinary characteristics: professors from the College of Environment and Resources explain the application of artificial intelligence in environmental science, professors from the Medical School discuss artificial intelligence empowering medical innovation... students can see the intersection points between artificial intelligence and their own majors."

In the vocational education stage, high-skilled talents for emerging positions are to be cultivated with specificity. At Jinhua Vocational University, the school and enterprises jointly developed an "Artificial Intelligence Process Mentor" that identifies students' operational steps in real-time and corrects errors. "Vocational colleges must actively promote the intelligent upgrading of traditional majors to cultivate more 'digital-intelligent craftsmen' who adapt to industrial transformation," said Liang Kedong, president of the university.

In the lifelong education stage, the Action Plan encourages universities and enterprises to develop artificial intelligence professional characteristic resources and open them to the broad spectrum of teachers, students, and social learners; it encourages leveraging the roles of universities and the Open University system to customize the development of artificial intelligence literacy and skill courses for key groups.

In the classroom

Combining science and technology education with humanities education, focusing on enlightening intelligence and nourishing the heart

A relevant responsible official from the Department of Science, Technology and Information Technology of the Ministry of Education stated that artificial intelligence education should focus on being people-oriented and literacy-first, "adhering to the combination of science and technology education with humanities education, teaching students to correctly recognize and reasonably apply artificial intelligence; upholding the original intention of education, focusing on the enlightenment of students' intelligence and the nourishment of their hearts, and enhancing cognitive abilities and problem-solving abilities."

"Can we develop an agent to introduce the outstanding characteristics of our class?" "How can we develop a smart robot to pick up campus garbage?" At Beijing Hongzhi Middle School, teachers and students often conduct project-based learning around problems in daily life.

"Students can not only learn artificial intelligence-related knowledge but also exercise computational thinking, engineering design thinking, teamwork, and communication and expression abilities," said Zhao Yong, principal of Hongzhi Middle School, noting that learning through doing, learning through using, and learning through creating has improved teaching effectiveness.

The classes also include segments for ethical speculation. When learning content such as facial recognition and voice recognition, teachers and students discuss topics such as data privacy and algorithmic bias. "We must teach children to learn artificial intelligence technology, but even more, we must teach them how to use technology responsibly," Zhao Yong said. "It is not about indoctrinating standard answers, but rather through real cases and open discussions, cultivating students' 'technology for good' values as well as their capacity for critical thinking."

In university classrooms, how can high-level talents oriented toward the intelligent era be cultivated?

"In the artificial intelligence era, the irreplaceable value of university education is to cultivate people who can pose good questions, create across boundaries, and continuously evolve," said Jin Li, President of Fudan University, stating that efforts should be made so that every student can use artificial intelligence to solve real problems in their own field.

To this end, Fudan University has constructed an artificial intelligence curriculum system consisting of four levels: general foundation, professional core, disciplinary advancement, and domain application, offering more than one hundred courses. In an artificial intelligence archaeology course, students use algorithms to study oracle bone script recognition; in a fintech course, students operate big data platforms to use deep learning technology to predict market trends and price fluctuations.

"We must strive to embed artificial intelligence into the knowledge production process of various disciplines, allowing different students to go deeper on their respective tracks," Jin Li said.

Teaching well requires confidence

Promoting the reform of normal student cultivation, incorporating artificial intelligence into teacher qualification examinations and certification content

"The origins and history of artificial intelligence," "Teaching methods and technologies for artificial intelligence general courses"... Opening the National Smart Education Public Service Platform, "2026 Summer Teacher Training" comes into view, and many teachers are actively "recharging" to improve themselves.

Only with high-quality teachers can there be high-quality education. The Action Plan requires increasing the intelligent literacy and skills of the broad spectrum of teachers, conducting artificial intelligence literacy training in a layered and categorized manner, and achieving full coverage through multiple methods. At the same time, it promotes the reform of normal student cultivation, incorporating frontier technological knowledge such as artificial intelligence into the curriculum system, and incorporating artificial intelligence into teacher qualification examinations and certification content.

In recent years, the Ministry of Education has implemented actions to empower teacher development through digitalization, holding artificial intelligence special training classes covering 250,000 primary and secondary school secretaries and principals and local education bureau directors, and artificial intelligence literacy enhancement special training classes covering more than 310,000 primary and secondary school teachers in central and western regions, and organizing university faculty and staff to participate in online training for "Artificial Intelligence Empowering Higher Education Talent Cultivation" to enhance teachers' artificial intelligence literacy and technological application abilities.

Abundant teaching resources are an important guarantee for "teaching good classes." How to support schools in rural and remote areas to teach artificial intelligence courses well? The National Smart Education Public Service Platform has gathered more than 1,000 high-quality artificial intelligence courses covering all stages of basic education, vocational education, higher education, and lifelong education, and many schools are actively utilizing the national platform to teach artificial intelligence courses well.

Some regions and schools are exploring resource sharing. For example, Beijing has formed a municipal and district-level "Artificial Intelligence Education Lecturer Group," where experts from universities, scientific research institutes, and high-tech enterprises "deliver lessons to schools," and has implemented a "urban-rural pairing" plan to provide assistance to remote suburban districts. Shandong Province has implemented a assistance plan for weak areas (schools) and is constructing regional primary and secondary school artificial intelligence education experience centers.

A relevant responsible official from the Department of Science, Technology and Information Technology of the Ministry of Education stated that it is necessary to promote artificial intelligence to become "a public course for teachers and students, and a foundational course for everyone," constructing an artificial intelligence education system across all educational stages and a general education system for the whole society that is vertically integrated and horizontally connected, increasing the scale and quality of artificial intelligence talent cultivation, and forming a long-term mechanism for the cultivation of artificial intelligence literacy for the entire population.

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Sowing the Seeds of Science and Technology in Students' Hearts (From Those Who Were There)

By: 王立新

In elementary school, how should we teach AI-related courses well and plant the seeds of technology in students' minds? In teaching practice, my colleagues and I have used methods such as experiential learning and project-based learning to stimulate students' curiosity and cultivate innovative thinking.

For example, recently, in response to the scene of many tourists near the scenic area around the campus, a fifth-grade student proposed the idea of designing an "intelligent commentator." How to realize this? Through group learning, students came to understand technologies such as voice interaction, image recognition, and expression recognition, and tried to use the AI teaching equipment in the school to build small robots. Exercising thinking in scheme design, cultivating hands-on practical ability in model building, and expressing themselves confidently in classroom presentation and evaluation sessions... When presenting their results, they were full of a sense of achievement.

AI literacy is an important literacy for students. As teachers, we will improve the curriculum system, cultivate students to better adapt to the intelligent society, and lay a solid foundation for their growth.

(The author is a teacher at Shandong Qingdao West Coast New Area Bilingual Primary School (山东青岛西海岸新区双语小学); this article was compiled from an interview by our reporter Wu Yue (吴月).)

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China is a positive contributor and strong anchor of stability for global economic growth

By: 钟才文

Since the beginning of this year, facing an external environment of intertwined turbulence and change, grave and complex, China's economy has advanced under pressure, continuously developing toward innovation and excellence, demonstrating vigorous vitality and strong resilience. It has not only laid a solid foundation for a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan (十五五), but also injected strong momentum and rare, valuable certainty into the world economy.

China is the main engine of the world economy and has made important contributions to promoting global development and prosperity. For many years, China's contribution rate to world economic growth has remained around 30%, making it the 当之无愧 (dāng zhī wú kuì - "to deserve it without shame," fully deserving) "number one engine." In the first half of this year, China's economy grew by 4.7%, in line with the annual target, ranking among the top of major economies, still "the scenery here is uniquely fine." Domestic demand plays a leading role in driving, contributing over 80% to economic growth, of which consumption contributes nearly 50%. The recently released "Expanding Consumption" 15th Five-Year Plan (《扩大消费"十五五"规划》) is the first national-level special plan in the consumption field, and China's consumption potential and space will be further released in the future. In the first half of this year, the national consumer price index rose by 1% year-on-year; the reasonable rebound in prices meets the requirements of macroeconomic regulation, forming a sharp contrast with many countries where rising global energy and raw material prices have led to high inflation and declining purchasing power of residents. China's economy presents distinctive features of a stable foundation, multiple advantages, strong resilience, and great potential; the supporting conditions and basic trend of long-term improvement have not changed, and it will remain the most powerful, most stable, and most reliable source of power for global economic growth in the future.

China is the anchor of stability for global production and supply chains, providing strong support for the smooth circulation of the world economy. Whether facing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic or geopolitical conflicts, China has always been a firm defender of the resilience and stability of global production and supply chains. Since the end of February this year, the US-Israel-Iran conflict has blocked passage through the Strait of Hormuz, causing tight supply of international crude oil and key raw materials. Due to the accelerated green transformation of the economy and society in recent years, currently, of every 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed nationwide, nearly 4 kilowatt-hours are green electricity; China's retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles has been continuously rising, reaching 54.1% cumulatively in the first half of the year. Relying on its strong new energy advantages to respond proactively, China has reduced crude oil imports, greatly alleviating the upward pressure on international oil prices; China's industry has maintained efficient and stable production, offsetting the supply gaps caused by production stagnation and logistics disruptions in some regions. The Wall Street Journal stated that China has supported the world economy by reducing oil imports. France's Le Figaro believes that China has saved the world economy for the second time since the 2008 international financial crisis. Relying on technological innovation and full market competition, China has built the world's largest and most complete new energy production and supply chain system, and over more than 10 years has driven the average cost per kilowatt-hour of global wind and solar power generation to fall cumulatively by over 60% and 80% respectively. China's advanced applicable technologies such as photovoltaics, wind power, and energy storage, and high-quality products such as electric vehicles and electric motorcycles, have turned the energy transition of many developing countries from dream into reality. The distributed photovoltaic and microgrid projects implemented by Chinese enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa have lit up Africa's nights. In the next step, China will further guide the reasonable and orderly cross-border layout of production and supply chains, aligning with the industrialization vision of Global South countries, and helping more countries develop their economies, expand employment, and improve people's livelihoods.

China is one of the birthplaces of global scientific and technological innovation, injecting a powerful "force toward innovation" into world economic development. Innovation is an important endogenous driver of economic development, and China, with its own innovative development concepts and successful practices, is becoming one of the home grounds of global scaled innovation. China's innovation strength has significantly increased. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization's report, China's Global Innovation Index ranking has risen from 34th in 2012 to 10th in 2025, and the number of top 100 global science and technology innovation clusters has ranked first in the world for three consecutive years. Since the beginning of this year, China's innovation achievements have continued to attract global attention: the humanoid robot "Lightning" broke the human world record in a half marathon in one go; the semiconductor "Tao's Law" (韬定律) 横空出世 (héng kōng chū shì - "to burst forth across the sky," to appear suddenly and impressively); China's aerospace has achieved major breakthroughs in succession, successively realizing dual-mode rocket recovery at sea and on land; and the world's first open-source large model with nearly 3 trillion parameters, Kimi K3, was stunningly released. China's innovation achievements are accelerating their march to the world. In the first half of this year, of every 10 humanoid and quadruped intelligent robots sold globally, 8 were produced in China, and the total value of China's innovative drug out-licensing deals was approximately 110 billion US dollars. More and more foreign-funded enterprises have stated that China has grown into a "super training ground" for global technological innovation and a "hardcore gym" for competitiveness; developing in China better tempers innovation "muscles" and forges competitive "bones and sinews." China is increasingly becoming an enabler of global innovation. In July this year, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (世界人工智能合作组织) was formally established in Shanghai. This is a major move by China to respond to the call of the Global South and unite the international community in actively promoting the development and governance of artificial intelligence. Foreign media commented that the concepts of "people-centered, striving upward toward goodness" advocated by China and the open-source nature of China's artificial intelligence technology are more in line with the trend of scientific and technological innovation and the needs of Global South countries, and help bridge the global intelligence divide and promote equal benefit for all parties.

China is a practitioner of mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, creating broad space for the cooperative development of all countries in the world. Against the distortions and smears of "China Shock 2.0" and the "China squeeze theory," facts are the best rebuttal. Chinese manufacturing enhances the well-being of people's livelihoods in all countries. As the world's largest manufacturing country, China continues to provide high-quality, affordable, stable, and reliable product supply to the world. In the heat wave that recently swept Europe, Chinese air conditioners brought coolness to European people, with every unit hard to find; behind this "cold power" lies Chinese enterprises' keen insight into overseas market demand, the rapid response of the entire industrial chain, leading energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies, and fast delivery relying on the China-Europe Railway Express. The dividends of Chinese manufacturing benefit consumers and partners in all countries around the world. The Chinese market provides new opportunities for global development. In today's world, the scarcest resource is the market. China's annual import scale exceeds 20 trillion yuan, and it is the main export destination of nearly 80 countries. While some countries have turned to protectionism, China has always insisted on expanding opening up, providing broad market space for global goods and services through measures such as lowering import tariffs, hosting the China International Import Expo, and launching "Export China" series activities. From May 1 this year, China implemented zero tariffs on all 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic relations, becoming another milestone in China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. Facts have proven that the "shock theory" and "squeeze theory" are 指鹿为马 (zhǐ lù wéi mǎ - "to call a deer a horse," to deliberately misrepresent) false propositions; China's high-quality development has brought new and greater opportunities to the world.

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Online retail sales of goods and services up 4.8% in first 7 months

Our newspaper, Beijing, August 22 (Reporter Wang Ke) — From January to July, the national online retail sales of goods and services grew by 4.8%, contributing over 50% to the growth of total retail sales of consumer goods and services. China's e-commerce is developing steadily and innovatively; online-offline integration stimulates consumption potential, digital-intelligence empowerment drives industrial transformation and upgrading, expands the breadth and depth of international economic and trade cooperation, and helps strengthen, optimize, and expand the real economy.

Online channels expand the scope of goods consumption and enhance the convenience of service consumption. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (国家统计局), from January to July, goods sold through the internet by units above the designated size accounted for 28.7% of their total retail sales, up 2.5 percentage points from the same period last year; on e-commerce platforms monitored by the Ministry of Commerce (商务部), from January to July, online tourism and online life services sales grew by 24.9% and 16.1%, respectively.

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Accelerate the building of a modern industrial system

By: 本报记者 李君强

The modern industrial system is the material and technological foundation of a modern country, and it is also the source of confidence for China's economy to weather storms and win the future.

In the first seven months of this year, the added value of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide increased by 5.3% year-on-year. According to preliminary calculations by the National Bureau of Statistics (国家统计局), in the first seven months, new drivers of growth contributed 50.9% to the growth of industry above designated size.

On July 30, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. The meeting emphasized: "Accelerate the building of a modern industrial system, strengthen long-term and stable support for basic research, deeply implement the 'AI+' action, develop new forms of the intelligent economy, and improve the governance system for artificial intelligence. Actively promote breakthroughs in frontier technologies and the development of future industries, focus on cultivating new pillar industries, and continue to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries."

The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan deploys 109 major projects. Action plans such as "AI + manufacturing" and the construction of high-quality datasets for industries have been issued one after another, and the trend of industries moving toward the new and the excellent has become more distinct.

Lu Liping (陆利平), professor at the School of Finance, Renmin University of China, said that accelerating the building of a modern industrial system is both a pragmatic measure to stabilize the economy in the short term and a fundamental strategy to consolidate the foundation of Chinese-style modernization in the long term. It bears on the smooth completion of the year's goals and tasks, and bears on the quality of the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan.

Reaching far with "innovation": new technologies leave the laboratory, new products accelerate mass production, and traditional factories are continuously revitalized. The role of accelerating the building of a modern industrial system in stabilizing growth, adjusting the structure, and promoting transformation is becoming increasingly prominent, driving the continuous conversion of innovation momentum into development gains.

Plant the roots of innovation deeper

If metal catalysts are broken down to the limit, making every atom an independent "active center," what would happen?

Nearly 20 years ago, Zhang Tao (张涛), a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院大连化学物理研究所), led his team to tackle a topic that few had ventured into at the time. In 2009, the team produced the world's first practical supported single-atom catalyst; in 2011, it was the first in the world to propose the concept of "single-atom catalysis."

Today, this research field has attracted thousands of research teams from more than 100 countries, and related achievements have achieved industrial application in pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, vinyl chloride production, and other fields, winning the first prize of the 2025 National Natural Science Award.

"Basic research is the original driving force of scientific and technological development. Only with 'from 0 to 1' can we further promote 'from 1 to 10' and 'from 10 to 100,'" Zhang Tao said.

Basic research may seem far from the production line, but it can determine the future shape of an industry. A research project often takes a long time from the initial scientific conception to the formation of a new research paradigm, and then to opening up space for industrial application.

In 2025, China's basic research funding reached 277.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%, and its share of total social R&D funding exceeded 7% for the first time. The continuous increase in investment reflects the strategic resolve to cultivate new drivers of growth for the long term.

The four characters "long-term stability" emphasized at the July 30 meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee speak both to the intensity of support and to the laws of innovation.

"Basic research has a long cycle, great difficulty, and high uncertainty. It is necessary to provide long-term and stable financial and policy support to form more stable expectations for scientific research," Lu Liping said. It is necessary to continuously improve the classified evaluation and long-term funding mechanisms, and open up the innovation chain from basic research to applied technology and then to industrial transformation.

Strengthen the strategic, forward-looking, and systematic layout of basic research, and strive to produce more major original achievements. The Ministry of Science and Technology (科技部) is working to improve the incentive mechanism for basic research, establish a mechanism for mutual promotion between basic research and achievement transformation, and fully release innovation vitality.

Scientific and technological innovation has its own timetable. It is necessary to 只争朝夕 (zhǐ zhēng zhāo xī - "only strive for the morning and evening," to race against time and seize every moment) and also to make unremitting efforts for long-term success. Only by planting the roots of innovation deeper can industrial upgrading have an inexhaustible source of living water.

Expanding new industrial space for the intelligent economy

At Shandong Haihua Group (山东海化集团), a large model for intelligent control of the salt chemical industry is learning to "inspect equipment, understand processes, and identify hidden dangers."

In the past, inspection of chemical equipment relied mainly on manual experience. Today, three intelligent agents for process optimization, equipment maintenance, and intelligent inspection can analyze equipment operating status in real time and detect anomalies in advance. After application, the accuracy of fault identification for key equipment exceeds 95%, inspection efficiency has increased by 50%, and the completion rate of risk analysis and hidden danger investigation has increased by 20%.

Artificial intelligence technology is accelerating its iteration. It has not only become a new increment of industrial development itself, but also empowers thousands of industries, expanding new industrial space for the intelligent economy. According to estimates by some institutions, in 2025 the scale of China's core artificial intelligence industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan, and a complete industrial system covering the foundational base, model frameworks, and industry applications has been formed. Wang Weiming (王卫明), chief engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (工业和信息化部), said that in the first half of this year, the adoption rate of artificial intelligence technology applications among manufacturing enterprises above designated size exceeded 30%, and the cumulative global downloads of open-source large models for artificial intelligence surpassed 10 billion.

Seize the historical opportunity and let the "AI+" action continue to deepen and be implemented in earnest. Eight departments issued the "Implementation Opinions on the Special Action for 'AI + Manufacturing'," proposing to launch 1,000 high-level industrial intelligent agents, build 100 high-quality datasets in the industrial field, and promote 500 typical application scenarios by 2027. From the perspective of policy deployment, the focus of artificial intelligence development has become clearer — not only should models be made stronger, but technology should also be pushed into real scenarios.

Moving from "AI+" toward the intelligent economy means that artificial intelligence is not only embedded in existing production processes, but will also give rise to new products and new business forms such as intelligent terminals and industrial intelligent agents.

"In the era of the intelligent economy, computing power, data, and the like will become new factors of production. Enterprises must also reorganize data, processes, and personnel, allowing artificial intelligence to be deeply integrated into every link, so as to truly achieve human-machine collaboration," said Peng Zhen (彭震), chairman of Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd. (浪潮电子信息产业股份有限公司).

Let new seedlings grow into pillars, let old trees sprout new buds

In Shaoxing, Zhejiang, the 8-inch silicon carbide chip production line built by Xinlian Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (芯联集成电路制造股份有限公司) has achieved mass production. Compared with the 6-inch production line, larger wafers can be cut into more chips, helping to reduce the cost of scaled production. At present, the company's silicon carbide power devices have been installed in more than 1 million vehicles, and the products have widely entered markets such as new energy vehicles, data centers, and embodied intelligence.

The growth of one enterprise is backed by the coordinated efforts of an entire industrial chain.

Li Gang (李钢), member of the Party Leadership Group and deputy director of the Science and Technology Bureau of Yuecheng District, Shaoxing City (绍兴市越城区), introduced that the locality has built a large-scale scientific research instrument sharing platform, supported enterprises in undertaking key R&D projects such as automotive-grade power semiconductors, and helped enterprises connect with universities and research institutes. A series of measures have enabled the integrated circuit industry to grow and strengthen.

In 2025, the output value related to the six major emerging pillar industries that China is focusing on building approached 6 trillion yuan, and is expected to reach more than 10 trillion yuan by 2030. According to forecasts, in 2026 the output value of China's future industries will reach 15.5 trillion yuan, and the momentum of new quality productive forces is surging.

Industrial development must not only open up new frontiers, but also tap increments from existing foundations. In 2025, the China International Fair for Trade in Services "permanently settled" in Shougang Park (首钢园) in the form of "one fair, one venue," and the century-old steel plant transformed and was reborn. Dayang Group (大杨集团), founded in 1979, completed the transformation and upgrading of multiple intelligent factories and built 40 fully intelligent production lines... Use artificial intelligence to optimize production processes, use green technologies to reduce energy consumption, use equipment renewal to improve quality, and accelerate the conversion of old and new drivers of growth.

Developing new quality productive forces is an inevitable requirement for building a modern industrial system. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the key to building a modern industrial system lies in forming a pattern in which traditional industries, emerging industries, and future industries 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "each benefits and both shine," to complement each other and bring out the best in one another).

To promote new quality productive forces empowering the modern industrial system, efforts must be made according to the growth laws of different industries. Future industries should focus on laying foundations, building platforms, and cultivating ecosystems; emerging industries should focus on improving technological maturity and industrial supporting capacity; traditional industries should seize the opportunities of digital and green transformation to open up new market space. Lu Liping believes that it is necessary to form a complete system of "future industries leading, emerging industries supporting, and traditional industries underpinning," connecting the three with new quality productive forces, and forming an industrial development pattern in which frontier research, industrial transformation, and scaled application are linked with one another.

In the opening year, we must not only see how well the blueprint is drawn, but also see whether the first step is taken solidly.

Let basic research receive long-term and stable support, let artificial intelligence create value in more real scenarios, let future industries, emerging industries, and traditional industries each display their strengths and empower one another. The modern industrial system will then be able to continuously accumulate new momentum and shape new advantages, and the foundation for China's economy to develop toward the new, the excellent, and the good will surely become more solid.

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Second World Humanoid Robot Games Opens

Beijing, August 22 (Reporter Wang Haonan) — On the evening of August 22, the Second World Humanoid Robot Games opened at the National Speed Skating Oval. A total of 666 participating teams and 2,056 robots from 16 countries will compete on the same stage across 51 events.

9.39 seconds! In the 100-meter large-size group preliminary at the opening ceremony, the robot from the Tianzhuo Team broke the human 100-meter record. In the subsequent preliminaries, the robot from the Tiangong-Jingfeng Technology Joint Team ran a time of 9.34 seconds; the robots from the Tianxiao Team and the Tiangong Team both ran 9.32 seconds, once again setting a new record.

In the standing high jump exhibition event, the Tiangong Ultra robot from Beijing jumped a height of 2.8843 meters, also breaking the human record.

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Border villages bloom with happiness like galsang flowers

By: 本报记者 卞民德 袁 泉 徐驭尧

Returning to the home village where she had lived for decades, 55-year-old Ciren Zhuoga instead felt unaccustomed.
Six years ago, her family left the pastoral area of Duina Township in Yadong County, Tibet, at an altitude of more than 4,500 meters, and relocated to Pangda Village, a border village built with aid from Shanghai — at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters, set against green mountains and clear waters, utterly different from the pastoral area.
No longer needing to burn yak dung for heating and cooking, the altitude sickness that had plagued her for years gradually improved, and Ciren Zhuoga's smiles became more frequent. "Living in a new house, buying a new car — who would have dared to imagine this life before?"
"Uphold the principle of ensuring and improving people's livelihoods through development, continuously improve production and living conditions in border areas, and accelerate efforts to shore up weaknesses in infrastructure and basic public services." General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions have taken root and borne fruit in Pangda Village.
Within this fruit is the exploration of developing new industries tailored to local conditions.
In the greenhouse, Zhu Jie bent down to inspect the growth of the vegetables. In the pastoral area, he had known nothing about vegetable cultivation.
After the relocation, the village developed a vegetable industry, and technicians taught him hand by hand about raising seedlings, fertilizing, and pest and disease control. Zhu Jie spent all day in the greenhouse, a small notebook in his pocket — "harvests and doubts, I write them down at any time." Today, he is the head of Pangda Village's vegetable cooperative, known to the villagers as "Teacher Zhu Jie."
Pangda Village has little usable land, limiting industrial development. With the support of the township- and county-level Party committees and governments and the Shanghai aid-Tibet work team, Pangda Village revitalized idle resources in neighboring townships, built 62 vegetable greenhouses, and developed an "enclave economy." At present, the vegetable cooperative's output is steadily rising, with more than 20 varieties.
The tourism industry has taken off and taken shape.
At first, lacking experience and confidence, the villagers hesitated. Party members and cadres went door to door doing ideological work.
"The homestay business is better than expected." Though there were ups and downs, Ciren Zhuoga persevered. At present, Pangda Village has 1 hotel and 7 homestays in operation, with another 9 homestays undergoing renovation and upgrading.
Suonan Ciren, who has artistic talent, took the lead in establishing a cultural and creative workshop, leading more than 20 villagers in making embroidered goods and also painting Pangda Village's landscapes onto stones. "These stones were all picked from the mountain forests; every one of them is unique."
Purchasing tourist buses, developing a reservation mini-program, designing tourist routes... In 2025, Pangda Village received 19,500 tourist visits, achieving tourism revenue of 940,000 yuan. As of the end of July, it had received more than 16,000 tourist visits this year.
Within this fruit is the vitality of young talent driving rural revitalization.
Raising his phone to record the village's new look and promote his hometown through the internet. Having studied for four years in Guangzhou, Guangdong, Danba Shique had grown accustomed to city life and was set on seeking a job in Lhasa. At that time, he always felt that leaving the mountains was the way to make something of oneself.
What he saw on returning to his hometown during the holidays deeply moved Danba Shique. "I suddenly understood that using what I've learned to make my hometown better is also a way to make something of oneself." Upon graduation, he resolutely returned to develop his hometown.
The rising vitality of Pangda Village also attracts young people from beyond the mountains.
Yang Liu, a young man from Shandong, rode into the village by car in the winter of 2023 and was filled with fondness at every sight.
"The thought immediately popped into my head — open a hotel." On a tour guide's suggestion, Yang Liu approached the investment promotion department of Yadong County, and the two sides hit it off at once.
In May of last year, the hotel opened its doors to guests. Because there are only 10 rooms, when it was fully booked, Yang Liu would refer guests to the village's homestays.
"The time is still short, the reputation hasn't spread yet, and the flow of customers is unstable." Still, Yang Liu has patience. "Investment — what you're investing in is the future."
Within this fruit is the responsibility of Party members and cadres taking the lead in solving problems.
After the relocation, the villagers' mode of production and life changed dramatically, and some problems and contradictions followed.
Pangda Village explored a six-step working method of "investigate, analyze, consult, assess, supervise, and resolve" — first checking for hidden dangers, then analyzing causes, then consulting, assessing the severity, determining a handling plan and supervising its implementation, striving to resolve difficulties and disputes from the root.
Jian Zhiwei, a cadre from the 11th batch of Shanghai aid-Tibet cadres and Deputy Secretary of the Yadong County Party Committee, introduced that organizational leadership and Party member vanguard roles are used to handle the four major tasks of stability, development, ecology, and border consolidation.
Watching the North Star, one never loses the way; following the Communist Party, one will find happiness.
Villager Pubu Zhaxi's courtyard is not large, yet it is spotless. Seeing visitors arrive, he greets them warmly. "Before, in the pastoral area, we lived in earthen houses and walked on muddy roads. After moving here, we live in small two-story houses and walk on asphalt roads, and in winter the house isn't cold either — all thanks to the Party's good policies!"
The young Pangda Village, like the gesang flowers in the deep mountains, is full of vitality under the nourishment of good policies.
"Adding streetlights, building a new cultural square, expanding the parking lot — there is still much follow-up work." Shen Min, head of the liaison group of the 11th batch of Shanghai aid-Tibet cadres and currently Deputy Secretary of the Shigatse Municipal Party Committee and Executive Deputy Mayor, said, "From the 9th batch of aid-Tibet cadres improving infrastructure, to the 10th batch cultivating and strengthening industries, to the 11th batch advancing governance innovation and model innovation, we, together with local Party members and cadres, persevere over the long term and carry forward the struggle, contributing to building a prosperous, stable, and solid motherland border."
In the evening, the sky gradually darkens. On the square in front of the village committee office building, the village's men, women, old, and young dance the guozhuang dance, and laughter echoes through the mountain valley.

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A Vivid Practice of Global Development Partnerships (Creating a New Era of Shared Prosperity)

By: 本报记者 李 墨

In the early morning, before the mist in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley had fully dispersed, the kitchen of the Shanti Sikshya Mandir School had already lit up. Several mothers were busy at work, washing vegetables, lighting the stove, and pouring buckets of fresh milk into a large pot... Before long, steaming hot breakfast was served to the children.
Since 2020, the China Foundation for Rural Development has launched the International Smiling Children project in Nepal, aimed at improving the health levels of children in local community schools. Through a series of measures such as providing daily nutritious meals, training parents to form "mother groups," and upgrading kitchen facilities, the project has not only enabled children to eat hot meals but has also brought scientific nutritional concepts into thousands of households.
"The children's enthusiasm for learning and classroom participation have improved significantly"
Shanti Sikshya Mandir School is a community public school in Kathmandu. Most of its students come from low-income families; their parents are either busy working in the fields or doing odd jobs in the city, and some families can only afford one hot meal a day. "Due to the lack of meal security, many children had sallow complexions, lacked energy in class, and could not concentrate," said Sajit Shrestha, vice principal of Shanti Sikshya Mandir School. The school had also seen students faint in class, and only upon inquiry did they learn that the students had not eaten all day.
After the International Smiling Children project came to the school, it not only provided daily nutritious meals for students but also helped the school renovate its kitchen, purchase equipment, and organized students' parents to form a "mother group" responsible for cooking. "The menu was specially designed by nutrition experts from Nepal's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology," Zou Zhiqiang, project executive director and director of the China Foundation for Rural Development's Nepal office, told reporters. The daily menu varies: Monday is rice with vegetable bean soup, Tuesday is a vegetable and grain set meal, Wednesday is vegetable fried noodles with eggs... "We ensure that children get enough protein, vitamins, and calories to meet their nutritional needs."
The changes brought by the project were immediately visible. "After meal provision began, the children's enthusiasm for learning and classroom participation improved significantly," Shrestha said with relief. "The lethargy caused by hunger that we used to see is gone."
In Kirtipur, about 5 kilometers southwest of Kathmandu, the International Smiling Children project has been successfully implemented in all community schools. "In the schools covered by the project, the average student attendance rate has reached 96%, the dropout rate has dropped significantly, and students' physical development indicators and classroom performance have both shown marked improvement," said Bimal Niraula, head of Kirtipur's education department. About 80% of the city's students come from migrant families from other provinces, facing particularly prominent challenges in nutrition intake and growth and development. "For these children, school meals are their most reliable source of nutrition every day, an important guarantee for them to escape hunger and focus on their studies."
"This project has given me the most confident state of life I have ever had"
At lunchtime, the aroma of food wafted from the kitchen of Bal Mitra Secondary School in Lumbini Province. Ishwari Chaudhary, a member of the "mother group," skillfully ladled steaming hot bean soup over rice and handed it to the children in line. Chaudhary comes from an extended family of 17 people, and the family's livelihood depends on a few acres of thin farmland and odd jobs. "When I see the children at school, I think of how my own children used to go hungry. Now they no longer have to attend class on empty stomachs, and I feel at ease," Chaudhary said.
The International Smiling Children project established the "mother group" and stipulated that school kitchen cooks must be selected from among the mothers of beneficiary students. This ensures food hygiene and quality while also providing a source of livelihood for local women in financial difficulty like Chaudhary.
The daily allowance of 600 Nepali rupees (1 yuan is approximately 22.78 Nepali rupees) is an important income for the families of these mothers, but what Chaudhary has gained goes far beyond money. "This project has given me the most confident state of life I have ever had," she said. She has not only learned more scientific knowledge about nutritional balance but has also participated in fire safety, first aid, and other training organized by the project, which has changed her family's dietary hygiene and living habits. Nabin Manandhar, chair of Kathmandu's 17th ward, said: "The 'mother group' model should be promoted in more schools."
At Padma Kanya Vidhyashram Community School in Kathmandu, project coordinator Muna Kumari has deep feelings about this. "The members of the 'mother group' treat every child as if they were their own," said Kumari, who has worked at the school for more than 30 years and witnessed the changes brought by the project. "Many students come from families of domestic helpers, street vendors, and day laborers. The meal program is not only support for the children's studies but also a guarantee of livelihood for the 'mother group' members."
"This is the truest and warmest portrayal of Nepal-China friendship"
Starting from the subtle care of a glass of milk and a lunch, the International Smiling Children project is helping drive deep-seated changes in multiple fields in Nepal, including educational inclusion, children's health, women's empowerment, and community development. "This kindness originates from the Chinese people, and we will always remember it. This is the truest and warmest portrayal of Nepal-China friendship," Manandhar said.
"Since its launch, the International Smiling Children project has covered more than 20 municipalities and nearly 200 schools in Nepal," Zou Zhiqiang said. The project is not just about "blood transfusion" but also about achieving "blood production." "We are committed to helping communities build a sustainable meal provision system. From kitchen construction, equipment configuration, self-built vegetable gardens, and personnel training, to menu design, ingredient procurement, and financial management, every link has a standardized operating manual."
This model of 授人以渔 (shòu rén yǐ yú - "teaching someone to fish," giving someone the means to help themselves rather than just giving them fish) has won high recognition from Nepal's local governments. Niraula said that in Kirtipur, every school participating in the project has achieved standardization from kitchen facility construction to meal provision procedures.
The Kathmandu municipal government has increased its government subsidy from 15 Nepali rupees per student per day to 30 Nepali rupees to support the project's continued operation. Kirtipur plans to expand meal coverage to twelfth-grade students. "We have a responsibility to continue such a good project," Niraula said.
Niraula believes the project is not only a vivid portrayal of people-to-people connectivity between Nepal and China but also a model of the Global Development Initiative taking root and bearing fruit at the grassroots level in Nepal. "This project directly responds to the most basic needs of children and embodies a people-centered development philosophy," Niraula said. "The close collaboration between the China Foundation for Rural Development, local Nepali organizations, and local governments is a vivid practice of global development partnership."

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Injecting Certainty into a World of Turmoil and Transformation (International Forum · Understanding China · Understanding Chinese Modernization)

By: 华盛顿·阿劳若

China has always kept pace with the times, advancing Chinese-style modernization through mutual learning among civilizations and international mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly writing a new chapter in the development and progress of human civilization together with all parties.

In observing China, some Westerners have formed rigid habitual thinking. They package prejudice as objective views and equate stereotypes with rational analysis. In their one-sided perception, China's development and growth is a "threat," technological innovation is "plagiarism," and strategic planning is a "conspiracy." Such one-sided rhetoric not only fails to help people understand the real China, but also exposes the narrowness and inadequacy of their own cognitive horizons and analytical judgment.

Facts are the most powerful evidence. Since reform and opening up, China has lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty, contributing over 70 percent to global poverty reduction. In 2025, China's average life expectancy surpassed 79 years, more than double the figure of 35 years in the early days of the People's Republic of China. The total number of international patent applications filed through the World Intellectual Property Organization's Patent Cooperation Treaty exceeded 73,000, ranking first in the world. At the same time, China's high-speed railway operating mileage has exceeded 50,000 kilometers, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has set new world records in bridge construction, the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System has been widely applied in transportation, agriculture, logistics, telecommunications and other fields, and frontier industries and technologies such as artificial intelligence and smart cities are booming. In the course of China's large-scale transformation and development, various challenges are inevitably encountered. Every set of detailed data and every major project vividly demonstrates the vigorous vitality and strong momentum of Chinese-style modernization. Turning a blind eye to these tangible development achievements and repeatedly parroting one-sided fallacies is nothing but 掩耳盗铃 (yǎn ěr dào líng - "covering one's ears while stealing a bell," deceiving oneself while ignoring reality).

At present, global challenges are emerging one after another, and the external development environment is undergoing profound changes. China has always maintained a steady and confident pace of development. This composure and confidence derive from the development direction anchored by long-term strategic planning, the governance foundation consolidated through normalized capacity building, and the efficient implementation system formed through scientific and systematic deployment. Under the scientific guidance of medium- and long-term development plans, a series of major infrastructure projects have provided solid support and enhanced quality for industrial transformation and upgrading, and each breakthrough in core key technologies has injected strong momentum into independent innovation and development. With stable and sustained resource investment and unwavering implementation, China has continuously transformed its grand development blueprint into high-quality development outcomes, and better translated the institutional advantages of socialism with Chinese characteristics into governance effectiveness.

Thousands of years of profound civilizational heritage have accumulated resilience and confidence for China's development. Rooted in the fertile soil of fine traditional Chinese culture, China has always upheld the development philosophy of drawing lessons from history and looking toward the future. It cherishes the cultural roots passed down for millennia while actively embracing modern science and technology; it upholds collective values and pools development strength while fully stimulating individual innovation and creativity. Chinese culture is inclusive and integrative, combining rigor and pragmatism with pioneering imagination, and steadfast perseverance with the pursuit of knowledge and progress. It has nurtured the Chinese nation's spirit of diligence, love of learning, and long-term vision, continuously radiating new vitality through the changing times and development transformations, providing solid and enduring spiritual support for Chinese-style modernization.

China upholds the philosophy of harmony, and has always advocated resolving differences through dialogue and solving problems through cooperation. This profound cultural gene has shaped China's independent foreign policy style and its sense of responsibility as a major country. In response to various regional hotspot issues, China has always actively promoted peace talks, worked to cool down situations, effectively prevented the escalation of conflicts, and proactively fulfilled its responsibilities as a major country. The white paper titled "Building a More Just and Equitable Global Governance System: China's Concepts, Initiatives and Actions" systematically elaborates on the historical context and far-reaching significance of the Global Governance Initiative, comprehensively reviews China's practical paths for participating in and leading the transformation of global governance, and contributes Chinese wisdom, Chinese solutions and Chinese strength to improving the global governance system and advancing global governance in a more just and equitable direction.

The extraordinary achievements of China's governance have injected invaluable certainty into a world of turbulence and transformation, making China an important force for safeguarding world peace and stability. China has always kept pace with the times, advancing Chinese-style modernization through mutual learning among civilizations and international mutually beneficial cooperation, and jointly writing a new chapter in the development and progress of human civilization together with all parties.

(The author is a Brazilian expert on geopolitics and ethics)

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The world today has much to learn from China.

By: 本报记者 徐 馨

"The multiple factors behind China's rapid rise in the scientific and technological field include, most importantly, China's sustained increase over several decades in investment in education, especially higher education. There is also a factor that is often underestimated or even overlooked: China's successful governance model." Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said this in a recent interview with our reporter.

Rockström is a world-renowned Earth system scientist who has long followed China's science and technology and sustainable development. In May this year, an article he co-authored with another scholar, "China's Long March to Scientific Dominance," drew the attention of international media. The article stated: "People should face the reality that the scientific community has long recognized: China's scientific and technological development has shifted from a slow walk to a full-speed sprint."

In Rockström's view, the acceleration of China's science and technology is not the work of a single day. "More and more papers led by Chinese scholars are being published in top scientific journals such as Science and Nature. This reflects China's technological progress, economic growth, and market development. The number of outstanding Chinese scholars is growing exponentially."

Rockström believes that China's success in the scientific and technological field benefits from long-term planning — setting long-term goals and implementing them consistently. "Today, when we recognize that China is a world leader in areas such as battery technology and electric vehicles, we should not forget that the relevant decisions were plans China made 15 or even 20 years ago."

As an Earth system scientist, Rockström believes that China's vision of building an ecological civilization is consistent with the research conclusions of today's Earth system science. He said that ecological civilization construction is not just a "single task" for one country; all countries need to work together. "China's promotion of ecological civilization construction and its clear delineation of ecological protection red lines not only create a clean and healthy environment for domestic economic development, but also protect the entire biosphere and the ecosystems on which all civilizations depend."

"China and Germany play a very important role on climate issues and also bear important responsibilities," Rockström said. Both countries are major world economies, and their actions on climate issues will influence other countries around the world. "We should not underestimate the power of a joint position between Germany and China on moving away from fossil fuels. Germany and China should conduct deeper exchanges and cooperation in fields such as science and technology; healthy competition can promote progress on both sides."

Rockström said: "China has long respected science and scientists, and the Chinese government has long supported basic research and technological innovation — today's world can learn a great deal from China."

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"Understanding Wonderful China: A Journey Well Worth Taking"

By: 李 琰 赵笠鑫

Embodied intelligence, brain-computer interfaces, hydrogen energy applications, quantum technology... these scientific and technological achievements are within easy reach at the Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone Exhibition Center (中关村国家自主创新示范区展示中心). Recently, the "Crossing Mountains and Seas, Meeting in Beijing" Chinese Bridge Summer Camp organized by Beijing City University brought participants here, where campers from various countries fully experienced the vibrant vitality of China's scientific and technological development.

At the exhibition center, the rich scenarios of embodied intelligence integrated into daily life left a deep impression on Brazilian youth Leonardo. "High-tech that I had only seen in classrooms and on the internet before is now right before my eyes," he said. "China's achievements in engineering technology, automobile manufacturing, urban governance, and other fields are admirable. This visit has greatly broadened my horizons and let me feel the power of innovation driving development and technology empowering a better life."

"The displays here are truly eye-opening." Mexican university student Ivana said, "The Chinese Bridge has built a bridge for young people around the world to understand China. Getting to know the wonderful China — this trip was not in vain." 不虚此行 (bù xū cǐ xíng - "this trip was not in vain," to have gained real value from a journey).

As wooden mallets fell again and again, the textures of plant flowers and leaves were gradually imprinted onto canvas; as brushes landed gently on fan surfaces, ink slowly diffused along with the brush strokes; between the rise and fall of scissors, patterns of animals and clustered flowers gradually took shape... Recently, during the Chinese Bridge summer camp hosted by Nankai University, over a hundred teachers and students from 15 countries and regions visited the Tianjin Drama Museum to experience the depth and richness of five thousand years of Chinese civilization.

In the rubbing experience session for Yangliuqing woodblock New Year paintings (杨柳青木版年画), a representative item of national intangible cultural heritage, through the complex and exquisite traditional procedures of "outlining, carving, printing, painting, and mounting," a painting of "Lotus and Fish, Abundance Year After Year" (莲年有余) gradually emerged. "I want to bring this New Year painting home to my family, so they can see the beauty of Chinese auspicious patterns," said Losofi, an international student from Colombia. French youth Panderwo said, "Watching the ink slowly spread across the rice paper made me fall in love with this traditional art form at once." Brazilian student Larissa said, "This activity was like a key, opening the door for me to understand traditional Chinese culture."

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Shanghai, China, and Hamburg, Germany. Organized by Fudan University, 17 teachers and students from the Hamburg Confucius Institute visited Shanghai for exchange.

At the Shanghai History Museum, the special exhibition "Meeting Across Ten Thousand Miles, Neighbors by Sea and Land — A Tale of Two Cities: Shanghai and Hamburg" (万里相会海陆同邻——上海汉堡双城记) drew German student Henriette Ries to linger for a long time. "So the two cities share such deep ties and similarities," she remarked. From the implementation of industrial cooperation achievements such as Santana automobiles and maglev trains, to the China-Europe Railway Express connecting mountains and seas, the two cities have written a splendid story of sister-city friendship. "This exhibition has made me realize the importance of cultural exchange. I hope that in the future I can also contribute to promoting friendly exchanges between the two cities."

At the "Dream Box" Social Innovation Center (梦想盒子) on Wujiaochang Street in Shanghai's Yangpu District, Chinese and German youth sat together, participating in activities such as a Sino-German cultural knowledge quiz, bilingual tongue twisters, and folding fan making. Exchanging folding fans became a special memento of this youthful exchange. "For the young people of our two countries, this friendship that transcends borders is the most vivid expression of the sister-city relationship," said German youth Karl Rapp.

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Indonesian President Prabowo meets with Wang Yi and his delegation

Our correspondent Jakarta, August 22 (Reporter Cao Shiyun) Indonesian President Prabowo met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Defense Minister Dong Jun at his Jakarta residence on the 21st.
Prabowo asked Wang Yi to convey his good wishes to President Xi Jinping, spoke positively of the role and results of the Indonesia-China comprehensive strategic dialogue mechanism and the "2+2" dialogue mechanism, and stated that under President Xi Jinping's leadership, China has achieved extraordinary great accomplishments, setting an example for Global South countries, providing much useful inspiration, and deserving study and emulation by all parties. Indonesia looks forward to strengthening all-round strategic cooperation with China, welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Indonesia, will continue to provide a good business environment for Chinese enterprises, and opposes any sowing of discord and hype with ulterior motives.
Wang Yi conveyed President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings to Prabowo, stating that under the President's leadership, Indonesia has entered a stage of rapid development. China is a trustworthy long-term and stable cooperative partner in Indonesia's national development process. China has the capability and the willingness to help Indonesia transform its resources into development momentum and bring more benefits to the people. The more turbulent the world becomes, the more complex and severe the external challenges, the more China and Indonesia must strengthen unity, better safeguard common interests, achieve the development of their respective countries, and set an example of cooperation for Global South countries. China is willing to work with Indonesia to earnestly implement the important consensus of the two heads of state and the outcomes of the first meeting of the comprehensive strategic dialogue mechanism and the second meeting of the "2+2" dialogue mechanism, comprehensively advance cooperation in the political, economic, energy and mineral, military, and security fields, continuously provide new momentum for the development and revitalization of their respective countries, and make positive contributions to regional peace and stability.

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China puts forward proposals on deepening APEC customs cooperation

Dispatch from our newspaper, Dalian, August 22 (Reporter Ouyang Jie) — On August 22, the second plenary meeting of the APEC Sub-Committee on Customs Procedures for 2026 opened in Dalian, Liaoning. The meeting announced the review and approval of the cooperation document proposed by the Chinese side, APEC Customs Promoting Technology and Innovation, Jointly Advancing Trade Security and Facilitation. Zhang Baofeng, Vice Minister of the General Administration of Customs (海关总署), put forward three propositions on deepening APEC customs cooperation: carry forward genuine multilateralism and jointly build a new pattern of open and inclusive Asia-Pacific cooperation; stand at the forefront of the digital era and reshape a new paradigm of customs governance through scientific and technological innovation; coordinate security and facilitation and support the enduring prosperity of the Asia-Pacific with a resilient and stable supply chain system.

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Moving into Resettlement Areas, a Full Sense of Belonging (In-Depth Reading)

By: 本报记者 张 驰 杨文明

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “We must consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation, and strengthen and innovate grassroots governance.” The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes focusing on large and extra-large resettlement zones and strengthening follow-up support for relocation from inhospitable areas.

Zhaotong City in Yunnan Province is the prefecture-level city with the largest population relocated under the national poverty-alleviation relocation program, with a cumulative total of 354,700 people moved into new homes. How can grassroots governance be strengthened and innovated to enhance relocated residents’ sense of belonging, participation, and happiness? Recently, reporters conducted interviews in Zhaotong City’s relocation resettlement zones to explore the city’s innovative practices.

Strengthening Party Building — Joint Consultation and Joint Governance

In the Jing’an Resettlement Zone of Daguan County, Zhaotong City, rows of beige residential buildings stand in neat formation, housing more than 40,000 relocated residents.

In the Siyuan Community within the resettlement zone, residential buildings are marked not only with building numbers but also with fruit labels such as grapes and watermelons. Ma Xi, secretary of the community Party committee and director of the residents’ committee, explained that this is to make it easier for residents to identify their homes: “Some elderly people and children in the community cannot remember building numbers accurately. Once the labels are posted, they can match them up and know that they live in the ‘watermelon building.’”

In early 2020, when residents had just moved from the mountains into the urban community, Ma Xi also came to the Siyuan Community temporary work station to serve as its head. With their living environment changed, what difficulties did people face? How could they be helped to adapt? These were the most pressing concerns of the resettlement zone’s Party Working Committee and staff at the time.

The resettlement zone has 149 residential buildings with similar appearances, and some residents reported that “it is easy to get lost and hard to find one’s home.” “To improve the effectiveness of grassroots governance, we still need to rely on strengthening Party building and mobilizing the masses to jointly solve livelihood problems,” said Long Changhong, then deputy secretary of the Jing’an Resettlement Zone Party Working Committee.

The resettlement zone selected a group of resident representatives, and Party members and cadres such as Long Changhong and Ma Xi organized everyone to hold meetings and brainstorm solutions. Some residents suggested using crops such as potatoes and gastrodia as labels. Others worried, “These things are not that easy to recognize, and their colors are relatively similar.” Someone proposed an improved plan: “Then let’s post apples, grapes, watermelons, and other fruits — the elderly and children all recognize them, and they are easy to distinguish.” Everyone agreed unanimously.

The Party organizations of each community took the lead, allowing the plan to be refined and implemented. Building after building was posted with “fruit labels,” solving the problem of “identifying buildings and finding homes.” In addition, Party members and cadres in the resettlement zone strengthened door-to-door outreach, teaching residents life skills such as how to use electrical appliances and stay safe, while also guiding them to change habits and update mindsets — for example, not throwing things out of windows, and putting garbage in bags and placing it in designated locations.

“The resettlement zone has also set up a ‘Hygiene Honor Roll’ and ‘Civilized Household Plaques’ to encourage everyone to learn from models of civility,” said Long Changhong. The relocated residents have gradually adapted to their new lives, and their sense of belonging to the community has grown stronger, so the community environment and atmosphere have continued to improve.

Making Good Use of the Grid — Strengthening the Team

In the morning, the weather was fine and sunny, and outdoor areas gradually became lively. In the Maojiawan Resettlement Zone of Yanchi Subdistrict, Ludian County, Zhaotong City, Yuan Yiyan, building captain of Building No. 5 in Jingxin Community, walked through the corridors, chatting with people she met.

“The sun is out — the elderly at home can go outside to get some sun.” “When taking the kids out, you need to keep a close eye on them.” Chatting as she walked, Yuan Yiyan soon climbed several more floors. When residents saw Yuan Yiyan, they responded with smiles and greetings.

In 2020, Yuan Yiyan’s family moved into the community. After settling in, like some other residents, she felt a kind of emptiness: “We didn’t know our neighbors, and when something came up, it always felt hard to speak up.”

On the other side, community cadre Ma Ru also had her worries: “Nine community cadres serving more than 1,500 households — we really cannot keep up.”

How to resolve these two sets of concerns? Zhaotong City came up with a countermeasure: letting residents participate deeply in community affairs can both strengthen grassroots governance capacity and enhance community cohesion and neighborly relations.

A five-tier grid system was subsequently established: subdistrict head — community head — community cadre — building captain — enthusiastic Party member or resident, serving as grid heads at each level to coordinate and advance work at all levels. “The grid is both the foundation for serving the people and a platform for joint consultation and joint governance. When the grid is active, it stimulates residents’ enthusiasm for participating in community governance,” said Xiong Juan, secretary of the Yanchi Subdistrict Party Working Committee.

As building captain, Yuan Yiyan has many matters to manage: caring for people in difficulty, mediating disputes and conflicts... On the large electronic screen at the Yanchi Subdistrict Party-Mass Service Center, a map in red, yellow, and green is highly conspicuous: red represents vulnerable groups such as elderly people living alone, patients with severe illnesses, and people with severe disabilities; yellow represents families with unstable employment; and green represents ordinary residents. Building captains are required to make contact and follow-up visits with the three color-coded groups at different frequencies. “Relying on the grid’s strength, we can grasp and resolve the people’s urgent concerns and difficulties more promptly and effectively,” said Xiong Juan.

Nie Deqiong, a resident of Yulu Community in the same Maojiawan Resettlement Zone, is also living a better life day by day. Earlier this year, when Yanchi Subdistrict conducted home visits, she confided in the area grid head: her husband works away from home as a migrant worker, and she has to care for two school-age children, so she cannot take a job with fixed hours.

After investigating, the subdistrict found that many residents had similar needs, so through multiple contacts it introduced a small manufacturing enterprise with relatively flexible working hours, helping 15 residents find nearby, flexible employment.

“There is always someone thinking about us. After moving into the resettlement zone, I feel just as strong a sense of belonging,” said Nie Deqiong.

Broadening Channels — Stabilizing Employment

Not far from the Jing’an Resettlement Zone are a number of toy factories, garment factories, and bamboo handicraft processing plants, which have absorbed more than 300 relocated residents into employment.

In addition to bringing in multiple enterprises, the resettlement zone has also built more than 1,700 mu of scallion (spring onion) bases in the surrounding area, creating employment opportunities for left-behind elderly people and women. In the carpentry workshop of Daguan County Jinzhu Company, Yang Xiaobang, a resident of Siyuan Community, was rushing to produce a batch of bamboo handicrafts. “I used to work away from home. Now I can both support my family and take care of them, earning four to five thousand yuan a month,” said Yang Xiaobang.

Only when people can move out, stay settled, and become prosperous can the resettlement zone’s community governance path be walked well. Through the measures of “transferring out a batch through labor services, cultivating industries to employ a batch, absorbing a batch through assistance workshops, resolving a batch through public welfare posts, and driving a batch through entrepreneurship support,” Zhaotong City has kept the employment rate of relocated labor force stably above 93.4 percent; the integrated development of “industry, city, and people” in large resettlement zones has been continuously advanced, with per capita disposable income growing at an average annual rate of over 9 percent.

When residents first arrived, Xiao Xianguo, head of the Human Resources Section of the Jing’an Resettlement Zone Party Working Committee, and other community cadres conducted a survey: “Where have you worked before? What would you like to do in the future?” On the other side, relevant county-level departments were also developing and building specialty industries. Staff of the Daguan County Industry, Information, Commerce, and Science Bureau, drawing on the area’s abundant bamboo shoot and bamboo timber resources, conducted research on multiple bamboo-product enterprises from elsewhere and successfully brought in a hotpot food-ingredient processing enterprise and others.

For residents working away from home, Jingxin Community established a full-process, “point-to-point” employment guarantee working mechanism: village (community) collectives set up labor service companies to accurately survey the labor force; proactively connect with human resources and social security departments and employing enterprises to build a “direct bridge”; human resources and social security departments, together with subdistricts and communities, help employing enterprises arrange direct transportation, enabling workers to go “out of the home door, onto the bus door, and into the factory gate.”

After relocation, stabilizing employment and increasing income has always been a “present continuous” endeavor. “Through channels such as WeChat groups and community bulletin boards, we regularly push recruitment information, and every Spring Festival we convene capable people to exchange ideas, encouraging them to lead more fellow villagers in building careers,” said Ma Ru.

Using joint contribution, joint governance, and shared benefits to drive grassroots governance innovation, while continuously broadening employment channels for the people, Zhaotong, together with many other places, is striving to write the “second half of the article” on relocation from inhospitable areas.

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Disabled individuals traveling can apply for an accompanying caregiver (Striving for the 15th Five-Year Plan: Reports from the Frontline)

By: 本报记者 沈靖然

Improve the social security system and care service system for people with disabilities.
——Excerpted from the Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan

Inside the residential compound at No. 13 Yixueyuan Road, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, 63-year-old Deng Peng (邓芃) sat in her living room, waiting for a social worker to come to her door and accompany her on an outing.

Because of a third-degree physical disability, Deng Peng has difficulty walking, and with no elevator installed in the old building where she lives, every trip out is especially difficult for her.

Before long, a knock sounded at the door. Deng Peng slowly went over and opened it, and Chen Xiaoyi (陈骁逸), a social worker from Lianglukou Subdistrict (两路口街道) in Yuzhong District, appeared before her.

Chen Xiaoyi carefully supported Deng Peng as she walked down the stairs, then out the building door, across the ramp, and through the street, before boarding a bus. Forty minutes later, the two arrived smoothly at the subdistrict's "Yuxin Home" (渝馨家园) Comprehensive Service Center for People with Disabilities.

"Today, I came to update my certificate information. Having someone to lend a hand makes me feel much more at ease," Deng Peng said with a smile. The day before, she had opened the "Yukuai Ban" (渝快办) app, tapped into the "One-Stop Barrier-Free Travel Service for People with Disabilities" (残疾人无障碍出行服务一件事) entry, and submitted an application for travel accompaniment. Soon after, she received a call confirming her itinerary with her.

"I've applied for travel accompaniment several times now; the online operation is very simple." Deng Peng recalled that in April this year, the subdistrict organized special training sessions, teaching disabled people in its jurisdiction hand by hand how to use the travel accompaniment application platform. "Now, I'm not afraid of family members being unable to get away."

Deng Jie (邓洁), the full-time disability affairs commissioner of Lianglukou Subdistrict, introduced: "Yuzhong District has more than 10,000 certified people with disabilities. When they go to hospitals, schools, subway stations, and so on, they can all apply for services in advance through their phones. The platform will synchronize the need to the corresponding responsible venue — for example, a hospital will prepare a wheelchair, and a subway station will arrange personnel to receive them."

At "Yuxin Home," Deng Peng opened her phone and tapped into the "Yuzhong District Barrier-Free Travel Digital Map" (渝中区无障碍出行数字地图), which marks tactile paving for the blind, accessible restrooms, voice-prompted traffic lights, and more throughout the district. Deng Peng said the most practical feature is the route recommendation function. "If I want to go to a hospital, the map can plan a route with no steps that allows a wheelchair to pass smoothly."

Since it went online in March this year, the "One-Stop Barrier-Free Travel Service for People with Disabilities" system has registered more than 6,000 users, provided more than 600 travel services in total, and achieved a 99 percent completion rate for the "one-stop" service.

"In recent years, the coverage of urban barrier-free facilities has grown larger and larger. In Chongqing, constrained by the topography and landforms and by old buildings, people with disabilities still have many individualized travel needs waiting to be resolved." Li Jiangong (李剑功), Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director of the Yuzhong District Disabled Persons' Federation, said, "We must continue to build the platform well, safeguard services well, and make travel more convenient for the disabled community."

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Accessible travel cannot settle for "good enough" (Editor's Note)

By: 陈 震

Tactile paving runs along the streets, and seat-type elevators are also available in subway stations, yet those who use them are rarely seen. The reason, I am afraid, is that the experience of using them leaves much to be desired: perhaps they are occupied or left idle, perhaps the design is not entirely reasonable, and more critically, without relatives or friends accompanying from the side, one is bound to encounter obstacles and dangers.
To achieve barrier-free travel, one cannot merely settle for "roughly adequate," but must instead shore up the weak links. In Yuzhong District, Chongqing, there is a "barrier-free travel digital map" (无障碍出行数字地图) that marks facilities and plans routes, and there is also a digital platform where one can apply for escort services. This enlightens us: only by personally experiencing the pain points of persons with disabilities and by putting ourselves in their shoes (将心比心 - jiāng xīn bǐ xīn, "compare hearts with hearts," to empathize and treat others as one would oneself) to do the work in a meticulous and solid manner can persons with disabilities truly dare to go out and be willing to go out, thereby making society more civilized and harmonious, "loving" and yet "barrier-free."

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Three generations of mentors and apprentices innovate their way to championship

By: 本报记者 汪志球 唐露薇 门杰伟

"Skilled workers are an important foundation underpinning China's manufacturing and China's innovation, and play a significant role in promoting high-quality economic development."
——Xi Jinping

In the arc of light, welding sparks fly; beside the bogie, figures stand silhouetted. Li Wanjun, born in the 1960s, grips the welding torch with the steadiness of a rock; He Yan, born in the 1970s, buries himself in focused work, striving to surpass; Wang Shangang, born in the 1980s, looks toward the future, embracing the intelligent era.

The silver dragon of high-speed rail races across the land — what makes it so smooth? The answer lies hidden in the bogie deep within the car body. As the core component responsible for load-bearing, guidance, damping, and traction of the entire train, the bogie is the solid support of the high-speed rail train.

"Old Li and his apprentices are the 'bogie' of China's high-speed rail counterattack!" At CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CRRC Changchun") in Changchun, Jilin Province, when the welding workshop workers mention Li Wanjun and his apprentices, they all raise their thumbs in praise.

Once an ordinary welder, now a "worker academician." Since the founding of the Li Wanjun Model Worker Innovation Studio, it has trained more than 20,000 welders, tackled over 150 technical problems, holds 62 national patents, and has won more than a hundred championships at welding competitions of various levels.

Growth, talent, success. Following, running alongside, leading. From the green-skinned train to the Hexie (Harmony) bullet train and then to the Fuxing (Rejuvenation) bullet train, the life trajectories of three generations of master and apprentice bear witness to the historic leap of China's rail transit equipment.

In the summer of 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited CRRC Changchun. "High-speed rail is a shining business card of China's equipment manufacturing, and has become a 'hot commodity' in China's foreign economic and technological cooperation. We must seize the opportunity and build on the momentum." "We must make equipment manufacturing an important industry, increase investment and R&D efforts, strive to seize the world's commanding heights and control technological discourse power, so that China becomes a major and strong country in modern equipment manufacturing."

Every word carried immense weight, and Li Wanjun and his apprentices engraved them in their hearts. "It is China's high-speed rail that has made us what we are, giving frontline industrial workers a stage to shine. We will continue to innovate and 'win championships,' living up to this era!"

Advance and Retreat
"When encountering difficulties, you cannot retreat. The harder the whetstone, the sharper the blade it can grind."

"Use labor to add bricks and tiles to the realization of the Chinese Dream," "Strive to be workers with wisdom, skills, the ability to invent, and the capacity to innovate"... On April 28, 2015, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the conference celebrating "May Day" International Labor Day and commending national model workers and advanced workers was held. Li Wanjun, a 47-year-old welder, read the proposal on behalf of the model workers, and his words drew applause.

This was the first time in 36 years that China commended national model workers and advanced workers at the highest specification. Most unforgettable was General Secretary Xi Jinping personally presenting Li Wanjun with the honorary certificate.

"At that time, I never imagined that within just 1 year and 3 months, I would meet the General Secretary 4 times." On July 17, 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited CRRC Changchun for inspection. Li Wanjun, as a representative of frontline workers, reported on the progress of the technical breakthroughs to the General Secretary.

On April 26, 2016, at the symposium of intellectuals, model workers, and youth representatives, "the General Secretary said, 'Some model worker representatives we have already met twice, we are old friends.' My heart immediately felt warm..."

On July 1, 2016, at the conference celebrating the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Li Wanjun, as a national outstanding Communist Party member, once again listened to the General Secretary's important speech on site.

"Being an industrial worker in the new era fills me with immense pride!" Li Wanjun said.

Having a promising future (yǒu chūxi) was once Li Wanjun's self-expectation. In 1987, 19-year-old Li Wanjun graduated from a vocational high school and walked into the water tank section of the Changchun Railway Vehicle Factory. The work before him had nothing to do with "having a promising future."

He hugged the round water tanks to weld them, oil mixed with dust, dust wrapped in oil. The welding torch flame reached 2,300 degrees Celsius, and in summer the heat made it hard to breathe. He crawled and scrambled in the water tank area, and in winter a layer of ice would form on his body. His co-workers joked bitterly, "From afar you look like a refugee, up close like a beggar, but look carefully and you'll see it's the water tank section!"

Of the 28 people who entered the factory at the same time, 25 left within less than a year. Li Wanjun begged his family, wanting to change to a "better job" too.

He waited and waited, and what came was a letter from home. His father, Li Shizhong, had been named a model worker at the factory for 7 consecutive years. A man of few words in daily life, he used a letter to talk heart-to-heart with his son who worked in the same factory, starting with the history of the Changchun Railway Vehicle Factory.

As one of the 156 key projects of New China during the "First Five-Year Plan" period, the Changchun Railway Vehicle Factory was founded in 1954. "In 1958, when I was 15, I came to Changchun Railway Vehicles. I traveled 30 li round trip every day, did all kinds of work, built the factory while producing vehicles. The conditions were so hard, but didn't I persevere?"

"If it's work, someone has to do it. If everyone retreats when facing difficulties and no one shoulders the burden, where would today's Changchun Railway Vehicles be?"

"Son, no matter what you do, as long as you do it well, you can still have a promising future..."

Two thin pages of paper — they were a father's admonition to his son, and also the hope of the first generation of industrial workers in New China for the younger generation.

Putting away his grievances, suppressing his restlessness, he sank his mind into the welding sparks before him. During lunch breaks, Li Wanjun would squat in a corner of the workshop practicing his skills, while his father silently collected scrap materials and polished iron plates for him.

As seasons passed, a piece of iron billet had its rough edges ground away, forging its sharpness.

In the summer of 1992, during an afternoon break, Li Wanjun, as usual, lay on the workshop floor practicing "overhead welding." An old man strolled over and stared at the sweat-soaked Li Wanjun for a long while: "Young man, everyone else is cooling off and playing cards. Why do you keep working nonstop?"

"Skills competition — I'm going to win the championship!" Li Wanjun didn't even turn his head.

He only learned later that the old man was Men Guangda, then Party Secretary of the sub-factory. At every meeting, big or small, Men Guangda would say, "To advance industrial modernization, frontline workers are treasures. Our Changchun Railway Vehicles needs more Li Wanjuns!"

"Having a promising future" became closely tied to the industry and the enterprise, and Li Wanjun's drive grew stronger. He arrived early and left late at work; when he got home, he practiced horse stance and held a calligraphy brush to improve his physical stability...

In 1997, at the factory-level and Changchun city vocational skills competitions, Li Wanjun successively won the "Welding Champion" title.

Looking at the big red flower on his son's chest, the old father nodded repeatedly. The wavering of a decade ago had become a laughing matter —

"When encountering difficulties, you cannot retreat. The harder the whetstone, the sharper the blade it can grind."

Skill and Spirit
"Having caught up with the high-speed rail era, we must use our strength to win honor for Chinese workers."

Treating work as a job, one will be calculating. Treating work as a career, one can only be obsessed. Li Wanjun devoted all his mind to honing his craft.

He sought "extra tutoring" from experienced master workers in the factory. He would carry a piece of material on his back, ask someone to "make a sample," then happily carry it back to his workstation to study it carefully.

Hearing that another factory had a "master," he would pedal his bicycle for an hour under the scorching sun to seek instruction.

Some didn't understand: "For working on old green-skinned trains, why do you need such high skills?" Some mocked him: "A professional award-winner, aren't you just after a good reputation!" Li Wanjun remained single-minded and continued to be his "skill fanatic."

How obsessed was he? After consulting an old master in the workshop about welding details, he turned around and spotted a weldment under the desk: "This work isn't bad — who welded it? I need to find him and take him as my teacher." The master couldn't help laughing: "This is something you welded yourself!"

It turned out this was the weldment from when Li Wanjun had obtained his international welder qualification certificate years ago. After the exam, he had thrown it into the scrap bin. The master had quietly picked it up and kept it as a teaching example.

Passion is the best teacher. Over time, with all kinds of skills, many of his virtuoso feats left people marveling — from 20 meters away, molten iron would flow into the weld seam. By sound alone, Li Wanjun could judge the current level, voltage strength, weld width, and welding quality.

With a heart full of passion, he charged toward more "championships." In 2005, when the central enterprise employee skills competition was held, Li Wanjun was selected to compete.

One month before the finals, an accident struck. During an operation, his left eye was accidentally burned by high-temperature welding slag, and during recovery he could only wear an eye patch. People around him urged him to wait for the next opportunity. But Li Wanjun had a sudden idea: "If I can weld well with one eye, then with two eyes in the future, wouldn't I be even better?"

"One-eyed" Li Wanjun stayed "welding" at his workstation.

First place! Among contestants sent by more than 160 central enterprises, Li Wanjun won the welding crown. Everyone was convinced. "If Master Li can't do a job, the design has to be changed!"

Turning his gaze to the wider world, the "top technician" in everyone's eyes harbored a pent-up determination.

The high-speed rail era arrived with a roar. The Changchun Railway Vehicle Factory grew into CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd. In 2006, the trial production task for the Hexie bullet train was assigned to CRRC Changchun.

Modern equipment manufacturing is a pillar of the nation. High-speed rail trains had long been the "private preserve" of foreign enterprises. Take this case: foreign companies blockaded core processes, providing only drawings without teaching practical operations. The cost of external procurement was exorbitant, and production ground to a halt.

"Key core technologies can only be relied upon if developed through our own research." Company leaders came to Li Wanjun.

The burden placed on his shoulders was to break through a "bottleneck" problem — the circumferential welding of the bogie.

To make the circumferential weld stronger, he welded layer upon layer and even polished it shiny with an angle grinder. Unexpectedly, the foreign experts who came for inspection frowned. Too many joints, weld toes too high... They found fault in every way, and Li Wanjun's fighting spirit ignited: "What foreigners can do, Chinese welders can do better!"

For over a month, he immersed himself in the workshop, working around the workpiece day and night. In the end, he completed the welding in 7 steps in one continuous pass. The weld seam? Smooth and rounded, with joints almost invisible to the naked eye.

"Perfect!" The foreign experts went from disbelief to nodding repeatedly.

The "Seven-Step Circumferential Welding Method" raised the weld qualification rate from 68% to 99.5%, creating China's first independent welding standard for high-speed rail.

Foreign companies extended high-salary invitations, but Li Wanjun was unmoved.

He could never forget that in 1967, the Changchun Railway Vehicle Factory developed New China's first subway train, and then for nearly 30 years, received no more subway train orders. The enterprise established an underground railway electric vehicle research institute, and generations of people silently held on, accumulating strength.

One person, even if made entirely of iron, can make how many nails? Only by being a screw can one, together with thousands upon thousands of fellow workers, support the "Made in China" of the high-speed rail era.

The pent-up determination in his heart became a flame: to represent Chinese workers and win championships on the world track!

In 2007, the Hexie bullet train entered mass production, urgently requiring large numbers of certified welders. "The company originally planned to hire foreign experts for training, but it would take too long and cost too much, and production couldn't wait." Shao Xiaoming, chairman of the trade union at CRRC Changchun, remembered this well.

Li Wanjun volunteered and became the "chief instructor" for the school-enterprise joint training program. He searched all the major bookstores in Changchun but couldn't find suitable textbooks. Relying on his own efforts — welding torch angles, rod manipulation methods... decades of experience were transformed into practical, usable operations, and he personally guided the trainees.

One flame scattered into a sky full of stars. In 3 years, nearly 400 welders "graduated," all obtaining international welding qualifications half a year ahead of schedule, and went to various bullet train production lines, supporting the foundation of China's high-speed rail large-scale production.

In 2010, the "Li Wanjun Chief Operator Workstation" was established, and later it was rated as a "National-Level Skills Master Studio" and "Model Worker Innovation Studio." Walking into this welding talent incubator, generation after generation of young people remembered one sentence:

"Having caught up with the high-speed rail era, we must use our strength to win honor for Chinese workers!"

Master and Apprentice
"Only when more young people commit to serving the country through skills can we overtake on the curve."

On April 28, 2025, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, another national conference commending model workers and advanced workers was grandly held. Ten years ago, it was Master Li Wanjun standing on the stage. This time, it was his apprentice He Yan receiving the commendation.

"Master is the benchmark in my heart!" In 1998, when 19-year-old He Yan first entered the factory, he heard about the "Welding Champion" Li Wanjun.

A competition brought the two together. In 2010, He Yan was preparing for the Jilin Province vocational skills competition. The old masters in his team often stood around, watching and offering pointers.

A circular weld stumped everyone. Someone suggested: "Go find Li Wanjun!" He Yan tentatively knocked on the door. Without a word, Li Wanjun headed straight to the workshop.

Halfway through welding the circle, He Yan suddenly saw the light — the problem lay in the parameters and posture. "Let me do the remaining half circle!"

In the final competition, he took second place in the province. Workshop union chairman Zhao Guijun made the connection, and He Yan formally asked to become Li Wanjun's apprentice. The reply was straightforward: "Only when more young people commit to serving the country through skills can we overtake on the curve."

He Yan discovered that what his master talked about most was not welding techniques, but dedication and devotion. Knowing why you set out makes your steps more resolute. In 2013, He Yan and two junior fellow apprentices swept the top three places in the Changchun city welder competition. In 2015, He Yan won the championship in the Jilin Province vocational skills competition.

New era, new opportunities, new creations. After the studio was established, Li Wanjun once worried: in the past, as a "martial champion," he only focused on craftsmanship; now he also had to be a "scholarly champion," applying for patents and writing papers.

He Yan became a great help. One loved to ponder, the other had rich experience — they were both master and friend, learning from each other.

Barrel-loaded welding wire was prone to scattering and tangling during transport and operation, adding to losses. Could it be improved? He Yan racked his brains and excitedly reported his idea — using the wheel axle structure of the welding torch to achieve re-winding and reuse of the welding wire.

"Clever idea, but it won't work well." Li Wanjun hit the nail on the head: welding wire loss was reduced, but production efficiency also dropped. Innovation must be pragmatic and seek truth. They consulted process experts, refined the theoretical support, and a complete, stable optimization system gradually took shape.

In 2018, the China Association for Science and Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology, among others, held the first China Innovation Method Competition, and the master-apprentice pair signed up. On the day of the defense, He Yan was the main presenter, with Li Wanjun assisting. This team, the only one composed entirely of frontline workers, won the national first prize. "We workers can also be 'scholarly champions'!"

Innovation is the first driving force; talent is the first resource. "Skilled workers are an important foundation underpinning China's manufacturing and China's innovation, and play a significant role in promoting high-quality economic development." "We must improve the systems for training, using, evaluating, and incentivizing skilled personnel." "Accelerate the cultivation of large numbers of high-quality workers and technical and skilled personnel."

In deepening the building of the industrial workforce in the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping personally planned, personally deployed, and personally promoted it.

Going abroad twice — He Yan remembers it vividly. Once was in 2006, when he was sent to Italy as an apprentice to learn advanced manufacturing processes. The foreign side only allowed observation, not hands-on operation. The young He Yan was quite aggrieved.

In 2019, He Yan, as a technical expert, provided on-site guidance for CRRC Changchun's Melbourne, Australia metro project. Chinese solutions and Chinese technology drew sincere admiration from the foreign staff. "Made in China has become a golden signboard for 'going global,' and the status of us industrial workers naturally rises with it." He Yan said with emotion.

"Workers can also be rated professors and earn annual salaries!" The master also had good news. Jilin took the lead nationally in launching cross-series professional title evaluation reform. In 2017, Li Wanjun obtained his senior professor qualification certificate, becoming the first frontline technical worker in the province to receive a senior professional title.

The CRRC Group added further incentives, increasing 7 evaluation and selection levels, and technical workers could also earn annual salaries. As a chief skills expert of CRRC, Li Wanjun joked, "My annual income is nearly 500,000 yuan."

"We must make respect for talent an institution and a habit." Liu Changqing, Party Secretary and Chairman of CRRC Changchun, cited a set of figures: the enterprise has more than 11,000 technical workers, with highly skilled talent accounting for nearly 70%, and its rail vehicles are exported to 26 countries and regions, with cumulative contracts exceeding US$14 billion.

Labor is glorious, skills are precious, and creation is great. The torch is passed on, and the "golden business card" of Made in China shines ever brighter.

Preservation and Change
"The original aspiration cannot change. To win the future, we must also seek innovation and transformation."

In 1987, when Li Wanjun stepped into the welding workshop, Wang Shangang was still a "little kid." In 2005, when Wang Shangang joined CRRC Changchun after being discharged from the military, Li Wanjun had already won the national welding championship.

Spanning nearly 20 years, perseverance and conviction are passed down in one continuous line. Among the comrades who were discharged from the military at the same time, Wang Shangang had the hardest job. But this post-80s generation member had his own understanding: "Enduring hardship is passing time in suffering; embracing hardship is actively tempering oneself to grow ability."

While others took their lunch breaks, he ran from team to team, watching how the old masters manipulated the welding torch and adjusted parameters. Li Wanjun was about to hold a skills training class. Wang Shangang had missed the registration because he was on a business trip, and as soon as he returned to the factory, he went straight to the Model Worker Innovation Studio: "Can I sit in and listen?"

"If you want to learn, come ahead — but the intensity is considerable." Li Wanjun gave him fair warning. "I'm not afraid of hardship! Effort builds strength." Of the more than 20 people in the training class, in the end Wang Shangang and 3 others were selected as core members of the studio.

"In training apprentices, the first thing is this spirit and drive." Li Wanjun said.

As the times advance, one must both work hard and dare to explore. The spirit of model workers, the spirit of labor, and the spirit of craftsmanship are carried forward through inheritance.

In 2013, the China Standard EMU development project was officially launched — this was what would become the Fuxing bullet train. Fully independent Chinese standards, Chinese design, and Chinese creation meant completely breaking free from dependence on foreign technology. From process design to frontline welding, everything had to be started from scratch, "building a new kitchen from scratch."

The top priority was the welding of the bogie torsion bar seat. Higher speeds, higher standards — the weld seams had to pass ultrasonic testing 100%. The slightest flaw, the tiniest bubble, was a hidden danger.

Facing a world-class problem never before solved, Li Wanjun took the lead, with He Yan and Wang Shangang following closely, in trial production and tackling the challenge. The first batch of trial weldments all had internal defects. The confident master and apprentices were dumbfounded.

"Strive to achieve major breakthroughs in advantageous fields, common technologies, and key technologies; promote the transformation of Made in China to Created in China, Chinese speed to Chinese quality, and Chinese products to Chinese brands." In May 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping inspected China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. and put forward the strategic plan of the "Three Transformations."

The three masters and apprentices were greatly inspired — they had to bite down on this "hard bone"! Flat welding, vertical welding, downhill welding — through repeated assaults, they explored the "one pass, three welds" method, completely eliminating hidden dangers, and all trial products met standards.

The "one pass, three welds" method welded out a new world standard, clearing the obstacles for mass production of the Fuxing bullet train. On June 25, 2017, the China Standard EMU, with completely independent intellectual property rights and reaching world advanced levels, was officially named "Fuxing," marking the historic leap of China's high-speed rail from catching up to leading.

Leading on the international track demands even greater self-reliance and self-strengthening. In June 2018, at the "Jia Ke Cup" international welding competition, known as the "World Cup of Welding," Wang Shangang won the championship.

Four years earlier, at his first competition, he was too fixated on rankings, lost his mental balance, and the result was unsatisfactory. On the way back to the accommodation, Wang Shangang called Li Wanjun with red eyes. "Think about why we compete?" The master's single sentence made him see the light.

Now, when training young competitors, Wang Shangang always brings up this "defeat at Maicheng." "Personal rankings are not the goal. What matters is surpassing oneself and truly serving the country through skills."

"Only when your thinking makes a turn does your technique pass the test." Li Wanjun summarized.

Take production philosophy: as China's high-speed rail has broken new ground, its goals and paths must also be continuously upgraded. In the past, the pursuit was "sturdy and durable"; later, it became "precision and standards"; now, it is "high-end, green, and intelligent." Upholding integrity and pursuing innovation — there is no end to it.

He Yan has also taken on apprentices. In 2021, He Yan's post-90s apprentice Ding Jian won the championship in the Changchun city workers' vocational skills competition. For the trial production of the CR450 bullet train, a key project of the "14th Five-Year Plan," He Yan led the team and made a breakthrough by transforming manual welding operations into "digital formulas."

And Wang Shangang? This spring, he stepped into a new position operating welding robots, learning from Xie Yuanli, another chief skills expert and programming master at CRRC Changchun.

Why start anew? "The original aspiration cannot change. To win the future, we must also seek innovation and transformation." Wang Shangang explained in detail: in the development and production of the China Standard EMU, welding automation had reached 60%; by the CR450 bullet train, the automation rate has exceeded 90%. "Intelligence is the trend, and excellent craftsmanship is the cornerstone. The times call for composite craftsmen who possess both manual virtuosity and programming ability."

Still remembered: 74 years ago, the first domestically produced steam locomotive was born, lagging behind the West by over a century. 19 years ago, the Hexie bullet train came online, 43 years behind the world. 9 years ago, the Fuxing high-speed rail debuted, and China's railway technology and equipment began to lead the world.

"This path was not easy at all!" Regarding his apprentice's choice, Li Wanjun gave his full support: "Catching up depends on innovation; to continue leading, we must continue innovating."

On July 8, the National Science and Technology Award Conference, the conference of academicians of the two academies, and the 11th National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology were held. Li Wanjun and his apprentices watched the news, and General Secretary Xi Jinping's words struck a chord: "Promote the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation. This is the key to leading the development of new quality productive forces through high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening."

With thought leading the way, the era legend of "Made in China" continues with even more splendor.

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Two ministries issue red meteorological warning for mountain torrents

Meteorological monitoring shows that at 17:00 on August 22, the center of this year's No. 19 typhoon "Zitan" (tropical storm level) was located on the sea surface of the Beibu Gulf approximately 60 kilometers southeast of Dongxing City (东兴市), Guangxi, with maximum wind force of 8 near the center.

In the next 3 days, affected by Typhoon "Zitan" and other factors, parts of western Hainan Island, southern Guangxi, central-eastern and southern Guangdong, Fujian, Taiwan Island, southern Zhejiang and other areas will see heavy to torrential rain, with localized heavy rainstorm to extraordinary rainstorm. In addition, the southwestern Sichuan Basin, Hunan, Jiangxi, Yunnan and other areas will see scattered heavy precipitation.

At 18:00 on the 22nd, the Ministry of Water Resources (水利部) and the China Meteorological Administration (中国气象局) jointly issued a red mountain torrent disaster meteorological warning; the Ministry of Natural Resources (自然资源部) and the China Meteorological Administration jointly issued an orange geological disaster meteorological risk warning.

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Water Resources activated a Level IV flood defense emergency response for Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan, and maintained the Level IV flood defense emergency response for Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu; the National Flood Control Headquarters (国家防总) and the Ministry of Emergency Management (应急管理部) maintained the Level IV flood and typhoon prevention response for Hainan, Guangxi, and Guangdong, as well as the Level IV flood prevention emergency response for Jiangsu, and decided to activate the Level IV flood and typhoon prevention emergency response for Fujian at 18:00 that day; the Ministry of Emergency Management activated a national Level IV geological disaster emergency response for Guangxi.

Based on monitoring and assessment, the Water Resources Department of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (广西壮族自治区水利厅) has, since 15:00 on the 22nd, upgraded the flood defense emergency response for Chongzuo City (崇左市) and Fangchenggang City (防城港市) to Level III.

(Compiled from reports by our reporters Jiang Xuehong (蒋雪鸿), Deng Jianyang (邓剑洋), Liu Wenxin (刘温馨), and Pang Geping (庞革平))

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2026 Green Computing Power (AI) Conference Held

Our newspaper Hohhot, August 22 (Reporter Zhang Cheng) On the 22nd, the 2026 Green Computing Power (Artificial Intelligence) Conference was held in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. The conference was hosted by the Hohhot Municipal People's Government, aiming to focus on deep coordination of computing and electricity, release of token value, and global open cooperation, and to promote artificial intelligence empowering thousands of industries.
At the conference, the Green Computing Power Development Research Report (2026) and the "East Data, West Computing" Hub Node Green Computing Power Index Research Report (2026) were released, the National Video Large Model Computing Power Base was inaugurated, construction of the comprehensive service platform for digital services going global (token going global) in the Inner Mongolia Pilot Free Trade Zone (内蒙古自贸试验区) was launched, and 13 key projects were signed, with a total investment of 136.1 billion yuan.

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First Edition Editors: Hu Anqi, Yang Xu, Zhao Zheng; Second Edition Editors: Lü Li, Zhang Anyu, Chen Zhen; Third Edition Editors: Han Xiaoming, Jiang Bo, Guan Haoyu; Fourth Edition Editors: Liu Nian, Han Chunyao, Yu Xuan

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A Shared Name: Teachers Supporting Xinjiang (In-Depth Focus)

By: 本报记者 任彤彤

Education assistance to Xinjiang is a journey across thousands of miles, and also a relay race of passing the torch from generation to generation.

In recent years, the national education system has conscientiously implemented the Party Central Committee's decisions and arrangements on paired assistance to Xinjiang, playing an important role in serving the overall goal of Xinjiang work. Batch after batch of educators have taken root in the border region, injecting vitality and vigor into Xinjiang's education with their outstanding professional skills and selfless dedication.

In this issue of the Education section, we turn our attention to three teachers assisting Xinjiang. They come from different fields and different posts, yet harbor the same sense of mission and responsibility, teaching and nurturing students and sowing the seeds of the future on the vast land of the border region.

— Editor

Li Xingwang, a teacher sent to Xinjiang under the Ministry of Education's "group-style" assistance program:

"Only by taking root where the motherland needs you can you grow into a towering tree"

"Teacher, I scored 624 points!"

"Fantastic! If you come to the Yangtze River Delta during the holiday, I'll treat you to a big meal."

"It's a deal."

This conversation across a screen took place on the day college entrance examination results were released. As soon as he saw his score, Abudula Niejimiding, a graduating senior from Jiangsu Middle School in Huocheng County, Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, immediately sent a screenshot of his score report to Li Xingwang.

By that time, Li Xingwang had already completed his assistance work in Xinjiang and returned to his hometown of Jiangyin, Jiangsu, but the bond between teacher and student had not been severed.

In 2024, as part of the third batch of "group-style" education assistance talents sent by the Ministry of Education, Li Xingwang came to Jiangsu Middle School in Huocheng County to serve as a mathematics teacher, while also serving as the head teacher of the 2026 Lin Zexu Experimental Class.

Why was the class named after "Lin Zexu"? "This combines the humanities and history of Huocheng County to create a red education brand in the work of education assistance to Xinjiang," Li Xingwang explained. Historically, Lin Zexu had been exiled to Ili, where he undertook water conservancy projects and reclaimed wasteland to guard the frontier in the Huocheng area. The establishment of the Lin Zexu Experimental Class was precisely to cultivate students' feelings of patriotism and family, and to focus on nurturing talents who are "born in the border region, love the border region, and build the border region."

When he first arrived in Huocheng, facing unfamiliar customs and a brand-new environment, Li Xingwang admitted that he was indeed somewhat anxious at first. Before long, the sincere emotional connection between teacher and students allowed him to integrate into this land. "As long as you enter the students' inner world, you will discover that their foundation is very pure," Li Xingwang said.

At their first meeting, Li Xingwang made a promise to his students: "The door to my office will always be open for you."

Student Ma Liyuan has deep personal experience of this. "From the first time I mustered the courage to ask a question, to later being willing to talk to him about anything, the teacher was like an elder in the family, paying special attention to every classmate."

The power of education takes root in the present and echoes into the future. Li Xingwang said: "Those seemingly trivial acts of persistence — looking back, everything was worth it."

Relying on educational resources such as Huiyuan Ancient City, the Ili General's Mansion, and the Lin Zexu Family Traditions Museum, the Lin Zexu Experimental Class regularly organizes patriotic education study activities, making patriotism and family feelings tangible and perceptible. Under the organization and leadership of the assisting teachers, students traveled to Beijing to climb the Great Wall and visit universities.

At Beihang University, student Abudula Adili saw an aircraft engine for the first time and could hardly contain his excitement: "The internal structure of the machine is so beautiful. If I get the chance, I want to apply for a related major." In Li Xingwang's view, "What we need to do is not only help students improve their grades, but also lead them to see a bigger world."

When his assistance in Xinjiang ended, what did he most want to leave for his students? Li Xingwang said firmly: "I hope they understand that personal growth is always inseparable from the soil of the times. Only by taking root where the motherland needs you can you grow into a towering tree."

Li Haixia, a speed skating coach and member of Heilongjiang Province's assistance cadre team to Xinjiang:

"In Altay, my daughter and I are fulfilling this ice and snow appointment together"

Under the afternoon sunlight, at the skating rink of the Snow Capital Sports Park in the Altay region of Xinjiang, a group of teenagers were conducting speed roller skating training. Wearing roller skates, bending at the waist and knees, they glided in circles at a steady pace, their postures vigorous and movements smooth. Behind the team, coach Li Haixia, dressed in a red training uniform, followed closely, occasionally calling out reminders on technique at the top of her voice: "Lower your center of gravity! Push your knees forward!"

"Seeing the children's movements become more standard day by day, I feel very gratified," Li Haixia said with a smile. The 54-year-old is a sports professional among the fifth and sixth batches of assistance cadre talents sent by Heilongjiang Province to Xinjiang, and also a national-level speed skating coach. "I want to introduce Heilongjiang's mature ice and snow teaching system to the border region, so that more Altay teenagers can systematically access various professional ice and snow programs and ignite their sports dreams," Li Haixia said.

When she first arrived in Altay three years ago, Li Haixia discovered that local teenagers had great enthusiasm for ice and snow sports, but lacked systematic training: teaching standards were not unified, training equipment was incomplete, and the four seasons were not connected coherently. So Li Haixia took the lead in establishing a comprehensive training camp for public welfare roller skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. Combining local climate conditions and venue realities, she divided the year-round training into several stages and formulated a training plan of "roller skating in summer, ice rink in winter," with clear objectives for each stage that were closely linked.

Over the past few years, Li Haixia has led her team members to win more than a hundred medals in various ice and snow competitions, and many outstanding athletes have been sent to higher-level professional teams.

While focusing on competitive training, Li Haixia has also devoted energy to popularization, carrying out public welfare teaching on a regular basis. From teenagers to adults, from training camps to open classes, more and more people have experienced the charm of ice and snow sports.

"The changes at the Snow Capital Sports Park are a vivid practice of Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces' assistance to Xinjiang empowering the ice and snow cause," said Liu Guanbo, deputy director of the Altay Regional Development and Reform Commission. "From talent cultivation to event organization, and then to industrial support, the foundation of Altay's ice and snow sports has become more solid, and the momentum of ice and snow tourism development is even stronger."

In May this year, Li Haixia's batch of assistance work in Xinjiang reached its term. Facing the reluctant eyes of the children, she took the initiative to apply to stay and joined the sixth batch of assistance teams. This time, following in Li Haixia's footsteps to Xinjiang was also her daughter, Yang Jia.

Yang Jia is a "double master athlete" in speed skating and alpine skiing. She was once selected for the national team and has a solid and impressive athletic resume. Having grown up on the ice rink, she has now also joined the assistance team to Xinjiang, serving as a full-time teacher for the ice and snow sports major at Altay Vocational and Technical College.

"My daughter being able to come — I am truly delighted in my heart," Li Haixia said. "In Altay, my daughter and I are fulfilling this ice and snow appointment together."

Li Hesheng, a teacher sent under the Ministry of Education's "University Silver-Age Teachers Supporting the Western Region Program":

"What is needed here is for someone to stay and work diligently, to build up the team"

How should retirement life be spent? A group of university teachers have given their answer: support the western region, and head to the foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

In a studio at the Xinjiang Institute of Technology, seven or eight teachers sat together in a circle. "This is the school's Silver-Age Teachers Studio. We often come here to discuss problems," said Li Hesheng, a retired professor from Ningbo University and a silver-age teacher at the Xinjiang Institute of Technology, as he stood up to introduce the place. This is his eighth year in Xinjiang. "I told myself that assisting Xinjiang is not about coming for short-term help. What is needed here is for someone to stay and work diligently, to build up the team."

In 2018, Li Hesheng, nearing retirement, responded to the national call and traveled thousands of kilometers to teach in Xinjiang. When his teaching term ended, he returned to Ningbo University to complete his retirement procedures, and then came back to Xinjiang again. After that, he signed up for the Ministry of Education's "University Silver-Age Teachers Supporting the Western Region Program" and remained at the Xinjiang Institute of Technology, extending his appointment again and again.

When he first arrived at the school, the Food Nutrition and Inspection Education major had just been approved, the School of Food Science and Engineering had not yet been established, and there were only two or three professional teachers. Weak foundations and teacher shortages — these difficulties right before his eyes made Li Hesheng even more determined to stay.

Changes gradually became apparent. From more than 40 students in the first cohort to over a thousand students currently enrolled in the school, from single-digit faculty numbers to a teaching team of more than 50 people... over the course of several years, the school's food-related majors achieved leapfrog development. "The silver-age force has become an important force for improving the quality and efficiency of the school's work and achieving high-quality development," said Hu Dengxiong, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and head of the Organization Department of the Xinjiang Institute of Technology.

Under their teaching by precept and example, more and more young teachers have achieved growth. Zhang Xiaoyan, a young teacher from the School of Food Science and Engineering, said: "Professor Li guided us hand in hand in polishing our classes and revising our research projects, and our own abilities have been greatly improved."

Ding Jianli, Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Institute of Technology, introduced that since the school was included in the fourth batch of pilot universities under the Ministry of Education's "University Silver-Age Teachers Supporting the Western Region Program," it has brought in more than 190 silver-age teachers from 106 universities across 24 provinces and cities. "They have come from all corners of the country, gathered at the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and devoted themselves with sincere hearts and lifelong learning to the hot soil of higher education in the border region."

In a corner of the Xinjiang Institute of Technology campus, there is a lush vegetable garden. Under the sunlight, all kinds of vegetables and fruits are growing well. "In our spare time, we can grow some vegetables here. It really feels like home," Li Hesheng said. In addition to implementing special treatment and providing quality resources, the school also pays attention to details in daily life, so that silver-age teachers who have come from afar can feel care and warmth in the border region.

Standing beside the vegetable field, Li Hesheng's gaze extended from the greenery before him to the farther distance: "I will continue to cultivate this 'fertile field,' so that more seeds of hope can bloom and bear fruit."

■ Reporter's Notes

Crossing mountains and rivers, for the sake of that one tree in bloom

Three teachers assisting Xinjiang, three different posts, writing the same original aspiration — a sincere heart that crosses mountains and rivers to assist Xinjiang and build dreams. More than one teacher told me that before setting out, they had faced incomprehension from relatives and friends, felt anxious about the unfamiliar environment, and worried about failing to live up to what was entrusted to them. In the day-after-day companionship, it was the bright eyes of students seeing a broader world, the vigorous postures of children on the ice rink, and the joy of newly established disciplines growing from nothing into scale that turned those initial concerns into motivation on the road of assisting Xinjiang.

What they share in common is that unshakable resolve. "One journey of assisting Xinjiang, a lifetime of Xinjiang sentiment." They want to leave behind a team that "cannot be taken away," a mechanism that operates sustainably, and a courage and ability to face the unknown. The transformation from "blood-transfusion assistance" to "hematopoietic empowerment" is showing results.

Where they differ lies in their focused dedication to playing to their respective strengths. "Support one school, demonstrate for one region" — building disciplinary frameworks hand in hand, bringing distant scenery into the classroom, igniting students' passion on the sports field... They take root in their own positions, leverage their advantages, and contribute their strength.

Education assistance to Xinjiang is not simply the transmission of knowledge; it is using one heart to inspire another heart, using one dream to ignite more dreams. The road of assisting Xinjiang extends far beyond several thousand kilometers. Under the nurturing of generation after generation of assistance cadres and talents, at the end of the road is precisely the blooming of tree after tree of flowers on the vast land of the border region.

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A Different Summer for the "Xiao Hui"s (On the Front Line)

By: 本报记者 田豆豆

The fragrance of sweet persimmons drifts and drifts, wafting over the mountainside, while you smile at me from the forest... The melodious singing drifts out of Huanggangmiao Village (黄冈庙村), Sanlifan Town (三里畈镇), Luotian County (罗田县), Huanggang, Hubei. A practice team from Hubei University of Technology is singing this original song, Luotian Pastoral Song (《罗田牧歌》), together with more than 60 local rural children.

"Last summer vacation we learned photography for the first time, and this summer vacation we participated in songwriting for the first time — it's so much fun!" said Lei Qihui (雷启辉), a middle school student from Huanggangmiao Village, excitedly. He is "Xiaohui" — the lead character of Xiaohui's Summer (《小辉的夏天》), an original ideological and political micro-film by Hubei University of Technology released in July this year.

In the summer of 2025, the Hubei University of Technology practice team came to Huanggangmiao Village to teach, and Xiaohui's Summer is drawn from their real stories. Like most children in the village, Lei Qihui's parents work away from home, and he has grown up with his grandparents. In the film, he plays "Xiaohui," a left-behind child who stays cooped up at home during summer vacation, playing games and scrolling through videos on his phone.

The arrival of the practice team changed all of this. "The camera lens is like an eye; it can record everything interesting in the world." The volunteer teachers taught the children hand by hand how to take photos with their phones, compose shots, and use light, and designed shooting themes such as "Reflections in Water" and "The Pulse of Life," taking the children out in groups to shoot on location. Every flower and blade of grass in the countryside, every smile and frown of their loved ones — all were made more moving by the children as they froze them through their lenses.

Zhang Xiaxi (张夏希), 14, observed her hometown through the lens: "There's a small creek by the school playground, with flowers — it's especially beautiful." Lei Zeyang (雷泽阳), 13, pointed his lens at his grandfather, who had just returned from the fields and was resting in front of a pile of firewood. "For the first time I felt Grandpa was this handsome."

The practice team also set up an "outdoor photo studio," inviting villagers to bring their own fruit and farm tools to the site, and letting the children serve as photographers, taking pictures for their families and fellow villagers.

The children kept discovering beauty and recording beauty, ultimately shooting more than 5,000 photographs. The practice team selected more than a hundred of them and held a graduation photo exhibition. The whole village came — men and women, old and young — and exclaimed one after another: "So our village is actually quite good-looking!" "Look, this is my home."

"Pulling the children out of the virtual world and letting nature become a vivid classroom for aesthetic education — this process let us experience the value of educating through beauty," said Li Jinke (李金珂), a member of the practice team and the actor who played "Teacher Summer" in the micro-film.

The activities are also constantly innovating. This year, the practice team decided to go one step further on the basis of photography-based aesthetic education — leading the children to co-create a song. Zhou Yuechao (周越超), a graduate student counselor and the creator of the theme song of Xiaohui's Summer, volunteered to lead the team, walking into Huanggang Yan'er Valley Craftsman School (燕儿谷工匠学校) and the Shili Pastoral Song Agricultural Tourism Area (柿里牧歌农旅区), guiding the children to ignite their creative passion in the process of exploring their hometown and experiencing local intangible cultural heritage.

"These children had never had any experience in writing lyrics or composing music, but some of the good lines seemed to flow naturally from their hearts," Zhou Yuechao said. He extracted key phrases from the children's collage poems to form the prototype of the lyrics, then composed the music and arranged it. The children participated in trial singing and offered suggestions, and together they ultimately completed Luotian Pastoral Song.

"Going into the countryside, we saw the rapid changes in China's rural areas day by day, and received a profound education through practice; at the same time, we did our best to fill the gap in aesthetic education for left-behind children, letting them see the broader possibilities of life," said Liu Shiyu (刘诗雨), a student from the School of Art and Design at Hubei University of Technology, with emotion. "This is a two-way journey of mutual nourishment and shared growth."

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Sowing the Seeds of Aesthetic Education Through Drama (Teachers' Voice)

By: 张东宾

On the stage, a ninth-grade student and their parents are locked in dispute over whether to continue participating in comic club activities. Just at this moment, the performance suddenly pauses — this is the situational drama "Non-Standard Answer" performed by teachers and students of the Central Academy of Drama (中央戏剧学院) at a middle school, and the students in the audience are invited onto the stage to rewrite the ending of the story.

Some students let the "rebellious teenager" in the play speak their innermost thoughts; some students add a teacher character to the scene to mediate the parent-child relationship... A vivid drama lesson allows the students to bravely express themselves in the process of role-playing and plot rewriting, and also learn to think from others' perspectives.

Drama is an important carrier of aesthetic education, playing a positive role in aspects such as developing students' individual potential, shaping sound personality, and cultivating teamwork ability.

When participating in drama activities, students can fully perceive the world and express themselves. For example, in the parent-child drama public welfare activities carried out by teachers and students of the Central Academy of Drama, parents and children participate in the "natural senses" game, closing their eyes to listen to the sound of wind passing through leaves, touching the textures of different rocks, and then using body language to interpret their feelings; in the "listen to heartbeats, distinguish colors" game, children listen to heartbeats in their parents' arms and try to describe the color of the heartbeat. In this process, participants better understand themselves and the world around them by perceiving nature and perceiving the people around them.

Drama practice can also provide students with rich and diverse life experiences, shaping sound personality through role-playing and emotional resonance. Drama is a microcosm of life; rehearsals on stage can bring participants many profound realizations. Forms such as improvisational performance and scenario simulation can provide students with an imaginative, safe, and tension-filled field of practice. On stage, they can experience different roles, express inner emotions, and rehearse responding to different problems, thereby enhancing their emotional management ability, social adaptability, and psychological resilience.

Furthermore, drama is also a comprehensive art; participating in drama activities helps promote students' comprehensive development. Whether rehearsing a full play or performing a segment, from creativity to scriptwriting, from directing to stage design, students need to divide work and cooperate, both exerting individual initiative and integrating into the collective with close coordination. In the process of creation and rehearsal, students' teamwork ability, communication ability, and problem-solving ability can all be fully exercised and improved.

Aesthetic education emphasizes not only the acquisition of artistic skills, but also the cultivation of emotions, the shaping of sound personality, and the fostering of team spirit. Today, drama has entered the aesthetic education curriculum of many schools, but related resources still differ across regions, between urban and rural areas, and among schools. To fully realize the aesthetic education value of drama, continued efforts are needed in curriculum construction, teacher training, activity development, and play creation — sowing the seeds of aesthetic education, allowing more students to see a broader world through drama, nourishing their souls, and achieving the goals of educating people with beauty, transforming people with beauty, and cultivating the foundation with beauty (以美育人、以美化人、以美培元).

(Author's affiliation: Central Academy of Drama)

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本版责编：丁雅诵

Layout design: Wang Zheping

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Building Stages and Paving Paths, Let Youth Shine Brightly (Macao Online)

By: 本报记者 富子梅

In April, at the Spring Employment and Career Development Expo, more than 50 Macao local enterprises offered over 2,000 positions; in May, at the Macao Youth Employment Matching Session, over 1,300 positions were 虚位以待 (xū wèi yǐ dài - "leave a seat vacant in waiting," to hold a position open awaiting the right person); in July, 9 mainland internship programmes for Macao youth were launched, admitting 180 Macao young people; in the first half of this year, the Investment Promotion Bureau of the Macao SAR Government completed follow-up on 133 investment projects, creating 787 jobs... Since the beginning of this year, the Macao SAR Government has focused on youth employment and entrepreneurship, with multiple departments coordinating to deliver a "combination punch" of measures: continuously holding job-matching activities, launching "Employment + Training" special programmes, and carrying out a series of mainland internship programmes, making every effort to promote youth employment and entrepreneurship.

"Macao is proactively aligning with the national '15th Five-Year Plan' and, based on the Macao SAR's '3rd Five-Year Plan', scientifically building a long-term mechanism for cultivating young talent, promoting the coordinated development and mutual reinforcement of talent, technology and industry, and providing a stage for young people to display their abilities," said Ke Lan, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government. "Realising a virtuous cycle of youth employment, talent cultivation and the moderate and diversified development of Macao's economy hinges on constructing a support system of top-level design, education as the foundation, and policy services."

Synergy and coordination, expanding the stage for growth

"I have a very good impression of Hengqin. My home is in Taipa, and it's convenient to get to Hengqin, so I want to try developing my career there." At the Macao 2026 Spring Employment and Career Development Expo, Ms. Lin, a Macao post-00s young person, was attracted by a Hengqin position offered by an enterprise and enquired about job requirements, salary and benefits. Ms. Lin told reporters that after graduation she had worked for a period at a large Macao leisure enterprise, but Hengqin's brand-new urban landscape and broad development opportunities made her 跃跃欲试 (yuè yuè yù shì - "leap and leap, wanting to try," eager and impatient to have a go).

This year, Macao's university graduates with bachelor's degrees number approximately 3,600. "Apart from those continuing their studies, nearly 2,000 will enter the workforce or start their own businesses," said Chen Yuantong, Director of the Labour Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government. In the past, large Macao leisure enterprises provided most of the jobs, but as graduates' majors become more diverse and their choices more varied, the employment trend in the graduation season is changing.

Ms. Lin's thinking is fairly representative among Macao youth, who are unwilling to be "trapped" by 按部就班 (àn bù jiù bān - "follow the sequence and order," to proceed step by step in a conventional manner) jobs at their doorstep and crave more attempts. "It is precisely because we have noticed these new changes that our policies and measures to promote youth employment and entrepreneurship have become more three-dimensional and diversified," Chen Yuantong said. Last year, the SAR Government established a working group for promoting employment coordination. The Economic and Technological Development Bureau, the Education and Youth Development Bureau and the Social Welfare Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, together with human resources and social security departments of Guangdong Province, joined forces to further strengthen cross-departmental coordination, and employment positions have continued to expand.

"In 2025, I participated in the cross-border finance trainee programme jointly organised by the Labour Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government and the Macao International Bank, and after interning at the Hangzhou branch of Macao International Bank, I was hired as a reserve candidate for the head office's customer manager position," said Mr. Dai, a Macao youth.

It is understood that this year's "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Youth Trainee Programme" has expanded its internship locations and industry types, inviting a number of leading mainland enterprises to participate, with trainee quotas covering pharmaceuticals, automobiles, modern finance, intelligent manufacturing and other fields.

Precise services, building a bridge between supply and demand

"School learning and book knowledge are not the same as practical skills. When I actually faced employers, I gained a clearer understanding of both the job positions and my own qualities," said Ms. Huang, a Macao youth, at the job-matching session.

Addressing the structural contradictions in employment, Chen Yuantong analysed that with the improvement of education levels and changes in employment expectations, some job seekers prefer clerical positions or jobs with stable working hours, which do not fully match market demand. "The SAR Government encourages young people to find employment first and then choose careers, accumulating experience and skills and gradually moving upward," he said. To this end, the Labour Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government has been working on "Employment + Training" on one hand, and promoting the connection between various industries and job seekers on the other.

Reporters learned that Macao launched the "Women's Workplace Continuation Programme" for the first time this year, covering 16 job categories including administration and customer service, and has expanded special programmes to public utility sectors such as telecommunications, providing relevant professional training and work practice opportunities. "This year, we plan to launch 38 'Employment + Training' special programmes, offering approximately 660 positions," said Chen Zihui, Deputy Director of the Labour Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government.

It is understood that in the first half of this year, the Labour Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government held a total of 80 industry-specific matching sessions and leisure enterprise matching sessions, covering hotels, retail, catering, banking, information technology and other industries, with various employment support measures successfully matching over 5,400 person-times. "Face-to-face communication is also very important, as it helps to discover the potential, strengths, interests and hobbies of young job seekers," Zhang Jian, a recruiter from an employing unit, told reporters.

"At present, enterprises going overseas generally face the dilemma of 'difficulty in recruiting' — there is a shortage of composite talents who understand both Portuguese and Spanish and are also familiar with local markets," said Wu Yanxiang, Deputy Director of the Administrative and Legal Affairs Bureau of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and Vice Chair of the Council of the China-Portugal Economic and Trade Centre.

On 3 August, the "Macao Youth China-Portugal-Spanish Enterprise Specialised Internship Programme" was launched, with the first batch of 7 Macao youth beginning a 12-week internship, enhancing their language abilities and vocational skills through practical experience. "The China-Portugal Economic and Trade Centre expands career space for Macao youth and also focuses on cultivating professional talent proficient in two languages and familiar with international rules, helping to consolidate the talent foundation for moderate and diversified economic development," Wu Yanxiang said.

Internships and traineeships, strengthening practical skills

"Internships and traineeships are a two-way journey of mutual discovery," said Gong Zhiming, Director of the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao SAR Government. This summer, 14 mainland internship programmes for Macao university students, including the Macao University Students Jiangsu Internship Programme and the Macao Youth Zhuhai Summer Internship Programme, are being carried out in full swing, with more than 620 quotas offered across Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Jiangmen, Dongguan, Zhuhai and other places.

"Being able to receive guidance from employers before entering the workplace is very beneficial," said Yu Sirui, a Macao youth who participated in the "2026 Macao Youth Cross-border Finance Trainee Programme in the Mainland." "I cherish the internship opportunity very much and hope to strengthen my abilities through concrete work."

Not only in the summer — various internship programmes run throughout the year, covering an increasingly wide range of regions and industries. Relevant departments of the Macao SAR Government, in coordination with mainland departments and enterprises, provide systematic training and job practice for graduating students, and invite senior instructors to lead students into grassroots frontline learning to accumulate experience.

"Since the beginning of this year, the internship programmes have received over 1,000 applications in total, and the 180 Macao students ultimately admitted will intern at more than 50 enterprises in Beijing, Hangzhou, Changsha, Wuxi, Hengqin and other places, with positions covering artificial intelligence, film and television production, financial practice, public utilities, low-altitude economy and other fields," Chen Yuantong introduced.

"Graduates generally lack workplace experience and have insufficient understanding of industries, making them prone to confusion when choosing careers. In addition, Macao graduates know relatively little about mainland city conditions, employment environments and emerging industries, so their career choices are rather narrow. At this point, internships and traineeships serve as a bridge," said Zhang Jiamin, Deputy Director-General of the Macao Youth Development Service Centre. The Centre, based on the actual development needs of youth, integrates multiple resources to provide differentiated internship pathways for young people with different majors and different career aspirations.

"I participated in two internship programmes in succession and benefited greatly. The internships allowed me to understand myself better, learn and expand my skills in a 脚踏实地 (jiǎo tà shí dì - "stand on solid ground," to be down-to-earth and pragmatic) manner, and strive to adapt to society's demand for composite talent," said Ms. Li, 25, who has just joined Hengqin Shenhe City Operation Co., Ltd. as a cultural, commercial and tourism assistant. "I feel like I'm growing every day — it's very fulfilling."

Full-process services, empowering future development

"When I hear customers praise the coffee's taste, all my efforts feel meaningful," said Xu Weiwen, founder of Gas Coffee, at the first Macao Youth Entrepreneurship Coffee Festival. "In the early stage of entrepreneurship, we lacked experience, information, direction and platforms. At the coffee festival, entrepreneurial partners exchanged ideas and learned from each other, no longer 单打独斗 (dān dǎ dú dòu - "fight alone," to act single-handedly without cooperation), and we feel more confident about the future."

On the entrepreneurial road, there are both storms and rainbows. "The Macao SAR Government continuously optimises the employment and entrepreneurship service mechanism, empowers youth development through education, continuously improves young people's vocational abilities, helps youth perfect their overall planning for further studies, internships and employment, and provides one-stop cross-border development services for young people," Ke Lan said.

"We support Macao youth in taking the first step of entrepreneurship," said a relevant official from the Education and Youth Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao.

Zhang Jiamin introduced that the Macao Youth Development Service Centre is committed to exploring a full-chain entrepreneurship support system. "In the early stage, we hold regular sharing sessions to break down cognitive barriers to youth entrepreneurship and popularise industry knowledge; in the middle stage, we organise physical markets to provide practical venues and opportunities; in the later stage, we follow up on the implementation of business models. Throughout the entire process, we use new media to expand influence and help entrepreneurs refine their project operations based on market feedback." Taking the coffee entrepreneurship project as an example, the Centre has served approximately 180 Macao local coffee shops and bakeries cumulatively through entrepreneurship lectures, resource matching, promotional campaigns, themed coffee festivals, industry exchange groups and other diverse formats.

At the beginning of this year, the Macao University Students' Chinese New Year Entrepreneurship Market brought together 12 teams of Macao university students, with the Macao University of Tourism tailoring entrepreneurship training programmes covering brand positioning, visual design, digital marketing and more, helping student stallholders master entrepreneurial knowledge through "training + practice" and move from creative ideas to market practice. The event was linked with community markets, allowing "youth entrepreneurship + cultural tourism consumption + community revitalisation" to 相得益彰 (xiāng dé yì zhāng - "each benefits the other and both shine," to complement each other to better effect).

Help them mount the horse and see them off on their way. A group of Macao youth who started from scratch and achieved entrepreneurial success has emerged in Macao. Some have founded cultural and creative brands, and some have received medals from the SAR Government, growing robustly on the fertile soil of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"How to go far and develop well is the question we think about most when serving entrepreneurs," Zhang Jiamin said. The Centre will persist in providing long-term follow-up services for young entrepreneurs, extending subsequent resource connections and channel empowerment, so that youth brands can truly move from temporary markets and festival event settings to the market and establish a firm foothold.

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Standing at a New Starting Point, "One Plan Guides the Future" (Observing the Vast Seas)

By: 张 烁

On August 18, the Macao Special Administrative Region Government officially released the Third Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Macao Special Administrative Region (2026–2030). This is a major initiative by the Macao SAR to implement the important directives of President Xi Jinping and proactively align with the national "15th Five-Year Plan." It is another important step in the successful practice of "one country, two systems" with Macao characteristics, and holds milestone significance of "one plan guiding the future" for promoting Macao's integration into and service to the national development agenda and achieving Macao's high-quality development.

The outline of the "15th Five-Year Plan" points out that we must unswervingly implement the principles of "one country, two systems," "Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong," "Macao people administering Macao," and a high degree of autonomy, implement the principles of "patriots administering Hong Kong" and "patriots administering Macao," enhance the law-based governance capacity of Hong Kong and Macao, and promote the economic and social development of Hong Kong and Macao. Standing at a new historical starting point, the Macao SAR Government has proactively aligned with the national "15th Five-Year Plan" and scientifically formulated a new five-year plan, providing top-level design and systematic planning for Macao's development over the next five years and beyond. This demonstrates its determination and capability for resolute reform and responsible action, and highlights the beautiful vision of a "law-based Macao," "vibrant Macao," "cultural Macao," and "happy Macao." At the same time, the new five-year plan actively constructs a new governance model combining an "effective government" with an "efficient market," making further exploratory efforts to enhance the governance capacity of the Macao SAR and achieve Macao's high-quality development.

The new five-year plan adheres to "open-door formulation," fully reflecting the expectations and consensus of all sectors of Macao society. The formulation of the plan received enthusiastic responses from all sectors of Macao society. Major associations mobilized members to discuss and submit opinion papers, and various industries and the general public actively offered suggestions through multiple channels, making the plan more refined with a significant increase in innovative measures and content. This is another vivid practice of quality democracy with Macao characteristics, gathering the strong consensus and mighty force of the entire Macao society to jointly build a beautiful homeland.

Appropriate and diversified economic development is a mandatory question that Macao's economic and social development must answer. Striving to achieve a non-gaming industry value-added share of approximately 60 percent of local GDP by 2030; the total budgeted investment in major projects for appropriate economic diversification will reach approximately 130 billion Macao patacas... The new five-year plan focuses on promoting appropriate and diversified economic development, proposing the construction of four major engineering projects including the Aoxin International Education (University) City and a government-guided fund as key levers, with priority given to promoting the "1+4" diversified industry development. Each assessable and verifiable quantitative indicator depicts a new pattern for the development of Macao's diversified industries.

The formulation of the new five-year plan demonstrates Macao's vigorous momentum and bright prospects for deeply participating in the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, better leveraging its unique advantages and important role of relying on the motherland and connecting with the world, and better integrating into and serving the national development agenda. High-quality advancement of the construction of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin is the key to breaking the impasse in promoting Macao's appropriate and diversified economic development. According to the new five-year plan, the Macao SAR Government will take science, technology, and education as the lead, deepen the integrated development of Macao and Hengqin, build a highland for gathering international high-end talent, and promote highly coordinated economies, deeply aligned rules, and efficient and convenient cross-border flow of various factors between Macao and Hengqin.

Macao is a blessed land for living and working in peace. The new five-year plan focuses on resolving people's livelihood concerns and adheres to a people-centered approach. The plan devotes a separate chapter to urban renewal, and continuously improves people's livelihoods in areas such as education, employment, housing, elderly care, and poverty alleviation, giving citizens a greater sense of gain, happiness, and security.

The blueprint has been drawn, and now is the time for vigorous endeavor. Macao possesses the institutional advantage of "one country, two systems" and has laid a solid foundation for development. It is believed that under the guidance of the new five-year plan, Macao will surely open up new horizons for development, continuously create new brilliance, and make new and greater contributions to the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation!

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Food fosters exchange, culture unites hearts.

Recently, the "Mountains and Seas Share the Same Clouds, Bright Moon in the Same Hometown" 2026 Seventh Kunming-Taiwan Food Culture Series was held in Kunming, Yunnan. The event uses food as a medium, bringing together the distinctive flavors of Kunming and Taiwan, and integrating folk custom displays, specialty markets, and other content, to build a platform for cross-strait people-to-people exchange. The photo shows the event site.
　　Photo by Li Jiaxian (李嘉娴) (People's Vision 人民视觉)

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Geographic proximity fosters integrated living (Micro Commentary)

By: 凌 锋

"One press of the accelerator to Hong Kong" — connectivity within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area has accelerated once again. Not long ago, the "Guangdong vehicles heading south" scheme was further expanded, from the initial four cities to all nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area. The continued release of policy dividends has once again pressed the fast-forward button on bay-area integration.

Just how convenient is the road "heading south"? In the past, mainland car owners who wanted to drive themselves to Hong Kong faced strict conditions, high thresholds, and cumbersome procedures, and ordinary people mostly relied on public transport, with their itineraries limited. Today, ordinary private car owners in the nine mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area need only meet basic eligibility requirements to apply for a reservation and drive themselves into the urban areas of Hong Kong. The customs clearance process is even smoother — "vehicles stop once, the system releases them in one go" — silky and seamless, greatly improving the convenience of travel. Taking the family to Hong Kong on the weekend for morning tea and a stroll through the markets, then driving back to Guangdong in the evening, has become a routine part of many households' lives. During this year's "May Day" holiday, reservations for "Guangdong vehicles heading south" entering Hong Kong's urban areas were oversubscribed by two to three times, requiring a lottery to allocate travel slots. The enthusiastic market response is a vivid footnote to the policy's gold content.

Today, the "Guangdong vehicles heading south" scheme works in coordinated linkage with the "Hong Kong vehicles heading north" and "Macau vehicles heading north" policies. Vehicle traffic flows in both directions across Lingdingyang, and the living radius of residents in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau continues to expand. Vehicles from Hong Kong and Macau heading north have given mainland commercial districts and scenic spots a "Hong Kong-Macau flavor"; Guangdong vehicles heading south have added vitality to Hong Kong's streets and lanes, boosting business in hotels, retail, exhibitions, and other sectors. At a deeper level, this is the deepening advancement of rule alignment: breaking down license-plate barriers, coordinating customs clearance... one "soft connectivity" measure after another is turning geographical proximity into integrated daily life.

It is reported that the Guangdong and Hong Kong authorities are striving to extend the relevant arrangements to all 21 cities across Guangdong Province. Looking to the future, from the initial four cities to the expansion across the nine mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area, and then to coverage of all 21 cities in Guangdong Province, this steadily expanding "roadmap" is increasing not only the number of cities and bringing not merely the flow of people, but also the connection of hearts. As more and more residents travel between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau with "one press of the accelerator," it can be expected that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area will become ever more livable, workable, and brimming with vitality.

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"Come See for Yourself" (Cross-Strait Pulse)

By: 江 琳 曾海萌

A robot dog that can do flips, a robot that can breakdance, a robot "shop assistant" that can make coffee and chat... Not long ago, at the main forum of the 2026 Cross-Strait Youth Summit, a dazzling array of cutting-edge mainland technology products made Taiwanese youth stop and marvel. "Mainland technology is very advanced!" Chen Guanming, a Taiwanese youth visiting Beijing for the first time, exclaimed that he was "truly enlightened," marveling that the rapid development of mainland technological innovation was "beyond imagination."
From July to August, the 2026 Cross-Strait Youth Summit — this gathering across the strait — attracted about 5,000 young people from both sides of the strait to Beijing, where they learned from each other, built friendships, and answered the call of youth through technological innovation, sports competition, study visits, and intangible cultural heritage experiences.
At the Cross-Strait Youth Short Film Creation Exchange session, "The Bar-headed Goose's Journey Home," "Grandma," "Taipei's Fleeting Years"... one after another, short films created by young people from both sides of the strait dazzled the audience. Though the cinematic languages differed, what they told were the delicate observations of life, memory, and belonging by young people on both sides of the strait.
Taiwanese animation director Xue Yingduo brought his work "Emperor Jiaqing Visits Taiwan" and shared the changes behind its creation. "For an animation like this, it used to take 15 people; now three or four are enough." He frankly admitted that the development of mainland artificial intelligence is admirable, having transformed traditional creative models, liberating creators from cumbersome processes to focus on plot refinement and character development, while also providing new technologies and new means for the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese culture.
The "technology wind" from the mainland has long blown across the strait. Lin Jiahong, permanent honorary director of the Taiwan Chinese Industrial, Commercial, Economic, Trade, Science and Technology Development Association, observed that mainland AI micro-dramas with plot twists and diverse scenes are popular in Taiwan. He believes that AI has redefined the threshold of creation: "You don't need to be a trained professional; as long as you have a good idea, you can express it." Relevant mainland preferential policies toward Taiwan have provided broad opportunities for Taiwanese creators.
Technology empowers creativity, and deep industrial cooperation across the strait requires broad vision and deep thinking. At the 23rd Beijing-Taiwan Youth Scientist Forum, themed "AI Innovation Ecosystem Development," more than 150 experts, young scholars, technology workers, high-tech enterprise representatives, and university faculty and students from both sides of the strait in fields including artificial intelligence, biomedicine, and financial investment jointly explored new paths for cross-strait technological cooperation.
"I brought many Taiwanese youth to participate in the conference; most of them are visiting Beijing for the first time." Chen Kewei, chairman of the Taiwan Chinese Youth Entrepreneurs Association, stated that Beijing has abundant application scenarios and big data resources in the field of artificial intelligence, and he hopes more Taiwanese youth will come to the mainland to look around, experience the mainland's scientific and technological strength, and find their direction of development. "For integrated cross-strait development, industries should complement each other's strengths, and youth should move forward hand in hand. The more exchanges between the two sides in the field of AI, the better." Zheng Xugao, chairman of the Taipei Digital Asset Industry Association, called out: "Industries on both sides of the strait should join hands to jointly explore the global market."
At the "Bay Day in Beijing" 2026 Beijing-Taiwan Youth Life Festival, the hustle and bustle of everyday life rose into the air, as the Beijing Satellite Manufacturing Factory Science and Technology Park was transformed into a summer amusement park — delicious food, fun activities, and great shopping.
More than 30 specialty stalls lined the street. Taiwanese-style salt and pepper chicken sizzled in oil woks; a long queue snaked in front of the "large intestine wrapped in small intestine" stall, its aroma mouth-watering. "I hope to use this opportunity to introduce Taiwanese flavors to more mainland friends." Yu Dailin, head of the "Tian BULA" strawberry farm and a Taiwanese youth, brought freshly made strawberry jam and a variety of agricultural products, with foodies crowding around her stall.
The ancient rhythms of the "Book of Songs · Lesser Odes · Liao E" flowed, and "Invitation to Wine" was bold and unrestrained... As one of the summit's activities, at the Cross-Strait Youth Classical Poetry Joint Recitation event, teachers and students from both sides of the strait took the stage together, chanting and performing the classics. "The innovative forms of performance by young people from both sides of the strait repeatedly bring unexpected delights," said Sun Yongzhong, a retired associate professor of Chinese from Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan.
"Young people on both sides of the strait share the same language, the same roots, and the same lineage. Whatever their surname, it is a Chinese surname; when they speak, they speak Chinese; when they write, they write Chinese characters." Zhang Ronggong, deputy chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, stated at the summit: "The people on both sides of the strait belong to the Chinese nation, and the two sides of the strait are one family."
"The two sides of the strait are one family — family not only in the sense that blood is thicker than water, but also in the need to come in person, see with one's own eyes, and experience with one's own heart." Cai Fangyong, a post-90s Taiwanese youth who has established a guzheng factory in Bijie, Guizhou, said: "I have been on the mainland for a full 20 years, from the warmth of teachers and friends I felt when I came to Beijing to study at age 12, to the policy support I received when starting a business in Guizhou. The care of family has made me deeply feel the goodwill and sincerity of the mainland toward Taiwanese compatriots." In the future, she hopes to continue using music as a bond, inviting more young people from both sides of the strait to make friends through music, deepening friendships through personal participation in exchange and integration, and looking forward to more Taiwanese youth finding their own stage on the mainland.

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Editor: Jiang Lin

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Building a registry for bronzes scattered overseas (Cultural China Journey · Cultural Observations)

By: 本报记者 何思琦

Scattered far across the seas, they return in order to China. The meticulous compilation of bronze records is the devoted work of our generation. — These lines were written by Xu Jiaying, an editor at Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House who participated in editing the Collection of Chinese Bronzes in Overseas Collections (hereinafter referred to as Overseas), in her editorial notes.

In the reference room of the Research Center for Excavated Texts and Ancient Civilization at Peking University, Overseas fills three full bookshelves, stacked volume upon volume, rising taller than a person.

In April 2026, this monumental work, embodying the painstaking efforts of two generations of scholars, was officially released to the public. Spanning visits to more than ten countries and fourteen years of effort, Overseas catalogues over 23,000 artifacts dating from the Erlitou culture period to the Han dynasty, achieving for the first time a systematic compilation of Chinese bronzes held in overseas collections.

"To create archives for cultural relics, to preserve evidence for history." Zhu Fenghan, chief editor of Overseas and Boya Chair Professor at Peking University, captured the original aspiration in one sentence: "We must take full stock of our cultural assets and gain a more complete and comprehensive understanding of Chinese bronzes held overseas."

A 14-year "treasure hunt"

The great affairs of a state lie in sacrifice and war. The earliest written record of the word "China" (中国) appears on the Western Zhou bronze vessel "He Zun" (何尊).

Bronzes are an important cultural symbol of Chinese civilization, regarded since antiquity as symbols of royal authority and treasured vessels of state. The Records of the Grand Historian records: "Yu collected the metal of the nine provinces and cast nine tripods." To this day, idioms such as "one word weighs nine tripods" (一言九鼎) and "inquiring about the tripods in the Central Plains" (问鼎中原) remain in common use.

"Much of our written heritage has been preserved through bronzes. Rich historical facts and intellectual culture were preserved through the durable medium of bronze, becoming an important component of excavated texts and enabling the dissemination of the Chinese writing system," said Zhu Fenghan.

In modern times, as the nation experienced upheaval, through war plunder, smuggling and trafficking, and the sale of antiquities, a large number of bronzes were forced to leave their homeland and drift overseas. Many peerless treasures became the "crown jewels" of overseas museums — a cause for deep regret.

The Western Zhou bronze set "Fan Jin" (柉禁), included in Overseas, is one such example. This national treasure, composed of a ban (altar table), zun (wine vessel), jue (libation cup), jia (wine warmer), he (ewer), gu (goblet), and jiao (drinking vessel), is the most completely preserved bronze ban with its matching wine vessels in existence — the only complete set of its kind. It was unearthed in Baoji, Shaanxi, was once in the collection of late Qing official Duan Fang, was later sold by his descendants and lost abroad, and now resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States.

"Fan Jin" is not an isolated case. In modern times, how many national treasures left their homeland in similar ways? And where have they been scattered? Tracing their whereabouts has become a weighty cultural mission pressing on the shoulders of Chinese scholars.

"At the time, the National Cultural Heritage Administration was planning a major project to survey overseas cultural relics, and bronzes were one of the major categories." In 2012, the task was entrusted to Peking University, with Zhu Fenghan as the lead. He immediately assembled young scholars with strong academic foundations — Zhang Jing, Wei Xinying, Li Gang, Zhang Haoping, and Liu Li — to form the initial research team.

The long road of treasure hunting would stretch on for fourteen years.

For a long time, apart from a small number recorded in published catalogues, the vast majority of overseas bronzes were scattered across various fragmentary publications, with incomplete information and inconsistent registration standards. To collect, organize, and catalogue them to the greatest extent possible was akin to searching for a needle in the ocean.

Germany, France, Britain, the United States... Overseas surveys were always arduous. "Everywhere we went, we worked day and night. During the day we went out separately with cameras to record information, and in the evening we came back to exchange findings. Sometimes we bought bread and ham from the supermarket and ate it sitting on the carpet in our hotel rooms," Zhu Fenghan recalled vividly.

In February 2016, the project was successfully concluded, and a survey report on Chinese bronzes in overseas collections was produced. But for Zhu Fenghan's team, the work had in fact only just begun.

"For the sake of scholarship," said Zhu Fenghan. "We hoped to obtain more materials on overseas bronzes and, on that basis, compile a book for use by the academic community." And so, the compilation and publication of Overseas was put on the agenda. As the compilation work grew increasingly demanding, several younger scholars successively joined the editorial team.

One artifact, one file — this was the cataloguing principle the project team established from the very beginning. For each bronze, they would create a traceable, verifiable "identity file" — high-definition images, vessel name and type, period, condition (complete or damaged), dimensions, weight, primary decorative motifs, number of inscription characters and transcription (if any), excavation site, current location, collector, provenance history, overseas publication records, and additional notes...

Creating files for bronzes lost overseas is, in effect, completing the history of Chinese civilization. Many famous transmitted vessels had unknown whereabouts, or were known only through ink rubbings of their inscriptions in earlier catalogues — no one knew what they actually looked like.

Yang Kun, a member of the team and assistant professor at the Research Center for Excavated Texts and Ancient Civilization at Peking University, pointed to a "Zhi Ding" (旨鼎) vessel in the book. Pointing at its inscription reading "Zhi made this precious vessel" (旨作宝彝), he said, "We matched the inscription to the bronze vessel. There are many similar stories in the process of searching. We would often be pleasantly surprised to discover that a famous bronze actually looked like this. Overseas has supplied vessel photographs, inscription photographs, current location, and catalogue information — all things the academic community did not know before."

Recalling the process of "creating files," assistant professor Zhang Tianyu described it as "meticulous needlework": "Scanning and cataloguing overseas catalogues volume by volume, logging onto the websites of overseas museums one by one to verify artifact information, and tracking overseas auction house sales one after another — whenever bronzes appeared, we paid immediate attention..."

Work truly like searching for a needle in the ocean — yet there were always those willing to plunge into the sea.

One terabyte of electronic book and reference materials, 200 gigabytes of bronze artifact photographs... Having amassed such vast data, how to unify their format, impose orderly arrangement, and make them verifiable by reference? A new challenge was just beginning.

A 60-volume academic magnum opus

Zhang Tianyu still remembers the period after joining the project team in 2021. "At the time, I mainly did two things. On the one hand, I continued to collect new materials; on the other, I filled gaps and corrected errors in the existing materials."

Easy to say, hard to do.

Meanwhile, the basic framework of Overseas took shape, and after passing initial review it entered the first proofreading stage. Every team member simultaneously undertook proofreading tasks while also having their own divisions of labor: Zhang Jing took charge of overall coordination of all materials and the production of various appendices; Wei Xinying verified all Japanese-language catalogue information; Li Gang single-handedly compiled the volumes on Northern-style bronzes; Zhang Haoping was responsible for the creation and maintenance of the electronic database; Liu Li focused on the translation and compilation of Western-language catalogue entries and the team's external communications; Yang Kun verified and finalized inscriptions; Zhang Tianyu was responsible for supplementing materials, unifying the writing style of the entire work, and liaising with the editorial group; and doctoral student Wang Xuesen produced all the typological classification diagrams and image catalogues.

"In recent years, overseas museums have accelerated their digitization efforts, publishing large amounts of collection information," Zhang Tianyu said. The team launched a new round of exhaustive searching — an important reason for the continuous expansion of Overseas's scope.

The method of filling gaps and correcting errors was more like "hand-crafting" — buying books, borrowing books, scanning books. "Scholars should, by nature, aim to possess the most complete command of materials possible," Zhang Tianyu said. "When we get a new book, the first thing we look at is the bibliography." In a long list of references, if there was even one unfamiliar name, a new target had appeared.

New materials had to be compared, authenticated, entered, and classified; old materials with gaps needed supplementary images, supplementary information, and corrections; red annotations on paper proofs had to be processed; the format and resolution of electronic vessel images had to be standardized; and ink rubbings and photographs of bronze inscriptions had to be checked and carefully selected...

From the first proofreading to the fifth, another five years passed.

In Building No. 1 of the Humanities Courtyard at Peking University, the lights in the reference room of the Research Center for Excavated Texts and Ancient Civilization often burned late into the night. Team members taught and conducted research during the day, then returned to their long desks in the evening to work by lamplight.

Stack after stack of proofs were continuously adjusted through the processes of content revision and supplementation, growing from 35 volumes at the first proofreading to the 60 volumes of the final publication. The young editorial team at Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House also poured their hearts into the publication of this great work. "The difficulty of compilation lies in its length, its vastness, and its unpredictability," Xu Jiaying remarked. "What is even harder is maintaining a consistent format and expression throughout that vastness and unpredictability."

For a work of this magnitude, how to classify and order the contents was an unavoidable question. What Overseas needed to achieve was to allow anyone opening it to quickly locate and accurately compare. Zhu Fenghan and his team discussed and deliberated, ultimately selecting typological classification diagrams and image catalogues, which gave the vast number of scattered, complexly shaped overseas bronzes a unified classification standard, incorporating them into this "bronze typology evolutionary genealogy" — an innovative new classification method with a deep research foundation in the cataloguing of bronzes.

At the end of 2024, the typological classification diagrams and image catalogues were initially finalized. In the reference room of the Research Center for Excavated Texts and Ancient Civilization, Zhu Fenghan's manuscripts were spread out, covering an entire long table.

Opening any volume of Overseas at random, one can see sets of tables: artifact number, representative vessel image, type, description, and page number. Wang Xuesen said, "From production to finalization, the image catalogue went through four versions in total. One change meant changing everything; one adjustment meant adjusting everything. Each version was more detailed, more accurate, and more complete than the last."

A cause carried forward by generations of scholars over a century

Since the 1920s, generation after generation of scholars have been unwaveringly committed to systematically collecting and organizing Chinese bronzes scattered overseas, never ceasing in their work of recording and tracing. Luo Zhenyu, Rong Geng, Chen Mengjia... The century-long history of organizing overseas Chinese bronzes is inscribed with the names of these great masters.

"After deduplication, the total number of artifacts recorded in the catalogues of earlier scholars is slightly over 3,000. The final systematically organized count in Overseas is over 23,000 — several times the total of all similar works ever published," Yang Kun said.

From 3,000 to 23,000 — these two numbers bear witness to the torch-passing dedication and earnest devotion of a century of scholars in verifying and tracing the origins of national treasures.

Seeking neither fame nor profit, weighing neither gain nor loss, what sustained them was nothing more than two words — "someone should." Someone should do this work. And so, with full enthusiasm and rigorous scholarly spirit, they "brought back" the national treasures lost overseas, one by one.

"This Overseas not only fills the gap in the systematic organization of Chinese bronzes held overseas, but has also cultivated a professional academic echelon, laying a solid foundation for subsequent research," said Li Ling, Chair Professor in the Humanities at Peking University.

With the principle of "collecting all that should be collected" for overseas scattered bronzes, Overseas includes not only bronze vessels, musical instruments, and weapons, but also bronze chariot-and-horse fittings, tools, and miscellaneous artifacts; it specifically organizes "Northern-style bronzes," expanding the research horizon of bronzes to the "pluralistic unity" (多元一体) of Chinese civilization; and it lists over 3,000 books and articles as references, forming a complete knowledge chain that allows subsequent researchers to "follow the map to find the horse" (按图索骥)... For academic research, the weight of this "foundational material" needs no elaboration.

Overseas includes 3,462 inscribed bronzes, many of which were previously little known to the domestic academic community.

In 2001, Shanxi Province cracked a case of cultural relic tomb robbery, and public security authorities confiscated a portion of bronze artifacts, all bearing the inscription character "Xian" (先), which came from a Shang dynasty tomb at Qiaobei Village, Fushan County. Most of the bronze vessels and weapons from the tomb had vanished without a trace. During the process of collecting and organizing artifacts, the project team located 15 of these "Xian" vessels. By tracing the chain of circulation and the dates of collection, they found that these matched the time of the tomb robbery. Based on the forms and decorative motifs of the bronzes, they confirmed their attribution to the second phase of the Yinxu culture, providing reliable academic evidence for understanding the chronology of the Shang dynasty's governance of the western territories.

Scattered relics lost across the world have achieved a reunion in another sense. "For the recovery of cultural relics, this is a clear chain of evidence," Yang Kun said. "For the first time, we can see the overall picture of Chinese bronzes held overseas in a systematic, comprehensive, and clear manner. Clarifying the 'identity file' and 'provenance history' of each artifact is not only an honest record of cultural heritage loss, but also provides solid academic support for the future return of cultural relics."

This is a national mission to safeguard cultural sovereignty and promote the return of lost cultural relics. Let the treasures scattered overseas have a verifiable record; let the long road of cultural relics coming home be lit by the lamp of scholarship.

"The study of bronzes is the work of several generations. We have merely done some additional work on overseas materials." Speaking of the fourteen-year journey, Zhu Fenghan sounded as if he were describing the most ordinary of matters. "There are museums and research institutions abroad that collect Chinese cultural relics and study Chinese civilization. I believe they will buy this book and gain a deeper understanding of the academic and artistic value of Chinese bronzes."

The baton has been passed to the younger generation. The construction of a "Chinese Bronzes in Overseas Collections" thematic database, based on the data of Overseas, has already been put on the agenda. Using large models for intelligent recognition and analysis of bronze vessel forms, decorative patterns, and inscriptions is gradually moving from conception toward reality.

Scattered in distant lands, recorded and gathered in the homeland. "We often say that the day Overseas is published is also the day the revised edition begins. This work has no end. We will continue it forever," Yang Kun said.

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The deepest tribute to the martyrs (Cultural Tea House)

By: 全勇先

I was born in a city called Yichun, at the foot of the Lesser Khingan Mountains in Heilongjiang. It was a cold winter. The first world I ever saw must have been the bitter cold, the white snow, and the howling north wind. This bone-deep chill is etched into my marrow. I do not like artifice, falseness, affectation, or over-polish. I like roughness, naturalness, simplicity, and a power that feels unhewn and whole. Childhood, youth, young adulthood... the most important years of my life were all spent here. When one is young, amid all kinds of desires and tangled, chaotic emotions, the heart is coarse and blind. When a person lives to a certain age and gradually quiets down, only then does one see many things that were invisible in youth. As I have grown older, I have become more and more interested in the things that have happened on this land. Consulting historical records, watching documentaries, and collecting local gazetteers became my habit. I began to ponder over a horseshoe, or a charcoal-heated flatiron, or a tattered diary. I thought: generation after generation of Chinese people have lived here, so alike and yet so different. In recent years, I have developed an involuntary fascination with the details casually revealed in historical archives and local chronicles. Details do not lie; details can restore the full picture.
　　Seeing history clearly requires some distance and time.
　　At the beginning of the last century, amid domestic troubles and foreign threats, some young Chinese wanted to establish a dignity never before possessed for the oppressed and enslaved people of this land. They longed to break their chains and build a beautiful world that even they themselves had never seen. So, here is the story. What kind of people were they? Why did they do things that people of that time could not understand? Dignity, freedom, truth, ideals, sacrifice, loyalty... their lives were therefore filled with legend, and to understand them, we must return to the historical scene and see the choices they made for their ideals and convictions.
　　A writer needs to construct a kind of rationality that connects the facts. Like a tailor, he cuts the cloth according to his own design and sews it together into the shape he wants. It must fit the human form; it must be three-dimensional. It must be wearable and presentable, neither too loose nor too tight. It must be beautiful and natural. Flowing yet not without solemnity, unrestrained yet full of restraint. It must find a balance.
　　I do not like works driven by preconceived concepts, and still less do I want to preset the answers before I put pen to paper. I think writing should first use intuition to set the direction, then use logic to lay the roadbed. You must build a bridge across the river and cut a tunnel through the cliff. What you must do is drive the car to the top of the mountain and accomplish what looks impossible. If a writer can plausibly drown an ox in a washbasin, or skillfully support a millstone with a single chopstick, then he is certainly a qualified writer.
　　The novel The Secret originated from a shelved film story. In literary and historical materials, I came across the memoir of the Japanese war criminal Ōno Yasuharu about the "Zhao Yiman Incident." People today can hardly imagine: how could a revolutionary with a shattered leg bone, under heavy guard, conspire with the policeman guarding her and another young nurse who was not even sixteen years old to plan an unprecedented prison break? How did she do it? Even Hollywood films would not dare to shoot such a story. A woman imprisoned and gravely wounded—how did she sign this pact of life and death with a policeman and a nurse she had never met before? What secret did they share?
　　I consulted nearly all the materials on Zhao Yiman that could be found. From her birth to her death, a mere thirty-one years. From her childhood refusal to bind her feet and her call for the tenant farmers of her own family to resist exploitation, her extraordinary life was already destined. She was not only a martyr of the War of Resistance; she was also a revolutionary, and even a pioneer of the women's liberation movement. She was a rebel against the old era. Born into a wealthy family, she nevertheless felt profound sympathy for the suffering people at the bottom of society. The first thing she demanded after her arrest was that the Japanese release Yang Guilan, the sixteen-year-old young courier. After her second arrest, she was still thinking of protecting Han Yongyi, the nurse who had helped rescue her. In the Zhuo River area of those years, she influenced and transformed tens of thousands of suffering Chinese women. She taught them how to resist, how to make revolution, and how to live with dignity. She was the teacher, the elder sister, and the spiritual guide of those most downtrodden working women. All of this was part of her personal charisma, and it gave me the desire to write the legend of her life.
　　In this novel, what I must do is to present, without omitting a single one, the shock, sorrow, sighs, regret, and confusion I felt when I first faced this story. This is my deepest tribute to that land and to those remarkable people.
　　(The author is a writer and recipient of the Ninth Lu Xun Literature Prize)

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Villagers as Models, Life as the Stage (Rural Vistas)

By: 本报记者 董泽扬

As night fell, the lights came on. On the Nansheng River in Wuzhishan City, Hainan, an extraordinary "village show" kicked off, and the small city hidden in the rainforest began to buzz with excitement.
The performers wore ethnic costumes and carried farming tools and local specialty products. The village's grandmothers and uncles became models, walking the runway barefoot and splashing water. Pausing mid-stride, the "models" held their poses without turning around, and announced themselves loudly into the standing microphones: "This is the rice our village grows — everyone is welcome to come see it and taste it!" The simple local accents drew waves of cheers and applause.
"Here, we walk the runway right after finishing farm work!" Wang Tangjian, a villager, spoke with pride as he struck poses. Having participated in rehearsals since the first season of the "village show" in 2023, he has witnessed the new changes in this farmers' runway. From the fields to the rippling waters, from runway displays to cultural performances, the "village show" brings something new every year, and the villager models on stage and the staff off stage are also "dedicated year after year."
As for the stage, the "village show" has no fixed venue — thatched huts and bamboo houses, rural terraced fields, and street-side parks can all showcase its flair. With bamboo frames set up and Li brocade draped over them, the villagers have a backdrop for their runway walk; with lights arranged and music playing, neighbors and fellow villagers come to show support and gather below the stage. As the shows multiplied, people developed new expectations for stage design.
"For this year's 'village show,' we built a water stage on the ecologically restored Nansheng River, returning the stage to the landscape and letting the river become the grandest backdrop," introduced Cao Yinqiao, general manager of Wuzhishan Tourism Investment Group. "The 'village show' stage is not confined to any single format, but strives to be low-cost, sustainable, and possess a 'natural feel' commensurate with its surroundings."
As for the costumes, the "village show" encompasses everything — Li brocade and Miao embroidery can both be worn, and everyday attire and haute couture can both take the stage. The villager models wore creative outfits and carried work tools and local specialties, presenting themselves openly and confidently. Professional models also appeared, with four series and over 60 outfits from the Li Brocade International Talent Training Class showcased on the same stage, making the "village show" a window into how "ethnic characteristics can also be fashionable."
Chen Mengli, a Li ethnic woman born in the 1990s, returned to her hometown to start a business after graduating from university, and was one of the designers of the first "village show." "At that time, we incorporated Li brocade elements, cycad groves, and hiking and cycling into the costume designs, which were widely praised by our fellow villagers. For the next 'village show,' we plan to co-brand with enterprises to give traditional attire a more modern flair," Chen Mengli said.
"The biggest change is still in everyone's mindset." Wang Tangjian recalled that when the "village show" first started, when fellow villagers were invited to take the stage, most waved their hands repeatedly in refusal. "Now that there are more performances and greater fame, more tourists, and higher incomes, everyone comes on stage voluntarily, actively 'builds the stage,' and is more confident and better at expressing themselves." From elderly grandmothers to young children, from Li brocade weavers and returning students to major growers, everyone is a model, and everyone can showcase their flair.
The frequent appearances of the "village show" have also helped open up the market for the intangible cultural heritage techniques behind it. In 2025, sales of Wuzhishan Li brocade cultural and creative products exceeded 10 million yuan, and high-standard intangible cultural heritage workshops, operating on a "heritage inheritor + workshop + farming household" model, have driven more than 350 weavers to increase their incomes, achieving total annual sales of nearly 5 million yuan.
Fireworks burst forth and drones soared into the sky, illuminating the "village show" stage on the Nansheng River. "We will continue to polish the 'village show' brand, explore new paths for rural cultural revitalization, build a good stage for villagers to walk on, and make intangible cultural heritage inheritance even more brilliant," Cao Yinqiao said.

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本版责编：何思琦

Layout design: Shen Yiling (沈亦伶)

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Heroic Stand (Picturesque Journey · A Bright Road)

By: 靳尚谊

I have painted some works on revolutionary historical themes, but the painting Qu Qiubai (see image) holds a special place in my heart.

After the Long March began, in order to keep secret the fact that the main forces of the Red Army had withdrawn from the Soviet area, Qu Qiubai continued to edit the newspaper Red China until January 1935. On February 24 of that same year, during the transfer, Qu Qiubai and others were arrested in Changting, Fujian, and were taken to Shanghang Prison. Faced with the enemy's nine attempts to persuade him to surrender within six days, Qu Qiubai gave the resounding reply: "A person loves his own history more than a bird loves its wings; please do not tear apart my history." On June 18, 1935, singing "The Internationale" aloud, he walked slowly toward the execution ground and met his death with composure. For me, the work Qu Qiubai is not only about a Communist Party member and a historical event, but also about the spiritual conviction of "I have always wanted to blaze a bright path for everyone," and about how I, as a painter, understand and present a kind of true and profound heroism.

This work was created at the beginning of the period of reform and opening up. In the just-concluded catastrophe of the "Cultural Revolution," some people and events had been subjected to unfair judgment, including Comrade Qu Qiubai. As his reputation was restored, I also began to re-examine the life of this early leader of the Chinese Communist Party. I read the "Superfluous Words" (Duoyu de hua) he wrote in prison. It was precisely this text, written over six days, that had caused him to suffer misunderstanding after his death. In my view, it was exactly the most severe and most sincere dissection of his own soul by a true revolutionary at the end of his life. A person who dares to calmly review his life and deeply examine himself before death—how powerful and magnanimous must his inner world be. It was this complex and profound force of character that moved me and gave rise to the idea of creating a portrait of him.

What I wanted to paint was not the traditional image of a hero standing tall between heaven and earth and dying for a just cause, but rather Qu Qiubai's state of contemplation in the final moments of his life. This conception came from a photograph taken just before his execution—he was so calm, so composed, even bearing the gentle frailty of a scholar. So I abandoned the conventional mode of depicting a hero's grand martyrdom and decided to freeze the most weighty moment of his life in an almost silent manner.

When conceiving this painting, everything I did was aimed at creating that atmosphere of "contemplation." In the painting, Qu Qiubai sits on the crude prison bed, his body slightly tilted, his arm supporting his body, forming a stable triangle with his torso. This composition both presents the character's quiet state at the moment and, through its stability, hints at his inner firmness. The figure is on the right side of the frame, with a large expanse of blue-gray prison wall behind him. I used this extremely austere environment to create the atmosphere before a hero's martyrdom and to guide the viewer's gaze entirely onto the figure. The only concrete prop in the painting is a stack of manuscripts pressed beneath his hand—it symbolizes the "Superfluous Words," and even more, it symbolizes Qu Qiubai's complex and magnanimous inner world.

In terms of lighting, I adopted top-side lighting. This beam of light comes in from one side, strengthening the steady contours of the face and body, creating clear contrast between light and dark and visual depth. Side lighting not only models the form, but also creates a somber, silent atmosphere, as if the entire picture is holding its breath, with only him focusing on reviewing his short but glorious life. His gaunt face and the gaze behind his glasses both appear clear and tranquil under this light. I hope that through these techniques, viewers can feel that this seemingly frail scholar is engaged in the most profound thinking with a calm that transcends life and death—this stillness itself is a kind of strength. As Mao Zedong highly praised Qu Qiubai: "He maintained a heroic stance during the difficult years of the revolution, preferring to walk toward the executioner's blade rather than yield. His spirit of working for the people, his will that did not bend in the face of adversity, and the thoughts preserved in his writings will live forever and will never die."

Looking back at several of my revolutionary historical paintings, from Farewell to Mao Zedong at the December Conference to Treading Across the Green Mountains, they all share a spiritual commonality with Qu Qiubai. Farewell depicts the scene of soldiers and civilians parting with deep reluctance during the Red Army's forced strategic transfer—that dim dawn and the marching column contain hope within hardship; Treading Across the Green Mountains draws on Mao Zedong's poetry, with dark clouds gathering in the scene, but the figures advancing steadily, aiming to express their unshakable conviction during the low ebb of the revolution. These creations all stem from my understanding of history: greatness is often born in adversity and choice, and heroism is embodied not only in charging through hail of bullets, but also in holding fast to one's faith in the darkest moments.

Perhaps some might ask why I choose to handle these major themes in such a classical, realistic, even personal way. What I have pursued has never been stylistic innovation, but rather solving the problem of artistic proficiency. Style is each person's natural temperament and the imprint of an era, while proficiency is the tangible, basic standard for measuring the quality of oil painting art. Whether painting revolutionary leaders or ordinary people, what I focus on is how to use appropriate modeling and accurate, vivid color to construct a credible and deeply layered spiritual world on the canvas.

In China, painting a good portrait in oil is more difficult than in Europe. Because Asian skin is yellow and facial structures are flatter, not as three-dimensional as Europeans', the slightest mistake can make the painting trivial or formulaic. Therefore, for decades, I have persistently studied and worked to solve the problem of the ontological language of oil painting—that is, how to create a vital image imbued with the Chinese spirit on a two-dimensional plane through volume, space, color, and light and shadow. In creating Qu Qiubai, from composition to the use of light, every detail is both a need of content expression and a practice of solving specific artistic problems. I believe that only when the language of painting reaches a certain height can the spiritual connotations it carries be conveyed more accurately and more powerfully.

Today, young painters have more choices and tools, and some even use artificial intelligence to assist in painting. But I have always believed that no matter how lifelike machine-generated images are, they cannot replace the richness obtained through observation with the naked eye and feeling with the heart. No matter how advanced the technology, it cannot replace the painter's genuine comprehension when facing a figure or a scene.

I often think that although we paint people from history, what we leave to posterity should be a spiritual value that transcends historical circumstances. I hope that through the painting Qu Qiubai, people can see a pioneer who "always wanted to blaze a bright path for everyone," displaying at the end of his life a profound self-reflection and steadfastness. This is what I understand as the heroic stance: fearless in the face of life and death, and even when the road is tortuous, still able to walk calmly in self-reflection toward the direction pointed by faith.

(The author is an oil painter and educator; this article was compiled through an interview by Xu Hongmei, reporter of this newspaper.)

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Let manufacturing possess beauty and warmth.

By: 齐 喆

In the impression of many people, manufacturing consists only of roaring machines and monotonous assembly lines. But today, in Dongguan, Guangdong, manufacturing is presenting a different scene altogether.

Walking into the "Creation Reborn—2026 Manufacturing Aesthetics Art Exhibition," one will see everyday footwear, clothing, and furniture being deconstructed and reorganized, revealing ingenious design ideas; discarded batteries, packaging boxes, and bubble wrap transforming into thought-provoking installation works; elements unique to Lingnan, such as the Southern Lion and the Thousand-Corner Lamp, being integrated into trendy toy sculptures... Every single work is answering the same question: when industrial manufacturing meets artistic creation, what will happen?

The so-called "manufacturing aesthetics" takes, at its core, production logic, material properties, and craft ethics as its foundation, which, through the hands of artists, constructs an aesthetic core that possesses both a sense of order, a sense of refinement, and a spirit of craftsmanship. It is not simply about slapping a "beautiful" label onto products, but rather about delving deep into the manufacturing process itself to discover and extract the aesthetic value contained within the precise operation of machines, the natural texture of materials, and the repeated polishing of craftsmen.

The four words "Creation Reborn" (造物新生, zào wù chóng shēng - "creation reborn," the rebirth of manufactured objects) carry two layers of meaning. The first layer is to allow objects to regain warmth. When the manufacturing process is permeated with the pursuit of beauty and cultural reflection, what is produced is no longer ordinary commodities, but emotional carriers capable of warming the lives of the masses. Those footwear, furniture, and industrial parts reinterpreted by artists are becoming emotional bonds connecting people to objects and people to cities. The second layer is the two-way convergence of art and industry. This convergence is not the artists' self-indulgent appreciation, nor is it a mere embellishment of corporate image, but rather a fusion and reconstruction originating from the depths of the soul and from the level of production logic. When art and manufacturing truly embrace each other, what they hatch is something new that possesses both the rationality, precision, and order of industrial civilization, and the sensibility, freedom, and imagination of artistic creation. It will also answer the question of the era: can a manufacturing city possess high-level aesthetics?

At the exhibition site, a metal interactive installation work titled Observation Aperture (see figure) attracts attention. Whenever a viewer approaches, the mechanical structure of the aperture in the work expands, and conversely, it shrinks. The opening and closing of the work has its own unique rhythm, visually demonstrating a precise beauty based on function and efficiency. On a spiritual level, the work hopes to warn people not to allow personal preferences to cause narrow vision and cognitive bias. Another group of installation works composed of discarded batteries and circuit boards also attracted many viewers. The artist did not deliberately hide the roughness of the industrial waste, but instead magnified its texture and color, allowing viewers to face the by-products of industrial civilization directly.

It is worth noting that the exhibition adopts a dual-museum linkage model of "professional art museum + enterprise exhibition space." The main exhibition area is set in the Lingnan Art Museum, focusing on an immersive aesthetic experience. The parallel exhibition area is located in the Rui Space of the Biya Zhou Cultural and Creative Park, which is a composite venue integrating product display, technological research and development, and cultural dissemination. Placing artworks into real production sites both allows creation and production to form a dialogue, and allows the audience to more intuitively understand the realistic foundation of manufacturing aesthetics.

Such exploration holds special significance for Dongguan. This city, known as the "world's factory," gives birth to tens of thousands of products every day, ranging from clothing, hats, and shoes to electronic equipment, and from toy models to precision components, among many others. But for a very long time, these products carried only the two words "function." Now, Dongguan has taken the lead in proposing the strategic concept of creating a "City of Manufacturing Aesthetics," attempting to transform its profound industrial accumulation into unique urban cultural capital, promoting the city from "functional output" toward "aesthetic output"; this exhibition is a vivid footnote to this transformative practice.

The connection between the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and Dongguan has existed for a long time. In recent years, through multi-level industry-university-research linkage, more and more teachers and students have entered factory workshops to work side-by-side with enterprise designers. They draw inspiration from real production sites and also use artistic thinking to inject cultural connotations into products. As this linkage continues to deepen, the aesthetic creativity of universities is being transformed into a new momentum driving urban transformation and upgrading.

A truly modern metropolis must not only focus on material creation but must also construct spiritual highlands; it must not only have the precision and speed of production but also the warmth of emotion and the depth of culture. This exhibition attempts to prove that the upgrading of manufacturing is not only the iteration of technology, but also the awakening of aesthetics and the reshaping of culture. Through the window of art, viewers can explore the code of Dongguan's industrial development, perceive the temporal pulse of Chinese manufacturing, and sense the craftsmanship, creativity, and the inexhaustible beauty of creation contained within.

(The author is the Dean of the School of Arts and Crafts, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts)

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Integrating Chinese aesthetics into everyday goods

By: 岳秋童

The Rites of Zhou, Records of Artisans states: "Heaven has its seasons, earth has its vital force, materials have their beauty, craftsmen have their skill — only when these four are combined can excellence be achieved." More than 2,000 years ago, China already possessed aesthetic standards and production norms for the making of objects. From Shang and Zhou bronzes to Han dynasty stone reliefs, and on to Song dynasty porcelain and Ming-Qing folding fans, the values and aesthetic sensibilities contained in China's fine traditional culture have entered the lives of the common people through one object after another, passed down from generation to generation. Today, this wisdom of carrying the Way through objects is being infused with new vitality through cultural and creative products.

To bring to life the cultural relics collected in museums, the heritage displayed across the vast land, and the writings recorded in ancient books, making them part of people's daily lives, cultural and creative design must take root in the times, combining the spirit of Chinese aesthetics with contemporary aesthetic pursuits. Facing this task, Zhejiang Kayou Animation Co., Ltd. has attempted to use lightweight cultural and creative designs to carry the weight of cultural lineage, weaving Chinese aesthetics into everyday objects.

A rich cultural foundation is the spiritual core of cultural and creative products. This means that their design cannot depart from historical context; rather, it should uphold the orthodoxy of culture while creating anew for the times. The Dunhuang murals record a multitude of horse images in various postures — some depicting real scenes of ancient life, others presenting the ancients' romantic imagination of horses — providing abundant inspiration for cultural and creative design. When classic Dunhuang murals such as Zhang Yichao Leading His Army on the March are presented in card form, when designers extract mural artistic elements for secondary creation, and when Dunhuang caisson ceiling patterns are re-fused with horse imagery, the imaginative boundaries of guochao cultural creativity are once again expanded. From thousand-year-old murals to trendy cultural products, from traditional line drawing to digital painting, the medium of Dunhuang art is evolving and its modes of expression are being innovated, yet the colors of azurite, malachite green, and cinnabar remain as magnificent as ever. The spirit of traditional Chinese color aesthetics is no longer confined to the caves, but has been transformed into a visible, tangible Chinese romance.

The expressive power of cultural and creative products lies hidden in refined craftsmanship. In the series of card designs, reverse-texture technology gives the paper a genuine textile feel, silk-screen hot-stamping technology lends the images a three-dimensional relief effect, and a special refraction-and-coarse-glitter printing technique conveys the texture of silk threads and a flowing luster — the unique elegance of the traditional embroidered fan is thus condensed within a square inch. The design team has also fused multiple modern printing techniques with traditional handicrafts, such as inlaying card faces with Dongtou shell carvings from Zhejiang, and imitating the interest of bronze-and-stone rubbings with hot-stamped gold lines, making the craftsmanship aesthetics buried deep in history tangible and within reach.

In the process of using, handling, and appreciating cultural and creative products, people unconsciously complete a dialogue with China's fine traditional culture. This cultural exchange that begins in the palm of the hand is now extending to the wider world. On the eve of the 2024 Paris Olympics, foreign friends near the Arc de Triomphe used Chinese ancient sports culture collector cards to learn Baduanjin, a traditional Chinese fitness routine; in 2025, Chinese fighter jet collector cards appeared at the Paris Air Show and were favored by pilots from many countries. In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and New York, United States, among other places, a growing number of consumers are experiencing the charm of China's fine traditional culture through cultural and creative products. With cultural and creative products as the vehicle, China's fine traditional culture is becoming trendier, cooler, and more approachable.

Cultural and creative design is, above all, a matter of using culture as the oars and creativity as the sail, offering people spiritual nourishment and emotional comfort. We look forward to more outstanding cultural and creative products carrying the stories of the classics, bearing the warmth of cultural relics, crossing the long river of time, and sailing into the depths of people's hearts.

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Subtle Thoughts, Vital Universe (Reading a Painting)

By: 李 静

The vitality of nature does not reside only in majestic mountains-and-rivers grand scenery. Amid flower clusters and leaf gaps, in farm fields and wild lands, small grass insects, between ambushing prey, evading crises, and enjoying food, quietly complete the cycle of life. The stories of these small creatures contain the great principles of heaven-and-earth and the philosophy of human life. The Yuan-dynasty Xie Chufang's painting Qiankun Shengyi Tu (Scene of the Vitality of Heaven and Earth; detail shown) freezes in time the colorful world of a group of grass insects.
The entire long scroll is carefully laid out, with meticulous and vivid depiction; each object is rendered according to its nature, and in six groups of scenes it displays a nature full of vitality, with opening, development, turn, and conclusion all in correspondence. At the scroll's beginning, a dragonfly is chasing a flying fly in midair; a swarm of ants is carrying away in formation a butterfly that has already been broken apart; a toad crouches under plantain leaves, waiting for its moment to strike; above the flower stem, a butterfly folds its wings, about to alight; on the left, two locusts, one lying, one flying. With consummate skill, the painter rivals the work of creation, his thought entering into subtlety and wonder, and between motion and stillness leads the viewer's gaze into the second group of scenes.
Following the brush, one sees a skink poking its head out from a rolled-and-unfurling vegetable leaf; a snail clings to the underside of a leaf, crawling; clumps of wood sorrel half-hide among them; a blue fritillary hovers and flits lightly; a black swallowtail seems drawn by a blooming dandelion. In Song and Yuan poetry and painting, the butterfly possesses a special cultural connotation, often linked to allusions such as "Zhuang Zhou dreaming of a butterfly." The painter's meticulous depiction of different varieties of butterflies serves both compositional needs and, through their life-and-death contrast, conveys the philosophical implication that all things are always growing and changing.
Following the fragrant grass forward, one enters the third group of scenes: among drooping willows, a mantis firmly grips a cicada still struggling; lower down, another cicada with damaged wings thrashes and struggles to escape the pursuing mantis; behind, a tree frog using willow leaves as cover stares wide-eyed, seeking its moment to hunt. In the picture, the willow leaves and the cicada and mantis are of the same color, strengthening the sense of echo in the composition.
The gaze leaves the willow bank and turns among the bamboo: morning glory twined around bamboo branches blooms quietly; a yellow wasp is busy beneath its nest, while its companion has just bitten off a small piece of the wing of a black-winged dragonfly, and the injured one flees in panic; not far away, a red dragonfly perches on a bamboo tip, quietly observing all this. The painter's treatment of the feet of different insects reflects the fineness of his observation. For example, when depicting the dragonfly's feet, the lines are fine and forceful; when depicting the yellow wasp's feet, the lines are more flowing. Details handled in this way display the painter's pursuit of both form and principle.
The richly colored cockscomb leads the viewer into the fifth group of scenes: the flower leaves are covered with gnawing traces, and feeding on them are two katydids; also drawn here are three fluttering colored butterflies. Following the flower path forward, one arrives at the last group of scenes: yellow hollyhocks are blooming in competition, bees dart among them, and a red-bodied swallowtail enjoys the nectar to its heart's content. The picture's coloring is gorgeous, yet the painting style is fresh and free of vulgarity, worthy of being called a representative inheriting the tradition of Song-dynasty meticulous painting with heavy colors.
The animals and plants in the painting mostly have medicinal value; this may not be accidental. In the Song-dynasty Chongxiu Zhenghe Jingshi Zhenglei Beiyong Bencao (Revised Zhenghe-era Classified Materia Medica for Emergency Use), the snail and the skink are listed together under "Insects and Fish, Middle Grade," and wood sorrel and dandelion are both under "Herbs, Lower Grade, Lower Division." The Northern Song Xuanhe Huapu (Xuanhe Catalogue of Paintings) places "medicinal substances" and "grass insects" in the same painting category, appended under the "vegetables and fruits" section. The painter brings materia medica and insects together within one scroll, interpreting the theme of "the vitality of heaven and earth" while also expressing the principle that all things in heaven and earth each have their use and depend on one another for coexistence. There is another interesting phenomenon in Qiankun Shengyi Tu: the grass insects mostly appear in pairs, whether as mates or as siblings, seeking their livelihood together and cooperating with each other.
Grass insects are often seen in the bi and xing (analogy and affective image) of poetry. Northern Song Su Shi's "Inscription on Eight Grass-Insect Paintings by Scholar Yong" and Huang Tingjian's "Yan Ya" (Elegantia of the Names of Things) and other poems greatly influenced the creation of Song-Yuan grass-insect paintings. In the colophon of this scroll, the Yuan-dynasty Songhua Daoist uses the small insects' "wriggling and flitting, each with its own private concerns" to sigh "gains and losses, how many disputes, when will they end"; Chen Shen uses "small insects seeking food" and "hidden watching and clever ambushing" as metaphors for "base men pursuing profit." Using insects to allegorize the world and personifying them continues the allegorical literary tradition of grass-insect tales and enriches the painting's connotations.
The episodes in the painting and the colophons also have textual sources. The struggle among the mantis, the cicada, and the tree frog originates from the Zhuangzi: "He saw a cicada that had just found fine shade and forgotten its own body; a mantis, seizing the cover of leaves, struck at it... and a strange magpie profited from this." The Yuan-dynasty Chen Zhi's inscription "Only insects can match heaven, such is your nature" and "all emerge from mechanism and enter into mechanism" also derive from the Zhuangzi, expounding the understanding that all things follow nature and circulate and transform. The Yuan-dynasty Feng Mian's inscription "holding the embrace of the One throughout, ever constant" originates from the Daodejing, revealing the principle that things achieve harmony in the fusion of opposites and continue to generate life endlessly amid competition and change.
Poetry and painting reflecting each other embody the ancients' way of self-cultivation and wisdom of life, and also guide people today to perceive the truth of life in their present existence.
(The author is an associate professor at the School of Arts, Shandong University (Weihai).)

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Photo Report

Oil painting Among the Flowers No. 17, by Luo Min (罗敏).

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"Keep Painting for the Children" (Art World Notes)

By: 陈 晖

Not long ago, at the 40th IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) World Congress, 80-year-old Cai Gao was awarded the International Andersen Award for Illustrator, becoming the first Chinese artist to receive this honor. While delivering her acceptance speech, she said emotionally: "I will continue to draw for children forever... there is no career more blissful than creating for children."

Even in her 耄耋之年 (mào dié zhī nián - "eighty or ninety years of age," the twilight years of life), her heart remains with children. Cai Gao has used her brush to reap the applause of the world, and has also carved out a place for original Chinese picture books on the international stage. However, 一花独放不是春 (yī huā dú fàng bú shì chūn - "a single flower blooming does not make spring," one person's success does not represent the whole), and standing at a new starting point, we must also clearly recognize: China cannot have only one Cai Gao. For original picture books to move from a "plateau" toward a "summit," it calls for more people to embrace this sentiment of "continuing to draw for children" and to take up the pen to cultivate this field.

The cultivation of young and middle-aged creative forces is an urgent priority. Currently, among picture book creators with a large number of works and significant market influence, those of older age account for a relatively high proportion. From the perspective of long-term development, the hidden concern of a talent gap lies within. In recent years, the China Artists Association has implemented the "Young Partners Program"—the "Children's Picture Book Creation 100" project, encouraging a wide range of young fine arts workers to participate in the creation of original children's picture books, laying the foundation for improving the quality of picture books and expanding the ranks of creators.

The effectiveness of talent team building must ultimately be tested by works. Many of the new generation of painters who have emerged in recent years have overseas study experiences and possess an international vision; they possess natural advantages in terms of expressing individuality, pursuing bold innovation, and grasping trends. However, relying solely on these is not enough to temper and produce heart-moving masterpieces. This is because what a picture book carries is not only stories, but also culture. Creators must understand the connotation of Chinese culture within picture books—not a symbolized "Chinese style," but the Chinese spirit in one's very bones. At the same time, they must skillfully use the unique visual language of illustrations, using lines, modeling, and color to build a bridge for dialogue with children. Opening Cai Gao's works such as Bao'er, The Story of Peach Blossom Spring, and Mulan, behind the vivid characters, rich scenes, and exquisite compositions lies the long-term immersion in excellent traditional Chinese culture, and the profound foundation of philosophy, aesthetics, and poetics.

As an important medium for providing a spiritual "foundation" for children, picture books possess both ideological value, cultural value, and aesthetic value; their creation has always been inseparable from the support of advanced views on children and education. Excellent picture books know how to respect the life experiences of children. The flowers, plants, trees, flying birds, and singing fowl in a courtyard can all become the protagonists of a story. When a child enters the world within the paintings without any barriers, they can naturally understand the profound meaning in the stories and absorb upwardly moving strength. Cai Gao has always insisted on using picture books to inherit national culture and folk art, depicting the beauty of nature and the beauty of life, and nurturing a free childhood and a pure childhood heart. She does not stop at using an artistic language with Chinese style to depict the plain daily lives of children, but further manifests the beauty of children's emotions and spirit. The "child-likeness" of Cai Gao's works is internal, submerged in full and vigorous vitality, and in the spontaneous, ubiquitous interest. By allowing innocent nature and true essence to prevail, Cai Gao and children achieve mutual understanding and connection within the world of art.

Excellent picture books from all countries have always emphasized the carrying and expression of multiculturalism. Placed within a globalized context, original Chinese picture books should insist on rooting themselves in the local soil while communicating with the world. On one hand, they should be deeply planted in the fertile soil of excellent traditional Chinese culture, allowing national customs, regional characteristics, and the spirit of Chinese aesthetics to flow slowly between the pages; on the other hand, they should step out of a single cultural perspective and look toward the common emotions and shared concerns of all humanity, such as conducting creation around themes like ecological civilization, children's growth, and family life, deeply interpreting the common values of all humanity—peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom—so that the works possess a spiritual core that transcends mountains and seas.

Cai Gao's works are a shining calling card for original Chinese picture books being presented to the world, but they will certainly not be the only one, nor will they be the last one. By adhering to the pursuit of beauty, staying close to the hearts of children, and rooting themselves in traditional culture and real life, more creators and works that possess both Chinese style and an international vision will surely emerge, allowing original Chinese picture books to bloom with brilliant and lasting luster on the world stage.

(The author is the Director of the China Picture Book Creation Research Center at Beijing Normal University)

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本版责编：吴艳丽 马苏薇

This page's email: msfk@peopledaily.cn
　　Header image design: Zhao Cairu (赵偲汝)

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